Here is your Big East Recap for February 20th.
#10 Florida 9 South Florida 1
No. 7 Florida (2-0) clinched its season-opening weekend series with a 9-1 victory over USF (0-2) on Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 3,723 fans at McKethan Stadium. Freshman left-hander Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) tossed 5.2 scoreless innings in his collegiate debut to pick up the win, while sophomore Tyler Thompson (Tequesta, Fla.) (2-for-5) had a career-high four RBI, highlighted by a bases-clearing double in the eighth inning. Freshmen Kamm Washington (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.) belted solo homers in the triumph for the Orange and Blue.
Florida Recap
South Florida Recap
#12 Miami (FL) 10 Rutgers 8
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The 12th-ranked University of Miami baseball team scored double-digit runs for the second straight night to open the season as the Hurricanes downed Rutgers, 10-8, Saturday night at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
For just the second time in head coach Jim Morris’ 17 seasons in Coral Gables and the sixth time in school history, the Hurricanes scored double-digit runs in back-to-back games to open the season – scoring 10 a night after plating 12 runs in the opener on Friday. The win also secured a series win for the `Canes – the second straight year Miami opened its season with a series win over the Scarlet Knights.
Miami (FL) Recap
Rutgers Recap
Game 1: #19 Louisville 5 Bowling Green 2
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 12th-ranked Louisville baseball team came from behind to clinch its season-opening series against Bowling Green with a 5-2 win in the first of two games on Saturday at Jim Patterson Stadium.
With the game tied at 2-2 in the eighth, sophomore shortstop Ryan Wright connected for an RBI single up the middle off Falcon reliever Charles Wooten to give the Cardinals their first lead of the day. Louisville pushed its advantage to the final 5-2 margin moments later as senior first baseman Andrew Clark and Wright scored on an RBI single to right by senior catcher Jeff Arnold.
Louisville Recap
Bowling Green Recap
Game 2: #19 Louisville 8 Bowling Green 7 (10 innings)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Sophomore Ryan Wright’s game-winning RBI double in the 10th inning capped the No. 12 ranked Louisville baseball team’s furious rally from seven runs down and clinched an 8-7 win over Bowling Green on Saturday afternoon at Jim Patterson Stadium. With the win, the Cardinals also completed a three-game season-opening sweep of the Falcons.
Wright hammered an 0-1 pitch from Bowling Green reliever Cody Apthorpe off the wall in right center to score senior second baseman Adam Duvall and finish the Cardinals’ largest comeback in head coach Dan McDonnell’s four seasons in Louisville. The final run scored nearly three hours after the Falcons opened the game with a seven-run first inning to take a commanding lead in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
Louisville Recap
Bowling Green Recap
Game 1: #28 Texas A&M 13 Seton Hall 6
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M pounded out 14 hits and used a pair of big innings to pick up a 13-6 win over Seton Hall in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Olsen Field.
The Aggies (2-0) scored four in both the first and sixth innings and production throughout the lineup, as four players had at least two hits. The Pirates fell to 0-2 with the loss. Game two is set to begin at approximately 6 p.m.
A&M jumped on SHU starter Frank Morris quickly, tagging the freshman for four runs in the first inning.
After reaching on an error to begin the frame, Scott Arthur moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt and scored on a Brodie Greene sacrifice fly. The next batter, Andrew Collazo, delivered the team’s first home run of the new season–a line-drive shot down the line in left–that put A&M up 2-0. RBI singles later in the inning by Kenny Jackson and Kevin Gonzalez would double the lead.
Texas A&M Recap
Seton Hall Recap
Game 2: #28 Texas A&M 6 Seton Hall 3
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Brodie Greene’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning broke a tie game, and John Stilson threw four perfect innings of relief, as the Aggies downed Seton Hall, 6-3, to finish off a doubleheader sweep Saturday evening before 5,010 fans at Olsen Field. The Aggies took the first half of the twin-bill, 13-6.
With the score tied at three entering the last of the eighth, Adam Smith led off the inning with a five-pitch walk. Following a pitching change, Scott Arthur delivered a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Smith into scoring position. Two pitches later, Greene would line a single through the left side to score Smith with the eventual game-winner. Andrew Collazo would bring Greene home, who moved to second on the throw and third on a steal, with an infield groundout, and Joe Patterson tacked on a solo home run to close the three-run rally.
Texas A&M Recap
Seton Hall Recap
Florida Atlantic 3 Cincinnati 0
Junior right-hander Mike Gipson scattered two hits in seven shutout innings as the Florida Atlantic University baseball team beat the University of Cincinnati 3-0 to pick up its first victory of the season on Saturday at the FAU Baseball Stadium in Boca Raton.
