National Notebook: March 3
The college baseball top 25 rankings could look significantly different by Monday with several of the top teams in the country playing against one another with two huge tournaments taking place this weekend.
The first is the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic, which will feature three of the top five teams in No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 4 UCLA and No. 5 Texas Christian. Southern California is also participating in this event, who have opened the year 12-1 and just suffered their first loss of the season to No. 18 UC Santa Barbara in a mid-week matchup. This tournament is profiled in greater detail just below.
Pretty much since the event's inception the Houston College Classic has been the marquee college baseball tournament event, but this year is overshadowed by the Dodger Stadium tournament. That isn't to take anything away from the teams that will be playing in Houston, led by No. 6 Louisiana State, No. 12 Houston and No. 15 Texas A&M. LSU and Houston square off on Friday, while Houston also faces the Aggies on Saturday. Read more about the matchups from this event in the tournament spotlight writeup below.
And although weather has been an issue this week even as far south as Texas, at least Minute Maid Park, for those that are able to make it, has a retractable roof. As for Southern California, it will be 80 degrees and perfect, per usual.
Unfortunately, it won't be perfect in Louisville, Ky., as another band of snow blew through the area in the past 24 hours. As long as the fields are playable, the No. 11 Cardinals will host the No. 10 Hurricanes as ACC Conference play gets underway, another series detailed below.
Stay tuned to Perfect Game over the weekend for first-hand reports from Frankie Piliere at the Houston College Classic and Mike Rooney at the Arizona State/Long Beach State series in Phoenix.
Top 25 in Action
| Rk. |
Team |
Opponent |
Location |
| 1 |
Vanderbilt |
at Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic |
Los Angeles, CA |
| 2 |
Virginia |
home vs. Pittsburgh |
Charlottesville, VA |
| 3 |
Florida |
home vs. Maine |
Gainesville, FL |
| 4 |
UCLA |
home for Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic |
Los Angeles, CA |
| 5 |
Texas Christian |
at Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic |
Los Angeles, CA |
| 6 |
Louisiana State |
at Houston College Classic |
Houston, TX |
| 7 |
Texas Tech |
at Cal State Fullerton |
Fullerton, CA |
| 8 |
South Carolina |
home vs. Miami (Ohio) |
Columbia, SC |
| 9 |
Oregon |
home vs. St. John's |
Eugene, OR |
| 10 |
Miami |
at No. 11 Louisville |
Louisville, KY |
| 11 |
Louisville |
home vs. No. 10 Miami |
Louisville, KY |
| 12 |
Houston |
at Houston College Classic |
Houston, TX |
| 13 |
Texas |
at Stanford |
Palo Alto, CA |
| 14 |
Mississippi State |
home vs. San Diego |
Starkville, MS |
| 15 |
Texas A&M |
at Houston College Classic |
Houston, TX |
| 16 |
Florida State |
home vs. Boston College |
Tallahassee, FL |
| 17 |
North Carolina |
home vs. Duke |
Chapel Hill, NC |
| 18 |
UC Santa Barbara |
at Sacramento State |
Sacramento, CA |
| 19 |
UCF |
home vs. Columbia |
Orlando, FL |
| 20 |
Arkansas |
home vs. Loyola Marymount |
Fayetteville, AR |
| 21 |
Rice |
at Charlotte |
Charlotte, NC |
| 22 |
Arizona State |
home vs. Long Beach State |
Phoenix, AZ |
| 23 |
Oregon State |
home vs. Fresno State |
Corvallis, OR |
| 24 |
Maryland |
at UNC Wilmington |
Wilmington, NC |
| 25 |
Florida Atlantic |
home vs. Rutgers |
Boca Raton, FL |
• Vanderbilt plays No. 4 UCLA (Fri.), USC (Sat.) and No. 5 TCU (Sun.)
• UCLA plays No. 1 Vanderbilt (Fri.), No. 5 TCU (Sat.) and USC (Sun.)
• TCU plays USC (Fri.), No. 5 UCLA (Sat.) and No. 1 Vanderbilt (Sun.)
• LSU plays No. 12 Houston (Fri.), Baylor (Sat.) and Nebraska (Sun.)
• Houston plays No. 6 LSU (Fri.), No. 15 Texas A&M (Sat.) and Hawaii
• Texas A&M plays Nebraska (Fri.), No. 12 Houston (Sat.) and Baylor
Tournament Spotlight:
Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic
The
2015 Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic this weekend may be the
best non-conference tournament in the history of college baseball.
