The first weekend of Division I NCAA Baseball is in the books. If you missed anything from the past weekend, here are some of the biggest stories from the first three days of the college season.
Hancock Struggles Against Richmond
University of Georgia RHP Emerson Hancock, the projected top pick in our first 2020 MLB Mock Draft, struggled in his first outing of the season against the Richmond Spiders. Hancock struck out four over four innings, but the righty yielded nine hits, one walk, one HBP and six runs (all earned) against Richmond on Friday night. Georgia did win the game on Friday, thanks to five great innings from Ryan Webb (O R, 11 K), but it certainly wasn’t the start to 2020 Hancock wanted. The righty will look to rebound on Friday against Santa Clara.
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Niagara Upsets FSU
Heading into Friday’s opener, Florida State University was a whopping -2100 favorite over Niagara University. The Purple Eagles, though, defied the odds on Friday and defeated the Seminoles by a score of 3-1 in Mike Martin Jr.’s first game as FSU manager. Niagara was able to keep the game close entering the ninth inning, and the Purple Eagles scored three runs in the final frame and held on in the bottom of the ninth to claim their first victory. Even though FSU lost, CJ Van Eyk, a potential first round pick in this year’s draft, was dominant, striking out eight over five scoreless frames.
Niagara may have won the first game of the series, but they failed to take the series from the Seminoles, and Florida State scored a combined 35 runs over the next two games to take the series.
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Michigan Takes CWS Rematch
The marquee matchup of this past weekend was on Friday, as Vanderbilt and Michigan, the two College World Series finalists, faced each other to start the season as part of the MLB4 Tournament at Scottsdale, AZ. Vanderbilt received a solid start from Mason Hickman (5 IP, 0 ER), and entered the ninth with a 3-2 lead. The Wolverines, though, were able to take a 4-3 lead in the ninth, thanks to a two-run homer from first baseman Mark Schimdt. Michigan held on in the ninth, and took the CWS rematch against Vanderbilt. On top of the homer from Schmidt, Michigan received two hits from 2020 Draft prospect Jordan Nwogu, and a decent outing from pitcher Jeff Criswell (6.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 K).
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Other Notes
- Potential 2020 first round pick Logan Allen (FIU) was dominant in his first outing of the season against Fordham. The lefty struck out 11 and gave up two earned run in 5 IP. FIU swept their series this past weekend against the Rams.
- The same can be said for Florida RHP Jack Leftwich. The junior righty struck out eight over six scoreless innings against Marshall on Saturday, securing his first win of 2020. During that same game, highly touted left-handed pitcher Hunter Barco made his collegiate debut, throwing a scoreless inning against Marshall.
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