College Roundup: UNC Makes Statement With Another Walk-Off

Three key story lines from around college baseball Saturday night.

Strike One: Tar Heels Walk Off Again Vs. Cowboys 

HOW THE TOP 25 FARED

(1) Florida: lost, 5-3, at (6) Miami

(2) Louisville: won, 4-0, at (21) Mississippi

(3) Texas A&M: won, 6-0, at Pepperdine

(4) Virginia: lost, 6-1, vs. East Carolina

(5) Oregon State: won, 9-3, vs. Kansas at Surprise, Ariz.

(6) Miami: won, 5-3, vs. (1) Florida

(7) Vanderbilt: won, 6-5 (14 innings), vs. Illinois-Chicago

(8) Louisiana State: lost, 5-4, vs. Sacramento State

(9) Houston: lost, 12-3, vs. Arkansas at Shriners College Classic, Houston

(10) Louisiana-Lafayette: lost, 5-3 (10 innings), vs. Texas Tech at Shriners College Classic, Houston

(11) California: won, 4-0, vs. Purdue

(12) Oregon: lost, 3-2, vs. Illinois State

(13) Oklahoma State: lost, 7-6 (10 innings), at (20) North Carolina

(14) Michigan: lost, 5-1, vs. Cal Poly at Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament, Santa Clara, Calif.

(15) UCLA: won, 19-0, at Cal Poly

(16) Florida State: won, 8-3, vs. College of Charleston

(17) Texas Christian: won, 10-0 (7 innings), vs. Rice at Shriners College Classic, Houston

(18) North Carolina State: won, 6-1, vs. Wright State

(19) Coastal Carolina: lost, 6-4, vs. Ohio State at Baseball at the Beach Tournament, Conway, S.C.

(20) North Carolina: won, 7-6 (10 innings), vs. (13) Oklahoma State

(21) Mississippi: lost, 4-0, vs. (2) Louisville

(22) Kentucky: won, 6-0, vs. San Diego State at Tony Gwynn Classic, San Diego

(23) Georgia Tech: won, 9-2, vs. Maryland-Baltimore County

(24) Mississippi State: won, 5-0, vs. Nicholls State and won, 4-2, vs. UMass-Lowell at Mississippi State Tournament, Starkville, Miss.

(25) Oklahoma: lost, 7-2, at Sam Houston State

Perhaps no team in the country has had as daunting a first two weeks as No. 20 North Carolina. The Tar Heels began with a cross-country trip to then-No. 10 UCLA, then came home to host No. 13 Oklahoma State—both early challenges, both important barometers and both, it would turn out, UNC series wins.

Two weeks into the season, the young Tar Heels have made a clear, defiant statement: They are a force to be reckoned with.

On Saturday, for the second straight day, the Tar Heels walked off against the Cowboys, overcoming a first-inning grand slam by Dustin Williams, a short, 2 1/3-inning outing from sophomore starter J.B. Bukauskas and an eighth-inning blown save to seal a series win, 7-6, in 10 innings. Sophomore leadoff hitter Brian Miller dealt the final blow, a single over a drawn-in infield with the bases loaded and one out that put an end to a topsy-turvy game.

“We’ll take them any way we can get them,” UNC coach Mike Fox said. “Credit them, and credit us. Kind of a strange game. First three innings took forever. The grand slam, just a bad start on our part, J.B.’s part, but we climbed back in it and just kind of hung in there.”

While the Tar Heels are on the rise, the Cowboys—preseason No. 9—are looking to gain their footing after a 2-4 start to the season. Head coach Josh Holliday said before the series his team would need to improve its situational hitting. Those words continue to ring true; all four Oklahoma State losses this season have been decided by one run.

Strike Two: Hornets Stun The Tigers 

Maybe Sacramento State should consider joining the SEC.

After taking two out of three at Auburn opening weekend, the Hornets (4-2) evened their series at No. 8 Louisiana State on Saturday, coming from behind to win, 5-4, at Alex Box Stadium.

“This was one of the most unbelievable wins I’ve ever been a part of,” Sacramento State head coach Reggie Christiansen told hornetsports.com. “Every position player was involved and we got six scoreless innings from (relievers) Tanner Olson, Chad Perry, and (Tyler) Beardsley. It was a special team win.”

