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College  | Story  | 3/26/2015

Weekend Preview: Week 7

Patrick Ebert      Jheremy Brown      Mike Rooney     
Photo: Texas A&M

National Notebook: March 24 | Video Vault

Each of the top six teams as shown below will play at home this weekend, and none of them come against ranked opponents. The biggest series to note among these teams will occur in College Station, Texas, as No. 5 Texas A&M host current SEC and former Big 12 rival Missouri while No. 6 Louisville takes on a surging Georgia Tech team.

In addition, 12 of the top 15 teams will also play their series at home, with the most notable team on the road coming in the form of No. 10 Miami traveling to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on North Carolina, as previewed below.

The only other bout between top 25 ranked teams will occur in Orlando, Fla., as No. 15 UCF hosts No. 19 Houston in hopes of claiming American Athletic Conference supremacy. This series is also detailed below.

Jheremy Brown will be in Phoenix this weekend to cover the Pac-12 matchup between No. 12 Arizona State and Stanford. Stay tuned to Perfect Game throughout the weekend for notes on those games as well as others from across the nation.

Top 25 in Action

Rk. Team Opponent Location
1 Louisiana State home vs. Kentucky Baton Rouge, LA
2 Texas Christian home vs. Wichita State Fort Worth, TX
3 Florida home vs. Alabama Gainesville, FL
4 Vanderbilt home vs. Tennessee Nashville, TN
5 Texas A&M home vs. Missouri College Station, TX
6 Louisville home vs. Georgia Tech Louisville, KY
7 UCLA at Washington State Pullman, WA
8 South Carolina home vs. Georgia Columbia, SC
9 Florida State home vs. Virginia Tech Tallahassee, FL
10 Miami at No. 18 North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC
11 Oregon State home vs. Cal Poly Corvallis, OR
12 Arizona State home vs. Stanford Phoenix, AZ
13 UC Santa Barbara home vs. Long Beach State Santa Barbara, CA
14 Virginia at Notre Dame South Bend, IN
15 UCF home vs. No. 19 Houston Orlando, FL
16 Texas at Nebraska Lincoln, NE
17 Oregon at Arizona Tucson, AZ
18 North Carolina home vs. No. 10 Miami Chapel Hill, NC
19 Houston at No. 15 UCF Orlando, FL
20 Florida Atlantic at Texas-San Antonio San Antonio, TX
21 Illinois at Michigan State East Lansing, MI
22 Southern California at Washington Seattle, WA
23 Texas Tech home vs. Kansas Lubbock, TX
24 Dallas Baptist home vs. Illinois State Dallas, TX
25 Maryland at Michigan Ann Arbor, MI



Marquee Matchup #1:

No. 10 Miami at No. 18 North Carolina

There’s no such thing as an easy weekend in the ACC as each and every team is able to erupt at any moment or receive a big time performance from one of their top arms. The setting for this conference series is Chapel Hill, N.C., as the Hurricanes from the University of Miami, ranked No. 10 per the Perfect Game staff, travel north to face the 19th ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. Both programs are coming off key conference series wins with the Canes taking two of three from surging Wake Forest while the Heels, like Miami, took two of three from Georgia Tech.

Miami enters the weekend with a 6-3 record in the Coastal Division of the ACC, tops in the division, while North Carolina is currently tied for second in the division with a 5-4 record, knotted with Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.
David Thompson (Photo: Richard Lewis / Miami Athletics)
The Hurricanes pitching staff has been a key part of their success early on in this young 2015 campaign. Staff ace Andrew Suarez appears to be fully recovered from his early season injury, turning in back-to-back strong performances in conference play. Thomas Woodrey hasn’t looked back after a strong start to the spring and heads into this weekend with a 3-1 record over five starts while maintaining a 2.93 ERA with just six walks over 30 2/3 innings. Another arm who has been as consistent as they come is sophomore closer Bryan Garcia who has closed out four games this spring, making 12 appearances with a 1.15 ERA.

Of course to win games you need to score runs and Miami is more than capable of that. Junior David Thompson has caught fire over the last week hitting a couple of long balls, increasing his team lead to eight while driving in a remarkable 39 runs while hitting a loud .361. Surprisingly enough Thompson’s .361 mark is only third best on the team as George Iskenderian (.375) and Garrett Kennedy (.369) have both offered consistent bats as well, showing strength off their barrels while hitting for a high average.

Like Miami, Coach Mike Fox has received solid contributions from his pitching staff, particularly his starting rotation. Even with junior righthander Trent Thornton moving to the bullpen where he has continued to find success, the Tar heels rotation hasn’t skipped a beat. Sophomore Zac Gallen, freshman J.B. Bukauskas, and senior Benton Moss all turned in solid starts last week and will be key to the Heels' success this weekend and for ACC series moving forward. They may also boast the deepest crop of freshmen arms, all of whom have their roles and have performed well when called up. Senior Trevor Kelley has been remarkable out of the 'pen, and their most relied upon arm, appearing in a team-high 16 games with a 1.74 ERA, striking out 28 while walking just four.

