College Roundup: Arizona Stays Hot In Frisco
Three key story lines from around college baseball Saturday night.
Strike One: Arizona Wins CWS Rematch, Remains Undefeated
Arizona and Oklahoma State met three times last year in Omaha, with the Wildcats winning the last two of the games to advance to the College World Series finals. The two powerhouse programs met again Saturday on the second day of the Frisco College Baseball Classic in Frisco, Texas, and, again, the Wildcats were victorious.
No. 19 Arizona defeated No. 24 Oklahoma State, 10-9, scoring the final four runs after trailing 9-6 going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Outfielder Cal Stevenson (3-for-5, 2 R) hit a two-out, walk-off double to cap the comeback.
| HOW THE TOP 25 FARED |
| (1) Texas Christian: won, 11-10, vs. (25) Texas A&M in 15 innings at Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic in Houston |
| (2) Florida State: won, 12-1, vs. Oakland |
| (3) Florida: won, 7-2, vs. Columbia |
| (4) Louisiana State: won, 4-0, vs. Baylor at Shriners College Classic |
| (5) South Carolina: lost, 8-7, vs. (15) Clemson in Greenville, S.C. |
| (6) Louisville: won, 3-2, vs. Eastern Michigan in 13 innings |
| (7) Cal State Fullerton: won, 4-1, at Houston |
| (8) Oregon State: swept DH vs. UC Davis, 4-0 and 14-2 |
| (9) East Carolina: won, 7-4, vs. St. John’s in Keith LeClair Classic |
| (10) North Carolina State: lost, 9-2, vs. Maryland in USA-Baseball Irish Classic in Cary, N.C. |
| (11) Washington: swept DH vs. Sacramento State, 8-5 and 3-2 |
| (12) Virginia: won, 12-3, vs. La Salle, lost, 8-5, vs. Niagara |
| (13) North Carolina: lost, 4-1, vs. Long Beach State |
| (14) Vanderbilt: lost, 4-1, vs. Cal State Northridge |
| (15) Clemson: won, 8-7, vs. (5) South Carolina in Greenville, S.C. |
| (16) Louisiana-Lafayette: won, 5-4, vs. Southern Miss |
| (17) Georgia Tech: won, 10-2, vs. Belmont |
| (18) Coastal Carolina: won, 8-3, vs. Winthrop and won, 14-0, vs. Albany in Tidelands Health Classic |
| (19) Arizona: won, 10-9, vs. (24) Oklahoma State in Frisco Classic |
| (20) Mississippi: lost, 5-1, vs. (21) Texas Tech in Shriners College Classic |
| (21) Texas Tech: won, 5-1, vs. (20) Mississippi in Shriners College Classic |
| (22) Stanford: swept DH vs. Texas, 5-2 and 2-1 |
| (23) UC Santa Barbara: lost, 3-2, at Kentucky |
| (24) Oklahoma State: lost, 10-9, vs. (19) Arizona in Frisco Classic |
| (25) Texas A&M: lost, 11-10, vs. (1) Texas Christian in 15 innings at Shriners College Classic |
With the victory, Arizona improved to 10-0. The Wildcats are off to their best start since opening the 1999 season at 13-0.
Freshman third baseman Nick Quintana went 3-for-4 with three RBIs to continue his torrid start to the season. He is hitting .514/.587/.676 with 11 RBIs in the first 10 games of his college career. Lefthander Cameron Ming pitched a scoreless ninth to improve to 3-0, 0.00. He has thrown 10 scoreless innings to start the season.
Oklahoma State (5-5) is 1-1 in the tournament after beating Nebraska, 1-0, Friday. The Cowboys are still working their pitching staff out behind ace Tyler Buffett and have missed closer Trey Cobb, who is sidelined by injury. Starter Parker Scott (3.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 3 K) didn’t make it out of the fourth Saturday and Blake Battenfield (1 IP, 4 H, 3 R) was unable to close the game out.
The tournament concludes Sunday with Arizona playing Nebraska and Oklahoma State taking on Arkansas. The Razorbacks defeated the Cornhuskers, 15-5, in Saturday’s nightcap in Frisco.
Strike Two: CSUN Clinches Series At Vanderbilt
After beating No. 14 Vanderbilt 6-4 on Friday, Cal State Northridge claimed the series upset with a 4-1 victory Saturday. The Matadors never trailed Saturday as they claimed their first ever series win against a Southeastern Conference opponent.
