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College  | Story | 3/17/2020

College Top 25: On the Cusp

Patrick Ebert
Photo: Connor Prielipp (Alabama Athletics Photography)

College Top 25: Moving Forward | College Player Database | College Player Rankings

On Monday we took a look at the PG College Top 25 teams, breaking down each squad while looking for positive developments each program can look forward to heading into 2021. In that feature (linked above) it was noted that we don’t know what to expect when it comes to player graduations. For now, most of that focus relies on the underclassmen as we don’t know if there will be draft, which players are coming back, roster and scholarship limitations and so many other variables.



Listed below are the six teams that entered the 2020 season ranked within the PG College Top 25 but had since fallen out in addition to six other teams that were among the programs most seriously considered for inclusion during the four in-season ranking updates.

6 that fell out
Listed below are the six teams that opened the 2020 season ranked within the PG College Top 25 but fell out.

East Carolina
Getting the boot from the Top 25 might have been a little harsh, but the bottom line is that ECU went 1-2 at the Keith LeClair Classic, hosted annually by the Pirates in Greenville, losing the first two games to their two toughest opponents of the season, Indiana and Ole Miss. East Carolina was already embarking on a transition season with 11 true freshmen and seven sophomores on their roster. Some of the more productive players of that group include Lane Hoover, who was hitting .353-1-12 with six steals as the team’s leadoff hitter, as well as CJ Mayhue (0.56 ERA in 16 innings) and Garrett Saylor (0.82 ERA in 11 innings), the team’s most frequently turned to relievers through the first four weeks of the season.

Florida State | Scout Take
The Seminoles were removed from the Top 25 after losing four games to Top 10-ranked opponents, Texas Tech and Duke. However, two days before the season was banged FSU got a big midweek win over Florida, something they’ve been unable to do in recent years. The core of the offense has been in place since last season as Robby Martin, Elijah Cabell, Matheu Nelson and Nander De Sedas have been starting together since their freshmen years. Freshman Tyler Martin also was earning more and more playing time hitting .310 with five doubles through the team’s first 17 games. The pitching staff had more upperclassmen leading the way, but sophomore Jack Anderson and freshman Parker Messick had ERAs of 0.79 and 0.77 respectively as the team’s primary bullpen arms.



Louisiana State | Scout Take
LSU’s biggest blemish this season was their 1-2 showing at the Shriner’s College Classic, with one of those losses coming against Dane Acker and his no-hitter for Oklahoma. So in reality, the Tigers were one SEC series win away from jumping right back in. And they have (had) a lot of pieces to be excited about, young and old, but it’s the pitching staff that especially stood out. Cole Henry is draft eligible as a sophomore, as Landon Marceaux, AJ Labas and Jaden Hill are also sophomores, pitching significant innings for a staff that had a 2.38 ERA when the season closed shop. The starting lineup has similar youth as Giovanni DiGiacomo, Cade Beloso and Gavin Dugas are also part of LSU’s promising sophomore class and Cade Doughty and Collier Cranford are freshmen.



North Carolina
It was clear through the first four weeks of the season that UNC hadn’t quite figured out which players were going to step up and assume key roles. Age eligible sophomore Aaron Sabato is one of the college game’s best sluggers, and he was just heating up, blasting six of his seven home runs over the last six games. Shortstop Danny Serretti is also a sophomore, while outfielder Angel Zarate, like Sabato, is draft eligible, but as a redshirt sophomore. The same is true for primary ‘pen arm Austin Love, while weekend starters Will Sandy and Connor Ollio are also part of the UNC sophomore class. Max Alba is a redshirt freshman after missing his rookie year in 2019 due to injury and we hadn’t quite received a good look at promising new recruit Joe Charles.

Oklahoma State
Although Oklahoma State went 1-2 at the Frisco College Classic, they did have single wins over a pair of ranked opponents through 18 games: Texas A&M and Arizona State. Entering the year the Cowboys’ biggest questions surrounded which of their young players would be productive. Freshman Bryce Osmond was their prized recruit, and while his numbers suggest significant room for improvement (5.06 ERA in four starts), he did strike out 19 batters in 16 innings of work, a testament to his pure stuff. Sophomore Brett Standlee had the third-most innings on the team (19.2) and did so primarily coming out of the bullpen. Hulking freshman Justin Campbell was hitting .414 through part-time duty and outfielder Caeden Trenkle was just starting to heat up, hitting .333 with 10 extra-base hits, four of which were triples.

Stanford
Stanford’s offense batted only .207 in 16 games and the team’s defense had an extremely uncharacteristic .950 team fielding percentage, leading to their 5-11 record. Many of those struggles could be attributed to a new-look roster, as six freshmen (Brock Jones, Cole Hinkelman, Kody Huff, Adam Crampton, Brett Barrera and Carson Greene) were receiving regular playing time in the starting lineup in addition to a handful of sophomores. Per usual the Cardinal was faring much better on the mound with a 3.50 team ERA as sophomore Alex Williams was having a big season (2-1, 0.51 ERA) coming off of his Freshman All-American campaign. Three more freshman – Quinn Mathews, Nathan Fleischli and Max Meier – were all receiving substantial innings, and making the most of those opportunities, through the first four weeks of the year.

