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College  | Story | 4/5/2018

Weekend Preview: Week 8

Patrick Ebert
Mike Rooney
Photo: Arizona Athletics




Midseason College Honors | College Top 25 | Player/Pitcher of the Week | College Player Database

The eighth weekend of the 2018 season has some interesting matchups as several teams will be looking to right the ship after tough losses last weekend. A few of those programs have been dealing with tough losses all season long and could be out of the Top 25 come Monday if they aren't on the winning side of things this weekend. TCU, Louisville and Texas A&M are among these programs, as none of the three have fared very well since conference play opened a few weeks ago.

How Oregon State rebounds from their first weekend series loss in nearly two years will also be interesting to follow. They travel to Tucson to take on the Arizona Wildcats, a team they swept last year, in Corvallis, in what at the time was a crucial matchup between two very highly ranked opponents. Arizona is 17-10 but they have lost some meaningful matchups as they were swept by Washington and by three Big Ten teams at the Dairy Queen Classic in Minneapolis in early March.

Another big series in the Pac-12 pits No. 2 Stanford against No. 21 UCLA, in Los Angeles. Mike Rooney breaks down both of those big Pac-12 series below along with a look at No. 16 Oklahoma at No. 23 TCU and how those two clubs appear to be going in opposite directions.

Stay tuned to Perfect Game over the weekend as Vinnie Cervino will be be in Los Angeles, Calif., to take in Stanford at UCLA, Greg Gerard will see Stetson play at Kennesaw State and Florida State play at Georgia Tech, Brian Sakowski will be on hand for Kent State at Central Michigan and Britt Smith will cover Oklahoma at TCU.


Top 25 in Action
Rk. Team Opponent Location
1 Florida at Tennessee Knoxville, TN
2 Stanford at No. 21 UCLA Los Angeles, CA
3 Ole Miss at Mississippi State Starkville, MS
4 Oregon State at Arizona Tucson, AZ
5 NC State at No. 22 Louisville Louisville, KY
6 Texas Tech at Kansas Lawrence, KS
7 Florida State at Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA
8 Arkansas home vs. No. 13 Auburn Fayetteville, AR
9 Clemson at Notre Dame South Bend, IN
10 Kentucky home vs. South Carolina Lexington, KY
11 Duke at Wake Forest Winston-Salem, NC
12 Indiana home vs. Purdue Bloomington, IN
13 Auburn at No. 8 Arkansas Fayetteville, AR
14 Southern Miss home vs. Western Kentucky Hattiesburg, MS
15 Vanderbilt home vs. No. 25 Georgia Nashville, TN
16 Oklahoma at No. 23 Texas Christian Fort Worth, TX
17 East Carolina at Washington Seattle, WA
18 Louisiana State at No. 19 Texas A&M College Station, TX
19 Texas A&M home vs. No. 18 Louisiana State College Station, TX
20 Missouri home vs. Alabama Columbia, MO
21 UCLA home vs. No. 2 Stanford Los Angeles, CA
22 Louisville home vs. No. 5 NC State Louisville, KY
23 Texas Christian home vs. No. 16 Oklahoma Forth Worth, TX
24 Sam Houston State at Nicholls Thibodaux, LA
25 Georgia at No. 15 Vanderbilt Nashville, TN


Frogs’ hop out of sync

As the 2018 season opened college baseball fans had to believe it could be a special one for TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle. He had guided the Horned Frogs to Omaha the previous four seasons, seemingly getting a little bit closer to the CWS Finals with each trip. Last year TCU saw their season come to a close in an elimination game, losing to the eventual champion Florida Gators in the semifinals that saw Alex Faedo out-duel Jared Janczak.

This season started off on the right foot for TCU as they took their opening series against Grand Canyon, as the Lopes opened their brand-new ballpark in Phoenix, and they went on to beat a pair of Big West foes in Long Beach State and UC Irvine at home. Since then things haven’t been quite as right, as the Frogs are 5-8 since the beginning of the Dodger Stadium Classic in early March and they limp into their weekend series against No. 16 Oklahoma in the midst of a four-game losing streak.

In fairness to TCU two of their losses to Oklahoma State, the first and third games of the series, were of the walkoff variety, and one of those came in extra innings. In the second game of the series the Cowboys scored seven runs in the seventh and eighth innings to move ahead and secure the win.

The pitching hasn’t been its customary self, as the starting trio of Janczak, Nick Lodolo and Sean Wymer – believed to be one of the nation’s best entering the season – gave up 14 runs, all earned, in 16 1/3 combined innings over those three games. The bullpen didn’t fare much better.

And while the offense did their job when it came to collecting base hits as a team they’re batting .264 with only two players batting over .300: Michael Landestoy (.337) and Josh Watson (.330).

Oklahoma appears to be going in the opposite direction, as they swept each of their first two Big 12 opponents, West Virginia and Baylor, and have a few other statement wins this season over Indiana, Dallas Baptist and Alabama.

