With the draft less than a week away, College Baseball Nation has completed its final formal mock draft before Sunday’s festivities. While there’s a tremendous amount of uncertainty—as there is leading up to all drafts—some things have begun to solidify. These include: There’s a clear cut top 5 at the top of the draft that features LSU OF Dylan Crews, LSU RHP Paul Skenes, Florida OF Wyatt Langford, and prep outfielders Walker Jenkins and Max Clark. After this quintet, there’s a clear drop-off in talent. It’s becoming increasingly evident that the Pittsburgh Pirates will NOT be selecting Crews, who is said to be demanding the full $9,721,000 allotted for pick 1-01. The Pirates generally prefer to create savings from this pick then go over slot with subsequent selections. Now, the question is who will Pittsburgh take in place of Crews. We tackle this issue immediately below. Because of the huge financial issues—namely teams’ total bonus pool amounts and the amount of money allotted for each pick (aka “slot values”)—at play, we highly encourage our readers to consult this link that provides a comprehensive primer as well as all relevant slot-related information. Please stay tuned to my Twitter feed @H_Frommer for the latest real-time updates. 1) Pittsburgh Pirates—Wyatt Langford, OF, Florida: We thought very seriously about putting Skenes here, but we’ve instead opted for Langford. With all signs pointing to Washington taking Skenes whether or not Crews is still on the board, Skenes would almost certainly not be willing to take a bigger haircut than Langford, whose camp has signaled it would be receptive to a below-slot deal. In other words, Skenes is essentially guaranteed a bonus in the neighborhood of $9 million (Washington’s slot), so why would he accept anything less than that from Pittsburgh? Langford, on the other hand, was apparently headed to Detroit at the third pick, where the slot value is just north of $8.3 million. Langford agreeing to an approximate $8.5 million deal would earn him a couple shekels more than what he would have earned as Detroit’s pick, while shaving over million bucks off the bill for Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh could then use this “new money” to go over slot with subsequent picks, much like it did in 2021 when it signed Henry Davis to a well under slot deal. 2) Washington Nationals—Paul Skenes, RHP, LSU: Over the last week or so, word has leaked out of DC that Skenes is the Nationals’ top choice, even if Crews is still on the board. This jibes, as GM Mike Rizzo did very well in 2009 picking San Diego State stud Stephen Strasburg, the pitcher the all-world Skenes has been most frequently compared with. 3) Detroit Tigers—Dylan Crews, OF, LSU: This shouldn’t come as a huge shock to anyone, given Pittsburgh’s penchant for thinking out of the box to avoid paying pull freight at 1-01 and the Nationals’ infatuation with Skenes. One other important thing to consider: with the draft’s second-highest bonus pool of just over $15.7 million, Detroit is in an excellent position to give Crews the record $9+ million deal his camp likely covets and not feel excessive pain. 4) Texas Rangers—Max Clark, OF, HS (Franklin, IN): While the Rangers are said to prefer North Carolina prep sensation Walker Jenkins from a skills perspective, they’re also high on Clark. And, equally as important, with no 2nd and 3rd round picks (by virtue of having lost those picks due to the Jacob DeGrom and Nathan Eovaldi free agent signings), the Rangers have much less in total pool money to play with and are thus more likely to reach a deal with Clark, whose camp has appeared more financially flexible than Jenkins. 5) Minnesota Twins— Walker Jenkins, OF, HS (Oak Island, NC):The Twins are in a great position to snap up the member of the Lanford-Skenes-Crews-Clark-Jenkins- quintet that falls and they do just that. With over $14.4 million in total bonus pool money (versus the $9.9 million that’s in Texas’ safe), the Twins would be able to go over slot for Jenkins whose advisor is the hard-charging Scott Boras. Ole Miss SS Jacob Gonzalez is an interesting dark horse candidate whose name has come up lately. 6) Oakland A’s—Kyle Teel, C, Virginia: When Moses came down that mountain he actually dropped a third tablet with the inscription “Thou shalt not draft for need.” The Oakland brain trust must be ardent followers of scripture because even with promising young catchers Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom in their system, they look to take the best college receiver since Adley Rutschman in 2019. The A’s have also displayed strong interest in Ole Miss SS Jacob Gonzalez and Grand Canyon SS Jacob Wilson, though the latter is falling due to concerns surrounding his ability to impact the baseball. 