by Matt Plante
Vice President

Opening Weekend in Division 1 College Baseball: Top Tier Alumni Roundup

This weekend lived up to the hype and it is so good to see College Baseball back in action. Our Top Tier Alums had a lot of standout performances from guys making their debuts as freshman, to others making marks on their new teams, to veterans making statements in week 1 of college baseball. We saw home runs, lights out pitching with guys up to 97 mph to multi-hit performances all over the diamond this past weekend.
Here are some of the highlights:

Player of the Week:

Colin Summerhill, OF/C, Troy
Summerhill went off at the plate in his debut with Troy University after transferring in from Triton CC last year. He hit the game winning homer in his 1st start at the D1 collegiate level, then followed it up with hits in every game throughout the weekend vs. Holy Cross. Summerhill went 7 for 15, hitting a staggering .467 with 2 bombs, a triple and collected 4 RBI's for the Trojans, who swept Holy Cross to start the year off 4-0 overall.

Here are the best of the rest Highlights of Top Tier Alums in D1 College Baseball:

Jeremy Gaines, INF/OF, Texas Southern
Gaines made his mark with his new team as he is finishing up his Graduate work with Texas Southern after transferring in from Illinois State last season. Gaines had a huge weekend going 5 for 11, hitting .455 with a double, 3 walks and 2 stolen bases to help Texas Southern sweep Arlington Baptist to start the year 4-0 overall.

Hunter Mink, RHP, University of South Florida
Mink transferred in and made his debut with the Bulls after transferring in from University of Florida last season, and made his mark as well as he picked up a save vs. Louisville tossing 2 scoreless innings giving up only 2 hits and 0 walks while striking out 2. The USF Bulls beat Louisville, but lost to UConn and UNC-Charlotte to start the year of 1-2 overall.

Camden Minacci, RHP, Wake Forest
Minacci was absolutely electric in his one relief appearance this past weekend in his second year at Wake Forest. Minacci threw 2 scoreless innings giving up only 2 hits and 0 walks while striking out 5. Wake Forest beat Lafayette, Georgetown and VCU this past weekend to start the year off 3-0 overall.

Keaton Rice, C, Bradley
Rice a seasoned veteran behind the plate for the Braves had a really good offensive weekend going 3 for 9, hitting .333 with a homer, 3 walks and 2 RBI's as they took 2 of 3 from Western Michigan to start the year off 2-1 overall.

Gavin Doyle, INF, Western Michigan
Doyle a veteran infielder for the Broncos had a really good weekend at the plate as well as he went 3 for 9, hitting .333 with 2 doubles, 5 walks and 3 RBI's. Western Michigan lost 2 of 3 to Bradley and are 1-2 overall to start the year.

Chase Stanke, C, Minnesota
Stanke a veteran catcher for the Gophers showed some definite juice in his stick this past weekend as he crushed 3 homers into the night in 4 games vs. Florida Atlantic. Minnesota however lost 3 of 4 to FAU and are 1-3 overall to start the year.

Andrew Zapka, RHP, Dayton
Zapka a veteran pitcher for the Flyers threw really well in relief this past weekend tossing 1.2 innings giving up 0 earned runs off 2 hits while striking out 2. Dayton swept North Carolina A&T to start the year off 3-0 overall.

Andrew Wilhite, OF, Minnesota
Wilhite a veteran outfielder for the Gophers had a really good weekend at the plate collecting 4 hits with three of them being doubles along with collecting 4 RBI's. It wasn't enough however as the Gophers dropped 3 of 4 to FAU to start the year off 1-3 overall.

Kellen Sarver, 1B/C, Illinois
Sarver a veteran player for the Fighting Illini had a good weekend offensively as he collected 4 hits with a homer, two doubles and 2 RBI's. Illinois lost 2 of 3 vs. Kansas to start the year off 1-2 overall.

Chase Centala, RHP, University of Central Florida
Centala made his first debut with his new team after transferring in from the University of Florida last season. Centala threw one inning of relief for the Knights giving up 0 runs off 1 hit. UCF swept Siena College and are 3-0 overall to start the year.

Dakota Kotowski, OF, Missouri State
Kotowski a veteran outfielder for the Bears continued to put up impressive offensive stats as he collected 3 hits over the weekend with a homer and 2 RBI's vs. Central Arkansas. Missouri State took 2 of 3 to start the year 2-1 overall.

