All Sacramento State’s Matt Masciangelo can do is say ouch and laugh after getting plunked 8 times
It was a bruising opening weekend for Sacramento State’s Matt Masciangelo.
The Hornets’ junior left fielder was hit by pitch on eight of his first nine plate appearances against Loyola Marymount.
“I’ll take it — any way I can get on base for the team,” Masciangelo said. “After a certain point, it’s kind of crazy how it’s all transpiring.”
The teams played a doubleheader Friday, with Masciangelo plunked three times in the first game and four times in the second. The teams didn’t play Saturday. Masciangelo got on base his first time up Sunday when a pitch grazed his jersey. The first seven hit him in the thigh, shin or calf.
The NCAA record for times hit in a game is five, held by Stanford’s Carlos Quentin against Florida State in 2002. The NCAA doesn’t track times a batter is hit in a doubleheader.
Masciangelo was hit on the first two pitches he faced Friday, in the third and fifth innings. He was hit on the third pitch he faced in the seventh. In the second game, he flew out on his first at-bat and then was hit in his final four plate appearances.
“As I got hit each time, I’d look over to the dugout, and as it kept going, the reaction got more and more animated,” Masciangelo said. “Everybody kind of had fun with it.”
Masciangelo said it was purely coincidence he was hit so much. He said he doesn’t crowd the plate, and he noticed on video that the catcher’s target was set up outside or down the middle each time.
“They missed the spot every single time,” he said.
IN THE POLLS
Wake Forest (3-0) remains the consensus No. 1 in the major polls after beating Fordham, Illinois and Akron. Arkansas (2-1) is No. 2 and LSU is No. 3 in the D1Baseball.com rankings. Those two are flip-flopped by Baseball America.
BURNS THROWS HEAT
Chase Burns, projected to be one of the first players taken in the 2024 MLB amateur draft, struck out 10 and allowed three hits in six innings against Illinois in his Wake Forest debut Saturday. Burns struck out the side in the first inning and touched 101 mph with his fastball. He was second nationally with 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings for Tennessee last season.
ALL THAT FOR A TIE
Washington and Long Beach State played 4 1/2 hours Sunday, all for the game to end in a 3-3 tie. The game was called with one out in the bottom of the 17th inning so the Huskies could catch their return flight to Seattle.
Washington hadn’t played into a 17th inning since 1992; Long Beach State hadn’t since 1973.
HIT PARADE
Defending national champion LSU tied its school record with 27 hits in a 27-5 win over VMI on Sunday. The Tigers previously had 27 hits in 1990 against Evansville. The 27 runs were two off the school record of 29 against Georgia Tech in the 1996 NCAA regionals.
CLEANUP
Lehigh of the Patriot League recorded its first two wins ever against Big Ten opponents. The Mountain Hawks beat Michigan State 2-0 on Saturday and Iowa 8-4 on Sunday. Iowa is the Big Ten favorite and was ranked in preseason polls. … Elliott Avent won his 1,000th game as North Carolina State’s coach with Sunday’s 5-3 victory over VCU. The Wolfpack’s 28th-year coach is the fifth active Division I coach to record 1,000 wins at one school. … Five South Carolina pitchers combined for a seven-inning no-hitter against Miami (Ohio) on Sunday. Roman Kimball, Ty Good, Tyler Pitzer, Parker Marlatt and Tyler Dean combined to strike out nine in the 14-0 win.
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports