It was the calm before the storm as most SEC teams saw a dip in competition this weekend in order to prepare for conference play. The conference picked up 36 wins on the weekend with just six losses, and only one SEC team lost their series with Auburn dropping two-of-three against Middle Tennessee. Gamecocks Bounce Back in a Big Way with Series Win Over Texas After getting swept by rival Clemson a weekend ago, losing a mid-week game to Xavier, and then dropping the first game of the weekend, South Carolina swept a double-header on Sunday to win the series against the top-ranked Texas Longhorns. Starting pitcher Will Sanders was great in the first game on Sunday giving up just 2 earned runs on 4 hits and 3 walks with 6 strikeouts, picking up the win in a 7-inning game. Sanders will enter conference play with a 2.52 ERA in 25 innings with 28 strikeouts. A 5-run fourth inning in the finale highlighted by a 2-RBI single from Michael Braswell helped the Gamecocks take a commanding 6-1 lead. That’s all South Carolina starter Matthew Becker would need as he gave up just 1 earned run on 1 hit and 3 walks in 6 innings with 11 strikeouts. Cayden Wallace Carries Arkansas to 4-0 Weekend There were some big numbers put up in the SEC this weekend, but Arkansas infielder Cayden Wallace took things to another level during a four-game sweep over UIC. On Thursday he went 3-5 with 3 runs, 3 RBI, and a home run. He was just 1-4 in the second game on Thursday. Then on Saturday he was 1-4 with 2 runs scored and a grand slam. In the finale on Sunday, he again just had one hit, but he made it count with another grand slam as he finished the game with 6 RBI. The grand slam on Sunday was crucial for Arkansas as the Razorbacks were trailing 6-4 in the eighth inning. Overall on the weekend, he was 6-17 with 6 runs scored, 11 RBI, and 3 home runs, including 2 grand slams. Arkansas freshman starter Hagen Smith had another solid start giving up just 1 earned run on 4 hits and 3 walks over 5 innings with 8 strikeouts on Saturday. He leads Arkansas starters with a 2.66 ERA in 20.1 innings with 25 strikeouts. Alabama With Another Weekend Sweep Outside of getting swept in Austin, Texas by the number one team in the country – a series that was really competitive – the Alabama Crimson Tide have been solid in the first four weeks. Alabama has swept their other three weekend series, including this past weekend over Binghamton. The Crimson Tide may have found a new weapon at the plate in the process with Harvard transfer Tommy Seidl. After starting the season hitting at the bottom of the lineup, he’s worked his way up with big production at the plate. Seidl leads Alabama with a .450 average and a 1.094 OPS; he already has nine multi-hit games on the year, including six three-hit games. On the weekend against Binghamton Seidl was 7-13 with 3 doubles, 5 runs, and 7 RBI. Also on the weekend for Bama, Garrett McMillan was fantastic on Friday giving up just 1 earned run on 2 hits with no walks over 7 innings with 7 strikeouts. Best Game of the Weekend Things did not look great for the Razorbacks on Sunday as they tried to finish off a four-game sweep of UIC. After taking an early 2-0 lead they gave up 6 runs in the fourth and remained down 6-2 going into the seventh where they tacked on a couple to make it a 6-4 game. That setup the Cayden Wallace grand slam in the eighth to make it an 8-6 game. But UIC plated a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to tie it up, and then came this moment from Chris Lanzilli: Other Notable Performances from the Weekend Corey Collins for Georgia had a two-homer game on Friday and finished the weekend with 6 hits in the Bulldogs sweep over Lipscomb. Starter Jonathan Cannon played a part in that sweep for the Bulldogs striking out 11 over 6 innings on Friday, allowing just 1 earned run on 5 hits. Two players had 7 RBI in one game this past weekend and both came on Friday night and both came from the state of Mississippi. Tim Elko did it for Ole Miss and Kellum Clark for Mississippi State. Tennessee continues to find some big arms, and this time it was Chase Dollander who impressed with 12 strikeouts over 7 innings. Top MLB Draft prospect Jacob Berry had an explosive weekend for LSU in their sweep of Bethune-Cookman going 7-13 at the plate with a pair of home runs. Carter Holton had another great start for Vanderbilt with 13 strikeouts over over 6 innings while allowing just a hit and a walk. Michael Turner for Arkansas and Ross Lovich for Missouri both were 4-4 at the plate on Saturday. Jud Fabian helped the Gators to a series win over Seton Hall by going 4-8 at the plate with 6 runs scored, 7 RbI, 2 home runs, and 4 walks. Wyatt Langford also had a great weekend for Florida going 7-12 with 2 home runs and 7 RBI. Injury notes for Florida, LSU, and Auburn Florida leadoff hitter Colby Halter left Saturday’s game with a quad injury and did not play on Sunday. LSU starter Blake Mooney left with an injury on Friday. Head coach Jay Johnson said it was his wrist and didn’t think it was serious. Auburn slugger Sonny DiChiara returned to the lineup as the DH in the second game of Sunday’s double-header. Eleven teams are ranked in this week's top 50. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