7) Cincinnati Reds—Chase Dollander, RHP, Tennessee: Though Dollander’s slider has backed up this year, he’s still viewed as a unique talent who could emerge as a front-of-the-rotation stalwart if the right player development department gets its hands on him. The Reds, with progressive pitching coach Derek Johnson and other like-minded instructors, have never shied away from ambitious projects. Cincinnati has also been in to see Maryland 2B Matt Shaw, Gonzalez, and Teel. 8) Kansas City Royals—Jacob Gonzalez, SS, Ole Miss: Though the Royals have exhibited strong interest in prep flamethrower Noble Meyer and prep catcher Blake Mitchell, we expect the regime of new GM J.J. Picollo to play it a little more safe and pop Gonzalez, a shortstop who’s performed at a high level in the uber-competitive SEC the past three seasons. 9) Colorado Rockies—Rhett Lowder, RHP, Wake Forest: The Rockies have been all over the map this spring, showing interest in Teel, Dollander, and Bradfield, among others. However, they’re very found of Lowder and believe he has the stuff to succeed at Coors Field. 10) Miami Marlins—Noble Meyer, RHP, HS (West Linn, OR): With the Marlins very much in the playoff picture, the pressure is off GM Kim Ng to select a fast-moving college hitter like Gonzalez, Shaw, or Stanford’s Tommy Troy. As a result, the Marlins will stay true to their roots and select Meyer. 11) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim—Tommy Troy, 2B, Stanford: The Angels love Lowder and adore Teel, but with both of those guys off the board they’ll opt for Troy, a polished college infielder who’ll fly through their system much like their 2022 1st rounder Zach Neto. 12) Arizona Diamondbacks—Colin Houck, SS, HS (Lilburn, GA): Houck has been on a steady ascent since March, and this is one of the picks outside of the top 10 we feel the most certain on. 13) Chicago Cubs—Arjun Nimmala, SS, HS (Valrico, FL): This is the other pick outside the top 10 we feel pretty confident on. Both parties have been closely connected the past 6-8 weeks. 14) Boston Red Sox—Blake Mitchell, C, HS (Sinton, TX): The Sawx have gone high school bat in recent years and with Mitchell they remain on that trajectory with a high-risk, high-reward pick. 3B Aidan Miller has been coming on of late after a broken hamate bone and could be another contender here. 15) Chicago White Sox—Enrique Bradfield Jr, OF, Vanderbilt: We’ve heard the ChiSox strictly on collegians—especially Teel and Gonzalez—and the speedster Bradfield would be an excellent consolation prize. 16) San Francisco Giants—Matt Shaw, 2B, Maryland: We’re hearing San Francisco is in on a number of college bats, such as Shaw, Wilson, Troy, and TCU 3B Brayden Taylor. Shaw’s mature approach would be a good fit in the Giants’ system. 17) Baltimore Orioles—Hurston Waldrep, RHP, Florida: O’s GM Mike Elias recently went on record stating he’d be open to drafting a pitcher in the 1st round for the first time since taking over prior to the 2019 season. Was he signaling? Maybe. Maybe not. But Waldrep could be an excellent add to Baltimore’s hitter heavy program, especially with more reliance on his sharp secondaries. 18) Milwaukee Brewers—Brayden Taylor, 3B, TCU: This is the first time we hear FAU 1B/OF Nolan Schanuel’s name, and it’s also a good landing spot for some other college bats, namely Taylor and Wilson. 19) Tampa Bay Rays—Jacob Wilson, SS, Grand Canyon University: The Rays, who mine value in the draft as well as anyone, would have a hard time bypassing Wilson, who at one point was thought to be a surefire top-10 pick. 20) Toronto Blue Jays—Dillon Head, OF, HS (Glenwood, IL): In recent weeks, we’ve heard a lot of prep bats here, none more prominently than Head. 21) St. Louis Cardinals—Thomas White, LHP, HS (Rowley, MA): Since 1998, it’s been the Cardinals’ m.o. to snatch guys who fall to them and they’ll play the game again that year by taking the Vanderbilt-bound White. A northern arm, White was at one point seen as a possible top-10 pick but has gradually fallen. 22) Seattle Mariners—Nolan Schanuel, 1B/OF, FAU: The Mariners are in an interesting position with the 22nd, 29th, and 30th picks and have already revealed they plan on playing “money games” to land an above slot talent at one of these selections. Schanuel doesn’t have the cache that comes from playing in a Power-5 conference, but his .447/.615/.868 slash line with a 71/14 BB/K ratio can’t be ignored. He’ll likely go below slot, thus clearing the way for the M’s to pop HS 3B Aidan Miller at either 29 or 30. Because of his long history of performing against showcase pitching, Miller was expected to go in the top 15 picks before the aforementioned hamate injury ruined his spring. 