The Vanderbilt Commodores came back from two deficits to pull out a 7-6 victory. Boston College jumped out to a 5-1 lead after 3 innings. Vanderbilt was held in check until the bottom of the eighth when they were trailing 5-3. Pedro Alvarez started the inning off by walking on four pitches. Ryan Flaherty then followed with a single up the middle. Shea Robin then followed with a sacrifice bunt to set up second and third with one out. BC made a pitching change to bring in closer Dan Houston who promptly made Dominic de la Osa make an excuse me swing to get the runner home from third and Flaherty advanced to third base while Osa was out at first. The next pitch thrown by Houston got by catcher Tony Sanchez to allow Flaherty to score from third and tie the game up. Houston was able to work around a walk and a single to get out of the inning. BC then picked up a key lead-off double by Joseph Ayers in the top of the ninth. BC decided to bunt with Johnny Ayers to move Joseph Ayers to third with one out. Vanderbilt then brought in closer Casey Weathers who was greeted by a ground ball from Ryan Hutchinson which got through the infield to drive Joseph Ayers to get a 6-5 victory. Weathers then got the final two outs of the inning. As we entered the bottom of the ninth, Vanderbilt was trailing by one run. Dan Houston got David Macias and Alex Feinberg to fly out . BC then pitched around Pedro Alvarez to bring the winning run to the plate in Ryan Flaherty. Ryan then took the fourth pitch and put it over the left field wall to win the exciting game away from Boston College.

BC is having some major problems in the closer role this season as this is Dan Houston’s second blown save of the weekend. I think a change is needed in the bullpen for the Eagles. They are continuing to hang around these more powerful teams but can’t finish the deal.

BC will return to action on Friday with an exbition game against the Boston Red Sox. Daisuke Matsuzaka will start against the Eagles in his first career appearance on American soil. Vanderbilt will be back in action on Tuesday with Austin Peay.

BC Recap
Vandy Recap
Vanderbilt Scout.com Recap

FROM MARYLAND MEDIA RELATIONS

The Maryland baseball team earned its first series sweep of the season Saturday as it defeated George Washington, 11-4 and 6-4, in a non-conference doubleheader at Shipley Field.

Maryland improved to 7-2 with the win, its best start in five seasons. The Colonials fell to 0-6 as they could not withstand two late scoring surges by the Terrapins in each game. Juniors Ryan Moorer (2-0) and Brett Cecil (2-1) earned wins for Maryland, while Brian Frazier (0-2) and Scott Swinson (0-2) took the losses for GW.

In the early game, Maryland broke open a 5-3 contest with a six-run eighth inning, highlighted by sophomore Joe Palumbo’s first career grand slam. Palumbo had two of the Terps’ 13 hits in the game and also scored a pair of runs in the game.

Sophomore Gerry Spessard and junior Chad Durakis helped the Terps jump out to an early 4-1 lead. Spessard hit an RBI single in the first and a sacrifice fly in the third, while Durakis, who was 3-for-3, notched an RBI single in the first and a run-scoring double two innings later.

The score stayed the same until the seventh inning, as Moorer held the Colonials at bay through six innings, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out three batters. In the seventh, GW closed the gap to 5-3 as Michael Parker drove in two with a single through the middle.

Maryland responded with a run in the seventh, as Palumbo scored from third on a wild pitch. The Bowie, Md., native crossed the plate again in the eighth inning, but not before clearing the bases with his grand slam to right field, which gave the Terps an 9-3 lead. Maryland added two more in the inning on Durakis’ third and fourth RBIs of the game.

Frazier, one of six Colonial pitchers used in the opener, surrendered two earned runs on seven hits, while striking out three.

In the second game of the doubleheader, a contest originally scheduled for Sunday but moved up due to weather, Maryland fought back from an early four-run deficit. The Terps were held hitless through four innings by Colonials starter Derek Haese, but rebounded with six unanswered runs to take the series sweep.

Down 4-0 in the fifth inning, Palumbo and sophomore Wink Nolan each hit RBI singles. Junior Kevin Biringer, who relieved starter Nick Pearce in the fourth, pitched three shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out six, a career high.

Cecil entered the contest in the seventh inning and nearly matched Biringer’s feat, as he allowed two hits in three innings of work to earn his second win in as many days. Maryland posted four runs in the bottom of the seventh to take a 6-4 lead. Mike Murphy drove in the first run with an RBI single, while senior Dan Melvin’s had a two-RBI double. Spessard’s second sacrifice fly of the day to put final run on the board.

