The Notre Dame Baseball program has ended the Blue-Gold series with the Gold team winning two out of the three games. The Notre Dame Media Relations department has recaps of each game which can be read by clicking on the respective games.

Game 1
Game 2
Game 3

The Notre Dame Media Relations department has also released a recap of the summer league action from the ND baseball players. It can be read by clicking here.

The Boston College Eagles finished up fall practice with the Sonny Nictakis World Series. The Eagles played four games with the Gold team taking all four games. The star of the series was Freshman Matt Hamlet who picked up four hits in the series including two for homers in Game 3. Tony Sanchez also picked up two homers in the series with freshman Garrett Smith going 3-3 in Game 1 of the series. A full recap of the games and boxscores are available here.

Here is your update on Fall Baseball Scrimmage Action for October 16th. Click on the links below for more information.

Notre Dame (Video also available at the site)
Illinois State
Tulane
Georgia Tech
Memphis
Dartmouth vs Umass

Many schools are finishing up their fall seasons with intra-squad scrimmages. We have linked to all the weekend recaps below.

Wake Forest (Game 2)
Wake Forest (Game 1)
Indiana Fall Recap
Southeast Missouri State (Game 2)
Southeast Missouri State (Game 1)
Marshall Fall Series Recap
Villanova Fall Series Recap
UNC Fall Series Recap
Illinois State Fall Series Recap
Michigan State Fall Series Recap

I went to the game at the Dell Diamond between the Longhorns and the Baylor Bears. Baylor will make some noise next year in the BIG 12 and the Regionals. Look for Baylor to be in that top 16 seed as the seeding are announced next year. I know it is early but, Baylor is that good. What does this say about Texas. ALOT. I wish it was Friday February 22nd right now. Both of these teams will only get better as the fall season progress.

Press Release from Texas;

– The University of Texas baseball squad posted a 5-3 win over Baylor University in a fall exhibition Sunday at The Dell Diamond. Freshman Kevin Keyes and junior Jordan Danks hit home runs to lead the Longhorns to the victory in a pre-arranged 12-inning affair.

On the mound for Texas, junior Austin Wood, the Longhorns’ starter, and freshman Cole Green each pitched two scoreless innings. Junior Kyle Walker and freshman Stayton Thomas pitched one shutout inning apiece. Walker picked up the win, giving up one hit and one walk while striking out one. Green earned the save, scattering three hits over two innings, while fanning two.

Baylor broke the scoring seal in the third inning. Paul Miles hit a leadoff single, advanced to second on a groundout by Ben Booker and scored on a single to rightfield by Raynor Campbell.

The Longhorns claimed the lead in the bottom half of the third. Freshman Tant Shepherd led off with an infield single and freshman Cameron Rupp grounded into a fielder’s choice to take Shepherd’s spot at first. In his first at-bat against collegiate pitching, Keyes deposited a home run over the fence in leftfield, staking UT to a 2-1 lead.

The Bears tied the game in the top of the sixth with a solo home run to right field by Aaron Miller, knotting the game at 2-2.

Texas reclaimed the advantage in the bottom of the seventh as Danks hit a moon shot over the fence in leftfield, giving UT a 3-2 advantage.

Texas tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Danks was hit by a pitch and junior Preston Clark singled through the left side to put runners at the corners. Sophomore Russell Moldenhauer plated Danks with a sacrifice squeeze bunt and sophomore Brandon Belt hit a double off the wall in left centerfield, driving in Clark for the 5-2 advantage.

Baylor scored the games final run in the 10th inning as Miller hit an RBI double to drive in Landis Ware.

Travis Tucker, Michael Torres and Clark each had two hits for the Longhorns.

Beamer Weems and Shaver Hansen each logged three hits for Baylor and Booker and Miller chipped in with two apiece.

Texas returns to action at 3 p.m., CDT on Friday, October 26 against Texas State at The Dell Diamond.

www.texassports.com

Here is the link to the pictures that I took from the game.

The Plowboys used a three-run third and a six-run fourth to break an early tie and defeat the Roughnecks, 13-5, and capture the Texas A&M Baseball Fall World Series title Saturday afternoon at Olsen Field.

The series sweep gives the Plowboys their second straight fall world series crown, as they defeated the Farmers in three games in 2006.

“The Plowboys really came out early and set the tone offensively, and got a strong start from (Clayton) Ehlert,” head coach Rob Childress said. “When you come out and average over 10 runs and 14 hits a game, it’s easy to see why they were able to win this series in two.”

Roughneck second baseman Blake Stouffer opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with a two-out solo home run to right center, but the Plowboys answered in their next at bat as Caleb Shofner singled in Brodie Greene with the tying run.

