College Roundup: Gamecocks Take Round One Vs. Clemson

Three key story lines from around college baseball Friday night.

HOW THE TOP 25 FARED

(1) Florida: won, 7-0, vs. Dartmouth

(2) Texas A&M: won, 12-5, vs. Yale

(3) Oregon State: won, 7-2, at San Diego

(4) Louisville: won, 5-2, vs. Princeton

(5) Vanderbilt: lost, 4-1, won, 4-1, at Stanford (Thurs. DH)

(6) Miami: won, 10-0, vs. Manhattan

(7) LSU: won, 12-1, vs. Fordham

(8) Virginia: won, 4-2, vs. Monmouth

(9) Texas Christian: lost, 4-3, vs. Gonzaga

(10) California: won, 4-3, at Texas

(11) Oregon: won, 13-1, vs. UC Santa Barbara

(12) North Carolina: won, 4-3 (13), vs. Fairfield

(13) Mississippi: won, 7-3, vs. Ball State at Chanticleer Classic, Conway, S.C.

(14) UCLA: won, 2-1, vs. (24) Mississippi State at Dodger Stadium Classic, Los Angeles

(15) Florida State: won, 16-4, vs. St. John’s

(16) Louisiana-Lafayette: won, 8-0, vs. Sacred Heart

(17) Arkansas: won, 5-2, vs. Eastern Illinois

(18) North Carolina State: won, 7-1, vs. Niagara at Irish Classic, Cary, N.C.

(19) Coastal Carolina: lost, 10-7, vs. Cincinnati at Chanticleer Classic, Conway, S.C.

(20) Michigan: postponed at UC Davis

(21) Houston: lost, 4-2, vs. Baylor

(22) Oklahoma State: won, 1-0, vs. Indiana State

(23) Georgia Tech: won, 4-3, vs. Western Carolina

(24) Mississippi State: lost, 2-1, vs. (14) UCLA at Dodger Stadium Classic, Los Angeles

(25) East Carolina: won, 2-1, vs. Southeastern Louisiana at Keith LeClair Classic, Greenville, N.C.

Strike One: Schmidt, Destino Lead Gamecocks To Rivalry Win

South Carolina sophomore righthander Clarke Schmidt might’ve been a little too amped when he took the mound Friday night in Columbia. But he had every right to be. This was his first Friday night start in the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry, one of the oldest and fiercest rivalries in college baseball.

He hit the first batter he faced and allowed a single to the next, but then Schmidt rallied and struck out the next three—Reed Rohlman, Chris Okey and Seth Beer, the heart of the Clemson order.

From there, Schmidt couldn’t be stopped. He struck out a career-high nine, and scattered five hits—and three hit batsmen—across eight scoreless innings. His stellar outing, along with a five-run outburst by the Gamecocks in the fifth, led South Carolina to an 8-1 victory in the first game of the series.

“(Schmidt) was so wired and jacked up for the game tonight that he was a little bit wild there in the first couple of innings,” South Carolina head coach Chad Holbrook told gamecocksonline.com. “But after he settled down he started commanding his fastball, slider and breaking ball better. He showed that he is a terrific pitcher.”

On the other side, Clemson lefthander Charlie Barnes held his own until the fifth inning, when three Tigers errors set the table for a South Carolina rally. Sophomore first baseman Alex Destino dealt the biggest blow in the frame—a two-run single—and he went 5-for-5 with four RBIs on the night .

The win pushed the Gamecocks to a perfect 10-0 on the season and snapped a six-game winning streak for the Tigers (6-2). The series will resume at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C., on Saturday, finishing up at Clemson on Sunday.

“It’s good to get the weekend off to a good start,” Holbrook said. “Clarke doesn’t get to pitch every game, so we’re going to go with the freshman (Braden Webb) tomorrow out in Greenville. He has a good arm, too, and we’re going to have to throw well to keep those guys at bay.”

Though Clarke Schmidt won’t get the ball, his older brother, Clate, will start for Clemson on Saturday, adding another intriguing storyline to a weekend brimming with them.

Strike Two: Oregon Wallops UC Santa Barbara

Given Friday night’s results, it’s safe to say Oregon does not, in fact, have Bieber fever.

One of the most reliable pitchers in the Big West, UC Santa Barbara righthander Shane Bieber struggled to contain the Ducks offense Friday, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings in a 13-1 stomping by Oregon.

Lauded for their pitching, the Ducks proved that they can also handle the bats in a 12-hit complete team effort. First baseman Phil Craig-St. Louis homered, DH Steve Packard drove in three, and freshman third baseman Matt Kroon went 3-for-3 to power the Oregon offense.

“We were fastball hunting,” Kroon told goducks.com. “We knew (Bieber) was going to come in and throw fastballs, with his best pitch. We were able to put some good swings on it today.”

While the Ducks piled on runs, redshirt junior lefthander Cole Irvin silenced the Gauchos, who had scored double-digit runs in three of their last four games. Irvin allowed just one unearned run on five hits in eight innings, walking one and striking out six.

At the plate and on the mound, the Ducks excelled in every aspect Friday.