23) Cleveland Guardians—Chase Davis, OF, Arizona: Cleveland really likes local product Colt Emerson but Davis’ power and improved swing decisions will be too hard for an organization that has deficits in both areas to pass up. 24) Atlanta Braves—Sammy Stafura, SS, HS (Mohegan Lake, NY): Though the Braves are commonly associated with high school arms mostly from the sun belt, we’ve heard them on a bunch of prep hitters such as Stafura, Bryce Eldridge, and George Lombard Jr. Apparently, they’re smitten with Stafura. 25) San Diego Padres—Bryce Eldridge, 1B/OF/RHP, HS (Vienna, VA): There is no bigger wildcard in baseball than Padres GM A.J. Preller, so why not have the Padres take the most intriguing talent in the draft in Eldridge? San Diego has closely monitored Eldridge, along with a number of other preps like Lombard, Head, and Mitchell. 26) New York Yankees—Kevin McGonigle, 2B, HS (Aldan, PA): The Yankees really like the New Yorker Stafura, but with him off the board they opt for McGonigle, who some believe has the best hit tool in the high school class. 27) Philadelphia Phillies—Charlee Soto, RHP, HS (Kissimmee, FL): Phillies GM Dave Dombrowski has never been afraid to take power HS arms in the 1st round and in Soto he’d have quite the fireballer. 28) Houston Astros—George Lombard Jr, SS, HS (Pinecrest, FL): The Astros are more tied to high school bats than any other demographic so we’ll give them Lombard, a guy who’s catapulted up draft boards all spring. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

OMAHA-Three games, three very different outcomes. That was the story of the trio of battles between LSU and Florida for the 2023 national crown. An extra-innings homer from Cade Beloso gave the Tigers a 4-3 victory in game one, only to be followed by an offensive onslaught from Florida in game two, as the Gators prevailed 24-4. But in the all-decisive third game on Monday night, LSU flipped the script. The Tigers, seemingly unfazed by Florida’s dominance a day before, stepped to the plate in the second inning and never looked back. An RBI single from Jordan Thompson cut the 2-0 Florida lead in half before things unraveled for Florida starter Jac Caglianone on the mound. A walk, hit-by-pitch, and another walk put LSU in front, 3-2, leading to a six-run inning that brought the large contingent of fans donning purple and yellow to their feet. They had come to see LSU win a national championship, and that is exactly what the Tigers did, overwhelming Florida in an 18-4 victory. It marked LSU’s seventh national title in program history. “I really believe this will go down as one of the best teams in college baseball history,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson began in the postgame press conference. “[They were] so consistent in the NCAA Tournament. “We had 11 wins in the postseason, six of them against SEC teams. And I really believe we played and beat the best team that could’ve played along the way through the entire tournament at that spot.” For the better part of the season, it seemed the national title was destined for Baton Rouge. The Tigers held the nation’s No. 1 spot in College Baseball Nation’s Top 50 ranking for 13 straight weeks, dating back to the July 5, 2022 “Way-Too-Early” ranking, and up through the 11th week of the regular season. That high acclaim stemmed in large part from the transfers LSU added following its exit in the Hattiesburg Regional, instantly bolstering its position within the national pecking order. Those transfers panned out, led by ace Paul Skenes, whose dominance on the mound almost single-handedly lifted LSU past Wake Forest and into the championship series. Thatcher Hurd also joined the LSU pitching staff as a newcomer in 2023, a 6-foot-4 right-handed transfer from UCLA. And it was Hurd who tamed the powerful Florida bats on Monday night, allowing for the Tigers’ expansion of the lead. The sophomore went six innings, giving up just two hits and two runs–both scoring on Wyatt Langford’s first-inning home run. Hurd struck out seven Florida batters. “When [Thatcher] said that he was going to come to LSU, I said, ‘Hey big guy, you might be the most important recruit of my entire career,’” Johnson recalled. ”I knew what the other three on the stage were going to do, but to win a national championship and get through the NCAA Tournament, we needed real aces. And that’s an ace, right there.” And who could forget about Tommy White? The hard-hitting third baseman etched his name into the history books with a walk-off home run against Wake Forest on Thursday, breaking the 11th inning tie, and followed up with a whopping seven hits in the championship series. Three of those came on Monday night, as White, from the third spot in the order, drove in three runs. With his distinct batting stance and passionate personality, the NC State transfer certainly made an impact. His