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College  | Story  | 4/4/2019

Weekend Preview: Week 8

Patrick Ebert     
Photo: Isaiah Campbell (Arkansas Communications)

Midseason Awards/All-Americans | College Top 25 | Player/Pitcher of the Week | College Player Database

There wasn't much movement in the Perfect Game College Top 25 this past week, although that had to do everything to do with the lack of impact matchups last weekend. That is going to change, and in a hurry, this weekend with six series made up of Top 25-ranked teams.

Four of those series take place in the SEC, and three of those four are between SEC West foes. We break all six series down in greater detail below.

While the teams in the ACC and Big 12 haven't been as dominant there are still big series being played in those conference this weekend. In the Big 12 Texas plays at Baylor, Texas Tech hosts Kansas, TCU travels to Norman to take on Oklahoma and Oklahoma State welcomes West Virginia to Stillwater. Baylor and Oklahoma State, two teams that entered the year in the Top 25 but are currently unranked, lead the way with 5-1 conference records.

In addition to No. 12 Louisville at No. 24 Clemson, North Carolina and Georgia Tech and Florida State at Miami gives the ACC two more premier ACC series to follow.

Rounding out the action in Power 5 conferences, keep an eye on Minnesota at Michigan in Ann Arbor. While both teams have taken their lumps along the way, Minnesota appears to have the right pitching pieces in the right places now, leading to a 5-1 Big Ten Conference mark so far, while Michigan is on the cusp of re-joining the Top 25 after getting knocked out a few weeks ago.
 
Stay tuned to Perfect Game this weekend as Brian Sakowski will be in attendance for Campbell at Gardner-Webb and Pitt at Duke in North Carolina while Steve Fiorindo will take in Arizona State at USC.


Top 25 in Action
Rk. Team Opponent Location
1 UCLA at No. 2 Stanford Stanford, CA
2 Stanford home vs. No. 1 UCLA Stanford, CA
3 Oregon State home vs. Utah Corvallis, OR
4 Vanderbilt at No. 7 Georgia Athens, GA
5 NC State at Boston College Brighton, MA
6 Mississippi State at Tennessee Knoxville, TN
7 Georgia home vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt Athens, GA
8 Arizona State at Southern California Los Angeles, CA
9 North Carolina at Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA
10 Auburn home vs. No. 17 Arkansas Auburn, AL
11 Texas A&M at No. 16 LSU Baton Rouge, LA
12 Louisville at No. 24 Clemson Clemson, SC
13 East Carolina at Houston Houston, TX
14 Texas at Baylor Waco, TX
15 Texas Tech home vs. Kansas Lubbock, TX
16 Louisiana State home vs. No. 11 Texas A&M Baton Rouge, LA
17 Arkansas at No. 10 Auburn Auburn, AL
18 Florida at No. 19 Ole Miss Oxford, MS
19 Mississippi home vs. No. 20 Florida Oxford, MS
20 UC Irvine home vs. Long Beach State Irvine, CA
21 Connecticut home vs. Cincinnati Hartford, Storrs CT
22 UC Santa Barbara home vs. Stephen F. Austin Santa Barbara, CA
23 Coastal Carolina at South Alabama Mobile, AL
24 Clemson home vs. No.12 Louisville Clemson, SC
25 Texas Christian at Oklahoma Norman, OK


Fighting for Position

This past week’s ranking update had limited movement through the middle of the Top 25, largely because there weren’t many matchups between ranked clubs and every team won, as expected. The hardest move, or lack of moves, involved LSU staying put after taking their series, on the road, against previously second-ranked Mississippi State.

That’s a trend that won’t last long as there are six series between teams currently ranked in the Top 25. Four of those are between teams in the SEC, but the biggest series will take place out West as No. 2 Stanford hosts No. 1 UCLA.

Here’s a quick synopsis of each of those series.

No. 1 UCLA at No. 2 Stanford
Something’s gotta give at Stanford between these long-time Pac-12 rivals. Both squads are built on the tried and true pitching and defense model so expect three close, well-played contests. Sunday’s matchup between Ryan Garcia and Erik Miller could be one of the more compelling Sunday matchups all season, and the game could decide the eventual series winner.

One aspect that hasn’t developed as much as expected entering the season for both clubs has been the offense. They’re hitting well enough to win, but not quite to the level that was expected. Stanford has only one regular batting over .300 and that’s two-way talent Will Matthiessen, who leads the team in batting (.342) and RBI (19). For UCLA Garrett Mitchell leads the way with a .320 average, one of only two regulars (Ryan Kreidler) batting over .300.

UCLA’s Chase Strumpf and Michael Toglia, as well as Stanford’s Tim Tawa, have been showing more signs of life lately as now would be the perfect time for some of each team’s bigger named offensive contributors to catch fire.

No. 4 Vanderbilt at No. 7 Georgia
This is a matchup between the top two teams in the SEC East, with 7-2 Georgia having a one-game advantage over 6-3 Vanderbilt in conference play. The Commodores took their lumps three weeks ago when they opened SEC play with a series loss at Texas A&M. Georgia on the other now had road series wins over both South Carolina and Kentucky an a big home series over LSU.

