Well, it was an exciting weekend for baseball as we kicked off the college season for 2020. This week features two tournaments, four weekend series to watch, and some midweek action.
Note: We are using our own Top 25 for team rankings, not national ones. You can check out those rankings here
Leaderboard:
Anthony Franco: 10
Peter Flaherty: 7
Tom Mussa: 6
Matt Powers: 4
Week 2 Series:
Dallas Baptist - No.15 North Carolina
The first real test for both teams set up an interesting matchup in Chapel Hill this weekend. Dallas Baptist, once again the favorite to come out of the Missouri Valley Conference is coming off of a weekend series against South Dakota State and a midweek matchup against UT Arlington, where they went perfect. Dallas Baptist will be headlined by projected MVC player of the year, Jimmy Glowenke, who has only played one game after having a procedure done in the Fall but is fully back. Although, the starting pitching may not be the best for DBU Ray Gaither will get the ball on Friday, with the chance of handling the ball over to one of the best relievers in the nation in LHP Burl Carraway who only allowed 3 hits and 2 walks in 4.1 IP over the summer with the USA Collegiate National Team. Meanwhile, North Carolina is coming off of a perfect week themselves, sweeping Middle Tennessee, then beating Elon and High Point to go 5-0 into the weekend.
North Carolina will give the ball to two-way overnight sensation Joey Lancellotti. Lancellotti, hit a walk-off home run in the second game of their series against Middle Tennessee, after getting the Win on Friday night going 5.1 with two hits, three walks, and five strikeouts allowing two earned runs. Also, keep an eye on one of the best hitters in the nation, Aaron Sabato. Although he’s started slow this season, the Sophomore, hit a team-best (.343/.453/.696) with 18 homers last year for the Tar Heels.
Tom Mussa: UNC 2-1
Peter Flaherty: DBU 2-1
Matt Powers: UNC 2-1
Anthony Franco: DBU 2-1
Ohio State - No.23 Georgia Tech
The visitors Ohio State will come to Atlanta with hopes of becoming the next Big Ten team to make a name for themselves. Ohio State will be lead by the big bats of Dillon Dingler, Zach Dezenzo, and Connor Pohl. With Dingler being a projected Big Ten player of the year candidate. Meanwhile, on the mound Saturday for Ohio State is 2020 MLB Draft prospect to keep an eye on, LHP Seth Lonsway is fresh off of a start against Pitt where he was stellar, going 6.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, with 12 SO. Lonsway has a filthy curve that was the key to his 126 strikeouts from last year.
Georgia Tech is coming into the weekend off of a come from behind rally in the ninth to take a midweek win over Georgia Southern in a thick fog. The Yellow Jackets will rely on the returning bats of the always hitting Michael Guldberg, Luke Waddell, and powerhouse Baron Radcliff. Meanwhile, keep an eye on true freshman Zachary Maxwell who started off his campaign by going four innings, only allowing just one hit while striking out five against St.Peter’s. This series could make the yellow jackets a serious contender in the ACC or have Ohio State make a name for themselves and potentially make the Top 25.
Tom Mussa: GT 2-1
Peter Flaherty: OSU 2-1
Matt Powers: GT 2-1
Anthony Franco: GT 2-1
Oregon State - No.7 Mississippi State
It was a choppy start of the season for the Beavers going 2-2 in their first weekend under new head coach, Mitch Canham. But there are some bright spots for the Beavers to look forward to. First off, replacing a player like Adley Rutschman but Troy Claunch is off to a good start having hit two homers with 7 RBIs on the weekend. In addition to Claunch, the rotation for the Beavers showed some talent, lead by Christian Chamberlain and Jake Pfennings.
Meanwhile, in Starksville, Mississippi State handled Wright State but a recent injury to JT Ginn is worrying for Mississippi State’s season. While he is only listed as missing this weekend, Mississippi State will need to depend on their bats while their ace is out. However, the bright side is that they have one fo the best lineups in all of the nation, lead by a group of Justin Foscue, Jordan Westberg, and Rowdey Jordan.
Tom Mussa: Mississippi St 2-1
Peter Flaherty: Mississippi St 2-1
Matt Powers: Mississippi St 2-1
Anthony Franco: Mississippi St 3-0
No.5 Florida - No.1 Miami
Well, you don’t need to read too much into this to wonder why it’s a series to watch this weekend. It’s one of those series that you get giddy thinking about throughout the week. Florida and Miami both coming off of perfect weekends with a combined 5 wins between them with double-digit runs. These two teams will battle for the right to call themselves the best team in Florida.
Miami will be relying on an offense focused around Alex Toral, Raymond Gil, and Jordan Lala. Due to an injury that ended Freddy Zamora’s season before it even began. Meanwhile, for Florida, they’ll use a powerful lineup of Austin Langworthy, Jacob Young, Brady Smith, and Jud Fabian. With Tommy Mace and Jack Leftwich on the mound for Florida over the weekend. No matter what happens this weekend, I’m sure it will be nothing but fun to watch.
Tom Mussa: Florida 2-1
Peter Flaherty: Miami 2-1
Matt Powers: Miami 2-1
Anthony Franco: Florida 2-1
Round Rock Classic
This is a tournament taking place featuring Tennessee, Houston, Stanford, and Texas Tech. Starting off for Tennessee, a good weekend in Round Rock could mean that they crack into the Top 25 and really prove they’re on the way up in the SEC. Although an injury to Garrett Crochet will still hold him out of the weekend, Alerick Soularie will be in the lineup and although he started off slow, he is still one of the most talented hitters in the SEC.
