THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,401 MLB PLAYERS | 15,805 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,401 MLB PLAYERS | 15,805 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Sign in Create Account
Sign in Create Account
College  | Story | 3/24/2016

Weekend Preview: Week 6

Patrick Ebert
Jheremy Brown
Mike Rooney
Andrew Krause
Photo: South Carolina Athletic Dept.




Perfect Game Top 25 | National Notebook | Video Vault | Perfect Game College Baseball on SiriusXM College Sports

It's hard to believe that we're nearly to the halfway point of the regular season for college baseball, and yet we're only a week or two into conference play. In fact, few conferences have yet to begin conference play and teams North of the Sun Belt will have to contend with frigid temperatures over the next few days.

This weekend there are six series that will see Top 25 ranked opponents play one another, and each one of those series is detailed below. Also detailed is the first of two matchups between Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State, the first of which is technically a non-conference series between the two long-time Southern California rivals. The winner of this series may very well find themselves in the Top 25 come Monday.

Stay tuned to Perfect Game throughout the weekend as Jheremy Brown will be in Chapel Hill, N.C., providing updates from the Georgia Tech/North Carolina series and Brian Sakowski will be attending the Arizona State/Utah series in Tempe.


Top 25 in Action
Rk. Team Opponent Location
1 Florida at Kentucky Lexington, KY
2 Texas A&M home vs. No. 10 Louisiana State College Station, TX
3 Oregon State at No. 15 California Berkeley, CA
4 Texas Christian at Texas Austin, TX
5 North Carolina home vs. Georgia Tech Chapel Hill, NC
6 Miami home vs. No. 18 Clemson Coral Gables, FL
7 Vanderbilt at Missouri Columbia, MO
8 Louisville home vs. No. 12 Virginia Louisville, KY
9 Mississippi home vs. No. 19 South Carolina Oxford, MS
10 Louisiana State at No. 2 Texas A&M College Station, TX
11 Florida State home vs. No. 14 NC State Tallahassee, FL
12 Virginia at No. 8 Louisville Louisville, KY
13 Mississippi State home vs. Georgia Starkville, MS
14 NC State at No. 11 Florida State Tallahassee, FL
15 California home vs. No. 3 Oregon State Berkeley, CA
16 UCLA at Arizona Tucson, AZ
17 Houston home vs. George Washington Houston, TX
18 Clemson at No. 6 Miami Coral Gables, FL
19 South Carolina at No. 9 Mississippi Oxford, MS
20 Oklahoma State at Kansas State Manhattan, KS
21 Coastal Carolina home vs. Stetson Conway, SC
22 Arkansas home vs. Auburn Fayetteville, AR
23 Texas Tech home vs. Oklahoma Lubbock, TX
24 Oregon at Washington Seattle, WA
25 Michigan home vs. Illinois-Chicago Ann Arbor, MI



Top 25 Matchups

The weekend ahead features six series that pit Top 25-ranked opponents against one another. Here's a quick look at those series:

No. 10 Louisiana State at No. 2 Texas A&M

Last season this was a must-see, midseason match-up between the top two ranked teams in the country as Louisiana State held the No. 1 seed while the Aggies and their No. 2 ranking hit the road traveling to The Box for prime time television. The Aggies find themselves in a familiar national position as they climbed back to No. 2 after taking two of three from Auburn last weekend while the Tigers look to rebound after grabbing just one win last weekend at home against Alabama.
Boomer White (Texas A&M)
The key to this series will boil down to how the Tiger’s arms handle the hot Aggies’ bats. And the fact that this is a Thursday-Sunday series is something of note as well as LSU played their Friday game last weekend on Saturday, meaning lefthander Jared Poché will be working on just four days’ rest. It’s also the first time in his career that LSU sophomore Alex Lange is coming off a loss. As a team Texas A&M is hitting .348 (good for fourth nationally) and they’re led by transfer Boomer White who’s paying immediate dividends hitting .424 on the year while bringing even more experience to an already seasoned group.

No. 3 Oregon State at No. 15 California

California's last two weekends haven't gone according to plan, as they dropped one contest against visiting Texas Tech and were forced to cancel the final pair of games due to inclement weather, and lost the series to rival Southern California in Los Angeles last weekend. Although they return to Berkeley this weekend, the task doesn't get much easier as they have to play host to one of the best teams in the country in Oregon State. 

