HarbourCanucks corner - April 21st edition

Connor Russell (30)

Connor Russell (2-2) picked up the win in relief on Saturday afternoon in the Vancouver Island Baseball Institute’s 11-2 victory over the Okanagan College Coyotes. “Russ” limited the Coyotes to only two unearned runs on two hits and a walk in 3 1/3 innings pitched. He also struck out five batters in the game and lowered his ERA in conference games to 3.69. The VIBI Mariners, now 5-15 in conference play, head to Whalley, BC to face Douglas College in a doubleheader on Wednesday. Their next conference games are on the weekend when the team plays a four-game series against the first-place Prairie Baseball Academy in Lethbridge, Alberta.

It has been surprisingly difficult to get information on the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds this season, and our attempts to dig up their box scores from this past week have not been fruitful. Nick Pivetta took to the mound on Friday afternoon against El Paso Community College, but details of his start are still hard to come by. We do know that he pitched 5 2/3 innings and left with an 11-7 lead, but that’s about all we can gather on his performance. The Thunderbirds went on to lose the lead after Pivetta was removed from the game, but they rallied with four runs in the bottom of the ninth to pull out a wild 19-18 victory. The next action for NMJC is on the weekend when they play a four-game series against Western Texas College.

The Southern Polytechnic Hornets went a perfect 6-0 this week, but unfortunately Austin Russell watched most of the action from the dugout. Russell played in two of the Hornets’ games, going one-for-seven with two runs scored to bring his batting average to .292 on the season. The Hornets now sport an impressive 35-16 record, and they wrap up their regular season play next weekend with a three-game series against Brewton-Parker College.

HarbourCatNip

• Catcher Anthony Hermelyn has continued his hot hitting for the 11th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners. On Sunday he went two-for-three with three RBI and a pair of runs scored. Hermelyn is now hitting .310 in his freshman season, good for third best on a team with a bona fide shot at making an appearance in the College World Series.
• Jordan Ellis had a big weekend for Cal Poly, but it wasn't enough to prevent the 4th-ranked Cal State Fullerton Titans from taking two out of three games from the Mustangs. Ellis went 6-for-13 with three runs scored on the weekend, raising his average to a sizzling .361.
• The University of New Mexico Lobos won their seventh consecutive game on Sunday, and HarbourCat Alex Real played a big role in the win. Real clubbed three doubles, scored a pair of runs and had an RBI in a 15-11 victory over the Nevada Wolf Pack. Real is now hitting .342 in his 155 at-bats with a scintillating .974 OPS.
• David Schuknecht continues to be the regular left fielder for Dennis Rogers' Riverside City College Tigers. On Saturday, Schuknecht hit his fourth homer of the year to lead RCC to a 5-0 victory over Santa Ana College. He now has four of the five homers hit by the Tigers this season. Schuknecht's .263 batting average is second best on the RCC squad, and he leads the team with a .485 slugging percentage. 

UPDATE:

The New Mexico Junior College box score from Friday April 19th has finally been posted. Pivetta's line: 5 2/3 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3K. His ERA now stands at 2.92.