April 16, 2008

Rankings are from CBI Composite Poll

Long Beach State 10, Pepperdine 0

Around the Bases
Cooper's three-run shot sparks No. 13 Cal past Pacific

No. 9 Nebraska blanks No. 6 Wichita State; Duke no-hits NC Central

In Stockton, Calif., a three-run homer in the top of the first by David Cooper (right, photo by Michael Pimentel) propelled No. 13 California past Pacific 14-1 Tuesday evening at Klein Family Field. Josh Satin also went deep in the first as the Golden Bears (24-9-2) took an early 4-0 lead. After the Tigers (8-25) scored in the bottom of the first, Dylan Tonneson homered in the fifth for a 5-1 advantage. The Bears posted five in the sixth, two in the seventh and a pair in the eighth on a two-run bomb by Michael Brady to complete the scoring. Tonneson finished with four hits for Cal. Alex Rollin (4-1) scattered six hits in seven innings with five strikeouts to earn the win.

No. 9 Nebraska 3, No. 6 Wichita State 0

In Lincoln, Neb., Erik Bird and Zach Herr combined on a four-hitter as Nebraska blanked Wichita State in front of 5,204 fans at Hawks Field. Bird (2-1) allowed three singles in 6.2 innings with four strikeouts against the Shockers (27-6). Herr worked the final 2.1 innings and allowed one hit in recording his second save. The Huskers (26-5-1) scored twice in the first on RBI singles by Mitch Abeita and Nick Sullivan. NU added an insurance run in the eighth.

Duke 8-22, North Carolina Central 2-0

In Durham, N.C., Christopher Manno, John Bunder and Ron Causey combined on a no-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader sweep for Duke over NC Central at Jack Coombs Field. Manno fanned four in the first two innings. Bunder (1-0) added three innings and Causey retired the six batters he faced in the final two frames. Nate Freiman went 6 for 9 on the day with a grand slam and seven RBI. He had three hits and drove in two in the opener. Freiman’s grand slam was one of his three hits in the nightcap with seven RBI.

No. 2 Florida State 4, Florida 2

In Tallahassee, Fla., senior Ryan Strauss recorded his first career complete game as Florida State topped Florida in front of 6,737 fans at Dick Howser Stadium. Strauss (5-0) allowed seven hits and three walks with six strikeouts. Buster Posey had three hits and two RBI for the Seminoles (32-3). Cole Figueroa homered in the first and an RBI groundout by Clayton Pisani in the second gave the Gators (24-13) a 2-0 lead. Posey’s two-run double in the third tied the game at 2-2. Ohmed Danesh had a sacrifice fly in the fourth to give FSU the lead for good. Tyler Holt’s sacrifice bunt in the eighth plated an insurance run for the home team.

No. 4 North Carolina 14, UNC Greensboro 3

In Greensboro, N.C., Tim Fedroff hit for the cycle and drove in three as North Carolina thumped UNC Greensboro at UNCG Baseball Stadium. Fedroff tripled in the first, doubled in the second, hit a two-run homer in the fourth and beat out an infield single in the eighth after walking in the sixth. Kyle Shelton drove in four for the Tar Heels (30-7). He belted a two-run homer in the first. The Spartans dropped to 22-13.

No. 14 San Diego 7, No. 5 UC Irvine 1

In San Diego, Ricardo Pecina fanned seven in 7.1 innings as San Diego topped UC Irvine at Cunningham Stadium. Pecina (3-2) surrendered one run on seven hits. A.J. Griffin worked the final 1.2 innings for his eighth save. The Toreros (28-11) used five hits to score three in the second, keyed by Kevin Hansen’s RBI double. Ollie Linton singled and scored in the fourth for the Anteaters (23-7). Hansen’s two-run single capped a four-run eighth for USD.

No. 7 Rice 11, No. 10 Texas A&M 2

In College Station, Texas, Jared Gayhart and Aaron Luna went deep as Rice rolled past Texas A&M in front of 5,570 fans at Olsen Field, ending the Aggies’ 13-game win streak. Gayhart led off the game with a homer for the Owls (28-10). Blake Stouffer’s dinger in the bottom of the frame for A&M (30-7) knotted the score at 1-1. Rice took control in the third on Luna’s three-run blast, pushing the Owls toward their eighth straight victory. Adam Zornes’ three-run double keyed a six-run fifth for the visitors.

