#15 Duke Sweeps 'Baseball at the Beach'
The Duke Blue Devils had the most impressive weekend of any ACC team on opening weekend following a sweep of Indiana, George Mason, and Coastal Carolina at the 'Baseball of the Beach' tournament. Game one featured the returned of Duke's ace Jonathan Santucci, who missed much of last season following an injury in late March. The junior was a little erratic early but looked fantastic as he settled in through 5 shutout innings and 7 strikeouts against a very good Indiana lineup. The offense got going in the fifth with an RBI double by shortstop Wallace Clark, a transfer from Oklahoma. Catcher Alex Stone and Harvard transfer Logan Bravo went back-to-back in the 6th to make it 3-0. Owen Proksch gave up 3 runs in the 6th and 7th to allow Indiana back into it, but some insurance highlighted by a Tyler Albright homer made it 6-3. Charlie Beilenson went 2.2 scoreless innings to close out a 6-3 win over a very good Indiana team.
In the second game, Duke hit a school record 11 home runs with freshman AJ Gracia accounting for three of them. Junior centerfielder Devin Obee hit both an inside the park and over the fence home run, while VMI transfer Zac Morris hit his first two homers of the year. Penn transfer Ben Miller, Alex Stone, Wallace Clark, and true freshman Chase Krewson also hit home runs in the game. Freshman Kyle Johnson, who went 3-7 over the weekend as a hitter, made his pitch debut with 3 shutout innings of relief in the middle innings. Duke won 23-5 to go to 2-0 on the weekend.
On Sunday, Duke faced fellow Top 25 opponent and home team Coastal Carolina in one of the weekend's premier matchups. Zac Morris led things off with his third home run of the weekend, while Ben Miller added his second with a 2 run shot in the 3rd to give Duke a 3-1 lead. Logan Bravo would add another run on an RBI single to left to make 4-1 through three innings. From there, it was a job for Duke's vaunted bullpen to maintain the lead. Wallace Clark added insurance with an RBI double in the 6th, but it was Charlie Beilenson again going 2+ scoreless innings to save the game and get Duke the sweep.
Starting Pitching Lines
G1: Jonathan Santucci- 5IP | 0 ER | 4 H | 7 K | 2 BB | 86 pitches
G2: Andrew Healy- 3IP | 3 ER | 3H | 4 K | 2 BB | 64 pitches
G3: Aidan Weaver- 2.1IP | 0 ER | 2 H | 4K | 1 BB | 46 pitches
Top Performers
1B Logan Bravo (Gr) 7-15, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI
RF AJ Gracia (Fr) 4-11, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 4 BB
C Alex Stone (Sr) 4-11, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI
2B Zac Morris (Gr) 4-16, 2B, 3 HR, 5 RBI
3B Ben Miller (Gr) 6-15, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Pittsburgh Sweeps Maine
The Pitt Panthers get their 2024 campaign off to brilliant start after sweeping 2023 NCAA Tournament team Maine. Playing as the road team in a neutral site in Florida, the Grittsburgh offense raked, scoring 30 runs over the three games. A 5-run third inning game in game 1 of their double header Friday helped the Panthers earn a 10-7 victory, closed out by 1.2 shutdown innings of relief by Gardner-Webb transfer Phil Fox. CJ Funk, the star returner for Pitt, was particularly impressive as he went 3-4 with a double and home run.
Shortly after the end of the first game on Friday, Pitt and Maine went back at it to avoid weather that was forecasted for game 3 on Sunday. Down 3-2 in the bottom of the 7th, freshman third baseman Ryan Zuckerman's first collegiate hit was a home run to right field to tie the game. Fairleigh Dickenson transfer Luke Cantwell would single home Dom Popa later in the inning to give Pitt the lead, and the Panthers never looked back in a 7-4 win to sweep the doubleheader.
Pitt exploded for 13 runs in game 3, highlight by Cantwell's 2 home run performance. Ethan Firoved, appearing in relief of starter Jack Sokol, was fantastic with 4 scoreless innings. He struck out six hitters while only allowing one hit. It was Pitt's first opening weekend sweep since 2013.
