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3/15/2010:
Fourth week in the books and that marks the ¼-way point in the
regular season; teams got their final tune-ups as they gear up
for conference play (some have already started); all of the
headlines here in this week’s “9-INNINGS”…
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1st:
MTSU junior Bryce Brentz had a memorable week; Brentz
launched a HR on Tuesday night to give him 3 on the year and 49
for his career; on Thursday night, Brentz launched two homeruns
that tied him for the MTSU career HR record at 51; he broke the
record on Sunday with his 52nd overall HR and 6th
of the year; the defending NCAA batting champion will have to
duplicate his weekly line (.350-4-7) an additional 12 times to
break the NCAA career HR record of 100 set by Oklahoma State
alumnus Pete Incaviglia from 1983-85; while Brentz is
remarkable, looks like the record is safe for the time being…
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2nd:
In each of the four weeks this season, which player has batted
at least .323, has at least 2 HR’s, logged at least 10 total
bases and stolen at least 1 base every week? If your answer was
Southern Nevada freshman Bryce Harper you would be right!
No other player has matched, or is even very close, to what
Harper is currently doing with the bat; each week,
Harper is solidifying his case for 1.1; today, Harper broke
his self-imposed Media Blackout with an
interview for the Las Vegas Review Journal…
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3rd:
Two of the three batters that hit .500 or better this past week
(with at least 10 at-bats) were freshmen; Arizona’s Robert
Refsnyder and Florida’s Austin Maddox have both
proven their worth to their respective teams but each brings a
different skill set; Maddox is a power-hitting catcher while
Refsnyder is more the prototypical speedy centerfielder; Maddox
has gone yard 4 times this year, his most recent was
his first collegiate grannie; while Refsnyder has 3
stolen-bases with a .492 OBP and holds the record for highest
batting average and highest single season batting average at his
alma mater Laguna Hills H.S. (CA); both freshmen figure
prominently in the success their college teams currently enjoy…
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4th:
Talking about speed, Coastal Carolina junior Scott Woodward
swiped 7 bags in 8 attempts this week; his lone caught-stealing
makes him 11-12 on the year; Woodward now has 83 career SB’s;
that’s a long way from the record 206 career SB’s that Wichita
State’s Phil Stephenson set from 1979-1982; however, Woodward is
“only” 98 shy of the single season record of 109 set by
Texas-Pan America alumnus Don Guillot in 1987…
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5th:
Over the past few weeks we’ve been a little critical of TCU
freshman Matthew Purke; in our defense, Purke snubbed a 1st-round
pick by the Texas Rangers in last year’s MLB draft, so
expectations were logically high and Purke didn’t exactly sprint
out of the gate so to speak; this past week, though,
Purke showed that 1st-round form, logging his 2nd
win by going the distance, giving up only 1 run (a solo shot in
the 5th inning) on 4 hits, fanning 8 and walking none
in 9 innings of work…
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6th:
Two pitchers have notched wins in each of the four weeks this
season; one is UCLA super-sophomore Gerrit Cole, the
other is The Citadel junior Asher Wojciechowski; “Woz”
notched his 4th win in style this past Friday,
tossing 8 shutout innings, allowing 6 hits and striking out a
career 2nd-best 14 batters;
Cole dazzled as well, tossing 7.2 innings, allowing just 1
run on 5 hits while striking out 15…
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7th:
UCLA’s “other” super-sophomore, Trevor Bauer, may have
been upstaged by his teammate, but it was by a razor thin
margin; Bauer remained a perfect 3-3 on the year in remarkable
fashion by going 8 innings, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits,
striking out a career high 15 of the 27 batters he faced;
Bauer is in a 3-way tie for highest K/IP ratio (1.7) among our
pitchers (the other two are Mississippi’s Drew Pomeranz
and Florida’s Nick Maronde)…
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8th:
Clemson junior Josh Thrailkill took the mound for the
first time this year, logging only his 9th-inning
pitched over the previous 3 years; hip injuries have plagued the
Apex, NC, native since being named the #20 prospect by Baseball
America in 2007 and being drafted by the Phillies (34thrd)
in 2006; in his lone inning, Thrailkill faced 3 batters, and
didn’t give up a single hit…
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9th:
Oklahoma State senior Tyler Lyons logged his 1st
win of the year by tossing a full 9 innings, giving up 3 runs on
10 hits, striking out 8 while walking only 1 batter; Lyons went
undrafted by the Yankees in the 10th round of last
year’s draft; he’s now sporting a 1.90 ERA on the year with 22
K’s in 23.2 IP while holding batters to a .214 AVG…
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That’s it
for this week! There’s so much more that we just can’t get to,
but you should be able to get a good idea of who was hot and who
was not with the weekly stats below (cumulative
season statistics are located on another page);
thanks for tuning in and check back often as we have a ton of
new content being created for the site for the new season…
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