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College  | Story | 2/19/2015

Weekend Preview: Week 2

Patrick Ebert
Frankie Piliere
Jheremy Brown
Mike Rooney
Photo: Tim Casey

College Baseball at LakePoint (schedule) | National Notebook: Feb. 17

Week 2 of the 2015 college baseball season offers some very big series pitting numerous ranked teams, and those just on the outside looking in, against one another. The biggest of these series has No. 10 Miami traveling to Gainesville to take on the No. 4 Gators, a series that is profiled in detail just below.

No. 5 UCLA was supposed to travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on No. 16 North Carolina, but inclement weather has caused that series to move to Orlando, Fla. at UCF's Jay Bergman Field. This series is also broken down in detail below.

The UNC/UCLA series isn't the only one effected by bad weather, as Mother Nature continues to rear her ugly head in the East, prompting cancellations, postponements and schedule changes throughout the nation. While unfortunate, Perfect Game is excited to be involved with some of these changes, with several programs heading to Emerson, Ga., to play at the LakePoint sporting complex. Although the weather is still expected to be a factor at LakePoint, the Shaw Sports Turf will allow teams to play in the midst of the rainy and cold conditions. Details of those teams are listed below. Patrick Ebert will be on hand in Georgia to provide updates over the weekend.
No. 18 Arizona State will host No. 3 Texas Christian, and No. 20 Rice travels to Tucson to take on Arizona. Arizona in general will be loaded with talent, as the Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge being held at fields in Surprise, Mesa and Peoria, Ariz. will bring Big 12 schools Oklahoma, No. 19 Oklahoma State, Kansas and Kansas State to play Pac-12 teams Oregon State, Utah, Washington and Washington State. Jheremy Brown and Mike Rooney will both be in Arizona providing first-hand observations from these events.

In addition, Alabama, ranked 28th to open the year, will travel to Houston to take on the No. 7 Cougars, No. 11 Florida State will play Georgia in Athens and No. 24 Cal State Fullerton will host No. 25 Stanford. Kentucky, ranked 37th by Perfect Game prior to the beginning of the year, will travel to No. 17 UC Santa Barbara.



Top 25 in Action

Rk. Team Opponent Location
1 Vanderbilt vs. Indiana State #Port Charlotte, FL
2 Virginia vs. Marist #Charleston, S.C.
3 Texas Christian at No. 18 Arizona State Phoenix, AZ
4 Florida home vs. No. 10 Miami Gainesville, FL
5 UCLA vs. No. 16 North Carolina #Orlando, FL
6 Louisiana State home vs. Boston College Baton Rouge, LA
7 Houston home vs. Alabama Houston, TX
8 Texas home vs. Minnesota Austin, TX
9 Louisville vs. Arkansas State #Emerson, Ga.
10 Miami at No. 4 Florida Gainesville, FL
11 Florida State at Georgia Athens, GA
12 Texas Tech home vs. Northern Illinois Lubbock, TX
13 South Carolina home vs. Northeastern Columbia, SC
14 Oregon home vs. New Mexico State Eugene, OR
15 Arkansas at South Alabama Tournament Mobile, AL
16 North Carolina vs. No. 5 UCLA Orlando, FL
17 UC Santa Barbara home vs. Kentucky Santa Barbara, CA
18 Arizona State home vs. No. 3 Texas Christian Phoenix, AZ
19 Oklahoma State at Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge Surprise, Mesa, Peoria, AZ
20 Rice at Arizona Tucson, AZ
21 Mississippi State home vs. Marshall, Alabama A&M Starkville, MS
22 Texas A&M home vs. Penn State College Station, TX
23 Kennesaw State at Jacksonville State Jacksonville, AL
24 Cal State Fullerton at No. 25 Stanford Fullerton, CA
25 Stanford home vs. No. 24 Cal State Fullerton Fullerton, CA