This event features an unbelievable three Perfect Game top 5 teams –
No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Texas Christian – and also
12-1 Southern California. In fact, this may be a preview of what
we’ll see in Omaha in June.
Professional
scouts must be licking their chops as there is an obvious plethora of
Perfect Game top 100 college prospects who will take the field this
weekend. Here is a list of those players:
3.
Walker Buehler, rhp, Vanderbilt
4.
Dansby Swanson, ss, Vanderbilt
5.
Carson Fulmer, rhp, Vanderbilt
14.
Riley Ferrell, rhp, Texas Christian
17.
James Kaprielian, rhp, UCLA
20.
Alex Young, lhp, Texas Christian
24.
Tyler Ferguson, rhp, Vanderbilt
42.
Cody Poteet, rhp, UCLA
58.
Rhett Wiseman, of, Vanderbilt
66.
Kyle Twomey, lhp, Southern California
Vanderbilt
comes to Los Angeles as the top ranked team in the country at 10-2
but the Commodores have been anything but dominant thus far. The
most glaring issue for Vandy has been strike throwing. The ‘Dores
come into this weekend ranked 269th nationally in walks
allowed per nine innings at 6.39.
Two
things to watch out for are the return of Walker Buehler and the
Commodores’ acclimation to a natural grass surface. Buehler
pitched for the first time this year on Tuesday as he battled arm
soreness early in the season. He should pitch this weekend and his
premium talent and pitchability provide a boost to a pitching staff
that has been inconsistent so far this season.
Nine
of Vanderbilt’s 12 games have been played on the artificial turf at
Hawkins Field in Nashville. Even though Dodger Stadium will surely
be an outstanding playing surface, there is always an adjustment for
infielders when transitioning between a natural grass surface and
turf. Additionally, third baseman Will Toffey is a freshman and
shortstop Dansby Swanson is making the switch back to the left side
of the diamond this year. These are outstanding athletes more than
capable of handling a grass surface but grass is typically more
challenging than turf for infielders.
UCLA
enters this weekend owning the most impressive resume in the country
thus far in 2015. Winning two or more games this weekend would
punctuate the Bruins’ significant road series win over No. 17 North
Carolina two weeks ago. They are led by Luke Persico and Chris Keck,
two physical corner players having breakout seasons. Kevin Kramer’s
steady play at shortstop might be the most critical upgrade from last
season.
There
is no weakness in the UCLA pitching staff and the rotation of James
Kaprielian, Grant Watson, and Cody Poteet offers big-time talent and
experience. If that doesn’t discourage the Bruins’ opponents
then First Team Perfect Game All-American closer David Berg should do
the trick. Berg’s submarine arm slot makes him available for all
three games on the weekend and he is a nine-out reliever when needed.
This is a club with all of the components needed to contend for a
national title.
Texas
Christian also boasts of an elite pitching staff and the Horned Frogs
are currently ranked third in the nation in ERA. Closer Riley
Ferrell brings a mid- to upper-90s fastball with devastating
secondary stuff while ace Preston Morrison is on the short list of
pitchers you’d chose to win one big game. Morrison’s uncanny
command of his sinker-slider mix is a virtual pitching clinic.
Meanwhile, 6-foot-7 Mitchell Traver has pitched his way into the
weekend rotation with 18 strikeouts versus one walk over 16 innings
of work.
As
was the case for last year’s College World Series team, the TCU
offense is efficient but lacks explosiveness. Freshman catcher Evan
Skoug is the exception to that and they will need his light-tower
power to add a dimension to their lineup. Skoug will see the best
pitching college baseball has to offer this weekend so it will serve
as an excellent barometer as to his development as a hitter thus far.
Southern
California is a program on the “rise back,” for lack of a better
phrase. This is an older team that was on the bubble for an at-large
bid to last year’s NCAA tournament and the Trojans are off to a
12-1 start, albeit against mostly inferior competition. Sophomore
Jeremy Martinez is their most talented hitter while catcher Garrett
Stubbs leads the club with 24 hits.
Lefthander
Kyle Twomey has thrived in his return to the rotation, pitching to a
1.33 ERA through three starts. Kyle Davis remains the Trojans’
main bullpen option and he leads them in appearances with five.
Davis has swing-and-miss stuff and skipper Dan Hubbs will use him in
any high-leverage situation.
