Postseason baseball is finally here as the Field of 64 is set. Day One of NCAA Baseball regional action took place on Friday, with great baseball from early morning until late at night. There were six Big 12 teams in action on Friday, and here are my six thoughts from the conference on opening day.
Scoreboard
Kansas: 6; Northeastern: 3
West Virginia: 9; Binghamton: 1
USC Upstate: 8; Oklahoma State: 5
Cincinnati: 12; Louisiana: 2
UCF: 9; NC State: 3 (Weather Delay)
Ole Miss: 7; Arizona State: 6
Kansas Pushes Through
As one of two regional hosts in the Big 12, Kansas got a very favorable draw on Friday to kick things off. The Jayhawks played an early game against Northeastern and wasted no time taking it to the Huskies.
Kansas jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead after Dariel Osoria crushed a homer to left field in the second inning. Tyson LeBlanc would add to that lead with his own homer in the third inning as Kansas led 4-1.
But Northeastern wouldn’t go away easily. The Huskies scored a run in the next two innings to pull within a run heading into the seventh. But once again, Tyson LeBlanc came through with a big RBI single before Cade Baldrige tacked on another run. Even when things got tight, Kansas didn’t look phased at all and pushed through for a big win.
Oklahoma State’s Pitching Letdown
Coming into the postseason, we all knew that Oklahoma State’s offense was good enough to get them out of any regional they were put in. But the question mark about them was never the offense because it was always about what they could do on the mound.
Against USC Upstate, the Cowboys dug themselves into a hole in the first inning as starting pitcher Ethan Lund struggled to retire batters to give the Spartans a 4-0 lead. Luckily, Oklahoma State’s offense put up a four-spot in the second inning to tie the game.
But once again, Oklahoma State’s pitching let them down with Stormy Rhodes in the game. Between the bad pitching and three costly errors, the Cowboys weren’t able to overcome all that going against them. Now they will face Alabama State in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon.
West Virginia’s Big Fourth Inning
While some teams in the Big 12 struggled on Friday, West Virginia was not one of those teams. Sure, they got off to a slow start against Binghamton, but West Virginia used its five-run fourth inning to lock up an easy win.
Matthew Graveline hit a two-run blast to take the lead before Ben Lumsden hit a three-run bomb of his own to give West Virginia a 5-1 lead. From there, the Mountaineers never looked back, especially after putting up five more runs in the sixth to cruise to an easy 10-1 win.
Natali For MVP
I knew that Cincinnati had some fight, and their opening-round draw against Louisiana was going to be tough. The Rajun Cajuns are always well-coached and one of the best mid-major programs in the country.
So to see the Bearcats just eat them alive was pretty incredible. First off, their pitching was outstanding between Nathan Taylor, Dominic Mauro, Adam Brouwer, and Joel Pineiro, as the four of them combined to give up just two runs for the entire game.
It also helped that Jack Natali hit three home runs and finished with a team-high five RBIs. Even without his epic performance, Cincy would have won, but it didn’t hurt that Jack put on a show that nobody will forget anytime soon.
Andrew Williamson For MVP
It’s not often I am willing to give out two MVP awards in one article, but as great as Jack Natali was for Cincinnati, Andrew Williamson may have been even better for UCF. Williamson hit three home runs for the Knights against North Carolina State, and the crazy thing is that the game isn’t even done. Due to a weather delay, this game will resume on Saturday with UCF leading 9-3 in the eighth inning.
Late Night Letdown
If you watched the entire Arizona State/Ole Miss game, kudos to you because that was one of the longest games I have watched in a while. It took over four and a half hours to complete, and it didn’t end until around 1 a.m. central time.
Unfortunately, if you stayed up for it, you were disappointed like me. The Sun Devils tied the game at 6 in the seventh inning, and we saw six straight scoreless innings after that. It wasn’t until the bottom of the fourteenth inning that Ole Miss knocked in the winning run with the bases loaded. This was a long, hard-fought rock fight before a winner was crowned.