*Arkansas plays UCF (Fri.), South Alabama (Sat.) and Maryland (Sun.)
*Oklahoma State plays Oregon State (Thurs.), Washington State (Fri.), Utah (Sat.) and Washington (Sun.)
*Mississippi State plays Marshall (Fri. and Sat.) and Alabama A&M (Sat. and Sun.)
#Series altered/moved due to inclement weather



Marquee Matchup #1:

No. 10 Miami at No. 4 Florida

Few series on the college baseball schedule in the coming weeks are as intriguing on as many levels as the showdown between Florida and Miami this weekend in Gainesville. A battle of two teams with potent starting lineups and a depth of arms coming out of the bullpen, it will be a series full of fascinating showdowns between elite arms and high octane bats.

One of those high octane bats is going to be Florida outfielder Harrison Bader, who got his season off to a roaring start last weekend against Rhode Island. The righty swinging Bader is hitting a staggering .600 coming out of opening weekend and one mid-week game, and he’s already tallied three home runs and 14 RBI. Long known for his high upside at the plate, Bader clearly has begun fully tapping into his power potential and has become more disciplined at the plate.

And, the matchup to watch is going to be between Bader and the Miami Hurricanes’ southpaw ace, Andrew Suarez. Bader has proven to be particularly dangerous against lefty pitching, and Suarez is one of the best lefties that college baseball has to offer. His ability to keep Bader honest on the inside part of the plate to setup his off-speed pitches away will be a major key to the Friday night matchup between these two teams.
Zack Collins (Photo: Richard Lewis / Miami Athletics)

Suarez does indeed have the weapons to keep Bader, as well as the other potent righty bats in this Gator lineup, off balance, if he is sharp with his command. The senior lefty had a solid opening weekend outing, but was not at his absolute peak with the command of his secondary pitches. He tossed five innings, surrendering eight hits and walking two along the way. This Friday, he’s going to need to command not only his 89-92 mph fastball, but his changeup and slider as well. His changeup will be a major key in particular, as he’ll have to pick away at the outside part of the plate.

Aside from Bader, Suarez will also need to contend with the dangerous Richie Martin, who got off to a solid start last weekend and is a projected first round draft choice this June. Martin is exceptionally quick on the inside part of the plate and has the power to punish mistakes. He homered on opening weekend and reached base five times.

Florida also brings an intriguing pair of young catchers into this series, a duo that has already impressed with the bat and behind the dish. In J.J. Schwarz and Mike Rivera, the Gators have an incredibly rare pair of elite freshman catchers. And both have gotten off to strong starts. Both come into the weekend hitting .333, and Schwarz has already tallied 8 RBI. And, Rivera was very strong defensively on opening weekend, throwing out three runners.

But if we are going to highlight catching in this series, there’s no avoiding talking about Miami’s All-American backstop, Zack Collins. One of the nation’s best power hitters, Collins can beat you to all fields and is also one of the most disciplined hitters you’ll find at the college level. And he’s supported in this Hurricane’s lineup by a heavy dose of speed, with players like the hot hitting Ricky Eusebio. The junior center fielder has gotten off to a blistering start, hitting .583 through his first four games with three stolen bases.

Trying to combat that Hurricanes’ lineup will be one of the nation’s deepest pitching staffs, which of course is led by the Gators’ Logan Shore. The sophomore seemed to pick up right where he left off as a freshman with five shutout innings in his first 2015 start. He and Saturday starter, A.J. Puk, form one of the most dynamic one-two combinations in the country.

The pitching matchups throughout the weekend will continue to be strong following the marquee showdown of Suarez and Shore on Friday. Enrique Sosa has emerged as a major force in the Miami rotation, following a strong fall and superb opening weekend start in which he pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings and struck out 10. Sosa works in the low-90s with his fastball and shows a true swing-and-miss curveball. In a series that figures to be very evenly matched, a red-hot Sunday starter for Miami could be a major difference maker. But, the potent Florida lineup, which appears to be clicking on all cylinders, should have plenty to say about that.