Meanwhile, Texas Tech will be looking to make themselves into a respected Top 5 team in the nation. Thanks to a red hot start to the season from breakout performances from Dylann Neuse, TJ Rumfield, Nate Rombach, and Jace Jung. Rombach, who hit 5 HRs driving in 15 RBIs over the weekend. Stanford will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing week against Fullerton dropping 2 of 3 games and losing a midweek game to Santa Clara. As well as the injury to ace Jacob Palisch will miss another weekend. However, Draft buffs could look towards watching Tim Tawa and RHP Brendan Beck. However, nobody had a worse week than Houston who lost a series against….checks notes…Youngstown State.
Tennessee - No.9 Texas Tech
Tom Mussa: Texas Tech
Peter Flaherty: Texas Tech
Matt Powers: Tennessee
Anthony Franco: Texas Tech
No.9 Texas Tech - No.24 Stanford
Tom Mussa: Texas Tech
Peter Flaherty: Texas Tech
Matt Powers: Texas Tech
Anthony Franco: Stanford
Tennessee - No.24 Stanford
Tom Mussa: Tennessee
Peter Flaherty: Stanford
Matt Powers: Stanford
Anthony Franco: Stanford
Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament
San Diego and San Diego State are once again hosting this tournament to honor one of the greatest players in baseball history. There are 8 different teams in this tournament so I’ll be quick. For the hosts, San Diego and San Diego State, San Diego is coming off of a very successful weekend taking 2 out of 3 games at the Angels College Classic with a big win over Minnesota and a win over UC Irvine this past Tuesday. Adam Kerner will be the player to watch on San Diego. For San Diego State, a big win over Fullerton over the week will propel them back home to compete, with wins over Coastal Carolina and Virginia Tech already under their belt. Casey Schmitt, Wyatt Hendrie, and Daniel Ritcheson are players to watch in San Diego.
Now for the west coast powerhouses, USC will go into the weekend after taking two of three against Western Michigan. Look for the Spartans’ Kyle Hurt is an interesting name to watch for the future. Meanwhile, Arizona is coming off of a rout of a weekend against Albany but hungry after a loss to Minnesota on Monday. Keep an eye on Austin Wells and Matt Dyer as they will lead the powerful Arizona offense in San Diego.
Now for the Big Ten teams of Iowa and Nebraska, Iowa will look for a big win to help boost Iowa into a tough two weeks upcoming. Meanwhile, Nebraska is coming off of a weekend that saw them lose the series against Baylor after winning the first game 19-9. The players to watch here are Iowa’s Rubik’s Cube master Jack Dreyer, and Nebraska’s Spencer Schwellenbach. Meanwhile, the low levels of Seattle University and Southern Illinois will look to play spoiler. Seattle’s Brandon Jenkins and Southern Illinois’ Nick Neville are interesting players to watch.
Nebraska - San Diego
Tom Mussa: Nebraska
Peter Flaherty: San Diego
Matt Powers: San Diego
Anthony Franco: San Diego
San Diego St - Nebraska
Tom Mussa: Nebraska
Peter Flaherty: San Diego St
Matt Powers: Nebraska
Anthony Franco: Nebraska
San Diego St - Iowa
Tom Mussa: Iowa
Peter Flaherty: San Diego St
Matt Powers: San Diego St
Anthony Franco: Iowa
Iowa - Arizona
Tom Mussa: Arizona
Peter Flaherty: Arizona
Matt Powers: Iowa
Anthony Franco: Arizona
Nebraska - Arizona
Tom Mussa: Arizona
Peter Flaherty: Arizona
Matt Powers: Arizona
Anthony Franco: Arizona
San Diego St - USC
Tom Mussa: San Diego St
Peter Flaherty: USC
Matt Powers: USC
Anthony Franco: San Diego St
Other Series to Watch:
UConn - No.6 Michigan
Michigan started off 2020 with a great weekend to follow up their appearance in the College World Series Championship. Michigan gets another test down star outfielder Jesse Franklin, with an underrated UConn program that continues to put out talented players. UConn freshman slugger Reggie Crawford had a 5 RBI game against UM last weekend and could be in for another big weekend against the likes of Jeff a Criswell and Steven Hajjar. - Matt Powers
Illinois State vs. No.19 Oklahoma
This one's a bit off the radar, but both these teams are really interesting. The Redbirds came within a win of upsetting eventual CWS finalist Louisville and advancing to superregionals last season. The 2020 team isn't as strong, having lost ace Brent Headrick and outfielders Joe Aeilts and John Rave, its top two offensive players. They return almost half their starting lineup from last year's club, though, and also introduce well-regarded freshman Ryan Cermak at third base. OU, meanwhile, has its bread-and-butter on the mound. Cade Cavalli and Levi Prater are two of the top pitching prospects in the Big 12. The offense is a bit more questionable, but junior first baseman Tyler Hardman has comfortably plus raw power and tied for third on the Cape last summer with eight home runs. - Anthony Franco
Midweek Games To Hold You Over:
Southern Miss - No.17 Ole Miss
Tom Mussa: Ole Miss
Peter Flaherty: Ole Miss
Matt Powers: Ole Miss
Anthony Franco: Ole Miss
New Mexico St - No.20 Arizona St
Tom Mussa: New Mexico St
Peter Flaherty: Arizona St
Matt Powers: New Mexico St
Anthony Franco: Arizona St
No. 24 Stanford - Cal
Tom Mussa: Stanford
Peter Flaherty: Stanford
Matt Powers: Stanford
Anthony Franco: Cal
USC - No.25 Fullerton
Tom Mussa: Fullerton
Peter Flaherty: Fullerton
Matt Powers: Fullerton
Anthony Franco: Fullerton