The Beavers have been playing at a high level, but the Golden Bears are also their stiffest competition to date. It'll be an intriguing conference clash of two very talented teams. Pitching has certainly been an area of strength for both clubs to this point in the season, but the key battle of this series would appear to be the matchup between the California pitchers and the Oregon State hitters. Led by their electric ace, Daulton Jefferies, the Golden Bears have been able to stymie opposing lineups more often than not, but the Beavers have a whopping eight qualified hitters hitting over .300, including catcher Logan Ice (.442), and the vaunted infield trio of Nick Madrigal (.384), Trever Morrison (.344) and Cadyn Grenier (.328). 


No. 18 Clemson at No. 6 Miami

After taking two out of three from Louisville this past weekend, the Canes welcome the red-hot Clemson Tigers to Coral Gables for what should be a very entertaining matchup of cross-divisional rivals. Although Thomas Woodrey hasn't been at his best for the Hurricanes, fellow southpaw starters Danny Garcia and Michael Mediavilla have been nails thus far this spring. Similarly, the backend of the Miami bullpen is in good hands with Bryan Garcia who has power stuff. 
Seth Beer (Bradley Moore, Clemson Athletic Communications)
Still, they'll be tested against a Clemson team that is hitting .286/.394/.446 this spring. Freshman outfielder Seth Beer has been an absolute difference maker for the Tigers as he leads the team in batting average (.453), home runs (9), and RBI (25) all while walking more times (12) than he's struck out (6). He'll face arguably his toughest competition to date, in the lefthanded trio of Miami starters, but he's clearly adjusted just fine to collegiate baseball and his walk-off home run against Boston College on Sunday afternoon allows Clemson to enter this series with plenty of swagger. 


No. 19 South Carolina at No. 9 Ole Miss

South Carolina was poised to enter the rankings a few weeks ago, but a series loss at the hands of their in-state rivals made them have to wait. Now they’re in, making their debut right behind Clemson as the 19th-ranked team in the nation. The number of players – veterans, underclassman and transfers – performing at a high level is truly remarkable. They have a pair of three-headed monsters, one in the middle of their lineup (John Jones, Dom Thompson-Williams and Alex Destino) and one guiding their pitching staff (Clarke Schmidt, Braden Webb and Adam Hill).

Ole Miss is proving to be just as big of an upstart, making a statement early in the year by taking their series at home against Louisville, who opened the year as the No. 2 team in the nation. The Rebels’ starting staff has been strong, but it has been the bullpen that has been most impressive, with five pitchers logging at least seven innings of work and ERA’s below 1.70. The trio of J.B. Woodman, Tate Blackman and Colby Bortles is Ole Miss’ answer to the Gamecocks hitters listed above, and overall this series should be one of, if not the most entertaining ones of the weekend, if not the year.

No. 12 Virginia at No. 8 Louisville

Louisville has come under fire somewhat after their weekend loss at the hands of Miami, their third straight series loss against a tough opponent in a tough situation going back to last year’s Super Regional loss at home to Cal State Fullerton. We still believe Louisville is one of the top programs in the country and have the pieces to get back on track. While this weekend they’ll be back at home, things don’t get any easier as the Cardinals host the defending National Champion Virginia Cavaliers.
John Sansone (Larry Novey)
On Friday Kyle Funkhouser is going to have to step up and find his form from previous years as Virginia ace Connor Jones doesn’t beat himself. However, after that Virginia will have to find the right combination of arms that match up well with Brendan McKay and Drew Harrington, as aside from McKay’s hiccup last weekend, those two have been almost as consistent as Jones has. Expect a close, well-pitched series where some late-inning heroes are likely to emerge.


No. 14 NC State at No. 11 Florida State

Coming off a series win at home against Notre Dame last weekend, the Wolfpack of North Carolina State find themselves traveling into Tallahassee to take on Coach Mike Martins 11th-ranked Seminoles. Two of the seven ACC clubs that are ranked within the Top 25, this weekend series is sure to have a couple of high scoring affairs with the potent offenses in either dugout.