Marquee Matchup #2:

No. 5 UCLA vs. No. 16 North Carolina
James Kaprielian (Photo: Don Liebig)

The Bruins get a break from the cold weather with this series moving to Orlando, Fla., as college baseball fans will be treated to one of the best pitching rotation matchups of the season. Ironically, these rotations share a common set up.

Game 1 will feature two high profile juniors – James Kaprelian for UCLA and Trent Thornton for UNC – and while Kaprelian currently holds a higher draft stock, Thornton has outperformed him in college. Grant Watson of UCLA and Benton Moss of UNC lock up in the Saturday matchup. Both are seniors with enormous rotation experience; Moss has the more prolific arsenal yet Watson has the better track record. Finally, the Sunday game will showcase two high-upside wildcards. Jacob Bukauskas of UNC may be the best freshman arm in all of college baseball and he solidified that reputation last week with an outstanding start in which his fastball touched 97 mph. Cody Poteet of UCLA enters his junior year high on upside and low on consistency.

The two alleged weaknesses of these units – the UCLA offense and the UNC infield defense – could decide the series. UCLA runs a West Coast offense heavy on the "little game." However, they're running that offense with an extremely athletic group in 2015. This offense is designed to pressure the infield defense and take the edge off of elite arms. It will be interesting to see how the talented but largely unproven Tar Heel middle infield of Wood Myers and Alex Raburn handle this up-tempo attack.

Finally, this series showcases two of the better bullpens in college baseball. David Berg of UCLA appeared in all three games last weekend and he is a one-man game shortener. His low slot approach has tortured hitters for four years and he is on track to break the all-time NCAA appearances record (161) later this year.

The Tar Heels two-header monster of Chris McCue and Reilly Hovis has significantly more arm strength than Berg. Hovis reaches 94 mph with his fastball and the now-healthy McCue relies on a plus changeup. This series resembles a Super Regional in many ways and don't be shocked if all three games are decided in the ninth inning.




Mound Matchup:

Thomas Eshelman (Cal State Fullerton) vs. Cal Quantrill (Stanford)

In what will be one of the most outstanding matchups we’ll see all spring at the collegiate level, two elite command artists will square off this Friday in Southern California. Stanford ace, Cal Quantrill will lock horns with Cal State Fullerton workhorse, Thomas Eshelman, and both hurlers are coming off outings in which they looked strong on opening weekend.

Thomas Eshelman (Photo: Matt Brown)

Although Quantrill was solid on opening weekend against Indiana, he took a no-decision in Stanford’s loss. But more importantly the righty showed the arsenal that makes him one the nation’s most dangerous aces. He worked at 92-95 mph, topping consistently at 96 with a plus-plus changeup. He pitched 5 2/3 one run frames, allowing six hits, striking out six and walking just one.

Quantrill is a strike thrower that will make the Titans work for everything this weekend, but how much feel he shows for his developing breaking ball could be the key to whether he gives us one of those truly dominant outings he’s capable of. He has the weapons to grind his way through an outing when he’s not at his sharpest, but if he does have it all working, there’s not much Fullerton or any lineup in the nation can do to slow him down. The best advice against Quantrill would be to try to get him early in counts, when he looks to fill up the strike zone, and try to avoid getting into counts when he can use his lights out changeup.

And, speaking up filling up the strike zone, no one does that better than Thomas Eshelman. The junior righty walked just eight batters the entire 2014 season. Eshelman fanned 10 batters over six strong innings in a losing effort last weekend, but expect Stanford to have their hands full this Friday night. Eshelman has a deception to his game that hitters have a hard time quantifying, as he pitches very aggressively with an 87-90 mph fastball, but induces very weak swings despite less than overpowering velocity.

Eshelman masterfully mixes his slider and changeup, and seems to have an instinct for the exact right moments to get away from his fastball. No pitcher in the country has the pinpoint command Eshelman has, and Stanford is going to have to seize the rare moments in which he makes mistakes over the heart of the plate.