The Plowboys would add three runs in the third to take a 4-1 lead when Greene doubled in a pair and Shofner followed with a run-scoring single to right center.

The game would be put out of reach in the top of the fourth, when the Plowboys sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs off three Roughneck pitchers to take a commanding 10-1 lead. David Alleman, Brian Ruggiano, Greene, Michael Heard and Ben Feltner all would drive in runs in the frame.

Trailing 13-1 in the seventh, the Roughnecks would cap the scoring on a two-out grand slam home run by center fielder Kyle Colligan.

Plowboys’ starter Clayton Ehlert tossed six strong innings, giving up just five hits and the first inning home run. He did not walk a batter and fanned four.

Roughnecks’ starter Kyle Thebeau suffered the loss, lasting three innings while allowing four runs and seven hits.

The world series marked the conclusion of fall workouts for the defending Big 12 Champion Aggies, who now look to the season opener on February 22 against Northern Colorado.

“This was a good fall for us,” Childress said. “We worked hard and saw a lot of good things, along with this we’ll need to work on before the start of the year. I know the guys will work hard in the upcoming offseason and they’ll be ready to go when it’s time to lace up the cleats again in February.”

TEXAS A&M Release

For the first game story Click Here

FROM PRESS RELEASE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Team Gray came from a run down in the bottom of the seventh inning to score two runs and win Game 4 of the Scarlet and Gray World Series, 5-4, Thursday at Bill Davis Stadium. The deciding Game 5 will be played at 3 p.m. Friday and admission is free.

It was a game that started off slow with a slight rain in the air and Gray pitcher Theron Minium in control. Behind an early three-run lead, Minium cruised through his six innings of work, allowing just four hits and one earned run with no walks and one strikeout.

He was replaced in the seventh by Rory Meister and Team Scarlet took advantage by scoring three runs off three hits and one error to take a 4-3 lead. All the scoring occurred with two outs and all of the runs were unearned. Tony Kennedy reached on an error and back-to-back walks loaded the bases. Cory Ruppert lined a single to score two runs and Ryan Dew followed with an RBI single to give the Scarlet its first lead of the game.

But back came the Gray, which was down two games to none at one point in the series but has fought back to force Game 5. The first three batters – Nathan Grove, Cory Kovanda and J.B. Shuck – all coaxed walks off Scarlet reliever Brad Hays. Brad Brookbank signaled to left scoring Grove but Kovanda was out at the plate on a fine throw by Michael Arp. Shuck alertly went to third on the throw home, and he scored the winning run when Zach Hurley hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

“The Gray did a nice job coming back to win this game,” coach Bob Todd said. “Theron Minium pitched a real nice game and they led the whole game. They showed some character coming back to win and force a Game 5 after losing that lead in the seventh inning.”

The Gray opened the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Kovanda led off with a walk, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on a single to right by Zach Hurley. Gray coach Pete Jenkins then called for a hit-and-run and the execution was perfect as Tyler Engle drilled a double down the left field line and Hurley rounded the bases to score from first.

Team Gray increased the lead to 3-0 in the third with an unearned run. Brookbank reached on an error on the pitcher, moved to third on back-to-back walks and scored on a single to right by Brian DeLucia. Scarlet right fielder Ryan Dew threw out Hurley, who was trying to score on the play from second.

Meanwhile, Minium was easing his way through the first five innings with shutout baseball. He finally surrendered a run in the sixth to the Scarlet, allowing singles by Rupert and Dew with a run scoring on a double play ball, but that did little to dampen his effort on a moist and soggy day at Bill Davis Stadium.

Meister picked up the win while Hays took the loss. Offensively, Ruppert and Dew combined for four hits and three RBI to lead the Scarlet. Ben Toussant also had a pair of hits. No one on the Gray team had more than one hit, but the top four players in the order all scored runs. Hurley had two RBI.

Scarlet and Gray World Series Notes:

• Cory Kovanda is leading all hitters with a .583 average (7-12) and with five runs scored for the Gray.
• The Gray’s Zach Hurley has four RBI and is second to Kovanda with a .417 average (5-12)
• Gray pitchers have a 4.08 earned run average and have allowed 13 earned runs and 11 walks in 28.2 innings with 11 strikeouts.
• Matt Streng and Ryan Dew are leading the Scarlet offensively with .455 and .429 averages, respectively. Streng is 5-for-11 at the plate and Dew is 6-for-14.
• Dew, Cory Ruppert and Ben Toussant have three RBI apiece.
• The pitching staff has a 4.40 ERA with 23 walks and 18 strikeouts in 28.2 innings of work.
• Admission is free to Game 5 of the Scarlet and Gray World Series at 3 p.m. Friday at Bill Davis Stadium.

