D1 Sunday Notes

·         Tommy Reyes drove in a career-high four RBI to lead No. 24 UC Irvine to a 5-2 win over Texas Southern Sunday at the MLB Urban Invitational at Minute Maid Park. Tommy was thrilled with the result: 

Well the opening series is always a blast. Everyone was fired up to get this season underway and minute maid park is an unbelievable place to open up our season. At the plate I just tried to stay within myself and not try to do too much. At irvine I never had much experience in the leadoff spot but I felt comfortable and enjoy the responsibilities as a leadoff hitter. Its always nice to start off on a good note but the main focus is being consistent. As a team we were proud of the wins but know we still need some improvement in some areas however we look forward to our upcoming challenges. Our team has solid chemistry and we feel it can lead us a long way.

·         The 15th-ranked Louisville baseball team closed the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge with a gritty 7-6 victory over Michigan State on Sunday at the Walter Fuller Complex.   Our old buddy, Derek Self, came in and closed it out with: 2.0-IP, 0-R, 0-H, 1-SV.  I had Derek going in the 12th round last year; however, he wasn’t picked until Oakland chose him in the 27th Round (826th overall). 2011 line: 3-3, 1-SV, 2.26, 34-K, 75.2-IP, 6-ST. Derek was happy with the result and shared his thoughts wit us:

“Today we had a situation where we were getting into trouble in the 8th with a guy on 1st and no outs. I was ready for this game to close the 9th but since we were in a jam with the score 7-6 in the 8th, trying to keep that lead, so they bring me in to do my best to get out of it which i ended up doing by facing  the heart of their line up. I knew the wind was blowing out pretty good and seeing all day that pop flies were carrying at the field, so I made sure to keep it low and if i miss, I would miss low and making sure to live on the corners. I felt like I did a really good job keeping the hitters off balance with all my pitches. The fastball and cutter was the pitches I felt like they couldn’t do anything with. By throwing the slider and change-up early in the count so I could set them up for the fastball and cutter was effective. Even though I didn’t get a strike out that inning, I was relying on my defense to back me up with the ground balls I produced and my defense was behind getting out of the 8th stranding the running. I come back out for the 9th to close it out by taking the same approach as I did in the 8th and it all worked out by going 3 up 3 down to get the save. I also threw the night before coming into the 7th with bases loaded and no outs, getting out of the jam to keep the lead.  Since I was on a short list of pitches we had another pitcher to come and close it out, which it all worked out so I could come in and close the Sunday game. My role this year is the closer spot. Working in the back of the bullpen”

·         James Farris hurled a complete game shutout in his first career start and the Arizona bats came alive late as the Wildcats earned a series victory with an 8-0 win on Sunday over visiting North Dakota State at Hi Corbettt Field. We talked to him after the game: 

“First I would like to thank God for the opportunity today. My preparation was key for my performance today. I had to mentally prepare for this game more than I have ever done for anything. I have had one inning as a college player before today and my nerves were at their peak, but all I did was try and hit my spots and have command of my off speed pitches. Getting the first pitch strike is something that I need to work on for my next outing. When the later innings came along I never hit my wall and my arm felt fine the whole game. I believe that was due to adrenaline. But I would not have done well without the eight guys working behind me I was pitching to contact and the infielders did their jobs behind me.”

·         The 11th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs blanked Presbyterian 11-0 Sunday, completing a three-game sweep at Foley Field. One of the stars of the game, senior 2B/3B Levi Hyams ( 3-4, 2-RBIs, 3-R, 1-BB, and 1-SB) told me that it was a complete team effort:

The team played very well and I was proud of our guys. Taylor Hicks threw strikes and our offense was relentless today. We picked each other up and when runners were on we drove them in. We played a solid game and are ready for the next one

·         Speed Checks: 

o   Notre Dame LHP Joe Spano – 91

o   Purdue Nick Wittgren – 93 (only pitch thrown)

o   USF LHP Andrew Barbosa – 87-91, 79-80 change, 75 curve

o   CSF Michael Lorenzen closed 96-98 

·         Sunday lines: 

o   Louisville senior RHP Travis Tingle – 2-IP, 3-ER, 4-H, 3-K, 2-BB

o   Illinois senior RHP Nick Chmielewski – 0.1-IP, 3-ER, 4-BB

o   West Virginia senior LHP Eric Hinkle – 4.2-IP, 1-ER 3-K, 2-BB

o   Penn State junior RHP Steven Hill – 6.0-IP, 3-ER, 5-K, 2-BB

o   Purdue senior LHP Calvin Gunter – 2.2-IP, 2-ER, 1-K, 2-BB

o   Notre Dame senior RHP Will Hudgins – 5.0-IP, 3-ER, 3-K, 3-BB

o   6-6 RHP Texas A&M Rafael Pineda (2013)  – 7.0-IP, 1-H, 0-R, 2K

o   Stanford AJ Vanegas – 1.2-IP, 4-H, 4-ER, 2-K, 2-BB

o   Vanderbilt Sam Selman – 5.0-IP, 6-ER, 8-H

o   Florida LHP Brian Johnson - 4.0-IP, 0-R, 2-H, 5-K, 1-BB