Tournament Spotlight:

Big12/Pac-12 Challenge

Opening weekend provides us with some quality tournaments and several highlights throughout the course of the three-day stretch. This weekend the Big 12 and Pac-12 arrive in Phoenix with authority with games being played throughout the state. Its an eight-team tournament with four teams representing each conference; Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State of the Big 12 while the Pac-12 sends Oregon State, Utah, Washington, and Washington State. There’s also an added bonus matchup in Tempe this weekend, a regular three-game series between Arizona State (Pac-12) and Texas Christian (Big 12).

Heading into the weekend No. 19 Oklahoma State is the lone team in the Perfect Game top 25 rankings and look to ascend back up the list after opening the season 1-2. The Cowboys are more than capable to do so but may have to do it without starting shortstop Donnie Walton who saw limited action late last weekend.

Tim Arakawa set the tempo for the offense last weekend just as he had last spring and will be key to get on base for their middle of the order of Kevin Bradley and Gage Green, both of whom swung the bat well opening weekend. Another player who received glowing reviews was freshman third baseman Jon Littell, a former Perfect Game All-American, who has as much potential as any bat in the tournament and plus strength from the right side.

Righthanders Remey Reed and Koda Glover were two bright spots out of the bullpen for Oklahoma State, as was sophomore Tyler Buffett. Reed picked up the lone win last weekend, throwing four shutout innings over two appearances. A JUCO-transfer, Glover slipped right into the closers role thanks to his mid-90s fastball, and aside from one elevated fastball last weekend, he worked two perfect innings.

The Utes are coming off a weekend in which they went 1-3 and look to rebound off that start against Sacramento State. The pitching staff will be led by Jayson Rose, a righthanded freshman who threw six shutout innings in his collegiate debut while striking out four. Hard throwing Bret Helton will be handed the ball against Washington State on Thursday while fellow flamethrower Dalton Carroll will jump from the bullpen to the rotation this weekend and start against Kansas. Dallas Carroll got off to as good of a start as one can, hitting .500 over the weekend with a team high four RBI and he also swiped two bases.

Blair Beck comes out of the weekend in Kansas' series against LSU hitting .375 in eight at-bats, with two of his three hits going for extra-bases (a double and a home run). Colby Wright was a key piece to the offense last spring and was a magnet for the ball at LSU, getting plunked four times while finishing with a .300 average. The pitching staff looks to rebound after last weekend, and with a four-game stretch junior righthander Hayden Evans will join the staff, starting Thursday against Washington.

The Washington Huskies are swinging the bats well right now, combining for 28 runs over their four-game sweep of Pacific while getting off the to school’s best start since 1999. With six players batting over .300 (as a team they are hitting .308), it’s easy to see why the Huskies are off to such a great start. Junior catcher Austin Rei is leading the way offensively with a .462 average with two doubles and a triple while junior outfielder Braden Bishop continues to find the barrel of the bat in each trip to the mound. Hitting .438 with a team-high four doubles, the fleet-footed Bishop will be a key piece to the offense moving forward.

As impressive as the offense has been, the pitching is equally as potent to this point, combining for a team ERA of 1.25 and have eight pitchers coming off last weekend with a 0.00 ERA. Troy Rallings and Tyler Davis will start the Thursday and Friday games and carried the ball deep into their games opening weekend, with Rallings going six innings and Davis seven. Joshua Frendenhall had a solid start to the year by throwing five shutout innings and will start Saturday. With Rallings jumping from the closer's role last spring to the rotation, the coaching staff has used three difference arms in save situations and so far all three have done the job effectively.