Redshirt junior Tei Vanderford went the distance for CSUN, holding Vanderbilt to one run on four hits and three walks. He struck out eight and threw 137 pitches.
Outfielder Riley Conlan led the Matadors offensively, going 2-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI. DH William Colantono added a solo home run in the eighth, giving CSUN a key insurance run.
CSUN (6-4) bounced back impressively this week after losing three out of four games to Towson at home last weekend. The Matadors started their week Tuesday with a 6-5 victory against UCLA before traveling to Vanderbilt.
The Commodores, meanwhile, have lost back-to-back home weekend series. Vanderbilt (6-5) lost twice last weekend to Illinois-Chicago. The Commodores have scuffled offensively in the early going and are hitting .267/.372/.401 as a team.
Strike Three: Radford’s Hrbek Throws No-Hitter
Radford senior Danny Hrbek is a two-way player, but for most of his career he has been much more infielder than pitcher. He made six relief appearances as a freshman, but didn’t pitch at all the last two years. He moved into the rotation this season, but had a 16.50 ERA following starts at North Florida and North Carolina.
Saturday morning, however, Hrbek was clearly at home on the mound. Facing Quinnipiac (4-5) in the first game of the day at Wake Forest’s tournament, Hrbek threw the first nine inning no-hitter in program history, leading Radford (2-8) to a 4-0 victory.
Hrbek struck out eight batters and walked none. Quinnipiac’s lone base runner came on an error in the third inning. Hrbek needed just 88 pitches, and retired the final nine batters on 17 pitches. At the plate, Hrbek went 0-for-4 with a walk.
Following the game, Hrbek shared a hug with his father, Michael.
“To share that moment with my team, coaches and family was really emotional,” Hrbek said. “A moment that I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Just a father and his son#Radford?? #BigSouthBase pic.twitter.com/1qYxecn6WI
— Radford Baseball (@RadfordBaseball) March 4, 2017
The Lineup
Nine newsmakers from Saturday’s action.
Tyler Holton, lhp, Florida State: In a 12-1 victory against Oakland, Holton (6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB) recorded 13 of the 18 outs he got on strikeouts. The sophomore improved to 3-0, 0.47 with 32 strikeouts and four walks in in 19 innings this season.
Collin Duffley, rhp, Massachusetts-Lowell: Facing Notre Dame in the USA Baseball-Irish Classic, Duffley (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K) outpitched Preseason All-American Peter Solomon in an 8-0 victory. The sophomore was making his first start of the season, and improved to 1-0, 1.59.
Gavin Velasquez, rhp, Cal State Fullerton: With righthander Colton Eastman sidelined this week by tendonitis, Velasquez (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K) capably stepped into the Titans’ rotation. The sophomore has not allowed a run in 17.1 innings this season and has won his last two appearances, both of which followed Friday night losses.
David Craan and Jack Yalowitz, Illinois: The pair of Illini both homered twice Saturday, accounting for four of the six home runs Illinois hit in a 14-4 victory at Florida Atlantic. The home runs were the first of the season for both Craan (2-for-4, 2 R, 4 RBI) and Yalowitz (4-for-5, 3 R, 3 RBI).
Carl Stajduhar, 3b, New Mexico: Stajduhar helped the New Mexico, the defending Mountain West Conference champions, open conference play with a series victory at Air Force. The junior went 4-for-6 with a home run, two doubles and five RBIs.
J.P. France, rhp, Tulane: France (7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K) helped Tulane clinch a series win against West Virginia, as the Green Wave rebounded from a 1-7 start to the season. France and reliever Jack Hogan combined on the shutout and kept any Mountaineers from advancing past second base.
Jordan Washam, 2b, Louisiana Tech: With Washam (3-for-4, HR, 3 R, 5 RBI), their leadoff hitter, leading the way, the Bulldogs scored eight runs in the first inning en route to a 15-1 series-clinching victory against Wichita State. The senior singled and hit a three-run home run in the first inning.
Nick Madrigal, ss, Oregon State: In a doubleheader sweep against UC Davis, Madrigal collected three hits, scored three runs and drove in three. The first-team Preseason All-American is hitting .389/.452/.639 with two home runs and four stolen bases.
Kutter Crawford, rhp, Florida Gulf Coast: The Eagles (9-2) defeated UNC Wilmington, 5-1, to clinch the series behind a strong start from Crawford (7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K). The junior college transfer has started the season 3-0, 1.42 with 27 strikeouts and three walks in 19 innings.
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