Off The Bat: Batter Up For Bulldogs

In Off The Bat, Teddy Cahill wraps up the weekend in college baseball and looks ahead.

Bulldogs Take Consistent Approach To Defeat Ducks

Coming into its weekend showdown at Mississippi State, Oregon’s trio of lefthanded starters had been nearly unhittable. Through three weeks, Cole Irvin, Matt Krook and David Peterson were a combined 4-0, 0.92 with 78 strikeouts in 59 innings.

Facing a deep Bulldogs lineup on the road, however, the Ducks faltered. Irvin, Krook and Peterson all took losses as Mississippi State banged out 33 hits and scored 24 runs (14 against the starters) in a sweep.

Mississippi State coach John Cohen said the Bulldogs watched “a ton” of video before the series, and credited his hitters for not chasing pitches outside the strike zone.

“One thing about having tremendous stuff is there are times when the stuff doesn’t end up in the strike zone,” Cohen said. “Our kids did a great job creating a zone for themselves and staying within it all weekend. Our hitters, to a man, have been locked in, for me, since we went to (Southern California) last weekend.”

Leading Mississippi State’s offense was right fielder Brent Rooker, who went 6-for-11 with four runs and five RBIs on the weekend. The sophomore also hit his first two home runs of the season and now leads the team with 20 RBIs.

“He’s someone who has worked so hard to get his stroke where he wants it to be,” Cohen said. “I’m thrilled he’s having success. We all knew at some point he would have success, he just works so hard at it.”

Mississippi State got strong pitching all weekend, with its rotation of Dakota Hudson, Austin Sexton and Daniel Brown combining to limit Oregon to two runs in 18 2/3 innings. Outfielder/righthander Reid Humphreys also impressed Sunday, driving in two runs at the plate and pairing a 92-93 mph fastball with a good slider in a perfect ninth to earn his second save of the season.

With both its hitting and pitching going, Mississippi State controlled the series nearly from the start. The Bulldogs trailed only once all series, falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first Friday. By the end of the fifth inning, they were in the lead, a position that would become familiar.

While it was a commanding series victory for the Bulldogs, Cohen came away impressed by the Ducks. He noted that Oregon flew to the Deep South on Wednesday, only to be met by two days of rain that washed out its practices and game Thursday at Alabama. Rain then prevented both teams from taking batting practice outside Friday and Saturday.

“That many days when you can’t get outside is tough on the team that’s traveling,” Cohen said. “Their starting rotation is as good as anybody’s out there. Those three kids have tremendous stuff and are very competitive. They just didn’t pitch as well here as they had been, so I think we’re a little fortunate. There’s no doubt in my mind that team will win a lot of games.”

For the Bulldogs, the series was a statement the weekend before Southeastern Conference play begins. There’s no letup for Mississippi State, with a pair of midweek games leading into a series at Vanderbilt starting Friday.

SEE ALSO: Top 25

Long Beach State Continues Strong Start

Going into Sunday, Long Beach State’s bullpen was 2-0, 0.99 with six saves in 14 games. The relievers, anchored by closer Chris Rivera had been critical to the Dirtbags’ early-season success.

So when Long Beach edged ahead of Oklahoma by a run in the seventh inning Sunday, it looked like another game following the familiar script. But the Sooners scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth against Rivera, walking off as winners when Hunter Haley hit his first home run of the season.

While the loss snapped Long Beach’s five-game winning streak, it still won its fourth straight series to begin the season. At 10-5, the Dirtbags have moved into the Top 25 at No. 24, their first ranking since the end of the 2008 season.

Coach Troy Buckley is pleased with the way his team has played to start the year, but knows there is still a lot of baseball to be played.

“It’s been fun coaching this team,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of weapons, they’re able to do some things. We’ve got to manage the tough times, which will be coming at some point.”

Against Oklahoma, Long Beach swept a Saturday doubleheader that began with a game against Preseason All-American Alec Hansen. The Dirtbags scored five runs against the righthander on five hits and four walks and knocked him out in the fifth inning.

Long Beach got a solid start from ace Chris Mathewson (7 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 5 K), and the bullpen did its job in a 7-3 victory.

Hansen can run his fastball up into the upper 90s, and Buckley said facing that kind of velocity has given the Dirtbags problems. But he said they had a good approach against Hansen.

“I was really impressed because that’s been something we’ve been struggling with, just being on time with somebody’s fastball,” Buckley said. “I thought the guys did really good job of shortening their swing and directing the barrel, not just getting to it.”

The Dirtbags were led by shortstop Garrett Hampson, who collected four hits on the day, and outfielder Brock Lundquist, who scored four runs and drove in four.

Hampson has been central to everything Long Beach has accomplished this season. The junior, who played for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team over the summer, has yet to make an error and is hitting .397/.500/.466 with eight stolen bases.
Buckley said Hampson has been everything the Dirtbags have needed him to be.

“He’s in a really good spot with lineup,” Buckley said. “We put him at top of the order and he’s got great energy, he’s playing baseball, playing the next pitch.

“He’s really taken the team over.”

Buckley said Long Beach has relied on its pitching and defense so far this season, but against Oklahoma the offense began to come alive. The Dirtbags scored 16 runs over the weekend, their most in any series so far this year.

“Offensively, we’re starting to play better,” Buckley said. “We have a chance to be a real solid offensive team. This weekend we manufactured a lot of runs, crated a lot of panic (on the base paths).”

