College Roundup: Cory Abbott Throws Perfect Game For Loyola Marymount

Was there any doubt what the Call of the Game would be?#PerfectGame #LIONSTRONG pic.twitter.com/kHf1O88ebL

— LMULions (@LMULions) March 25, 2017

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Strike One: Abbott Throws First Perfecto In LMU History

Loyola Marymount found the perfect way to finish off a series win against Brigham Young on Saturday.

Junior righthander Cory Abbott, 4-1, 3.29 on the season, recorded the first perfect game in Lions history, striking out a career-high 13 batters and recording all 27 outs on an efficient 106 pitches. The perfect game was the first in Division I this season (26th since 1957) and the first since Jesse Scholtens threw one for Wright State against Dayton on March 11 of last year.

Only two other Lions pitchers had thrown no-hitters before Abbott’s Saturday gem. The first came in 1980 from Bob Seus, and the second came in 2013 from Matt Florer—currently a volunteer assistant on the LMU coaching staff.

The Lions defeated the Cougars, 2-0, as BYU lefthander Hayden Rogers threw a gem of his own, allowing just two runs in an eight-inning complete game. Right fielder Niko Decolati—who made a diving catch in the game—knocked in LMU’s first run with an RBI single in the sixth. A second insurance run came on a bases-loaded walk to center fielder Billy Wilson in the eighth.

Abbott’s feat was all the more impressive coming against a veteran BYU offense that scores more than seven runs per game. His performance lifted the Lions to a second straight victory after dropping the series opener.

The series win is LMU’s second in West Coast Conference play after taking two of three at San Francisco the weekend before. The Lions are now 4-2 in conference and 13-10 overall, while BYU dropped to 10-11 and 1-2 in conference.

Strike Two: Ducks Clinch Series Vs. Huskies

Ducks end this 1-0 win over Washington with an exclamation point. Big series win. Oregon’s rolling. pic.twitter.com/bJm1KudXXm

— Michael Lananna (@mlananna) March 26, 2017

EUGENE, Ore.—Oregon coach George Horton smiled and declared it “a great day to be a Duck” when he greeted reporters after Saturday night’s 1-0 win over No. 22 Washington—and that wasn’t just because the Oregon basketball team advanced to the Final Four.

With their win Saturday, the Ducks claimed their second straight Pac-12 series, raised their record to 15-5 and have now won 10 of their past 11 games.

Pitching has been at the center of that run, and pitching is again what carried the Ducks past the Huskies on Saturday, as sophomore righthander Matt Mercer delivered a stellar seven innings, holding Washington scoreless, while striking out seven.

Mercer’s outing began inauspiciously as two-hole hitter Jack Meggs leaned into a high 75 mph curveball and reached base on a hit-by-pitch, but the righthander quickly settled down. He touched as high as 94 mph, routinely working from 90-93 mph. His 83-85 mph changeup was his main outpitch, using it against both lefthanded and righthanded hitters, while he also mixed in his curveball and a tighter, more effective 78-81 mph slider.

“He competed,” Horton said. “He really took offense to Jack Meggs sticking his arm out, almost to a point where we had to calm him down. His breaking stuff wasn’t as sharp tonight, but his changeup was a really good pitch—if you go from 93 to 84 with arm speed and location against a good-hitting team.”

Mecer said the changeup was the best it’s been all season. At one point, with a runner on second in the sixth and no outs, he used it to strike out three-hole hitter M.J. Hubbs, burying it on the inside corner, near Hubbs’ ankles—the rare righthanded changeup to a righthanded hitter.

“(The changeup) was kind of my bread-and-butter all fall, my best offspeed pitch, and so far this season, it hasn’t been quite as good,” Mercer said. “I mixed up my grip a little bit over the week, and it’s felt really good in the bullpen, and it carried on into the game today.”

As for Washington, the Huskies made a strategic third-inning switch to junior righthander Noah Bremer, the team’s Friday starter for the last two season. It’s the second straight weekend Washington has performed that maneuver, and though the Huskies lost, it was no fault of Bremer’s. Using a four-pitch mix, featuring an 87-89 mph fastball with tail, a low-80s splitter, upper 70s curve and a short slider, Bremer made easy work of the Ducks, throwing six scoreless innings and striking out seven out of the bullpen.

