Baseball's Dodgertown Classic
The Dodgertown Classic is another one of the country's top college baseball tournaments, as it features ranked teams Oklahoma and UCLA with tough teams in Notre Dame and USC.
Oklahoma: The Sooners come into the weekend classic with an 11-1 record, having dropped their first contest of the year to Pepperdine last weekend. The 19th-ranked team also plays a game against UT-Arlington before the weekend in Los Angeles. Matt Oberste is the team's top hitter, leading the squad in average (.444), hits (20), doubles (four), home runs (four) and RBI (19). He is even tied for stolen bases with Jack Mayfield with three bases stolen. Mayfield leads the team in runs scored with 15.
While Adam Choplick has only struck out nine in his 10 innings pitched in two starts, he has held opponents to a mere .139 average and given up only one run. Dillon Overton is the team's leading pitcher, having won four games this season in his three starts and relief appearance. He also leads the team with 26 strikeouts.
Notre Dame: The Irish come into the weekend's games after dropping their last contest, 4-3 to Rhode Island, in the final game of the Irish Classic. Four Irish regulars are hitting .321 or above, including the top two hitters, who have each started all 10 games, Ryan Bull (.395) and Eric Jagielo (.394). Jagielo leads the squad in home runs (three) and RBI (14). Frank Desico has done a good job setting the table for the Irish, as the leadoff hitter leads the team in runs (12), doubles (three) and stolen bases (a perfect 7-of-7).
Three Notre Dame pitchers have each started three games, led by Adam Norton who is 3-0 and carries a 1.71 ERA. He is coming off of a complete game shut-out of Virginia Tech, allowing just four hits and one walk, while striking out five.
UCLA: The third ranked Bruins are coming into the weekend after a sweep of Wright State and a Tuesday game against Long Beach State. While the Bruins are not a power hitting team, the team has hit only three home runs through 10 games; however, they are a team that will drive the ball to the gap and pick up double after double. Kevin Kramer and Pat Valaika both have four doubles, while teammate Ty Moore has three. Kramer and Valaika are also tied for the team lead in RBI with 12 apiece.
Grant Watson is the team's top starter. He's won two of the three games he's started and holds a 1.37 ERA. Watson has also struck out a team-high 14, while walking just two.
USC: The Trojans have struggled thus far this season, limping to a 6-5 record and coming off a three game series loss to Fresno State. The team has a game against Cal State-Fullerton before this weekend's games. Kevin Swick leads the regulars with a .361 average, is tied for a team-high 13 hits and tied for a team-high three doubles. James Roberts also has 13 hits, but has hit two of the teams' four home runs and has a team-leading seven RBI.
The pitching staff is led by brothers Bobby and Brent Wheatley. Brent Wheatley has a 1-0 record in his two starts but has a team-low 0.79 ERA. Bobby is 1-1 in three starts with a 1.47 ERA.