It is easy to say that the No. 1 Texas Longhorns walked away from the Shriners College Classic in Houston as the big winners, with wins over No. 7 Tennessee and No. 6 LSU, even though they did lose their first game of the year at the hands of No. 13 UCLA. The best questions to ask following the conclusion of the weekend are who benefited the most, who lost the most ground, and who could challenge Texas between now and mid-June? Texas (2-1) The Texas Longhorns are easily the most complete team that took part in the Shriners College Classic. The Longhorns’ starting pitching might be the best in the country and was certainly the best in Houston. Pete Hansen went six innings against the Volunteers on Friday night and only allowed one run — he had a .53 ERA after the outing. Tristan Stevens pitched seven complete without allowing a run in the 6-1 victory over LSU Saturday night; he has not allowed a run in any of his three starts to begin 2022. Pete Hansen followed by Tristan Stevens is a one-two punch that few teams in the country will be able to match in a short series, or in Omaha, and the Longhorns bullpen, anchored by sophomore closer Aaron Nixon is as tough as it gets to bat against. Tanner Witt was originally scheduled to pitch on Sunday in Houston, but he was a late scratch due to arm tenderness and head coach David Pierce opted instead for left-hander Lucas Gordon. Compared to the rest of the staff, Gordon is an unknown entity. The Longhorns are sound defensively and their offense is incredibly balanced and there are no spots in the lineup that lack power or that cannot make contact when needed. Douglas Hodo III hit a three-run home run into the Crawford Boxes and Murphy Stehly added a solo home run of his own against LSU. Ivan Melendez tied Sunday’s game with UCLA on a mammoth home run which accounted for the only Texas run in the game and also had a key double in Friday’s win over Tennessee. Trey Faltine is a great table-setter, entering the weekend with a .395 on-base percentage, but he also has power, as he showed Friday night against Tennessee when he homered. Silas Ardoin is a tough out in the middle of the lineup as well. Ardoin led off the second inning versus LSU with a double off the base of the wall in deep left-center and he scored moments later on a throwing error to first base by LSU starter Ty Floyd. Texas did only get five hits on Sunday against UCLA, so it is possible that the right pitchers can stop their offense, but the other side of that coin is that you still must score on the Longhorns pitching staff. Texas has no weaknesses, aside from the possibility of an unknown third starter if Witt misses any more time, and that’s still a good place to be. Tennessee (2-1) The Volunteers opened their weekend with a 7-2 loss to Texas — there were no moral victories to be had to be had there for the Tennessee — but they rallied to win their final two games of the Shriners Classic. Despite a solid outing by starter Chase Burns where he scattered two hits and one run over five innings, Tennessee was plagued by having to face Texas and their number one starter, Pete Hansen. Evan Russell’s solo home run into the Crawford Boxes to give the Volunteers a 1-0 lead was a lone bright spot for the offense on Friday night. Tennessee trailed 4-0 in the first inning of Saturday’s middle game against Baylor and their defense allowed six stolen bases in the first inning. However, in quick-strike fashion, Tennessee took a 9-4 in the bottom of the third. Tennessee’s Ben Joyce pitched a third of an inning against Baylor and hit triple digits on several pitches. The Volunteers won 10-5. Drew Beam dazzled in five scoreless innings against Oklahoma on Sunday. Jordan Beck’s first inning home run was all that the Volunteers needed offensively, but they added seven more on their way to an 8-0 shutout. Christian Moore had one of the most excitement moments of the weekend with an inside the park home run. Tennessee can score runs and they can pitch well enough to compete not only in the SEC but also with anyone they might face on their way to a potential second straight appearance in Omaha. UCLA (2-1) Youth and inexperience are two words that are following the Bruins around the country to start 2022. The Bruins had three freshmen in their starting lineup for two of the three games in Houston. UCLA was shut out for most of game one against Baylor’s Tyler Thomas. But sophomore Carson Yates came off the bench in the ninth to get the Bruins their only run in Friday's game, on a pinch-hit solo home run. The comeback came up short, and the Bruins fell to the Bears 2-1. Yates hit a grand slam in his very next at-bat, part of a six-run opening inning for UCLA against Oklahoma on Saturday morning. The game eventually ended with the Bruins on top 15-3 after 7 innings via the run rule. The Bruins pitching staff only allowed six runs all weekend, highlighted by Sunday starter Austin Kelly who went 5 1/3 innings against Texas in the 5-1 win. The staff as a whole only allowed five hits to the Longhorns. For all that is made of the supposed youth and inexperience of the Bruins, their team may be too young and inexperienced to notice all of that. The Pac-12 is loaded, with Stanford in front but with Oregon State in the mix as well. If the UCLA pitching holds up, the Bruins offense can keep them in games and lead them into the postseason with little to prove but a ton of experience to gain along the way. Baylor (2-1) Baylor left-hander Tyler Thomas turned in what may have been the top pitching performance of the weekend in the opening game of the Shriners Classic. Thomas was two outs away from a complete game shutout when UCLA’s Carson Yates hit a pinch-hit home run to get the Bruins to within a run. The home run drove Thomas out of the game after a 10-strikeout effort. UCLA’s performance in the final two games of the weekend made Tyler Thomas’s near-shutout of the Bruins on Friday that much more impressive for Baylor. After losing to Tennessee on Saturday, Baylor also fell behind to LSU on Sunday. Down 2-0 early, the Bears’ slow but steady attack allowed them take a lead late in the game that they would not relinquish. Jack Pineda hit a laser home run just under the gas pump in left-center field in the bottom of the sixth which gave Baylor the 7-5 lead. Baylor went on to win 9-6. Mason Marriott looked sharp out of the bullpen and picked up the save in each of the Baylor victories. The Bears can get to the postseason. Playing in the same conference as Texas, Oklahoma State, TCU, and Texas Tech may prove to be too much for the Bears, but Baylor’s pitching can certainly keep them in games if the offense, which also features speed in addition to power, can get rolling. LSU (1-2) LSU was taken to eleven innings on Friday night in their opening game against Oklahoma, but they won on a walk-off home run by Jordan Thompson. LSU starter Blake Money threw 6 2/3 innings and only allowed an unearned run. Gavin Dugas, Dylan Crews, Jacob Berry, and Cade Doughty join