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College | Story | 4/23/2015

Weekend Preview: Battle in Bayou

Patrick Ebert

Jheremy Brown

Mike Rooney

Andrew Krause

Photo: LSU

National Notebook: April 21 | Texas A&M Feature | Video Vault

Week 11 of the 2015 college baseball season is absolutely loaded with quality matchups from across the country, as we provide in-depth previews of nine of those series. Five of those are series between Top 25 ranked opponents as listed below, with the biggest and possibly most anticipated series of the year occurring in Baton Rouge between No. 1 Louisiana State and No. 2 Texas A&M. These two teams are both loaded, and well-rounded, in their potent starting lineups, talented starting staffs and deep bullpens. This series is one of the nine previewed below, and stay tuned to Perfect Game as Jheremy Brown will be in Baton Rouge providing updates all weekend long.

Top 25 in Action

Rk.	Team	Opponent	Location
1	Louisiana State	home vs. No. 2 Texas A&M	Baton Rouge, LA
2	Texas A&M	at No. 1 Louisiana State	Baton Rouge, LA
3	Louisville	home vs. Bethune-Cookman	Louisville, KY
4	UCLA	at Stanford	Stanford, CA
5	Florida	home vs. Kentucky	Gainsville, FL
6	Texas Christian	home vs. Texas	Fort Worth, TX
7	Arizona State	home vs. Tennessee Tech	Phoenix, AZ
8	Miami	home vs. No. 10 Florida State	Coral Gables, FL
9	Illinois	at Penn State	University Park, PA
10	Florida State	at No. 8 Miami	Coral Gables, FL
11	UC Santa Barbara	at Hawaii	Honolulu, HI
12	Southern California	at No. 19 Oregon State	Corvallis, OR
13	Vanderbilt	home vs. No. 23 Missouri	Nashville, TN
14	Florida Atlantic	home vs. Old Dominion	Boca Raton, FL
15	Dallas Baptist	at Southern Illinois	Carbondale, IL
16	Virginia	at N.C. State	Raleigh, NC
17	Oklahoma State	at Texas Tech	Lubbock, TX
18	North Carolina	home vs. Boston College	Chapel Hill, NC
19	Oregon State	home vs. No. 12 USC	Corvallis, OR
20	Maryland	at Purdue	West Lafayette, IN
21	Missouri State	at Illinois State	Normal, IL
22	Nevada	home vs. San Jose State	Reno, NV
23	Missouri	at No. 13 Vanderbilt	Nashville, TN
24	Iowa	home vs. No. 25 Nebraska	Iowa City, IA
25	Nebraska	at No. 24 Iowa	Iowa City, IA

Marquee Matchup #1:

No. 2 Texas A&M at No. 1 Louisiana State

It doesn’t get much better than this during the regular season in college baseball, does it? The weekend matchup will be the first time the Nos. 1 and 2 ranked teams have met at any point this spring. The top-ranked Louisiana State Tigers will play host to the No. 2 ranked Aggies of Texas A&M in what is sure to have fans and scouts alike on the edge of their seats from the first pitch Thursday night to the last pitch Saturday afternoon.

LSU is coming off a rain-shortened, two-game sweep of the Georgia Bulldogs and are currently riding a five game winning streak with their most recent victory coming in the form of a 6-0 midweek victory over Tulane. So what’s helped the Tigers get off to a 35-6 start (12-5 in the SEC)? A steady balance of both offense and pitching.

A known name since stepping foot on campus three falls ago, former Perfect Game All-American Alex Bregman continues to produce and is doing so at a high level, hitting .329 this spring. Bregman is tied for the team lead with eight home runs and leads the club with 14 doubles and 24 stolen bases while playing terrific defense at shortstop. The New Mexico native is just one of seven everyday regulars hitting over .300 for the Tigers with senior catcher Kade Scivicque and his .396 batting average atop that list. Another fact to keep in mind is that the Tigers are an offensive club that at any moment are able to lose a pitch with hitters 1-9 all putting at least one ball out this spring.

