Great Lake Canadians grad Nick Groves (Bayfield, Ont.) had seven hits in four games for the University of Illinois this past week. Photo: University of Illinois Athletics

BMOC Week 8

March 17, 2025

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Network

The college baseball season refuses to have a dull week.

Whether it’s masterpieces on the mound or big hits, Canadians continue to put on a show for their teams.

Let’s take a look at what March 10 to 16 brought.

UBC wins series over Oregon Tech

Make it wins in nine of the last 10 games for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds as they took three of four from Oregon Tech.

Ryan Heppner (Point Roberts, Wash.) got the win in Game 3 by going seven innings and allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits. He walked two and struck out five to move to 3-0 on the season.

Three T-Birds stood out offensively.

Mitchell Middlemiss (Chilliwack, BC) had six hits, walked once and drove in seven. He homered twice, a two-run home run in Game 1 and a solo shot in Game 2.

Kyle Yip (Calgary, Alta.) also homered twice, a solo homer in Game 1 and a two-run shot in Game 3. Yip came up with seven hits, two walks and 11 RBIs in the series.

Like Middlemiss and Yip, Kaden Zarowny (Strathmore, Alta.) also homered in Game 1, a two-run shot in the 9-6 win. He produced six hits, including another home run, a solo shot in Game 3, a walk, six RBIs and a stolen base.

Groves gets on

Nick Groves (Bayfield, Ont.) was all over the boxscores for the University of Illinois. He collected seven hits, walked four times, drove in two, stole three bases and was hit by three pitches as the Illini won 3-of-4.

Bushey bashes pair of three-run shots

Liam Bushey (Mission, BC) hit three-run home runs in games 2 and 3 of Western Illinois’ four-game series versus Illinois State. In five games on the week, he had eight hits, a walk and eight RBIs.

Boscarino, Crowell back Reinhardt to four wins

Getting production from Luca Boscarino (Mississauga, Ont.) and Nash Crowell (Yarmouth, N.S.) has been a regular occurrence this season and one that continued last week.

Boscarino chipped in eight hits, a walk, four RBIs and a stolen base to help the Eagles go 4-0. He swatted a two-run home run in a 15-10 Game 1 win over Union Commonwealth.

Crowell hit solo home runs in all three games against Union Commonwealth and finished the week with seven hits, two walks and seven RBIs.

Ontario Nationals alum Simon Grinberg (Kitchener, Ont.) had a four-homer week for Keiser. Photo: Keiser Athletics

Grinberg goes deep four times

Simon Grinberg (Kitchener, Ont.) hit a three-run and two-run home run to help No. 20 Keiser defeat No. 7 Webber International, 10-8, in Game 3 of their four-game series. As a follow up, he hit two solo shots in a three-hit performance in a 19-9 Game 4 loss. In total, he closed out the series with seven hits, two walks and eight RBIs.

Guy, Laurie lead Glenville State offence

Glenville State got impressive production at the plate from a pair of Canadians.

Colby Guy (Barrie, Ont.) stroked six hits, two of which were home runs, walked once, drove in two, stole a base and was hit by three pitches.

Zach Laurie (Peterborough, Ont.) hit a two-run home run and a solo shot in five games. When the week was complete, he had four hits, five walks, seven RBIs and a stolen base.

Villalobos shines in rare Fire split

For a team that came into the week with a 21-1 record, settling for a split wasn’t what the No. 3 Southeastern University Fire were expecting when they travelled to Warner University.

That’s exactly what happened though despite five hits, three walks and five RBIs from Alfonso Villalobos (Kirkland, Que.). His grand slam in the top of the 13th of Game 1 gave his team an 11-7 win.

Van Dam deals for Friends

Max Van Dam (Hamilton, Ont.) tossed six innings and allowed an unearned run on two hits and two walks to help Friends University beat Evangel 4-1. He struck out two and picked up the win.

Martin Academy alum Ryden Walker (White City, Sask.) allowed one earned run in seven innings in his start for Taft. Photo: Taft Athletics

Walker suffers tough loss

One earned run over seven innings of work from Ryden Walker (White City, Sask.) wasn’t enough to deliver Taft to a win over Merced. Walker allowed three runs in all on eight hits and a walk in the 5-4 loss. He punched out a pair.

Gunderson gathers eight hits

While Blake Gillespie (Lucan, Ont.) has stolen much of the attention for the University of Charlotte after throwing a no-hitter last week, Cody Gunderson (St. Malo, Ont.) just keeps on hitting. Gunderson played in all five games this past week, amassing nine hits. He also walked five times, drove in four and was it by a pitch. His loudest hit was a solo home run that came during a 5-4 loss to Appalachian State.

Favretto has nine RBI game

Let’s skip right to Game 2 of Kansas Wesleyan’s three-game series against Southwestern College as that’s when Tyler Favretto (Montreal, Ont.) had four hits, a walk and nine, yes nine, RBIs. Four of them came via solo and three-run home runs. At the conclusion of the series, he had posted six hits, four walks, 10 RBIs, a stolen base and was hit by a pair of pitches.

Leishman earns first win

Marshall Leishman (Huntsville, Ont.) threw five innings and gave up two unearned runs to pick up his first win of the season in Ashland’s 8-2 Game 3 victory over Walsh. He allowed six hits, walked two and struck out nine.

Abbotsford Cardinals alum Micah Bucknam (Abbotsford, BC) tossed a seven-inning complete game and earned his second win of the season for Dallas Baptist. Photo: Dallas Baptist Athletics

Bucknam improves to 2-0

Right-hander Micah Bucknam (Abbotsford, BC) threw a seven-inning complete game as No. 17 Dallas Baptist thumped the University of Texas at San Antonio 14-3. Bucknam yielded three runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out eight.