North Carolina erupted for nine runs in their most recent game, a shutout victory over Appalachian State mid-week in which nearly every starter recorded a hit. The Heels look to continue their hot-hitting ways, especially from outfielder Skye Bolt who has recorded two multi-hit games in their last three contests.

Overall, the series looks to be a good one as each team is able to send a quality starter out to the mound for each of the three games and complements them with a strong bullpen. Both offenses are capable of exploding for runs though the depth of pitching may be the story of the weekend matchup.



Marquee Matchup #2:

No. 19 Houston at No. 15 UCF

The American Athletic Conference is only in year two but it is quickly establishing itself as one of the better baseball conferences in the country. The league sent Louisville to Omaha in its inaugural season last year and this year’s championship race shapes up to be even better. It all kicks off this weekend and Houston at UCF is the main event.

Houston looked to build off of the momentum of last year’s run to a Super Regional as the Cougars returned their entire weekend rotation and most of the lineup. This led to a top 10 preseason ranking, and that was before we even knew how productive newcomers Connor Wong and Chris Iriart would be. The freshman shortstop Wong leads the club with 22 RBI, although he has struggled defensively with 12 errors already. Iriart has six home runs and 14 extra-base hits and his physicality has been critical in solidifying the middle of the order.

Dylan Moore (Photo: UCFKnights.com)
The bad news is that the highly touted Houston rotation has struggled outside of Andrew Lantrip who has been outstanding. Senior Aaron Garza has pitched his way out of the rotation with a 5.92 ERA and junior flame-thrower Jake Lemoine will miss his second straight start this weekend with a shoulder impingement.

Through all of this adversity, Todd Whitting and his staff have done an incredible job keeping this team moving forward and the Cougars come to Orlando riding an amazing 10-game winning streak. And this winning streak was preceded by a stretch where Houston lost five of six games. Overall, the Cougars’ postseason resume shapes up nicely as their 18 wins include a series win against Alabama and a road sweep of a New Mexico team that looks to be of Regional caliber.

UCF is enjoying a magical season under Terry Rooney. The Knights may have the most experienced roster in the nation with 16 players in their fourth year of college baseball. They certainly have the best offense in the country ranking first nationally in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. UCF is second in the nation in scoring at 8.8 runs per game. The Knights also sport an impressive postseason resume with a series win over Ole Miss and individual wins over Arkansas, Maryland, and Florida.

Senior shortstop Dylan Moore may be the best player in America still flying under the radar in college baseball. The senior transfer from Cypress JC in California played second base last year and he is having a huge season. Not only is Moore fielding .966 at shortstop, but he is among the nation’s leaders with seven home runs and 34 RBI.

The interesting matchup this weekend will be the UCF pitching staff versus a very balanced Houston offense. UCF is thin on the mound and led by a true freshman in Cre Finfrock who has been pitching on Friday nights. The atmosphere in Orlando should be electric and this series certainly has a Super Regional feel to it.



Mound Matchup:

Grayson Long (Texas A&M) vs. Reggie McClain (Missouri)

This entire series could prove to be one of the more meaningful matchups on the weekend, particularly in the two starting rotations, as the Tigers' starting three has posted numbers remarkably similar to that of the Aggies' starting trio. However, it will be that Friday night matchup between Missouri's Reggie McClain and Texas A&M's Grayson Long that will set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

Reggie McClain (Photo: Kyle Mazabob)
Texas A&M is off to a 25-1 start to the season, starting the year ranked 24th and rising to their current slot at No. 5. Missouri is coming fresh off their series against previously ranked No. 5 South Carolina in which the Tigers claimed two of the three games, largely in part due to the pitching performances of McClain and their Saturday starter, freshman Tanner Houck.

 While neither Long nor McClain is particularly overpowering, both excel at changes speeds and commanding the strike zone with three distinct pitches. Long, who has assumed the Friday night role for the last two weekends for the injured A.J. Minter, actually throws a fourth, mixing in a mid-70s curveball later in games this year to complement his low-90s fastball, that usually peaks at 93 mph, as well as his low-80s slider and changeup.

McClain works in the mid- to upper-80s with his fastball, and his best pitch is his changeup thrown with the exact same arm action and speed as his fastball, pulling the string perfectly to get a lot of empty swings.

As noted, both pitchers do an excellent job keeping hitters guessing as to what pitch is coming next by changing speeds and throwing strikes. Here's a look as to just how similar the two starters have fared so far this year:


    Player Record G/GS ERA IP H K BB BAA
Long 5-0 6/6 2.08 34.2 23 43 13 .184
McClain 4-1 6/6 1.74 46.2 31 40 7 .189


Expand that to each team's Saturday and Sunday starters (Matt Kent and Turner Larkins for Texas A&M, Tanner Houck and Peter Fairbanks for Missouri):


Team Record ERA IP K BB
Texas A&M 8-1 3.08 73 66 9
Missouri 5-3 2.48 76.1 66 10


The strikeout-to-walk ratio is what stands out the most for each team, as they're missing bats and they're not beating themselves. The biggest difference is the win-loss ratio, which is more reflective of the teams' difference in records (25-1 to 19-7).

