Off The Bat: Kentucky A Giant-Killer Again

Kentucky Takes Down No. 1—Again

Entering the weekend, Florida was the top-ranked team in the country with a 22-1 record. Florida’s lone loss was a 5-3 defeat at Miami on Feb. 27, and it had run off 16 straight wins since then.

But there are no easy weekends in the Southeastern Conference, and Florida knew it was in for a tough weekend series at Kentucky. The Wildcats had won the series in each of the last three seasons.

The Gators won the first game, 12-5, on Friday, but then ran into tougher opposition the next two days. Kentucky evened the series with a 7-4 victory Saturday, beating Preseason All-American lefthander A.J. Puk, and then stunned Florida with a comeback, 5-4 win in 10 innings Sunday to claim the series.

For the third straight year, Kentucky had knocked off the No. 1 team in the country. It also beat Louisiana State last year and South Carolina in 2013.

Wildcats coach Gary Henderson said beating top-ranked teams always feels good.

“That part doesn’t get old,” coach Gary Henderson said. “Fortunately, we play in a league where you get the opportunity to do that pretty much any year. It seems like in any year, one or more teams are going to be ranked No. 1 in the country.”

For a while Sunday, it look like Kentucky (17-6) would not come up with another series win against a top-ranked foe. Florida took a 3-0 lead in the second inning, and it was 15-0 when it scored first. But the Wildcats chipped away at the lead, scoring twice in the sixth against starter Alex Faedo and then tying the game the next inning against righthander Shaun Anderson.

While its offense went to work, righthander Kyle Cody kept Florida from expanding its lead and putting the game away. Cody (6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 3 K) was able to consistently work out of trouble after a rough second inning, Henderson said.

“I’m really proud of the number of guys Kyle was able to leave on base and the number of pitches he made when it really mattered,” Henderson said. “When the game really demanded he make a pitch to keep them from scoring, he was able to do it.”

Neither team was able to push a run across in the last two innings, sending the game to extras. The Gators quickly grabbed the upper hand, as the inning began with Buddy Reed reaching on an error by shortstop Riley Mahan. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and J.J. Schwarz drove him in with a single. After another error by Mahan put runners on first and second with no outs, 6-foot-11 freshman Sean Hjelle was able to escape further damage, retiring the next three batters.

Henderson said after the way the top of the 10th went, the Wildcats felt pretty good about only giving up one run.
“We played pretty poorly in the 10th,” Henderson said. “We gave them five outs, gave them an extra bag. I think we felt as good as we possibly could be after giving up a run.”

Mahan soon atoned for his errors, tying the game with a solo home run off righthander Dane Dunning. After a hit batter and a walk, Florida summoned Brady Singer from the bullpen to relieve Dunning. Evan White greeted the freshman with an infield single to load the bases, and with JaVon Shelby at the plate, Singer threw a wild pitch that allowed Tyler Marshall to race home from third for the winning run.

Before Sunday, the trio of Anderson, Dunning and Singer had given up a total of 10 runs (nine earned) in 44 innings of relief this season. But the Wildcats were able to scratch out the crucial runs against one of the best bullpens in the country.
“The Gator bullpen arms as a whole are as impressive as I’ve ever seen from top to bottom,” Henderson said. “Just a really good collection of arms and an impressive group of kids.”

Kentucky has now won back-to-back SEC series despite losing the first game of each. While that is not an ideal recipe for success, Henderson said it tells him a lot about his team and No. 2 starter Dustin Beggs (6-0, 2.40).

After two midweek games, Kentucky will travel to Tennessee next weekend, looking for its third straight SEC series win. It has not done that since 2012, when it opened SEC play with series wins against South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.

But with the SEC as tough as it is, there is no letup in the schedule and little time for Henderson to celebrate anything at this point in the season.

“We won our first two league series, so you feel good,” Henderson said, “and you realize that you’ve got eight more of them coming right at you.”

Arizona Wins #4Josh

Last year, through Team IMPACT, a nonprofit organization that matches college teams with children who have chronic or life-threatening diseases, Arizona made Josh Weaver an unofficial member of their team. The teenager had brain cancer, but quickly became a constant presence around the Wildcats.

Weaver watched games from the Arizona dugout and was around the team throughout fall ball. On Feb. 16, three days before Opening Day, the 17-year old passed away.