Starting Pitching Lines G1: Ryan Andrade 3 IP | 3 ER | 3 H | 1 K | 4 BB |
G2: Ryan Reed 4 IP | 1 ER | 0 H | 6 K | 5 BB |
G3: Jack Sokol 4 IP | 3 ER | 5 H | 4 K | 1 BB |
Top Performers
1B Luke Cantwell (Jr) 4-10, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 5 BB
RF CJ Funk (Sr) 5-11, 2 2B, HR, 1 RBI
C Jayden Melendez (Jr) 4-8, 5 RBI, 2 SB
3B Ryan Zuckerman (Fr) 3-8, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
#13 Clemson Sweeps Xavier
Clemson had to come from behind in all three games, but they managed a fairly routine sweep of the Xavier Musketeers on opening weekend. Billy Barlow looked good in his return to the rotation, despite giving up 2 unearned runs early in game 1. The story in game one will be about the grand slams by Alden Mathes and Nolan Nawrocki, but the debut performance of reliever Drew Titsworth shouldn't be overlooked. He went 2.2 shutout innings with only one baserunner allowed. Cam Cannarella added 3 RBIs as Clemson won 14-3.
In game 2, Xavier led 1-0 after 3 innings before a 4-run 4th inning changed things. Nolan Nawrocki doubled to left center to score Cooper Blauser from second, then Cam Cannarella singled to left to drive in two more before later scoring an unearned run on an error. Andrew Cuifo and Blake Wright would homer later in the game and Clemson would earn an 8-3 win to clinch the series.
Freshman right hander Aidan Knaak made his collegiate debut in the series finale on Sunday and results were a mixed bag. He showed signs of promise with 6 strikeouts, but he gave up five earned runs over 3 innings of work. The Tigers trailed 5-3 before scoring runs in the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings to regain a 8-5 lead. Xavier would get back with one run in the 7th, but Clemson was ultimately too much for the Musketeers as they held on to win 11-7 and complete the sweep.
Starting Pitching Lines
G1: Billy Barlow 5 IP | 0 ER | 3 H | 2 K | 0 BB |
G2: Tristan Smith 4 IP | 1 ER | 1 H | 5 K | 2 BB |
G3: Aidan Knaak 3 IP | 5 ER | 6 H | 6 K | 3 BB |
Top Performers
CF Cam Cannarella (So) 7-13, 1 2B, 5 RBI, 4 R, 3 BB
2B Blake Wright (Sr) 6-14, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 4 R
RF Alden Mathes (Sr) 4-8, HR, 6 RBI, 7 BB, 2 R
3B Nolan Nawrocki (R-Fr) 5-12, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 4 R
#14 Virginia Sweeps Hofstra
Virginia pitching wasn't always at its best on opening weekend, but they earned a hard won sweep of a pesky and resilient Hofstra team. Game one on Friday saw the Virginia get off to a slow start offensively following a Griff O'Ferrall solo home run in the first inning. Down 4-1 in the bottom of the 6th, however, the offense came to life and scored 6 runs. Freshman Henry got his collegiate hit on a two run single to tie the game and sophomore Harrison Didawick blasted a two run shot to left center to make it 6-4. Hofstra would retake a 7-6 lead heading to the bottom of the 8th, but Pride pitchers struggled to find the zone and even the catcher. UVA scored three runs on wild pitches to take a 10-7 lead. Aidan Teel, the younger brother of UVA legend Kyle Teel, made his first collegiate appearance to close the door and earn his first career save in a 10-8 victory.
Game two on Saturday afternoon went more as expected for the 'Hoos despite going down 1-0 in the first inning again. The lineup batted around in consecutive innings and four UVA hitters (Hanson, O'Ferrall, Didawick, Ford) launched home runs. Virginia coasted to a 21-3 win.
UVA went for the sweep on Sunday with former Wahoo QB Jay Woolfolk making his first career start on the mound. He had trouble finding the zone and UVA again found itself trailing after the first inning. The offense continued to battle in a back and forth affair that saw the score tied 6-6 after three innings.
Back to back doubles by Ford and Casey Saucke followed by a sacrifice fly from Henry Godbout made it 8-6 UVA in the 5th. Henry Ford would add to his fantastic debut weekend with a three run blast in the 6th to make it 11-6. Hofstra would get three back to make it 11-9, but relievers Blake Barker and Aidan Teel would shut the door and complete the sweep.
