Friday College Roundup: Brendan McKay, J.B. Bukauskas Sterling On Opening Day

SEE ALSO: 2017 College Preview

Three key story lines from around college baseball Friday night.

Strike One: ACC Aces Show Best Stuff In Openers

One of the central questions leading up to this year’s draft revolves around Louisville two-way star Brendan McKay: Is he a pitcher at the next level or a hitter? On Opening Day, McKay did evaluators no favors.

Not only did McKay deliver on the mound—nine strikeouts, no walks and just four hits allowed in six scoreless innings for his 22nd career win—but the junior showed his muscle at the plate as well, hitting a home run and going 2-for-3 with two RBIs to help his own cause.

Behind the lefthander and first baseman, who ranks No. 4 on the College Top 100, No. 7 Louisville defeated Alabama State, 7-0, in Clearwater, Fla.

“It was solid work for me and a good start to the season for our team,” McKay told gocards.com. “Early on, I was locating my fastball in and out pretty well and I was throwing the curveball for strikes. All in all, it was a balanced performance for us on the mound, at the plate and defensively.”

HOW THE TOP 25 FARED

(1) Texas Christian: won, 6-3, vs. Penn State

(2) Florida State: lost, 3-0, vs. Virginia Commonwealth

(3) Florida: won, 5-4, vs. William & Mary

(4) Louisiana State: postponed vs. Air Force

(5) South Carolina: won, 7-1, vs. UNC Greensboro

(6) East Carolina: lost, 5-4, at Mississippi

(7) Louisville: won, 7-0, vs. Alabama State at Clearwater, Fla.

(8) Cal State Fullerton: won, 1-0, vs. (23) Stanford on Thursday

(9) Oregon State: won, 1-0, vs. Indiana; won, 6-3, vs. Duke, at Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic, Surprise, Ariz.

(10) Clemson: lost, 6-4, vs. Wright State

(11) Vanderbilt: lost, 3-2, at San Diego; suspended in 7th, up, 8-2, at San Diego

(12) Washington: postponed at Santa Clara

(13) Louisiana-Lafayette: canceled vs. Southeastern Louisiana

(14) North Carolina State: won, 4-0, at Hawaii

(15) Coastal Carolina: won, 8-5, vs. Richmond

(16) Virginia: won, 10-2, vs. Liberty at Charleston Crab House Challenge, Charleston, S.C.

(17) North Carolina: won, 3-1, vs. Kentucky

(18) Oklahoma State: lost, 6-1, at Grand Canyon

(19) UC Santa Barbara: won, 6-3, at Loyola Marymount on Thursday

(20) Long Beach State: lost, 6-2, at Oklahoma

(21) Georgia Tech: won, 5-3, vs. Brigham Young

(22) Arizona: won, 6-0, vs. Eastern Kentucky

(23) Stanford: lost, 1-0, at (8) Cal State Fullerton on Thursday

(24) Maryland: lost, 8-3, vs. Ball State at Clearwater, Fla.

(25) Texas Tech: won, 15-1, vs. Western Illinois; won, 5-2, at Mississippi State, Starkville, Miss.

McKay wasn’t the only Atlantic Coast Conference ace to get off on the right foot. No. 17 North Carolina righthander J.B. Bukauskas, who ranks No. 3 on the College Top 100, was equally impressive on the mound in UNC’s 3-1 win against Kentucky.

Bukauskas struck out 10 in six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits to one walk. The junior worked in the low- to mid-90s throughout the start, routinely touching 96 mph and using a mid-80s slider as his main strikeout pitch.

Bukauskas gave up a single on his very first pitch—a 96 mph fastball—but quickly settled down.

“The report on them was that they were going to be more patient, so I was a little surprised by it,” Bukauskas said. “But after that, I started to see they were hunting fastball, so I needed to mix it up . . . so I started throwing more sliders as the game went on and ended up being very successful.”

Strike Two: 3 Top 10 Teams Upset

One of No. 2 Florida State’s clear strengths heading into this season is its offense, which features four switch-hitters, two junior leaders in shortstop Taylor Walls and third baseman Dylan Busby and coach Mike Martin’s patented grind-it-out offensive approach.

Yet, on Opening Day, that offense surprisingly only mustered one hit.

The Seminoles lost at home, 3-0, to Virginia Commonwealth, shut down by Rams junior ace Sean Thompson, who combined with Matt Jamer and closer Sam Donko for a shutout.