While State’s weekend rotation has continued to improve since opening weekend, the offense has been a constant, connecting for 22 home runs (second most In the ACC), seven of which belong to slugger Chance Shepard, and putting together a .302 team batting average. Florida State’s top power comes from John Sansone (three home runs) but he’s also their most consistent hitter with a .415 average. As a whole the offense is a steady one top to bottom with a cumulative .312/.431/.442 triple slash and five everyday regulars who are currently hitting north of the .300 mark. 



Marquee Matchup

Long Beach State at Cal State Fullerton

If you're developing a love of College Baseball, then you will love the history of this Titans/Dirtbags rivalry. And if you're already a fan of this annual battle between Southern California neighbors, then you will love the fact that a spot in the Perfect Game Top 25 is most likely on the line this weekend.

This is one of the few rivalries out there where the two teams still play each other six times. The first time they meet each year is the non-conference weekend slate whereas the conference series between the Titans and Dirtbags is always played over the very last regular season weekend of the year.

This rivalry became real in 1988 when Dave Snow took over the Long Beach State program. That is because he had worked for Augie Garrido (and with George Horton) at Cal State Fullerton, and those were the two Titans head coaches during Snow's tenure in Long Beach. While the intensity between these two programs was palpable, the respect level was even higher. Rumor had it that Snow and Horton personally scouted each other's teams, a role normally reserved for assistant coaches. The rivalry was that important.

These two programs had quickly become nationally relevant and trips to Omaha happened frequently. Between 1989 and 1998, Long Beach State and Fullerton accounted for nine trips to the College World Series and that included the Titans' 1995 National Championship.

The rivalry continued to gain steam as the two lead assistants, Mike Weathers and George Horton, took over their respective programs. The pinnacle of the rivalry came in 2004. This was a year in which Long Beach State earned a Top 8 National Seed and Fullerton went on to win the National Championship.

The box score from 2004 that is shown says it all.  For Fullerton Kurt Suzuki hit third, Justin Turner hit ninth and Vinnie Pestano closed the game out. For Long Beach State Troy Tulowitski played shortstop, Jason Vargas was the designated hitter (he was a two-way player in college) and Jered Weaver was on the mound. Five of the six starting pitchers in this series went on to pitch in the big leagues. Ironically, the loss reflected in this box score left the Titans at 15-15 and looking like anything but a National Championship team.



And if you're still not convinced, let's talk about modern day Major Leaguers. In 2015, these two programs had a combined 25 former players play in the big leagues at some point. Long Beach State had 15 of those but the Titans' 10 is an impressive number in its own right.

Fast-forward to 2016 and these are two teams who share an interesting postseason profile. Both clubs have played a non-conference slate chock-full of brand name programs. Long Beach State has the edge here with series victories over Arizona State, Nebraska and Oklahoma and the Dirtbags have won five weekend series in a row. The Titans' resume includes a sweep over Indiana and a road series win over Texas Tech, but they have played the likes of Arizona State, Stanford, Arizona and Maryland.

Both clubs are built in vintage West Coast fashion: a star at shortstop, solid starting pitching, a deep bullpen, plus defense and an opportunistic offense. Garrett Hampson has been the shortstop at Long Beach State since day one of his freshman year and this is clearly his team. Timmy Richards took over at shortstop last year and his emergence was a key to the Titans' run to Omaha. Ironically, Richards went to Long Beach Wilson High School.

Current head coaches Rick Vanderhook and Troy Buckley have been part of this rivalry for a long time. As is always the case, this battle will come down to the three baseball fundamentals that are valued so deeply on the West Coast: throw strikes, play catch, put the ball in play. Let the games begin.
Give us your feedback
College | Story | 4/7/2026

College Players of the Week: April 7
Craig Cozart
Article Image
April 7th Perfect Game/Player of the Week:  Andrew Williamson, OF, UCF  The UCF Knights (20-9) are coming off one of their biggest series victories in years when they went to Morgantown and took down the Mountaineers to take control of the Big 12 regular season standings.  The offense put on quite the performance and Andrew Williamson set the tone by leaving the yard in his first at-bat of the weekend launching a towering home run over the centerfield wall.  The 6-0/195 lefty from St. Petersburg, FL has one of the sweetest strokes in the college game today and when he goes, so do the Knights.  In the 3-game series, the junior collected 6 hits in his 10 at-bats, scoring 6 runs, on 5 walks, a double and he launched 3 home runs all told.  While he had a stretch earlier in the season where he was searching for his stroke a bit, he is getting locked in at the...
Read More
College | Rankings | 4/6/2026