The Terps hit the road for their first mid-week contest of the season Tuesday as they face James Madison. First pitch from Harrisonburg, Va., is set for 3 p.m.

On Day 2 of the Homewood Suites Shootout, The Minnesota Gophers behind a 4-4 performance from Second baseman Derek McCallum picked up a 6-3 victory over the Citadel.

Minnesota Recap
The Citadel Recap

Anthony Sosnoskie hit a grand slam in the top of the tenth inning to lead the Va Tech Hokies to a 9-6 victory over UNC-Asheville at the Homewood Suites Shooutout.

Va Tech Recap
UNC-Asheville Recap

The Boston College Eagles continued their quick three game set in the Music City Classic. They lost to Lipscomb by a score of 4-3. The Eagles had another average start on Saturday by Adam Crabtree who gave the Eagles five innings but gave up four runs on eight hits. This was Crabtree’s first career appearance for the Eagles as he missed the 2006 season with Tommy John surgery and did not see action in 2005. The Eagles were led on offense by Freshman Tony Sanchez who went 2-2 in his second career game. The Eagles will be back in action Sunday when they visit Number 1 ranked Vanderbilt.

Boston College Recap
Lipscomb Recap

The University of Texas scored a combined seven runs in the first two innings and coasted to an 11-2 win over Washington State University in collegiate baseball action Saturday afternoon at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Texas (9-5) pounced on the Cougars early with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Travis Tucker and Jordan Danks were each hit by pitches to lead off the inning. Chance Wheeless laid down a sacrifice bunt to move runners to second and third. Bradley Suttle hit a single to leftfield to drive in a Tucker and Danks. Kyle Russell was issued a walk and Preston Clark plated Suttle and put runners at the corners with a single to left centerfield. Nick Peoples pushed across the final run of the inning with a sacrifice squeeze bunt staking the Longhorns to a 4-0 lead.

Texas added three more runs in the bottom of the second. Chais Fuller led off the inning with a double down the leftfield line, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a single to rightfield by Jordan Danks. Wheeless singled up the middle to put runners at first and second and Suttle drove in two more runs with a single to the right centerfield gap increasing the margin to 7-0.

The Longhorns added two runs each in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Tucker singled, stole second base, advanced to third on single by Danks and scored on a single to centerfield by Suttle. A fielding error by WSU’s centerfielder put runners at second and third and Russell hit a sacrifice fly to leftfield to plate Danks and inflate the cushion to 9-0. In the fifth inning, Peoples hit a leadoff single, Jeff Boes was hit by a pitch and a fielder’s choice grounder by Fuller put runners at the corners. Tucker hit a single, scoring Peoples and a sacrifice fly by Danks drove Fuller home giving Texas an 11-0 advantage.

Adrian Alaniz cruised through the first six innings, allowing just three hits, but was touched for two runs in the seventh. Jim Murphy hit a leadoff single to centerfield. Matt Fanelli pinch ran for Murphy, and scored on a double down the leftfield line by Jeff Miller. Simi Reynolds followed with a single through the right side of the infield to score Miller and trim the lead to 11-2.

Suttle led the Texas offense going 3-for-5 with one double, one runs scored and a career-high five RBI. Danks went 2-for-2 with one walk, one hit by pitch, three runs scored and two RBI. Tucker went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI.

Alaniz (4-1) picked up the win for Texas allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out five over seven innings. Alex Posey and Hunter Harris combined for two innings of scoreless relief.

Nick Ison (1-1) was saddled with the loss for Washington State. He allowed nine runs, eight earned, on nine hits, two walks and two hit batters over four innings.

Texas and Washington State wrap up the three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m. at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Texas Recap

Washington State Recap

The Duke Blue Devils are continuing to win baseball games as they knocked off St. John’s 4-2 at the East Carolina Invitational. The Blue Devils were led by a very good pitching performance from Andrew Walcott who threw six innings and only gave up one run. Jonathan Nicolla and Gabriel Saade each had two hits to led the Blue Devils offense. Duke will be back in action on Sunday when they will try to head to 10-0 with a game against East Carolina.

