Shriners College Baseball Showdown: Day 1 Recap

The college baseball starts with a bang with the Shriners Children’s College Showdown at Globe Life Field. Some of the top teams in the country are here, including Arizona (No. 18), Clemson (No. 7), Louisville, Oklahoma State (No. 23), Ole Miss, and Texas (No. 14).

Plenty of these teams will be competing for conference championships and ultimately trying to get their squads to Omaha. We’ll bring you full recaps of all the games each day. Let’s dive into the full slate of games for day one.

Game 1: Oklahoma State (No. 23) vs. Clemson (No. 7) 

Final Score: Oklahoma State 5 | Clemson 6

Winning/Losing Pitcher:

• W – RHP Nathan Dvorsky (1-0)
• L – RHP Noah Wech (0-1)
• SV – RHP Lucas Mahlstedt (1)

Top Performers

Clemson

• 1B Luke Gaffney: 1-for-3, R, 2B, RBI, BB
• RHP Lucas Mahlstedt: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K (SV)

Oklahoma State

• RF Nolan Schubart: 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
• SS Avery Ortiz: 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI
• RHP Sean Youngerman: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 K 

Game Summary

The first game started with a star-studded matchup on the mound with two top 2025 MLB Draft prospects going at it in Clemson RHP Aidan Knaak and Oklahoma State RHP Gabe Davis going at it.

Knaak started strong, striking out the first six batters he faced. He flashed a mid-90s fastball, and his changeup was disgusting. 

The Cowboys broke things open in the third inning when Avery Ortiz launched a solo shot over the left-field fence off of Knaak. Outfielder Brayden Smith followed that with a walk, and Jayson Jones singled to put two men on for Oklahoma State star Nolan Schubart.

Schubart capitalized, shooting a double down the right-field line putting the Cowboys up three to one. Knaak came back out of the fourth only to give up another solo shot to Donovan LaSalle. That ended the night for him. 

Gabe Davis was electric through four innings while struggling with some command issues. His fastball was up to 97 MPH, and he had some good bite on his slider.

Clemson started to claw their way back off Davis in the bottom of the fifth. Jarren Purrify hit a double,e and Luke Gaffney walked, which ended Davis’ outing. Ethan Lund replaced Davis and struggled to hold the lead, giving up two runs and making it 4-3 Cowboys going into the sixth. 

Oklahoma State and Clemson exchanged runs in the sixth, leading to a 5-4 score going into the 7th. The Cowboys’ bullpen continued to struggle, giving up the lead to the Tigers in the bottom half of the inning.

Lucas Mahlstedt came in the eighth to close the game out for the Tigers, striking out two. Josh Paino made two incredible plays in the ninth to help Mahlstedt get the save. The highest-ranked team in the tourney starts the season off strong against a highly rated-opponent. 

Game 2: Arizona (No. 18) vs. Ole Miss

Final Score: Arizona 1 | Ole Miss 2

Winning/Losing Pitcher:

• W – LHP Hunter Elliott 
• L – RHP Collin McKinney
• SV – RHP Connor Spencer

Top Performers

Ole Miss

• LHP Hunter Elliott: 5 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 SO 
• Isaac Humphrey: 2-for-3, R, HR, RBI, BB
• 3B Luke Hill – 2-for-3, RBI 

Arizona

• RHP Collin McKinney: 4.1 iP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 3 K
• SS Mason White:  1-for-2, HR, RBI, BB

Game Summary

We were treated to an absolute pitchers duel in game two. Hunter Elliott toed the rubber for Ole Miss and looked really good. It was his first time on the mound since 2023 and he pitched five shutout innings giving up just two hits while striking out three.

Just awesome to see him out there healthy. Collin McKinney made his debut for the Arizona Wildcats after transferring over from Baylor. He looked good flashing a fastball that got up to 94 MPH. He went 4.1 innings while giving up three hits, one earned run and striking out three. 