Nick Banks (Photo: Texas A&M)

If it’s high level outfield prospects you’re looking for than you’re in luck as LSU has two names that jump out due to their tools and athleticism. Junior Andrew Stevenson might carry his hands low in his stance but don’t think a pitcher will be able to sneak a fastball up and in as his hands are more than fast enough to get the barrel to the pitch and make the pitcher pay. Sophomore Jake Fraley is having a solid second year and is putting himself in the conversation of an elite outfielder group that’s shaping up for the 2016 MLB Draft.

The Tigers also have plenty of arms on their staff including freshman Alex Lange who returned last week with a strong start, building on what’s already been an outstanding rookie year. Junior Jared Poche’ will get the ball Thursday night and has been a constant all spring, making 10 starts, while freshman Austin Bain will jump into the weekend rotation, making just his third start of the year. Redshirt freshman closer Jesse Stallings is having quite the first year and is amongst the nation’s leaders with his 11 saves and he sports a 1.88 ERA.

Continuing with the string of impressive outfielders, Texas A&M has one of their own in sophomore Nick Banks, who like Bregman is a former Perfect Game All-American. Each of the last two weekends Banks has hit a grand slam and looks to keep that streak alive in Baton Rouge. Overall it would be hard to find another performance this spring as solid and consistent as Banks, who is hitting .407 through 40 games with five home runs and 32 driven in.

The Aggies look to avenge their series loss to Arkansas from last weekend, their first series loss of the season, and they're the one team in the nation that can match LSU's talent name for name. Along with Banks in the middle of the order, junior infielder Logan Taylor will also provide power, currently leading the team with 10 home runs and an astonishing .669 slugging percentage. Both Banks and Taylor are two of six Aggie bats who are hitting over .300, and very much like LSU, they have a lineup top to bottom that’s able to go yard on any pitch.

Currently sitting with a 36-5 record, good for tops in the nation, is a remarkable feat on its own, especially when you consider that they opened the year without their top arm in Tyler Stubblefield and shortly thereafter lost junior lefthander A.J. Minter for the rest of the season. Stepping up into the Friday role (or Thursday for this week) is 6-foot-5 right-hander Grayson Long, an athletic arm who features a low-90s fastball and is currently 8-0 on the year with a 2.73 ERA. After shining in the bullpen Coach Rob Childress moved sophomore power arm Ryan Hendrix to the rotation last weekend and he went 4 1/3 innings before the rain came down.

The Sunday starter has yet to be announced for the Aggies, though there’s a good chance that freshman Turner Larkins is given the nod. Already making 11 starts this spring, the 6-foot-3 freshman features a full arsenal of pitches, including a low-90s fastball and he projects for more as he continues to add strength. Another strong point for the Aggies this spring along with everything else has been their bullpen, a consistent weapon that’s anchored by sophomore close Mark Ecker who has a 0.93 ERA and eight saves on the year.

The series features everything a die-hard baseball fan looks for, and while each team boasts elite pitching staffs, it’s going to be hard to hold back either offense in a three-game set.

Marquee Matchups, Ranked Opponents:

No. 10 Florida State at No. 8 Miami

While the weekend is full of enticing matchups worthy of the price of admission for any fan, perhaps the most intense series will take place in Coral Gables, Fla. Bitter rivals Florida State and Miami meet yet again, although this weekend has the makings of one of the better matchups between the two sides, at least in recent years, with both currently ranked in the top 10. The Hurricanes had won nine in a row before dropping a series to Virginia in Charlottesville last weekend, but they still hold a healthy 4 1/2 game lead over second place North Carolina in the ACC's Coastal Division.

Miami is expecting sell-out crowds this weekend, especially on Friday, where they'll unveil a statue of legendary former Head Coach Ron Fraser a few hours before the first pitch. Mark Light field has been a fortress for the Hurricanes this season, as they've gone an impressive 22-2 in Coral Gables, with their last home loss coming nearly a month ago, to Florida Gulf Coast on March 25. Florida State swept Pittsburgh last weekend in Tallahassee, and come into the weekend riding a five game-winning streak. However, the last time the Seminoles hit the road they were swept by Notre Dame and they'll look to improve upon their 5-9 road record in hostile territory.