Starting Pitching Lines
G1: Jack O'Connor 4 IP | 3 ER | 8 H | 3 K | 1 BB |
G2: Evan Blanco 3 IP | 0 ER | 4 H | 3 K | 0 BB |
G3: Jay Woolfolk 2 IP | 6 ER | 2 H | 3 K | 5 BB |
Top Performers
SS Griff O'Ferrall (Jr) 6-12, 2B, 2 HR, 1 SB
1B Henry Ford (Fr) 7-13, 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI
RF Casey Saucke (Jr) 4-10, 2 2B, 6 RBI,
LF Harrison Didawick (So) 5-13, 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI
CF Bobby Whalen (Sr) 5-9, 3 2B, 6 RBI
#17 North Carolina Sweeps Wagner
The North Carolina Tar Heels scored 46 runs, their most runs in the first three games of a season since 1899 as they swept Wagner. In Game 1, freshman Folger Boaz made his first collegiate start and was impressive, throwing 5 one run innings. Vance Honeycutt hit his first home run of the year while highly touted transfers Parks Harbor and Anthony Donofrio each had multi-hit games enroute to a 10-3 Tar Heels win.
In Game 2, Wagner fought back to tie the game, which stood at 5-5 after 6.5 innings. Dalton Pence provided 3.2 shutout innings in relief while two 5-run innings in the bottom of the 6th and 8th sealed a 16-5 win for UNC. Those big innings were each highlighted by a three run homer-- Alberto Osuna in the 6th and Casey Cook in the 8th.
The Tar Heels started another freshman on Sunday in Olin Johnson, but the story of the game was the baserunning. Six different players recorded steals in the series finale as UNC set a school record of 10 steals in a game. 9 of those steals came before the third inning and the score was 10-0 after 2 in Chapel Hill. North Carolina rode that early win to an impressive 20-6 win.
Starting Pitching Lines
G1: Folger Boaz 5 IP | 1 ER | 5 H | 5 K | 1 BB |
G2: Ben Peterson 3.1 IP | 4 ER | 2 H | 2 K | 4 BB |
G3: Olin Johnson 2.2 IP | 1 ER | 5 H | 3 K | 0 BB |
Top Performers
LF Casey Cook (So) 8-14, 2B, HR, 7 RBI, 2 SB
SS Colby Wilkerson (Sr) 6-10, 2B, 4 RBI, 1 SB
3B Parks Harbor (Sr) 5-12, 3B, 3 RBI, 1 SB
1B Alberto Osuna (Sr) 4-11, 2 HR, 7 RB
Miami Sweeps NJIT
Friday night wasn't easy, but Miami managed a sweep of the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Opening Weekend. Friday night ace Gage Ziehl struggled in game one, giving up 7 earned runs in 4.2 innings. The Canes trailed 7-5 headed to the bottom of the 7th before a Blake Cyr solo shot and a Jason Torres sac fly tied the game 7-7. Freshman pitcher Nick Robert and graduate student Drew Dwyer shut down the NJIT lineup in the 8th and 9th to set up some Miami Magic in the bottom of the 9th. Miami started the 9th with three straight hits before Torres struck out for the first out. The hero was senior catcher Carlos Perez, who singled to left field on a 1-1 pitch to win the game for the Hurricanes in walk off fashion.
In Game 2, the story was all about true freshman third baseman Daniel Cuvet, who went 4-4 with 3 extra base hits. Rafe Schlesinger impressed in his first start, going 3.1 innings with 9 strikeouts. It was an easy win for Miami, 19-2. Game 3 was another impressive offensive performance, but the standout performance came on the mound from JUCO transfer Herrick Hernandez. He threw 6 no hit innings while striking out 10 in his debut. Daniel Cuvet continued to be hot, going 3-5 with another home run and 5 RBI while Wake Forest transfer and Miami native Lucas Costello added his first home run and 4 RBI in a 16-0 win.
