Trackin' the Top 25
Take a quick look back at last week's games and a first glance at the upcoming games for the Top 25:
1. Clemson
Last week: 3-0. Overall: 3-0, 0-0 in ACC. (0-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Clemson's pitching staff allowed one earned run on the weekend with 36 strikeouts in 27 innings. That included a three-man one-hitter in the second game, compliments of junior RHP Stephen Faris, sophomore LHP Daniel Moskos and junior RHP Steve Richard. Junior RHP Jason Berken struck out a career-best nine batters in five scoreless innings in the opener. Junior OF Tyler Colvin hit three homers in the series. Sophomore 2B Taylor Harbin tweaked a hamstring in the first inning of the opener and didn't play again. He'll be re-evaluated this week.
Results:
Feb. 17-19: James Madison: W 8-1, W 3-0, W 6-1
This week:
Feb. 24-26: Mercer
2. Florida
Last week: 3-1. Overall: 6-1, 0-0 in SEC. (0-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Florida earned its first three-game sweep of Miami and became the first team to take all three games at Mark Light Field since Florida State in 2002. Florida won the first two games thanks to -- surprise -- its pitching. Senior RHP Bryan Ball (7 IP, ER) and sophomore RHP Bryan Augenstein (7 IP, ER) impressed, while junior 1B Matt LaPorta homered for the first time this season in the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie Saturday.
Results:
Feb. 15: Mercer: L 3-2
Feb. 17-19: @ Miami: W 2-1, W 4-1, W 11-10
This week:
Feb. 22: Florida A&M
Feb. 24-26: Pepsi Baseball Classic in Gainesville, Fla.:
No. 12 Missouri, Ohio State, Wake Forest
3. Georgia Tech
Last week: 4-0. Overall: 6-0, 0-0 in ACC. (0-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: It was Georgia Tech's pitching and not its hitting that made the weekend statement. After allowing 25 runs in its first three games, the staff yielded only three runs on the weekend and none came against the starters: junior RHP Blake Wood, junior LHP Lee Hyde and sophomore LHP Tim Ladd.
Results:
Feb. 15: Georgia State: W 11-9
Feb. 17-19: Kennesaw State: W 3-2, W 7-0, W 5-1
This week:
Feb. 21-22: East Tennessee State
Feb. 24-26: Baseball at the Beach, Myrtle Beach, S.C.:
No. 6 Tennessee, Virginia Commonwealth, Coastal Carolina
4. North Carolina
Last week: 3-0. Overall: 3-0, 0-0 in ACC. (0-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Junior LHP Andrew Miller started the third game and dominated (6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 9 K). Junior RHP Daniel Bard allowed three runs in seven innings in game two, while junior RHP Robert Woodard gave up one run in six innings to win his 12th straight game, dating back to 2004. Sophomore 3B Reid Fronk drove in nine runs on two bases-loaded doubles and a three-run homer in the series. He collected only 15 RBI a year ago.
Results:
Feb. 17-19: Seton Hall: W 8-3, W 9-7, W 21-2
This week:
Feb. 21: Coastal Carolina br>
Feb. 24-26: George Washington
5. Rice
Last week: 2-1. Overall: 6-2, 0-0 in Conference USA. (1-2 vs. Top 25).
Notes: It's pitching, pitching, pitching for Rice as senior RHP Eddie Degerman (7 IP, H, 0 R, 11 K) dominated Oklahoma. Sophomore LHP/1B Joe Savery took the loss against Long Beach State and has been average in his last two starts (11.1 IP, 14 H, 6 ER), though he made up for that at the plate with four hits and five walks on the weekend.
Results:
Feb. 17-19: Coca-Cola Classic:
Oklahoma: W 8-2, No. 19 Long Beach State: L 4-1, Lamar: W 7-1
This week:
Feb. 21: Sam Houston State
Feb. 24-26: Crowne Plaza Invitational, Houston
St. John's, No. 25 Nebraska, Texas State
6. Tennessee
Last week: 2-0. Overall: 4-1, 0-0 in SEC. (0-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Winter weather has limited Tennessee to Friday doubleheaders the last two weekends. Sophomore LHP James Adkins (8 IP, 3 H, 7 K) and freshman RHP Josh Lindblom (8 IP, H, 13 K) helped the Vols' staff hold Morehead State to five total hits. Sophomore C J.P. Arencibia tallied four himself, including his first homer.
