Thirty games down, 32 or more coming today, weather permitting.
The first day of the NCAA Tournament saw its normal eye-openers and head-scratchers. Here are five takeaways from Friday’s Regional action, plus some other nuggets of note.
Bearcats stay hot
We said in our snapshot of the Corvallis Regional that Cincinnati “presents a dangerous No. 4 seed” and that the Bearcats are “a gritty squad that has found ways to win.” Friday was all that and a bag of chips. Cincy played tremendous outfield defense early, starting with Jeremy Johnson’s splendid catch over his shoulder the first batter of the game an Joey Wiemer’s diving catch in left to save a run. AJ Bumpass also made a nice running catch near the line in right, but it is his bat that everyone will remember. Bumpass stayed hot from earning MVP honors at last week’s American Athletic Conference tourney and went 5 for 5 with a triple, homer and three RBI, the triple scoring Jace Mercer (3 for 4, R, RBI) with the game-winning run in the ninth.
Chippewas run winning streak to 19
Speaking of Chips, how about Central Michigan getting a two-out, ninth-inning run to beat Miami 6-5 and extend its winning streak to 19 games. We said the Chippewas (42-14) “may be the sneakiest team in the field,” meaning they’re good. Like, really good. David Cole was the hero with the single to score Zach Gilles and set up a date with Mississippi State, and presumably Ethan Small.
Three is better than two
The three seeds went 12-3 and have a shot to make it 13-3 when Campbell resumes its game with NC State with the Camels up 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth. Maybe the biggest surprise was TCU’s 13-2 pounding of California. The Horned Frogs, an unexpected at-large team in the eyes of the media, looked every bit the part of a team that is playing its best ball at the end of the year. A close-second was Southern Miss drubbing Arizona State 15-3. Wow.
Other nuggets of note
- Dallas Baptist pounded out 17 hits, hitting up and down the order in outlasting Florida 11-8. The Patriots get Texas Tech today.
- Mother Nature wanted some attention in North Carolina, halting games in Greenville and Chapel Hill. In Greenville, Campbell leads 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth of a game that will resume today. In Chapel Hill, North Carolina and UNC Wilmington were tied at 6 when weather forced a three-hour delay. When the game resumed, UNC won when they tried to squeeze, but the batter appeared to miss the sign. The Seahawks, however, flubbed on the rundown and allowed the game-winning run to score.
- Big bats were on display in Georgia. In Athens, Tucker Maxwell homered and had six RBI and Aaron Schunk had a homer and five RBI a Georgia coasted past Mercer. In Florida State’s win, Drew Mendoza and Tim Becker each had two homers. Over in Atlanta, Tristin English went 4 for 4 with five RBI in the Yellow Jackets win over FAMU. Earlier, Steven Williams had four hits, including a homer, and drove in five as Auburn beat Coastal Carolina.
- Quote of the day per the Indianapolis Star from Indiana’s Elijah Dunham after the Hoosiers’ 8-7 loss to Illinois State: Lately, we haven’t been hitting that good. I think it fundamentally comes down to our players’ confidence. I feel like a lot of guys are not confident in the box right now. It just kind of looks like they’re giving up at-bats. It looks like they’re just trying not to strike out, which is not the mentality to have at the plate. Some of our teammates are just hitting like a bunch of babies, and it’s really frustrating.”