BMOC Week 5

March 4, 2020

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Network

Spring is right around the corner. Don't tell that to college baseball teams and fans though, they have been going strong for weeks. Below you can find out what you need to know about Canadians in the college game.

How about Hofmann

Logan Hofmann (Muenster, Sask.) has been terrorizing opposing lineups on the hill for the Northwestern State Demons. He improved to 3-0 last week with a gem against Eastern Illinois. In the 3-0 win he tossed eight scoreless innings. The Colby Community College transfer allowed four hits, walked one and struck out 11. The righty has yet to allow an earned run over 23 innings of work. His success shouldn't come as much of a surprise as he was picked by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 35th round, 1055th overall in the 2019 MLB Draft. He is also is coming off a summer where he went 3-1 with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod League. Not only did he pitch in the prestigious college summer league, he was named an All-Star.

Potter goes the distance

Southeastern Oklahoma University relievers kicked back and relaxed while teammate Jacob Potter (Victoria, BC) cruised through nine innings and allowed just one run in a 6-1 victory over Arkansas Tech in Game 1 of their series. Potter gave up four hits, walked one and punched out six. The Canadian is 3-2 with a 2.65 ERA over 5 starts and 34 innings pitched.

Humeniuk homers three times

Ryan Humeniuk (Stonewall, Man.) helped the Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe to a 3-1 week. They opened the slate of games with an 8-4 win over Southeastern Louisiana. Humeniuk scored a run in that one. The Warhawks cranked up the offence in another clash with Southeastern Louisiana when they pounded their opponent 23-5. Humeniuk went 3-for-3 with a solo home run, a walk and a hit by pitch. He drove in three in total. After the midweek, in-state battle, Louisiana-Monroe took on Illinois State in a three-game set. They dropped the opener, 6-3, but Humeniuk did earn a walk in the loss. Game 2 saw the offence explode again, much like earlier in the week against Southeastern Louisiana and Humeniuk was right in the middle of it. Humeniuk went 6-for-7 with another solo shot, four runs scored and a stolen base. In the rubber match, he went 2-for-4 with yet another solo blast in a 4-2 win. On the season Humeniuk is hitting .468 with a .519 on-base percentage and a .745 slugging percentage.

Minot State splits with No. 3 Colorado Mesa

It was a tough test for the Minot State Beavers last weekend as they took on NCAA Division II No. 3 Colorado Mesa. The series got off to a great start for the Beavers as they took Game 1, 11-10. Trevaun Smith (Brampton, Ont.) had two hits and two RBIs in the opening win. Game 2 was also a high scoring affair and again went the way of the Beavers, 13-10. Smith chipped in another two hits. Unfortunately, Colorado Mesa would come back to win Games 3 and 4 by scores of 10-6 and 17-11. Smith walked in Game 3. In the final game of the series he went 4-for-5 with a solo home run, a walk, seven RBIs and three stolen bases.

Another strong week for Mendham

David Mendham (Dorchester, Ont.) continued his spectacular season last week by recording eight hits in six games for the Connors State Cowboys. He also walked seven times, drove in four and stole two bases. One of his eight hits left the yard. The Cowboys went 5-1 on the week and currently sit with a record of 14-2.

UBC sweeps

It wasn't a welcoming trip to Canada for the Oregon Tech Owls. The University of British Columbia made sure they didn't enjoy their stay by sweeping their four-game set. Ty Penner (Lethbridge, Alta.) was a thorn in the side of the Owls offensively. In the opening game of the series, a 10-3 T-Birds win, he went 2-for-5 with two RBIs. He had two hits, walked twice and drove in a run in a 3-2, 10 inning Game 2 win. It was another multi-hit game for Penner in an 11-4 Game 3 win. He also drove in three runs in the contest. The series finale saw Penner, yep you guessed it, record two more hits. He earned a walk, as well, in the series sweeping win. Cameron Sanderson (London, Ont.) was another standout offensively. Sanderson went 3-for-4 with a walk in Game 1. After not recording a hit in Game 2, he went 2-for-4 with a walk and four RBIs in Game 3. He rounded out his week with a hit, a walk, a RBI and a stolen base in the finale. The first year infielder is 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts over 14 games played.

Jared Spearing (Winnipeg, Man.) and James Bradwell (Gibsons, BC) split the pitching duties in the 3-2, 10 inning Game 2 win. Spearing started and went 5 2/3 innings, allowing three hits, a run, while issuing three walks and striking out seven. Bradwell came on in relief to pick up the win. He gave up a run over 4 1/3 innings of work. He surrendered just one hit and struck out three. Barry Caine (Surrey, BC) finished off the sweep by going seven innings in the 6-1 Game 4 win. Caine scattered five hit, walked one and struck out 11 to move to 1-1 on the season.

Seginowich slams West Texas A&M

The Rams of Angelo State entered the weekend as the No. 1 team in Division II baseball and took 3-of-4 from No. 14 West Texas A&M behind some strong play from Nick Seginowich (Victoria, BC). The Rams snuck by the Buffs 5-4 in Game 1. Seginowich had a hit and three RBIs to start the weekend. In Game 2, an 8-5 win, he launched a three-run home run. The home run was one of two hits in the game. Game 3 would be the only loss of the series, and the Rams first loss of the season. In the 8-2 defeat, Seginowich had a hit, a RBI and was hit by a pitch. With a series win on the line Seginowich had two hits, one of which was a two-run home run, a walk three RBIs and was hit by a pitch in a 9-8 win. Angelo State improved to an incredible 17-1 in 2020.