St. John’s Recap
Duke Recap

UNC-Wilmington picked up a victory on Saturday over 12th ranked TCU by a score of 10-6 in Day 2 of The Baseball at the Beach tourney. Steve Halford had his third four hit game of the young season to lead the offense. Bradley Holt was able to pick up the victory by going five innings but giving up four runs on six hits. Steven Trout led the Horned Frogs offense by going 2-2 with a home run, two runs scored, and two runs driven in. Chance Corgan picked up the loss by going 4.2 innings while giving up five runs (4 earned). This was the Horned Frogs second straight loss of the weekend. The Horned Frogs will return to action on Saturday facing off against Notre Dame at 3 pm. They will also face NC State on Sunday. UNC-Wilmington will face off against West Virginia on Sunday.

UNC-Wilmington Game Recap
TCU Game Recap

The San Diego Toreros got a one hit seven inning performance from Brian Matusz in a 2-0 victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Matusz struck out 10 batters in the game to continue to show that he is one of the top pitchers in college baseball this season. Matusz was followed by AJ Griffin who pitched two scoreless and hitless innings to pick up the save. San Diego scored runs on singles by Jordan Abruzzo in the first inning and Daniel Magness in the fourth. The teams will be back in action on Saturday at 1 pm Pacific.

San Diego Recap
Wake Forest Recap

FROM MARYLAND PRESS RELEASE

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Sophomore Gerry Spessard’s single in the bottom of the ninth inning scored the winning run as the Maryland baseball team defeated George Washington, 6-5, on Friday in the Terrapins’ 2007 home opener.
Maryland improved to 5-2, while the Colonials dropped to 0-4. Reliever Brett Cecil (1-1) earned the victory after pitching a scoreless ninth, while Scott Swinson (0-1) picked up the loss for GW.

On a cold and blustery afternoon at Shipley Field, both teams overcame early pitching struggles as a see-saw battle ensued. Spessard, who finished the day 2-for-5 with two RBIs, sealed the victory for the Terps in the ninth inning after the Colonials scored in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game at 5-5. The game-winning run was set up by senior shortstop Dan Melvin who reached base on a throwing error, and then moved all the way to third on a passed ball.

The Colonials opened the game’s scoring with a three-run first inning, as Maryland starter Casey Baron struggled early before settling in for a five-inning no-decision. Maryland cut the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom half of the inning when Spessard singled up the middle to score freshman AJ Casario, who doubled in his first plate appearance.

Maryland took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the third inning, as Casario notched his first career triple to score Mike Murphy. Melvin singled in the next at-bat, scoring Casario. Catcher Chad Durakis’ sacrifice fly scored Melvin to give the Terps a 4-3 lead.

In the fourth, designated hitter Will Greenberg doubled and scored to expand the lead to 5-3. However, the Colonials fought back with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.

Cecil entered in the ninth inning in relief of junior Mike Sufczynski, who pitched three innings, allowing one run on two hits. Cecil, a preseason All-American, recorded two strikeouts in the ninth to earn the sixth win in his career.

Maryland will play host to the Colonials on Saturday for a doubleheader, as Sunday’s game was moved up a day due to the threat of inclement weather. The first game will start at 11:30 a.m. from Shipley Field, with the final game of the series to start approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of the day’s first game.

George Washington Game Recap

The Boston College Eagles opened the season on Friday with a visit to Belmont University for their first game of the season. The Eagles got an average outing from Kevin Boggan, who gave the Eagles five innings while giving up four runs (only 2 earned). This was Boggan’s first career start as he is making the transition from a closer to a starting pitcher. Boston College right fielder/punter Johnny Ayers led the offense with a 1-3 day with two walks. Jett Ruiz also had a solid day at the plate 2-3 with a homer and two RBI. The Eagles led 6-5 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning when new Head Coach Mikio Aoki decided to bring in closer Dan Houston. He is making the transition from Weekend starter to Closer. Houston struggled mightily by giving up 3 runs on two hits and three walks to give up the led and put the Eagles down by 2 runs. Freshman Mike Belfiore hit a double to led off the ninth and Johnny Ayers ended up driving him in to make it a one run game but the Eagles were not able to get closer.

BC is back in action on Saturday with a visit to Lipscomb and Belmont hosts Ball State.

Boston College Recap
Belmont Recap

The Citadel Bulldogs suffered a tough 5-4 setback to Virginia Tech in 11 innings on Friday. The Citadel left the bases loaded in five innings and stranded 21 runners on base in the loss. It seems that The Citadel dominated the game but were not able to pull out the victory.

The Citadel Recap
Va Tech Recap

The University of Minnesota pulled out a 7-5 victory over UNC-Asheville. They came from a 4-0 deficit to come out victorious.

