Off The Bat: Upward Funk

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—A split in its first two games at North Carolina left Louisville needing to win Sunday’s rubber game to claim its first road series victory of the season. With senior righthander Kyle Funkhouser on the mound, the Cardinals proved to be up to the challenge.

North Carolina scored a run off Funkhouser in each of the first two innings before he settled into the game. He held the Tar Heels to four runs in six innings, allowing the Cardinals offense to go to work. They provided enough run support, and Louisville defeated North Carolina, 10-6.

Coach Dan McDonnell said Sunday’s start was an extension of a good stretch for Funkhouser (6-3, 4.54).

“I thought it was another good outing,” he said. “I think that’s about a month straight where Funk has looked good and is going in the right direction.”

With the ninth-ranked Cardinals (38-10) competing for a second straight Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title and a national seed in the NCAA Tournament, Sunday’s game was important for Louisville. It remains in a virtual tie with Florida State atop the Atlantic Division and has a two-game edge on No. 13 North Carolina State going into their showdown this weekend.

Sunday’s victory also give Louisville a road series win after dropping series at Mississippi, Miami, Florida State and Boston College this season. It had been a tough road slate for the Cardinals, but getting out of Chapel Hill with a series win removed one of the blemishes of its resume. And for a team that is 29-1 at home, with the lone loss coming to Virginia righthander Connor Jones, a likely first-round pick, clearing a path to be a national seed and home-field advantage in the first two weekends of the NCAA Tournament could be extra important.

Junior outfielder Corey Ray said the Cardinals haven’t been concerned about their road record, and were just happy to put together a complete game away from Louisville.

“We finally played well on the road,” Ray said. “That’s been a big thing. We’re always an at bat away, one good pitch away, but now we have that good at bat and our pitchers pounded the zone.”

Sunday, Louisville did its damage in the middle innings. The Cardinals chased Tar Heels starter Jason Morgan in the fourth inning, and opened a comfortable lead with nine runs in the fourth through seventh innings. Ray went 3-for-5 with three RBIs to lead the way, but eight different Cardinals collected at least one of their 15 hits. Outfielder Logan Taylor, who entered the game in the fourth inning, added three hits and scored twice.

“It’s a deep lineup one through nine,” McDonnell said. “But when Corey’s going, it just takes the pressure off everybody else.”

Since losing the series at Boston College, Louisville has won seven of its last eight games, outscoring its opponents 50-19 in the process. But Ray said the Cardinals have not yet played their best baseball.

“I’m excited because when we do peak, I think we’ll do something special,” Ray said. “We still have a lot to work on.”

Arizona Enjoys Comforts Of Home

After a two-week road trip that took Arizona to California and Southern California for weekend series, and to Arizona State for a midweek nonconference game, coach Jay Johnson was glad to be back home this week. The Wildcats did have a midweek game for the first time all season, giving them time to prepare for a critical series against Oregon State.

After going 5-2 on the road trip, but losing the final two games at USC, returning to Hi Corbett Field, where Johnson said the Wildcats have a home field advantage unlike any he’s ever seen, was just what Arizona needed. The Wildcats swept the Beavers, who came into the weekend ranked No. 17, to move up to second in the Pac-12, just a half-game behind Washington.

Not only did the sweep keep Arizona (31-16) firmly in the mix for the Pac-12 championship, it also brought its RPI up to 24, bringing it into range to potentially host a regional. And Arizona earned its first Top 25 ranking since 2013, entering at No. 21. But Johnson said the Wildcats can’t get caught up in the standings or NCAA Tournament picture.

“We approach each game like it’s the Super Bowl,” Johnson said. “It’s very natural to get caught up in the external things like standings, rankings, all those types of things. We’re working as hard as we can to just keep it simple.”

That approach is working. Arizona limited Oregon State (29-15) to two runs on 13 hits over the first two games of the series, matching the Beavers’ worst two-game offensive output of the season. Then, when Oregon State took a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning Sunday, Arizona scored four runs to come back and complete the sweep.

“We stayed with it and played through our mistakes early in the game,” Johnson said. “We came back and scratched out a run (in the third) and then had an inning full of really good at bats throughout the entire order.”

Arizona also got a strong relief appearance from sophomore lefthander Cameron Ming (2-1, 4.56), who limited Oregon State to one hit—a solo home run from Logan Ice—in six innings. Ming has made seven starts this season, but Johnson thought he would be better coming out of the bullpen against the Beavers.

The move to bring Ming on in relief worked, much as many of Johnson’s moves have worked in his first season with the Wildcats. They have especially been rolling over the last month, going 14-5 since getting swept at Utah at the beginning of April.

Having come so far already this season, Johnson won’t let the Wildcats lose sight of their goals with just a few weeks to play.

“We work on keeping the focus on what’s directly in front of us,” Johnson said. “I’m proud of the way we played this weekend—we were good on all fronts.”

Kennesaw State Has A-Sun Lead

Jacksonville and Kennesaw State had both won their first four Atlantic Sun Conference series going into this weekend, setting up a showdown in Jacksonville for first place.

After splitting the first two games, Kennesaw State jumped out to a big lead Sunday with six runs in the first inning and hung on for a 13-8 victory. With six games remaining, the Owls now hold a two-game lead in the A-Sun, as they look to win their first regular season conference title since moving to Division I in 2006.

But Coach Mike Sansing understands the Owls aren’t done yet.

“We are pleased with where we sit right now,” Sansing said. “We have two big series left. Our approach is just trying to stay in the process, take it one day at a time. I feel like our guys are doing that and not looking ahead.”

