Off The Bat: Beavers Sweep Civil War, Clinch Pac-12

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In Off The Bat, Teddy Cahill wraps up the weekend in college baseball and looks ahead.

There was a lot at stake this weekend for Oregon State as it traveled to Oregon. The Beavers’ magic number to clinch the Pac-12 Conference championship was two, coach Pat Casey was two wins shy of 1,000 for his career and then there was the matter of winning the Civil War series.

The top-ranked Beavers took care of all their business in short order. They won the first two games of the series to clinch the series and the title, and give Casey his milestone win. Then, they finished the sweep with a 1-0 victory Saturday.

“We’ve got to figure out the things we need to do to reach those goals and get to the next one,” Casey said. “We feel great about the fact we won a great conference. We can enjoy it, but we’ve got to go to work the next day. And the next day was a heck of a ballgame.”

The Beavers (41-4, 24-3) have been business-like all season, tearing through the Pac-12 with a ruthless efficiency. The Pac-12 championship is their fifth in the last 13 years. No team has won more conference championships since the Pac-12 eliminated its divisional format before the 1999 season. They have swept six of their nine conference series and have outscored conference opponents 152-73.

Oregon State’s latest sweep made them the first team to sweep the Civil War series on the road since Oregon reinstated its program in 2009.

“We did a lot of good things, but I think we could have done a better job in situational hitting,” Casey said. “Anytime you win three games on the road in this conference, it’s a good thing.”

While the weekend saw Oregon State achieve some important goals, it also marked righthander Drew Rasmussen’s return to the starting rotation, a development with significant implications for the stretch run. Rasmussen, who missed the first few months of the season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery, started Friday’s game and held Oregon to one unearned run on one hit and two walks in three innings. He struck out five batters and threw 58 pitches in his third appearance of the season.

Casey’s plan going into the weekend was to use Rasmussen as the closer in Thursday’s series opener if the situation called for him. Rasmussen wasn’t needed, however, and Casey said he was “super pleased” by the opportunity to get the junior a start.

“We wanted to put ourselves in a position to see where we’re at,” Casey said. “The only way to do that was to get his pitch count up.”

Casey is unsure of how the Beavers will use Rasmussen going forward. Bryce Fehmel has been Oregon State’s No. 2 starter this season, but has struggled in recent weeks and Casey said he wanted to give the righthander a week off to recover from a dead arm period. How Fehmel and Rasmussen feel will help determine how Oregon State lines up its rotation.

With the conference title already secured, Oregon State can afford to use the final two weekends of the regular season to prepare for the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s a tightrope act,” Casey said. “You’ve got to stay sharp and make sure everybody stays healthy and gets enough rest. We’ll continue to try to play at a very high level. We’ll go out and try to continue to be one of the better teams in the country.”

Healthy Again, Oklahoma Surging Toward Finish

After starting the season 26-6 and climbing into the top 10 of the rankings, Oklahoma went into a deep funk in April. It lost nine of its 10 games from April 7-22 and crashed out of the Top 25 as it struggled to overcome several injuries to key players.

The Sooners didn’t panic, however. The injuries were not season-ending and, as they returned to health, the Sooners got back on track. It started with a series win at then-No. 25 West Virginia, which had not lost a home series all season. Oklahoma followed that up with a series win at Kansas State, building momentum going into this weekend’s showdown with Texas Christian, the Big 12 Conference leader.

After losing Friday’s opener, 9-6, the Sooners bounced back for walk-off wins the next two days to claim the series. No. 20 Oklahoma (34-18, 12-9) has won six of its last eight games to climb back to third place in the Big 12 and No. 17 in RPI.

“It means we’re playing good at the right time,” Hughes said. “I judge teams by how they play under pressure and I think our guys have handled that outstanding.”

This weekend was the final home series for Oklahoma’s seniors, and they delivered just as they have throughout the spring. On Saturday, senior catcher Renae Martinez hit a two-out, three-run home run to give the Sooners a 9-8 victory. On Sunday, senior first baseman Austin O’Brien delivered the walk-off RBI single in a 10-9 victory. Senior closer J.B. Olson threw two scoreless innings to end the game and pick up the win. Senior outfielder Ben Hollas went 3-for-5 with two doubles.

“I love the way that game ended,” Hughes said. “It was a special day for those guys.”

Oklahoma’s seniors have been critical to its success this season. The Sooners have six seniors on the roster and all have taken on significant on-field roles. But just as important has been their contribution in the locker room.

During the Sooners’ skid, Hughes said the seniors helped keep the team from getting out of its routine. It was the kind of leadership he was expecting after seeing how the draft fell last year.

“I’m proud of our guys for sticking through that stretch,” Hughes said. “It was a tough stretch, but we’ve got the right guys. Winning is easy, anyone can handle winning. When you go through a stretch like that, your character easily identifiable.

“It all comes down to the seniors. Those guys pulled us through that bad stretch. We’re lucky we have those guys.”

Those seniors may have the opportunity to play at L. Dale Mitchell Park again. The Sooners’ surge has them back in the mix to host a regional, which Hughes said is a goal of the team. Oklahoma has not hosted a regional since 2010, also the last time it reached the College World Series.

“It would be great for the community,” Hughes said. “Our kids like to play at home, they like to sleep in their own beds and they like to hit with same hitting background. That’s where they’re comfortable playing.”

Oklahoma ends the regular season this weekend with the Bedlam Series against Oklahoma State. Thursday’s opener is in Tulsa before the series moves to Oklahoma City for the final two games. The series is one of college baseball’s best rivalries and will have plenty of postseason implications this season, as the Cowboys will be trying to secure their spot in the Big 12 Tournament.

