College Roundup: Milestone For Mainieri
Strike One: Mainieri Reaches Milestone
After losing back-to-back series to open Southeastern Conference play, Louisiana State righted the ship last weekend with a series win at Auburn. The No. 15 Tigers took an even bigger step forward Friday night, defeating No. 6 Vanderbilt, 3-2, to clinch their biggest series win of the season.
The victory was also the 1,300th of coach Paul Mainieri’s career, making him the 16th coach of a Division I school to reach the milestone.
| HOW THE TOP 25 FARED |
| (1) Florida: won, 8-2, vs. (5) Mississippi State |
| (2) Miami: postponed at Notre Dame |
| (3) Texas A&M: won, 5-0, vs. Georgia |
| (4) Louisville: lost, 12-7, at (11) Florida State |
| (5) Mississippi State: lost, 8-2, at (1) Florida |
| (6) Vanderbilt: lost, 3-2, at (15) Louisiana State |
| (7) Texas Christian: lost, 4-3, at Kansas |
| (8) South Carolina: won, 7-6, vs. Tennessee |
| (9) California: won, 12-2, at Oregon |
| (10) Oregon State: won, 6-2, vs. Central Arkansas |
| (11) Florida State: won, 12-7, vs. (4) Louisville |
| (12) UC Santa Barbara: won, 7-4, at College of Charleston |
| (13) North Carolina: won, 6-0, vs. Virginia Tech |
| (14) Mississippi: won, 7-3, vs. Arkansas |
| (15) Louisiana State: won, 3-2, vs. (6) Vanderbilt |
| (16) Oklahoma State: lost, 5-1, vs. (23) Texas Tech |
| (17) Michigan: swept vs. Minnesota in DH, 8-1 and 5-3 |
| (18) Florida Atlantic: lost, 12-7, vs. Charlotte |
| (19) Kentucky: won, 3-2, vs. Alabama |
| (20) Long Beach State: postponed at Cal State Northridge |
| (21) Clemson: lost, 5-3, at Duke |
| (22) East Carolina: lost, 5-2, at Tulane |
| (23) Texas Tech: won, 5-1, at (16) Oklahoma State |
| (24) Houston: lost, 2-1, vs. Central Florida |
| (25) Rice: won, 7-3, vs. Alabama-Birmingham |
“Milestone wins lead me to think about all of the great players I’ve had the good fortune to coach,” Mainieri said. “I never hit a ball or threw a pitch in any of those 1,300 wins. It’s a credit to the young men who play the game, and I’m the beneficiary of their hard work.”
The Tigers did all their damage in the second inning against righthander Kyle Wright (7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 7 K). Outfielder Antoine Duplantis delivered the key two-run hit, and the Tigers were able to make the early lead stand up. Sophomore righthander Alex Lange (6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 9 K) got the victory, and junior righthander Hunter Newman (2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K) earned the save.
LSU (21-9) defeated Vanderbilt, 13-4, to open the series Thursday, setting the stage for Mainieri’s milestone win to coincide with his first ever series win against the Commodores (24-7). Both teams are now 6-5 in the SEC and have split their first four conference series of the season.
Strike Two: Texas Tech Rolls
In the first game between No. 23 Texas Tech, the leader in the Big 12 Conference, and No. 16 Oklahoma State, the conference’s preseason favorite, the visiting Red Raiders came out guns blazing Friday and defeated the Cowboys, 5-1.
Junior righthander Ryan Moseley (3-2, 5.40) threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, giving Texas Tech’s offense a chance to eventually get to Oklahoma State starter Thomas Hatch in the seventh inning. The Red Raiders scored three runs in the seventh to break a 1-1 deadlock.
“Like a lot of Friday night games, it was very well-pitched and tight up to that point,” Oklahoma State coach Josh Holliday said. “Give Texas Tech credit. They came up with clutch hits and hung a three-spot on us, and we weren’t really up to the task at that point.”
As Texas Tech (22-9) was extending its conference winning streak to eight games (matching a program record), Kansas was mounting a comeback against No. 7 Texas Christian. The Jayhawks (12-16) scored twice in the eighth inning to upset the Horned Frogs, 4-3.
Coach Ritch Price said Kansas’ defense was a critical part of its victory.
“We played well in every phase of the game today and I can’t say enough about the performance of our team defense,” he said. “We might have taken five or six runs off the board when it was all said and done. Just tremendous defense all the way around.”
After Friday’s games, Texas Tech is 9-1 in the Big 12, and has already built a 3.5 game lead in the conference. Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas are tied for second at 4-3.
It remains early in the season—even Texas Tech, which has played one more conference series than the three teams tied for second, will have only played half of its Big 12 schedule by the end of the weekend. But with the Red Raiders off to their best start in conference play in program history, the rest of the Big 12 already finds itself having to chase down the surprise leaders.