Thompson in forming a formidable offensive lineup that can put up runs in bunches. Trailing 3-0 in the seventh on Friday against Oklahoma, Dugas singled to get the Tigers on the board. Doughty’s clutch eighth inning home run tied the game at three before the Tigers went on to win 5-4. LSU lost to Texas on a wild Saturday night where nearly 25,000 people sat in the lower bowl of Minute Maid Park and were loud throughout the night. Ty Floyd started for LSU against Texas and allowed four runs in four innings. Thompson’s RBI on Saturday night against Texas was the sole run for the Tigers in the game. The Tigers followed the lost to Texas with a loss to Baylor 9-6 on Sunday night to close out the weekend. Defense was a problem on Sunday and LSU did not look SEC, or Omaha, ready. Head Coach Jay Johnson has pledged in recent weeks that the defense is going to improve, and if LSU stops giving away bases, the Tigers can play with anyone in the county. Oklahoma (0-3) The Sooners were the only team not to win a game in Houston over the weekend. Oklahoma competed well against LSU to open the weekend, as they took the Tigers to eleven innings before falling on Jordan Thompson’s walk-off home run. Oklahoma pitching gave up 15 and 8 runs fin their two final games. Left-hander Jake Bennett started against the Tigers and proved to be the highlight of the weekend for the Sooners. Bennett tossed 6 2/3 innings and allowed just one run, his first run of the season in 18 innings. Oklahoma used three other pitchers over the course of the game, and the pitching staff seemed taxed as the weekend moved along. Pitching put the Sooners in early deficits, such as on Saturday when UCLA jumped out with six runs in the first. The Sooners were into their bullpen before they came to bat a second time in the contest. In a packed Big XII, the possibility of the Sooners making the postseason seems minimal at this point. They will need teams to fall and they need to rise considerably. The Sooners may have been the most incomplete team in Houston, but they are not far off, and 2023 and 2024 look more promising for the Sooners. Wrap-Up 53,879 watched college baseball this weekend at the Shriners College Classic, with just shy of 25,000 attending the big game on Saturday night between No. 1 Texas and No. 6 LSU. Fans all weekend were treated to a top-rate field of six teams that competed pretty evenly throughout the weekend. Texas appears headed to top heights in 2022 — their weekend was evidence of that — but there were teams in Houston this weekend that are ready to stop what many see as the inevitable. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

Tulane outfielder and hero against Mississippi State joins the podcast to talk Green Wave Baseball. John and Kyle break down all of the action from week 3 of college baseball and predict all the best series from Week 4! Get The College Baseball Nation Podcast on Apple Podcasts Get The College Baseball Nation Podcast on Spotify. Get The College Baseball Nation Podcast on Google Podcasts Have a question for Kyle and John? Send a DM to us on Twitter (@CollegeBallNat) or an email to podcast@collegebaseball.info and we might answer it on the podcast. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

It was rivalry week with some key matchups between the SEC and ACC. Also, LSU and Tennessee took part in the 2022 Shriners Children's College Classic where they took on some of the top Big 12 teams, including number one Texas. As we move closer to conference play starting in the SEC, several teams tested themselves this past weekend in preparation. SEC Mostly Falters in Three Big Rivalries There were three big rivalry series this past weekend between the SEC and ACC with Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, South Carolina vs. Clemson, and Florida vs. Miami. South Carolina blew a late lead on Friday night and ended up getting swept on the weekend by Clemson. Georgia was able to salvage a game on Sunday with a 12-3 win to avoid being swept. Florida was the lone SEC team to take a series in these rivalries, but that came with some difficulty as Hunter Barco was out-dueled on Friday night by Carson Palmquist in a 5-2 loss. The Gators had their chances in that game as well leaving 12 men on base. They came back to win the next two games by scores of 8-1 and 11-3. Another Rough Weekend for Mississippi State and a Possible Devastating Injury to Landon Sims It’s notably been a tough start for the defending champs but it looked like Friday was the start of a turnaround as ace Landon Sims had a perfect game going through 3.2 innings retiring 10-of-11 hitters by strikeout while piling up a 6-0 lead on a very good Tulane team. But then Sims said he felt something off in his arm and was removed from the game. We still don’t know the extent of the injury, but needless to say, the Bulldogs need him healthy – and so does college baseball as he’s one of the best arms in the sport. Mississippi State would go on to win the game on Friday 19-2. On Saturday the Bulldogs had a 10-3 lead going into the bottom of the 7th before giving up 5 runs in that frame and two more in the 9th to allow the Green Wave to tie it up. And this is how they tied it up… Tulane went to walk it off in the 10th. It was a back-and-forth game on Sunday with Tulane taking the 5-4 lead in the 8th and holding on after out-hitting Mississippi State 10-4 in the game. The Bulldogs are now 6-6 on the year with two mid-weeks games against Texas Tech coming up. Tennessee and LSU Have Their Bats Silenced by Texas Pitching It was the two most anticipated matchups of the weekend – and possibly the entire non-conference schedule – with the hot bats of Tennessee and LSU, who both rank in the top 10 in offense, going up against a top-ranked Texas team with the best pitching staff in the country. And it was the Texas pitching that won this round holding Tennessee and LSU to a combined 3 runs. The two SEC schools had plenty of chances to score. Tennessee and LSU combined to have 27 batters reach base against Texas in two games, but only three of those runners came around to score. The Volunteers