Minnesota Recap
UNC-Asheville Recap

Chais Fuller drove in a pair of runs and Randy Boone escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the ninth as No. 13 Texas defeated Washington State, 4-2, in the first of a three-game series Friday at Disch-Falk Field.

With the loss the Cougars see their season record move to 2-2 while the Longhorns improve to 8-5.

The Cougars trailed 4-2 entering the ninth but had runners at first and second with no outs following back-to-back singles by Travis Coulter and Jared Prince. Jim Murphy then lined into a double play as Kyle Russell’s throw from right field retired Coulter, who was trying to advance on the play. Boone then retired Jeff Miller on an infield popup to end the game.

Texas never trailed as it scored two runs in the second and another in the third to take a 3-0 lead before the Cougars found the scoreboard. The Longhorns played small ball to get their first run across, using two sacrifice bunts in the second to push across the first run. Russell followed with a two-out, ground-rule double to left-center, driving home Nick Poeples to extend the lead to 2-0 off Cougar starter Matt Way.

In the third Longhorn catcher Preston Clark connected for a two-out home run over the center field wall, his second home run of the season.

In the fourth the Cougars broke through with a pair of solo home runs by Jeff Miller and Greg Lagreid. Miller led off the frame with the first home run by a Cougar this season over the left field wall. One out later, Lagreid followed with a deep blast to left, the second of his WSU career.

Chances were few by both teams from then on as Jayson Miller came on in the fifth in relief of Way and held the Texas bats in check. In the sixth the Longhorns added an insurance run as Peoples led off with a single to right. Peoples looked to be picked off first but advanced with a stolen base when Murphy’s relay throw from first was dropped at second base. One out later, Peoples came home on another sacrifice bunt, this one off the bat of Fuller.

Way suffered the loss as he went four innings, allowing three runs on four hits with one strikeout. Jayson Miller also worked four innings, surrendering just three hits, all singles, while striking out five. At the plate Coulter had a pair of hits as the Cougars collected seven on the day.

Texas started James Russell picked up the victory as he allowed two runs on five hits over five innings. Joseph Krebs and Boone each worked two innings with Boone picking up his third save of the season.

Washington recap

Texas recap

Austin-American Statesman

The Boston College Eagles will visit Nashville TN for the Music City Classic. They will play Belmont, Lipscomb, and Vanderbilt. BC is still looking to build into a regional power in the Northeast and make the ACC Tournament. The BC Heights (student paper) wrote a very good article yesterday previewing the upcoming season which can be read here.

Boston College is currently in a battle with the residents of Allston and Brighton over building the new baseball facility. The article from the Allston-Brighton Tab is available here.

The Citadel will host The Homewoods Suites Shootout this weekend with Va Tech, Minnesota, and UNC-Asheville. This should be a very good tournament as each team are on the same skill level. Minnesota will be playing their first game of the season on Friday when they face UNC-Asheville. The Citadel will square against VA Tech on Friday.

Saturday’s Games
Va Tech vs UNC-Asheville
The Citadel vs Minnesota

Sunday’s Games
Minnesota vs Va Tech
The Citadel vs UNC-Asheville

Tournament Notes
The Citadel Tourney Notes
UNC-Asheville Tourney Notes
Va Tech Tourney Notes
Minnesota Tourney Notes

The Troy Trojans will be hosting The Wiregrass Classic this weekend with Southern Miss, Indiana and Georgia Southern participating. This tourney is a good test for the Troy Trojans to see if they are going to be able to compete with some of the stronger teams in the South with the Golden Eagles and Georgia Southern. Indiana will be opening their season so they might be the weakest competition in the tourney. I have put the probable starters below in the games I could find.

Friday Games
Georgia Southern (TBA) vs Southern Mississippi (Ryan Belanger 1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Troy (Joe Hallahan 1-0, 4.50 ERA) vs Indiana (Doug Fleenor, NR)

Saturday Games
Indiana (Danny Rosenbaum, NR) vs Southern Mississippi (Barry Bowden 0-0, 4.50 ERA)
Troy vs Georgia Southern

Sunday Games
Indiana (Tyler Tufts NR) vs Georgia Southern (John Ducey 2-0, 1.50 ERA)
Troy (Jeff Green 0-0, 2.57 ERA) vs Southern Mississippi (David Clark 16.20 ERA)

Southern Miss Tourney Notes
Indiana Tourney Notes