Saturday provided us with some great second-games and tournament play. Let's get right into the strikes for Week Two's Saturday: (ranks from D1Baseball.com's Top 25)
Strike One: Hard Times for Houston
The Houston Cougars were looking for a big weekend on their home turf at the Houston College Classic, but so far, it's been a very disappointing tournament for the number 22 Cougars. Friday night's game resulted in a 2-3 loss to Texas Tech, and Houston was set to try to bounce back today against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
That bounce back never happened.
The Cougars used four pitchers, none of them lasting longer than three innings, in a 3-12 loss to Arkansas. Only one of those four pitchers were able to escape without allowing an earned run. With the Saturday-loss to Arkansas, the Cougars drop to 0-2 in their home tournament. Houston will try to salvage a win Sunday against TCU. TCU is 5-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Houston College Classic.
Strike Two: Slow Starts
A couple ranked-teams have started the 2016 campaign off much slower than many experts anticipated. (11) Virginia and (12) Oklahoma State have had a difficult time with their early opponents.
Virginia lost their second game to East Carolina Saturday, and the Pirates didn't need extra innings to take the series-clinching game two victory. The defending National Champs will try to avoid the sweep against East Carolina on Sunday at Davenport Field in Charlottesville. The two losses to the Pirates aren't the Cavaliers' first losses this season, as they dropped a game to (24) Coastal Carolina in the Caravelle Resort Tournament in Myrtle Beach.
(12) Oklahoma State is currently the only team ranked in the top 25 that has a losing record. Going into their week two series against (10) North Carolina, the Cowboys suffered difficult losses to UT-Arlington and Stephen F. Austin. The Cowboys lost the second game of their series against the Tar Heels and will try to avoid a series' sweep in Chapel Hill on Sunday. Both of the Cowboys' losses to North Carolina have been one-run defeats.
Strike Three: #1 Falls, While #2 and #3 Persevere
The top-ranked Florida Gators fell to Miami (FL) in the second-game of week two series in Coral Gables Saturday. The Hurricanes jumped out to an early 5-1 lead over the Gators, as Miami was able to fend off two runs scored in the final two innings by Florida. Game three will be an impactful rubber match that will be significant for next week's rankings.
(2) Louisville lost to Ole Miss 6-5 in the series' opener in Oxford Friday. The Cardinals evened the series up at a game-a-piece by shutting the Rebels out 4-0 on Saturday, creating a chance for them to steal a pivotal week two series from Ole Miss on Sunday.
(3) Vanderbilt survived a scare from Illinois-Chicago on Saturday, as they were able to battle back from a three-run deficit to defeat the Flames in 14-innings. The victory allowed Vanderbilt to remain undefeated so far this season, and a late offensive surge served as a catalyst for the victory. The Commodores recorded 12 hits, giving them six 10-hit games out of the seven they've played so far this season. Sophomore sensation Jeren Kendall wasn't able to put up some of the insane numbers he's produced regularly to start the season, but he was still able to contribute by collecting a hit and driving in a run. Kendall's hot streak has consisted of him getting a base hit, a run-scored and a RBI in each of Vanderbilt's seven games this season. Kendall also stole his ninth base of the season Saturday.
Vanderbilt's victory over Illinois-Chicago came from a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the fourteenth, sealing the 6-5 victory. The Commodores will try to sweep their series against the Flames in Nashville Sunday and win their eighth game of the season.
As always, thanks for reading! Be sure to follow me on Twitter @griffaldo.
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