Tournament Spotlight:
Houston College Classic
In
what has become a tradition of high quality college baseball in the
first weekend of March, the Houston College Classic has emerged as a
weekend in which most in the sport circle in red on their calendars.
Attracting scouts and fans alike with a plethora of talented teams on
display at Minute Maid Park, the tournament will showcase not only
elite level prospects but some of the most fascinating head-to-head
matchups between highly ranked teams that we will see all spring.
The
Houston College Classic has gained notoriety as a must-see event on
the scouting calendar, and the list of elite prospects on the field
for talent evaluators to see will be as long as ever in 2015. For
instance, Friday will give us a showdown between arguably the two
best pure hitters in the 2016 college draft class, Texas A&M’s
Nick Banks and Nebraska’s Ryan Boldt. Later that night, in a
matchup between No. 12 ranked Houston and No. 6 ranked LSU, there
will be a barrage of prospects to feast their eyes on from the 2015,
2016, and 2017 draft classes.
Beginning
with a marquee matchup between two standout sophomores in Houston’s
Andrew Lantrip and LSU’s Jared Poche, these two two teams could
give us the tournament’s most fascinating overall ballgame. Both
pitchers have started the season on a 3-0 tear, with Lantrip posting
a 0.46 ERA along the way. These are two young arms that succeed on
the strength of exceptional command and feel for their off-speed
pitches. And, both LSU and Houston also spring potent offenses to the
table to challenge these elite level arms. Eyes will be squarely on
hot-hitting Houston outfielder, Kyle Survance, who has paced the
Cougar offense and is hitting .333 through his first 13 games.
No
offense has looked more dynamic early in the season than LSU’s,
making their matchup with the Cougar pitching staff all the more
intriguing. Led by Kade Scivicque and his white hot .448, three home
run start, the Tigers have received major contributions from just
about everywhere in their lineup. They have nine different .300
hitters entering the weekend, including likely first rounder Alex
Bregman, who will arguably be the most watched and scrutinized player
of the tournament.
Houston’s
junior righty, Jake Lemoine, will be another one of those closely
watched 2015 first round hopefuls, and although he will not have to
face the potent LSU lineup, he will be taking on another dynamic
lineup in 15th ranked Texas A&M. Lemoine’s low- to mid-90s
fastball and plus slider will have a lot to deal with as he tries to
slow down a slew of Aggies off to hot starts. The aforementioned
sophomore outfielder, Nick Banks, is as talented as any hitter in the
nation and is hitting .444 entering the weekend. Logan Taylor comes
in hitting .405 with five home runs. The Aggies are 12-0 entering the
weekend, but this will be a major step up in competition for them.
How their bats respond will be one of the event’s most interesting storylines.
Also
on the stage will be Hawaii, who enters the weekend 5-8, but did grab
an opening week win against Oregon, and has the pitching to make
things difficult on some of these loud offenses. The Baylor Bears are
coming off a tough weekend at Cal State Fullerton, where they were
swept by the Titans, but are 6-5 entering the Houston College
Classic.
The
wildcard of the event will clearly be the Nebraska Cornhuskers, who
enter the weekend at 6-4, and have the potent offense, led by the
sweet-swinging Ryan Boldt, to come out of this weekend potentially
with some high profile notches on their belt.
Marquee Matchup:
No. 10 Miami at No. 11 Louisville
This
weekend marks the first series for the Louisville Cardinals in ACC
play as they host the Miami Hurricanes in a three-game set. The
Cardinals are on a three-game winning streak and look to build off a
strong performance last weekend from ace righthander Kyle Funkhouser
and the rest of the pitching staff.
Corey Ray (Photo: University of Louisville Sports Information)
The Cardinals are going to need Funkhouser to replicate the performance they know he can, especially when facing a formidable lineup such as Miami. The Hurricanes speed combo at the top of freshman Carl Chester and junior Ricky Eusebio have set the tempo of the offense as both are hitting north of .300 and have a combined nine stolen bases. Sophomore Zack Collins hit a mammoth home run during their mid-week game against Florida Gulf Coast and the Canes will be looking for him to carry that momentum into the weekend. Another bat heating up for Miami is left-handed swining Willie Abreu, who is hitting .381 over the last five games.
Miami has been without senior ace Andrew Suarez since the first week of the season but both Thomas Woodrey and Enrique Sosa have stepped up in a big way on the mound as both. Woodrey will start Friday opposite of Funkhouser and is coming off a big start last weekend and both he and Sosa hover around a 2.00 ERA while showing exceptional command of the strike zone.
