FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES
Notre Dame 5 Northern Illinois 4
CHICAGO, Ill. – The Northern Illinois baseball team could not snap No. 29 Notre Dame’s ten-game winning streak as the Huskies fell, 5-4, in front of a school-record 4,600 fans at U.S. Cellular Field on Wednesday night.
In a game that had four lead changes, the Fighting Irish (23-9-1) came out on top after a three-base Huskie error in the eighth inning allowed Notre Dame’s Ross Brezovsky to give the Irish a 5-4 lead on an RBI groundout.
The Huskies (15-17) plated two runs in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead off an RBI single from Justin Behm (Downers Grove, Ill./North) that scored Pat Minogue (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central), who led off the game with a single to center. A sacrifice fly from Dave Reynolds (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) plated Jeff Thomas (Loves Park, Ill./Harlem) for NIU’s second run.
Notre Dame pushed two runs across on the top of the fourth on a two-run single up the middle by Sean Gaston to knot the game, 2-2.
NIU reclaimed the lead, 3-2, in the bottom half of the fourth after a wild pitch from Notre Dame starter Ryan Sharpley allowed Danny Reed (Lindstrom, Minn./North Iowa Area CC) to score from third.
The Irish countered with a pair of runs, including a solo home run to right field by Jeremy Barnes, to take a 4-3 lead in the fifth frame.
The Huskies tied the game at four in the fifth inning with Reynolds’ second sacrifice fly of the game, scoring Thomas.
Minogue, Behm, Reed and Jordin Hood (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) each had hits for NIU. Reynolds added two RBI and Behm also drove in a run.
Steven Mazur (1-0) earned his first win of the year for the Irish after pitching two innings in relief, giving up no runs on one hit with two strikeouts. Kyle Weiland picked up his sixth save of the year.
Brandon Copp (Aurora, Ill./West) took the loss (1-4) for the Huskies after giving up an unearned run in relief on one hit with two walks and three strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work.
Northern Illinois returns to MAC play this weekend with a three-game series beginning Friday at West Division rival Toledo.
Southern Miss 6 Alabama 3
PEARL, miss. – Southern Miss used a four run fourth inning to defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide 6-3 in front of 2,599 fans at Trustmark Park.
Brian Leach had his best outing off the season holding the Crimson Tide at bay for six innings, scattering eight hits and allowing only three unearned runs while striking out three.
Wade Weather worked two innings in relief of Leach allowing only two hits and striking out two. Tyler Conn worked a perfect ninth inning to pick up his NCAA leading 13 save. With tonight’s Save Conn tied Daniel Best for the school’s single season save record.
Southern Miss wasted no time scoring in the top of the first inning as James Ewing drew a walk to start the game and Brian Dozier tripled to score Ewing for a 1-0 lead. As Dozier hit the ball he raced to third but the Bama outfielders threw their hands up as if the ball was lodged in the fence, the umpires originally sent Dozier to second and Ewing back to third and took the run off the board. After a lengthy discussion between the three umpires the runners returned to their original position and the run counted for the Golden Eagles.
Alabama evened the score in the bottom of the second with an unearned run as Jake Smith reached on a error by Chris Matesich, advanced to third on two consecutive Crimson Tide singles. Smith was forced home as Leach hit Josh Rutledge with a pitch, making the score 1-1.
Southern Miss took control of the game in the top of the fourth inning adding four runs with two outs. Chris Matesich reached base on a throwing error, stole second base and went to third on Anthony’s Doss’ single off the umpire behind the pitchers mound.
Bo Davis cleared the bases with his second triple of the season, scoring Matesich and Doss. James Ewing singled home Davis for a 4-1 Golden Eagle lead. Brian Dozier continued the two-out rally with a double over the bag at third base scoring Ewing from first base.
The Crimson Tide added two run to cut into the lead in the bottom of the fifth on a two RBI single by Jake Smith to make the score 5-3.
Southern Miss added an insurance run in the top of the ninth as Bo Davis single on a bunt and the Bama pitcher over threw first allowing Davis to advance to second. Brian Dozier followed with an RBI single to right field.
The Golden Eagles will return to Conference USA play this weekend as they visit Tulane.
South Florida 7 Bethune-Cookman 6
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The University of South Florida baseball team beat the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 7-6 Wednesday night in Daytona Beach to even the Bulls’ season record to 18-18.
Trailing 2-0 after the third, USF scored three runs over the next two innings to take the 3-2 lead in Wednesday night’s game. The Wildcats scored one in the sixth, but the Bulls regained the lead with a three-run seventh, and tacked on one more in the eighth. B-CU scored three in the ninth, but USF was able to hold on for their third-straight win.
Sophomore Teddy Kaufman picked up his first win as a Bull, evening his overall record to 1-1. Against B-CU, he made his longest appearance of the season, striking out five in his six innings of work. Kaufman allowed three runs from five hits, walked three and hit one Wildcat with a pitch.