Gipson struck out four batters and allowed just four base runners to post his first victory of the season and the Owls’ first shutout since the 2007 season when the team knocked off Florida International University 5-0. FAU also held the Bearcats to three hits on the afternoon – the fewest number of hits allowed in a nine-inning game since Mickey Storey’s no-hit pitching performance against Campbell in 2006.
Georgetown 11 Davidson 8
Senior shortstop Tom Elliott (Blue Bell, Pa./St. Joseph’s Prep) had four hits, senior left fielder Billy Cupelo (Franklin, Mass./Bishop Feehan) drove in three runs and senior second baseman Chip Malt (Boston, Mass./Buckingham, Browne & Nichols) hit a two-run single to highlight a four-run ninth inning as the Georgetown baseball team came back from a one-run deficit en route to an 11-8 win over Davidson at Wilson Field in North Carolina Saturday afternoon.
It was the second-straight win to start the season for the Hoyas, who improve to 2-0, while Davidson falls to 0-2.
Georgetown Recap
Davidson Recap
Kentucky 6 West Virginia 0
CONWAY, S.C. — In the first appearance of his college career freshman left-hander Taylor Rogers tossed 7.2 shutout innings and threw first-pitch strikes to 25-of-29 hitters faced, leading the Kentucky Wildcats to a 6-0 win over West Virginia, Saturday afternoon at Coastal Carolina’s Charles Watson Stadium at Vrooman Field.
A 6-foot-3, 170-pound southpaw, Rogers got the starting nod in his first collegiate game and turned in a gem, tossing 7.2 frames with only six hits and no runs allowed, issuing just one walk and fanning two. A native of Littleton, Colo., Rogers got outs from the first 13 hitters he faced, carrying a perfect game into the fourth inning. Rogers, who threw just 85 pitches, filled up the strike zone throughout the game, tossing first-pitch strikes to 25-of-29 batters. He forced 15 ground outs in the contest, also fielding his position splendidly, with a putout and two assists, not allowing a WVU base runner to reach scoring position until the fourth inning.
Kentucky Recap
West Virginia Recap
Notre Dame 8 Mississippi Valley State 3
GREENVILLE, Miss. – Notre Dame senior RHP Billy Boockford (Glen Elyn, Ill.) picked up his first career victory and senior 1B Casey Martin (Chesterton, Ind.) added two hits, including a solo home run for the second consecutive day, to lead the Irish past Mississippi Valley State, 8-3, in college baseball action from Legion Field Saturday afternoon. An energetic crowd of 1,875 watched Notre Dame improve to 2-0 on the season.
Boockford, who entered today’s contest with just one previous pitching appearance, tossed 1.2 scoreless and hitless innings of relief. The right-handed hurler walked a batter and recorded a strikeout.
Notre Dame Recap
Mississippi Valley State Recap
Pittsburgh 7 Wofford 3
PITTSBURGH – Pitt’s baseball team improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 7-3 win at Wofford Saturday afternoon, with one game remaining in the three-game series.
Pitt’s Danny Lopez (Queens, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) and Joe Leonard (Dawson, Pa./Connellsville) each hit 3-for-4 on the day with Lopez crossing the plate all three times and Leonard driving in three runs.
Pitt got on the board first when Leonard doubled with two outs in the top of the first. The next batter, Kevan Smith (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley), drove Leonard home on an RBI single to take the 1-0 lead. Wofford responded with a two-run homer in the first to take the 2-1 advantage.
Pittsburgh Recap
Wofford Recap
St. John’s 5 New Orleans 2 (12 innings)
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Freshman Jeremy Baltz had a game-winning two-out, two-run double in the 12th inning as the St. John’s baseball team defeated the University of New Orleans, 5-2. Jimmy Parque and Greg Hopkins had two hits and one RBI apiece, while freshman Sean O’Hare was 4-for-6 with one RBI to lead St. John’s (2-0). Freshman Matt Carasiti (1-0) worked 3.0 scoreless innings to earn the win in his collegiate debut. Mike Petello had two RBI to pace New Orleans (0-2).
With two outs in the top of the third inning, Parque sent a solo home run over the fence in left field to give St. John’s a 1-0 lead.
St. John’s Recap
New Orleans Recap
Villanova 7 Norfolk State 3
NORFOLK, Va. – Sophomore southpaw Kyle Helisek (Cranberry Township, Pa.) struck out seven and allowed no earned runs in five innings and Villanova (2-0) broke open a close game with four runs in the eighth inning en route to a 7-3 victory over Norfolk State (0-2) on Saturday afternoon in the middle game of a three-game series at Marty L. Miller Field.
Strong starting pitching was the story for a second straight day as Helisek tied his career high for strikeouts and allowed just three hits and an unearned run in his five innings of work. He stayed out of trouble by retiring the leadoff batter in four of his five innings and then held the Spartans to 1-of-8 hitting with runners on base and 1-of-6 batting with two outs.
Villanova Recap
Norfolk State Recap
