College Roundup: Bulldogs Win Big In Oxford

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— MSU Baseball ? (@HailStateBB) April 1, 2017

Strike One: Bulldogs Take Series Over Rival Rebels

No college athletics program, collectively, had a better night than Mississippi State. The women’s basketball team did the improbable and snapped Connecticut’s historic 111-game winning streak to advance to the championship game.

And the baseball team? The Bulldogs earned their biggest series win of the season, as they defeated rival No. 20 Mississippi, 5-3, taking their first series in Oxford since 2011.

It was a signature series win for first-year Mississippi State head coach Andy Cannizaro, whose Bulldogs are seemingly beginning to hit their stride. They’ve now won six straight games and have improved to 18-10 on the year, 5-3 in the Southeastern Conference, while the Rebels fell to 16-11 (3-5 SEC).

HOW THE TOP 25 FARED

(1) Oregon State: won, 3-1, at (15) Stanford

(2) Louisville: won, 5-2, at (19) Virginia

(3) Texas Christian: won, 5-0, at Kansas State in 11 innings

(4) Texas Tech: lost, 6-2, at (17) Oklahoma

(5) Clemson: won, 11-6, at Georgia Tech

(6) South Carolina: lost, 5-4, at (18) Auburn

(7) North Carolina: won, 3-1, at (12) Florida State

(8) Florida: won, 4-3, at Missouri

(9) Louisiana State: won, 7-4, vs. Texas A&M

(10) Cal State Fullerton: lost, 3-2, at UC Riverside

(11) Florida Gulf Coast: won, 4-0, vs. Jacksonville

(12) Florida State: lost, 3-1, vs. (7) North Carolina

(13) Arizona: won, 9-4, vs. Southern California

(14) St. John’s: CCD vs. Hofstra

(15) Stanford: lost, 3-1, vs. (1) Oregon State

(16) Kentucky: won, 10-3, vs. Vanderbilt

(17) Oklahoma: won, 6-2, vs. (4) Texas Tech

(18) Auburn: won, 5-4, vs. (6) South Carolina

(19) Virginia: lost, 5-2, vs. (2) Louisville

(20) Mississippi: lost, 5-3, vs. Mississippi State

(21) Arkansas: won, 7-1, at Alabama

(22) Baylor: lost, 5-4, at Washington

(23) Houston: lost, 5-2, at Central Florida

(24) Wake Forest: won, 2-1, at Miami

(25) East Carolina: lost, 3-2, vs. Connecticut

The game began inauspiciously for Mississippi State, as Bulldogs starter Peyton Plumlee recorded just one out—on a pickoff—before yielding to the bullpen. Relievers Jacob Barton, Denver McQuary, Cole Gordon and Spencer Price combined to finish off the game.

“The bullpen was phenomenal tonight, starting from the first inning,” Cannizaro told hailstate.com. “It was a Bulldog mentality from the bullpen. We picked up some timely hits, defended it well and won the series. Pitcher after pitcher threw great tonight.”

On the offensive side, both first baseman Brent Rooker and second baseman Cody Brown homered and drove in two runs to supply the bulk of the offense, roughing up Ole Miss starter David Parkinson (4.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R).

The series win was Mississippi State’s second straight after sweeping Tennessee the weekend before. Meanwhile, Ole Miss has hit a bit of a skid after also dropping its last series at Kentucky.

Even still, Cannizaro and the Bulldogs know a sweep won’t come easily.

“In the third game, we have to have tunnel vision,” Cannizaro said. “Ole Miss will come out and play their best, so we have to be ready to compete on a high level.”

Strike Two: Magic Continues For Heimlich

Oregon State lefthander Luke Heimlich’s ERA actually went up on Friday night—which speaks to just how dominant his season has been.

Entering a ranked Pac-12 conference battle on the road against No. 15 Stanford, Heimlich threw his second career complete game, scattering four hits and allowing just one run as No. 1 Oregon State defeated the Cardinal, 3-1.

The junior southpaw’s ERA rose from a microscopic 0.42 to a slightly less microscopic 0.52. He improved to a perfect 5-0 on the year, and the Beavers extended the country’s longest active winning streak to 17. The Beavers have now won 11 straight games at Stanford, dating back to 2009.

The Beavers struck early Friday against Stanford starter Kris Bubic, as junior DH K.J. Harrison powered an RBI double in the first. Trevor Larnach added an RBI double in the fifth, and outfielder Elliott Cary drove in an insurance run with a ninth-inning sacrifice fly.