6 teams considered
Listed below are the six teams that were most strongly considered to be included in the in-season Top 25 rankings updates.

Alabama
Rebuilding a program from the bottom up takes some time, and that’s exactly what head coach Brad Bohannon since he took over. That starts with recruiting and one recruit in particular shined through the early part of the season. Freshman lefthander Connor Prielipp was the team’s Friday starter from day one and he was phenomenal, going 3-0 in four starts without allowing an earned run, allowing just five hits and six walks in 21 innings with 35 strikeouts. Four other pitchers had yet to give up an earned run, plus, their Saturday starter (Connor Shamblin) is a sophomore and their Sunday starter (Antoine Jean) is also a freshman. In addition, the team’s two standouts on offense – Sam Praytor and Owen Diodati – are a sophomore and freshman, respectively, giving the SEC one more team for everyone else to contend with.



Dallas Baptist
Under the guidance of Dan Heefner DBU is always in the Top 25 mix and they already had a loud statement series win over North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Jimmy Glowenke had picked up where he left off from his two previous, productive seasons, hitting .415-1-7 and the team’s second leading hitter was freshman second baseman Jeffrey David. David was hitting for average (.351) and power (.526 slugging) as he and another first-year player – outfielder Jace Grady – were receiving regular looks since the beginning of the season. The pitching staff had even more youth present as sophomores Chandler Arnold and Zach Heaton had mixed results as each had already made four starts while fellow sophomores Cole Reeves and Luke Trahan as well as redshirt freshman Kyle Rich received frequent looks out of the ‘pen.

Georgia Tech
It was hard leaving Georgia Tech out of the initial 2020 Top 25, but they lost numerous key contributors from their 2019 team that earned the No. 3 national seed. And they appeared to be cruising to open 2020 until they were swept by in-state rival Georgia the third weekend of the year. The future remains bright for the Jackets as three of their everyday regulars in the starting lineup, three of their starting pitchers and two key bullpen arms are all underclassmen. Freshmen sluggers Drew Compton and Stephen Reid were batting in the middle of the order with a third freshman, Jake Holland, assuming the everyday catching duties. Two more freshmen, Zach Maxwell and Dalton Smith, were already logging significant innings on the mound as Maxwell and sophomores Luke Barnicki and Cort Roedig had all received weekend starts.



Pepperdine
One of the more compelling teams to open 2020, Pepperdine already had some loud wins leading up to conference play, including a series win over visiting Michigan. With a .301/.390/.441 team triple slash line and 2.91 cumulative ERA, everything appeared to be clicking for the Waves. The keytstone tandem of Wyatt Young (sophomore) and Ryan Johnson (freshman) should be intact for at least another year with Young doing a good job to set the table at the top of the order and Johnson providing some middle-of-the-lineup run production. The pitching staff is where the underclassmen really stood out, with nine freshmen and sophomores receiving regular innings. Of this group, sophomores Cooper Chandler, Gunnar Groen and Trevor Kniskern made 10 of the team’s 15 starts.

San Diego State
Although their 10-6 record doesn’t stand out, the Aztecs had wins over Coastal Carolina, Cal State Fullerton, Iowa, UC Irvine, Oregon State, Long Beach State and Oklahoma with a very challenging non-conference schedule. Star two-way player Casey Schmitt was hitting .323 and was tied for the nation’s lead in saves with six through those 16 games. Three of the team’s regular hitters – Jaden Fein, Brian Leonhardt and Wyatt Hendrie – are sophomores, pointing to a likely return for at least one-third of the team’s batting order. Like Schmitt, Leonhardt pulls double duty, and two of his four appearances were starts. The most intriguing part of the SDSU roster is the fact that all three weekend starters – Michael Paredes, Troy Melton and Aaron Eden – are also sophomores, meaning these Aztecs will remain competitive on a national level.

Tulane
It had taken a few years to get to this point, but head coach Travis Jewett appeared to finally be making headway on building a perennial postseason program. Staff ace Braden Olthoff was enjoying a breakthrough season and the team was playing well in all phases of the game. Numerous veterans made up the starting lineup, but prized sophomore prospect Hudson Haskin hadn’t even hit his stride yet and still was slashing .333/.452/.500 through the first 17 games of the year. Haskin is age-eligible for the draft, so we’ll see if scouts got a good enough look at him early. Redshirt sophomore lefthander Jack Aldrich followed Olthoff in the weekend rotation and freshman lefthander Luke Jannetta provided some key midweek starts in the weeks leading up to the premature end of the season.
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