Results:
Feb. 17: Morehead State: W 3-0, W 9-0
This week:
Feb. 24-26: Baseball at the Beach, Myrtle Beach, S.C.:
No. 3 Georgia Tech, Coastal Carolina, Virginia Commonwealth
7. Texas
Last week: 2-1. Overall: 5-5, 0-0 in Big 12. (2-2 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Still at .500, Texas has won five of its last seven games. Junior SS Chais Fuller hit .545 on the week to bring his average to .316, second on the team. He has reached base in nine of Texas' 10 games. Junior CF Drew Stubbs tallied a career-best three hits in Saturday's win and has a four-game hit streak. Freshman LHP Austin Wood threw four scoreless innings to win Tuesday's game and returned with 3.1 scoreless innings on Sunday. He hasn't allowed a run this season. Sophomore RHP Adrian Alaniz and freshman LHP Joey Parigi combined on a four-hitter Saturday.
Results:
Feb. 14: UT San Antonio: W 6-1
Feb. 18-19: @ No. 24 Stanford: W 4-2, L 5-1
This week:
Feb. 20: @ Stanford
Feb. 22: Texas State
Feb. 24-26: Villanova
8. Oregon State
Last week: 1-2. Overall: 3-3, 0-0 in Pac-10. (2-2 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Oregon State's starters, so dominant a year ago, looked very average against Pepperdine, and its offense did as well. Junior RHP Jonah Nickerson (6 IP, 6 ER) and junior LHP Anton Maxwell (1.1 IP, 5 ER) were knocked around after junior RHP Dallas Buck (6 IP, 4 H, 2 R) pitched well enough to win the opener, in which OSU battled back after coughing up a lead. OF Cole Gillespie had three hits and three RBI in the win.
Results:
Feb. 17-19: @ No. 16 Pepperdine: W 7-6, L 6-2, L 7-1
This week:
Feb. 23-26: River City Classic, Davis, Calif.:
Brigham Young, UC Davis, Sacramento State, St. Mary's
9. Cal State Fullerton
Last week: 2-1. Overall: 5-4, 0-0 in Big West. (0-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Junior 1B Brett Pill rang up four hits and drove in five runs Friday night. RHPs Wes Roemer (6 IP, 9K) and Lauren Gagnier (7.2 IP, 7 K) allowed two earned runs each in the first two games. Freshman DH David Cooper has a nine-game hitting streak that includes a 4-for-5 success rate as a pinch-hitter.
Results:
Feb. 17-19: @/vs./vs. UC Irvine: W 13-7, W 5-2, L 7-4
This week:
Feb. 24-26: @/vs./vs. UCLA
10. Tulane
Last week: 4-0. Overall: 6-1, 0-0 in Conference USA. (1-1 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Senior RHP Billy Mohl produced another dominant start Sunday (7 IP, H, 0 R), a week after beating Texas. Sophomore RHP Sean Morgan struck out a career-best 11 batters Saturday, allowing four hits in six scoreless innings. Sophomore 2B Brad Emaus tallied eight hits, including a homer, and five RBI on the week. Freshman 3B Jonny Weiss has a hit in all seven games and leads the team with a .455 average.
Results:
Feb. 14: McNeese State: W 5-3
Feb. 17-19: Penn State: W 9-4, W 12-0, W 9-3
This week:
Feb. 21: New Orleans
Feb. 24-26: No. 16 Pepperdine
11. Mississippi State
Last week: 0-0. Overall: 0-0, 0-0 in SEC. (0-0 vs. Top 25).
This week:
Feb. 24-26: Marist
12. Missouri
Last week: 2-0. Overall: 4-2, 0-0 in Big 12. (0-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Junior RHP Max Scherzer (6 IP, 4 H, ER, 3 BB, 6 K) and junior LHP Nathan Culp (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K) dominated. Freshman RF Ryan Lollis recorded three hits and four runs in the doubleheader sweep.
Results:
Feb. 17: @ Louisiana-Monroe: W 5-1, W 11-0
This week:
Feb. 24-26: Pepsi Baseball Classic, Gainesville, Fla.:
No. 2 Florida, Wake Forest, Ohio State
13. South Carolina
Last week: 3-0. Overall: 5-1, 0-0 in SEC. (0-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: South Carolina fell one out shy of throwing three shutouts. Sophomore RHP Wynn Pelzer struck out eight batters in 4.2 IP Saturday before reaching his pitch limit. Junior LHP Arik Hempy fanned five in two innings Friday before a blister ended his outing. Junior DH Robbie Grinestaff hit two home runs and drove in five runs Friday.
Results:
Feb. 17-19: Radford: W 7-0, W 5-2, W 2-0
This week:
Feb. 24-26: Duquesne
14. Florida State
Last week: 3-0. Overall: 7-1, 0-0 in ACC. (0-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Junior CF Shane Robinson contributed seven hits, six runs and three steals on the weekend to raise his average to .567. Junior RF Jack Rye is batting .542 following a six-hit series. Junior RHP Tyler Chambliss continued to impress in his third start of the year (6 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 8 K).
