Tag: baseball

Irish in MLB: Trey Mancini Undergoes Successful Surgery

A surprise last week in MLB’s spring training came from Baltimore Orioles camp where veteran Trey Mancini left camp, taking an unexpected leave.  Today we found out why exactly the former Notre Dame baseball player had to step away from the game.

A surprise last week in MLB’s spring training came from Baltimore Orioles camp where veteran Trey Mancini left camp, taking an unexpected leave.  Today we found out why exactly the former Notre Dame baseball player had to step away from the game.

After discovering a malignant tumor during a colonoscopy last week, Mancini had successful surgery to remove the tumor today.

In a statement released by the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, Mancini was thankful for the support from the team, fans, and supporters.

“The outpouring of love and support I have received has made an extremely tough week so much better,” Mancini said. “I have the best family, friends, fans and teammates imaginable. I am also eternally thankful for the Orioles front office, our athletic trainers and the entire medical staff for everything they have done to help me during this time. Finally, I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and kind words, which have furthered my excitement to get back to playing the game I love.”

There is no timetable set for Mancini to return to the club and with MLB suspending spring training operations as of Thursday afternoon, it’s hard to have any idea when play may resume.  The good news is Mancini was aware something was amiss and all was handled well by all parties.

Mancini played at Notre Dame from 2011-2013, hitting .297 and 28 home runs in that time.  The Orioles selected him in the eighth round of the 2013 MLB Draft.  Mancini led the Orioles in doubles, home runs, RBI, OBP, slugging percentage and total bases.

Texas baseball’s weekend series against New Mexico canceled

Texas’ weekend series against New Mexico will be canceled. The Lobos were scheduled to play games in Austin on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Like many sports across the country, Texas’ weekend series against New Mexico will be canceled. The Lobos were scheduled to come to Austin and play games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The news broke when the Mountain West Conference announced they had suspended baseball season until further notice. While the Big 12 has not done the same, an announcement of similar nature is expected soon.

Up until this point of the season, the Longhorns were 14-3 and riding a four-game winning streak. Conference play was slated to begin on March 20 with Texas traveling to Oklahoma.

With many sporting events throughout the country being suspended or canceled, Texas fans can only wait until the Big 12 has made an official announcement on the status of spring sports.

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ACC Suspends All Athletic Competitions

It’s not just spring football or the NCAA Tournament but now the ACC has suspended all athletic-related activities.  The conference released the following statement Thursday afternoon:

It’s not just spring football or the NCAA Tournament but now the ACC has suspended all athletic-related activities.  The conference released the following statement Thursday afternoon:

“The Atlantic Coast Conference has suspended all athletic-related activities including all competition, formal and organized practice, recruiting and participation in NCAA championships until further notice. The decision was made following consultation with the league’s presidents and athletic directors to mitigate the further spread of COVID-19.”

ACC Commissioner John Swofford added the following:

“This is uncharted territory and the health and safety of our student-athletes and institutions remain our top priority. This decision is aimed to protect from the further spread of COVID-19.” 

It’s not surprising but I know I’m not the only one wondering right now, how long?  Will it be a couple weeks, a couple months or will it be something that goes all the way until football season and beyond?

I don’t know.

You don’t know.

The guy yelling on your TV doesn’t know either.

Take care of yourselves and each other in the meantime.  If you haven’t taken Coronavirus seriously yet, I’m not saying go into panic mode but it’s time to give it more thought.  Beyond just washing your hands take the time to learn more about how even if you’ll be fine, how you may put others at risk.

We’ll have plenty of content in the meantime at Fighting Irish Wire and as it appears there will no NCAA Tournament to watch, we’ll have a tournament of our own to track in the coming weeks.

University of Texas to ban all fans from attending sporting events

With the recent pandemic concerning the COVID-19 (coronavirus), the Big 12 conference and the University of Texas released rulings.

With the recent rulings by the NCAA concerning the tournament amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Texas has also made their announcement.

This comes on the heels of the Big 12 limited fans from attending the Big 12 tournament currently taking place in Kansas City, Missouri. Per Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowles, schools will be limited to 125 fans per school.

