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Off The Bat: Shriners Classic Delivers On Its Promise

HOUSTON—Five of the six teams in the field at the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic entered the weekend in the Top 25, including No. 1 Texas Christian. The lone team outside the rankings came to Houston undefeated. With that kind of star-studded field, the 17th edition of the tournament promised to be an exceptional showcase for college baseball.

Over the course of three days at Minute Maid Park, the tournament delivered on its promise. TCU and Texas A&M, familiar super regional rivals, played a 15-inning classic Saturday night. Baylor shortstop Tucker Cascadden closed out the tournament Sunday with a walk-off grand slam to beat A&M. Louisiana State lefthander Jared Poche’ didn’t produce any no-hit drama for the first time this season, but on Saturday extended his scoreless streak to 22 innings to start the season. Many more highlights were produced throughout the nine games, playing out before a total of 53,565 fans, a tournament record.

TCU was named tournament champions for the second straight year after again going 3-0 in the event.

“We enjoy the atmosphere, that’s for sure,” coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “I wish it guaranteed something, but it doesn’t. It’s a great weekend, but the challenge now is to get back to the middle, get some rest and get ready for (Dallas Baptist) on Tuesday.”

In addition to providing fans with a weekend’s worth of entertainment, the tournament gave the six coaches plenty of new information about their teams. Playing in an atmosphere that several players and coaches compared to the College World Series gave their teams an early-season stress test.

One weekend, especially not the first weekend in March, will not make or break a team’s season. But all the coaches left Houston with a better understanding of where their teams are in the developmental process and what they need to improve.

LSU went 1-2 and lost, 5-4, Sunday to Texas Tech on a walk-off single. Coach Paul Mainieri said playing close games against elite competition was what the Tigers anticipated in Houston.

“These are the kinds of games we expected to have when we were here,” he said. “I don’t think we played poorly overall this whole weekend, we just came up a little bit short today.”

This year’s Shriners College Classic took on a Big 12 Conference/Southeastern Conference Challenge format. The field was made up of three teams from each conference and every team faced the three opponents from the opposite conference over the weekend. The Big 12 teams combined to go 7-2 in the tournament. It was a loud statement for the conference, which saw three teams—Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas Tech—advance to the College World Series last season.

“Our conference is really good; we got three teams in Omaha last year,” Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez said. “A lot of those teams have the majority of those guys back. I just know that we have to come ready to play on those weekends.”

Next year’s tournament will not repeat the format, however. The Astros on Sunday announced the 2018 Shriners College Classic field will include Houston, Kentucky, Louisiana-Lafayette, Mississippi State, Sam Houston State and Vanderbilt.

Baylor Finishes Classic With A Slam

Baylor was the lone team that entered the Shriners College Classic unranked. The undefeated, 9-0 Bears had been picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 this season by the conference’s coaches following a 24-29 record in 2016.

The Bears split their first two games in Houston, beating Mississippi on Friday and losing to LSU on Saturday. Baylor appeared to be on its way to a losing weekend Sunday, as it trailed Texas A&M throughout the final game of the tournament. But the Bears’ belief never failed, even as they trailed 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth and the Aggies brought on Preseason All-American reliever Corbin Martin following a leadoff single.

Baylor rallied, bringing home one run and loading the bases with one out. Martin got a strikeout to bring shortstop Tucker Cascadden, the Bears’ nine-hole hitter, to the plate. When Martin, whose fastball can reach the upper 90s, left a 1-0 fastball belt high over the plate, Cascadden was ready. He hammered the pitch deep over the left field wall for a walk-off grand slam and a 6-3 victory.

Cascadden said he knew Martin threw hard having played against him since high school.

“I knew he had a power arm,” Cascadden said. “I didn’t really have much time to think. I just reacted and I really barreled it up.”

With the win, Baylor finished the weekend 2-1 and improved to 11-1 overall for the first time since 2008. The Bears also entered the Top 25 at No. 24, their first time in the rankings since finishing 2012 at No. 10.