Results:
Feb. 17-19: UNC Asheville: W 10-0, W 9-1, W 8-2
This week:
Feb. 24-26: Minnesota
15. San Diego
Last week: 2-1. Overall: 7-2, 0-0 in West Coast. (3-1 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Junior RHP Josh Butler (8 IP, 4 H, 8 K) dominated Friday, while junior C Jordan Abruzzo and junior RF Shane Buschini each homered and drove in five runs Saturday. Also on Saturday, San Diego's Sunday starter Matt Couch had to come out of the bullpen to bail out Brian Matusz. The move left USD short on arms in Sunday's loss.
Results:
Feb. 17-19: @ Public Storage Classic, Los Angeles:
Vanderbilt: W 10-0, Kansas: W 17-6, No. 25 Southern California: L 8-3
This week:
Feb. 21: UC Irvine
Feb. 24-26: @ Georgia
16. Pepperdine
Last week: 3-1. Overall: 6-4, 0-0 in West Coast. (3-1 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Pepperdine bounced back from losing a home series to Fresno State with a strong week. Sophomore RHP Barry Enright, beaten up in his first two starts, went 2-0 with wins Tuesday and Sunday (15 IP, 10 H, 2 ER, 10 K) to reaffirm his spot in the rotation. Sophomore CF Adrian Ortiz missed the weekend series after injuring his wrist on a slide Tuesday. The Waves hit .237 on the week, but bunched their hits in the right innings.
Results:
Feb. 14: No. 19 Long Beach State: W 3-2
Feb. 17-19: No. 6 Oregon State: L 7-6, W 6-2, W 7-1
This week:
Feb. 21: @ UCLA
Feb. 24-26: @ No. 10 Tulane
17. Arkansas
Last week: 3-0. Overall: 6-0, 0-0 in SEC. (1-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Arkansas sandwiched an ugly Saturday win with two impressive performances. Sophomore LHP Nick Schmidt threw six hitless innings Friday after doing the same last week in his debut. Junior RHP Chris Rhoads (7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 7 K) dominated Sunday. The Razorbacks had enough offense Saturday -- season highs of 19 hits, 15 runs and seven steals -- to overcome six errors and six walks.
Results:
Feb. 17-19: Al Ogletree Classic, Edinburg, Texas:
No. 18 TCU: W 5-2, Stephen F. Austin: W 15-7, UT Pan American: W 13-2
This week:
Feb. 24-25: Louisiana Tech
18. Long Beach State
Last week: 2-2. Overall: 6-4, 0-0 in Big West. (4-1 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Junior RHP Andrew Carpenter (7 IP, 3 H, ER, 8 K) dominated Rice, while freshman RHP Vance Worley (6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER) threw well in a loss to Oklahoma. Junior SS Evan Longoria went 7-for-11 in Houston and showed up on ESPN2's "Cold Pizza" Monday morning.
Results:
Feb. 14: @ No. 16 Pepperdine: L 3-2
Feb. 17-19: Coca-Cola Classic, Houston:
Lamar: W 11-6, No. 5 Rice: W 4-1, Oklahoma: L 2-1
This week:
Feb. 24-26: Illinois-Chicago
19. LSU
Last week: 4-0. Overall: 6-1, 0-0 in SEC. (0-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Juniors Clay Dirks (5 IP, 3 H, ER, 8 K) and Derik Olvey (7 IP, 3 H, ER) threw well, and senior 3B Will Harris totaled seven hits on the week, including two home runs in Sunday's win. Junior C Matt Liuzza went 6-for-9 with five runs on the week.
Results:
Feb. 14: Centenary: W 15-3
Feb. 17-19: Tennessee Tech: W 9-6, W 7-2, W 8-3
This week:
Feb. 21: Southeastern Louisiana
Feb. 24-26: Temple
20. N.C. State
Last week: 2-1. Overall: 8-1, 0-0 in Pac-10. (0-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Sophomore 3B Matt Mangini went 5-for-9 with three homers and five walks on the weekend -- and his average slipped to .735. Sunday was his first game of the year without multiple hits. Nebraska junior RHP Joba Chamberlain (7.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 K) dominated the Wolfpack before N.C. State made things close with a three-run ninth-inning rally. Junior RF Brian Aragon went 3-for-5 Sunday and hit two homers in the weekend.