Kendall Rogers of Rivals.com checks in on Mike Bianco’s Rebel workouts in the Fall. The article (found here) includes Bianco’s reaction to Ole Miss’ historical bad luck in the Super Regionals and the joys of added depth.

After a Supers exit to Arizona State last year, this member of the College Baseball Blog sees redemption for the Rebs (no, the South isn’t rising again) as the SEC team to beat. Lance Lynn and Cody Satterwhite will be the closest thing to this year’s version of the David Price - Casey Weathers combo that Vanderbilt wore to a #1 ranking. Add in solid pitching and positional depth, and the Rebs are well positions to be the #1 seed in the SEC West when the conference descends on Hoover.

Many different college baseball teams are in the midst of their fall ball schedule. We have provided links to each school’s recap for games that took place on October 10th.

East Carolina

Devin Harris hit two homers and went 3-3 while pitcher Seth Maness pitched five shutout innings to lead the Purple team to an 8-0 victory in Game 1 of the Fall World Series.

North Carolina

Dustin Ackley drove in two runs and Garrett Davis pitched five innings while allowing only three hits as the Sox Slayers knocked off the Carolina Blue Sox to even the intrasquad scrimmage at a game a piece.

Michigan State

Kyle Hortt scored on a suicide squeeze bunt by Justin Potes to lead the White team to a 1-0 victory in Game 1 of the Fall World Series.

FROM PRESS RELEASE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Redshirt freshman Dean Wolosiansky pitched six innings of scoreless ball to lead Team Gray to a series-extending 5-0 win over the Scarlet Wednesday at Bill Davis Stadium. Game 4 of the Scarlet and Gray World Series will take place Thursday starting at 3 p.m.

Wolosiansky, a right-hander from Uniontown, Ohio, scattered three hits and allowed one walk in picking up the victory for the Gray. Drew Malley relieved Wolosiansky in the seventh and pitched one scoreless inning.

The Gray was led offensively by sophomore Cory Kovanda, who had two base hits, scored a run and drove in another. Kovanda is batting .600 during this World Series. Red-shirt freshman Brad Brookbank also had two hits and scored a run. Zach Hurley and David Corna had runs batted in.

“It was good to see Dean go out and pitch six strong innings for us,” Bob Todd, Ohio State head coach, said. “That was coupled with some timely hitting by the Gray.”

Scarlet pitcher Andrew Armstrong, a true freshman, found himself in trouble in the top of the second, but he worked his way out of the jam. He walked two batters around a single to load the bases with no outs. But Armstrong induced a pop out from Dan Burkhart for the first out and then struck out both Corna and Nathan Grove to end the Gray threat.

Armstrong could not escape trouble in the top of the fourth, though, as Team Gray took a 2-0 lead. Armstrong gave up a single to Zach Hurley and then walked the next two batters to load the bases. He coaxed Burkhart to hit into a 6-4-3 double play and Hurley scored. Drew Rucinski then relieved Armstrong and gave up a two-out, RBI single to Corna for the second run. Armstrong allowed two runs on two hits and five walks while striking out four in 3 2/3 innings.

Team Gray added another run in the fifth. Kovanda smacked a single to left and advanced to third on a single by Brookbank. He then scored on a sacrifice fly by Hurley to make the score 3-0.

Gray extended the lead to 4-0 in the sixth as Kovanda stroked his sixth hit of the World Series to drive in Dan Burkhart, who had walked, moved to second on a ground out and advanced to third on a wild pitch. The Gray missed on an opportunity for more runs in the inning when Nathan Grove was picked off third base strayed away too far from third base after a pitch in the dirt.

The fifth and final run was scored in the seventh. Brookbank singled with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After Tyler Engle was hit by a pitch, Brian DeLucia hit a grounder to short. Cory Rupert could not field the ball cleanly for an error, and Brookbank scored on the play.

Two weeks into the Southern Miss fall baseball practice, the pitching is ahead of the hitting.

“No question about it,” Golden Eagle coach Corky Palmer said.

That’s because of a couple of factors. One, most of last season’s top pitchers are returning, plus a couple of newcomers have looked good in the past two weeks.

And two, a couple of last season’s top hitters who are back are hurt.

“I’m real impressed with Josh Billeaud,” Palmer said about the 6-foot-4, 210-pound right-hander from LSU-Eunice Community College. “We knew he threw hard, but didn’t know he had such a good curve and changeup. He will help us.”