Second-year coach Steve Rodriguez knows the season is just starting. But the in performance in Houston is important for the Bears as they aim for their first winning season and NCAA tournament appearance since 2012.

“We have 40 games left, so when you think about it in that perspective, that’s a lot of baseball,” Rodriguez said. “But I’ll tell you what, coming down here with an unbelievable cast of teams in this tournament, being able to win two out of three really is something exciting for us, and I know it’s going to make the trip back (to campus) a little bit easier.”

Baylor stuck to a familiar formula in Sunday’s victory. The Bears played clean baseball (they committed no errors and issued just one walk) and pitched well enough to stay in the game until they could string a rally together. Baylor is not heavily laden with high-profile prospects, but has a good team approach and a strong belief in itself.

“We know we aren’t the most talented group there is, but we really pride ourselves in being a family and having great team chemistry,” Cascadden said. “Every game, we really, really pick each other up on and off the field.”

That belief and chemistry has only been aided by Baylor’s play in Houston this weekend. Rodriguez said he wanted his team to leave Minute Maid understanding that when they play their game, they can play with anybody in the country.

Cascadden said that is exactly the lesson the Bears will take away from the Shriners College Classic.

“We know we can play anybody,” Cascadden said. “We faced three teams this weekend that are all College World Series capable. But the thing is we think we’re a College World Series team. We’re trying to show people that.

“The biggest thing is we’re not done after this weekend. We’ve got a lot of baseball left. A lot of baseball.”

Louisiana Tech Continues Hot Start

Going into Friday’s series opener against Wichita State, Louisiana Tech coach Lane Burroughs wasn’t sure what to expect from his team. The Shockers were one of six undefeated teams in the country and pitching very well early in the season. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, were coming off their first loss of the season, a 13-10 defeat Wednesday against Arkansas in a game that Louisiana Tech had led 10-1.

Burroughs, in his first year at Louisiana Tech, got the answer he was looking for. The Bulldogs bounced back from their midweek setback for a 6-2 victory.

“I was excited about Friday’s game against Wichita to see how we responded to a tough loss,” Burroughs said. “Our whole deal is when we lose, we’ve got to come back with a vengeance the next day. It’s one thing to talk about; it’s another to do it. We had good day of practice (Thursday) and then they went back out on Friday with their hair on fire.”

Louisiana Tech went on to sweep the series, finishing it off with a 12-10 victory Sunday. The Bulldogs are 11-1 and off to their best start in program history.

Louisiana Tech last season under Greg Goff made its first regionals appearance since 1987. Following the season, Goff was hired away by Alabama and Burroughs came from Northwestern State to replace him.

Though they have a different coach, much of last year’s team is back. Burroughs said because of their experience last season, the Bulldogs are a mature, veteran team.

“They played at a high level, they’ve been there, they’ve been in stressful games on a big stage,” he said. “They got a taste of it and they want to go a little further this year. It’s been a pleasure to coach them. They welcomed me with open arms.”

The Bulldogs have been led offensively by second baseman Jordan Washam (.390/.559/.561) and catcher Brent Diaz (.386/.491/.727). Diaz went 5-for-11 with three doubles against Wichita State.

“He is dialed in offensively and he has a lot of confidence,” Burroughs said. “He played well in that regional last year and down the stretch. He’s an extremely hard worker.”

Diaz has handled a staff that has a 2.92 team ERA. Righthander Kent Hasler (2-0, 1.00) has been especially tough on Friday nights and closer Nate Harris (2-0, 1.98) already has five saves in seven appearances.

Burroughs is pleased with the way the Bulldogs have started the season, but knows they can’t get ahead of themselves. Conference USA looks to be strong again this year and Louisiana Tech will have plenty of competition as it tries to get back to the NCAA Tournament.

“Louisiana Tech hasn’t had a lot of success over the years until last year,” Burroughs said. “We’ve got to stay in the middle. We can’t get too high or too low.