The other team that heads south from the state of Washington is the Cougars who opened up with a 2-2 mark last weekend in Nacogdoches, Texas. Coming off an opening weekend in which he hit .400, the Cougars are hoping for senior catcher P.J. Jones to replicate his success, as he not only collected base hits but got on base via walks four times. Starting half the games in Texas while making appearances in the other two, 6-foot-4 freshman Wes Hatten made end up being a valuable piece to the offense moving forward. Hatten is hitting .333 on the year with four singles and leads the team with three RBI.
Andrew Moore (Photo: Oregon State)

The bullpen has been another bright spot for Washington State, particularly 6-foot-5 junior lefthander Matt Bower. Working 4 1/3 innings over two appearances, Bower is sporting a 0.00 ERA and leads the team with nine strikeouts. The starting staff will feature two freshmen, Nick Leonard and Taylor McDowell, along with redshirt senior Sean Hartnett who struck out six over three innings in his season opening start.

When the University of Oklahoma and Oregon State square off on Saturday there are going to be several interesting matchups but none may be more power-driven than Oregon State’s freshman K.J. Harrison against Oklahoma’s righthander Alec Hansen. Harrison is swinging the bat like anything but a freshman, hitting .438 with two home runs and two triples, providing an immediate thump to the middle of the Beavers’ order. Reports have had Hansen up to triple digits in the past and the coaches are more than encouraged after his start last weekend in which he showed command of the zone along with big-time stuff.

The Beavers ace Andrew Moore will start their game Thursday against Oklahoma State and last week did what everybody has come to expect him to do, spin a dominant performance. Going seven innings, Moore scattered fives hits and an earned run while showing extreme command of the strike zone, striking out nine while walking none. Freshman Luke Heimlich should still be in high school if not for enrolling at Oregon State early last fall and impressed in his debut, working in the 85-88 mph range while showing strong pitchability on the mound. They also received several key contributions out of the bullpen, including Mitch Hickey who threw 4 1/3 innings over two appearances and Clay Bauer who worked two perfect innings with four strikeouts.

The Sooners have one of the loudest bats in the tournament hitting in their three-hole in shortstop Sheldon Neuse, a highly regarded prospect for the 2016 draft. A strongly built righthanded hitter Neuse shows big strength off the barrel and above average athleticism and plus arm strength up the middle. Kolbey Carpenter and Craig Aikin are two experienced bats who will continue to pace the offense and each are coming off a big opening weekend. Junior righthander Jake Elliot threw like the ace the Sooners need him to be last weekend, throwing seven shutout innings while holding Notre Dame to just two hits.

Rounding out the tournament are the Kansas State Wildcats, who despite having new faces in their lineup opened the season 2-2 with wins over Pittsburg and Iowa. Expectations were high for transfer catcher Steve Serratore and so far he has not disappointed, leading the team with a .364 average while starting all four of their games. Both Max Brown and Tyler Wolfe enter the weekend with .333 averages and two RBI a piece.

The starting pitching was also solid for the Wildcats last weekend, with three of their arms going at least five innings and both Levi MaVorhis (six innings) and Corey Fischer (5 2/3 innings) have yet to allow an earned run on the year. Colton Kalmus worked five innings out of the bullpen last weekend striking out six. As long as the pitching staff stays healthy and keeps dealing, Kansas State has a chance.


LakePoint in Action:

Kyle Funkhouser (Photo: University of Louisville Sports Information)
As noted above the brutal winter weather conditions that are causing schedule changes for just about every program east of the Mississippi has caused 12 Division I programs to travel a little further south than initially expected to play at the new fields at Perfect Game Park South at LakePoint Sports in Emerson, Ga. It should be pointed out that with the Shaw Sports Turf fields not a single game was rained out all of last summer during Perfect Game's lengthy tournament season. In addition, the Musco LED lighting installed at the complex will allow for games to be played at night.

The highlight attraction of these games will feature Louisville's Kyle Funkhouser, who is expected to take the mound on Friday at 12:00 p.m. EST. Funkhouser is coming off of a dominant start over Alabama State in Clearwater, Fla. last weekend, and his performance was broken down by Baseball Prospectus' Chris King in PG's National College Notebook on Tuesday.

