College Update: Olmedo-Barrera, Fullerton baseball win NCAA Tournament opener
The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.
David Olmedo-Barrera (St. Francis High, 2012) Cal State Fullerton baseball sophomore: The former Golden Knight and the Titans had a good showing in the first round of the NCAAA Tournament on Friday.
Fullerton, the No. 3 regional seed, used a big four-run eighth inning to defeat No. 2 Nebraska, 5-1, in the opening game of the Stillwater Regional contest hosted by Oklahoma State.
The Titans won the contest despite being outhit by the Cornhuskers, 9-5.
Olmedo-Barrera got into the action for the Titans, going one for four and driving in a run.
The first five and 1/3 innings of the game provided little offense as neither team was able to get on the scoreboard. Nebraska (40-20) was finally able to break up a scoreless tie by pushing across the first run of the game in the sixth inning.
But the Titans got that run back in the seventh, thanks to Olmedo-Barrera. Dale Keegan reached base on an error and advanced to second on a single by J.D. Davis. Olmedo-Barrera then knotted the score at 1 when he powered a single up the middle that scored Keegan for the unearned run.
Davis came up big for Fullerton in the eighth, lofting a grand slam to left field.
The win was the eighth in a row for the Titans (33-22), who advance to Saturday’s winners’ bracket matchup against the winner of Friday night’s Oklahoma State-Binghamton contest
Olmedo-Barrera, who was the designated hitter for Fullerton and batted in the fifth spot Friday, is hitting .287.
Fullerton will next take on top-seeded Oklahoma State at 6 p.m. PT Saturday.
Edgar Montes (Glendale Community College, 2013) University of Nevada, Las Vegas baseball junior: Montes and the Rebels were on the losing end Friday, falling to UC Irvine, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Corvallis Regional.
UNLV (35-24), the No. 2 seed in the region, could muster just four hits against the No. 3 Anteaters. UC Irvine touched up two Rebels pitchers for 11 hits.
Montes was able to deliver one of UNLV’s hits, as the starting right fielder went one for four while hitting in the No. 7 spot. His hit was a single up the middle in the second inning.
Teammate Matt McCallister, also a Glendale college product, started in right field and batted in the No. 9 spot. McCallister went hitless in three at-bats.
The Rebels took a 2-0 lead in the game in the bottom of the second inning on a two-run home run by Patrick Armstrong. However, UC Irvine (36-22) fought back and tied the score with two runs in the fifth. The Anteaters then exploded for five runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to jump out in front, 8-2.
The Rebels could only tally one run the rest of the way, scoring in the sixth.
While Montes is batting .301 for the Rebels, McCallister has a .253 average.
The Rebels will play the loser of top-seeded Oregon State and North Dakota State at 2 p.m. PT Saturday.
Spencer Jack (Glendale Community College, 2013) Kentucky baseball junior: Jack, a pitcher, didn’t get into the game, as his Wildcats went down in a 10-6 loss Friday in a first-round game of the NCAA Tournament Louisville Regional.
Kentucky (35-24), the No. 2 team in the region, and Kansas (35-24) combined for 22 hits.
The scoring began early for the Wildcats and Jayhawks, as they were locked in a 3-3 tie after one inning. Kansas added three runs in the second inning and Kentucky came back with a run in the third and two more in the fourth to again knot the score, this time at 6. However, the Jayhawks added four straight runs — two in the seventh and two in the eighth — to complete the scoring.
This year’s appearance marks Kentucky’s eighth all-time NCAA Tournament berth and its first since a runner-up finish in the 2012 NCAA Gary Regional.
Jack has enjoyed a solid season for Kentucky, appearing in 25 games, all in relief. He has a 4-1 record with three saves and a sparkling 1.19 earned-run average over 37 2/3 innings. In addition, he has 29 strikeouts and seven walks and opponents are hitting just .209 against the right-hander.
Kentucky will next take on No. 4 Kent State at 3 p.m. PT Saturday.
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Follow Jeff Tully on Twitter: @jefftsports.