Starting Pitching Lines
G1: Gage Ziehl 4.2 IP | 7 ER | 7 H | 7 K | 2 BB |
G2: Rafe Schlesinger 3.1 IP | 1 ER | 5 H | 9 K | 1 BB |
G3: Herick Hernandez 6 IP | 0 ER | 0 H | 10 K | 3 BB |
Top Performers
3B Daniel Cuvet (Fr) 9-13, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI
1B Jason Torres (So) 7-13, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI
OF Lucas Costello (Sr) 4-9, HR, 5 RBI
2B Blake Cyr (So) 3-12, 2 HR, 4 RBI
Georgia Tech Sweeps Radford
Georgia Tech swept Radford over the weekend, scoring 34 runs in the process. Friday night starter Terry Busse had an opening day to forget, but freshman star Drew Burress did not. The centerfielder hit two home runs in his first collegiate game, while NC State transfer Payton Green went 4-4 and reached base 6 times in the 21-8 win.
The offense wasn't as prolific in game 2, but that was alright as Aeden Finateri shined on the mound with 6 one run innings and a career high 8 strikeouts. Indiana transfer Matthew Ellis had a three hit game while Green hit another home run in the 7-3 victory. The series finale on Sunday was more of the same as Camron Hill and Carson Ballard impressed with 6 combined innings of no hit relief. Burress and Green hit their third home runs of the weekend and the Yellow Jackets completed the sweep with a 6-3 win.
Starting Pitching Lines
G1: Terry Busse 1 IP | 6 ER | 3 H | 0 K | 3 BB |
G2: Aeden Finateri 6 IP | 1 ER | 4 H | 8 K | 1 BB |
G3: Mason Patel 3 IP | 3 ER | 6 H | 4 K | 1 BB |
Top Performers
SS Payton Green (Jr) 7-11, 3 HR, 7 RBI, SB
CF Drew Burress (Fr) 6-14, 3 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBI
OF Trey Yunger (Sr) 5-12, 1 HR, 6 RBI
C Matthew Ellis (Sr) 5-14, 3 2B, 2 RBI
#1 Wake Forest Sweeps Weekend
Wake Forest beat Fordham, Illinois, and Akron this past weekend to start 3-0. Offensively it wasn't quite the home run hitting Deacs of last year, but the pitching was solid as always. On Friday, ace Josh Hartle went 5.2 one run innings and struck out four while Ball State transfer Adam Tellier paced the Wake Forest offense with a 2-3 day highlighted by a lead off home run in the bottom of the first. Wake Forest only managed 5 hits on the day but won 9-3 over Fordham.
The Wake Forest offense continued to semi-struggle as they only managed 4 hits against Illinois on Saturday. Two of those hits were home runs and UNC transfer Austin Hawke was the hitter of the game for the Deacs as he drove in 4 of the Wake Forest runs. Nick Kurtz hit a solo shot in the 5th to make it 5-0. With Chase Burns, Josh Gunther, Cam Nelson, and David Falco on the mound, it was all the offense Wake Forest needed to beat the Illini. Burns had 10 k's over 6 innings of work while Cam Nelson struck out the side in his one inning.
The offense finally got going for the Deacs on Sunday against Akron as they won in 7 innings by a score of 14-3 in Michael Massey's first start. Wake Forest had 13 hits on Sunday, 4 more than their combined total of the first two games. Tellier, Kurtz, Hawke, and Seaver King all had multi-hit days and the latter delivered both his first hit and first home run as a Demon Deacon. Massey only went 3 innings of hitless ball as he's still being stretched out, but Ben Shenosky and Andrew Koshy looked sharp in relief as Wake Forest clinched the sweep.
Starting Pitching Lines
G1: Josh Hartle 5.2 IP | 1 ER | 3 H | 4 K | 0 BB | 70 pitches
G2: Chase Burns 6 IP | 0 ER | 3 H | 10 K | 1 BB | 88 pitches
G3: Michael Massey 3 IP | 0 ER | 0 H | 4 K | 2 BB | 51 pitches
Top Performers
3B Adam Tellier (Gr) 4-9, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI
1B Nick Kurtz (Jr) 4-12, 3 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBI
2B Austin Hawke (So) 3-10, 1 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI
CF Seaver King (Jr) 2-10, HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB
Notre Dame Sweeps Rice
It was a pitching duel on opening day for Notre Dame and Rice as the teams combined for just four runs on seven hits. The difference was two unearned runs the Irish scored in the 5th as they rode the combination of Caden Spivey, Radek Birkholz, Bennett Flynn, and Nate Hardman on the mound to a 3-1 victory. Michigan transfer had two of Notre Dame's three hits.
