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National Notes

• Corey Ray had a huge day at the plate on Sunday as part of Louisville’s 10-6 win over North Carolina. Ray went 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored and three driven in. After a sizzling start to the season Ray has somewhat leveled off, as he’s been hitting right around .320-.330 for the majority of the year.  The Cardinals’ offense can beat opposing teams in a variety of ways, and are once again especially dangerous with Nick Solak back in the lineup. However, it has been Ray setting the tone at the top of the order all season long as he continues to prove why he’s in the discussion for the first five overall picks in this year’s draft with a dynamic set of tools.

• Speaking of notable draft prospects, this year hasn’t gone Alec Hansen’s way, that is up until Sunday’s encouraging performance as Oklahoma took the series from Kansas State with a 12-0 win. Hansen picked up his first win of the season (1-4) while allowing just two hits and one walk over six innings, striking out nine thanks to his 95-98 mph fastball and slider that flashes plus. It was Hansen’s first start in over a month who had been moved to the bullpen after a shaky start to the season. Keeping his walk totals down while exhibiting improved command will be key for Hansen the rest of the way as his size and arm strength are still valuable commodities and could still help him to be selected in the first round of the draft despite the level of his performances. How he performs this weekend in the Sooners’ annual Bedlam Series against in-state rival Oklahoma State could provide a huge boost to his draft stock.

• Another high-powered arm with lofty draft aspirations, TCU's Mitchell Traver, took to the mound for the first time this season on Sunday at Penn State with promising results. With a pitch count around 30 entering the game (he threw 37), Traver sat in the low- to mid-90s during his two-inning stint, understandably throwing more pitches than usually needed to navigate through two frames, allowing just one base hit and a walk while hitting a batter and striking out three of the nine batters he faced. Getting Traver back, assuming he can continue to build up his arm strength, is a huge gain for the Horned Frogs as the postseason approaches, especially considering that star freshman Luken Baker has been shut down from throwing.

• After Jon Duplantier and Blake Fox twirled brilliant games against Florida International on Friday and Saturday (both games were shutouts for the Owls), the Rice bats came alive on Sunday in a 12-1 win to secure the series sweep. Ricardo Salinas provided five shutout innings of his own to move to 7-1 on the year while the team’s Nos. 3-5 hitters – Ford Proctor, Dominic DiCaprio and Tristan Gray – went a combined 10-for-15 with six runs scored and five driven in. Rice, who is currently tied with Southern Miss for the C-USA lead, returns home this coming weekend to host FAU (who is one game behind Southern Miss and Rice in the standings) in yet another key conference series.

• Coastal Carolina got back to their high-scoring ways, and then some, in their sweep of Big South rival Liberty. The Chanticleers out-scored the Flames 43-12, scoring double-digits in each of the three games. They hit seven more home runs in the series, including four in Saturday’s game and one each from Zach Remillard and Connor Owings on Sunday, who are tied for the team lead with 13 homers each. G.K. Young (12) and Michael Paez (10) also are in double digits for round trippers as Coastal Carolina has hit 67 as a team, second in the nation to Mercer (76).

• Clemson re-entered the rankings this week after their series win over ACC rival NC State. The series win was Clemson’s second in a row after taking down Florida State the weekend before. It marked their third series in a row at home as part of a 13-game homestand that includes a pair of games against College of Charleston this week. They finish the season playing six of their remaining seven games on the road, starting with an out-of-conference series against Georgia Southern and their final ACC tilt against Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., before the ACC Tournament. Clemson’s success this season is notable, and somewhat interesting, as they have the ninth-best RPI and the fourth-best strength of schedule, but they have been swept, on the road, by both Miami and Louisville and have also lost series to Duke and Georgia Tech.