were able to handedly win their other two games on the weekend over Oklahoma and Baylor. LSU had a dramatic comeback win over Oklahoma on Friday but then dropped their next two games against Texas and Baylor. The Tigers defense struggled on the weekend, including a five-error affair against Baylor. Kentucky Gets an Impressive Series Win Over a Ranked TCU Team The Wildcats are out to an impressively good start and they added to their resume with a series win over No. 23 TCU. Friday’s game was wild as each team scored in bunches. TCU scored three in the first but Kentucky answered back with five. They’d add two in the second but then the Horned Frogs had a five-run inning of their own in the 5th. Again, Kentucky answered right back with four in the bottom of the fifth to take an 11-8 lead. TCU tied it up with three in the sixth, but Kentucky got the final tally with two in the 8th for the 13-11 win. They played a double-header on Saturday with the first game only scheduled for 7 innings. Kentucky took that one rather easily 5-1. After falling behind 7-0 in the third game of the series, Kentucky scored six runs in the 7th and another in the 8th to tie it up. But TCU put up five in the top of the 9th to break the tie and avoid the sweep. Game of the Weekend Night one of the 2022 Shriners Children's College Classic was riveting with some highly entertaining games, but none of them beat the LSU-Oklahoma game on Friday night. The Tigers offense was silent all night against the Sooners and they found themselves down 3-0 going into the bottom of the seventh where they finally were able to push a run across to make it 3-1. With one on and twos in the 8th, Cade Doughty sent a laser shot out to right field for a two-run homer to tie the game at three. Again with a runner on and two outs – this time in the 10th down by 1 run – Doughty delivered with an RBI double. That sent us to the 11th where Jordan Thompson did this… Top Performers of the Weekend Impressive performances were littered across the SEC this weekend. Will Sanders was sharp for South Carolina on Friday striking out 14 batters in 7 innings while allowing just 1 run. It was a great battle in a rivalry game against Clemson, and Sanders put on a show. Chase Burns for Tennessee might have opened the most eyes in the country on Friday as he struck out 10 Texas batters over 5 innings allowing just 1 run on 2 hits and a walk. The freshman featured a fastball in the upper 90s and a cutter in the low 90s that was diving away from righties. Burns, a 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher, also threw a slider in the mid-80s. He will be an arm to watch going forward. Vanderbilt went out to Hawaii this past weekend and picked up four wins. Chris McElvain was brilliant on Friday striking out 13 over 7 innings allowing just 3 hits and a walk. The Commodores had a couple of bats get hot in Honolulu with Davis Diaz racking up 9 hits including 3 doubles with 7 runs scored, while Dominic Keegan also had 9 hits with a home run. Brandon Sproat for Florida showed why he could become one of the top college pitchers in that nation with a great game on Saturday against Miami. He tossed 6.1 shutout innings allowing 4 hits and 2 walks with 8 strikeouts. The sophomore was reaching the high-90s with his fastball and paired that with a devastating change-up as witnessed here… Also for Florida, Jud Fabian walked seven times over the weekend, scored 6 runs, and had a big two-run homer on Saturday. Ole Miss took their first loss of the year over the weekend in a 1-0 extra-inning loss to UCF. But in that game, John Gaddis was brilliant, giving up just 4 hits over 7 innings with 8 strikeouts. Ole Miss would ultimately win the weekend series against the Golden Knights. Sonny DiChiara hit another home run over the weekend for Auburn and now has 5 on the season. The Samford transfer is leading the Tigers with a .472 average and 16 runs scored in 12 games. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

Arkansas, a consistent weekend winner, rises to No. 1 in College Baseball Nation's Top 50. The Hogs earned a four-game sweep of University of Illinois-Chicago to move to 13-3 on the year. Just behind Arkansas, Texas falls to No. 2 after a series loss at South Carolina (25). This was the first series for the Longhorns after announcing that Sunday starter, Tanner Witt, will miss the remainder of the year due to Tommy John surgery. Florida State, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee round out the top five after all won their weekend series. No. 6 LSU stands pat in the rankings, while Georgia Tech and Ole Miss each rise one spot. Stanford, slips to No. 9 after losing its first series of the year at home; the Cardinal fell to the Oregon Ducks (31). Oklahoma State took a neutral-site series from BYU and stays in the tenth spot in the rankings. USC (46), Kentucky (48), and Purdue (50) each enter the top 50 for the first time this season. Purdue (15-0) is the lone undefeated team remaining in the country. The full top 50 can be found below. 1 Arkansas 2 Texas 3 Florida State 4 Vanderbilt 5 Tennessee 6 LSU 7 Georgia Tech 8 Ole Miss 9 Stanford 10 Oklahoma State 11 Oregon State 12 Notre Dame 13 Liberty 14 Florida 15 Miami 16 Virginia 17 Texas Tech 18 Arizona 19 Maryland 20 Gonzaga 21 UCLA 22 Southern Miss 23 LBSU 24 Clemson 25 South Carolina 26 Mississippi State 27 UNC 28 Texas State 29 Louisiana Tech 30 TCU 31 Oregon 32 UCSB 33 Tulane 34 Northeastern 35 NC State 36 UC Irvine 37 Georgia 38 Old Dominion 39 DBU 40 ECU 41 Louisville 42 West Virginia 43 Oklahoma 44 Charlotte 45 Connecticut 46 USC 47 Auburn 48 Kentucky 49 South Alabama 50 Purdue Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