“That was the first time everyone’s seen our team do everything together,” Irvin said. “When it’s all in one, it’s pretty special and pretty fun to watch. Hopefully that’s Duck baseball continuing on for the rest of the year and getting us to Omaha. But we need to focus on tomorrow, because they’re going to come back and want to fight.”

Strike Three: Cincinnati Upsets Coastal For First Win

Cincinnati has come close. Very close. On the first night of the season, the Bearcats led twice against then-No. 11 LSU and battled the Tigers for 12 innings on the road. A week later, the Bearcats forced 10 innings against the Bulldogs at Georgia. They’ve challenged themselves early in the season, playing every game on the road against difficult competition.

But the Bearcats hadn’t won a single one of those games—until Friday. Once again on the road and once again playing a tough opponent in No. 19 Coastal Carolina in the Chanticleer Classic, Cincinnati was able to finish the job, winning 10-7 to move to 1-7 on the season.

“Obviously it’s a good feeling when you win, and we go into every game expecting to win,” head coach Ty Neal told gobearcats.com. “. . . We’ve said from the get-go, we’re going to challenge ourselves with quality opponents.

“It’s just a step for us program-wise. We’re getting better.”

At the offensively skewed Springs Brooks Stadium, the edge went to the Bearcats’ bats, who outscored the Chanticleers despite Coastal Carolina homering three times in the contest. Right fielder Ryan Noda drove in three, and shortstop Manny Rodriguez and second baseman Kyle Mottice each drove in to apiece.

Neal said he thinks facing premium pitching early on this season has given the Bearcats confidence at the plate.

“It’s paying off, seeing all the quality pitching we’ve seen this year,” Neal said.

“Just guys more relaxed and more confidence in the box. We talk about swag in the clubhouse. Just a little more swagger in the box tonight.”

For the Chanticleers, Friday marked their second straight loss after falling to the College of Charleston on the road. Now 5-4 on the year, Coastal Carolina will have to try to stop the skid against No. 13 Mississippi on Saturday.

The Lineup

Nine newsmakers from Friday’s action.

1. Chance Shepard, c, N.C. State: The senior made N.C. State history on Friday by homering for a program-record sixth straight game in the Wolfpack’s 7-1 win over Niagara. Shepard is two games and two home runs away from matching the national record for consecutive games with a home run, which is eight. That feat has only been accomplished by two players.

2. Griffin Canning, rhp, UCLA: The sophomore was outstanding against Mississippi State, coming within one out of a complete-game shutout before yielding a run in the ninth. Canning struck out a career-high 12 and allowed just five hits, outdueling Bulldogs ace Dakota Hudson.

3. Kel Johnson, dh, Georgia Tech: Johnson had a 4-for-5 day, but his biggest hit came in the bottom of the ninth when he hit the game-winning single to complete a come-from-behind 4-3 win against Western Carolina. The win preserved the Yellow Jackets’ perfect record, which stands at 9-0.

4. Logan Shore, rhp, Florida: Shore’s name might pop up here every week if he continues at the pace he’s going. The junior allowed just one hit in seven scoreless innings against Dartmouth, striking out eight. He now hasn’t allowed a run in 17 1/3 consecutive innings.

5. Dustin Williams, 1b, Oklahoma State: With the Cowboys and Indiana State locked in a pitcher’s duel, Williams provided the only offense Oklahoma State needed, doubling to right center with one out in the eighth inning to drive in the eventual game-winning run in a 1-0 win.

6. Nathan Helvey, rhp, College of Charleston: The senior needed just 96 pitches to throw the first complete game of his career in the Cougars’ 5-1 win over The Citadel. Helvey carried a 20 consecutive scoreless innings streak into the ninth inning before The Citadel scored with one out, but it was a minor blemish on a stellar outing (9 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K).

7. Evan Kruczynski, lhp, East Carolina: In a neck-in-neck battle that ended with an ECU walk-off, Krucynski kept the Pirates in the game against Southeastern Louisiana, throwing eight scoreless innings and striking out seven before finally allowing a run with one out in the ninth.

“I kinda took the reins and said, ‘I’m not losing this ballgame,’” Kruczynski said. “I thought I gave our team the best chance to do so and I thought our defense played well behind me to help me do that. I thanked coach for leaving me out there for a couple more innings because I thought he was going to pull me a little earlier than he did.”

8. Kyle Funkhouser, rhp, Louisville: After a rough outing at Mississippi last weekend, Funkhouser bounced back in a big way against Princeton, striking out 12 and allowing just two runs on four hits in seven innings. Most importantly, Funkhouser walked just one batter after walking seven at Ole Miss.

9. Blake Quinn, rhp, Cal State Fullerton: The former Fresno State pitcher shut down the high-powered Texas Tech offense in his third start for the Titans. He struck out a career-high 10 batters in 5 2/3 scoreless innings as Fullerton defeated the Red Raiders, 7-3.

And one for extra innings

• Jon Duplantier, rhp, Rice: Duplantier—who sat out the entire 2015 season with shoulder problems—struck out a career-high 14 batters in eight innings to help lead Rice over visiting UCF, 4-3.