College Top 25: April 6

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
With another week in the books, some teams at the top continue to prove they are elite, and others continue to fall by the wayside.  Meanwhile, there were several teams that had been lingering outside the Top 25 that had huge weekends to put themselves in the thick of things as every weekend has significant consequences for good or for bad.  The No. 1 UCLA Bruins (29-2) have now pushed their win streak to an incredible 23-games as they swept USC (27-6) who was previously ranked No. 7 in the poll.  The Bruins are off to a perfect (15-0) start in Big Ten play and are without a doubt the most complete team in the country right now.  The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (26-5) move up to No. 2 this week after they dismantled now No. 12 Auburn (22-9) in the midweek and then swept Cal on the West Coast last weekend.  Texas (26-5) moves down one spot to No. 3 this week after...
Read More
Draft | Mock Draft | 4/3/2026

PG Staff Mock Draft

Jheremy Brown
Article Image
Welcome to another Perfect Game Mock Draft. This is not your typical mock draft as it features 15 different GMs drafting the first two rounds of the draft. Each member of the mock draft was assigned two teams and as such will be drafting all of the picks in the first two rounds for each responsible team. The actual draft order will be presented below and we will dive into how teams made their selections and how they feel about the players drafted. It is important to note that this is not how we think the draft will play out in almost any capacity. This is simply an exercise 4 months ahead of time with a large portion of the scouting staff and some picks fall under personal favorites, best available, and a multitude of other factors. Chicago White Sox 1:1 Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA | 1:41 Jack Radel, RHP, Notre Dame The White Sox don’t overthink here and select Roch Cholowsky, who has...
Read More
High School | General | 4/2/2026

High School Notebook: April 2

Steve Fiorindo
Article Image
Lennex Minor (‘28 CA) absolutely destroys this offering to the PS for a 2-run shot. 2-4 on the day w/ 4 driven in. Athletic in the box w/ a quick stroke and strength throughout the frame. Also closed out the game running the FB up to 88 in a St. Bernard win #PGHS @PG_Scouting pic.twitter.com/KF7BsKGcm7 — Perfect Game California (@California_PG) March 29, 2026 Lennex Minor, MIF/P, St. Bernard (2028) Minor had a massive day in my look this past Saturday in a game being played at the University of San Diego.  The sophomore had a pair of hits, one which was a no-doubt homer, and drove in four.  Minor’s athleticism jumps out on the field with twitchy actions both at the dish and in the dirt.  He features a 6-foot, 170-pound frame with room to add and generates from a strong lower half and exceptionally quick hands.  Showing two-way potential, he made an...
Read More
High School | General | 4/2/2026

NHSI Scout Notebook

Cam McElwaney
Article Image
An extended look at ‘26 RHP Wilson Andersen… 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 6 K. @HailStateBB signee. #NHSI26 @JesuitBaseball @Florida_PG @PG_Draft @PGAllAmerican https://t.co/VLwECd2qZ8 pic.twitter.com/JbTFR3Gd2l — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) March 30, 2026 Wilson Andersen, RHP, Tampa Jesuit  Andersen got the ball on day two of the event and showed a quick tempo, pounding the zone with a power mix. He ran the fastball up to 97 mph, working comfortably in the mid-90s, with a power curveball/changeup mix he showed confidence in. He’s one of the top right-handers in the class that saw his stock rise in Cary. Andersen is signed with Mississippi State.    An extended look at ‘26 RHP Cooper Sides… 5 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. @LSUbaseball signee. #NHSI26 @olubaseball @PG_Draft @California_PG https://t.co/Ag1MfBAR5a pic.twitter.com/5wSszVjBn8...
Read More
All American Game | Story | 4/2/2026

All American Classic Heading to Citizens Bank

Article Image
  667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923 www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   PERFECT GAME DICK’S ALL-AMERICAN CLASSIC HEADED TO CITIZENS BANK PARK IN 2026   Perfect Game makes debut at iconic Phillies venue during America’s 250th birthday celebration   Former Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel named Honorary Chairman of All-American Classic   Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Thursday, April 2, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced that the 2026 Perfect Game DICK’S All-American Classic will be played at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, marking the first time a Perfect Game event has ever been held at the iconic home of the Philadelphia Phillies.   The game will take place on...
Read More
College | Rankings | 4/1/2026