The Sooners have five regulars – Brady Lindsly, Steele Walker, Cade Harris, Kyle Mendenhall and Brandon Zaragoza – batting over .300, and two others, Brylie Ware and Kyler Murray, who aren’t far off. Five of those seven batters have at least 20 RBI, and while they don’t have a lot of power they do seem to have a knack for coming up with a big hit when it’s needed the most.

On the weekend staff Jake Irvin (5-0, 2.27 ERA) and Devon Perez (3-0, 2.27) are getting the job done, as expected, and once again their numbers are remarkably similar. Irvin has picked up where he left off a season ago when he was named a Perfect Game Midseason All-American, just as he was this year.

The bullpen is also doing its job, as the staff under the guidance of new head coach and pitching guru Skip Johnson has a cumulative 3.28 ERA with a 314-to-108 strike-to-walk ratio in 282 1/3 combined innings. They’re second in the Big 12 in ERA behind Texas Tech and as an offense they’re third in scoring runs, behind Texas Tech and Texas.

Janczak was also a Midseason All-American a year ago and the projected matchup between he and Irvin is going to be one of the best college baseball has to offer this weekend. While Irvin has pitched like a staff ace, Janczak, at 1-1 this season with a still-respectable 3.07 ERA, has not, and setting the tone early in this series could be key in Schlossnagle getting his Frogs back on track.

Keep in mind that TCU hit a rough patch last year as well, losing three of their final five Big 12 series before they re-grouped for their postseason march to Omaha. The last of those series losses came against – you guessed it – Oklahoma.

– Patrick Ebert


Elite pitching beats … elite pitching

No. 2 Stanford heads to Westwood to take on No. 21 UCLA this weekend in a series that will surely impact the Pac-12 championship race. Elite pitching will be on display all weekend as the Cardinal (2.21 ERA) and Bruins (2.37 ERA) are ranked second and fourth in the nation in team ERA.

The Stanford rotation of Tristan Beck, Kris Bubic and Erik Miller is arguably the best in the country and this group has not disappointed. Yet it is the Stanford bullpen that has shined the brightest thus far in 2018. The trio of Jack Little, Jacob Palisch and Zach Grech has combined for a robust 36 appearances and the group has yielded just four earned runs combined.

And for UCLA, despite a series loss to California last weekend, it is remarkable that John Savage has the Bruins in position for any type of championship with the injuries that UCLA has been forced to endure. On the bright side, leading hitter Jeremy Ydens (hand) is back now as well as five-tool freshman outfielder Garrett Mitchell (concussion). On the mound, Jon Olsen and Kyle Molnar are expected to return for the Utah series next weekend and that should boost an already strong pitching corps.

This matchup will have a Super Regional flavor to it as both of these teams are more than capable of hosting and winning a Regional. Look for Stanford shortstop Nico Hoerner to be a difference maker in a series that will surely come down to a few key pitches.

Looking for answers

Oregon State heads to Arizona in a series that could provide clarity for two teams with recently confusing results. The Beavers’ 23-4 record belies the fact that they are 3-3 in their last six games, including a series loss to 7-20 Utah. Arizona sports a healthy 17-10 overall record yet the Wildcats’ resume already includes two different 0-3 weekends (at Washington and at the Dairy Queen Classic).

For the Beavers, the rotation has become a question mark. Luke Heimlich has pitched well in 2018 but not nearly at the dominant level of a year ago. Heimlich mysteriously pitched in relief in the midweek this week versus Nevada and was touched up in that brief outing. Bryce Fehmel and Kevin Abel appear to be the two keys to this rotation. Fehmel is a proven performer despite his lack of a dominant out-pitch and his 6.23 ERA in Pac-12 play has been an issue. Abel is one of the more talented freshman arms nationally with both an out-pitch breaking ball and a changeup. Walks have plagued Abel as his 19 free passes in just 23 2/3 innings pitched have led to a ballooned ERA of 4.94.

The Wildcats’ are a mystery in that their statistics all pass the eye test and then some: .294 team batting average, 2.67 team ERA and a .977 fielding percentage. Additionally, infielder Cameron Cannon (.362) and closer Tylor Megill (1.59 ERA, five saves) are enjoying breakout seasons. That said, this rotation is also one to keep an eye on as lefthander Randy LaBaut is out for the season after undergoing a pair surgeries for compartment syndrome. LaBaut had paired nicely with ace Cody Deason to give Arizona a formidable front of the rotation.

This is a critical series for both clubs as the West Coast struggled mightily in the non-conference season. It will be difficult to make up RPI ground without excelling in Pac-12 play and this series would provide both an RPI boost and a signature series win over a brand name program. Now is the time to get the Beavers as they await the return of arguably the best player in the country in Nick Madrigal.

– Mike Rooney


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