Tied for the lead after 4 of the 8 have hit. Michael actually hit 6 while Gonzalez of Georgia Tech hit 5 but got 2 for 1 by hitting the money ball out.

From the @CollegeHRDerby Twitter feed:

>> Time for @Ktowns9 at @CollegeHRDerby. Top 4 to 2nd rd. Leaders: Gonzalez (GT), Aquino (Rice) w/6; Stewart (FSU) 3; 3 w/2 HR.

>> Great timing by @Ktowns9! Crushes the @quickenloans Money Ball to move into 3rd!

>> Big @bobothompson is the last hitter of the 1st round. Needs 4 to advance #CollegeHRDerby

Michael hits 8 HR in second round (he did get the 2 for 1 Money ball out)...and goes into the finals. This will be replayed tomorrow. ESPN at 7:00 CDT and ESPNU at 9:30 CDT.

A good bit of the second round with Michael hitting was a discussion about the return of the Big 10 baseball since they had Winfield in the booth. Winfield was one of the first CWS Hall of Fame entries for this first year of voting. Augie and Deadoux went in as coaches.

BTW they are using MLB balls and any bat they want. Michael is using a bat from 3 years ago.

Woohoo!! Keep it going, Slow Hand!!

Michael hits 6 in finals to win 6-5!

Hits the most overall with 20 and two outs still to go. Other quirk in the rules was that any ball hitting the fence or warning track was in the safe zone and didn't count as an out.

BTW Michael had his HS coach pitching to him.

Congrats to Michael on winning the derby...kinda ironic that the winner comes from Rice

Way to go, Mike! Good vibes heading into next season.

WooHoo!! WTG, Mike!!

That's awesome! Let's hope Mike hits 20 next season, too!

And let's hope he gets a return trip to Omaha next year just a few weeks earlier than this. Good job. Heck of a crowd too.

Congrats!

How'd he still have a bat from 3 years ago? Saving one for just such an occasion? Shrewd move!

Congrats Michael!

(07-03-2013 09:27 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Michael hits 8 HR in second round (he did get the 2 for 1 Money ball out)...and goes into the finals. This will be replayed tomorrow. ESPN at 7:00 CDT and ESPNU at 9:30 CDT.

A good bit of the second round with Michael hitting was a discussion about the return of the Big 10 baseball since they had Winfield in the booth. Winfield was one of the first CWS Hall of Fame entries for this first year of voting. Augie and Deadoux went in as coaches.

BTW they are using MLB balls and any bat they want. Michael is using a bat from 3 years ago.

I looked at the channel guide this AM and thought I missed the replay. Good news.... ESPN replay is at 7:00 "PM" CDT and ESPNU at 9:30 "PM" CDT...

(07-04-2013 03:29 PM)Memphis Owl Wrote:  

(07-03-2013 09:27 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Michael hits 8 HR in second round (he did get the 2 for 1 Money ball out)...and goes into the finals. This will be replayed tomorrow. ESPN at 7:00 CDT and ESPNU at 9:30 CDT.

A good bit of the second round with Michael hitting was a discussion about the return of the Big 10 baseball since they had Winfield in the booth. Winfield was one of the first CWS Hall of Fame entries for this first year of voting. Augie and Deadoux went in as coaches.

BTW they are using MLB balls and any bat they want. Michael is using a bat from 3 years ago.

I looked at the channel guide this AM and thought I missed the replay. Good news.... ESPN replay is at 7:00 "PM" CDT and ESPNU at 9:30 "PM" CDT...

Yup, right after the Hot Dog Eating Contest.

(07-04-2013 03:59 PM)dragon2owl Wrote:  

(07-04-2013 03:29 PM)Memphis Owl Wrote:  

(07-03-2013 09:27 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Michael hits 8 HR in second round (he did get the 2 for 1 Money ball out)...and goes into the finals. This will be replayed tomorrow. ESPN at 7:00 CDT and ESPNU at 9:30 CDT.

A good bit of the second round with Michael hitting was a discussion about the return of the Big 10 baseball since they had Winfield in the booth. Winfield was one of the first CWS Hall of Fame entries for this first year of voting. Augie and Deadoux went in as coaches.

BTW they are using MLB balls and any bat they want. Michael is using a bat from 3 years ago.

I looked at the channel guide this AM and thought I missed the replay. Good news.... ESPN replay is at 7:00 "PM" CDT and ESPNU at 9:30 "PM" CDT...

Yup, right after the Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Thanks. Great info. Just set the recorder

(07-04-2013 03:29 PM)Memphis Owl Wrote:  

(07-03-2013 09:27 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Michael hits 8 HR in second round (he did get the 2 for 1 Money ball out)...and goes into the finals. This will be replayed tomorrow. ESPN at 7:00 CDT and ESPNU at 9:30 CDT.

A good bit of the second round with Michael hitting was a discussion about the return of the Big 10 baseball since they had Winfield in the booth. Winfield was one of the first CWS Hall of Fame entries for this first year of voting. Augie and Deadoux went in as coaches.

BTW they are using MLB balls and any bat they want. Michael is using a bat from 3 years ago.

I looked at the channel guide this AM and thought I missed the replay. Good news.... ESPN replay is at 7:00 "PM" CDT and ESPNU at 9:30 "PM" CDT...

Sorry about the confusion. I was watching the ESPN3 live coverage and they kept saying tomorrow night and assumed everyone knew that it would be in the evening. Good watching though it does take a while to slog through all 8 hitters initially.

From Aquino...."I think I tweeted right before I came here that it would've been awesome to have my team and coaches with me out here. That would've been huge,” he said. “But this definitely feels awesome, getting this Rice 'R' back in Omaha.”

Results
Round 1
Garrett Boulware, Clemson: 2, eliminated
Joey Pankake, South Carolina: 2, eliminated
Caleb Adams, Louisiana-Lafayette: 3, eliminated
DJ Stewart, Florida State: 3, eliminated
Bo Thompson, Citadel: 4
Kenny Towns, Virginia: 4
Michael Aquino, Rice: 6
Matt Gonzalez, Georgia Tech: 6
Round 2
Thompson: 3, 7 total, eliminated
Towns: 4, 8 total, eliminated
Gonzalez: 5, 11 total
Aquino: 8, 14 total
Final Round
Aquino: 6
Gonzalez: 5

They kept repeating that Mike had no HRs his firs two years, and then hit 9 HRs this year. What they failed to mention (and probably didn't bother to even do the research) was that this was his first year as any everyday player. His Freshman year he got only a very limitted number of ABs (43), even with all our injuries (Fuda, Rathjen), and his Sophomore year he was primarily limitted to sharing the DH role against left-handed pitching (37 ABs). In other words, he had just 80 ABs in his first two seasons combined, and played very sparingly (making it next to impossible to get into a groove). This past year, he played in all but 3 games, and had 248 at bats (three times his total from his first two seasons combined).

Can't wait to see what both he and Skyler Ewing can do power-wise next season.