College Roundup: Jared Poche’ Nearly Does It Again

Strike One: Poche’ Nearly Unhittable Again

A week ago, Louisiana State lefthander Jared Poche’ started his senior season with a seven-inning no-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader against Army. Saturday, he nearly threw another.

HOW THE TOP 25 FARED

(1) Texas Christian: won, 8-4, vs. Arizona State

(2) Florida State: won, 8-0, vs. Samford

(3) Florida: won, 2-0, vs. Miami

(4) Louisiana State: won, 14-0, vs. Maryland

(5) South Carolina: won, 10-5, vs. (25) Wright State

(6) Louisville: won, 10-0, vs. Nebraska-Omaha

(7) Cal State Fullerton: won, 4-1, at Nevada-Las Vegas

(8) Oregon State: won, 5-2, vs. Nebraska at Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Surprise, Ariz.

(9) Vanderbilt: won, 6-2, vs. Illinois-Chicago

(10) Washington: won, 11-5, at Saint Mary’s

(11) East Carolina: won, 8-4, vs. La Salle

(12) North Carolina State: won, 6-3, vs. Austin Peay

(13) Virginia: won, 12-4, vs. Rutgers

(14) North Carolina: won, 9-3, vs. Radford

(15) Clemson: won, 13-5 vs. Elon

(16) Louisiana-Lafayette: won, 6-1, at Sam Houston State

(17) Georgia Tech: won, 14-6, vs. Youngstown State

(18) Coastal Carolina: lost, 22-9, vs. West Virginia in the Caravelle Resort Tournament

(19) Arizona: won, 12-3, vs. McNeese State

(20) Oklahoma State: lost, 12-11, vs. Texas State

(21) Texas Tech: swept doubleheader vs. California, 5-1 and 3-2 (11)

(22) Mississippi: won, 8-4, vs. UNC Wilmington

(23) Stanford: won, 5-0, vs. Kansas

(24) UC Santa Barbara: won, 14-1, vs. Tulane

(25) Wright State: lost, 10-5, at (5) South Carolina

Poche’ threw eight hitless innings against Maryland before center fielder Zach Jankarski broke up the no-hit bid with a leadoff infield single. No. 4 LSU (6-1) finished off a 14-0 victory to clinch the series against the preseason Big Ten Conference favorites.

Poche’ (2-0, 0.00) struck out six batters and walked two in eight innings against the Terrapins (1-4). Much like last week, he worked efficiently, throwing 98 pitches. Against Army, he threw 79 pitches in seven innings.

Jared. Freaking. Pochè. 😱

— Alex Lange (@Lange_17) February 26, 2017

Poche’ was drafted in the 14th round by the Padres last June, but chose to return to LSU for his senior season. He has certainly started his final collegiate season in style.

“I don’t really know how to explain this,” Poche’ said. “I’m just going out there and executing. Obviously, I have a lot of luck on my side right now, and I hope I continue to have that. The good Lord has been blessing me and I’m really thankful for that. I don’t know what to say; this is crazy.”

Outfielder Antoine Duplantis led the Tigers offense, going 3-for-3 with a triple and three runs. First baseman Jake Slaughter also went 3-for-3 and drove in three.

---

Strike Two: Florida Blanks Miami To Clinch Series

No. 3 Florida defeated Miami, 2-0, shutting out the Hurricanes for the second straight day to claim a series victory against its rivals. The Gators have won 25 of the past 31 meetings between the two teams.

Florida (5-1) won Friday night’s opener, 1-0, giving it back-to-back shutouts against Miami (2-3) for the first time ever. Sophomore righthander Brady Singer, a second-team Preseason All-American, was outstanding Saturday, striking out a career-high 11 batters in 7.2 innings. He held Miami to five hits and three walks. Lefthander Nick Horvath and righthander Frank Rubio combined to finish off the shutout, with Rubio picking up his second save of the season.

Both of Florida’s runs came on solo home runs. DH Mark Kolozsvary led off the third inning with his second home run of the season and third baseman Jonathan India launched his second homer of the season in the sixth.

Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan was impressed by the way Singer attacked the Hurricanes.

“An unbelievable start by Brady,” he said. “Fastball was special tonight, 93-96 (mph), going both sides of the plate and got into a really good rhythm.

“Our starting pitching has a chance to be dynamite and those first two starts were as good of starts as we’ve had here, so I’m awfully excited about that.”

---

Strike Three: Stanford Alumni Return To Honor Marquess

On its first home weekend of the season, Stanford welcomed back more than 100 alumni to celebrate the start of Mark Marquess’ 41st and final season as head coach of the Cardinal. The former players spanned all four decades of Marquess’ coaching career.

Family outing.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/ERSCozI466

— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) February 26, 2017

After the pregame ceremony, No. 23 Stanford defeated Kansas, 5-0, to clinch the series with its second straight shutout. The Cardinal (4-2) last had back-to-back shutouts in 2005.

Freshman lefthander Erik Miller (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K) made a strong home debut to earn his first career victory. Third baseman Mikey Diekroeger went 4-for-4 and drove in three runs to lead the offense.

---

The Lineup

Nine newsmakers from Saturday’s action.

1. Trey Truitt, of, Mercer: The junior helped Mercer to a 20-14 victory against Hartford, going 3-for-3 with two home runs, three walks and five runs. The third-team Preseason All-American homered in his first two plate appearances Saturday.

2. Jackson Cramer, 1b, West Virginia: In West Virginia’s 22-9 victory at No. 18 Coastal Carolina, Cramer (5-for-7, 4 R, 6 RBI) collected four extra-base hits—three doubles and a triple. It was a breakout day for the senior, who led the Mountaineers with a .535 slugging percentage last season.

3. Casey Mize and Cole Lipscomb, rhp, Auburn: Mize and Lipscomb combined for 16 strikeouts in a 4-0 victory against Holy Cross, the most strikeouts in a game by Auburn since 2010. Mize started the game and struck out a career-high 12 batters in five innings.

4. Sam Cohen, c, UC Santa Barbara: Cohen homered twice in a 14-1 victory against Tulane, his first home runs of the season and his first since his walk-off grand slam in last year’s super regional at Louisville. The Gauchos’ win Saturday clinched a series victory.

5. Connor Mitchell, lhp, Butler: The junior threw a one-hit shutout against Alcorn State, as Butler won game two of a doubleheader, 5-0, in seven innings. Mitchell (7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 10 K) improved to 1-0, 1.50 this season.

6. Matt Byars, c, Michigan State: Byars (3-for-4, 4 R) helped Michigan State defeat UNC Greensboro, 22-16, in a slugfest. Byars hit his first home run of the season and is now hitting .320/.367/.560.

7. Ryan Gridley, ss, Mississippi State: In a doubleheader sweep against Indiana State and Marist, Gridley collected eight hits, scored five runs and stole three bases. The junior is hitting .441/.475/.559 with six stolen bases this season.

8. James Free, c, Pacific: Free (4-for-5, 3 2B, 4 RBIs) guided Pacific’s pitching staff through its second straight shutout against Cal Poly and helped key the offense in a 16-0 victory. With the win, the Tigers claimed their first series against the Mustangs since 1999.

9. Tyler Webb, of, Memphis: Illinois State jumped out to an 11-0 lead Saturday, before Memphis scored 12 unanswered runs and defeated the Redbirds, 12-11, in 11 innings. Webb (3-for-5, RBI, SB) helped key the comeback for the Tigers.