Conner Tomasic, RHP/INF, Michigan State
Tomasic picked up the win in relief in his debut with the Spartans after tranferring in from South Suburban CC last season. Tomasic went 5 innings of relief vs. UNLV giving up 4 runs off 7 hits and 0 walks while striking out 8. Michigan State took 3 of 4 from UNLV to start the year off 3-1 overall.

Jack Carberry, RHP, Western Illinois
Carberry a veteran pitcher for the Leathernecks got the start in the opener vs. Western Kentucky. Carberry picked up the loss but threw well going 4 innings giving up 2 earned runs off 3 hits and 4 walks while striking out 6. Western Illinois lost 2 of 3 to WKU to start the year off 1-2 overall.

Ryan Howe, INF, Purdue
Howe a veteran infielder appeared in 2 of the 4 games this past weekend making the most of it by picking up a hit in each game along with collecting 2 RBI's. Purdue swept South Dakota State to start the year off 4-0 overall.

Nick Ficarrotta, RHP, Florida
Ficarrotta made two relief appearances in his 2nd season with the Gators this past weekend. In total he threw a combined 2.1 innings giving up 2 runs off 3 hits with striking out 1 vs. Liberty. Florida lost 2 of 3 vs. Liberty to start the year off 1-2 overall.

Danny Doligale, OF, Illinois
Doligale started all 3 games in the outfield in his 2nd season with Fighting Illini. Doligale collected 3 hits over the weekend with a double, a stolen base and 2 RBI's. Illinois lost 2 of 3 to Kansas and are 1-2 overall.

Michael Gurka, RHP, Minnesota
Gurka in his first year back from injury got a relief appearance in over the weekend vs. FAU where he went one scoreless giving up 0 hits on 2 walks while striking out 1. Minnesota lost 3 of 4 to FAU and are 1-3 overall.

Mason Miller, LHP, Florida Gulf Coast
Miller in his 2nd season with FGSU ended up picking up the loss in his one relief appearance this past weekend but pitched pretty well. Miller went 1.2 innings giving up only 1 run off 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. FGSU split with Cincinnati this past weekend to start the year out 2-2 overall.

Sean Sinisko, LHP, Illinois State
Sinisko a veteran LHP for the Redbirds took a loss in his start vs. 2nd ranked Arkansas but pitched really well. Sinisko went 4 innings in his start vs. the Razorbacks giving up only 2 runs off 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. ISU lost 2 of 3 to Arkansas and are 1-2 overall on the year.

Kevin Davis, RHP, USC-Upstate
Davis a veteran pitcher for the Spartans ended up taking the loss in relief this past weekend vs Ohio, after tossing 3 innings giving up 2 earned runs off 2 hits and 4 walks with 4 strikeouts. USC-Upstate won 2 fo 3 vs. Ohio to start the year off 2-1 overall.

Anthony Mangano, OF/INF, Iowa
Mangano in his 2nd season with the Hawkeyes went 1 or 4 in two games played with a double and an RBI to help Iowa beat Air Force, Ball State and Bucknell this past weekend to start off 3-0 overall.

Renzo Gonzalez, OF/INF, University of Miami
Gonzalez played in 3 games this past weekend in his 1st collegiate season going 1 for 3 with a double. Miami swept Towson and are 4-0 overall to start the year.

Antonio Brown, OF/INF, Mercer
Brown was used in the late innings this past weekend for Mercer where he went 1 for 1 and helped them swept Eastern Kentucky and start the season 3-0 overall.

Anthony Livermore, INF, Northwestern
Livermore in his 2nd season with the Wildcats started in every game this past weekend, collecting 2 hits with 3 walks. Northwestern however got swept by UAB and are 0-4 overall to start the year.

Blake Wright, INF, Clemson
Wright in his 2nd season with the Tigers started all 3 games this past weekend at second base where he collected a hit, an RBI and 2 walks. Clemson swept Indiana and are 3-0 overall to start the year.

Marc DeGusipe, LHP, Florida Atlantic
DeGusipe in his 2nd full season with the Owls and he got a relief appearance in the opening weekend vs. Minnesota where he threw 2.1 innings giving up 3 runs off 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. FAU took 3 of 4 from Minnesota to start the year off 3-1 overall.