“There’s a lot of season left. I’m not going to downplay the start, but the baseball season is a marathon. Our whole thing is just to get better every day.”

Eight for Omaha

Cal State Fullerton, East Carolina, Florida, Florida State, Louisiana State, Oregon State, South Carolina, Texas Christian

The eight teams remain the same this week, even after LSU and South Carolina had losing weekends. I considered moving Louisville in for the first time this season, but in the end stuck with the two SEC teams. Both nearly came away with winning weekends, but weren’t able to close out victories Sunday. In the long run, however, both should be able to steady their bullpens and get back on track.

Eye-Catchers

Six players or programs who stood out this weekend.

Binghamton: The defending America East champion swept a four-game series at Virginia Tech to extend its winning streak to seven games. Redshirt sophomore third baseman Justin Yurchak went 7-for-18 on the weekend and is hitting .545/.608/.659 this season.

Quinn Brodey, of, Stanford: In the span of 18 hours Friday night and Saturday, Brodey, a Preseason All-American, delivered two walk-offs against Texas. His RBI single won Friday’s game, 3-2, and he hit a three-run home run in the 10th in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday in a 5-2 victory.

Danny Hrbek, rhp, Radford and Parker Rigler, lhp, Kansas State: The seniors both threw no-hitters this weekend, bringing the national total to five after three weekends. Hrbek threw his Saturday in a 4-0 victory against Quinnipiac, and Rigler followed the next day in a 14-0 victory against Eastern Illinois.

Carson Shaddy, 3b, Arkansas: Shaddy went 5-for-9 with four doubles and six RBIs in three games at the Frisco College Baseball Classic to earn Most Outstanding Player honors. The redshirt junior is hitting .361/.531/.639 in 11 games this season.

Washington State: The Cougars (6-4) finished a sweep of Stephen F. Austin with a combined no-hitter in a 7-3 victory Sunday. Cody Anderson, Joe Rosenstein, Isaac Mullins and Scott Sunitsch combined for Washington State’s first no-hitter since 1985.

Three weekend series we’re most excited for

(13) Virginia at (17) North Carolina: The Atlantic Coast Conference opens league play this weekend, with a showdown between the Cavaliers and Tar Heels highlighting the slate. For Virginia, the series will be its biggest test to date. North Carolina, meanwhile, is looking to bounce back after a home series loss to Long Beach State.

Houston at (24) Baylor: There’s no letup in the schedule for Baylor following its 2-1 showing in the Shriners College Classic. Houston (7-3) is off to a solid start and will now face its first true road test of the year.

Long Beach State at Arizona State: Beach’s relentless schedule continues with a trip to the desert to take on ASU. The Dirtbags are coming off a big series win at North Carolina, while the Sun Devils are looking to bounce back after dropping back-to-back series at TCU and against Loyola Marymount.

Two weekend series you shouldn’t overlook

Dallas Baptist at Oral Roberts: The weekend pits the Missouri Valley Conference favorite (DBU) against the Summit League favorite (ORU). It will be the home opener for the Golden Eagles (7-4), who will hope the home cooking helps them bounce back from a 0-3 weekend at the Dairy Queen Classic in Minneapolis. DBU (8-3) faces with a tough week, with a trip to TCU on tap Tuesday before traveling to ORU.

Jacksonville State at Austin Peay State: The Ohio Valley Conference opens its league slate this weekend with two of the preseason favorites meeting in an early-season showdown. Jacksonville State swept the series last year and will be eager to get off to another strong start in conference play.

One midweek game to keep an eye on

(11) Arizona at (14) Texas Tech, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. ET: Two of last year’s College World Series teams getting together makes for a marquee midweek matchup. Arizona (10-1) is finishing its Texas trip after a 2-1 showing in the Frisco Classic. Texas Tech (11-2) is looking to keep its momentum going following a 2-1 weekend in the Shriners College Classic.

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