And that difference largely has to do with the difference in offensive production, with A&M boasting one of the best in the nation, producing a cumulative .311/.413/.453 slash line as compared to Missouri's .246/.334/.355. The Tigers don't have a single regular hitting .300 or better, while the Aggies have seven.

But again, it comes back to the starting pitching, and it starts with McClain squaring off against Long on Friday in College Station. 



National Notes:

• No. 2 Texas Christian squeaked out a mid-week win over Oklahoma on Tuesday, a game decided in extra innings when Jeremie Fagnan delivered a walkoff RBI single in the 10th. Horned Frogs pitching was once again the story in this game, with mid-week starter Tyler Alexander working the first seven innings of the game before handing the ball over the Trek Teakell, who went the rest of the way.

While Alexander didn't factor into the decision his presence, as noted in previous features, will make TCU very tough to beat in their mid-week contests. The draft-eligible sophomore lefthander served as one the team's weekend starters a year ago, and performed admirably as a freshman, leading the team in wins with 10 while posting a 2.36 ERA in 99 innings of work. He started the year once again in the weekend rotation this year before Mitchell Traver's emergence pushed the entire starting staff back.

Alexander's overall delivery and stuff are similar to that of Young's with a upper-80s to low-90s fastball delivered from a lower, slinging angle from the left side. He mixes in a solid sweeping breaking ball that he's able to add and subtract from, as well as an effective fading changeup.

As for Teakell, he and lefthander Ryan Burnett have formed a very nice 1-2 punch out of the bullpen, frequently leading up to fireballing closer Riley Ferrell. Although Teakell, who typically sits in the low-90s, gave up two runs in the eighth inning which allowed the Sooners to tie the game 3-3, only one of those runs were earned. He leads the staff in appearances with 13 and has a 1.25 ERA in 21 2/3 innings of work.

• One of the bigger series this weekend not detailed above will occur in Louisville, Ky., as the Cardinals host Georgia Tech. Louisville, now ranked sixth in the nation, got off to a rough start this season, losing two of three games to Arkansas State during the second weekend of the year. Since then they are 15-4, taking two of three from Miami to open ACC play before sweeping both Boston College and Notre Dame in the two weeks that followed.

While Kyle Funkhouser continues to front the weekend staff, the emergence of freshman two-way standout Brendan McKay has been huge for the Cardinals. He is hitting .309 on the season and is getting on base at a .434 clip, while also going 3-0 on the mound in nine appearances, two of which have been starts. He also has recorded four saves this year, although has handed the closer role over to sophomore Zack Burdi, who like his older brother Nick, has seen his velocity take a huge step forward this year with the ability to touch the upper-90s.

Georgia Tech comes to town led by a standout freshman of their own, slugging outfielder Kel Johnson. Johnson is hitting .379 with 16 extra-base hits so far this year, seven of which are home runs, for the 17-7 Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech took two of three from both Notre Dame and Duke to open ACC play before losing their series to North Carolina last weekend, 1-2.

• After opening the year 13-0 wins have been harder to come by for Mississippi State. They have gone 5-9 since their red-hot start to the year, which saw them rise up from their opening No. 23 ranking, only to fall out of Perfect Game's Top 25 last weekend.

Redshirt sophomore outfielder Jacob Robson continues to do his job at the top of the batting order, producing a .415/.537/.476 slash line. In addition to the 34 base hits he has recorded, he also has drawn 22 walks, and has had made his presence on the basepaths be known as well, swiping 15 bases.

The Bulldogs will look to get back on track this weekend as they host 15-10 Auburn.

• Nebraska saw it's 11-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday at the hands of Cal State Fullerton. The Titans travelled to Lincoln for a pair of mid-week contests against the Huskers, with the teams splitting the series with a win apiece.

Splitting the Fullerton series, combined with a strong showing in their upcoming weekend series against former Big 12 rivals Texas in Lincoln, could go a long way to drawing even more serious consideration from the PG college baseball staff for top 25 inclusion come Monday. The team started the year 7-6, taking two games from both Brigham Young and Loyola Marymount over the first month of the season before going 1-2 at the Houston College Classic, with their two losses coming against No. 1 LSU and No. 5 Texas A&M.

Since then they're 11-1 at home as part of a 16-game stretch playing on their home turf. They swept respectable Florida Gulf Coast and Michigan programs, and now boast an 18-7 overall mark.

No. 16 Texas will represent Nebraska's third ranked opponent so far this season, and their first at home in a non-conference tilt between two deep and balanced ballclubs. They're also fairly evenly matched, as Nebraska has a triple slash of .278/.350/.364 this season while Texas is at .270/.371/.425, with only Texas' power standing out among those numbers. The staff ERA is also similar at 2.59 and 2.67 respectively. Nebraska's weekend trio of Chance Sinclair, Kyle Kubat and Derek Burkamper have been particularly stingy this season, collectively going 10-4 this season with a 2.82 ERA.
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