Another Tuesday is in the books and as always, it was interesting to see some of the big conference programs drop games to some of the weaker teams.
The UNC baseball program continued to struggle on Tuesday losing a 4-2 decision to Elon. CBB contributor Michael Lemaire wrote an excellent article about how the North Carolina baseball program has been struggling during the first two months of the season. You can check out Michael’s full column by clicking here.
The other big loss in the ACC on Tuesday was Florida State dropping a 3-1 decision to North Florida. The impressive thing was the fact that the Ospreys used four different pitchers to beat the Seminoles. The Ospreys jumped on the Noles in the first inning with Robbie Collier hitting a two run homer before being followed by Justin Preckajlo to give them the early 3-0 lead.
The UCLA Bruins dropped their second game of the season on Tuesday as the Cal-State Fullerton Titans got excellent pitching from a quartet of pitchers in Kevin Rath (4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R), Dylan Floro (2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R), Daniel Renken (1 IP, 0H, 0 R) and Nick Ramirez (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R). The Titans had a strong first inning which including three homers from Carlos Lopez, Corey Jones, and Nick Ramirez all in the first inning totaling five runs. That is all the Titans would need as they cruised to the 6-1 victory.
The Louisville Cardinals might be tied for first place in the Big East with a 5-1 record in the conference and have an overall record of 23-5 but they dropped a 5-0 decision to arch-rival Kentucky on Tuesday. The Cardinals need to continue their domination in the Big East and be perfect during mid-week games to get into a hosting position for the 2010 NCAA Baseball tourney.
Mikie Mahtook of LSU hit for the cycle on Tuesday as the Tigers roared past Alcorn State 17-5. Mahtook had a double in the first, single in the second, triple off the wall in the fifth, and finished it with a homer in the sixth inning. The cycle was the first by an LSU players since 2003 when Aaron Hill completed the feat against South Carolina.
One of my surprise teams this season has been the Pittsburgh Panthers who are 20-6 while being 4-2 in Big East play which is good enough to be tied for fourth place with UConn. The Panthers picked up a tight 5-4 victory over Akron on Tuesday afternoon. You can check out our interview with Coach Jordano from the preseason by clicking here.
Before the season, my biggest question mark with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers was whether they could get enough quality hitting to back up the pitching rotation led by Cody Wheeler and Anthony Meo. They have proved to be an excellent hitting team over the last four games where they are averaging 16 runs. Last night, saw the Chanticleers pick up a 20-1 victory over a struggling UNC-Wilmington squad that is currently 15-13 overall. 
Austin Wates of Virginia Tech picked up several national player of the week awards after having an outstanding week which included winning two out of three games at Dick Howser Stadium. The story isn’t about how great Wates has been this season but what is Coach Hughes and the Virginia Tech Hokies doing sporting the mid-70’s Houston Astros retro jerseys? Are you a fan of them?