Kennesaw State (22-24) has been through enough in the past few seasons to know the value of staying in the moment. The Owls made a Cinderella run to super regionals in 2014 and entered last season as conference favorites, only to finish the season 28-28 and go two-and-out in the A-Sun Tournament. This season, after going 4-2 over the first two weekends, the Owls went into a funk in March, going 5-15. They pulled out of that poor stretch as the calendar flipped to April, just in time for the start of conference play.

That poor run scuttled any chances Kennesaw State had of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. But with their whole conference season ahead of them, the Owls were able to refocus on the task at hand in the A-Sun.

“I think they were happy to see April come,” Sansing said. “We talked about the conference and how important that was, and they’ve understood.”

Kennesaw State cleared another big hurdle with this weekend’s series win at Jacksonville (28-17). They beat on Friday righthander Michael Baumann, last year’s conference pitcher of the year, and then outslugged the Dolphins in the series finale.

The Owls pounded out 13 runs on 18 hits, led by outfielders junior Corey Greeson (3-for-5, R, RBI) and senior Alex Liquori (3-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBIs). As the leadoff hitter, Greeson (.360/.429/.536) has been a key in their offense all season, but Sansing said one of the keys to their success has been the depth of their lineup.

“A lot of the guys at bottom of the order today had several hits,” Sansing said. “Traditionally, you say the middle of the order guys, but it’s more than that. You can look at it number of different guys.”

Kennesaw State has also gotten solid relief pitching from junior lefthander Richard Lovelady (3-3, 3.35) and 5-foot-9 junior righthander Erich Stahl (3.22, 7 SV). Sansing said the bullpen is much improved this year, helping drive the turnaround.

Kennesaw State has midweek games against Georgia State and Auburn before finishing the season with series against Stetson and at Florida Gulf Coast. With that slate left, Sansing said the Owls can’t afford to let up after such a big series win.

“Every weekend is obviously important and they’re quality teams, too,” Sansing said. “Our guys have been up to the challenge so far and I think they’ll have two more challenges to finish out the regular season and they know that.”

Eight for Omaha

Florida, Louisville, Miami, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Texas Christian, Vanderbilt

I flip-flop on ACC teams this week, replacing Florida State with Louisville. The Cardinals haven’t peaked yet and will be a very tough out if they ever hits on all cylinders. As it is, Louisville is a dangerous team. I also strongly considered Texas Tech. But the experience of Louisville’s pitching staff pushed it over the top.

Eye-Catchers

Five players or programs who stood out this weekend.

Garrett Hampson, ss, Long Beach State: With a bunt single in the ninth inning Sunday to complete a 3-for-5 day, Hampson recorded the 200th hit of his career. The junior is the 12th player in Dirtbags history to reach the milestone, joining players such as Jason Giambi and Bobby Crosby. Hampson is hitting .321/.405/.409 this season.

Marshall: The Thundering Herd swept Alabama-Birmingham this weekend, extending their winning streak to six games and clinching a spot in the Conference USA Tournament for the first time since 2010. Marshall (27-17) equaled the second most wins in program history and, with eight regular season games to go, can make a run at the program record of 30.

Nevada: The Wolfpack swept San Jose State to run their winning streak to nine games, their longest since 2006. In coach T.J. Bruce’s first season at Nevada (27-20), it is in third place in the Mountain West Conference, 1 1/2 games behind first-place Fresno State.

Pat Krall, lhp, Clemson: Making his first start of the season Sunday, Krall (9 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K) held North Carolina State’s offense in check, and Clemson walked off with a 2-1 victory and a series win. It was the second win against a ranked opponent this week for the junior, as he beat Florida State on Monday to clinch another series victory for Clemson.

Kyle Simonds, rhp, Texas A&M: Against Vanderbilt on Saturday, Simonds (9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4) was masterful, spinning the first no-hitter in Southeastern Conference play since 1994. The senior retired the final 25 batters he faced, and Vanderbilt’s lone base runner of the game came on a first-inning error.

Looking Ahead

Three weekend series we’re most excited for:

(12) Vanderbilt at (1) Florida: This has become one of the best series in the country annually, pitting two of the best coaches and programs against each other in a SEC East Division showdown. Since Kevin O’Sullivan’s first season in 2008, the Gators lead the series 20-12.

(17) Florida Atlantic at (14) Rice: Florida Atlantic comes into the weekend a game behind Rice and Southern Mississippi in the Conference USA Standings. FAU has already won a series against Southern Miss, and now will get its chance at the other co-leader. Rice is trying to extend its 20-year streak of winning either a regular season conference championship or a conference tournament title.

Arizona State at (21) Arizona: The Wildcats and Sun Devils have split a pair of midweek nonconference games and will now settle the season series on a weekend with significant postseason weight. Even in a wild year in the Pac-12 Conference, come May, Arizona and Arizona State find themselves near the top of the standings. Arizona is a half-game behind first-place Washington, while Arizona State is two games back.

Two weekend series you shouldn’t overlook:

Louisiana-Lafayette at South Alabama: The top two teams in the Sun Belt Conference meet for a showdown in Mobile. The Jaguars come in with a three-game lead in the conference, and can clinch back-to-back regular-season Sun Belt championships this weekend, but the Ragin’ Cajuns have won seven straight series.

Michigan at Ohio State: The postseason implications from this series only add to one of the best rivalries in college sports. Michigan comes into the weekend a half-game out of first place in the Big Ten Conference, while Ohio State is fighting to hold on to one of the final spots in this year’s Big Ten Tournament.

One midweek game to keep an eye on:

(11) Louisiana State at Notre Dame (Tuesday and Wednesday, 6 p.m. ET): For the first time since leaving Notre Dame to become the coach at Louisiana State, Paul Mainieri will lead the Tigers into South Bend. Notre Dame comes into the midweek series mired in a funk, having lost eight of its last 11 games. A strong finish might rescue its hopes of an at-large bid, but that has to start this week against LSU.