Andrew Suarez has been solid since returning from injury with a 4-0 record and 2.09 ERA. He and the rest of the solid, underrated Miami pitching staff will have to contend with a typically patient and disciplined Seminoles lineup. Florida State again leads the ACC in walks and their lineup boasts six players with a on-base percentage of .390 (with a minimum of 100 plate appearances). The Seminoles also received a boost midweek when outfielder Ben DeLuzio appeared to break out of a prolonged slump in his sophomore season, by going 3-for-3 with two walks in Tuesday's contest against Stetson.

Miami has not won the season series between the two sides since 2009, and while the matchup appears to be pretty even, the Hurricanes have arguably their most talented team in recent memory and may finally be able to end the losing streak to their intrastate rivals.

No. 23 Missouri at No. 13 Vanderbilt

Tanner Houck (Photo: Mizzou Athletic Strategic Communications)

You better believe the scouts in attendance will have their radar guns charged for the upcoming weekend series in Nashville. The deep and talented Vanderbilt staff has been covered in great detail throughout the spring, but the Tigers have a bevy of arms themselves to match up well agsinst the Commodores. Missouri has already doubled the number of conference victories from last spring, with 12 this year and four series left to play.

Leading the way Friday night opposite Carson Fulmer is junior righthander Reggie McClain, a durable arm who works in the low-90s and has accrued a 60-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio over a team high 73 1/3 innings. The Saturday matchup against Walker Buehler will feature fantastic freshman Tanner Houck, a young righthander whose future is as bright as any with a heavy fastball that gets into the mid-90s. Houck currently leads the team with six wins and a 2.88 ERA, while Peter Fairbanks, a 6-foot-6 righthander, takes the ball on Sundays. The entire Mizzou staff gives way to closer Breckin Williams, a power arm who has gained some helium throughout the spring with his fastball that bumps the mid-90s while finding constant success.

The pitching has been the brightest spot for the Tigers and they will need to continue what they’ve done all spring in order to stifle a talent heavy Vanderbilt lineup, led by shortstop and top 2015 draft prospect Dansby Swanson. While this series won’t have the ultimate say in how the Eastern Division of the SEC shakes out, it will give the top some clarity for a moment as both clubs are tied with a 12-6 conference record.

No. 12 Southern California at No. 19 Oregon State

With their series victory against Oregon last weekend, Southern California has now won four of their five conference series and travel to Beaverton this weekend owners of a 10-5 record in conference and 29-10 overall. In his third season at the helm for the Trojans, Dan Hubbs has USC well on their way to their best record season in a decade when the 2005 team went 41-22. While the USC program had undergone some tough times until this spring, Pat Casey was able to build Oregon State into a juggernaut and force to be reckoned with on both a regional and national scale, capturing two national titles and four conference championships.

It'd be a stretch to say that their roles have reversed, as USC (3rd) currently sits above Oregon State (5th) in the Pac-12 standings by just two games, but is clear that Oregon State has failed to reproduce their performances from an outstanding 2014 campaign in which the Beavers finished 45-14. Such a drop-off was to be expected as the roster is littered with underclassmen (27 of 36 players are freshmen or sophomores). Two Oregon State freshmen in particular have helped the Beavers navigate their way through a tough Pac-12 slate. Righthander Drew Rasmussen has acquitted himself well in the Saturday's starter role, putting together a 4-3 record and 2.45 ERA in 66 innings. K.J. Harrison has been an anchor in the middle of the lineup with a team-leading seven home runs, 39 runs batted in and an impressive .345/.432/.606 triple-slash line.

