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College  | Story  | 2/15/2018

Weekend Preview: 2018 Kickoff

Patrick Ebert      Mike Rooney     
Photo: Stanford Athletics




2018 College Baseball Staff Predictions | 2018 College Baseball Preview Index

As the 2018 season begins many of the top-ranked teams aren't messing around. Both second-ranked Oregon State and third-ranked Texas Christian will be on the road in Arizona facing some tough opponents. No. 7 North Carolina also opens on the road, in Tampa at South Florida, while No. 17 Indiana and No. 18 Oklahoma, as well as South Alabama and a few others, will be hosted by Coastal Carolina in South Carolina. Florida State (Xavier), Ole Miss (Winthrop), LSU (Notre Dame), Sam Houston State (Kent State) and Texas (Louisiana) all have tough assignments at home.

The biggest series this weekend will occur in Hattiesburg, Miss., Nashville, Tenn., and Palo Alto, Calif. Mississippi State and Southern Miss will play in front of a raucous crowd for Mississippi supremacy, while the winner of the Duke/Vanderbilt series could very well determine who is in the Top 25 come Monday, and who isn't. Tristan Beck returns to the mound for Stanford as they host Cal State Fullerton, opening the season against one another for the second year in a row.

Of the teams on the outside of the Top 25 looking in, UCF in particular has a tough weekend ahead of them as they host Virginia, Rice and Samford. We'll go a little more in detail on a few of these series below.

Update: Due to dense fog in the Chicago area a few series across the country were canceled and caused teams to scramble to find new teams to play. Perfect Game is proud to host one of those series, Purdue vs. Western Michigan, at the PG/LakePoint fields in Georgia.

Looking ahead to the rest of the 2018 season, Perfect Game's one-of-a-kind College Player Database returns, a feature added a year ago to help promote the individual players – and the teams that they play for – of college baseball. Twenty-six reports were already added to the database of four different junior college programs. All of the reports can be accessed with a College Baseball Ticket (CBT) subscription. To learn more about the CBT and to sign up today please visit this link.

Returning to the airwaves is Perfect Game College Baseball on ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM channel 84, with co-hosts Daron Sutton and Mike Rooney. The first program will be aired on Monday, February 19 from 9-11 p.m. ET.

In addition to the weekly radio program, Top 25 ranking updates, College Player Database updates and weekend  previews we will continue to announce a Player and Pitcher of the Week each week in conjunction with our friends at Rawlings.

Stay tuned to Perfect Game throughout the weekend as Vinnie Cervino will be on hand to cover No. 7 North Carolina at South Florida in Tampa, Mike Rooney will provide observations on No. 2 Oregon State and No. 3 TCU from Arizona and Matt Arvin will be on hand in Nashville for Duke/Vanderbilt.


Top 25 in Action
Rk. Team Opponent Location
1 Florida home vs. Siena Gainesville, FL
2 Oregon State vs. New Mexico, Gonzaga, Cal Poly Surprise, AZ
3 Texas Christian at Grand Canyon Phoenix, AZ
4 Texas Tech home vs. Maine Lubbock, TX
5 Florida State home vs. Xavier Tallahassee, FL
6 Arkansas home vs. Bucknell Fayetteville, AR
7 North Carolina at South Florida Tampa, FL
8 Kentucky vs. Wofford, USC-Upstate, Evansville Spartanburg, SC
9 Miami home vs. Rutgers Coral Gables, FL
10 Stanford home vs. No. 19 Cal State Fullerton Palo Alto, CA
11 Ole Miss home vs. Winthrop Oxford, MS
12 Louisiana State home vs. Notre Dame Baton Rouge, LA
13 NC State home vs. Seton Hall Raleigh, NC
14 Louisville vs. Richmond, The Citadel, George Mason Charleston, SC
15 Texas A&M home vs. Rhode Island College Station, TX
16 UCLA home vs. Portland Los Angeles, CA
17 Indiana vs. No. 18 Oklahoma, Kansas State, South Alabama, Coastal Carolina Myrtle Beach/Conway, SC
18 Oklahoma vs. No. 17 Indiana, South Alabama, Coastal Carolina, Virginia Tech Myrtle Beach/Conway, SC
19 Cal State Fullerton at No. 10 Stanford Palo Alto, CA
20 Duke at Vanderbilt Nashville, TN
21 Houston home vs. Holy Cross Houston, TX
22 Sam Houston State home vs. Kent State Huntsville, TX
23 Texas home vs. Louisiana Austin, TX
24 Clemson home vs. William & Mary Clemson, SC
25 Mississippi State at Southern Miss Hattiesburg, MS


Week 1 Super Regional

Pardon the stereotype, but Duke at Vanderbilt is more than a bunch of smart guys who also play baseball. These are two Omaha-caliber clubs in 2018, and what’s really surprising is that Duke has more of the headliners. The best senior in this series is the Blue Devils two-way star, Jack Labosky, and it is Duke who is bringing the First Team Preseason All-American in Griffin Conine.