“It was a frustrating night for us offensively,” Horton said. “And it seemed like the at-bats that got away from us most frequently were RBI at-bats, and that makes it doubly frustrating for the players.”

Fortunately for Oregon, Washington’s offense was just as frustrated.

Strike Three: Kentucky Off To Sizzling SEC Start

First-year Kentucky coach Nick Mingione had a rude welcoming to the head coaching ranks. The Wildcats opened the year with a tough draw at North Carolina and were swept, then lost a fourth straight game to Liberty in midweek tilt.

Since then, however, Mingione and the Wildcats have rounded into form, going 18-3 over their last 21 games. And on Saturday, the Wildcats put the finishing touches on an impressive first two weeks in Southeastern Conference play, defeating No. 11 Mississippi, 4-1, to win the series. The Wildcats are now 5-1 in SEC play after sweeping Texas A&M on the road last weekend.

“It all starts with pitching, our pitching and our defense,” Mingione told ukathletics.com. “And our starting pitching this weekend was phenomenal, and that allowed us to get off to a great start.”

Starter Justin Lewis allowed just one run, scattered seven hits and struck out eight over seven innings Saturday, following up an equally strong seven-inning, two-run performance by lefthander Zach Logue the day before. The series loss was Ole Miss’ first of the season, as the surging Rebels came into the weekend riding an SEC-opening series win against Vanderbilt.

The Wildcats will host those Commodores next weekend and look to build on their momentum even more.

“We lost the first four games of the year by five runs,” Mingione said. “They keep competing and they keep learning. Since I’ve been here, they have not given away one day. And when you have a group of young men who do that, you can do special things.”

The Lineup

Newsmakers from Saturday’s action

Preston Jones, of, Oregon State: Jones’ Saturday stat line is nearly blank—except for one stolen base and a “1” under the run column. Pinch-running in the bottom of the ninth, Jones stole second base, then came around to score, from second, on a wild pitch as the Beavers walked off against No. 9 Arizona for the second straight game, winning, 5-4.

David Banuelos, c, Long Beach State: The junior homered twice and drove in three to help Long Beach State clinch a series win against No. 5 Cal State Fullerton, 8-5. The Dirtbags have now won six of their last seven games.

Evan Skoug, c, Texas Christian: One of the premier offensive catchers in the college game, Skoug has gotten off to a rough .221/.368/.364 start to the season. But the junior broke out Saturday, going 2-for-3 and driving in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning on an RBI single to lift TCU to a 6-5 win over No. 21 Oklahoma State, clinching the series.

Vanderbilt offense: It would be difficult to single out just one Commodore in Vanderbilt’s 17-3 drubbing of Texas A&M on Saturday. Four Commodores homered—Ethan Paul, Reed Hayes, Julian Infante and Jeren Kendall (for the second time in as many days).

Jayson Rose, rhp, Utah: Rose led the Utes to a 4-0 win over No. 17 Stanford in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, throwing 7.1 scoreless innings and striking out eight, before giving way to closer Dylan Drachler.

Jake Mangum, of, Mississippi State: In the Bulldogs’ 14-4 defeat of Tennessee, Mangum served as the —as he often does—going 4-for-5 at the plate with a career-high five RBIs.

Drew Parrish, lhp, Florida State: The freshman threw the best start of his young career with a complete-game effort against Notre Dame in a 5-1 win for the Seminoles. Parrish struck out a career-high seven, walked just one and allowed only three hits in the win.

Alex Eubanks, rhp, Clemson: The sophomore has excelled in his promotion from Sundays to Saturdays and continued to throw the ball well against Boston College, threw a three-hit shutout and matching a career high with 10 strikeouts as the Tigers won, 1-0.

Brady Singer, rhp, Florida: The sophomore quieted a potent Tigers offense, throwing his first career complete game and allowing just one run on six hits. The win gave the Gators a much-needed series win after they were swept at Auburn to open SEC play.