Southern California has a bit more veteran-laden roster, although freshman righthander Mitch Hart has provided the Trojans with a solid younger arm to team up with junior lefty Kyle Twomey and steady righty Brent Wheatley. Their offense has been particularly impressive, as a team they have hit a collective .299/.377/.402. In particular, senior Garrett Stubbs and redshirt junior Bobby Stahel have put together tremendous 2015 campaigns with Stubbs swiping a conference-best 17 bases and is fifth in the league in batting average (.354), while Stahel boasts a .414/.438/586 line, trailing only Arizona's Scott Kingery in batting average.

No. 25 Nebraska at No. 24 Iowa

Kyle Kubat (Photo: Nebraska)

Nebraska opened the year outside of Perfect Game's Top 25, but were recognized as the 36th best team in the nation as part of the 2015 season preview. The entered the rankings on March 30 after sweeping the then-ranked Texas Longhorns, which came just after an 11-game win streak and a mid-week win over Cal State Fullerton. They have since scuffled somewhat, being swept at the hands of Maryland while losing last weekend's series against surging Ohio State, and they're at risk of being pushed out of the Top 25 altogether with a series loss to Iowa.

The Hawkeyes at 10-2, and 27-11 overall, are second in the conference to No. 9 Illinois, who they aren't scheduled to play during the regular season. Iowa has been surging since the beginning of conference play, sweeping both Indiana and Purdue while taking their most recent series against Maryland and Northwestern.

Both teams are incredibly well coached, as Darin Erstad of the Huskers and Rick Heller of the Hawkeyes preach team-oriented fundamentals with the results being reflected in their respective 30-13 and 27-11 overall records. While pitching is the strength for both Nebraska and Iowa – they're currently third and fourth in the Big Ten in team ERA at 2.73 and 2.92 respectively – Saturday's matchup between precision lefthander Kyle Kubat (4-2, 2.19 ERA) and fireballing righthander Blake Hickman (6-1, 2.56 ERA) could be one of the best in the conference this season.

Marquee Matchups, Rankings Impact:

Texas at No. 6 Texas Christian

The Horned Frogs opened up the season as one of the top teams in the country and have continued to hold steady, currently ranked at No. 8 in the Top 25. TCU has received a steady diet of strong pitching throughout the spring and have a terrific quartet of starters in the weekend staff of senior Preston Morrison, lefthander Alex Young and former Perfect Game All-American Mitchell Traver, with lefthander Tyler Alexander taking the ball on weekdays. All three weekend starters have an ERA below 2.00 and have helped the staff ERA sit at an amazing 2.15 through 39 games. Mid-90s closer Riley Ferrell has been magnificent as well, sporting a 0.95 ERA with 10 saves and more than a 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Texas opened up the year ranked within the Perfect Game Top 25, and though they’ve had to battle through some key injuries, they currently stand with a 8-7 conference record. Heading up the weekend staff is senior Parker French who has continued to provide quality starts just as the Longhorns hoped he would, sporting a 2.09 ERA over 10 starts and 60 innings pitched. The TCU pitching will have to work carefully around a couple of Texas hitters, especially junior outfielder Ben Johnson who leads the team in nearly every offensive statistic; batting average (.341), doubles (9), triples (6), RBI (26) and slugging percentage (.557). The category that belongs to somebody else however is home runs, led by sophomore catcher Tres Barrera who has already belted six long balls. Barrera has split time behind the plate with another high-end talent, freshman Michael Cantu who continues to shine both defensively and with the stick.

No. 17 Oklahoma State at Texas Tech

Eric Gutierrez (Photo: Texas Tech)

Texas Tech's situation is fairly similar to that of Houston's as mentioned below. They opened the year with big expectations coming off of a College World Series appearance and a preseason rank of 12. The Red Raiders dropped out of the Perfect Game poll in late March despite winning 10 of their first 11 games. However, Texas Tech is 7-2 since losing their series against TCU in early April, although the conference-leading Oklahoma State Cowboys present them with their stiffest competition since then. First baseman Eric Gutierrez has gotten back on track after a slow start and is now hitting .324 with 14 extra-base hits, which includes two home runs, and 34 driven in.

