College Roundup: N.C. State Knocks Off Top-Ranked Louisville

SEE ALSO: J.B. Bukauskas Continues To Roll

Strike One: N.C. State Upsets No. 1 Louisville

RALEIGH, N.C.—Brendan McKay is the best player in the country and has played like it so far this season. The Louisville lefthander/first baseman went into this weekend’s series at North Carolina State hitting .466/.575/.741 and was 4-0, 0.36 on the mound.

North Carolina State knew it was in for a tough test against McKay and No. 1 Louisville on Friday night in the series opener. But the Wolfpack proved to be up to the challenge. North Carolina State scored three runs against McKay, more than he had given up in 25 innings this season, and defeated Louisville, 3-1.

N.C. State (13-10, 4-3 in ACC) had a sluggish start to the season and its record stood at .500 after the first weekend of Atlantic Coast Conference play. The way the Wolfpack played on Friday, however, was anything but sluggish.

“It’s the best we’ve played all year,” coach Elliott Avent said. “You have to play like this to beat Brendan McKay and to beat Louisville. That’s a really good ball club and he’s a really good pitcher.

“Matter of fact, if he don’t get player of the year, I know it’s early, but I’m sure he’s the leading candidate for national player of the year. He’s got my vote.”

McKay is in the mix to be the first overall pick in the draft and could be drafted either as a hitter or a pitcher. He has excelled at both this season, but N.C. State found a way to succeed against the All-American.

McKay had not allowed an extra-base hit in four starts this season, but the Wolfpack jumped on him for four—three doubles and a home run. The first two doubles came with two outs in the first inning and gave N.C. State an early 2-0 lead. Andy Cosgrove added the home run in the fifth inning to push the lead to 3-0.

Otherwise, McKay was again dominant. He struck out 14 batters, walked one and turned in another quality start. He sat in the low 90s with his fastball and mixed in both his curveball and changeup effectively. At the plate, he went 0-for-2 with two walks.

But Louisville (19-2, 6-1) could not solve N.C. State lefthander Sean Adler (3-2, 3.41.) The Cardinals finally broke through for a run in the sixth on a two-out double from Devin Hairston, but that would be it. Adler held them to four hits and two walks in 5.2 innings and struck out seven. Righthander Joe O’Donnell threw the final 3.1 innings and struck out five for his first save of the season.

Louisville coach Dan McDonnell said the Cardinals didn’t do enough to help McKay.

“We don’t make a play for him in the first and we extend that first inning,” McDonnell said. “Then we struck out 12 times. We just didn’t put enough pressure on their defense. I give credit to their pitchers.”

The loss was Louisville’s second in a row (both on the road) after it opened the season 19-0, including two ACC sweeps.
With the victory, N.C. State improved to 13-10 and the Wolfpack have won five of their last seven games. Beating the Cardinals can be a confidence boost, Avent said, as the Wolfpack tries to get on track.

“Our locker room, they know how good Louisville is,” Avent said. “Louisville is very, very good. And Louisville played well tonight. Brendan McKay pitched well tonight. It wasn’t like he had an off night tonight or something like that. We battled our butts off. We competed probably the way I’m used to seeing N.C. State competing.”

Strike Two: Arkansas Snaps Missouri’s 20-game Win Streak

Both Arkansas and Missouri came streaking into this weekend’s Southeastern Conference showdown in Columbia, Mo. The Tigers had won 20 straight games, the longest winning streak in the nation, including a sweep at Alabama last weekend to open SEC play. The Razorbacks had a more modest six-game winning streak, which included a sweep of Mississippi State last weekend.

Something had to give Friday, and it was the Tigers’ streak that came to an end. Arkansas defeated No. 18 Missouri, 9-2, fighting through a two-hour rain delay to extend its winning streak to seven games.

The loss was the first for Missouri (20-2, 3-1 in SEC) since Opening Day, when it lost 6-2 to Eastern Michigan. Preseason All-American righthander Tanner Houck has taken both of the Tigers’ losses this season. The Razorbacks (19-4, 4-0) got to Houck (3-2, 2.80) in the second inning for five runs (three earned).

