The start of college baseball season is upon us and with the first weekend in the books College Baseball Daily would like to show some love to some of the nations top performances.
A breakdown of some of the top hitting and pitching performances of the 2015 Division 1 college baseball season opening weekend are below.
AT THE PLATE:
Harrison Bader was announced as the SEC Player of the Week on Monday after leading the Gators offense to a season-opening series sweep of Rhode Island. Bader hit .583 on the weekend with three home runs and 11 RBI. He also doubled twice and collected a total of seven hits on the weekend.
Welcome back David Thompson. The Miami corner infielder and DH batted .365 on the weekend and tallied three extra base hits, which included a double, triple and home run.
Cam Gibson swung the bat as well as anybody in the country for Michigan State over the weekend. The junior outfielder batted .500 and collected three extra base hits. Perhaps the most impressive stat of Gibson’s weekend is the 1.000 slugging percentage he posted in 12 at bats.
Have a weekend Stuart Fairchild! In his first college baseball series Fairchild batted .778 in nine at bats. He belted one home run, one double and crossed the plate three times. Fairchild posted an OBP of .846 and slugged 1.222. Any way you look at it Fairchild had a great weekend and Wake Forest should be inspired by the freshmen’s performance.
Arguably the top performance from over the weekend in all of college baseball goes to the Windsor, Ont., Canada native, Jacob Robson. The redshirt sophomore center fielder recorded six hits in ten at bats and demonstrated a very good eye at the plate with five walks in a four game sweep of Cincinnati and Miami (OH).
Cincinnati Bearcat outfielder Ian Happ demonstrated why he is considered a top 20 pick in the 2015 MLB draft by numerous scouts across the country this weekend by batting .438 and collecting seven hits, two doubles and two home runs to go with four RBI in sixteen at bats.
Reigning ACC Player of the Year DJ Stewart started his junior campaign for Florida State how he finished 2014, en fuego. Stewart batted .555 and led the Seminole to a three game sweep of Oakland. Aside from batting .555 Stewart crossed the plate five times, knocked in one runner, stole two bases and walked six times.
Golden Spikes Watch List members Alex Bregman (LSU), Chris Shaw (Boston College) and Dansby Swanson (Vanderbilt) each contributed to the success of their respective teams opening weekend. Bregman recorded two hits, a stolen base and a RBI in a LSU sweep of Kentucky. Shaw hit a home run and knocked in his share of runners with a five RBI weekend for the Eagles. Swanson collected six hits, 2 RBI and a stolen base as Vanderbilt took two of three from Santa Clara.
ON THE BUMP:
USC pitcher Kyle Twomey dominated in his first start of the year throwing 7.0 scoreless innings and only allowing two hits and three walks while fanning seven Towson batters. Twomey and the Trojans swept Towson to start the year 3-0 and on Monday beat Cal State Fullerton, 6-4.
Michael Matuella made his highly anticipated 2015 debut in front of dozens of MLB scouts that packed Evans Diamond stadium on opening weekend. Although he didn’t get a win in his start against California, Matuella threw six scoreless innings only allowing four hits and two walks while fanning eight batters. An impressive fastball that touches the upper nineties paired with an array of offspeed pitches he will throw at any point in any situation is just another reason Matuella may be the number one overall pick in the 2015 MLB draft.
Luke Gillingham of Navy started the season off with a bang! Gillingham struck out the first twelve batters North Carolina A&T sent up to the plate on Friday. Over his seven innings of work he allowed just one hit and recorded sixteen strikeouts. His strikeout tally ties him for fifth all-time with Chuck Davis and Dennis Losh who both struck out sixteen in the 59 and 69 seasons. Navy is 2-1 on the year and travels to Virginia to take on Norfolk on the 21st.
Kyle Funkhouser was true to form as he struck out twelve batters and allowed only one hit in 7.0 scoreless innings in the Cardinals 5-1 win over Alabama State. Funkhouser blew up in 2014 when he was named to a bevy of All-American teams and then pitched for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. Funkhouser has been mentioned as a potential first rounder in this years upcoming MLB draft.
Nathan Kirby was his usual stellar self in his opening day start for the Virginia Cavaliers. Kirby threw 7.0 scoreless innings allowing only three hits, two walks and struck out five in the Cavs 3-1 victory over East Carolina.
