Hart goes deep twice vs. St. Cloud State
(Rochester, Minn.) – The future Honkers are coming up big when it counts for their respective teams, especially this week. Minnesota State’s Jordan Hart hit two home runs against St. Cloud State, including a grand slam. Morgan McCullough and Kenyon Yovan led Oregon in dual in the desert against #7 Arizona. Bellarmine’s Eddie Mathis earned his seventh victory of the season. Here’s a recap of this week’s action.
Manny Armendariz (LHP) – Doane (17-22)
The Tigers’ closer bounced back from adversity this week. After giving up the winning run in the ninth inning in a loss versus Concordia last week, Manny threw a scoreless frame against Briar Cliff, giving up one hit with two strikeouts. Doane lost the game 3-10. Armendariz has appeared in twelve games with four starts over 22.2 innings. He has recorded 30 strikeouts with 16 walks. Doane College hosts Dordt College this weekend for their final home series of the season.
Rees Rua (OF) – Lake Erie (9-26)
Trailing 0-4 to Tiffin University in game two of a doubleheader, Lake Erie centerfielder, Rees Rua, led off the second inning with a solo home run, his first of the season. The Storm could not continue his momentum and fell 6-13. Rua scored three runs over the week, including one in Saturday’s game two loss against Grand Valley State. In the game, Rua collected two hits, his eighth multi-hit game of the season. He has twenty for his college career.
Ryan Thompson (RHP) – Illinois (14-19)
Thompson threw the final two innings of regulation against Northwestern. He gave up one run on one hit. Ryan walked three batters with a strikeout. The Illini broke the tie in the 11th inning for a 4-3 victory. Thompson holds a 6.17 ERA with a 2-1 record this season. Illinois hosts Western Michigan for a single game tonight for a Big Ten series at Purdue.
Chris Ceballos (C) – #2 Orange Coast College (CCCAA) (27-7)
Ceballos’ only hit of the week came in the top of the ninth inning at Santa Barbara. The Pirates had taken a 7-6 lead two batters ago. Chris singled to right field, bringing in a run and extending Orange Coast’s lead to 8-6. He also brought in a run on a walk in the third inning. Ceballos is batting .214 on the season with two home runs, 9 RBI, and 10 runs. Orange Coast takes on Golden West later this week.
Zach Stone (RHP) – UC-Davis (10-19)
Stone stepped in Saturday’s game against Cal Poly. He threw one and a third innings after inheriting a runner in the seventh inning. The Aggies’ defense committed seven errors over the game. Zach gave up on unearned run on four hits with two walks. Stone has a 3.63 ERA in twelve games this season. UC Davis hosts future Honker Mike Echavia and Nevada later today before traveling to Honolulu for a three-game series of future Honker David Noworyta and Hawaii.
Griffin Neuer (OF) – Bellarmine (23-15)
The Knights’ left fielder hit his third home run of the season in game three of the series against Illinois Springfield. The moonshot gave Bellarmine life late in the game, but the Knight ultimately fell 2-4. Griffin is batting .313 this season with 28 runs and 24 RBIs. He is also showing patience at the plate, leading the team with 17 walks. Bellarmine hosts the #11 University of Indianapolis (Div. 2) this weekend.
Ryan Dorney (RHP) – St. Martin’s (12-20)
Ryan picked up his first win of the season in an 18-11 victory over Central Washington on Friday, Dorney pitched 6.0 innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits. He struck out four batters with four walks. This marks the first game all season that the Saints have scored more than three runs in a game Dorney has pitched in. Ryan holds a 3.30 ERA in nine starts with 30 strikeouts. St. Martin’s plays at home against Western Oregon and at Montana State Billings this week.
Eddie Mathis (RHP) – Bellarmine (23-15)
The Knights split a four-game series with Illinois-Springfield, but Eddie Mathis lead Bellarmine to an 8-2 game one victory on Friday. Eddie pitched six innings, giving up a run on nine hits. He struck out six batters with surrendering a walk. Bellarmine held a 2-1 lead, but a six run push before Mathis left the secured the win for the Knights. Mathis continues to shine in the starting pitching rotation with team best 7-2 record, accounting for nearly half the teams wins (15). He has struck out 45 batters with only seven walks.
Morgan McCullough and Kenyon Yovan (Oregon) versus #7 Arizona
The Ducks traveled to hostile territory with a series at #7 Arizona over the weekend. Both players had big weekends for the Ducks. After hitting 3-for-3 with a run and a RBI in a 6-1 win against Portland, McCullough (2B) followed with two multi-hit performances against the Wildcats. Both players were showcased in Thursday’s 8-4 win in Tucson, Ariz. Morgan went 2-for-3 with a two RBI triple and two walks. He finished the week batting a combined 7-for-12 (.583) with four RBIs and two runs scored.
Oregon’s closer Kenyon Yovan was given the difficult task of shutting down the fifth best offense in the nation. He entered Thursday’s game in the eighth with the Ducks in trouble. The Wildcats had brought the Oregon lead within two and had a runner at second base. Yovan struck out the next two batters to halt the scare. He continued to pitch a clean ninth to earn his twelfth save (Pac-12 best) of the season. Yovan has a perfect 0.00 ERA in 19.1 innings. He has 25 strikeouts to only two walks. Oregon (23-10) travels to Portland tonight before hosting Stanford this weekend.
Highlight Player of the Week
Jordan Hart (OF) – #19 Minn. State Mankato (Div. 2)
Jordan played a big part in the nationally-ranked Mavericks’ 10-3 win over in-state St. Cloud State on Thursday. After surrendering three runs in the first inning, Minnesota State responded in a big way. The bases loaded for Hart after a walk and two hit batters. Jordan gave the Mavericks the lead with his second career grand slam. Minnesota State added another run to take a 5-3 first inning lead. Hart came up to batter again in the second inning, and followed last inning with a solo home run, going deep for the sixth time this season. The five RBIs was a career high for Hart, his seventh multi-RBI game of the season. Minnesota State takes on Northern State on Wednesday before a four-game road series at Bemiji State.
Division 1 Rankings by D1baseball.com
Division 2 Rankings by NCBWA
Division 3 Rankings by NCBWA/D3baseball.com
CCCAA (California Community College) Rankings by CCCSIA State Poll
