The College Baseball Blog’s Spotlight Series for this weekend is the Oklahoma State Tournament taking place in Stillwater Oklahoma. The tournament will see Cal-State Fullerton and Rhode Island join the host Cowboys in a three way round robin tournament where each team will play against each other twice. The Cal-State Fullerton Titans enter the weekend with a record of 10-2 after beating Texas A&M on Tuesday 15-5. (CBB Recap of Game available here.) They are led on offense by Nick Ramirez who is hitting .439 with four homers and 16 RBI on the year. Khris Davis is second on the squad with a .404 average with a team leading six homers and 17 RBI. Josh Fellhauer is third on the squad with a .400 average with two homers and eight RBI. Daniel Renken has been the best starting pitcher for the Titans as he is 2-0 with a 1.53 ERA in his three starts to the season.
The Rhode Island Rams enter this weekend with an overall record of 7-2 with a victories over Miami (FL) and Ohio State highlighting the early season schedule. Rhode Island has a team batting average of .313 while hitting 10 homers. The top hitter right now for Rhode Island is Zoey Angulo who is hitting .455 with a homer and six RBI in only seven games (six starts). Dan Rhault has a .419 average and Jeff Cammans who has a .417 average as both of them have played in all nine games this season. The best part of the Rhode Island team has been the solid pitching staff as they have a team ERA of 3.83. The two best pitchers on the staff are Nick Greenwood (2-1, 2.20 ERA) and Eric Smith (1-0, 1.38 ERA). Tim Boyce who had an outstanding 2008 season has struggled early in the season with a 1-0 record and an ERA of 6.92. If Greenwood and Smith continue to pitch this well heading into conference games and Tim Boyce returns back to his 2008 form, then the Rams will be a formidable opponent in the Atlantic 10 race.
Oklahoma State enters the weekend with an overall record of 11-2 with a loss to East Carolina and UC-Riverside respectively. The Cowboys enter the weekend with a team batting average of .301. The top hitter in all three Triple Crown categories this season has been Doug Kroll who is hitting .392 with five homers and 18 RBI on the year. David Duren is second on the squad with a .378 average while stealing seven bases in eight attempts. Kevin David is also above .350 as he comes in with a batting average of .366. Andrew Oliver who ended up winning a lawsuit against the NCAA entered the season as the top pitcher on the staff. He has a perfect 3-0 record with a 4.74 ERA. Tyler Lyons (who I saw once throw eight straight curveballs) is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA.
Probable Starting Pitchers
FRIDAY – Game 1:
CSF: RHP, Tyler Pill (2-0, 5.52 ERA)
RI: RHP, Tim Boyce (1-0, 6.92 ERA)
FRIDAY – Game 2:
CSF: RHP, Daniel Renken (2-0, 1.53 ERA)
OSU: LHP, Andrew Oliver (3-0, 4.74 ERA)
SATURDAY- Game 1
OSU: TBA
URI: Nick Greenwood (2-1, 2.20 ERA) or TBA
SATURDAY- Game 2
CSF: RHP, Kyle Witten (1-0, 3.68 ERA)
OSU: LHP, Tyler Lyons (2-0, 1.38 ERA)
SUNDAY- Game 1
CSF: RHP, Noe Ramirez (2-0, 1.98 ERA)
RI: RHP, Eric Smith (1-0, 1.38 ERA)
SUNDAY- Game 2
OSU: TBA
URI: Nick Greenwood (2-1, 2.20 ERA) or TBA
Brian’s Prediction:
Cal-State Fullerton 3-1
Oklahoma State 3-1
Rhode Island 0-4
Colin’s Prediction:
Cal-State Fullerton 3-1
Oklahoma State 2-2
Rhode Island 1-3