LSU jumped ahead early with a four-run third inning, but the Hornets managed to chip away against sophomore righthander Alex Lange (5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 9 K) and entered the ninth inning trailing, 4-3. An error by LSU shortstop Cole Freeman got the leadoff man on for Sacramento State and jump-started a rally against freshman righthander Caleb Gilbert. DH Matt Smith singled in the tying run, and first baseman Vinny Esposito hit a sac fly to drive in the eventual game-winner.

It was the second loss of the week for the Tigers, who lost another late-game heartbreaker, 12-11, at Lamar on Wednesday. They could go through some growing pains as they trot out a lineup with eight new starters compared to last season.

The Hornets figure to be top contenders in the WAC, and these early successes in SEC territory could be helpful resume builders come tournament time.

Strike Three: Pirates Plunder Series From Reigning Champs

East Carolina was a regional team under first-year head coach Cliff Godwin last season, and if the first two weeks of this season are any indication, the Pirates could be headed in that direction again.

On Saturday, East Carolina dealt No. 4 Virginia, last year’s national champion, a second straight loss in Charlottesville. The win pushed the Pirates to their first 6-0 start since 2004, and most impressively, it secured their first series win against a top 5 opponent since 2002.

Junior righthander Jacob Wolfe kept the Cavaliers in check offensively, holding them to four hits and just one unearned run in six innings. Meanwhile, the Pirates pounded freshman lefthander Daniel Lynch for six runs in 5 1/3—the big blow a three-run home run off the bat of junior Luke Bolka.

Before this weekend, the Pirates had lost their previous nine games against Virginia, including a sweep in last year’s opening weekend. The ECU win dropped the Cavaliers to 3-3 on the season.

“We just need to keep grinding and get better,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor told virginiasports.com. “We have to come out tomorrow, play tough and try and get one for the weekend. They’re a good team and were an NCAA tournament team last year for a reason. Wolfe did a nice job of pitching down in the zone and throwing his changeup in there. He had us tied in knots. We didn’t get a lot of good swings against him.”

The Lineup

Nine newsmakers from Saturday’s action.

1. Brendan McKay, lhp/1b, Louisville: McKay was simply masterful against No. 21 Mississippi, throwing his first career complete-game shutout (3 H, 0 BB, 8 K) on just 93 pitches. McKay hasn’t allowed a run this season in 14 innings. At the plate, McKay also doubled and scored a run to fuel a 4-0 bounce-back win for the No. 2 Cardinals.
2. Luken Baker, rhp/DH, Texas Christian: Just as he did in his first collegiate start last weekend, Baker both homered at the plate and threw six shutout innings (4 H, 0 BB, 7 K) for the Horned Frogs in a truncated 10-0, seven-inning win against Rice in Houston. The freshman hasn’t allowed a run in 12 innings this season.
3. Alfonso Rivas III, of, Arizona: The freshman outfielder went 5-for-6, drove in four, finished a triple short of the cycle and scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning in a thrilling 11-10 Wildcats win against Nebraska in the Tony Gwynn Classic.
4. Alex Destino, 1b/lhp, South Carolina: The two-way sophomore hit a three-run home run, a grand slam and added a double in a 3-for-6, seven-RBIs day to help lead the Gamecocks to a 16-5 win over Penn State—their seventh straight win to open the season.
5. Richard Cunningham, of, Baylor: In a gaudy 20-4 victory against Stony Brook, Cunningham had the most eye-popping performance. The redshirt freshman drove in a whopping eight runs—the most in a single game for the program since 1998. He homered, tripled and went 3-for-4 overall.
6. Austin Sexton, rhp, Mississippi State: Sexton, a junior righthander, threw his first career complete-game shutout and struck out a career-high 11 against Nicholls State in a 5-0 win. He allowed just three hits and needed only 97 pitches to finish the job.
7. Billy King, dh, Oregon State: With the Beavers trailing Kansas, 2-1, in the eighth inning, King stepped up to the plate as a pinch-hitter and launched his first career home run—a three-run shot that gave Oregon State the lead. The Beavers never looked back, and King added an RBI single in his next at-bat for good measure.
8. Zack Collins, c, Miami: In a rivalry battle with Florida, the junior helped the Hurricanes pull away with two-run singles in both the third and the fourth inning, chasing lefthander A.J. Puk from the game and giving Miami just enough cushion to win, 5-3. Collins drove in four of the Hurricanes’ five runs.
9. Dustin Beggs, rhp, Kentucky: Beggs was dominant against San Diego State in the Tony Gwynn Classic, throwing eight scoreless, two-hit innings and fanning 10 in a 6-0 win for the Wildcats. The outing was the senior’s second career double-digit strikeout performance.