A series win — whether in conference play for standing position or non-conference – can mean the world to a team when the NCAA Tournament field is selected. Like our recurring Rubber Matches series, we’ll be highlighting a few big series wins and some notable stats.
If you want to jump ahead to the list of series winners with run differential and scores, click here. Otherwise, here’s a few highlights from the weekend.
Biggest Upset (by D1 Baseball ranking)
Campbell over No. 17 UC Santa Barbara
This may be an upset by name only — Campbell has established itself into quite the power over the years under head coach Justin Haire. Still, it’s notable that the Camels were able to take the series after being blown out, 20-8, in Friday’s opener. They rebounded in a big way, winning 5-4 and 7-3 as the pitching staff turned it around quickly. Lawson Harrill clubbed two home runs and Zach Sabers turned in a quality start in the first win, while Reed Stallman went 2-for-2 with a double, a home run, two walks, and three runs in the finale.
Three Notable Series
Arizona over No. 23 Northeastern
In a classic West Coast vs. cold-weather Northeast team, Arizona came out on top in a Sunday matinee rubber match. The Wildcats got a great start from Jackson Kent (6 IP, 1 R, 8 K) in the series opener, winning 6-1, then squandered a late 6-3 lead in Saturday’s 8-7 win for the Huskies. That set the stage for Sunday’s decisive game and Arizona cruised — the Wildcats put up five runs in the second and were up 9-0 by the fifth. Brendan Summerhill had a nice day in the finale, going 3-for-4 with a trio of RBIs.
Wichita State over Little Rock
Year One of the Brian Green Era got off to a great start. Despite a remarkable amount of roster turnover and some big names gone, the Shockers welcomed in Ohio Valley Conference favorite Little Rock and took two of three. They won the opener, 18-5, with Seth Stroh going 3-for-6 with a home run and seven RBIs. On Saturday, it was freshman Camden Johnson that powered the lineup to a 14-5 win — he went 4-for-6 with five RBIs. The Trojans, to their credit, bounced back with a 5-4 win in the finale as they broke a tie in the fifth inning and held the Shockers scoreless for six innings.
Sam Houston over Oklahoma State
It was a tale of three games in Huntsville over the weekend. On Opening Day, Coltin Atkinson and Logan Hewitt were fantastic, combining for 11 strikeouts and holding Oklahoma State’s offense to two runs on six hits — while the lineup racked up four doubles in a 7-2 win. In the second game, it was a good old-fashioned pitcher’s duel. The Cowboys’ Brian Holiday spun a gem — six scoreless frames — but the Bearkats stole a 2-1 victory (and the series) late via a ninth-inning walk-off fielder’s choice. Oklahoma State’s offensive frustrations were rendered moot on Sunday as they put up 19 runs — including an 11-run fifth inning — to avoid the sweep in decisive fashion.
When it rains, it pours
Presbyterian over Saint Peter’s
The “most dominant” weekend, by run differential, belongs to the Blue Hose. In four games against Saint Peter’s, Presbyterian’s bats put up 16 runs on three separate occasions — and added 10 in the series opener. With a strong pitching performance as well, the Blue Hose netted a plus-46 run differential. Joel Dragoo had four home runs and 14 RBIs; Brody Fahr had 10 hits and 11 RBIs; and Ryan Ouzts chipped in two home runs and 11 RBIs.