Through 13.5 innings of the Mississippi State vs Tulane series, the reigning national champions were outscoring the Green Wave 30-3. Down 10-2 on Saturday, Tulane flipped the script and came alive in the late innings; the Green Wave scored five runs in the 8th, two in the 9th to tie it, and Ethan Groff hit a walk off home run in the 10th inning to give Tulane the epic comeback victory. “I’ve been hitting pretty well, so I thought that if this comes down to me, I had a chance to win it,” said Groff. “I’m the leadoff guy…. I’m just trying to get on, trying to steal bases and score runs. But, I do have a little power. It was pretty special that it happened at the right time.” After Tulane’s come-from-behind 11-10 victory on Saturday, Tulane did the same on Sunday. After being down 4-3 in the bottom of the 7th, Tulane scored a run in the 7th and 8th innings to take the lead and eventually secure them a 5-4 victory and a series win. Check out the full interview with Ethan Groff on this week's podcast! “It all dates back to last year when we played them. We had the lead in the ninth in all three games and ended up blowing two of them,” Groff said. “That gave us the feeling that we could play with these guys.” In 2021, Tulane gave up a walkoff grand slam on Saturday and a walkoff two-run single on Sunday, both after leading in the ninth inning. “Coming into this year, we got smoked Friday night,” Groff said. “But, going into Saturday. This group just doesn’t give up. We’re just a bunch of guys that care, want to be there and want to win. Any deficit we have, we feel like we can win.” Already in the 2022 season, Tulane has series victories at home over Mississippi State and on the road at Louisiana Tech. The Green Wave have shot up in the rankings quickly, as they enter week four of the regular season ranked No. 19 by College Baseball Nation. “You can’t get too high, can’t get too low. You have to treat everyday like it’s Opening Day. Even though we had the big win, we didn’t want just one, we wanted two.” Groff had an unbelievable weekend for Tulane, as he went 6-for-9 with two homers at the top of Tulane’s lineup. This isn’t anything new for the redshirt sophomore this season as he’s now hitting .475 with three homers through the first 12 games. In 48 games last year, Groff hit just .192. Now, playing in his third season, Groff has completely turned it around. “Over the years, it’s just learning to be more mature,” Groff said. “Even when you’re hot, it’s not necessarily about getting hits as much as seeing the ball and swinging as strikes.” Groff’s walkoff ignited a spark for Tulane, as they now sit 10-2 on the season. The tough games won’t stop with the Mississippi State series, as they will head to No. 16 Southern Miss on Wednesday. “That was awesome to have [the fans] come out and be there,” Groff said. “Especially after Friday, the fact that they kept coming back. We need that. It’s important to get fans there and to make Tulane a hostile environment to play at.” With the fast start this season, Tulane will be looking to win the AAC and go to their first NCAA Tournament since 2016. “The expectations are out there,” he said. “As long as we focus on what we’re doing in practice everyday and what we’re working on and getting better, we just feel like we can handle any kind of opponent that comes our way.” Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

As the season has progressed, we’ve seen several mid-major teams solidify themselves as competitors. While upsets continue to come each day, here are three teams that separated themselves from the pack this past weekend. Northeastern Sweeps NC State on the Road The talk of college baseball through the first three week’s has included NC State’s Tommy “Tanks” White. Not only did Northeastern not allow them to take him deep, they held him to just one hit. It was a dominating weekend for the Huskies, winning 6-1, 8-5, and 6-0. They held the Wolfpack’s elite offense to six runs the entire weekend. It was a big weekend for freshman Mike Sirota, who has already cemented himself in the middle of the lineup for Northeastern as a freshman. In Friday’s victory, he had a three-hit day with two doubles and three RBI’s. The freshman has a .435 batting average and 10 RBI’s through the first 11 games. The pitching is what was most notable for Northeastern. Wyatt Scotti, the Huskies Sunday starter, was dominant in seven shutout innings. He allowed just five hits and struck out three. It wasn’t the most ideal start for Northeastern to begin the season, losing games to LIU and Monmouth in the opening weekend and getting swept in a doubleheader against Marshall a week ago. But, momentum is real in college baseball, and Northeastern has that now after a sweep of the No. 13 team in the country. Northeastern, a three seed in the Fayetteville Regional a year ago, lost two close games — 8-6 to Nebraska and 3-2 to NJIT — in the tournament. The Huskies look to be vying for another tournament berth this season; the sweep of the Wolfpack boosts their resume immediately. Tulane Wins 2 of 3 Against Mississippi State The most underrated team in the country through the first three weeks of the season might be the Tulane Green Wave. Tulane is off to a 10-2 start to the season and have won each of their last two series against top 25 teams: at Louisiana Tech and home vs Mississippi State. After a tough first loss at Louisiana Tech a week ago, Tulane bounced back in a big way to win the final two games of the series. It was deja vu for the Green Wave this weekend; after a 19-2 Friday loss, Tulane had an epic 11-10 victory on Saturday and capped the weekend with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory. Saturday, Tulane scored nine unanswered runs as Ethan Groff hit a walkoff homer in the 10th inning in what was the biggest highlight of his dominant weekend. Groff went 6-for-9 at the plate, hitting two homers and two doubles. Groff has dominated the early season; through the first 12 games he has posted a .475 batting average. Tulane missed the NCAA Tournament last season after falling in the AAC Semifinals, but in the early season they have looked like they will return to the postseason for the first time since 2016. Gonzaga Wins Two Close Games at Oklahoma State Gonzaga was tabbed as a sleeper by many in the preseason and they’re proving those people right early on. After sweeping Cal State Fullerton a week ago, Gonzaga has won each of the first two games of their series at Oklahoma State (the third game of the series will be played Monday at 3 p.m.) The