Opening Weekend Of ACC Play Offers Few Surprises

The Atlantic Coast Conference became the first major conference to begin league play this weekend, with a full slate of games. Boston College scored the biggest upset of the first weekend, with a series victory at North Carolina State, and Georgia Tech, previously undefeated, was swept at Florida State.

But, for the most part, the conference’s high-profile teams had winning weekends. Not that anyone was taking that for granted.
Virginia, the defending national champions, won its first two games at Duke, before falling, 3-0, Sunday. Coach Brian O’Connor said he was pleased with his team’s weekend.

“I think Duke’s got a really good club,” O’Connor said. “For us to win those first two ballgames, I’m really, really proud of our guys. You go on the road in this league and you win a series, you’re feeling good.”

Similarly, North Carolina won its first two games against Pittsburgh before losing, 5-0, Sunday. Junior outfielder Tyler Ramirez said it was important for the younger Tar Heels to start conference play with a series win.

“The ACC’s a whole new ballgame, different beast coming at you,” Ramirez said. “Everybody’s good. You’re not going to have a get-me-over game. So I think it’s good to get the confidence going.”

Eight for Omaha

Each week, I’ll update my projected College World Series field based on the latest week’s games.

California, Florida, Louisville, Miami, Oregon State, Texas A&M, Texas Christian, Vanderbilt.

All but California won their weekend series, and the Golden Bears were denied an opportunity to go for the series win when their final two games against Texas Tech were rained out. As a result, I’ll stick with the same eight teams I had last week. They all are in league play next week, which will provide the best measuring stick to date for most of these clubs.

Eye-Catchers

Five players or programs who stood out this weekend:

Seth Beer, of, Clemson: Beer could still be a senior at Lambert High in Suwanee, Ga. Instead, he graduated a semester early and has immediately become a key cog in the Tigers lineup. This weekend at Wake Forest, he hit four home runs, becoming the first Clemson player to do so in a weekend series since Andy D’Alessio hit four homers at Duke in 2006.

Kyle Cedotal, lhp, Southeastern Louisiana: The senior struck out 13 batters and allowed just one hit in eight scoreless innings Saturday against Incarnate Word. In four starts this season, Cedotal is 2-2, 1.44 with 42 strikeouts and six walks in 31 1/3 innings.

Florida A&M: The Rattlers defeated Bethune-Cookman, 5-3, on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep. It was the first time Bethune-Cookman was swept by a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rival in more than a decade. FAMU is now 11-5 and has won eight straight.

Corbin Olmstead, rhp/dh, North Florida: The senior went from goat to hero in the ninth inning Sunday. After giving up the go-ahead run in the top of the inning, Olmstead hit a three-run, walk-off triple in the bottom half of the inning to give North Florida a 12-11 win against UNC-Wilmington and a series sweep. Olmstead, an All-American last year, is now 1-0, 1.64 with three saves on the mound and hitting .309/.356/.471 with a team-high 20 RBIs this season.

Kyle Nelson, lhp, UC Santa Barbara: With four more scoreless innings against Hartford, Nelson extended his streak to 47 innings without allowing an earned run. The sophomore is 3-0, 0.00 with 24 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings this season.

Looking Ahead

Three weekend series we’re most excited for:

(15) Mississippi State at (5) Vanderbilt: Southeastern Conference play will begin with a premier matchup Friday night between righthanders Dakota Hudson and Jordan Sheffield. The rest of the series should be just as good, as Mississippi State looks to build on its sweep of Oregon, and Vanderbilt will face its first ranked opponent of the season.

(4) Louisville at (6) Miami: Having already hosted (and lost) a series against preseason No. 1 Florida, Miami will now welcome preseason No. 2 Louisville to Mark Light Field. Louisville dropped out of the No. 2 spot in the rankings when it lost a series at Mississippi, and will now get another chance to prove itself on the road in a high-profile series.

(18) Michigan at (22) Oklahoma State: The Wolverines open the season with 17 straight games away from the Wilpon Complex. This marquee nonconference series represents the end of their road trip. Michigan (11-3) is coming off a four-game sweep at Hawaii, while Oklahoma State (9-6) will hope to repeat its showing in the return trip of last year’s series, which it won in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Two Weekend Series You Shouldn’t Overlook

Western Kentucky at Old Dominion: Conference USA is off to an outstanding start to the season, with nine of its 12 teams finishing the fourth weekend of the season with winning records. Two of the league’s surprise teams, Old Dominion (11-4) and Western Kentucky (10-5), picked by league coaches to finish fifth and ninth in the preseason poll, will meet on the first weekend of conference play.

Arizona at Washington: Like several other conferences, the Pac-12 begins league play this weekend. The conference looks like it will be very competitive again, and two of the teams trying to get back to the NCAA Tournament will open with a three-game set in Seattle. First-year coach Jay Johnson has Arizona off to an 11-4 start, while Washington is 8-5 with sophomore righthander Noah Bremer (2-0, 0.64) leading the rotation.

One Midweek Game To Keep An Eye On

(13) Florida State at (1) Florida (Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. ET): One of a few rivalry games this week, Florida-Florida State has the most juice. The top-ranked Gators have won 11 in a row, while the Seminoles are coming off a weekend sweep of previously undefeated Georgia Tech. It’s one of college baseball’s best rivalries, and the two teams have the talent to make Tuesday’s showdown another great edition.