Texas President Greg Fenves released an announcement regarding Spring Break.

I am writing to announce that I have decided to extend spring break for students by one week in response to the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus). Classes will resume on campus on Monday, March 30, and students should plan on returning prior to that date.

The university will remain open, and the additional week of spring break will provide UT faculty and staff members time to prepare to increase “social distancing” on campus. As recommended by public health officials, social distancing provides guidelines through which individuals avoid group settings and mass gatherings, maintain a safe distance from others and follow good personal hygiene practices whenever possible.

COVID-19 represents a serious public health concern. UT is committed to the well-being of our community members and slowing the spread of the coronavirus while also supporting our students’ educational goals and the needs of staff and faculty members and students during these challenging times.

You can read the full release from President Fenves here.

The school pushing back spring break to March 30th brings into question the start of spring practice. The original start date was set for March 25th. The ban of attending home sporting events would last to the 22nd so that would not have factored in. However, the extension of spring break does.

We will monitor the situation and report the facts as they are made available.

Vols topple ETSU, 17-5

2020 Tennessee football.

KNOXVILLE — The bats came alive for the University of Tennessee baseball team Tuesday night.

The Volunteers pounded out 20 hits as they routed East Tennessee State, 17-5, at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. 10 of UT’s hits went for extra bases for the No. 20 Vols, who scored six runs in the second inning to open a big lead.

Alerick Soularie hit two home runs and had a double for the Vols (15-2).

He went 3-for-5 with two runs and drove in four. Evan Russell and Landon Gray also homered for the Vols in their final tune-up before opening Southeastern Conference play against South Carolina in Columbia this weekend.

Zach Daniels went 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and three runs scored for Tennessee, which had single runs in the third and fifth frames respectively. The Big Orange added five runs in the sixth and two each in the seventh and eighth.

Jake Rucker was 2-for-6 with a triple, two runs and an RBI.

Luc Lipcius had two doubles and scored twice while Drew Gilbert had two hits and two runs while driving in one.

Gray had two hits and three RBIs and also scored a run for Tennessee.

The Buccaneers (12-3) had doubles from David Beam and Ashton King and a home run from Jackson Greer.

Beam was a prep standout at Bearden High School. King, a freshman, was a star at Farragut and Greer played high school ball for Knoxville Central.

Texas Baseball: USA Today’s Coaches Poll has Longhorns ranked No 22

The USA Today/Coaches poll has been released and the Texas Longhorns are currently ranked 22nd in the nation.

The Texas Longhorns baseball team has started off hot winning 13 of their first 16 games. In the Shriners Hospital for Children College Classic, the Longhorns beat the number six ranked Arkansas Razorbacks 8-7 and dropped a game to the 11th ranked LSU Tigers 4-3. The Longhorns have also played three weekend series going a perfect 9-0.

In the latest USA Today Coaches Poll that was released on March 9th, the Longhorns came in at number 22 in the poll. They are just two points based on votes behind the number 21 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Texas finished seven points ahead of Texas A&M who comes in at 23rd. The Aggies and Longhorns will have a one-game duel in College Station on March 31st.

Big 12 Teams in the top 25:

  • Texas Tech (3)
  • Oklahoma (13)

Following the five games left on their nine-game homestead, the Longhorns will travel to Frisco, Texas for a matchup with UT-Arlington. The team then starts Big 12 play with a trip to Norman for a three-game set with Oklahoma.

ETSU baseball team has several former KIL stars

ETSU baseball team has several former KIL stars.

KNOXVILLE — When the University of Tennessee baseball team hosts East Tennessee State Tuesday night, several former high school stars from the Knoxville Area will have a homecoming.

The Buccaneers (12-2) and the Volunteers (14-2) have a longstanding rivalry, which will be renewed Tuesday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium with first pitch slated for 6 p.m.

Knoxville has a rich high school baseball tradition and many of those players head north to Johnson City to play for the Bucs upon finishing their respective prep careers in the Knoxville Interscholastic League and in surrounding counties.

ETSU has nine players with Knoxville Area ties on its 2020 roster.