pitching has been the story for the Zags, as it was Gabriel Hughes’ effort on Friday night that lifted the Bulldogs over OSU, 4-3. Hughes pitched three innings, allowing only three runs on three hits as he struck out 11. Saturday, William Kempner struck out five over 6.1 innings, and Brody Jessee came up big out of the bullpen, striking out seven in 3.2. Although the Bulldogs were only held to three hits on Saturday, that was all they needed. Two of those three hits were homers, as Stephen Lund hit one in the first and Cade McGee hit one in the 10th inning. Oklahoma State has already shown this season they can dominate on the hill, with a prime example being their series win over Vanderbilt, but they were outmatched on the mound this weekend. Gonzaga sits at 8-2 this season, as those two losses came in the opening weekend of the season to Oregon State. The Zags were 34-19 a year ago and won a game in the Eugene Regional but may be a sleeper pick to win their first ever regional this upcoming June. There are 17 mid-major teams ranked in this week's top 50. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

Texas is once again the No. 1 team in the country after a 2-1 weekend at the Shriners College Classic in Minute Maid Park. UCLA (13) handed the Horns their first loss of the year as Texas was without their typical Sunday starter, Tanner Witt. Stanford and Arkansas remain at Nos. 2 and 3 after 2-1 weekends. Florida State rises to No. 4; the Noles won two out of three games against Cal. Vanderbilt, coming off a four-game sweep of Hawaii on the road, rises to No. 5. No. 6 LSU drops three spots after a 1-2 weekend at Shriners that was punctuated by a 5-error effort in a loss to Baylor on Sunday. Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, and Oklahoma State round out the top ten. Gonzaga (18) and Clemson (25) each enter the top 25. The full top 50 can be found below. 1 Texas 2 Stanford 3 Arkansas 4 Florida State 5 Vanderbilt 6 LSU 7 Tennessee 8 Georgia Tech 9 Ole Miss 10 Oklahoma State 11 Oregon State 12 Notre Dame 13 UCLA 14 Liberty 15 Florida 16 Southern Miss 17 Miami 18 Gonzaga 19 Tulane 20 Virginia 21 Texas Tech 22 Arizona 23 Maryland 24 LBSU 25 Clemson 26 Mississippi State 27 UNC 28 Texas State 29 Louisiana Tech 30 Northeastern 31 NC State 32 TCU 33 UCSB 34 South Carolina 35 UC Irvine 36 Georgia 37 Old Dominion 38 Auburn 39 ECU 40 West Virginia 41 Oregon 42 Louisville 43 Oklahoma 44 Charlotte 45 Sacramento State 46 Dallas Baptist 47 BYU 48 Wake Forest 49 Connecticut 50 South Alabama Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

While preseason rankings in college baseball are only for discussions leading up to Opening Day, this year's No. 1 ranked team may be atop the rankings for a good reason. The Texas Longhorns, ranked first in College Baseball Nation’s Top 50 since the preseason rankings were released, are the frontrunners to win the 2022 College World Series. Coming fresh off a 2021 appearance in Omaha, Texas is looking to win their first championship since 2005. The roster that David Pierce has assembled this season could be his best. To open the 2022 season, the Longhorns have been on a roll; they are 8-0 to start the season, which includes sweeps over in-state rival Rice and the SEC’s Alabama Crimson Tide. The ultimate question for Longhorn fans this year is: what will get this team to (or keep them from getting to) Omaha? The Positives Starting Pitching Texas’ group of starting pitchers is easily among the upper echelon in college baseball. No matter the day, the opposing ball club is facing one of the best starting pitchers in the country. Friday night starter Pete Hansen may be one of the most dangerous pitchers in all of college baseball, as he has already proven his worth in his first two starts of the season. Hansen has pitched a combined 11 shutout innings so far this season and has struck out 16. The left-hander was unbelievable a season ago when he posted a 1.88 ERA in 91 innings. While it may be tough to improve upon his 2021 season, he’s already off to a quick start in his redshirt-sophomore season. Texas’ Friday starter hasn’t allowed a run yet this season, and neither has its Saturday starter Tristan Stevens. Stevens’ is in his fifth season at Texas and sixth collegiate season, and he’s only getting better. In his first season as a weekend rotation piece a year ago, Stevens had a 3.31 ERA and progressed as the season went along. The experience is only a plus for the Longhorns, as Stevens is sandwiched between a redshirt sophomore and a true sophomore That sophomore is none other than Tanner Witt, the preseason College Baseball Nation first team All-American. What makes the Longhorns incredibly dangerous is that any of these three pitchers could have been named the team's top pitcher. Witt showcases an unbelievable curveball, as he has already struck out 14 in 11 total innings of work; nine of those strikeouts came in six innings against Alabama Sunday. In college baseball, what will catapult a team the most is its starting pitching. With Texas, having the ability to throw three different aces in a weekend bolsters their chances of making a run into June. Aaron Nixon headlines a dominant bullpen One of the best relief pitchers in all of college baseball is Aaron Nixon, and he showed that in Friday’s 1-0 Texas victory. Entering the game in the eighth inning, Nixon struck out two — including one with two outs and the bases loaded — in the five-out save. This is only a preview of what he can do in high-leverage situations. Nixon is only the headliner, while the Longhorns also have redshirt freshman Travis Sthele, redshirt sophomore Jared Southard, and true freshman Luke Harrison also available to throw multiple innings. Simply put, Texas has one of the best pitching staffs in the entire nation. Ivan Melendez’s presence is powerful in the middle of the Longhorns lineup Texas’ powerful first baseman Ivan Melendez is one of the best hitters in the Big 12. After being named to the All-Big 12 first team a year ago, Melendez has taken over the first base position and has continued to rake. In 2021, he hit 13 home runs