No one scored until the fifth when Ole Miss star prospect Luke Hill drove in the first run with a sac fly to right. Isaac Humphrey, a transfer from Louisville, showed of why he was highl coveted this offseason launching a ball into the stands at 112 MPH exit velocity. It was LOUD off the bat. 

The Rebels bullpen came out firing to hold the WIldcats to one run and that was highlights by Mason Morris. The righty came out firing bullets featuring a mid-90s fastball and a slider with some decent sweep. He generated three whiffs with the slider.

He finished the night going to 2.2 innings giving up three hits, one earned inning, while striking out two. Only run he gave up was a massive moonshot to Arizona’s Mason White who hit the ball 408 FT at 107 MPH exit velo. 

Connor Spencer came in to close the game and his command got the best of him on the big stage. But that didn’t matter as he was able to work his way out of a bases loaded jam in the ninth by getting Garren Caulfield to fly out to right to end the game. A huge win for Ole Miss. 

Game 3: Texas (No. 14) vs. Louisville

Final Score: Texas 3 | Louisville 4

Winning/Losing Pitcher

• W – RHP Tucker Biven
• L – RHP Andre Duplantier II

Top Performers

Louisville

• RHP Patrick Forbes: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 11 K
• CF Lucas Moore: 2-for-5, 2B, RBI 

Texas

• LHP Jared Spencer: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, BB, 6 K
• 3B Adrian Rodriguez: 1-for-5, R, HR, RBI, 3 SO
• CF William Gasparino: 1-for-5, R, HR, 2 RBI

Game Summary

Patrick Forbes vs. Jared Spencer. Another legit pitching matchup to end the night. Just straight fuel from these two arms. Let’s start with Patrick Forbes.

The man got his fastball up to 98 MPH in this one and sat 93-96 throughout most of the start. He finished the night striking out eleven batters while giving up two earned runs over five innings pitched. Just some electric stuff. 

Spencer quickly matched him pitch for pitch, though and outperformed Forbes in terms of efficiency. It only took Spencer 66 pitches to get through 5.2 innings. He gave up three hits and _ runs while striking out six. His stuff was just as electric as Forbes, and he featured a mid-90s fastball and filthy slider. 

Outside of the pitching performances, the bats were quiet for both Louisville and Texas, even with as much firepower as there is in the Longhorns lineup. Will Gasparino got the scoring started early in the second inning when he had a massive two-run home run off Forbes, bringing in top 2025 MLB Draft prospect Max Belyeu, who doubled down the left-field line right before him. 

But after the Gasparino home run, it was quiet the rest of the way. Both the Cardinals and Longhorns bullpens dominated. Louisville Lefty Justin West went 1.1 innings pitched, giving up just two hits and striking out three. Ruger Riojas was the shining star, though.

The Longhorns left-hander was showcasing an electric fastball and dominated for 2.2 innings, giving up three hits and striking out four. 

He got into trouble in the ninth, walking a batter and giving up a loud double to outfielder Eddie King, Jr. That gave Louisville 2nd and 3rd with only one out, down by two.

The Longhorns went to left-hander Will Mercer. He struck out outfielder Lucas Moore, but then Garrett Pike came through and singled to right field to tie the game, sending it to extras. 

That brought up freshman Adrian Rodriguez in the top of the tenth. He was hitting third in this game for the Longhorns and, until this moment, looked overmatched. Then he launched a ball 390 feet at 102 MPH to give Texas the lead. Mercer came out again in the 10th and immediately gave up a leadoff double. With one out, Zion Rose singled to right-center to tie the game up. That was it for Mercer. 

Andre Duplantier II entered the game for the Longhorns to face one of the ninth-inning heroes, Eddie King, Jr. Duplantier struck him out. Louisville infielder Jake Munroe was hit by a pitch, bringing up Lucas Moore, who tied the game last in the ninth.  And what do you know, he came through again, walking it off for Louisville! A massive upset and a huge win for the Cardinals.