Oklahoma State opened the year ranked just behind Texas Tech and No. 13, although they were ushered quickly out of the rankings after two weekends of play, only to rebound well enough to find themselves back in the mix in recent weeks thanks to a 27-13 overall record and a 10-5 mark in the Big 12, which leads the conference. The Cowboys' success has come largely due to their strong overall pitching staff, with Saturday starter Michael Freeman standing out in particular with a 6-2 record and a 1.31 ERA.

UC Irvine at Cal State Fullerton

Goodwin Field in Fullerton, California will play host to another one of the weekend's crucial series. UC Irvine will make the short trek up I-5 to take on a Cal State Fullerton squad coming off a series loss against a hot Maryland Terrapins squad. Fullerton has played a particularly daunting non-conference schedule, with series against Stanford, Texas Tech, and Baylor to go along with midweek games against UCLA, San Diego, Nebraska, and USC. As a result they carry an average looking 20-19 overall record into the weekend. However, they've been typically strong in conference play and enter the weekend tied for second place with UC Santa Barbara at 6-3 in the Big West (although they did drop a non-conference series against Long Beach State earlier this spring).

Two and a half games ahead of the Titans in the Big West Standings, UC Irvine's 10-2 conference record has been buoyed by series victories at UC Riverside, and at home against Long Beach State, UC Davis, and Hawaii. With a 23-14 overall record, the Anteaters have been very good at home (16-5), and, like most college teams, have encountered more issues on the road (7-9). Despite the short road trip, UC Irvine will undoubtedly be tested from a hungry and battle-tested Cal State Fullerton team.

Generally regarded as a more defense and pitching oriented program, Irvine still has strong starting pitchers in Matt Esparza (7-1, 2.94 ERA), Elliot Surrey (4-3, 2.99 ERA) and Evan Manarino (4-1, 3.53), but it should be recognized that their offense has been a strength as well. Buoyed by strong performances by junior Mikey Duarte (.345/.423/.446), freshman Keston Hiura (.342/.414/.527) and powerful redshirt sophomore Andrew Martinez (.250/.366/.618, 8 home runs) the Anteater offense is currently third in the conference in batting average. They'll face some of their stiffest competition this weekend, with well-renowned junior righthanders Thomas Eshelman and Justin Garza leading the way for the Titan rotation. Often overlooked lefty Tyler Peitzmeier has been a stalwart in Fullerton's bullpen this spring, with 12 saves and 33 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings.

Houston at South Florida

Jimmy Herget (Photo: John Kersten)

After opening the year as Perfect Game's eighth ranked team things haven't gone as planned for the Houston Cougars. They remained in the Top 25 up until two weeks ago, although may be knocking at the door for consideration once again. Now with a 27-14 overall record, and a 7-5 mark in the competitive American Athletic Conference, the Cougars travel to Tampa, Fla., to take on the conference leading USF Bulls. Houston is led by Chris Iriart on offense, a transfer from Orange Coast College who is putting together a fine season by hitting .336 with 13 home runs and 31 RBI. While their preseason All-American ace Jake Lemoine has been shelved due to a shoulder injury the past several weeks, freshman Seth Romero, sophomore Andrew Lantrip and redshirt junior Kyle Dowdy have all stepped up in his absence to give opposing teams a formidable staff to contend with.

The Bulls currently lead the conference with a 8-4 mark, just a one game lead on both Houston and the upstart Memphis Tigers, and are 27-14-1 overall. They too have a formidable staff, led by Friday ace Jimmy Herget, Joe Cavallaro and Casey Mulholland, and extending to closer Tommy Peterson, who is among the national leaders in saves with 12. The Herget vs. Lantrip matchup on Friday will pit two of the best hurlers in the conference, and could set the tone for the rest of the weekend with American Athletic Conference supremacy on the line.

National Notes:

• The American Athletic Conference continues to assert itself in year two of its existence. Besides the aforementioned Houston/South Florida series, two other weekend matchups in the league deserve mention. Second place Memphis (26-12) visits Connecticut (27-15), while East Carolina (25-16) hosts Central Florida (26-16). All four of these teams have legitimate at-large bid hopes at this point.