The Wildcats have honored Weaver all season, but they had a special pregame ceremony Saturday before they played UCLA. Arizona coach Jay Johnson said the players organized the event, which featured Weaver’s father, Matt Weaver, throwing out the first pitch and a video produced by infielder Sawyer Gieseke playing on the scoreboard.

In a separate video on the Arizona baseball Twitter, Gieseke said the Wildcats would play game for Weaver.

A beautiful message from Sawyer. #4Josh pic.twitter.com/tTbvjgDbxi

— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball) March 26, 2016

Following the emotional start to the day, Arizona scored five runs in the ninth inning to defeat UCLA, 6-5, and win the series.

Weaverhad already been matched with the Wildcats when Johnson was hired in June to replace the retiring Andy Lopez. Johnson quickly learned how special Weaver and his family were.

“He was around practice all the time,” Johnson said. “His parents are rock star people. In the face of adversity, they always have great character and perseverance.”

Johnson said winning the series was “a great accomplishment,” but in a competitive Pac-12 Conference, he knows one weekend can only mean so much.

“It goes without saying that every opponent in our league is really good,” Johnson said. “I try not to put too much on one game or one weekend. You can get yourself in trouble, so I try not to do that. But UCLA is the kingpin of the conference as of now in terms of what it’s been able to do the last six, seven, eight years.”

Arizona’s ninth-inning comeback Saturday came after it had been stymied for seven innings by UCLA righthander Kyle Molnar (7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K). But facing closer Brian Gadsby, the Wildcats put together a rally that ultimately brought Preseason All-American Bobby Dalbec to the plate with two outs and a runner on first base in a tie game. Dalbec doubled down the left field line and Alfonso Rivas raced around from first base, diving into home just ahead of the tag.

“Bobby got a mistake up in the zone and hit it down the line,” Johnson said. “Luckily, we play in the biggest park in America and made the relay throw just long enough.”

Saturday’s victory gave Arizona its first Pac-12 series win of the season after it lost at Washington on the opening weekend of conference play. Before the season, Pac-12 coaches picked the Wildcats to finish ninth in the conference, but they have outperformed those expectations so far.

Johnson knows there is a lot of season left and has tried to impart on his team just how hard it is to win in Division I college baseball. So he has brought a motivational device with him from Nevada. After every victory, he has the Wildcats take a team picture and then posts it on his Twitter.

6-5 Cats! #wow #BearDown #CREED #4Josh pic.twitter.com/YBFyxTNFdn
— Jay Johnson (@UACoachJ) March 27, 2016

With that kind of mindset, it’s no surprise that Johnson isn’t looking to ride the momentum from the winning weekend.
“It’s a growth step in the program for sure, but with that being said, this weekend will have nothing to do with our midweek or next weekend at Utah, who is playing very well,” Johnson said. “We have to go back to work.”

Louisville’s Offense Enjoys Comforts Of Home

In the first five weeks of the season, Louisville twice went on the road to play Top 25 opponents. It lost both series, falling at Mississippi in the second week of the season, and then again at Miami last week.

The schedule gave Louisville another ranked opponent this weekend, but this time it got to stay at home to play Virginia, the defending national champions.

After losing Friday, the Cardinals bounced back to win the next two games and earn a big series win. As usual, lefthander/DH Brendan McKay played a key role, homering and picking up the victory on the mound Saturday with eight strong innings as Louisville won, 11-4, and then scoring twice Sunday in a 15-0 rout.

“It feels great after last weekend at Miami not playing our best and getting down early in the first game of series,” he said. “It feels good to be playing our best baseball and scoring a lot of runs.”

After losing, 6-3, Friday against righthander Connor Jones, a likely first-round pick in June, Louisville’s offense exploded for 26 runs the next two days. McKay said the Cardinals wanted to keep a simple approach against the Cavaliers, who were attacking them with a lot of offspeed pitches.

With McKay and outfielder Corey Ray, the Cardinals have two Preseason All-Americans in their lineup. That pair produced some big numbers in the two wins (both homered and collected four hits), but Louisville’s offense is more than its two superstars. Ten Cardinals scored at least one run and nine produced at least one RBI in the final two games of the series.

McKay said Louisville’s hitters do a good job of helping each other out.

“Obviously playing with some of best players in college baseball helps,” he said. “We talk about what a pitcher is doing and relay that to the other hitters.”