Rogers holds Illinois Springfield scoreless

Bennett Rogers (Toronto, Ont.) spun six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and walking one as the University of Indianapolis downed Illinois Springfield 3-0. He struck out 10 on the way to picking up his first win of the season.

McWhirter’s bat backs William Woods to 5-0 week

Senior Jacob McWhirter (Guelph, Ont.) provided six hits, three walks, seven RBIs and a stolen base for William Woods as they went 5-0. His best came in the finale of a four-game set versus Hannibal-LaGrange when he had three hits and four RBIs.

Miller continues to make his mark

Another name that keeps popping up in this column is University of North Carolina Greensboro right-hander Jay Miller (Corner Brook, Nfld.). He was back at it again against North Carolina A&T as he threw seven innings and surrendered two runs (one earned) on four hits in a 4-2 Game 2 win. He walked two and struck out seven.

Okotoks Dawgs grad Tyrelle Chadwick (Kamloops, BC) struck out seven in seven scoreless innings in his start to earn a win in Illinois State’s 10-0 victory over Western Illinois. Photo: Ilinois State Athletics

Chadwick helps pitch Redbirds to shutout win

Tyrelle Chadwick (Kamloops, BC) tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out seven as Illinois State shutout Western Illinois 10-0 in Game 2 of their series.

Farwell hits three-run homer

Ty Farwell (Spruce Grove, Alta.) had five hits, walked once, drove in four and stole a base in five games played for Dickinson State. He hit a three-run home run in a 15-14 Game 1 win over Nelson.

Hartman with four-hit game, 10-hit week

While younger brother Eric was playing in the Atlanta Braves Spring Breakout game this week, Max Hartman (St. Albert, Alta.) was performing well for the Washington State Cougars. He had 10 hits, two walks and eight RBIs in five games. In a 15-14 Game 1 loss to Air Force, Hartman went 4-for-6 with three RBIs.

Dick digs the long ball

Cardel Dick (Abbotsford, BC) hit a solo home run and a grand slam in the University of Nebraska Omaha’s 21-12 loss to St. Thomas. When the dust settled on the week, he totalled three hits, two walks and six RBIs.

White Rock Tritons grad Jordan Bach (Delta, BC) had nine walks for the Southern Ilinois Salukis this past week. Photo: SIU Athletics

Bach a walk machine

They say a walk is as good as a hit and Jordan Bach (Delta, BC) seems to believe it. Bach walked nine times to go along with four hits, two RBIs and a stolen base for Southern Illinois. One of the hits was a solo home run in an 18-12 Game 1 loss to Morehead State.

Germann, Kean key to Morehead State offence

Sticking with Morehead State, Davis Germann (Kitchener, Ont.) and Alex Kean (Woodstock, Ont.) played well for the Eagles.

Germann collected six hits, walked twice and drove in three. Like Bach, he hit a solo shot in that 18-12 Game 1 win.

Kean, on the other hand, had five hits, four walks, two RBIs and was hit by a pitch. He swatted a solo home run in a 14-4 Game 2 loss to Southern Illinois.

Texas Tech turning a corner?

A tough start to the season that saw the Texas Tech Red Raiders go 3-11 may be in the rearview mirror as they swept their opening Big 12 Conference series against the University of Houston. Robin Villeneuve (Gatineau, Que.) had a lot to do with the success as he chipped in six hits, four walks and seven RBIs in the three-game set. Game 2 saw him go 3-for-5 with a two-run home run to open the scoring and a solo shot in a 13-8 win. He also had five RBIs.

ABC and Jonquière Voyageurs grad Charles Davalan (Montreal, Que.) had eight hits and six RBIs in three games for Arkansas in their three-game series against Ole Miss. Photo: Arkansas Athletics

Davalan a threat atop Razorbacks’ lineup

It was a showdown of top 25 teams when No. 3 Arkansas took on No. 13 Ole Miss in a three-game Southeastern Conference series. Charles Davalan (Montreal, Que.) put together eight hits, six RBIs and a stolen base. He homered in Game 1, a solo shot, and hit another one in Game 2 en route to a 4-for-6 performance with three RBIs. The Razorbacks won two of three. Earlier in the week, he walked twice in a victory over Central Arkansas.

Pimental produces for Hornets

Luis Pimental-Guerrero (Burlington, Ont.) had three multi-hit games for Sacramento State. In the end, he finished with seven hits, two walks, seven RBIs and a stolen base over four games. He went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run and four RBIs in an 8-5 midweek loss to Nevada.

McGarry-Doyle drives in 14

Mid-America Christian scored 58 runs in four games and Noel McGarry-Doyle (Vaughan, Ont.) drove in 14 of them. He also had eight hits, one being a three-run home run, five walks and three stolen bases as his team went 4-0.

Knight spins shutout

Logan Knight (London, Ont.) was dominant for North Dakota State in his Game 2 start against Oral Roberts. Knight threw a complete game, nine-inning shutout as the Bison took the game 3-0. The senior allowed three hits and struck out seven.

College baseball closed another chapter on the 2025 season last week.

But don’t worry, there’s plenty more to come.

Do you know of a player deserving of a mention in the weekly BMOC column? Email Matt Betts at mattbetts@canadianbaseballnetwork.com. Please note that our week runs Monday-Sunday.

Be sure to follow Matt Betts at @Bettsy41 for extensive Canadian baseball coverage all season long.