with a .319 batting average. What may be more impressive about the 6-foot-3 redshirt junior is his high on-base percentage from a year ago, posting a .436 OBP. Keeping that OBP up will be key to the success of the middle of the Longhorns lineup. If Melendez is able to continue his dominance in the middle of the lineup, that brings an immediate strong presence for the Longhorns. But, what could go wrong? Besides the obvious potential of injuries, the only other question mark that remains for the Longhorns is their lineup. Texas doesn’t have a lineup that is as dangerous as other top 10 teams. With that, most of their starters have been struggling to open up the season. Melendez is only hitting .250, while Skyler Messinger (.238 AVG), Mitchell Daly (.200 AVG), and Dylan Campbell (.188), all who have played every game so far, have been struggling as well. The pitching has already shown its dominance for Texas this season, but it’s going to be the lineup that’s going to be what needs to come up big. A perfect example is Friday’s 1-0 Texas win over Alabama. Even with the Longhorn pitching dominating, the offense only had five hits and scored its own run on a wild pitch. The cold weather to start the year may be partially to blame for the lackluster offensive production, but the offense needs to step up if Texas wants to continue to be the best team in the nation. Worst Case Scenario Even in a worst case scenario, Texas should be expected to win the Big 12 regular season title, and it would be shocking if they didn’t. However, without consistent offensive production, Texas could get upset in their own regional. One of their starting pitchers could have a bad game and the Longhorns could find themselves in the losers bracket in their own Regional — always an unenviable task. For this season to be categorized as unsuccessful, the Longhorns would have to miss out on Omaha, whether that’s dropping out in a regional or super regional. Best Case Scenario Well, this one won’t take much explanation. Texas expects to be playing in Omaha, and that expectation can become a reality if they remain healthy and can be productive when needed at the plate. The Longhorns rotation is comparable to national champion runner-up Vanderbilt’s from a year ago. This is the best team Austin has had since their 2005 College World Series Championship. The time is now for Texas. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

John and Kyle break down all of the action from week 2 of college baseball and predict all the best series from Week 3! Get The College Baseball Nation Podcast on Apple Podcasts Get The College Baseball Nation Podcast on Spotify. Get The College Baseball Nation Podcast on Google Podcasts Have a question for Kyle and John? Send a DM to us on Twitter (@CollegeBallNat) or an email to podcast@collegebaseball.info and we might answer it on the podcast. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

As Major League Baseball remains in a lockout, all the eyes of baseball fans remain focused on college baseball — and for good reason. After an electrifying first weekend with major upsets, those trends continued in the second week of the season. Sacramento State sweeps #8 LBSU After Long Beach State won two out of three against Mississippi State in Starkville opening weekend, they lost three consecutive one-run home games to Sacramento State. Suddenly, the Dirtbags have lost four straight and Sacramento State has started the season with an electrifying 7-0 record. In game one, a Cesar Valero 10th inning home run gave the Hornets a 1-0 victory. The very next day when the game was knotted up at four in the 8th, Steven Moretto homered to give Sac State a 5-4 win. Sunday was a little different, as the Hornets scored five unanswered in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to complete the series sweep. Overall, Sac State has seven homers in seven games while posting a .279 team average. The Hornets’ pitching staff has a 3.60 ERA which has been a huge plus for the red-hot team. Suddenly, the WAC has a new team to watch out for, as Sac State is rolling and having fun while doing it. Ivy League Baseball is BACK There was no better way for the Ivy League to make their return known like they did this weekend. Along with multiple upsets, Ivy League teams showed why college baseball fans missed the league so much after not playing in 2021. Penn traveled to College Station to open up their season and looked like a legitimate contender immediately, as they defeated Texas A&M in their season opener, 2-1. Penn can thank Kevin Elise (4.1IP, 1 ER) and Owen Coady (4.2 scoreless innings) for dominating on the mound immediately. The two scholars struck out 12 Aggie hitters. After falling in game two, Penn bounced back in a major way. Trailing 5-1 entering the seventh inning, the bats came alive — Penn scored seven straight runs in the final three innings to win their opening series against Texas A&M. The Quakers weren’t the only Ivy League school to pull off an upset this weekend, though. Harvard opened their season up with a convincing 11-6 victory over No. 13 Miami. After being down 6-5, the Crimson offense exploded for six runs in the last two frames. Although Miami took the next two, Harvard kept Saturday close, falling 4-2. Harvard finished the weekend 1-2, but showed why they could be a force in the Ivy League. Davidson impressively sweeps Bryant The Davidson Wildcats pitching stepped up in a big way as it dominated in a three-game home series over Bryant. It all started on Friday, when Davidson’s ace Nolan Devos was lights out, as he struck out 13 batters in eight scoreless innings. He only gave up three hits and walked one. The very next night, Blake Hely dominated as well, as he had an eight-inning shutout of his own. Hely struck out 14 and allowed just two hits and walked two. Sunday, Bryant scored two runs but only one was earned. Ryan Kutz threw 3.1 impressive innings only allowing one hit. Over the entire weekend, the Wildcats outscored Bryant 23-2, a complete performance by one of the Atlantic 10’s best. With pitching performances like those, Davidson could be a sleeper mid-major team this year. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

