Jamieson Studies Harvard History

Donny Jamieson, who graduated from El Dorado High, was the winning pitcher when Harvard tied a 25-year school record with its 35th victory of the season Friday.

But it could easily have been different.

Jamieson, pitching in relief against Nicholls State in the South II Regional, gave up a double to Brandon Vasconcellos in the bottom of the 10th that cut Harvard’s lead to one, and the drive narrowly missed being a home run.

“What’s bad is I thought I had him struck out,” said Jamieson, who had a 1-2 count on Vasconcellos but missed the outside corner on a pitch that would have ended the game.

Jamieson was replaced by Michael Marcucci, who got the final out in the 6-5 victory. Jamieson is 4-1. He gave up two hits and two runs, both unearned, in 1 2/3 innings.

“I’m just happy we got the win,” Jamieson said. “To tie a record like that is great, especially when you consider Harvard has been playing baseball for more than a century.”

Jamieson, a junior economics major, said he was recruited by Harvard when he was at a summer all-star camp at Stanford. “The Ivy League recruits a lot at that camp, and a Harvard coach called me and left a message that they were interested, and I knew then that I was there.”

Jamieson was a teammate at El Dorado with Cal State Fullerton’s Benny Flores. “Benny was the No. 1 pitcher and I was No. 2,” Jamieson said. “I live just around the corner from him [in Placentia]. I was hoping I’d get to pitch against him here. Maybe I still will.”

*

Titan freshman pitcher Jon Smith said his arm was “a little sore” Friday morning after pitching four innings Thursday in Fullerton’s 16-1 victory over Harvard. “But that’s about normal for me,” he said.

It was his longest stint on the mound since he developed arm trouble March 7 in his last start against UC Santa Barbara.

Coach George Horton says he doesn’t plan to bring back Smith should the Titans reach the championship round on Sunday.

“Jon’s arm hasn’t been resilient, and he was on a one-game-a-week schedule in high school, so we’ll keep him on that,” Horton said.

*

Titan relief pitcher Adam Johnson and second baseman David Bacani have been named to Collegiate Baseball’s freshman All-American team.

Johnson has eight saves and a 3.37 earned-run average. Bacani is batting .310 and has set a school record for being hit by pitches with 29.

*

Louisiana State sophomore catcher Brad Cresse, who played at Marina High, had a big day Friday in LSU’s 15-6 victory over Southwestern Louisiana.

Cresse had four hits in six at-bats, including his 23rd home run of the season.

“I think getting back home has helped us, and I know it’s helped me,” Cresse said. “We’ve got our concentration back at home. The fans here are great, and I think we’re more relaxed. And playing here is intimidating on the teams that come in.”

LSU is 30-3 at home this season, 14-14 on the road.

Cresse, hitting .324, bats fifth in the lineup behind Trey McClure and Eddy Furniss. Furniss has 27 home runs and McClure 26. “Having Cresse batting in that [No. 5] spot makes it awfully difficult for teams to pitch around Furniss,” LSU Coach Skip Bertman said.