final hit of the victory came in the top of the ninth, as White drove 2-2 pitch down the left field line, prompting Dylan Crews’ dash from second base, around third, and across the plate. White scored one batter later on Tre’ Morgan’s double to the left field gap, giving the Tigers a 16-4 lead. Of course, the returning core played no small role in the optimism, either. And on Monday night, the veteran leaders paced the lineup in its highest run total in Omaha. Cade Beloso, a fifth-year senior who played in his 151st–and final–game with LSU in the national title win, posted a 2-for-5 performance, driving in a pair of runs while reaching base twice more after being hit by a pitch. Crews, a junior, followed Beloso at the No. 2 slot in the lineup and tallied four hits of his own, with a team-best three runs scored. Morgan, in the cleanup spot, did not disappoint either, with a 3-for-6 day that concluded with his RBI double off the left field wall in the ninth. Nothing stopped the Tigers’ on this night, as the offense rolled in similar fashion to Florida’s on Sunday. The impact Crews had on the LSU ballclub went beyond just a 4-for-6 performance on the final night of the season. In fact, Johnson said postgame that Crews was part of the reason he took the job in Baton Rouge in the first place. “Dylan is the best player in college baseball history in my opinion,” Johnson noted. “Frankly, it was a big reason why I accepted the job. I probably would’ve looked at LSU anyways, but knowing that I was going to have a once-in-a lifetime player on my team for two years was a big deal.” And then there was Thompson, the junior shortstop who struggled in both the field and at the plate throughout Sunday’s defeat, as he struck out twice and committed a pair of costly errors. Nothing had gone his way a day earlier, but Thompson responded with a 2-for-6 showing at the plate on the biggest stage on Monday, all the while making a series of stellar plays at shortstop. Two of the final three outs in the ninth inning were ground balls hit straight in his direction. “I brought him into my room this morning, and said, ‘Hey man, we’re winning the national championship tonight. And you’re going to do something special. But is there anything I can do to help you get to that point?,’” Johnson said of his pregame conversation with Thompson “And he looked me in the eye and said, ‘I’m good.’ I saw tonight happen before it happened.” In the moments following the home run-hitting showcase from Florida on Sunday, Johnson summed up the Gators’ success quite simply. “It was an onslaught of good at-bats and barrels [on the ball],” he had said. A day later, he was saying the same about his squad. Perhaps no moment defined the performance better than Brayden Jobert’s ninth-inning, two-run homer into the right field seats. The right-fielder, who went 4-for-7 and tied his season-high for hits in a game, sent Fisher Jameson’s pitch into the sea of purple in the stands beyond the outfield wall, giving LSU its eventual one-sided 18-4 victory. The leaping of the crowd had no unison to it, and yet it seemed to be in perfect harmony; they knew exactly what they were witnessing. It is what they had known was a perfectly logical reality dating all the way back to the season-opening sweep of Western Michigan in February. “Great teams play near their capability often,” Johnson said. “I talked about ‘staying in character’ a lot. Those are not just words. That’s what we had to do. If we did that, then I could surrender the result. Because I had so much confidence in what the result could be.” The weight of the expectations appeared to have taken its toll in late May, when Auburn and Mississippi State handed LSU series losses on consecutive weekends. The 1-2 showing at the SEC Tournament left questions as to how the Tigers would close the 2023 campaign. But once the NCAA Tournament began, LSU quickly erased those question marks, ending up in Omaha without a loss. A 3-2 loss to Wake Forest in their second game of the world series put the Tigers in three straight elimination games en route to the matchup with Florida. And when faced with another de facto elimination contest on Monday, LSU surpassed all expectations by the pure margin of victory. “Coming into today, we all knew this was going to be the last game of the season, no matter if we won or lost,” Thompson said. “From the moment that we all woke up and saw each other in the morning when we had our team meeting, we knew what we wanted to do today and we knew what it was going to take for us to be able to accomplish it.” Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

