On March 26, 2011, Fresno State and San Diego played a game that lasted 22-innings. Fresno State won, 3-2, to move to 17-2 on the season, while San Diego fell to 4-16. Looking at the box score now, the two names that stand out are Fresno State left fielder Aaron Judge and San Diego third baseman Kris Bryant.
Judge and Bryant—both freshmen—played the entire game and reached base four times in eight at-bats.
The game itself was nuts. San Diego scored just two runs on 20 hits, while Fresno State won with three runs on 19 hits. The teams also combined for 17 walks. That's 56 baserunners! And only five scored! Fresno State hitters struck out 28 times.
A few months later, Bryant and Judge were selected to the 2011 Freshmen All-American team. Both players would play three years in college before getting drafted in the first round of the 2013 draft.
Kris Bryant (San Diego)
| Year | BA/OBP/SLG | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | .365/.482/.599 | 9 | 36 |
| 2012 | .366/.483/.671 | 14 | 57 |
| 2013 | .329/.493/.820 | 31 | 62 |
Aaron Judge (Fresno State)
| Year | BA/OBP/SLG | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | .358/.437/.465 | 2 | 30 |
| 2012 | .308/.453/.458 | 4 | 27 |
| 2013 | .369/.461/.655 | 12 | 36 |
The similarities have continued into the big leagues. Bryant has 15 home runs in 2017 (80 for his career). Judge has blasted a league-leading 23 homers to go with a .339 average and .447 OBP. Could these two face each other in a World Series in the near future? We can only hope those games would be as epic as the classic from March 26, 2011.
Baseball is here! And more importantly, that means the over/under game is back. It seems as though everyone is an expert this time of year. Somehow we convince ourselves that we are better at predicting baseball outcomes than everyone else. Well, AFITB is putting that to the test for the third year in a row. Think you know more about baseball than us? You probably do. But go ahead and prove it anyway.