The Irish trailed 4-3 after 7 when St. John's transfer David Glancy hit a 3-2 payoff pitch to left to tie the game at 4-4. A few batters later, Tulane transfer Simon Baumgardt delivered his first home run of the season to make it 6-4 Irish. Notre Dame would add three more unearned runs in the 9th to put the game of reach for Rice. The final was 9-5 and Nate Hardman got his second save of the weekend.
The series finale was another come from behind win for the Irish as they trailed 7-3 after 6 innings. Once again, it was a David Glancy solo shot that sparked the Irish offense in the 7th as they scored 5 runs to take an 8-7 lead. Rice would tie it back up in the 8th but a solo shot by catcher Carson Tinney and a grandslam by Tito Flores in the 9th sealed the series sweep for Notre Dame on the road, 13-10.
Starting Pitching Lines
G1: Caden Spivey 3.0 IP | 1 ER | 3 H | 1 K | 1 BB | 61 pitches
G2: Jackson Dennies 3.1 IP | 3 ER | 5 H | 2 K | 3 BB | 65 pitches
G3: Matt Bedford 3 IP | 3 ER | 4 H | 1 K | 2 BB | 47 pitches
Top Performers
3B Simon Baumgardt (Gr) 3-12, 2 HR, 4 RBI
OF TJ Williams (Sr) 4-6, 2 RBI, SB
OF David Glancy (Gr) 2-12, 2 HR, 4 RBI
OF Tito Flores (Gr) 3-13, HR, 4 RBI
Florida State Sweeps 2 Game Series Against Butler
The series was shortened to just two games due to weather on Saturday, but that didn't bother Florida State as they handily won both games over Butler. The story of the first game was UCF transfer Cam Leiter, who dazzled on the mound with five shutout innings and 13 strikeouts on 89 pitches. DeAmez Ross got the scoring started by leading off the Florida State offense with a single through the left side of the infield before stealing second base. Two wild pitches later saw him score the first Seminole run of the season. He scored twice in the game on wild pitches. James Tibbs homered and had a multi-hit day while JUCO transfer DH Marco Dinges went 3-3 in his FSU debut. The cherry on top was when Alabama transfer and highly touted freshman Cal Fisher went back-to-back in the 8th inning in the very first plate appearances of their Florida State careers. FSU won game 1 on Friday, 11-0.
With the game canceled on Saturday, the next game didn't get played until Sunday afternoon. Sophomore Jamie Arnold took the mound and impressed especially as he was coming off a disappointing freshman year that had seen him relegated to the bullpen. The southpaw went 5 innings without giving up an earned run (there was an unearned run) and struck out 9 hitters while walking zero. On the offensive side, senior catcher McGwire Holbrook shined with a 3-3 day which included a double, a home run, and 5 RBIs. The team stole seven bases enroute to the 15-5 win.
Starting Pitching Lines
G1: Cam Leiter 5.0 IP | 0 ER | 1 H | 13 K | 2 BB | 89 pitches
G2: Jamie Arnold 5.0 IP | 3 ER | 2 H | 9 K | 0 BB | 70 pitches
Top Performers
2B Drew Faurot (So) 5-10, 4 R, 3 SB
CF DeAmez Ross (So) 4-8, 5 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 SB
OF James Tibbs III (Jr) 3-8, 1 HR, 6 RBI
C McGwire Holbrook (Sr) 3-3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, SB
#16 NC State Wins Series Over Virginia Commonwealth
NC State fought hard with a pesky Virginia Commonwealth team all weekend but ultimately came out with the series win. Former ace Sam Highfill looked a little shaky in the first, which led to a 1-0 VCU lead before settling in and delivering a solid 5 inning performance. Shane Van Dam, a transfer from SUNY Cortland who was expected to be in the weekend rotation to replace the injured Matt Willadsen, was sensational in four shutout innings of relief to earn the save. The offense was led by future first round draft pick Jacob Cozart, who had a multi-hit day and a home run. Noah Soles, Alec Makarewicz, Alex Sosa, and Brandon Butterworth all checked in with two hits on the day. Matt Heavner also hit his first home run of the season.
Game 2 saw the Wolfpack get out to a 5-1 lead behind 2 Noah Soles solo shots and a Makarewicz two run blast, but VCU found an answer for Dominic Fritton and chased him from the game. Closer and former starter Logan Whitaker didn't fair much better, as he gave up 3 more runs (2 earned) over 3.2 innings of relief. Heavner added another home run and freshman pitcher Jacob Dudan impressed in an inning of relief, but VCU held on to upset the Wolfpack 9-6 on Saturday.