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, North Carolina, Texas A&M, Texas Christian, Vanderbilt

I agonized this week over these eight teams. The West Coast teams are particularly vexing, and a few of the top teams had losing weekends for the first time this season. Largely I stuck with those teams, though I did replace Oregon State with California. The Beavers are a talented team, but in their biggest test to date, they got swept. For California, it was an important series win coming off last weekend’s loss at Southern California. The Golden Bears have had their own missteps this season, but with Daulton Jefferies (6-0, 1.29) at the front of their rotation, they will be a very tough out in the postseason.

Eye-Catchers

Five players or programs who stood out this weekend.

Ryan Hingst, rhp, Arizona State: The sophomore threw the 10th no-hitter in program history Saturday, as Arizona State defeated Utah, 5-0. Hingst struck out nine batters and walked three, while improving to 3-0, 0.71. He was making his first start of the season and first career start in conference play.

Tanner Houck, rhp, Missouri: A potential first-rounder next year, Houck showed just how dominant he can be Saturday against Vanderbilt. The sophomore struck out 14 batters in nine shutout innings and held the Commodores to two hits and two walks. Missouri couldn’t get any runs of its own, however, and lost, 2-0, in 11 innings. Houck is now 2-2, 2.09 with 48 strikeouts and 10 walks in 43 innings this spring.

J.P. Sears, lhp, Citadel: Against Virginia Military Institute on Friday, Sears struck out 19 of the 28 batters he faced in a 10-2 victory. The sophomore finished one strikeout shy of the school record, and held VMI to one run on three hits and two walks in eight innings. He is 4-1, 2.21 with 47 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings this season.

South Carolina: With a sweep at Mississippi, South Carolina improved to 6-0 in SEC play for the first time in program history. The Gamecocks have outscored their opponents 42-20 in conference games, and are the lone reaming undefeated team in the SEC.

Kyle Wood, 1b, Purdue: The redshirt senior is on a nine-game extra-base hit streak and has homered nine times in the Boilermakers’ last 14 games. Wood drove in 14 runs in five games last week, and is now hitting .288/.387/.725 with nine home runs in 21 games this season.

Looking Ahead

Three weekend series we’re most excited for:

(1) Texas A&M at (2) Florida: The two teams have been ranked Nos. 1 and 2 for the last month, but the order flipped this week after Florida lost a series at Kentucky, its first series loss of the year. Now, the Gators and Aggies will face off the biggest series of the season so far. On top of their series this weekend, both face tough games Tuesday, as Florida plays No. 12 Florida State in Jacksonville, and Texas A&M visits No. 15 Houston.

(9) North Carolina at (3) Miami: Having beaten Louisville and Clemson at home on back-to-back weekends, Miami now welcomes a third straight Top 25 opponent to Mark Light Field. North Carolina is coming off its first series loss of the year, and will face a tough challenge as it looks to bounce back. The Hurricanes have won the annual series in five of the past six seasons.

(13) Mississippi at (5) Mississippi State: The rivalry has some added juice this year, as both teams are ranked in the top 15. Mississippi has won the last three weekend series between the two teams, but Mississippi State comes into this year’s edition as the hotter team. The Bulldogs have won their first two SEC series, while the Rebels are looking to rebound after getting swept at home by South Carolina. But regardless of what it means to the conference standings, this is one of the best rivalries in college sports and should provide a thrilling series.

Two Weekend Series You Shouldn’t Overlook

Mercer at Samford: The ball will likely be flying out of Joe Lee Griffin Field this weekend. The two teams have combined to hit 69 home runs this season, led by star outfielders Kyle Lewis (11) and Heath Quinn (13). The series is a rematch of last year’s Southern Conference Tournament championship game (won by Mercer, 5-0), and should have significant implications for this year’s conference race as well.

Cal State Northridge at Cal State Fullerton: Big West Conference play begins this weekend, and both the Matadors and Titans are looking to get off on the right foot. Northridge has opened the season 20-5, but this weekend will be by far its biggest test. Fullerton, the preseason Big West favorite, will be looking to get back on track after back-to-back home series losses to Maryland and Long Beach State.

One Midweek Game To Keep An Eye On

(22) Arkansas at (16) Oklahoma State (Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET): Both the Razorbacks and Cowboys will carry momentum into Tuesday’s game, with both teams coming off weekend sweeps. Oklahoma State is 5-0 in midweek games this season, and has a chance to pick up another solid win at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. The two teams will meet again for a return engagement in Fayetteville, Ark., on March 26.