With Thursday’s CWS heroics behind us and the Finals about to begin, it’s a great time to acknowledge the most talented players in the nation with the selection of College Baseball Nation's Postseason All-America Prospect Teams. As the name suggests, selection to both squads is more contingent on a player’s long-term potential and how he projects as a pro prospect than on merely statistical performance. However, there will certainly be a strong correlation between the latter and a player’s appearance in this article. As the 2023 season progressed, we consistently heard from MLB executives and scouts how strong the talent level was across college baseball. And most scouts cited the 2023 draft class as being particularly impressive. If the talent level on both teams isn’t enough to make you salivate then think of all the deserving guys we had to omit because of a lack of space—players like Miami 3B Yohandy Morales, Campbell RHP Cade Kuehler, and Mississippi State OF Colton Ledbetter should all be off the board during the first day of the draft but couldn’t get a seat at CBN’s All-America table. With the 2023 First-Year Player Draft about two weeks away, CBN has you covered. Our next mock draft will be chock full of juicy tidbits and appear the week of July 3rd. In the meantime, please feel free to follow me on Twitter at @H_Frommer for all the latest draft updates. 1st Team First Base Jac Caglianone, Florida: Despite his achievements on the mound, “Jactani” profiles more as a 1B, where his prodigious power should make him one of the first players off the board next year. Second Base Matt Shaw, Maryland: A move off SS is inevitable, but he could develop into a Brian Dozier-type second baseman with game-changing power and a dependable glove. Shortstop Jacob Wilson, Grand Canyon: His bat-to-ball skills are legendary, as evidenced by his minuscule 2.3-percent K-rate and his power should increase as he fills out. Third Base Brock Wilken, Wake Forest: As impressive as his 31 dingers this year were, scouts seem more encouraged by his year-over-year reduction in K-rate from 24.2 to 18.1 percent and improvement in BB-rate from 11.6 to 21.5 percent. Offers a cannon arm at the hot corner. Outfield Dylan Crews, LSU: A legitimate 5-tool player and highest-rated collegiate bat since Adley Rutschman in 2019. Was hitting an astonishing .500 until nearly the season’s halfway point. Wyatt Langford, Florida: A similar profile as Crews but with a slightly less hit tool to go with a tick more power and speed. Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vanderbilt: 80-grade runner and fielder with the floor of a Juan Pierre and upside of Kenny Lofton. Catcher Kyle Teel, Virginia: His refined left-handed bat, athleticism, and superb catch-and-throw skills scream B.J. Surhoff. Designated Hitter Nolan Schanuel, Florida Atlantic: His excellent batted ball data and impressive plate discipline could propel him to a mid-1st round selection next month. Starting Pitchers Paul Skenes, LSU: A year for the ages has earned him a spot on the Mount Rushmore of college pitchers. Put simply, the best college arm since Stephen Strasburg, and they may be conservative. Rhett Lowder, Wake Forest: Doesn’t have Skenes’ upside, but his expert command and strong 4-pitch mix could give him #2/3 starter upside. Chase Dollander, Tennessee: Despite a disappointing junior season that saw his vaunted slider lose bite and his fastball command waver, he should still get drafted in the top half of the 1st round. Hurston Waldrep, Florida: His postseason heroics have salvaged what was a disappointing season and demonstrated just how lethal his fastball-slider-splitter combination can be. Relief Pitcher Andrew Walters, Miami (FL): It’s likely that his out-of-this-world pitch characteristics will cause his pro team to lengthen him out as a starter. 2nd Team First Base Nick Kurtz, Wake Forest: His light-tower power, keen eye, and projected 55 hit tool should make him a top-10 pick next year. Second Base Tommy Troy, Stanford: His compact physique, 20-HR power, and advanced hit tool make him eerily similar to Shaw. Shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, Ole Miss: Gonzalez doesn’t have one standout tool but has been a consistent performer for three years in the uber-competitive SEC. Third Base Brayden Taylor, TCU: Overcame a slow start to propel TCU into the CWS Final Four; projects as a 20-homer bat and above average fielder. Outfield Chase Davis, Arizona: Dramatic improvement in his swing decisions caused his K-rate to decline from 22.8 percent in 2022 to 14.3 percent in 2023 without impacting his grade 60 power. Jack Hurley, Virginia Tech: Another guy who overcame a tepid start (and mid-season injury) to post excellent numbers. His strong batted ball data offset middling swing decisions. Charlie Condon, Georgia: ’24 draft eligible redshirt freshman burst onto the scene this year with a 1.284 OPS and 25 homers in 56 