Results:
Feb. 17-19: Homewood Suites Shootout, Charleston, S.C.:
Nebraska: L 4-3, Richmond: W 12-5, The Citadel: W 6-2
This week:
Feb. 21: North Carolina A&T
Feb. 24-26: Keith LeClair Classic, Greenville, N.C.:
West Virginia, Penn State, UNC Wilmington
21. TCU
Last week: 2-2. Overall: 4-3, 0-0 in Mountain West. (1-2 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Junior LHP Brad Furnish struck out 13 batters in a seven-inning no-hitter Sunday, issuing only one walk. Sophomore 1B Matt Carpenter drove in four runs Saturday as the offense broke a slump in which it had scored three runs in its previous two games.
Results:
Feb. 14: Texas State: L 5-1
Feb. 17-19: Al Olgetree Classic, Edinburg, Texas:
No. 17 Arkansas: L 5-2, UT Pan American: W 9-4, Stephen F. Austin: W 13-0 (7)
This week:
Feb. 24-26: Wright State
22. Cal Poly
Last week: 2-1. Overall: 9-3, 0-0 in Big West. (3-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Junior RHP Gary Daley Jr. was tough to hit Friday (7 IP, 4 H, ER, 6 BB, career-high 9 K), when the 7-8-9 hitters for Cal Poly (Jacob Luque, Matt Canepa and Gilbert Gil) each homered and combined for seven hits. SDSU junior RHP Justin Masterson struck out 12 Mustangs Saturday, but senior 1B/OF Jimmy Van Ostrand's two homers were enough. JVO hit a three-run jack Sunday, when Poly turned a 7-3 lead into a loss.
Results:
Feb. 17-19: @ San Diego State: W 11-2, W 4-1, L 10-8
This week:
Feb. 24-26: Santa Clara
23. Mississippi
Last week: 2-0. Overall: 2-0, 0-0 in SEC. (0-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Junior CF Alex Presley nearly beat Saint Louis by himself. He went 7-for-10 with nine RBI and four runs in the series, including a 5-for-5 effort with two triples and six RBI in the second game. By comparison, Saint Louis totaled nine hits, three runs and one RBI in the two games.
Results:
Feb. 17: Saint Louis: W 9-1, W 11-2
This week:
Feb. 21-22: Samford
Feb. 24-26: Maine
24. USC
Last week: 3-1. Overall: 7-4, 0-0 in Pac-10. (1-3 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Junior RHP Ian Kennedy struck out 13 batters and fell one out shy of a no-hitter Friday against Kansas. Freshman LHP Tommy Milone held San Diego to two runs on seven hits Sunday, when senior DH Baron Frost drove in three runs. Junior RF Cyle Hankerd went 8-for-14 on the weekend to extend his hit streak to 11 games. He's hitting .522 with three homers and 19 RBI on the year.
Results:
Feb. 14: @ UC Santa Barbara: W 16-11
Feb. 17-19: Public Storage Classic, Los Angeles:
Kansas: W 10-1, Vanderbilt: L 6-2, No. 15 San Diego: W 8-3
This week:
Feb. 17-19: No. 7 Texas
25. Nebraska
Last week: 3-1. Overall: 3-1, 0-0 in Big 12. (1-0 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Junior RHP Joba Chamberlain shut down N.C. State (7.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 K), though senior RHP Brett Jensen made it close by allowing three runs and two homers in the ninth inning. Jensen, however, was a hero Sunday, throwing four scoreless innings as Nebraska narrowly avoided a loss. Junior RF Luke Gorsett hit a two-run homer to tie that game in the bottom of the ninth and finished the week 8-for-16. Sophomore RHP Johnny Dorn yielded six earned runs in 4.1 innings Saturday.
Results:
Feb. 16: @ Charleston Southern: W 11-1
Feb. 17-19: @ Homewood Suites Shootout, Charleston, S.C.:
No. 21 NC State: W 4-3, The Citadel: L 8-5, Richmond: W 5-4 (12)
This week:
Crowne Plaza Invitational, Houston:
Texas State, No. 5 Rice, St. John's
Dropped out
24. Stanford
Last week: 1-1. Overall: 5-3, 0-0 in Pac-10. (4-1 vs. Top 25).
Notes: Sophomore CF Michael Taylor drove in four runs and Matt Manship, Nolan Gallagher and Jeremy Bleich held Texas to five hits Sunday. Taylor drove in a run Saturday with a double, Stanford's only extra-base hit of the day.
Results:
Feb. 18-19: No. 7 Texas: L 4-2, W 5-1
This week:
Feb. 20: No. 7 Texas
Feb. 21: Nevada
Feb. 24-26: @ Fresno State
Baseball America has the college baseball scene covered. From the Top 25 to features, columns and analysis, Baseball America has the latest news from the diamond. Click here for more coverage.
