While waiting not only for the Final Four to jump (ball) off here in the Twin Cities, but also (more importantly to me) to see if Christian Yelich can start the 2019 MLB season by homering in the first five games of the campaign (which would be a new record), I passed the time by perusing the NCAA baseball record book. Here’s a bit of what I found.
On March 16, 1999 in front of a Buck Belzer Stadium crowd of 654, the Nebraska University Cornhuskers took two-hours and 34-minutes to dispatch the Chicago State Cougars by a score of 50-3. No, it wasn’t football – and, no, there will not be an “April Fools” at the end of this post. Rather, it was, and remains, the most lopsided baseball game in NCAA history. It was, by the way, also the second game of a doubleheader (Nebraska won the first contest by a 15-3 score). A little background: Chicago State came into the game with a 2-7 record, Nebraska was 10-6. The Cougars (as reported in the Omaha World-Herald) had flown into Omaha that morning and bused to Lincoln – arriving less than an hour before the game (and had lost several players to academic and disciplinary problems before the season opened).
In the contest – stopped in the seventh due to the 12-run “mercy rule” – Nebraska pounded out 35 hits, including nine home runs (by eight different players). Nebraska, in fact, had a 23-0 lead before Chicago state had its first base runner (in the top of the fourth inning). The Cornhuskers not only set the NCAA record for the biggest margin of victory, but also from the most runs scored and the most RBI (48) in an NCAA contest.
You’ll find the box score below and – at the end of the post – a few more NCAA baseball records you may find of interest.
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Now here are a few NCAA records you may find of interest.
TEAM
Runs Scored
Inning: 21 – Wichita State, March 3, 1984; Penn, May 25, 1983
Game: 50 – Nebraska, March 16, 1999
By Both Teams: 62 – Denver (33) – Air Force (29) on May 13, 1968. Air Force holds the record form most runs in a loss.
Home Runs
Inning: 7 – Southern Utah, April 22, 2001; Belmont, March 29, 2015
Game: 14 – Georgia Southern, March 15, 2008
Season: 188 (70 games) – LSU, 1997
Earned Run Average
Season: 0.65 – Missouri, 1964 (19 earned runs in 264 innings)
Shutouts
Season: 24 (70 games) – Arizona State, 1972
INDIVIDUAL
Batting Average
Season (at least 75 at bats): .551 – Keith Hagman, New Mexico, 1980 (125-for-227)
Career: .465 – Rickie Weeks, Southern University, 2001-03 (254-for-546)
Hitting Streak
58 games – Robin Ventura, Oklahoma State, 1987
Consecutive Base Hits
14 – Larry Patterson, Gonzaga, 1977
Home Runs
Game: 6 – Marshall McDougall, Florida State, May 9, 1999
Season: 48 (75 games) – Pete Incaviglia, Oklahoma State, 1985 For the story, click here.
Career: 100 – Pete Incaviglia, Oklahoma State (1983-85)
Marshall McDougall, Florida State, holds the NCAA single-game records for home runs (6); total bases (25); runs batted in (16). That story here.
Pitching Victories
Season: 20 – Derek Tatsuno, Hawaii, 1979 (20-1); Mike Loynd, Florida State, 1986 (20-3) Tatsuno’s story, click here.
Career: 51 – Don Heinkel. Wichita State, 1979-82 (11 losses)
ERA (lowest)
Season (50+ innings): 0.26 – Sal Campisi, LIU Brooklyn, 1964 (three earned runs in 104 innings)
Career (100+ innings); 0.56 – Keith Weber, Missouri, 1963-64, (nine earned runs in 144 innings)
Strikeouts
Inning: 5 – Mike Wollet, Air Force, March 4, 1990; Will Hunt, UNCW, April 29, 2003
Game: 26 – Buddy Schultz, Miami (OH), April 3, 1971
Season: 234 (174 1/3 innings) – Derek Tatsuno, Hawaii, 1979
Career: 602 (477 innings) – John Powell, Auburn, 1991-94
George Plender, Vermont, 1954-55 holds the NCAA record for consecutive scoreless innings at 60.
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