Game today at 5 PM CT vs Duke in the Super Regional. RHP Drake Fellows on the hill for us. Drake is 12-0 (wow) with a 3.87 ERA and he's been exceptional recently. Just a warrior for us. Drake will be opposed by Duke RHP Ben Gross (7-4, 4.09). ESPN2 will televise. Weather looks iffy in Nashville right now, so not positive game will start on time, but hopefully we can get it in tonight and have success. Saturday's game will be at 8 PM CT and televised by ESPNU. Kumar will be on the hill for us. Kumar is 9-5 with a 3.91, and, like Drake, has been spectacular. Kumar will square off with Duke RHP Bryce Jarvis (5-1, 4.06). Sunday's game is scheduled for a 2 PM CT start with pitchers to be determined. For us it'll be Mason or Rabes. Hoping it's Mason. Really trust Hick.
Brandt Sneds shot a 60 today at the RBC Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Hamilton, Ontario, the eastern part of Canada. Brandt blistered the course with 8 birdies and an eagle. It was phenomenal. Brandt started on the back and shot 31, then added a cool 29 on the front for a 10 under par 60 round. The par on the course is 70. Brandt had the lead at -11, but is now a shot back of Scott Brown who is at -12 through 17. I picked Brandt to win the tournament on my all sports blog, so pumped for Brandt and the prediction. Brandt won this tournament in 2013 when it was played at Glen Abbey Golf Club, but according to a friend of mine who is Canadian, this course is much better and one of the top 5 courses in Canada. Just had a really good feeling about Brandt coming in. Hoping he can pull this off and have a ton of momentum heading into next week's 119th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach where he won the AT&T Pebble Beach pro am twice in 2013 and 2015. Loving this from Brandt. Will keep you posted.
Coach Mason got a huge commit from 85 3 star outside linebacker Griffin Lampton. Griffin is 6'4", 220 and posted 14 sacks his junior year for Palm Beach Central High School. Watched Griffin's film. He's impressive. Just a dominating force rushing the passer and very good in stopping the run on the perimeter. Saw several tackles for loss too. Griffin will be playing his senior season at the great St. Thomas Aquinas School in Fort Lauderdale, FL. That school produces studs and that's exactly what Griffin is.
Griffin joins 88 3 star quarterback Ken Seals, a 6'3", 203 pound commit from Weatherford, Texas and a very impressive player. Also, 85 3 star wide receiver Logan Kyle from Memorial High School in Tomball, TX, and 84 3 star offensive tackle Bradley Ashmore (6'6", 280) from Neptune Beach, FL. Duncan U Fletcher High School, are in the fold.
All 4 are impressive players. I'm hearing we might be getting Malik Langham in the fold for the 2019 class. He is a 4 star defensive end from Alabama who signed with Florida but is getting out of the letter of intent and coming our way. He is asking for a waiver to play immediately. Coach Mason is really loading up the defensive line. Loving what DMase is doing. We're in the weight room, the freshman are on campus and working out, and football season sounds exciting.
Right now we've got a baseball series to think about. If you didn't know, JJ Bleday was drafted by the Marlins as the 4th overall pick, Drake went to the Padres in the 6th round, Philip Clarke was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 9th round, Ethan Paul went to the Pirates in the 9th, Stephen Scott was drafted by the Red Sox in the 10th round, Zach King went to Miami in the 13th round, Jackson Gillis was picked by the Brewers in the 13th round, Joe Gilbilot (16th, Rays), AJ Franklin (17th Kansas City), Patrick Raby (17th, Reds), Pat DeMarco (17th Yankees), Ty Duvall (25th, Oakland) and Julian Infante (36th, Miami) were all selected in the draft. That's exceptional. That ties an SEC record with 13 players picked in the MLB draft. We join the 2016 Texas A&M team and the 2018 Kentucky team with the most SEC players ever selected in a single year. Says a lot about Tim Corbin's recruiting and our players' character and hard work.
Tyler Brown has been nominated for the Stopper of the Year award given out by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Tyler is one of 6 finalists. The winner will be announced Saturday, June 15th at a news conference at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha at 10 AM CT, the day the CWS starts.
JJ Bleday, who is already one of 4 finalists for the Golden Spikes Award for the best player in the country, has been named as one of 5 finalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, which is also voted on by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. JJ is one of 5 finalists. The award is for character, leadership, desire and competitiveness. That winner will be also announced Saturday, June 15th at 10 AM CT at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha.
The Golden Spikes winner will be announced around that time as well.
Big weekend. Great stuff from Brandt and DMase and awesome stuff from our draftees and Tyler and JJ.
Will have much more tomorrow including reports on our major leaguers and of course a recap of tonight's game.