Even
though Louisville may have a lineup on the younger side, their
players have proved they are ready to jump right in and contribute.
Sophomore outfielder Corey Ray has been a catalyst of the offense
with a .306 average while swatting two home runs from the left side
with 10 RBI. Infielder Sutton Whiting, one of four seniors on the
roster, is to the Cards what Chester and Eusebio have been to Miami.
Hitting a team-high .390, Whiting has walked more than twice the
amount of times he as struck out and leads the team with 11 stolen
bases. Freshman Devin Hairston has hit his way into the starting
lineup and is now hitting .333 with a team-high 11 RBI, providing
some pop from the second base position.
Joining
Funkhouser and his mid-90s fastball on the mound are Josh Rogers and
Anthony Kidston, both of whom are coming off strong outings last
weekend against Xavier. The bullpen has been a big strength for Coach
Dan McDonnell and are led by sophomore lefthander Drew Harrington
(0.66 ERA, 13 2/3 IP, 20:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio) and freshman
closer Brendan McKay, who has already closed out three games with 17
strikeouts in nine innings. Coming into the season McKay was seen as
a two-way threat, and he has been just that, hitting .529 with an
incredible .652 on-base percentage.
Whatever
it is you’re looking for as a fan, this opening weekend series in
the ACC will check all the boxes; high-octane arms, power bats,
big-time matchups, and intriguing freshmen.
National Notes:
• After
playing only one game the previous week due to poor weather, No. 5
Texas Christian squared off against No. 21 Rice on Tuesday in a
mid-week matchup between two highly ranked teams. Mitchell Traver
received the start, but only went one inning as Coach Schlossnagle
decided to give his top arms some much-needed time on the mound
heading into their difficult weekend tournament series against No. 1
Vanderbilt, No. 4 UCLA and 12-1 Southern California.
Traver
sat in the low- to mid-90s with his fastball and made quick work of a
dynamic Owls' offense, needing only nine pitches to get out of the
frame. Usual Sunday starter Alex Young worked the next two innings,
following by staff ace Preston Morrison, who also tossed two frames.
Lefthander Ryan Burnett got an inning of work in, and Trey Teakell
worked both the seventh and eighth inninngs before handing the ball
over to closer Riley Ferrell.
All
Ferrell did was use seven pitches to quickly record two strikeouts
and a weak tapper back to the mound to record his 21st save of his career at TCU, moving ahead of Sam Demel for the all-time
mark for the Horned Frogs.
The
TCU offense scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning of this
game, which proved to be all they would need in a 3-1 win over Rice.
• No.
20 Arkansas will host Loyola Marymount this weekend in a matchup of
two projected Regional teams. Colin Welmon of LMU and Trey Killian of
Arkansas will square off in the Friday game in what will most likely
be a low scoring affair. Lions shortstop David Fletcher is among the
nation's best defensive shortstops while center fielder Austin Miller
is a dynamic leadoff hitter.
Righthanders
Dominic Taccolini and Keaton McKinney will follow Killian in the
weekend rotation for the Razorbacks.
• This
weekend features a handful of other series that if nothing else will
provide good test for the ranked teams involved, since few of them
have faced formidable opponents up to this point in the season.
Although
San Diego currently sits at 4-6, they are coming off of a pair of
wins over Texas, at the Longhorns' home park, and have played some
tough series against Dallas Baptist and Morehead State. No. 14
Mississippi State just suffered their first loss of the season in a
mid-week contest against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, as they host the
Toreros for a three-game set in Starkville.
No.
7 Texas Tech travels to Cal State Fullerton this weekend in what
would otherwise be a primetime matchup between two solid ballclubs if
it weren't for all of the other attention the bigger tournaments and
series will receive this weekend. Although the Titans, who opened the
season in the top 25, are 7-5, they have won their last five games,
including a sweep of Baylor last weekend, and a mid-week win over
Pepperdine. The high-powered Red Raiders are hitting .321 as a team,
pitting their strength, offense, against Cal State Fullerton's,
pitching.
Long
Beach State, fresh off of their sweep of Wichita State that included
the program's first no hitter by freshmen righthanders Chris
Mathewson and Darren McCaughan, travel to Phoenix to take on No. 22
Arizona State. All three games of this series likely will be close
contest, as the Dirtbags pitching staff (2.00 ERA) faces the Sun
Devils lineup (.307 combined average).