“We’re going to go play in a great atmosphere with a great tradition,” Hughes said. “We’re going to try to win a series and not look beyond that. I think our guys have done a great job with their body of work.”

Eight for Omaha

Florida, Long Beach State, Louisville, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Oregon State, Texas Christian, Texas Tech

There are no changes to the field this week despite Mississippi State and TCU both losing series. TCU gave up 25 runs and got walked off on twice at Oklahoma, bringing back some concerns about its pitching. But, more worryingly, Luken Baker sustained an arm injury that will likely sideline him for some time. Still, the Horned Frogs have the depth, talent and experience to overcome even an absence as sizeable as Baker’s, and righthander Jared Janczak’s return to action should help right the pitching staff. Mississippi State’s series loss at Georgia was a blow to its national seed hopes, but it has a chance to recover at home this weekend against Louisiana State. The Tigers are surging toward the finish and again look like College World Series contenders themselves, but, for now, I’ll stick with the scrappy Bulldogs.

Eye-Catchers

Five players or programs who stood out this weekend.

Taylor Braley, 3b/rhp, Southern Mississippi: Braley helped lead Southern Miss (40-12, 22-5) to a sweep of Alabama-Birmingham, which clinched the Conference USA regular season title for the Golden Eagles. Braley threw seven scoreless innings in Sunday’s 8-0 victory and went 5-for-6 with six walks at the plate in the series. Southern Miss’ outright conference title is just the second in program history and its first since 2003.

Grand Canyon: The Antelopes defeated Utah Valley, 10-4, Sunday to clinch the Western Athletic Conference championship for the second time in three years. Grand Canyon (27-24) finished its conference slate at 20-4, giving it the best winning percentage (.833) in the WAC since 2003. The Antelopes are still ineligible for the postseason as they complete the final year of their reclassification process from Division II, but they have quickly established their credentials as one of the conference’s contenders.

Ryan Hagan, ss, Mercer: After going hitless in the first game of Mercer’s series at Wofford (a Bears’ loss), Hagan went 7-for-10 with two home runs, scored five runs and drove in four in the next two games. Mercer (38-12, 17-4) won both games to clinch the series and its third-straight Southern Conference regular-season championship. Mercer is the first team to three-peat in the SoCon since Western Carolina did so from 1986-1989.

Louisville: With a sweep at then-No. 11 Clemson, No. 2 Louisville (46-6, 23-4) extended its winning streak to 15 games and clinched the Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division for the third straight year. The Cardinals have truly dominated the conference since joining for the 2015 season. In the last three years, they are 70-17 in ACC games. Miami (56) is the only other team that has won more than 50 ACC games in that span.

Zach Prendergast takes a no-hitter into the ninth inning at Villanova. https://t.co/Sp4fSHr9us

— SHU Baseball (@SHUBaseball) May 14, 2017

Zach Pendergast, rhp, Seton Hall: Pendergast threw a no-hitter Sunday in a 1-0 victory against Villanova. The Wildcats’ lone baserunner of the game came on an error, as Pendergast struck out 10 batters, walked none and threw just 82 pitches. The senior improved to 7-2, 2.70 with 65 strikeouts and 12 walks in 83.1 innings this season.

Looking Ahead

Three weekend series we’re most excited for

(8) Kentucky at (5) Florida: The Southeastern Conference East Division comes down to the Wildcats’ trip to Gainesville this weekend. Florida (38-14, 19-8) holds a one-game lead on Kentucky (36-16, 18-9) and just needs a series win to clinch both the division and the SEC title for the first time since 2014. Kentucky is looking for its first division and conference title since 2006.

(10) Louisiana State at (11) Mississippi State: While Florida and Kentucky battle it out for the SEC East title, LSU (34-17, 18-9) and Mississippi State (33-19, 17-10) will do the same for the West Division crown. The Tigers hold a one-game lead in the standings and still have a chance to win the conference title despite losing series at both Florida and Kentucky. In addition to the title on the line in Starkville, this weekend’s series will mark the first meeting between LSU coach Paul Mainieri and Andy Cannizaro, his former assistant who left Baton Rouge in November to become Mississippi State’s head coach.

(22) Nebraska at Penn State: With six teams in the Big Ten Conference still alive for the regular-season title, the league is in for a wild final week. Nebraska (32-17-1, 14-6-1) holds first place for now, but doesn’t yet control its own destiny as Minnesota (30-17, 12-6) will make up two games Tuesday against Rutgers before its final weekend series against Purdue. The Cornhuskers, meanwhile, will travel to last-place Penn State this weekend looking for their first-ever Big Ten title and first conference title since winning the Big 12 Conference in 2005.

Two weekend series you shouldn’t overlook

(25) South Florida at Central Florida: This season’s second edition of the War on I-4 will also have significant implications for the American Athletic Conference title. UCF, Houston and USF all enter the final weekend tied for first place at 13-8 in the conference, with Connecticut just a game behind. While UCF and USF battle it out in Orlando, Houston will host Cincinnati and UConn takes on East Carolina.

Brigham Young at Gonzaga: Going into the final weekend of the regular season, BYU holds a three-game lead on Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount in the West Coast Conference standings. The Bulldogs (28-17, 17-7) are coming off a series win against the Lions, which kept their conference title hopes alive. The Cougars (32-15, 20-4) travel to Spokane needing just one win to clinch their first-ever outright WCC championship.

One midweek game to keep an eye on

Coastal Carolina at (14) Clemson, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. ET: Coastal (34-17-1) has won nine of its past 10 games and is coming off a sweep at Texas-Arlington. The Chanticleers have pushed back into the top 50 in RPI and a win at Clemson (No. 8 RPI) would help further boost their at-large resume. Clemson (37-15) was swept by Louisville, the second straight Atlantic Coast Conference series it has been swept in, and will be looking to get back on track.