Complete story

FROM PRESS RELEASE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Team Scarlet took a 2-0 lead in Ohio State baseball’s Scarlet and Gray World Series by winning Game 2, 9-5, Tuesday at Bill Davis Stadium. The best-of-five series continues at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Diamond Club, the baseball program’s booster organization, will hold a picnic prior to the game starting at 5 p.m. Admission to the park is free.

Freshman pitcher Alex Wimmers started for the Scarlet and picked up the win, allowing just one earned run over four innings. He retired eight batters in a row from the middle of the first to the top of the fourth inning.

“Wimmers pitched well,” Bob Todd, Ohio State coach, said. “I’m pleased with the way he played. He mixed his pitches, he threw strikes and he kept the batters off balance.”

Wimmers started slowly, giving up a leadoff double to Cory Kovanda in the first inning and walking the second batter he faced, J.B. Shuck. Kovanda would eventually score an unearned run, but Wimmers got through the inning by throwing a double play ball. He would then retire the next eight batters he faced and would finish his outing by allowing just three hits and one earned run. He struck out four and walked two.

A potent Scarlet offensive attack supported the freshman Wimmers with four players getting two hits apiece – Cory Ruppert, Ben Toussant, Ryan Dew and Matt Streng. Toussant, Dew and Justin Miller all had two RBI as well.

Trailing 1-0, Team Scarlet roared back in the top of the third, scoring five runs off three hits and three walks. The walks came consecutively to load the bases with one out. Ryan Meade hit a sac fly to score the first run and then Miller lined a two-out, two-run single to right that scored Ruppert and Tony Kennedy. Toussant followed with a two-run home run to left centerfield.

Ryan Dew led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to right center to make the score 6-1.

Team Gray chipped away at the lead with a run in the fourth and another in the fifth to close to within 6-3, but the Scarlet came back with two more in the sixth to take an 8-3 lead. Streng doubled down the leftfield line to open the inning, moved to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on Ruppert’s double to right center. Ruppert then scored on a single by Tony Kennedy.

The Scarlet made it 9-3 in the seventh as Toussant doubled to right center and scored on a single by Dew.

The Gray came right back their half of the seventh, loading the bases with nobody out. Zach Hurley drove one run home on a towering single to right centerfield. Only one run scored, though, as the runners could not advance further thinking the ball would be caught. A double play ball followed that scored one more run. Pitcher Brad Hays got the final out on ground out and the Scarlet is now one game away from the coveted fall intra-squad title and a fine meal of steak and ribs.

Josh Edgin started and took the loss for the Gray. He pitched 3.2 innings and gave up six runs, all of them earned, and six hits. J.B. Shuck and Zach Hurley had a pair of hits and Shuck and Cory Kovanda each scored a pair of runs to lead the Gray attack.

FROM PRESS RELEASE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State Scarlet team defeated the Gray, 3-2, to claim Game 1 in the best-of-five Scarlet and Gray World Series Monday at Bill Davis Stadium. Game 2 is set for 3 p.m. Tuesday with Game 3 scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start Wednesday under the lights.

Junior Ben Toussant, who started at second base for the Scarlet, lined a single to left centerfield to score freshman Ryan Meade from second base with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Scarlet the extra-innings win. Meade had singled with one out and moved to second on junior catcher Justin Miller’s two-out single.

Ohio State head coach Bob Todd, in his 21st season as coach, was pleased with the effort of the two teams.

“There were a lot of situations created out on the field today, defensively as well as offensively, and the players came through those situations with a lot of positives,” Todd said. “I am very pleased with how our players responded defensively. They made some good decisions.”

Some terrific defensive plays were turned in by:

• The Gray’s Brian DeLucia, at third, who dove to his right and snared a low liner by Dan Burkhart that would have gone for extra bases;
• Scarlet center fielder Ryan Dew, who made a long run and diving catch off a Brad Brookbank drive; and
• Right fielder Brookbank, who made a similar long run and diving catch to rob Ben Toussant of a hit.

Additionally, Scarlet pitcher Eric Best, a sophomore, caught Gray senior Cory Kovanda trying to steal and one inning later picked off Tyler Engle from first base. And in the seventh inning, Scarlet catcher Justin Miller started a 2-5-2-6-5 pickoff to get Brookbank, who was anticipating a squeeze bunt, out at third.

This game was not just about defense, though. The Gray team, coached by Buckeye assistant Peter Jenkins, scored in the top half of the third to take a 1-0 lead. Freshman first baseman David Corna singled to center and with one out stole second. Two batters later Kovanda stroked a single to center to score Corna. It was the first of three hits on the day for Kovanda, whose day included a triple, run scored and an RBI.