The league office should consider a name change to "Conference RPI" as the AAC now boasts the No. 3 conference RPI nationally. To drive those numbers home, the AAC has seven teams with an RPI of 56 or better. For perspective, only the ACC and SEC have more teams with that caliber of RPI.

• For as dominant as No. 3 Louisville has been during conference play in the ACC (19-2) they have really had trouble with their midweek opponents recently, losing three of their last five. Last night they lost to Western Kentucky, two weeks ago to Ohio State and roughly a month ago to Indiana. That hasn't hurt their ranking since they have swept five of their seven in-conference opponents during their first year in the ACC, but it could point to a bigger problem once they reach the postseason.

A big part of that has been the ineffectiveness of Anthony Kidston, who opened the year as the team's Saturday starter before being bumped back to the midweek role. He entered the year with a career 14-1 record and 2.60 ERA prior to struggling this year, as he now uncharacteristically 0-4 with a 5.31 ERA in 10 appearances, eight of which have been starts.

One of those relief appearances came last night, providing three innings of scoreless baseball in the loss. Getting Kidston back to form in low pressure situations to secure the midweek role, while solifying a fourth reliable starter behind Kyle Funkhouser, Brendan McKay and Josh Rogers with the postseason rapidly approaching, would be huge for the Cardinals, who are looking to get back to Omaha for the third consecutive year.

• Speaking of struggles in midweek contests, Coastal Carolina fell at the hands of the College of Charleston for the second straight week, 8-5, on Wednesday night. The Chanticleers had much better fortunes earlier in the season with some tough opponents outside of their weekend series, with wins over North Carolina, Clemson, South Carolina and Wake Forest occuring in four consecutive weeks starting in early March. They have yet another stiff opponent next week in UNC-Wilmington leading up to their weekend series on the road against Florida State.

• It's hard to overlook the phenomenal sophomore season being put together by Austin Peay's Logan Gray. With a long and projectable 6-foot-3, 184-pound frame, Gray has built off a strong freshman campaign in which he hit six home runs while starting the majority of games at shortstop. Well, Gray has brought even more power to the premium position this spring and is currently tied with Arkansas' Andrew Benintendi for the national lead in home runs with 14. He's having his way at the plate, hitting a solid .358 clip while driving in 38 runs and swiping 11 bases in as many attempts, all team highs aside from the stolen bases, in which he ranks second.

• In a year when injuries have ravaged College Baseball of so much of its top talent, we finally have some good news … and some more bad news.

After missing his last start with a minor trapezius injury, UCSB ace Dillon Tate will rejoin the Gauchos' rotation this weekend in his familiar Friday night role. Tate is currently 10th in the country in hits allowed per nine innings (5.59) and he remains in the conversation for the first pick overall in the June draft.

Joe McCarthy of Virginia and Pete Alonso of Florida are two physical hitters who have been sorely missed all season. McCarthy, who was out as he recovered from back surgery, has made an immediate impact by hitting .313 with an on base percentage of .522 since his return. Additionally, Virginia is 4-1 with McCarthy back in the lineup including a huge series win over Miami.

Alonso was expected to provide big power for the Gators after a strong freshman season and a huge summer in which he hit 18 home runs in the Northwoods League. A broken foot in the preseason derailed those hopes, temporarily, as Alonso is back in the Gators' lineup and already making a difference. Alonso has chipped in with two home runs and 11 RBI since returning, and not coincidentally, Florida is 9-3 since his return.

The bad news comes from Charlottesville once again as Nathan Kirby will miss 6-8 weeks while he rehabs a lat injury. That timeline has Kirby back around the Super Regionals which most likely means the projected first rounder's season and college career are over. Virginia may still make a Regional this year despite the losses of Kirby and John La Prise – who is also out for year with a hip surgery – combined with Joe McCarthy missing two full months. If the Cavaliers make that happen, Brian O'Connor deserves votes for Coach of the Year.

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