No. 11 South Carolina 14, USC Upstate 4

In Columbia, S.C., Justin Smoak tied two school records with three homers and nine RBI as South Carolina smothered USC Upstate at Sarge Frye Field. Reese Havens had three hits for the Gamecocks (26-10) with a homer, four runs and two RBI. Jimmy Tanner had three hits for the Spartans (18-20).

No. 12 Georgia 9, East Tennessee State 8

In Athens, Ga., Georgia scored eight times over the final four innings to edge East Tennessee State 9-8 at Foley Field. The Bulldogs (24-12) tallied three in the sixth, two in the seventh and two in the eighth to knot the score at 8-8. Gordon Beckham (3 for 5, 3 runs) led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and stole second. He moved to third on a flyout and scored the game-winner on a wild pitch. Derek Trent had a three-run homer in the first for the Bucs (9-27). Chris Rankhorn added a two-run shot in the second as ETSU took a 5-0 lead. Anthony Russell’s two-run blast in the fourth gave ETSU a 7-1 advantage.

No. 15 Vanderbilt 8, Lipscomb 1

In Nashville, Tenn., Brian Harris snapped a 1-1 tie with a three-run homer in the sixth to lead Vanderbilt past Lipscomb at Ken Dugan Field. Dominic de la Osa had an RBI triple and scored in the seventh for the Commodores (25-10). Shane Simpkins had an RBI double for the Bison (20-16).

USC 14, No. 18 Cal State Fullerton 4

In Fullerton, Calif., Nick Buss, Grant Green and Anthony Vasquez each had four hits ad USC corralled Cal State Fullerton at Goodwin Field. Green had three doubles and a homer for the Trojans (19-16). Buss had a double, a homer and three RBI. Vazquez added a double and knocked in two. Corey Jones had an RBI double and scored in the fourth for the Titans (20-13).

Texas-Arlington 7, No. 19 Oklahoma State 3

In Arlington, Texas, Matt Otteman and Drew Clementz combined to hold Oklahoma State to seven hits as Texas-Arlington posted the upset at Clay Gould Ballpark. Otteman (3-2) allowed five hits and one run in six innings with no walks and six strikeouts against the Cowboys (23-11). Clementz worked three innings with one hit and four strikeouts for the save. Brock Wilson had three hits and two RBI for the Mavericks (16-20).

Mississippi State 6, No. 20 Ole Miss 5

In Pearl, Miss., Tyler Moore’s RBI double in the eighth plated the game-winner as Mississippi State nipped Ole Miss in front of 7,862 at Trustmark Park in the second annual Governor’s Cup. Logan Power walked and scored in the top of the eighth for the Rebels (24-13) to tie the game at 5-5. Grant Hogue drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the frame for the Bulldogs (15-21). After a base hit and a flyout, Moore’s double to right sent Hogue home to give MSU a 6-5 edge. Aaron Weatherford (1-0) pitched the final 1.2 innings to notch the victory.

Long Beach State 10, Pepperdine 0

In Long Beach, Calif., Shane Peterson hit for the cycle and knocked in five as Long Beach State blanked Pepperdine. Peterson hit a two-run homer in the first, had an RBI triple in the third, added an infield single in the fourth and ripped a two-run double in the sixth. The 49ers improved to 20-14, while the Waves fell to 23-12.

VCU 11, Richmond 5

In Richmond, Va., Jared Bolden had three hits and drove in five as VCU defeated Richmond at The Diamond. Bolden’s three-run homer in the third gave the Rams (10-21) the lead for good at 4-2. A two-run bomb by Joe Van Meter in the fourth pushed VCU’s lead to 6-2. The Spiders (15-20-1) rallied for three in the fifth, capped by an RBI single by Ryan Grant (3 for 5, 2 RBI). Bolden’s two-run double highlighted a five-run eighth for the Rmas. Michael Graham (1-3) fanned three in three innings to earn the victory. Robbie Andrews allowed one hit over the final four innings with three strikeouts to notch his first save.