National Recap for March 7th

In a doubleheader that was moved due to the threat of bad weather in Stillwater on Saturday, Oklahoma State and San Diego got together for a back and forth series of games. Both teams are among the favorites to win their respective conferences so there was added interest in the series and the two games didn’t disappoint. After quickly falling behind 5-0 in the 1st inning in Game 1, Oklahoma State rallied back to get the win 6-5. The Cowboy bullpen came up huge after starter Tyler Nurdin was roughed up early. Game 2 also saw San Diego jump out to a big early lead, but this time they held on for the 10-6 win. Starter Troy Conyers turned in a very solid outing going six innings and allowing two earned runs on just one hit for the Toreros. Game 3 is scheduled for Sunday.

It was a tough day for SEC teams playing out West. Mississippi State, Arkansas and Tennessee combined to go 0-4 in a frustrating day offensively on the diamond. In the Hi Corbett Classic in Tucson, MSU dropped a pair of contests to UC Santa Barbara 8-3 and Arizona 12-3. The Bulldogs came winners of seven straight but that momentum was quickly halted on Friday. Arkansas on the other hand came up short against San Francisco 2-1 in the Cal Baseball Classic in Berkeley. Abe Bobb tossed seven strong innings for the Dons to get the win and in turn handed the Razorbacks their third consecutive loss after beginning the season 3-0. Arizona State knocked off previously unbeaten Tennessee 3-1 to run their winning streak to five. Sophomore lefty Brett Lilek threw seven shutout innings to get his second win of the season and extend his shutout streak to 14 innings dating back February 23rd.

Pitcher Sean Newcomb of Hartford was listed in the pre-season as one of the top 50 prospects for the upcoming MLB draft in June and his stock continues to rise. Newcomb, a 6’5’’ lefty, has yet to give up an earned run this season in his first three starts after a dominant seven scoreless against the Buccaneers of East Tennessee State on Friday. He surrendered just two hits and struck out eight to get the win. Despite playing in a conference that gets little attention, Newcomb’s skills have put him and Hartford on the map in the early part of the 2014 season.

Coming off a College World Series appearance in 2013, Indiana has put together what would be described as a less than stellar 2014 campaign. The Hoosiers lost again on Friday night, this time 4-3 to Jacksonville, who also defeated a ranked TCU club a few weeks ago. Granted, the schedule hasn’t been the easiest – IU has already played two fellow former Omaha participants in Oregon State and Louisville, but you expect more than what we have seen thus far from a team who was in the top ten in almost every poll you could find pre-season. All is not lost of course – we haven’t even gotten into conference play yet in most parts of the country, but a good showing is certainly needed in the remaining two games against Jacksonville this weekend. The Hoosiers also have a chance to get a quality win midweek next week against a Kentucky team playing very good baseball right now. It’s a long season, no doubt, but Indiana must turn it on sooner than later. You can only coast for so long.