Strike Three: B1G Doubleheader Sweeps
Bad weather in the North meant several teams have been forced to rearrange their weekend schedules, leading to a few doubleheaders Friday. Maryland and Minnesota made the most of their twinbills against Ohio State and Michigan, respectively, earning sweeps to clinch Big Ten Conference series wins early in the weekend.
Minnesota traveled to No. 17 Michigan, the preseason conference favorites, and swept the doubleheader, winning 8-1 in the first game and 5-3 in the second. The Golden Gophers (18-10) have won eight of their last 10 games.
Minnesota got a strong effort from its starting pitchers Friday. Matt Fiedler and Dalton Sawyer combined to hold the Wolverines to one run on eight hits and three walks in 12 innings.
While Minnesota has been on a hot streak, Maryland had lost back-to-back weekend series going into its set against Ohio State and had moved righthander Mike Shawaryn, a Preseason All-American, from the top of its rotation to the back.
But the Terrapins found a way to get back on track Friday. Righthander Taylor Bloom, Maryland’s new No. 1 starter, threw a three-hit shutout in a 3-0 win in the first game. Bloom (9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and needed just 90 pitches to go the distance.
The nightcap featured more outstanding pitching, this time with Ohio State flirting with the no-hitter. Lefthander John Havird threw eight hitless innings before hitting the leadoff batter in the ninth inning. With the Buckeyes clinging to a 1-0 lead, coach Greg Beals went to the bullpen.
Relievers Michael Horejsei and Yianni Pavlopoulos appeared to have completed the combined no-hit bid when Pavlopoulos struck out Nick Cieri with two outs in the ninth. But the ball got away for a wild pitch and Cieri reached first base, allowing Maryland to extend the game. The Terrapins tied the game, and then won it in the 10th on a walk-off RBI single from Madison Nickens.
Coach John Szefc said Friday’s sweep could be a turning point for Maryland (17-15).
“I told those guys afterwards that over the course of a successful baseball season, most teams can look back at a day that shows it turned the corner,” Szefc said. “We’ve been waiting for that day for that day. This is a big day for our team.”
The Lineup
Connor Jones, rhp, Virginia: Against Boston College, Jones (9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 K) threw a one-hit shutout for the first complete game of his career and Virginia won, 3-0. Jones, a potential first-round pick in June, improved to 6-1, 2.24 with the victory.
Zac Gallen, rhp, North Carolina: After losing back-to-back games, Gallen (9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 13 K) rebounded in style in No. 13 North Carolina’s 6-0 victory against Virginia Tech. His 13 strikeouts pushed his career total over 200, and were the most by a Tar Heels pitcher since Matt Harvey whiffed 15 batters in 2010.
Eric Lauer, lhp, Kent State: In a 3-0 victory against Toledo, Lauer (9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K), a Preseason All-American, was at the top of his game. With the win, the junior improved to 5-2, 0.99 with 67 strikeouts and 19 walks in 54 1/3 innings.
Brennon Lund, of, Brigham Young: With a 13-1 rout of preseason West Coast Conference favorite San Diego, Brigham Young clinched another series win and improved to 25-4. Lund (4-for-6, 3 R, 2 RBIs) led the Cougars offense and is now hitting .406/.483/.570 this season.
Will Hibbs, rhp, Lamar: With a shutout from Hibbs (9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K), Lamar defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 1-0. The win extended the Cardinals’ winning streak to 13 games, their longest since they won 19 in a row in 1980. Hibbs, a senior, improved to 6-1, 2.09.
Brenden Farney, of, California: Farney had four of the Golden Bears’ 21 hits Friday, as California set a record for most hits in a game against Oregon in its modern era. Farney (4-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBIs), who had eight extra-base hits in 25 games going into Friday, homered and doubled twice to lead the offense.
Matt Henderson, 2b, Florida State: In a 12-7 victory against No. 4 Louisville, Henderson (4-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBIs) led No. 11 Florida State’s offense. The junior raised his batting average 39 points with his big day at the plate, and is now hitting .259/.460/.284.
Bryson Bowman, of, Western Carolina: The Catamounts hit five home runs in a 7-1 victory against Virginia Military Institute to improve to 6-1 in the Southern Conference. Bowman, a redshirt junior, hit two of the homers, and now has 10 in 28 games this season.
Kaleb Fontenot, rhp, McNeese State: A run in the fifth inning ended Fontenot’s program-record scoreless innings streak at 32 2/3, but he was still plenty good enough to win, as McNeese State defeated New Orleans, 6-1. Fontenot (7 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 10 K) now owns the second-longest scoreless innings streak in Southland conference history.
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