DII/DIII/NAIA Rankings Update: April 1

Nick Herfordt
Article Image
Welcome to another week of Perfect Game Small School baseball — and if you're looking for clarity at the top, you've come to the wrong place. Across all three classifications, the No. 1 spot is very much an open question, and nobody is sleeping comfortably right now. In NCAA Division II, Pittsburg State is stumbling at precisely the wrong moment, leaving the door cracked wide open for hungry challengers to come knocking. In the NAIA, defending national champion LSU Shreveport has dropped four straight and suddenly looks far more vulnerable than a program of their pedigree ever expects to be. And in NCAA Division III, the race for the top ranking is less a competition and more a ten-car pileup of elite programs, none of whom have done enough to pull away — and all of whom have done plenty to deserve it. Three classifications, three vacancies at the top, and a whole lot of...
Read More
Juco | Story | 4/1/2026

JUCO Top 25: April 1

Troy Sutherland
Article Image
Another week of JUCO baseball and another week full of wins for No. 1 ranked Johnson County . The Cavaliers have won 18 games in a row and have swept through the Jayhawk Conference to this point, setting a new school home run record along the way. Walters State returns to the top 5 this week on the strength of a 12-game winning streak. Both McLennan and Pearl River are coming off of undefeated weeks and look like strong top 10 caliber teams, while Midland (now 30-3) continues to climb in the rankings for the third consecutive week. For the first time all year this ranking will feature 4 California schools as Palomar joins Ohlone, Fresno City and Santa Ana in the JUCO rankings. Check back in next week for an update as most of JUCO baseball is now past its halfway point in the 2026 season. RK School Week Overall 1 Johnson County (KS) 4-0 34-2 2 Gaston (NC) 2-1 35-3 3 Walters State (TN) 3-0...
Read More
College | Story | 4/1/2026

Collegiate Midseason All-Americans

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
Collegiate Midseason Awards * denotes Midseason Award Winner - All-Americans chosen based on statistics, prospect status, future projection, among other factors - Only true freshmen considered for Freshmen All-American teams - All Statistics as of Monday, March 30th First Team Hitters Pos. Name School Class AVG OBP SLG R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB C Vahn Lackey Georgia Tech JR .423 .541 .845 36 41 9 1 10 36 7 1B Quinton Coats Cincinnati SO .360 .441 .896 38 45 8 1 19 46 7 2B Jarren Advincula Georgia Tech JR .411 .489 .563 31 46 2 0 5 30 5 3B Ace Reese Mississippi State JR .330 .417 .661 32 36 12 0 8 37 1 SS Roch Cholowsky UCLA JR .350 .493 .730 39 35 8 0 10 32 1 IF Dee Kennedy Kansas State JR .430 .549 .910 44 43 10 1 12 43 15 OF Will Gasparino UCLA JR .351 .468 .794 31 34 5 1 12 38 1 OF AJ Gracia Virginia JR .350 .504 .650 37 36 7 0 8 24 1 OF Landon Hairston* Arizona State SO .469 .551 1.027 44...
Read More
High School | Rankings | 3/31/2026

High School Top 50: March 31

Tyler Russo
Article Image
Another pair of weeks has gone by this high school season and with that we have another High School Top-50 Update. Southern states are within a few weeks of the end of the season while some northern states are just getting started this week. Through the end of the spring, we will be bringing you updates to the Top-50 along with state rankings updates coming soon. For the first time in 2026, we have a new #1 in the country as Orange Lutheran (CA) takes over the top spot after winning the NHSI. Venice (FL) came in second place at the NHSI after a thrilling game against Orange Lutheran and comes in at #2. Previous #1 team in the country St. John Bosco (CA) rounds out the top-3 and will have a big showdown against Orange Lutheran starting tonight. Barbe (LA) boasts a 26-1 record and comes in at #4 while Corona (CA) continues to string together wins and holds down the #5 spot in this update....
Read More
Loading more articles...
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2026 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.