Game 1
USC 7 Michigan State 0
Starting Pitchers:
· USC — LHP Mason Edwards (8-0, 1.49 ERA)
· Michigan State — RHP J.D. Greeley (0-3, 7.39 ERA)
Those fans looking forward to watching Mason Edwards pitch only got a short look as an hour-and-forty-two-minute rain delay drove him from the game after four complete innings. He did record six strikeouts in his abbreviated start, but the Trojan bullpen answered the bell and shut out Michigan State.
On the other side of the field the pitching story was the complete opposite. Michigan State was basically out of quality arms. That isn’t to say that the Spartan hurlers didn’t have some moments, but this game basically was one of attrition and they didn’t have enough pitching firepower.
J.D. Greeley got the call to take the mound for the Spartans. As we would shortly see, the plan for the day was pitching by committee and Greeley was the first in line. USC struck first with two outs in the bottom of the first inning as Augie Lopez worked a walk and scored when Kevin Takeuchi roped a single in the leftfield gap. Right after that Isaac Cardena ripped a triple basically to the same spot to score Lopez. That put USC up 2-0 after one inning.
Greeley was pulled after the first inning giving way to Brady Chambers, who was on fire striking out the bottom of the Trojan order in the second. However, he was not able to sustain that in third as USC. put two more on the board. Adrian Lopez stroked a one-out double and after another. After getting an infield out, Chambers walked Takeuchi and Cardena. That brought Jack Basseer to the plate who stroked a singled to score Lopez and Takeuchi. USC was up 4-0.
USC sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning. Basseer walked with one out and after another out, Dean Carpentier had the Trojans second triple of the game scoring Basseer. Walter Urbon walked and then Abbrie Covarrubias drilled a two RBI double, giving the Trojans a 7-0 lead.
After the rain delay at the end of fourth inning, Andrew Johnson and Chase Herrell continued what Edwards had started, pitching a shut-out and limiting Sparty to only one real threat in the game. Herrell gave up a single to Ryan McKay in the top of the sixth and then walked two other Spartans to load the bases before Khamaree Thomas hit a dribbler to first base for the final out. The rest of the way they only had one hit and one baserunner.
Other than shut-down pitching, two-out hitting was the story for USC today. They scored all of their runs with two outs on the scoreboard. They will most likely face UCLA in the semifinal Saturday but will have to wait a while to find out for sure as the start of the Bruins’ game against Purdue has been suspended to at least 6:00 p.m. The best-case scenario at this point for Nebraska against Michigan would be a 10:00 start.
Game 2
UCLA 4 Purdue 3
Starting Pitchers:
· UCLA — RHP Wylan Moss (5-1, 2.38 ERA)
· Purdue — RHP J.Thomas Howard (6-0, 4.12 ERA)
After a ridiculous suspension to the start of Game 2 announced right around 2:00, UCLA and Purdue finally started their game at 7:05 . . . in the rain. From 2:00 until 6:00, not one drop of rain fell at Charles Schwab Field. Zip. None. Nada! There is no question that a full game could have been played and we would not have to wonder whether or not Nebraska would take the field tonight, and all of the people in red sitting in the stands (significantly outnumbering Purdue and UCLA fans combined) wouldn’t have to wait around wondering whether they would get to see the Cornhuskers play tonight. The Big Ten blew this decision today.
Once the game started there was steady rain for the first couple of innings, but once it quit it was a great night for baseball. Perhaps no one in the ballpark gave the team wearing all black much of a chance against the top-ranked team in the country, other than those wearing black.
Purdue head coach Greg Goff went with Thomas Howard as the starter, a big righthander with a 6-0 record that hadn’t pitched more than three innings all season. Goff said before the game he was hoping for two. Thomas gave him five, and only gave up one hit to the Bruins until B1G Player of the Year Roch Cholowsky hit a little flare that dropped in for a hit. Howard was pulled for Purdue closer Jake Kramer at that point.
While the Purdue pitching was great, their offense took advantage of UCLA’s Wylan Moss’s inability to throw strikes. They left bases loaded in the second, thanks in part to two walks and an error, and then struck for two runs in the third when Brandon Rogers singled and after an out, Avery Moore was hit by a pitch. Up came Sam Flores who stroked a single and Purdue was up 2-0
Cholowsky scored UCLA’s first run in the 6th after his hit on a sacrifice fly by Payton Brennan. Purdue grabbed another one on a solo home run by Rogers in the top of the seventh. The Boilers were on top 3-1 and people in the stadium were thinking upset.
UCLA isn’t ranked number one for nothing and they tied it up in the bottom of the eighth inning. With two outs, Mulivai Levu got a base hit and then Roman Martin hit what was initially ruled a home run to tie the game. He thought it was a triple and stopped at third, before the umpires told him to go home. After that, they reviewed the play and ruled that it was in fact a triple as it hit the top of the wall in center field and not the railing above it. Regardless, he scored on a Brennan single to tie the game 3-3.
John Savage called on his closer Easton Hawk in the top of the ninth. Outside of walking Westin Boyle, he was in command and sat the Boilers down. Kramer came back for the bottom of the ninth and was set to face 8-9-1. At that point, the Boilermaker defense let him down.
Pinch-hitter Jared Hocking reach on an error by the shortstop and Phoenix Call got on due to an error by the first baseman. Dean West then put down a sacrifice bunt to move them both into score position. Coach Goff opted to intentionally walk Cholowsky, but then Levu hit a deep sacrifice fly to right field to score Hocking for the game winner, 4-3.
That run provoked the loudest cheer of the game because it came at 10:19, one minute before the drop-dead moment for the Nebraska game. Cornhusker fans were ecstatic, though I’m not sure they were cheering for UCLA!
Purdue had a good tournament and they had the Bruins on the ropes throughout the game. They have been considered a bubble team for a regional bid, but it is hard to say whether they will get in. Had they pulled the upset, no doubt that their chances would have been greater. UCLA advances to the semifinals to play USC tomorrow at a time to be determined.
Game 3
Nebraska vs. Michigan
For everything you need to know and more about Nebraska’s game against Michigan, check out Aaron’s article. It will be a lot better than anything that this old fart can do this time of night!