With the loss, Stanford fell to 14-7 (2-2 Pac-12), while the Beavers improved to 22-1 overall and 7-0 in the conference after sweeping Arizona last weekend.

The Beavers didn’t lose a game in the month of March. Their last, and only, loss this season came Feb. 24 against Ohio State.

Strike Three: Sooners Take Down Red Raiders

Grove leaves ’em loaded w/ his 11th K! pic.twitter.com/wJsvtmEMpt

— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) April 1, 2017

In the Big 12’s marquee series of the weekend, No. 17 Oklahoma drew first blood against No. 4 Texas Tech, snapping the Red Raiders’ 10-game winning streak with a 6-2 win.

Sophomore righthander Dylan Grove earned his first win of the season, pitching around a rocky first inning and six walks to strike out a career-high 11 and allow just one run in six innings. Grove retired 10 in a row after allowing an RBI single to Texas Tech first baseman Hunter Hargrove.

“Well, (Grove) has been there before, so he learned from experience,” head coach Pete Hughes told soonersports.com. “Last weekend he did the same thing, but he extended it even more. This weekend, it was good to see him get back on track a lot quicker than he did last time. and that is what you want to see is kids learning from their mistakes and make adjustments, get settled in, keep your composure, take a step back and you end up having a really good outing. And that is what Dylan did for us in Game One.”

The Sooners responded quickly to Texas Tech’s first-inning run, scoring two in the second and adding another in the third. Catcher Renae Martinez hit a bases-clearing double in the eighth to effectively put the game out of reach.

With the win, Oklahoma and Texas Tech now have identical records, at 24-5 and 3-1 in conference.

The Lineup

Nine newsmakers from Friday’s games

Jared Janczak, rhp, Texas Christian. For the second time this season, Janczak carried a perfect game into the seventh inning, retiring the first 18 Kansas State batters he faced. Unfortunately for the righthander, he’d exit with a nine-inning, two-hit no-decision. TCU and Kansas State went into extras, with the Horned Frogs scoring five in the 11th to seal a series-opening win.

J.B. Bukauskas, rhp, North Carolina. The junior righthander—one of, if not the best starter in the country—has been untouchable this season, and that continued Friday against a deep Florida State lineup in Tallahassee. Bukauskas struck out 10 and allowed just one run on three hits in seven innings, improving to 5-0, 0.96 on the year.

Brendan McKay, lhp/1b, Louisville. McKay adds to his national player of the year candidacy on a weekly basis. On Friday, McKay allowed just one run in six innings at No. 19 Virginia. Then, when that wasn’t enough, he hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning to lead No. 2 Louisville to victory. His catcher, Colby Fitch, also homered twice in the contest.

Mike Rivera, c, Florida. The junior catcher has been a key part of the Florida offense, which has struggled at times this season. On Friday, his two-run home run in the sixth provided the difference at Missouri, as the Gators won, 4-3.

Blaine Knight, rhp, Arkansas. Knight’s prowess on the mound has been a key factor in Arkansas’ surge up the Top 25. The righthander improved to 3-0, 1.71 in SEC games with a sterling performance against Alabama. After allowing one run to the Crimson Tide in the first, Knight retired 22 of the next 23 batters he faced, leading the Razorbacks to a 7-1 win.

Tim Cate, lhp, Connecticut. After missing several Fridays with an injury, the sophomore lefthander returned to make his fourth start of the year and delivered a stellar outing at No. 25 East Carolina. Cate matched a career-high with 13 strikeouts, allowing just one unearned run in seven sparking innings as the Huskies beat the Pirates, 3-2.

Nick Quintana, 3b, Arizona. In a 9-5 win over visiting Southern California, the freshman Quintana provided an offensive spark, driving in a run on a fifth-inning double, then driving in two more runs in a seventh-inning inside-the-park home run.

Kyle London, of, Washington. After slipping out of the Top 25 following a series loss at Oregon, the Huskies earned a much-needed win against visiting No. 22 Baylor—and did so in walk-off fashion. The Bears scored three runs in the top of the ninth to take a one-run lead, but Washington responded with two in the bottom half, with London driving in the game-winning run on a single.

Noah Davis, rhp, UC Santa Barbara. Entering Big West play against a red-hot Long Beach State team, the Gauchos relied on their sophomore ace, who allowed two runs and struck out six in 7.1 innings, leading UCSB to a 3-2 win over the Dirtbags.