2026 Frisco College Baseball Classic - Day 2 Recap

Game One: Iowa 6, Houston 4

In a close finish, the Iowa Hawkeyes outlasted the Houston Cougars 6-4 from Riders

Field in Frisco, Texas.

The Hawkeyes (7-3) jumped on the board first in the top of the first inning on a Kooper

Schulte sacrifice fly to right center, making it 1-0.

In the second, the Cougars answered back with a Carsten Sabathia two-run home run,

pushing Houston to a 2-1 advantage.

Iowa ping ponged right back in the third, scoring three times. Caleb Wulf began the

onslaught with an RBI double and Schulte and Mitch Wood collected RBI singles to

take a 4-2 lead.

The Hawkeyes pushed another run across in the fourth on a Gable Mitchell RBI single

and Wulf singled home a sixth tally on the day with an RBI single of his own in the sixth,

adding to a 6-1 score.

The Cougars then plated runs in the seventh and eighth on a Cade Climie RBI double

and a Xavier Perez RBI single, drawing within two runs.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Cougars loaded the bases with one out for the second-

straight game, but could not score. Joe Husak earned his first save of the season by

recording the final two outs.

In his 4.0 innings of work out of the bullpen, Hawkeye reliever Jaron Bleeker (2-0)

earned the victory, surrendering just one run while striking out four and not walking a

batter.

Paul Schmitz (2-1) surrendered five runs over his 3.2 frames to take the loss for

Houston in his start.

Game Two: Alabama 8, Oregon State 7

In the nightcap, the Alabama Crimson Tide dropped the Oregon State Beavers 8-7 in a

game which went right down to the wire.

In the first inning, the Tide (9-2) struck first on a John Lemm RBI fielder’s choice to

make it 1-0.

After that, Alabama flexed their muscles with three home runs. Brady Neal clubbed a

two-run home run before Jason Torres touched off a solo blast, both in the third, and

Eric Hines added a solo shot in the fourth. The longballs and a fourth-inning Luke

Vaughn RBI fielder’s choice increased the advantage to 6-0.

The Beavers (5-4) then fought back, plating four runs of their own in the bottom of the

fifth. Josh Procter started the scoring with a two-run home run before Easton Talt and

Cooper Vance both collected RBI hits to cut the deficit to 6-4.

In the bottom of the sixth, Oregon Stat’s Adam Haight blasted a solo home run to make

it 6-5.

With the Beavers holding the momentum, Alabama turned the tides when Payton

Steele lifted a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Justin Lebron ripped an RBI double in

the eighth, pushing their lead to 8-5.

The bottom of the ninth brought the game’s drama to a head when the Beavers scored

on a Talt RBI single and a fielder’s choice to pull within one. With the bases loaded,

Steele gunned down the potential tying run at home from right field on a double play

and Lebron recorded the game-ending fielder’s choice at shortstop after initially

bobbling a ground ball, to end the game in thrilling fashion.

On the mound, Matthew Heiberger (1-0) earned the victory for the Tide, throwing 2.2

innings and surrendering one run. Ethan Kleinschmit (0-2) was saddled with the loss

for the Beavers in his 3.0-inning start, where he ceded five runs, and Hagan Banks

brought in his second save for Alabama this season despite allowing two runs in the

ninth.

Game Schedule for Day Three:

11 am: Oregon State vs. Iowa

3 pm: Houston vs. Alabama