Sophomore closer Shawn Sanford picked up his eighth save, after entering the game with no outs in the ninth and runners on first and third. Bethune-Cookman scored three before Sanford could strike out two and force the final batter to ground out to second base.
Junior Chris Rey was 3-for-5 with a triple, double and a single, driving in two runs in his 36th game of the season.
Redshirt freshman Ryan Lockwood extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a single in the seventh, then added another base hit in the eighth to go 2-of-4 with one run scored.
In the fourth, Angelberger doubled to left field, then USF got on the board as freshman Stephen Hunt sent a sac fly to right, scoring Angelberger. With the double Angelberger has had an extra-base hit in six of his last eight games, including a pair of home runs and four doubles.
An inning later, freshman Jonathan Koscso led off the two-run frame with a single to left, then junior Addison Maruszak was hit by a pitch before Angelberger had an infield single to score Koscso. A sac fly from Lockwood scored Maruszak, to give USF the first lead of the game.
With one out in the seventh, USF scored a trio of runs to extend its lead to three. Lockwood singled and junior Brian Hobbs drew a walk, then Hunt singled to left to score Lockwood. Rey then tripled to right to give USF the three-run edge.
In the eighth, Maruszak drew a walk to lead the inning, then stole his first base of the season. With one out, Lockwood sent a single up the middle to score Maruszak and tally his 30th RBI of the season.
USF travels to New Jersey this weekend to face Rutgers in a three-game BIG EAST series. Friday’s game starts at 3:30 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. Saturday first pitch. The teams wrap up the series at Noon on Sunday.
Kentucky 6 Morehead State 5
LEXINGTON, Ky. — With the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Collin Cowgill and Sawyer Carroll hit back-to-back home runs, lifting the No. 17 Kentucky Wildcats to a dramatic, come-from-behind 6-5 win over state rival Morehead State, on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Cowgill strolled to the plate with the game tied at four and one out in the bottom of the eighth, launching a 1-0 offering into the party deck in right-field for his team-high 14th home run of the season. Carroll followed, ripping his 1-0 offering into deep centerfield, for his 11th homer of the year, giving UK a lead it would not relinquish.
Morehead State dominated the game through the first six innings, holding a commanding 4-0 lead entering the bottom of the seventh inning. The Wildcats responded with four runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game, setting the stage for Cowgill and Carroll’s heroics. Wiley got UK started in the seventh, leading off with a walk, moving to second after Cowgill ripped a hard infield single to third. Carroll loaded the bases with a single through the right side, bringing Brian Spear to the plate. Spear delivered his second hit of the year with the bases juiced, a single up the middle, scoring Cowgill and Wiley. Ryan Wilkes scored Carroll with a single through the right side. With Spear at third and one out, Chris Wade hung a shallow fly ball into left field, fielding by the shortstop, who fired to the plate attempting to get the game-tying run out at the plate. Spear slide past the tag, evening the game at 4-4.
Cowgill finished the night 2-for-4, launching homers in consecutive games, after belting a blast at Cincinnati on Tuesday. With 14 home runs this season, Cowgill ranks tied for second in the NCAA, three behind Georgia shortstop Gordon Beckham – a Cape Cod League teammate of Cowgill’s this summer. Beckham, who was named the mid-season NCAA Player of the Year Wednesday by Baseball America, notched his 17th home run of the season, a three-run walk-off job in UGA’s 7-5 win over Georgia State Wednesday. Carroll, who along with Cowgill is a National Player of the Year candidate, leads the SEC in hitting with a .459 average.
Cowgill, rated as the best outfield arm in the 2007 preseason by Baseball America, also threw out the go-ahead run from deep in the right-field gap in the top of the eighth inning, his fifth outfield assist of the year.
Wildcat catcher Marcus Niddifer had another excellent performance behind the dish, throwing out two would-be base stealers in the game. On the year, Nidiffer has thrown out 9-of-12 attempted base stealers. Offensively, Nidiffer finished 2-for-4 at the plate.
Kentucky returns to action on Friday, hosting the Florida Gators in a three-game set. First pitch at Cliff Hagan Stadium Friday is set for 6:30 p.m. ET. The game can be seen live on the Big Blue Sports Network, with Dick Gabriel, Doug Flynn and Ryan Lemond calling the action.
Kentucky (28-7) senior southpaw Andrew Albers picked up the win, tossing 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out two and allowing two hits to improve to 5-1 on the year. UK junior right-hander Scott Green picked up his first save of the year and the fifth of his career (3 in 2005, 1 in 2007), tossing the final inning, striking out two.
MSU closer Quentin Morgan took the loss, allowing the two homers in the eighth, working 1 2/3 innings.
Morehead State (12-21) got on the board in the fifth inning, getting back-to-back, one-out doubles from Michael Fear and Travis Redmon, to push across the first run of the game. Drew Lee scored Redmon with a single through the right side, just out of reach of a diving Wilkes. With Allen at third, Marc Midden scored Allen with a groundout to the first baseman.
Morehead got another run in the sixth inning, as Tommy Warner led off walking Andrew Wertz, who came around to score on a two-out hit from Michael Fear.