games shuttling between 1B and OF in the dog-eat-dog SEC. Catcher Malcolm Moore, Stanford: Also a rising sophomore who’ll be draft eligible next year. Proved his mettle in ’23 as a polished receiver with massive offensive upside. Designated Hitter Tommy White, LSU: His colossal power helps negate positional questions and gives him the nod over two ’24 draft eligible second basemen, Oregon State’s Travis Bazzana and West Virginia’s JJ Wetherholt for our 2nd Team’s DH slot. Starting Pitchers Joe Whitman, Kent State: After toiling for two years at Purdue, busted out in ’23 to the tune of a 2.56 ERA and 11.1 K/9. Should be the first college southpaw selected next month. Brody Brecht, Iowa: Has the stuff, including a fastball that regularly eclipses the century mark with tremendous spin, to go 1-01 next year, but will have to dramatically improve his control and command. Josh Hartle, Wake Forest: His 6-05/200 frame and deceptive motion evoke Chris Sale comparisons, but he’ll have to add some more octane to his fastball to enjoy consistent success at the next level. Trey Yesavage, ECU: Athletic, physical righty demonstrated a toxic three-pitch mix with superb command. The safe bet to be the first college righthander taken in 2024. Relief Pitcher Cam Minacci, Wake Forest: Anchored one of the country’s best bullpens with a 98 MPH heater and vicious secondary offerings that should enable him to jet through the minor leagues. Thanks for stopping by! 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It was last season on March 27, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida, and LSU had gotten off to a rapid start at the plate. 11 runs in the first six innings, to be exact. And it came against a star-studded Florida lineup, a lineup that had just handed the Tigers their fourth loss in the last five games in a 7-2 series-opening win on Friday night. But LSU, even in the hostile road environment, responded with a pair of statement wins by scores of 16-4 and 11-2, taking the series from the Gators, then ranked No. 9 nationally by College Baseball Nation. “It’s a great accomplishment for our team against a great program,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson remarked after the 11-2 win. Little did he, or Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan expect that the next time the Gators and Tigers tangled on the diamond, it would not be in a ballpark in the southeast, but rather on college baseball’s biggest stage with a national title on the line in Omaha. A leaping catch in deep center field by Florida's Michael Robertson, and an extra-innings walk-off homer from LSU’s Tommy White secured spots in the championship series for the SEC powers, who have gone 454 days since their last meeting. This is not the first time the Tigers and Gators have played for the national title. In 2017, they battled in Omaha in the title series, and Florida pulled away in a pair of wins, claiming the first–and to date, the only—national championship under O’Sullivan, who is in his 16th season at the helm. Johnson wasn’t in Baton Rouge yet. At that point, Tucson was home for the skipper, who led Arizona to a regional appearance in his second season. It would be four more years before his appointment as head coach of the Tigers. For 12 of the final 13 weeks of this season, Florida and LSU found themselves amongst the top five CBN’s weekly Top 50 ranking. And they proved it through the postseason, with the Gators fighting elimination–and prevailing–through the final three games of the Gainesville Regional. LSU left no doubt, emerging to Omaha without a postseason loss. LSU’s road to the championship series The Tigers easily pulled out wins over Tulane and Oregon State in the first weekend of the tournament, before outsourcing SEC foe Kentucky 20-3 in a pair of Super Regional contests. But they ran into trouble at the hands of top-seeded Wake Forest on Monday night, as the Demon Deacons edged LSU with unanswered runs in a 3-2 victory, and sent the Tigers to a must-win matchup with, not surprisingly, another SEC opponent—Tennessee. Nate Ackenhausen rose to the occasion, with six scoreless innings against the Vols. Adding to the intrigue was the fact that Auckenzen had never started a game for LSU in 2023, purely serving as a major cog in the bullpen’s success throughout the first 63 games. But when his number was called, he delivered. “I texted [Jay Johnson] that I would give it all I’ve got,” Ackenhausen said of the call to start. The pitching strategy for LSU heading into the series against Florida is unclear, though it is likely that Ackenhausen will toe the rubber once more for the Tigers in Omaha, whether it be in a starting role or as a reliever. The pitching talent played no small role in LSU’s consistent success and 49-15 