Arkansas righthander Blaine Knight (6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K) turned in a quality start and righthander Dominic Taccolini threw three scoreless innings to pick up his second save of the season.

Arkansas has hit 32 home runs this season, the most in the SEC, but was held homerless Friday. That didn’t slow down its offense, which went 9-for-17 with two outs and scored its first eight runs of the game with two outs. They are now averaging 7.39 runs per game.

The Razorbacks will go for a key road series win Saturday and have a chance to go to 5-0 in the SEC for the first time since 2009.

Strike Three: Long Beach Cools Off Fullerton

DJ with a two-run single and the @LBDirtbags lead 5-4!!!!!!!!!! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/lfrcpiJBcx

— LBSU Dirtbags (@LBDirtbags) March 25, 2017

No. 5 Cal State Fullerton had won eight straight games going into the first game of its annual nonconference series against archrival Long Beach State. The Titans’ winning streak came to an end Friday, as the Dirtbags claimed the series opener, 6-4.

As is often the case when Fullerton and Beach play, the game was a tight affair. The Titans pulled ahead, 4-3, in the seventh on a home run from Hunter Cullen. The lead was short lived, however, as Beach pulled ahead with a three-run eighth inning. First baseman Daniel Jackson provided the go-ahead hit, a two-run single off lefthander Erik Cha.

Beach (11-9) has been up-and-down this season, but has now won five of its last six games. The Dirtbags now have a chance to capture a big series win this weekend to build momentum going into the start of Big West Conference play next weekend.
Fullerton drops to 15-6 this season, and four of its losses have come in the first game of a series. But the Titans have yet to lose a weekend series this season and will look to continue that streak when the series at Long Beach continues Saturday.

The Lineup

Newsmakers from Friday’s action

Alex Cunningham, rhp, Coastal Carolina: An infield single broke up Cunningham’s no-hit bid against Arkansas State with one out in the eighth inning, but the redshirt senior finished a one-hit shutout in a 5-0 victory. Cunningham struck out 10 batters and walked two to improve to 3-0, 2.40.

Coleman Poje, of, Georgia Tech: In a 7-6 victory at Wake Forest in 11 innings, Poje went 4-for-5 with two home runs and scored three runs, including the tying run in the ninth inning. The redshirt senior is now hitting .361/.494/.689 with five home runs.

Griffin Conine, of, Duke: The whole Blue Devils’ offense had a fantastic day in a 19-3 victory at Virginia, combining for 26 hits. Conine (3-for-6, 2 R, 5 RBI) fell a triple short of the cycle and is now hitting .304/.404/.543.

Matt Lloyd, dh/rhp, Indiana: Lloyd hit four home runs in a doubleheader sweep of Northwestern, including three in the first game, as he went 4-for-5 with five RBIs and pitched a scoreless inning. Going into Friday, the redshirt sophomore had hit just one home run this season.

Jeren Kendall, of, Vanderbilt: Kendall (2-for-4) hit a grand slam in a 4-3 victory against Texas A&M, driving in all the runs Vanderbilt needed with one swing of the bat. The Preseason All-American is hitting .305/.396/.589 with six home runs this season.

Phil Caulfield, 2b, Loyola Marymount: Caulfield continued his strong start to his senior season, going 3-for-3 with four RBIs and his first home run this spring in a 9-5 victory against Brigham Young. He is hitting .404/.466/.477 this season.

Carl Stajduhar, 3b, New Mexico: Stajduhar (5-for-6, 2 2B, HR, 5 R, 5 RBI) led the offense as New Mexico routed Nevada-Las Vegas, 29-8. It was Stajduhar’s second straight five-hit game and the junior is now hitting .364/.414/.646 with six home runs.

Matt Wallner, of, Southern Mississippi: In a doubleheader against Marshall, Wallner hit three home runs and scored four runs. The freshman had a rougher time on the mound in the nightcap, as he surrendered his first runs of the season in his fifth appearance.

Austen Wade, of, Texas Christian: Wade’s two-run double in the eighth inning completed a comeback against No. 21 Oklahoma State to give No. 3 TCU a 7-5 victory. Wade finished the night 3-for-4 with a walk.