It was a typical week two of college baseball for the SEC with a heavy dose of the usual out-of-conference domination mixed with some head-scratching losses. While it’s fun to see upsets in college baseball–and we’ve seen plenty this year–the best upsets are usually at the expense of an SEC team. Mississippi State, Auburn, and Texas A&M Take Losses For the second weekend in a row the defending College World Series champions took one on the chin, and this time it came from Northern Kentucky who took down the Bulldogs 7-6 on Friday night and out-hit them 11-4. However, the Bulldogs did bounce-back to win the weekend series. Mississippi State, who is just 4-3 to start the year, recovered to win the series but will need to play better in upcoming games against Southern Miss (x1), Tulane (x3), and Texas Tech (x2). After last playing baseball in March 2020, the Ivy League came to play this past weekend. Yale nearly swept Auburn in a double-header on Saturday but instead settled for just one extra-innings win, as Auburn squeaked by with a series win. But the biggest black eye for the conference came in College Station where Penn took 2-of-3 from Texas A&M, shutting them out 1-0 on Friday and beating them 8-5 on Sunday. Texas A&M wasn’t in College Baseball Nation’s projected Field of 64 and Auburn was one of the last four in, so they can’t afford weekend losses like these before conference play. Arkansas Falls Short in the Showdown Against Stanford at Round Rock The SEC was part of the premier matchup of the weekend as Arkansas took on Stanford in the Round Rock Classic. After a fantastic start to begin his collegiate career, freshman Hagan Smith was not nearly as sharp on Sunday against one of the best teams in the country, only lasting 2.1 innings giving up 2 earned runs on 6 hits and 2 walks with 3 strikeouts. That’s all the Cardinal would need as they went on to win 5-0, and it could have been a lot worse as they out-hit Arkansas 13-4. Arkansas continues to struggle offensively as they struck out 15 times against Stanford. They threatened a couple of times late in that game, including a bases loaded and no out situation in the 9th, but couldn’t push across a single run. Stanford outplayed Arkansas in every facet of the game and looked like the superior team–granted it’s a one-game sample size in the second week of the season. Highly touted freshman Peyton Stovall has struggled to get going at the top of the Arkansas lineup with just 3 hits in 22 at-bats. He sat in the second game of the double-header on Sunday–a game they won 6-4 over Louisiana. Tennessee Making a Statement in Early Going with Blowout Wins While we tend to focus on the upsets, sometimes we forget about the teams who are just taking care of business and winning the games they should. That’s exactly what the Tennessee Volunteers have done so far. Tennessee is 7-0 to start the year against a schedule including Georgia Southern, Tennessee Tech, UNC Asheville, and Iona. They’ve outscored those four opponents 117-7 … ONE-HUNDRED-AND-SEVENTEEN to SEVEN! This past weekend the Volunteers swept Iona by scores of 27-1, 29-0, and 12-2 (7). Tide Struggle to Get on the Scoreboard Against Top-ranked Texas Longhorns Alabama traveled to Austin, Texas to take on the number one team in the nation and came back home without a win and scored just 1 run in the series. However, the first two games were close and the third was as well until the late innings when Texas pulled away for a 6-1 win. The weather played a huge factor in the series for both teams as it was very cold; the ball didn’t travel well in the air or very fast on a damp turf. On Saturday, Alabama hit three or four balls that are likely out on most days in most ballparks which can partially explain the struggling offense. Texas struggled to score as well against Alabama’s pitching staff but came up with a run when they needed it winning 1-0 on Friday on a wild pitch and getting a couple of 2-out RBI hits on Saturday in a 2-0 win. Despite the series sweep, the Tide proved they can hang with the best in the country. Top Performances from the Weekend When you have weekends like Tennessee had, there is bound to be someone who puts up ridiculous numbers and that player was Trey Lipscomb. On Friday he hit for the cycle going 5-5 with 3 runs scored, 9 RBI, 2 doubles, 1 triple, and 1 home run. On the weekend he went 10-12 with 3 doubles, 2 home runs, 1 triple, and 14 RBI. South Carolina’s Andrew Eyster was 4-5 on Friday with 3 runs scored and hit a home run on Saturday. He’s hitting .500 on the season with 3 bombs. Hunter Barco had one of the best starts of the year striking out 12 Georgia State batters on Friday over 6 innings allowing just 1 earned run on 3 hits and a walk. The MLB Draft prospect featured great command of his low 90s fastball that topped out at 95 MPH and a great breaking ball at 79-81 MPH that kept hitters off balance all night in what was a very entertaining game. Even though it was a rough weekend for Texas A&M, Micah Dallas put together a brilliant outing on Sunday in the first game of a double-header. The Texas Tech transfer allowed just 1 hit and 1 walk over 8 shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. One of the SEC bats I was most impressed watching this past weekend was Florida’s leadoff hitter, Colby Halter. He was 8-13 on the weekend against Georgia State with a pair of home runs and 7 runs scored. On Saturday he hit 2 doubles in the same inning. Most Exciting Win of the Weekend The Kentucky Wildcats are off to their first 7-0 start since the 2012 season after sweeping Western Michigan this past weekend. That perfect record was in jeopardy on Saturday as they trailed Western Michigan 12-4 going into the bottom of the 7th. They scored 2 runs in the 7th, 5 in the 8th, and then tied it with a single run in the 9th before walking it off–in a bit of a weird fashion–in the 12th inning. Here are highlights from the exciting comeback win: Ten SEC teams are ranked in this week's Top 50. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!