Louisville 13 Ohio State 12
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sparked by back-to-back-to-back home runs in the fourth by Justin McClanahan, Chris Dominguez and Andrew Clark, the University of Louisville baseball team out-lasted Ohio State 13-12 in a slugfest Wednesday at Bill Davis Stadium.
The Cardinal trio combined to go 10 for 17 with seven RBI and eight runs in Louisville’s first-ever trip to Columbus.
Junior John Dao previewed the high-scoring affair when he opened the game by crushing a 1-0 pitch from OSU starter Andrew Armstrong for a 1-0 Cardinal lead.
An out later Justin McClanahan blistered a double to the alley in left and scored on an RBI single by Andrew Clark for a short-lived 2-0 lead in the first.
The Buckeyes (18-12) struck for five in the bottom of the inning on six hits and a Cardinal error, chasing Cardinal starter James Belanger. The big blow was a two-run double by Brian DeLucia.
Reliever Gabriel Shaw, who earned the win to improve to 2-3 on the season, retired the final two batters of the first and went on to toss 4.0 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, fanning two.
Louisville (20-14) got two back in the third after a two-base error allowed Chris Dominguez to reach with one out and scored on a single by Clark. Jeff Arnold then singled and after a wild pitch nudged the runners up a station, Tyler Mickits RBI groundout cut the lead to a single run.
In the Louisville fourth, Drew Haynes hit a leadoff single, and two outs later McClanahan belted an opposite field shot off the scoreboard in right to put the Cards on top for good 6-5.
The next pitch, Dominguez hammered off the fence that borders the football practice field beyond the outfield wall in left for his 12th home run of the season, a titanic blast that put the Cards up 7-5. It was the first time since April 5, 2007 that two Cardinals hit consecutive jacks. In that win over Marshall, it was Logan Johnson and McClanahan turning the trick.
Clark then followed and worked the count to 1-2 before smoking a shot out to right for an 8-5 advantage, and a third consecutive home run.
Mickits doubled to left center to open the fifth and moved to third on a sac bunt by Kyle Cheesebrough, before Haynes’ squeeze bunt brought Mickits home for a 9-5 lead.
A two-run home run by Justin Miller in the Buckeye fifth trimmed the advantage to 9-7, but the Cards kept the pressure on with two more in the sixth.
McClanahan hit his team-leading 13th double and moved to third on a base hit by Dominguez. Clark singled home his fourth run of the game on his career-best fourth hit, and a Mickits sac fly regained the four-run lead.
The pesky Buckeyes refused to go away, adding two of their own in the bottom of the frame on an RBI groundout by Cory Kovanda and an RBI single off the bat of Miller, who had five hits for the Buckeyes.
UofL plated a run in their fifth consecutive inning with two more in the seventh. Dao singled and Phil Wunderlich was hit by a pitch. Two outs and a double steal later, Clark walked to load the bases, and Stewart Ijames, who had entered as a defensive replacement in the sixth, drilled the first pitch he saw to right for a two-run single and a 13-9 Louisville lead.
In the OSU eighth, a lead single by Tony Kennedy was erased on a 6-4-3 double play, but a pair of throwing errors sandwiched an RBI single, allowing two unearned runs to score.
Freshman Jon Clarence made his Cardinal debut and hit the only batter he faced, giving way to closer B.J. Rosenberg.
With two on, DeLucia hit a pop-up to right that Ijames was unable to make a diving catch on, allowing a run to score. As the runner tried to score from first, McClanahan threw a strike to the plate and Cheesebrough applied the tag, retiring what would have been the tying run.
Catcher Dan Burkhart singled to open the bottom of the ninth, with the Cards protecting a one run lead.
Tyler Engle moved the runner into scoring position with one out on a sac bunt.
Head Coach Dan McDonnell made a final trip to the mound, and Rosenberg responded, setting Kennedy down looking on three pitches.
Kovanda then engaged in a prolonged battle at the plate, fouling off a number of pitches with the tying run at second, working the count to 2-2 before Rosenberg blew a fastball past him for the strikeout and his third save of the season.
Belanger was touched for five runs, three of which were earned in six hits in a third of an inning. After Shaw’s four innings, Gavin Logsdon allowed a pair of runs on three hits and a walk in 1.2 frames.
Thomas Royse was victimized for three unearned runs on two hits, also working an inning and two-thirds.
Rosenberg retired the final four batters on two hits to go with the two strikeouts.
For the Buckeyes, Armstrong surrendered four runs – two earned, on six hits, striking out four in three innings of work. Drew Ricinski (1-2) took the loss, giving up five runs on six hits, striking out two in two innings. Three Ohio State relievers followed.
Dao, McClanahan and Clark each four hits in the 19-hit attack. Every Cardinal either collected a hit or scored a run in the win.
Villanova visits The Ville for a three-game weekend set of BIG EAST games beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET on Friday at Jim Patterson Stadium. The game is the first of a nine-game homestand. Admission to all regular season home games is free.