Parker punches out 13

Adam Parker (Toronto, Ont.) was phenomenal for Jefferson College in their Game 3 win over Iowa Lake. Parker worked six innings, gave up two hits, one run and walked two. He struck out 13 in the 5-1 win.

Offman holds opponents off the board

Five scoreless innings from Jonah Offman (Thornhill, Ont.) helped John Hopkins University down Roanoke 4-3. Offman allowed three hits, walked one and struck out 10 of the 15 outs he recorded. John Hopkins walked off the game with two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Huskies ride Rhodes to win

David Rhodes (White Rock, BC) picked up his first win of 2020 by tossing four innings of relief in the University of Washington’s 12-2 thumping of UC Irvine. Rhodes surrendered three hits, walked one and struck out four.

Cust collects eight hits

Brayden Cust (Edmonton, Alta.) pounded out eight hits in Colby’s five games last week. He started with a 3-for-4 showing in a 17-6 win over Otero. He launched a home run, tripled twice, walked, drove in three and scored four runs in the big win. During a four-game set with CSU Club, Cust had five hits, three walks and stole a base. His best game of the series came in a 20-0 Game 3 win when he went 3-for-3 with a home run. Cust finished the game a double short of the cycle, drove in two and stole a base.

Kush K’s four in win

Jacob Kush (Guelph, Ont.) fanned four over six innings of work for Northwest Florida State as the Raiders downed Shelton State 6-1 in Game 1 of their series. Kush allowed five hits, three runs (one earned) and walked two to improve to 3-1.

Spoljaric beats UMBC

It’s a familiar name around baseball circles. Garner Spoljaric (Lisle, Ont.), son of former big leaguer and Toronto Blue Jay Paul, improved to 3-0 for the Stetson Hatters last week. Spoljaric worked four scoreless innings of relief as the Hatters downed the University of Maryland Baltimore County 8-7 in 12 innings. He allowed two hits, walked two and punched out seven in the victory.

Seven scoreless from Goodall

The Eagles of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University received seven scoreless innings from Garrett Goodall (Nanaimo, BC) in a 3-0 Game 1 win against Nova Southeastern. Goodall scattered six hits, walked a pair and struck out four. It was the only win of the series for the Eagles.

Bahnuk beats Texas Wesleyan

Jordan Bahnuk (Woodstock, Ont.) was called on in relief for Southwestern Christian University against National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics No. 17 Texas Wesleyan and tossed four innings, allowing one run, to pick up the win. Bahnuk worked around seven hits and two walks, while striking out four.

Howie fuels offence

Nick Howie (Oakville, Ont.) did all of his offensive work from the leadoff spot for the University of Eastern Kentucky last week. The Colonels swept a four-game set from Siena. Game 1 ended in a 13-10 final and Howie went 3-for-4 with a walk, three RBIs and two stolen bases. Howie went 3-for-5 with a triple in an 11-8 Game 2 win. After walking twice, driving in a run and stealing a base in an 8-3 Game 3 win, he hit a solo home run to leadoff the bottom of the first in an 11-2 Game 4 win. He finished the finale with a walk, three RBIs and two more stolen bases.

Bells evens record

After beating the University of Texas Permian Basin last week, Dylan Bells (Regina, Sask.) now owns a 2-2 record in 2020. Bells went 7 1/3 innings in Game 4 of St. Mary’s series with UT Permian Basin. He allowed nine hits, four runs (two earned), walked two and struck out eight in the 9-4 win.

Takamatsu has six hits in three games

It was a good series for Central Oklahoma’s Garrett Takamatsu (Burlington, Ont.) against Newman last week. Takamatsu had six hits as his team took 2-of-3 in the series. In Game 1, an 11-0 loss, Takamatsu had a hit. Game 2 saw him record two hits and two RBIs in an 11-3 win. He helped close out the series win with a 3-for-4 performance with a walk and a RBI in a 14-5 Game 3 win.

Jackson allows one earned

Corey Jackson (Calgary, Alta.) threw six innings for Bellevue in a 5-4 win over Siena Heights. Jackson gave up three hits, three runs (one earned) in the outing. He walked five but struck out nine.

Bourassa goes four

Landen Bourassa (Lethbridge, Alta.) went four scoreless innings as the University of San Francisco beat Cal State Fullerton in Game 1 of their series. Bourassa was sharp, allowing two hits and striking out two.

Chester helps Salt Lake CC to 17-3 record

Salt Lake Community College gave the ball to Fynn Chester (Victoria, BC) in Game 2 of their series with Colorado Northwestern Community College. Chester turned in six innings of work and allowed two runs on four hits. He walked two and punched out six. Salt Lake is now 17-3 on the campaign.

Marks moves to 3-0

Jordan Marks (Bright’s Grove, Ont.) moved his record to 3-0 after helping the University of South Carolina Upstate down Western Kentucky 12-7 in Game 1 of their series. The junior right-handed pitcher surrendered seven hits, two runs, walked two and struck out 10.

Are you ready for spring training to wrap up and for games to start to count? Why not check out some college baseball? Make sure to come back next week to read all about the top Canadian performances.