In addition, Georgia Highlands, who calls Perfect Game Park South at LakePoint Sports home, will be hosting Perfect Game's preseason No. 18 junior college team, Chattahoochee Valley, in a doubleheader on Friday.

For the full schedule of games being played and the teams involved, please visit this link.



National Notes:


• The Rice Owls bring one of the nation's deepest pitching staffs to Tucson this weekend to take on Arizona and its high-octane offense led by the middle infield duo of Scott Kingery and Kevin Newman. It will be particularly interesting to see dynamic Rice freshman outfielder Ryan Chandler in the high scoring environment of Hi Corbett Field. Rice's postseason fortunes depend on the development of their young lineup while Arizona has missed the last two NCAA tournaments mostly because of a lack of pitching. This series should go a long way toward assessing where these two proud programs stand in those areas.

• The American Athletic Conference is new to college sports but the league has quickly created positive momentum in baseball. Even though Louisville's departure to the ACC leaves a big void, no other conference in the country did a better job with coaching hires in the offseason. The key additions were Mark Kingston at South Florida, Cliff Godwin at East Carolina and David Pierce at Tulane.

South Florida made a statement last weekend by beating Thomas Eshelman and Cal State Fullerton in addition to their victory over a probable Regional team in Alabama State. Kingston and his staff have already scored multiple victories on the recruiting trail for this program often considered a sleeping giant.

East Carolina struggled last weekend, losing all three games to No. 2 Virginia. However, the Pirates program has a newfound energy under first-year skipper Cliff Godwin and his recruiting chops are respected nationally.

The most under-the-radar statement of Week 1 was made by David Pierce and his Tulane Green Wave. The Green Wave were pitches away from sweeping a very talented Pepperdine team in Malibu last weekend, taking a lead into the ninth inning of Game 3.

The additions of Kingston, Godwin, and Pierce to a conference already boasting strong programs at Central Florida and Houston provides the depth needed for the AAC to become a multiple-bid league on an annual basis.

• Stanford and Cal State Fullerton renew a long-standing non-conference rivalry on the West Coast this weekend. These two programs combined for 13 trips to the College World Series between 1999-2009. The first two pitching matchups in the series – Thomas Eshelman vs. Cal Quantrill (as detailed above) and Justin Garza vs. Marc Brakeman – offer three arms who all profile well in this year's draft, along with Quantrill, who is a potential candidate for the first overall pick in 2016. Both lineups have struggled already in 2014 and Fullerton in particular will need freshman outfielder Scott Hurst to emerge as a star if they are going to contend for Omaha.

• 2011 Perfect Game All-American Mitchell Traver made his first collegiate start on Tuesday night for Texas Christian against UT Arlington. Traver, whose college career has been derailed the past two seasons due to injury, was very impressive, striking out five in six shutout innings, allowing just four hits and one walk. Traver pitched two innings in relief over the weekend in which he sat at 91-95 mph with his fastball, and was named the No. 2 prospect in the Northwoods League last summer while flashing similar stuff. Should Traver remain in the mid-week role, with the already strong weekend rotation, Texas Christian will be especially tough to beat on any day of the week.
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Perfect Game Staff
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Connor Ashley (‘29, FL) has struck out six over six no hit innings thus far. Got the FB up to 87 w/ feel for a sharp two-plane slider. #PGWS @Florida_PG pic.twitter.com/M7mEmTH8pk — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 12, 2026 Connor Ashley (’29, Minneola, FL) was stellar on Sunday, striking out seven in a seven inning no hitter. He operates from a medium-to-large right-handed frame with length, room to fill, and lower half strength. Ashley works exclusively from the stretch, starting at the belt before working into a higher compact leg lift, firing down the mound via a long arm action. He releases from a high three-quarters slot, with the fastball jumping from the hand up to 87. Ashley mixed in a sharp 11-5 breaking ball with depth and late bite, a true swing-and-miss offering.  Matthew Hernandez (’29, Miami Lakes, FL) has posted strong numbers on both...
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