Freshman infielder Ashton King and first-year pitchers Landon Smiddy and Owen Kovacs all played for Farragut High School. They all finished their high school careers on top as the Admirals won the 2019 Class AAA Sate Championship.

Hunter Loyd, a freshman pitcher out of Christian Academy of Knoxville, where he played for legendary coach Tommy Pharr, was a member of three consecutive state championship teams for the Warriors, who claimed back-to-back Division II-A crowns in 2018 and 2019 after capturing the Division I Class AA title in 2017.

Sean Kearney had a stellar career at Knoxville Catholic High School. Jackson Greer played high school ball at Knoxville Central. Bubba Hubbard, a junior college transfer from Walters State Community College, hails from Morristown.

Junior outfielder David Beam was a two-way star at Bearden as a pitcher and outfielder, while freshman catcher Noah Webb, a Kodak native, played high school ball at Sevier County.

Texas Baseball: Longhorns finish off sweep 8-4

In the final game of the three-game series between the Longhorns and Cal State Fullerton Titans, Texas showed off their power.

The Texas Longhorns and Cal State Fullerton Titans met for the third game of the weekend series. Texas took the first two games, looking for their third sweep of the season. Coy Cobb took the mound looking for his first win on the year.

After the scoreless top of the first inning, the Longhorns got the bats going early. A Trey Faltine double brought home a run on the legs of leadoff hitter Austin Todd to give Texas a 1-0 lead. With runners on second and third, Eric Kennedy came to the plate with an opportunity to give Texas a nice cushion to start off the game.

Cobb would take the mound again in the top of the second inning but he would be pulled and Tristan Stevens would come on in relief as the Titans would tie it up before Stevens could retire the side. with the game now all tied at three, Austin Todd would come to bat to break the tie in the bottom of the second inning.

That gave Todd his first home run on the season and Texas led 5-3 after two. In the third Faltine would score again on a Murphy Stehly RBI ground out to short. It would be a throwing error by Faltine in the top of the next inning that would plate another Titan in Miguel Ortiz that brought them within two runs at 6-4.

The big cat Zach Zubia would drive home Todd in the bottom of the inning to get their three-run cushion back on the sacrifice fly to right field. That would give Zubia 20 RBI’s on the season. On the mound it would be four innings from Dawson Merryman that would allow Texas to take control. He gave up one unearned run and that would do it for the Titans offense.

Peyton Powell would give Texas their eighth run on the day with his first career home run in the sixth inning. To close it out, Andre Duplantier II would come in from third base to pitch the final frame. He faced the minimum with one strikeout to secure the sweep for Texas.

They will face Abilene Christian at DischFalk Field on Wednesday night before hosting another three-game weekend series against the New Mexico Lobos. Merryman improved to 3-0 on the year, picking up his second win of the series and lowering his ERA to 1.74.

Diamond Vols get back into win column

2020 Tennessee baseball.

KNOXVILLE — After seeing their perfect record get blemished Friday, the Diamond Vols returned to the win column Saturday with 3-1 victory over Wright State at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Tennessee (14-1 and ranked No. 11 in the country) got home runs from Liam Spence and Max Ferguson as it avenged its first loss of the season, a 5-4 defeat at the hands of the Raiders (4-9).

Ferguson’s solo shot gave the Volunteers a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Ferguson, went 2-for-4 Saturday against Wright State. He also had a double in the contest.

Tennessee took a 2-0 lead in the seventh when Liam Spence parked a solo shot over the left-field fence.

Wright State got on the board in the eighth when Gehrig Anglin scored on an errant pickoff throw by Vols’ pitcher Jackson Leath.

Drew Gilbert closed out the scoring in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single that plated Luc Lipcius.

Leath threw 4.2 innings of relief to pick up the victory. He yielded an unearned run, four hits and two walks. He also struck out two.

Redmond Walsh fanned two of the three hitters he faced in the ninth en route to recording his second save of the 2020 campaign.

Tennessee’s Garrett Crochet made his season debut. He started and surrendered two hits and struck out six in 3.1 innings.