2020 College Honor Roll | Letter to College Baseball

I Wish We Had Met: May 5

Every year there are teams that grab our attention. Sometimes those teams move us to emotions that surprise us. And that is the fun of being a fan.  

In 2020, there were a bunch of teams that I had on my radar. These groups had something special about them. In the next several weeks, we will look back at some of those clubs. These are teams I never got to meet in person. And I really wish I had.  

Oklahoma

Pitching and defense and veteran leadership.. these are a few of my favorite things.  And the Sooners had all of the above.

Oklahoma was off to a 14-4 start but I’m not sure how much of a separator that was. The real interest here reveals itself when you look more closely at their schedule. Wins over Dallas Baptist and UT Arlington were strong resume builders as were series wins over potential Regional teams like Virginia and San Diego State. Wins over SEC foes Arkansas and LSU took things to the next level.

The pitching staff had everything you could want. A first round ace in Cade Cavalli. A lefthander with arm strength and an angry disposition in Saturday starter Levi Prater. And yet it was transfer righthander Dane Acker who stole the show with his no-hit victory over LSU.

The rotation was stellar but the bullpen was also a sneaky strength. Wyatt Olds and Jason Ruffcorn are staples here and the duo of Ledgend Smith and Aaron Brooks had yet to yield either an earned run or a walk. 

The team ERA was a very impressive 2.85 but the team fielding percentage of .986 really stood out. Of course, when you have seniors at catcher and shortstop (Brady Lindsly, Brandon Zaragoza), this makes perfect sense. In fact, the sure-handed Zaragoza was a four-year starter and he needs to be in the conversation of best defensive shortstops nationally.

Offensively, this group played with a veteran efficiency and they were sparked by the breakout seasons of Tanner Tredaway and Peyton Graham. This duo hit .378 and .358 respectively while combining for 35 runs and 13 stolen bases. The 6-foot-3 Graham is just a freshman and he could blossom into a star. 

Head coach Skip Johnson, who mentored under the legend Augie Garrido, serving as his pitching coach at the University of Texas for a decade. Augie was the master at getting teams to Omaha. It seemed that the student was quite ready to take a team of his own to the promised land. It’s disappointing that we didn’t get to see that unfold but here’s the silver lining: the Sooners’ seven seniors have all announced that they will return for another go at Omaha in 2021.  #RunItBack

Belmont

There was reason for optimism in Nashville.  Belmont returned 23 players from last year’s squad that went 18-12 in OVC play, including seven starters from the lineup. On the mound, sophomore righthander Joshua South was named OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. 

From a program standpoint, skipper Dave Jarvis has established a winning tradition in his 23 seasons at the school. That said, his Bruins were yet to win an OVC championship in their seven years in the league. And it would not be easy in 2020 as defending champion Jacksonville State was a heavy favorite.

After losing their Opening Weekend series to Kansas, Belmont looked like your standard middle of the pack club.  There’s no shame there but that elusive OVC title would probably have to wait.

Except that the Bruins got hot.  And when we say hot, we mean really hot. Belmont won 13 of their next 14 games.  An astounding five of those wins were of the walk-off variety. Sometimes a team feels like it just can’t lose. 

The offense was led by the trio of Logan Jarvis (.371-3-17), Jackson Campbell (.339-6-13), and Carson Shacklett (.333-1-3). The weekend rotation of South, Logan Bowen, and Andy Bean had also excelled, pitching to a combined ERA of 2.67 through eleven starts.

Most importantly, the Bruins were off to a 3-0 start in the OVC. And at 14-3 overall with a penchant for late-game heroics, this team certainly looked like it was going to be in the mix for some hardware.