Freshman Ryan Marohn was a bit of a surprise starter to some as he made his collegiate debut on Sunday, but he vindicated Elliott Avent's decision by going 5 shutout innings with 8 strikeouts in the series rubber match. Eli Serrano III had two hits and Wichita State transfer Garrett Pennington went 3-5 as NC State entered the 9th inning with a slim 5-3 lead. Jacob Dudan had come in with 2 outs in the 8th, and for the second day in a row was absolute nails on the mound to record the save and clinch Avent's 1000th win at NC State.
Starting Pitching Lines
G1: Sam Highfill 5.0 IP | 1 ER | 1 H | 6 K | 5 BB | 79 pitches
G2: Dominic Fritton 4.1 IP | 5 ER | 5 H | 4 K | 1 BB | 70 pitches
G3: Ryan Marohn 5.0 IP | 0 ER | 2 H | 8 K | 3 BB | 89 pitches
Top Performers
C Jacob Cozart (Jr) 3-9, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 5 BB
2B Matt Heavner (So) 3-9, 2 HR, 2 RBI
RF Noah Soles (Sr) 4-13, 2 HR, 2 RBI
DH Alex Sosa (Fr) 3-7, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Boston College Impresses at MLB Desert Invitational
Boston College won two of three from fellow 'Power 5' opponents over the weekend at the MLB Desert Invitational in Arizona. Game 1 on Friday night saw BC take on the Big 10's Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State threatened early and scored two runs off ace John West, but an impressive Tyler Mudd performance in relief shutdown 'the' Ohio State University. Mudd threw 5 hitless innings of relief to close out the game, striking out 5 and only walking one. Offensive mainstays Nick Wang and Vince Cimini hit home runs to lead Boston College to a 9-2 win.
On Saturday, the Eagles were facing their biggest test of the weekend in #20 Kansas State. AJ Colarusso was solid to start for BC with 4 innings of 2 run ball while striking out 8. But the offense couldn't figure out KSU pitch Ty Ruhl until the 7th inning when they were down 5-0. Vince Cimini hit a grand slam to make it 5-4, but then Dean Blake shut BC down the rest of the way to conserve a 6-4 win for #20 Kansas State.
Boston College faced California in the weekend finale in an offensive shootout. Michael Farinelli, a Northwestern transfer, was impressive in his BC debut with 4 shutout innings and 7 strikeouts before the bullpen struggled. The Eagles had jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks three Kyle Wolff RBI's and led 8-2 going to the bottom of the 6th following RBIs from Sam McNulty, Wang, and Wolff again. Cal responded with a 6 run 6th inning to get back to 8-7, requiring Barry Walsh (2 RBI single) and Nick Wang (2-run home run) to add insurance. It got dicey for Boston College late, but they held on to win the game 12-10. The Eagles are 2-1 after an impressive performance out west.
Starting Pitching Lines
G1: John West 4.0 IP | 2 ER | 3 H | 6 K | 3 BB |
G2: AJ Colarusso 4.0 IP | 2 ER | 3 H | 8 K | 2 BB |
G3: Michael Farinelli 4.0 IP | 0 ER | 2 H | 7 K | 3 BB |
Top Performers
2B Vince Cimini (Gr) 3-11, 2 HR, 6 RBI
3B Nick Wang (Jr) 4-10, 2 HR, 4 RBI
1B Kyle Wolff (So) 4-14, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI
C Parker Landwehr (Sr) 4-10, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Virginia Tech Wins Series at Charlotte
Virginia Tech pitching struggled mightily a season ago but they got 2023 off to the right start as they won their series at Charlotte during opening weekend. On Friday, the Hokies gave the ball to true freshman Brett Renfroe and the kid rose to the bright lights occasion by throwing 5 one hit innings and striking out seven 49er hitters. The VT offense of course, played as expected in game one by slugging three homers and scoring 10 runs. Relievers David Shoemaker, Jordan Vera, and Madden Clement allowed just one hit for the rest of the game to conserve the 10-0 shutout.
