D1 - Saturday Game Notes

·         Well, North Carolina freshman RHP Benton Moss was welcomed into the ACC on Saturday. He started against Xavier, but lasted only one inning, giving up 4-ER on 3-H. The good news for North Carolina was the fact that Xavier’s starter, junior RHP Tyler Koors, only lasted two innings, giving up eight runs.

·         Saturday lines: 

o   Texas A&M RHP Michael Wacha – 5.2-IP, 0-R, 1-H, 8-K, 3-BB

o   Florida RHP Austin Maddox – 4.0-IP, 0-R, 1-H, 3-K, 0-BB

o   South Carolina RHP Colby Holmes – 5.0-IP, 0-R, 1-H, 6-K, 0-BB

o   Stanford 6-5 LHP Brett Mooneyham – 6.0-IP, 5-H, 3-R, 8-K, 4-BB

o   Duke Marcus Stroman – 5.0-IP, 3-R, 4-H, 3-K, 6-BB

o   Texas Hoby Milner – 5.0-IP, 3-R, 4-H, 3-K, 2-BB

o   Rice Mathew Reckling – 6.0-IP, 0-R, 4-H, 7-K, 1-BB

·         I really have no idea where to project Florida’s Austin Maddox anymore. We all know about his losing the catcher job to Mike Zunino. He then played third and first, while pitching in, well, pitching. Saturday, he went 4.0-IP against Cal State Fullerton and gained the save in the Gators’ 5-2 win. Guess I better stop touting him as a future MLB catcher.

·         The #31 Stetson Hatters… get it… Stetson…  hatters… err, well, anyway, senior RHP Lindsey Caughel completely shut down George Washington, in their 6-0 shutout Saturday. Caughel’s excellent line was: 7.0-IP, 0-R, 4-H, 4-K, 0-BB. I caught up with Lindsey after the game and he took us through his outing:

“My game plan from the beginning of the game was to throw strikes and keep the defense on their toes. They made some excellent plays behind me and I always try to go out there and attack the strike zone from pitch one knowing that it keeps the defense mentally in the game and that definitely showed today. I didn't have my curveball at the start of the game but I was able to work out the kinks and find it around the 3rd inning. I used it a lot early in the count to steal strikes on hitters and set up my fastball a little better. I was happy to have my change up against some of the lefties in the lineup. I was fortunate to make some good quality pitches with the change up that allowed me to stay out there a little bit longer on my first outing. All the credit goes to the defense though, not one error made today.”

·         Speaking of miserable debuts, #11 Vanderbilt freshman RHP Tyler Beede went 4.1-IP against #4 Stanford, giving up nine runs, five earned.  Projected 1^st round pick, SS Kenny Diekroeger (.571) led the Cardinals to a 9-5 win.

#23 Virginia’s 1B Jared King wasted little time leading his Cavaliers teammates to a 9-3 victory in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday against Coastal Carolina. King went: 3-5, 2-R, HR, 4-RBI, 1-BB, an, by the end of the day had seasonal stats of 417/.500/.833.

Jared reviewed the game with me after the twin bill:

“On today's game, I was really proud of how our ball club came out and battled after a tough loss yesterday. We really played tough against a quality opponent and found ways to get the job done on the mound and at the plate. I was really impressed with our resiliency even though we had some early opportunities to build a lead and came up empty. Overall, I think we learned a great deal from this weekend.  On my own performance, I have really been seeing the ball well and not trying to do too much. I think I've matured a great deal over the last year and I can really look for certain things in different situations. I know it won't stay like this forever, so I'm just trying to enjoy this feeling while I can.”

 

·         Virginia Tech beat Bradley, 11-1, but it was the Chad Pinder show. The sophomore third baseman went 5-6 and raised his season batting average to .500. I asked Chad if he ever had a day like this before:

“Today was definitely a first for me. Having 2 or 3 doubles is a great game but having four doubles with a triple is something I've definitely never done. My first game with 5 hits ever. But in reality it's not about me or what I did today. It's about our team and taking the game of baseball day by day, game by game, and win by win. And so far we are 3-0 and I couldn't be any prouder to be part of this team and the guys we have. Having the leaders and coaches we have in the program enables you to have games like this. Some days you will go 0-6 with a handful of punches and I'm 100% positive with the guys we have on this team if I had done that today, the guys would have praised me just as much as they did today going 5-6 and that is what this game is about. So I don't look at today and say I had a great game. I look at it and say we had a great team win with a bunch of young guys step up helping us start the season 3-0. So today wasn't about my performance it was about our team, and its win!”

·         Late Friday lines:

o   CSF RHP Dylan Floro -  6.0 IP, 5H, 3ER, 1BB, 4K.

o   Stanford RHP Mark Appel - 7IP 2H 1ER 2BB 5K. (W, 1-0).

o   UCLA Adam Plutko – 7.0-IP, 0-R, 5-H, 10-K, 1-BB

o   Rice Austin Kubitza – 7.0-IP, 1-ER, 4-H, 8-K, 3-BB

o   South Carolina Michael Roth – 6.0-IP, 1-R, 4-H, 6-K, 0-BB

o   GSU Chris Beck – 6.0-IP, 1-R, 3-H, 8-K, 1-BB

o   GT Matt Grimes – 7.0-IP, 1-, 0-R, 7-K, 0-BB

o   RHP Lucas Giolito – 1^st inning – 95-96

o   Florida Karsten Whitsen – 90-92, 84 slider

o   Rice RHP J.T. Chargois – 95

Jesuit H.S. RHP, Lance McCullers, had 9-K in 5.0-IP in a win vs. Dunedin