Coach Eric Parker’s Scarlet team scored twice in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. Junior third-baseman Justin Miller walked and advanced to second on a single by sophomore center fielder Chris Griffin. Freshman Matt Streng doubled to left to score Miller with Griffin moving to third. Senior Tony Kennedy than hit a sac fly to right to score Griffin.

The Gray came back to tie the score in the top of the sixth. Kovanda led off with a triple to right center and then scored on J.B. Shuck’s single through the left side.

Each team used three pitchers. Best went 5.0 innings for the Scarlet and allowed one earned run off four hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Freshman RHP Tom Popadok pitched a clean 1.2 innings in relief to pick up the win.

Shuck started for the Gray and allowed two runs off six hits. Senior Rory Meister came on in the eighth inning and took the loss.

HTML Box Score

S&G World Series Game 1 Game Notes:

• Gray Starting pitcher J.B. Shuck also hit in the DH role and collected a pair of hits.
• Each of the top seven batters in the Gray’s lineup had at least one hit.
• Ryan Dew, Ryan Meade and Matt Streng each had two hits for the Scarlet.
• The game lasted 2:09 and approximately 200 fans were in attendance.

FROM PRESS RELEASE
Mike Hentz led the White offensive attack with three hits and five of his teammates had two-hit games to propel the White squad to a 13-6 win on Sunday at Patriots Point. The White take a commanding 3-1 lead in the eighth annual Fall World Series. Austin Morgan led off the top of the second with a double to right field and eventually scored on a Matt Leeds ground out to open the scoring. Morgan finished with two hits on the afternoon. The White would then go on to score multiple runs in every remaining inning but the sixth to close out the game. Joash Brodin, Gabe Marchant, Click here for rest of article.

FROM PRESS RELEASE
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Just over four months after UCF’s 2007 season came to a close, the Knights officially began preparing for 2008 when fall camp opened at Jay Bergman Field Monday. The Black and Gold was greeted with windy conditions and a little bit of rain, as the Knights are hoping to have a few questions answered in the upcoming weeks.

“The weather was a little cooler than it was in the month of September, and the players were anxious to get on the field and start playing baseball,” said head coach Jay Bergman, who is starting his 26th season at the helm of the program. “They’ve been spending a lot of time lifting weights and doing some four-on-one stuff, but now we can get on the field as a team.

“The general attitude of the players has been very good all fall, and it was good the second half of last season. Our players have matured and are understanding the level of competition we are playing in. They are working hard to improve their skills so they will be able to compete at the Conference USA level.

“By the end of the month, I hope that we will have established ourselves defensively, and at least have found out that we have five, maybe six starting pitchers. Offensively we want to be able to move the runners and find out who is going to hit with runners in scoring position. So I think that is what we are looking for at the end of fall practice. If we can accomplish those things, then this fall will be very beneficial.”

Bergman’s squad went 27-32 in 2007 and 7-17 in its second season in C-USA. The Knights went 1-2 in the C-USA Championship, eliminating Houston May 24 in what was the first 1-0 win in league tournament history. For 2008, UCF returns all eight of its defensive starters, its top three starting pitchers and its closer. However, the Black and Gold lost its designated hitter (senior Matt Horwath - .336 BA) and two key setup men (senior Brian Brooks - UCF’s career record-holder in relief appearances with 82, senior Derek Abriola - ranks fifth in relief appearances with 62).

On Monday, UCF was working hard at moving runners from second base with less than two outs and did not seem to be having difficulties sending the ball to right field. Sophomore third baseman Chris Duffy, meanwhile, discovered a groove in batting practice, placing numerous line drives into the outfield grass.

In a short live-game session, the coaching staff got a look at LSU transfer Robert Lara behind the plate, and he immediately showed off his defensive tactics by backing up a wild throw to first base to keep the runner from going to second. The staff also got its first glimpse of junior-college transfer Colin Arnold, as the 47th-round MLB draft pick saw time in left field.

Team two completed their inning at the dish when senior catcher/first baseman Tim Russell drove in junior outfielder Chadd Hartman from second base on a single down the right-field line. With team one at the plate, junior first baseman Kiko Vazquez, senior second baseman Dwayne Bailey and junior shortstop Eric Kallstrom all ripped line drives to lead-off the inning. And Duffy sent a hard shot to the gap in right-center that would have been a double if the wind did not hold it up long enough for the outfield to get to it. On the bases, senior right fielder Ryan Richardson received a lot of praise for his work in breaking up a double play with a hard slide into second base. UCF coaches Craig Cozart and Bryan Peters did the pitching for the Knights.

UCF’s fall camp is scheduled to come to a close in early November.

For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.