In the second game on Saturday, Wyatt Partliament picked up where Renfroe left off, throwing 4 innings of one run ball without given up a base hit. Chris Cannizzaro homered in the first and fifth innings and the Hokies led 6-0 heading to the bottom of the 5th. The bullpen wasn't quite as lights out as the day prior, but they kept the lead intact. DeMartini and Garrett Michel had multi-hit days while Cannizzaro went 4-4 with 5 RBIs and a walk. The Hokies prevailed to clinch the series, 10-5.
Unfortunately, the hot starting pitching for Virginia Tech did not continue on Sunday as they went for the sweep behind Griffin Stieg. The sophomore right hander gave up 5 runs over two innings and the Hokies trailed 6-1 after just 3 innings. They got two runs back on a Michel solo shot in the 4th and a Cannizzaro sacrifice fly in the 5th, but Charlotte responded by add two more runs to make it 8-3. Tech would score two more runs but never really threatened Charlotte's lead as they lost on Sunday by a score of 10-5 to go to 2-1 on the early season.
Starting Pitching Lines
G1: Brett Renfroe 5.0 IP | 0 ER | 1 H | 7 K | 1 BB |
G2: Wyatt Parliamaent 4.0 IP | 1 ER | 0 H | 4 K | 2 BB |
G3: Griffin Stieg 2.0 IP | 5 ER | 4 H | 0 K | 1 BB |
Top Performers
LF Chris Cannizzaro (Gr) 5-11, 1 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI
3B Carson DeMartini (Jr) 4-13, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI
1B Garrett Michel (So) 4-14, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI
C Gehrig Ebel (Sr) 2-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Louisville Drops First Two Games in Shortened Weekend
Louisville was set to play three games over three days at the University of South Florida this past weekend, but unfortunately due to weather they only got to play a doubleheader on Friday against two tough programs in Indiana State and Connecticut. Unfortunately neither game was available to be streamed as Lousiville lost two heartbreakers to start the year.
In the first game, which started at 10:00 AM on the East Coast, Wright State transfer and 2023 Horizon Pitcher of the Year Sebastian Gongora made his Louisville debut on the mound. The junior wasn't his normally sharp self and the Sycamores took advantage in the second inning with a pair of runs to make it 2-0. Those were the only runs Gongora gave up as he gutted through 5 innings, leaving with the lead intact at 3-2 following three unearned Cardinal runs in the 3rd and a Logan Beard RBI single in the 4th. As the bullpens got to work the game became a bit of a roller coaster. Indiana State scored three runs in each of the 6th and 7th innings, while Louisville scored three in the 6th as well thanks in large to triples from Ryan McCoy and Gavin Kilen. Jake Karaba impressed with 2.1 hitless innings of relief, but the Louisville offense couldn't overcome the 8-7 deficit.
Louisville pitching looked good through 7 innings as they led UConn in game two, 3-1. But JUCO transfer Jared Lessman couldn't conserve the lead in the 8th as the Huskies scored two to tie the game 3-3 heading to the 9th. The Cardinals went 1-2-3 in the Top of the 9th to set up a walk off opportunity for UConn. With two outs and a runner on third, left fielder Korey Morton singled to center to win the game for Connecticut.
With their game against USF canceled due to weather, that means ace of the staff Carson Liggett did not get to pitch for Louisville on the opening weekend as the Cardinals went 0-2.
Starting Pitching Lines
G1: Sebastian Gongora 5.0 IP | 2 ER | 5 H | 7 K | 2 BB |
G2: Evan Webster 4.0 IP | 0 ER | 2 H | 4 K | 2 BB |
Top Performers
OF JT Benson (Sr) 2-6, 1 RBI
SS Gavin Kilen (So) 2-8, 1 3B, 1 RBI
1B Ryan McCoy (Sr) 2-7, 1 3B, 1 RBI
OF Isaac Humphrey (Sr) 2-8, 1 2B
Standings
Atlantic
#1 Wake Forest 3-0
#13 Clemson 3-0
Notre Dame 3-0
Florida State 2-0
#16 NC State 2-1
Boston College 2-1
Louisville 0-2
Coastal
#14 Virginia 3-0
#15 Duke 3-0
#17 UNC 3-0
Miami 3-0
Georgia Tech 3-0
Pittsburgh 3-0
Virginia Tech 2-1
Comments