“It’s just one of those games that you tip your hat to the other club and be ready to go the next day,” Martin told Seminoles.com.

The Seminoles were one of three Top 10 teams to fall in their openers. No. 6 East Carolina, coming off a super regional appearance last year, was edged on the road, 5-4, in a tough opener against Mississippi. Both sophomore Dwanya Williams-Sutton and powerful freshman Spencer Brickhouse homered for the Pirates in the losing effort, while junior Will Golsan homered for the Rebels. Freshman Thomas Dillard, part of the country’s top recruiting class, singled and drove in a run for Ole Miss, as well.

Meanwhile, at Clemson, Wright State upset the No. 10 Tigers, 6-4, to open the Jeff Mercer era with flair.

“It’s a great first win, but it won’t define our season,” the first-year head coach told wsuraiders.com.  “We have a lot of work to do to improve and I look forward to getting back on the field tomorrow to get better.”

Strike Three: Cloney Throws Another Gem

Affirming lefthander J.C. Cloney’s commitment to Arizona was one of head coach Jay Johnson’s top priorities when he took over the Wildcats last season. That effort proved justified in the College World Series, where Cloney threw 16 scoreless innings, including a shutout in the first game of the CWS finals against eventual champion Coastal Carolina.

In the first game of the season against Eastern Kentucky, Cloney picked up exactly where he left off, allowing only one hit and no walks in seven scoreless innings, striking out seven. The outing pushed Cloney to 23 consecutive scoreless innings, dating back to Omaha, and it propelled Arizona to a 6-0 win. He likely could’ve gone the distance again, if needed, as it only took him 74 pitches to make it through seven innings.

Cloney gave up a leadoff double to Daniel McFarland to start the game and then retired 15 straight, with the only other baserunner coming via a wild strike three.

The Wildcats broke the game open in the sixth with a three-run inning, including an RBI double from talented freshman third baseman Nick Quintana.

The Lineup

Nine newsmakers from Friday’s action.

1. Hunter Hargrove, 1b, Texas Tech: Hargrove, a senior in a much younger lineup compared to last season, paced the Red Raiders through two games of Friday’s doubleheader, going 6-for-9 with a home run and four RBIs.

2. Clay Fisher, ss, UC Santa Barbara: In Thursday’s first game of the Division 1 season, Fisher hit a home run on the second pitch of the game, going 2-for-4 with three RBI in the Gauchos’ 6-3 win at Loyola Marymount.

“Clay getting a swing like that to start the season is pretty special, you don’t see that very often,” head coach Andrew Checketts told ucsbgauchos.com. “I think it helped our guys relax. Usually the first time out you’re nervous and have some jitters, but I thought we did a good job staying in character and keeping focus.”

3. Keegan Thompson, rhp, Auburn: After missing all of 2016 due to Tommy John surgery, Auburn’s ace made a glowing return to the mound, throwing six shutout innings against George Washington in a 9-0 win.

4. Connor Seabold, rhp, Cal State Fullerton: In a premium West Coast matchup between two Top 25 teams on Thursday, Seabold and the Titans came out on top, throwing seven scoreless innings and striking out five in a 1-0, nail-biting win.

5. Xzavion Curry, rhp, Georgia Tech: A freshman two-way player, Curry made an immediate impact for the Yellow Jackets, throwing five scoreless innings against a potent Brigham Young offense and striking out five.

“Curry couldn’t have thrown the ball any better,” head coach Danny Hall told ramblinwreck.com. “To get five innings and no runs, I thought was outstanding. It gave us a great boost to start the game.”

6. J.D. Orr, of, Wright State: Helping to fuel the Raiders’ 6-4 win at No. 10 Clemson, Orr went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.

7. Jake McCarthy, of, Virginia: The Cavaliers were expecting a significant contribution from McCarthy in his freshman season before he hurt himself after just six games in 2016. Finally healthy, McCarthy showed why, hitting a three-run home run and going 3-for-4 in Virginia’s win over Liberty.

8. Luke Heimlich, lhp, Oregon State: In a 1-0 win over Indiana, the junior lefthander struck out a career-best 11 batters in 5.2 innings, allowing no runs on four hits.

9. Sean Thompson, rhp, Virginia Commonwealth: Thompson set the tone in VCU’s shutout of Florida State, allowing just one hit and striking out six in five innings against one of the deepest lineups in the country.