Every series winner, sortable:
Note: Weather-shortened series are excluded. Includes sweeps and winners of two of three or three of four. RD = Run differential
| Winner | Opp | RD | G | Scores |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi St. | Air Force | 11 | 3 | 8-4, 2-3, 10-2 |
| Ark.-Pine Bluff | Alabama A&M | 8 | 3 | 6-10, 10-6, 8-0 |
| App State | Gardner-Webb | 4 | 3 | 9-5, 1-5, 15-11 |
| Tennessee Tech | Bellarmine | 3 | 3 | 3-11, 5-1, 8-1 |
| Houston | Binghamton | 17 | 3 | 8-4, 8-2, 7-0 |
| Middle Tenn. | Bowling Green | 1 | 3 | 12-8, 5-4, 3-7 |
| Western Ky. | Bradley | 4 | 3 | 2-5, 5-0, 5-3 |
| Cal St. Fullerton | Stanford | 10 | 3 | 4-0, 15-6, 1-4 |
| Charleston So. | Delaware St. | 5 | 3 | 8-5, 11-4, 3-8 |
| Florida A&M | Eastern Ill. | 4 | 3 | 6-5, 8-9, 4-0 |
| Auburn | Eastern Ky. | 24 | 3 | 17-6, 6-1, 9-1 |
| Belmont | Eastern Mich. | -6 | 4 | 4-3, 3-2, 6-16, 9-7 |
| Evansville | Oral Roberts | 10 | 3 | 10-12, 14-3, 7-6 |
| San Francisco | FDU | 3 | 3 | 4-5, 4-2, 9-7 |
| TCU | FGCU | 9 | 3 | 10-9, 13-10, 11-6 |
| UNC Greensboro | Fairfield | 7 | 3 | 10-9, 8-7, 12-7 |
| Vanderbilt | Fla. Atlantic | 10 | 3 | 12-11, 4-5, 11-1 |
| Old Dominion | George Washington | 12 | 3 | 4-1, 7-4, 8-2 |
| New Orleans | Georgia St. | -3 | 3 | 3-12, 4-2, 8-4 |
| UCLA | Gonzaga | 14 | 3 | 8-7, 10-3, 6-0 |
| Virginia | Hofstra | 22 | 3 | 10-8, 21-3, 11-9 |
| William & Mary | Holy Cross | 4 | 3 | 2-4, 8-4, 14-12 |
| Western Caro. | Iona | 20 | 3 | 8-5, 16-3, 8-4 |
| Arkansas | James Madison | 12 | 4 | 6-4, 15-5, 3-7, 4-0 |
| UAB | Kennesaw St. | 6 | 3 | 7-12, 12-4, 3-0 |
| UNCW | Kent St. | 4 | 3 | 7-2, 2-8, 8-3 |
| Kentucky | USC Upstate | 13 | 3 | 11-7, 3-0, 9-3 |
| FIU | LIU | 30 | 3 | 6-4, 20-7, 19-4 |
| LMU (CA) | Sacramento St. | 5 | 3 | 12-10, 4-0, 8-9 |
| ETSU | Lafayette | 42 | 3 | 27-7, 15-5, 13-1 |
| Houston Christian | Le Moyne | -4 | 4 | 4-3, 4-11, 7-6, 1-0 |
| Dayton | Lindenwood | 4 | 3 | 4-2, 6-3, 5-6 |
| Pittsburgh | Maine | 16 | 3 | 10-7, 7-4, 13-3 |
| Alabama | Manhattan | 22 | 3 | 4-0, 15-0, 11-8 |
| Southern Miss. | Marist | 5 | 3 | 4-1, 10-5, 3-6 |
| Col. of Charleston | Marshall | 21 | 4 | 15-3, 5-0, 2-1, 8-5 |
| Maryland | Ga. Southern | 3 | 3 | 5-4, 7-1, 3-7 |
| Texas A&M | McNeese | 30 | 3 | 15-0, 6-1, 10-0 |
| Jacksonville St. | Memphis | 2 | 3 | 6-5, 4-7, 13-9 |
| South Carolina | Miami (OH) | 25 | 3 | 5-1, 11-4, 14-0 |
| Fresno St. | Milwaukee | 12 | 3 | 7-3, 9-3, 2-0 |
| Missouri | Cal Poly | 5 | 3 | 2-3, 3-1, 12-8 |
| Missouri St. | ULM | 5 | 3 | 10-4, 6-5, 8-10 |
| Morehead St. | Davidson | -5 | 3 | 7-4, 5-16, 6-3 |
| Norfolk St. | Mount St. Mary’s | -4 | 3 | 8-3, 4-14, 7-6 |
| Abilene Christian | NIU | 19 | 4 | 16-6, 12-2, 10-4, 7-14 |
| Miami (FL) | NJIT | 34 | 3 | 8-7, 19-2, 16-0 |
| Navy | Elon | 2 | 3 | 2-10, 21-13, 9-7 |