Georgia appears to be one of the more balanced programs in the nation with a deep pitching staff led by three dominant weekend starters. However, Vandy has three of their own in Drake Fellows, Patrick Raby and Kumar Rocker, with Fellows and Raby having extensive experience in addition to their mound talents. How well those staffs do limiting mistakes and not giving each dangerous lineup additional scoring opportunities will determine the series winner.

No. 17 Arkansas at No. 10 Auburn
We openly admit Arkansas dropping nearly 10 spots (from 8 to 17) after losing their series to Ole Miss was a little severe, but as noted, the middle of the pack (teams ranked 9-16) in the Top 25 all won, leaving little room for mistakes. The Hogs don’t have much time to lick their wounds as they head to Auburn for a Thursday-Saturday series against the 10th-ranked Tigers.

Staff ace Isaiah Campbell is having a breakout, sensational season and was recently named a Midseason All-American. With a 6-0 record and a 2.03 ERA he has been one of the SEC’s best so far this season. Freshman Connor Noland and redshirt-junior Cody Scroggins have done a nice job handling the other two weekend starting roles and the Razorbacks have arguably the best bullpen in the SEC with Matt Cronin anchoring the back end. Outfielders Dominic Fletcher and Heston Kjerstad are hitting better now than they were to open the year as part of a potent offense.

Auburn’s only blemish this season came two weeks ago when they dropped their series to Mississippi State, a series that ended with a 20-15 barnburner won by the Bulldogs. Like Arkansas’ Campbell, Tanner Burns has been terrific as Auburn’s Friday ace and hasn’t missed a beat since his Freshman All-American season on his way to his own Midseason All-American selection. The staff hasn’t been quite as deep as Arkansas’, but their lineup has been just as dynamic, if not more opportunistic. Make sure you’re tuned in for this one starting Thursday night.

No. 11 Texas A&M at No. 16 LSU
This will be a big test for LSU coming off of their series win over Mississippi State. It doesn’t get any easier for them as they return home to host the Aggies, a team that is especially stingy in the run prevention department thanks to the presence of John Doxakis and Asa Lacy. The offense is a little on the light side, but Braden Shewmake appears to be hitting his stride at the midpoint of the season.

LSU has already gone through a roller coaster of a season halfway through, opening the year as the top-ranked team while now sitting in the teens. Another series win against yet another ranked SEC West opponent will certainly lead to a big jump in the Top 25 come Monday, however, the pitching staff, and team overall, needs to find a way to be more consistent from one week to the next and it starts with ace Zack Hess.

It should be noted that each of the last two series profiled pit SEC West opponents against one another, and the top four teams in the West at this point in time. Texas A&M (6-2-1) has a half game lead over Arkansas, Auburn and LSU, who are all 6-3.

No. 18 Florida at No. 19 Ole Miss
Relatively speaking, this series has more of a ‘ho-hum’ vibe to it as compared to the other SEC series profiled already, but there’s plenty on the line for both of these teams. Both did well to rebound after tough series losses two weekends ago. Florida swept Alabama after they were swept by Vanderiblt while Ole Miss took two of three against Arkansas after Mizzou did the same to them the weekend before.

Similar to LSU, for Florida it comes down to consistency, as they have the talent on their roster to compete against anyone in the nation at a high level but the results haven’t always showed it. Sophomore shortstop Brady McConnell, freshman first baseman Kendrick Calilao and senior outfielder Nelson Maldonado have led the way offensively getting sporatic, yet important, contributions from freshmen Jud Fabian and Cory Action as well as juniors Wil Dalton and Austin Langworthy.  The weekend rotation of Tommy Mace, Jack Leffwich and Tyler Dyson has been similarly inconsistent yet talented.

For Ole Miss Will Ethrdige is the best SEC ace you’ve never heard of and closer Parker Caracci has yet to be scored upon since conference play opened. The lineup is dangerous one through nine, with Ryan Olenek setting the table for the big-bopping trio of Thomas Dillard, Tyler Keenan and Cole Zabowski.

No. 12 Louisville at No. 24 Clemson
While the Pac-12 and the SEC have definitely grabbed more headlines this season, the ACC is wide open and this series has significant importance in conference as both clubs are currently 9-3 in the Atlantic Division.

Neither team has been especially consistent, and for Louisville sweeps of Duke and Wake Forest sandwiched a series loss at home to Georgia Tech. Staff ace Reid Detmers was named PG’s Midseason Pitcher of the Year for his dominance through his first seven starts but the Cardinals offense has struggled to come up with big hits when most needed.

Clemson is looking to avoid falling out of the Top 25 for the third time this season, which will undoubtedly happen if they lose this series at home to Louisville. The weekend trio of Davis Sharpe, Mat Clark and Keyshawn Askew has performed admirably since ACC play opened and the lineup is getting the job done with six regulars batting over .300.
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