While Vandy’s freshman and junior classes were the No. 1 ranked recruiting classes in the country, there is a dearth of proven commodities on this club outside of Patrick Raby, whose guile and pitchability matches up with anyone on Friday nights. The bottom line is that this is a Super Regional type matchup and there are many insights to be gained: Is the Duke rotation good enough? Is the Vandy junior class ready to live up to the hype? Are the Commodore freshmen hitters the special group that we think they are? Get your notebooks ready.


Welcome to the Desert

Opening weekend in Arizona will be a spectacular cornucopia of College Baseball goodness and it starts with two Top 5 teams coming to town: TCU and Oregon State. And speaking of Super Regional caliber matchups, the Horned Frogs will help Grand Canyon christen their newly renovated stadium. Grand Canyon skipper Andy Stankiewicz is building a mid-major monster in Phoenix (think DBU-West) and the ‘Lopes Friday night ace, Jake Wong, is the highest ranked college draft prospect in the state of Arizona.

Oregon State will host the likes of Cal Poly, New Mexico and Gonzaga in their annual tournament at the Royals and Rangers complex in Surprise. All three of those clubs have been to multiple Regionals in the last several years and Cal Poly in particular looks ready to make noise in 2018. Darin Erstad also brings Nebraska to Tempe Diablo Stadium for the weekend and his Huskers are another perennial Regional team.

Elite baseball players come in all shapes and sizes. The state of Arizona will have both extremes on display this weekend with the diminutive star Nick Madrigal (Oregon State) and the monstrous force of Luken Baker (TCU). It would be a treat to have just one of these stars in town. Hosting both of these special players has the makings of a College Baseball Woodstock.

– Mike Rooney


Must-see TV

We’ve spent most of the last 1-2 months combing schedules and rosters, talking to coaches and writing long, detailed reports as part of our 2018 preview content, but now it’s time to actually watch some college baseball. Here are a few things to watch for from some of the more compelling matchups across the country.

• South Alabama hasn’t messed around with their early season schedule, beginning the year in Myrtle Beach and Conway, S.C., as part of Coastal Carolina’s kick-off tournament. Their opponents include No. 17 Indiana and No. 18 Oklahoma, and they follow their trip to South Carolina with a mid-week matchups against Southern Miss. Other mid-week opponents include Auburn, Alabama State, LSU and Southeastern Louisiana, and they travel to Texas Tech before Sun Belt play opens in Lafayette against the Ragin’ Cajuns. While South Alabama didn’t open the year in the Top 25, they’ll have every opportunity early to force their way in.

• Speaking of Coastal Carolina’s opening tournament, there will be a pair of outfielders in attendance that have first-round aspirations: USA’s Travis Swaggerty and Oklahoma’s Steele Walker. Scouts undoubtedly will be making the short drive in between Myrtle Beach and Conway with hopes of seeing both play on any given day, with their Saturday morning machup against one another being of particular interest.

• UCF received serious consideration for the Top 25 to open the season, but instead had to settle for the 26th spot in the PG preseason rankings. A big part for that omission had to do with the talented yet unproven newcomer class from the JuCo ranks. They get a big test in the very first game of the year against Virginia and their staff ace, lefthander Daniel Lynch. It doesn’t get any easier on Saturday against Rice and hard-throwing sophomore Matt Canterino, and Samford rounds out the weekend competition. The Knights have the pitching depth to win series against competition of this ilk and the 1-2 punch of Bryce Tucker and Cre Finfrock at the back end of the bullpen may ultimately be their biggest strength.

• Another big pitching matchup will take place on the opposite corner of the nation on Friday night as Tristan Beck returns for No. 10 Stanford to take on Colton Eastman and No. 19 Cal State Fullerton in Palo Alto. Beck was expected to return at some point during the 2017 season, but never did, while Eastman missed significant time due to injury as well. As freshmen in 2016 Beck and Eastman went 6-5 and 8-3, respectively, and both had ERAs under 2.50. They’re among the top-ranked prospects in the nation eligible for this year’s draft and are sure to be pitching in front of a large scouting contingent.

• Last, but certainly not least. if you don’t already have a ticket for the Southern Miss/Mississippi State series in Hattiesburg don’t expect to find a way to get in. Pete Taylor Park is sure to be rocking, and outside of the in-state rivalry this series naturally presents, this will be a fun three-game set to follow. Not that one series is going to determine the season-long fate of these two clubs, but it is an opportunity for both to make a statement. Mississippi State, ranked 25th to open the year, needs some arms to step forward and assume key roles, especially after Spencer Price’s injury, and they also must prove they can score runs without Brent Rooker seemingly leaving the yard every game. Southern Miss on the other hand looks to have the star power as outfielder Matt Wallner is looking to gain the national recognition he deserves after hitting .336-19-63 a year ago, as the Eagles open the year just outside the Top 25 at No. 27.

The past few years we have tried to avoid reacting too strongly to opening weekend results, but UCF, Southern Miss, South Alabama and Vanderbilt in particular have the most potential to make some noise as the 2018 season begins.

– Patrick Ebert
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