| Nevada | UC Riverside | 15 | 3 | 12-3, 7-11, 13-3 |
| Niagara | Richmond | 24 | 4 | 6-0, 6-3, 6-4, 18-5 |
| UC Irvine | North Dakota St. | 23 | 3 | 14-2, 7-2, 10-4 |
| Arizona | Northeastern | 10 | 3 | 6-1, 7-8, 9-3 |
| Louisiana Tech | Northern Colo. | 17 | 4 | 9-3, 3-2, 5-3, 8-0 |
| Northern Ky. | UT Martin | 14 | 3 | 15-4, 10-2, 8-13 |
| Tulane | Northwestern | -2 | 3 | 0-9, 6-2, 12-9 |
| Notre Dame | Rice | 9 | 3 | 3-1, 9-5, 13-10 |
| Saint Mary’s (CA) | Oakland | 9 | 3 | 0-5, 13-2, 11-8 |
| Ohio | Lipscomb | 9 | 3 | 15-7, 8-2, 3-8 |
| Sam Houston | Oklahoma St. | -11 | 3 | 7-2, 2-1, 2-19 |
| Arkansas St. | Omaha | 24 | 3 | 14-4, 7-5, 12-0 |
| Portland | San Diego St. | -4 | 3 | 5-4, 7-6, 1-7 |
| Murray St. | Purdue Fort Wayne | 28 | 3 | 11-1, 17-2, 5-2 |
| Samford | Queens (NC) | 31 | 3 | 12-2, 12-1, 16-6 |
| Liberty | Quinnipiac | 24 | 3 | 10-0, 16-7, 10-5 |
| Georgia Tech | Radford | 20 | 3 | 21-8, 7-3, 6-3 |
| UTRGV | Rhode Island | 23 | 3 | 3-4, 13-3, 15-1 |
| East Carolina | Rider | 28 | 3 | 16-2, 7-0, 7-0 |
| Rutgers | Winthrop | 12 | 3 | 14-5, 3-1, 7-6 |
| Troy | SIUE | 22 | 4 | 9-8, 24-13, 6-7, 11-0 |
| Nicholls | Sacred Heart | 26 | 3 | 16-0, 5-2, 19-12 |
| Presbyterian | Saint Peter’s | 46 | 4 | 10-2, 16-6, 16-1, 16-3 |
| Texas | San Diego | 8 | 3 | 7-3, 5-6, 9-4 |
| UC San Diego | San Jose St. | 18 | 3 | 3-1, 15-0, 12-11 |
| Arizona St. | Santa Clara | 5 | 3 | 11-6, 14-13, 13-14 |
| UC Davis | Seattle U | 12 | 3 | 6-7, 13-4, 8-4 |
| Longwood | Siena | 37 | 3 | 27-13, 12-2, 14-1 |
| DBU | Southeast Mo. St. | 7 | 3 | 9-5, 8-6, 6-5 |
| Southern Ill. | Northwestern St. | 16 | 3 | 14-7, 14-9, 15-11 |
| The Citadel | St. Bonaventure | 4 | 3 | 14-2, 10-22, 8-4 |
| Bethune-Cookman | Stonehill | 16 | 3 | 7-1, 12-1, 7-8 |
| Purdue | Stony Brook | 15 | 4 | 6-0, 8-10, 12-8, 13-6 |
| Southeastern La. | Tarleton St. | 0 | 3 | 4-9, 2-0, 5-2 |
| Campbell | UC Santa Barbara | -7 | 3 | 8-20, 5-4, 7-3 |
| UIC | Kansas | 3 | 3 | 11-9, 13-6, 2-8 |
| N.C. A&T | UMES | 17 | 3 | 5-2, 12-2, 5-1 |
| UMass Lowell | High Point | 6 | 4 | 10-6, 1-6, 11-9, 6-1 |
| Georgia | UNC Asheville | 31 | 3 | 11-2, 17-5, 10-0 |
| UNLV | Pacific | 8 | 3 | 1-2, 6-5, 8-0 |
| Utah Valley | CSUN | 1 | 3 | 6-10, 6-5, 10-6 |
| NC State | VCU | 4 | 3 | 6-1, 6-9, 5-3 |
| UIW | Villanova | 9 | 3 | 12-7, 7-6, 9-6 |
| Virginia Tech | Charlotte | 10 | 3 | 10-0, 10-5, 5-10 |
| North Carolina | Wagner | 32 | 3 | 10-3, 16-5, 20-6 |
| Long Beach St. | Washington | 6 | 3 | 10-5, 3-2, 3-3 |
| Washington St. | Utah Tech | 9 | 4 | 12-6, 4-7, 8-6, 5-1 |
| Austin Peay | Western Ill. | 9 | 3 | 5-6, 7-6, 18-9 |
| Wichita St. | Little Rock | 26 | 3 | 18-5, 14-0, 4-5 |
| Louisiana | Wright St. | 2 | 3 | 3-2, 6-7, 5-3 |
| Clemson | Xavier | 20 | 3 | 14-3, 8-3, 11-7 |
| Texas St. | Youngstown St. | 33 | 3 | 20-2, 6-1, 11-1 |
Featured Image via Campbell Athletics