record leading into the College World Series. There is no better example of that very fact than what played out on Thursday night. Skenes carried LSU to decisive 2-0 victory With LSU facing Wake Forest for the third time in the last seven days, and the winner moving onto the championship series, both teams laid down their best hand. No storyline proved bigger than that of the starting pitching matchup, between projected first-round draft picks Rhett Lowder, of Wake, and Paul Skenes, of LSU. Both pitchers dueled in memorable fashion, and scoring opportunities came few and far between. Johnson called it “the best pitched college baseball game I’ve ever seen.” With his inning-ending strikeout in the second inning, Skenes etched his name into the record books as the LSU’s single-season strikeout record holder, surpassing LSU great Ben McDonald with 203 strikeouts on the year. The command of the strike zone from both Skenes and Lowder proved vital; Lowder walked just two, and Skenes, one, and through 10 innings, the score was knotted at 0-0. When Skenes exited in the eighth, Thatcher Hurd stepped up, and fired three more scoreless frames with just one hit in 11 batters faced. “Obviously what Paul did was spectacular,” Johnson added in the postgame press conference. “What Thatcher [Hurd] did was spectacular. You might see four pitchers that were on that mound tonight, from both teams, that will pitch in major league baseball all-star games.” “Like coach says all the time, it’s all about execution,” Hurd added. “I was going to do anything to get that win for us. I wasn’t going to let us down.” Morgan’s run-saving play Preserving the shutout for LSU ultimately came down to one very narrow play-at-the-plate. So close in fact, that a replay review proved necessary to confirm the call. It happened like this; with Skenes on the hill and runners on first and third with one out, Marek Houston squared around to bunt. The ball was sent towards first base, with Wake’s Justin Johnson barrelling down the third base line. And in a flash, LSU first baseman Tre’ Morgan fielded the bunt and flung it towards home plate. LSU catcher Alex Milazzo applied the tag, and not a moment too soon. Replay showed Johnson, fully outstretched and diving headfirst, being tagged within mere inches of the plate. “We work on it all the time,” Johnson said of Richardson’s run-saving play .”And I’ll tell you, it was a big benefit who we played to get to this point. When you look at Tulane, you look at Oregon State, you look at Kentucky. That’s three of the best bunting teams in the country. Both going into the regional and super regional, we spent a large amount of time on bunt coverages to both sides, safety squeeze defense. “We’ve finally been able to get him back over to first base here in the postseason because he’s healthy enough to do it. Nobody has played better in this World Series than Tre’. There hasn’t been a bigger play in this world series than that bunt play.” Morgan not only made his mark in the field, but also at the plate. He went 2-for-4 in the 5-0 win over Tennessee and scored a run in LSU’s decisive 5-2 win over Wake on Wednesday. His performances have been part of a larger unit of LSU hitters, whose notable power challenges nearly every pitcher the lineup goes up against. The Tigers, with 138 homers on the season, have the second-most of any team in D-I baseball. Of course, Lowder quieted the LSU bats a great deal on Thursday, and the lone Tigers’ home run came on White’s walk-off to left field in the 11th against closer Camden Minacci. It could be more of the same for the Tigers against Florida, especially if the Gators have their way. Florida’s pitching is a force to be reckoned with Though Florida’s 4.48 ERA through ranks seventh in the SEC, the Gators struck out opposing batters at a high rate, with 697 strikeouts, the third-most in a league that sent 10 teams to the NCAA Tournament. Jac Caglianone headlines the starting rotation, with a team-high 3.68 ERA through 17 starts, and impressively, is also a centerpiece as one of Florida’s top hitters, with a .325 average that goes along nicely with his team-best 31 homers. He delivered 4.1 innings with just one earned run in the 3-2 defeat of TCU on Wednesday, clinching the Gators’ spot in the championship series. “Jac was really good today,” O’Sullivan commented after the 3-2 win over TCU. “At the end of the day, he bent, but he didn’t break.” Known for his 6-foot-5, 245-pound frame, Caglianone is a force for Florida. A two-way force that is effective no matter if he’s on the mound, or at the plate. But he is not the only key pitcher for this Florida ballclub. Hurston Waldrep has been right there too, starting 18 games with a 10-3 record and 3.99 ERA. His 154 strikeouts stick out, but more importantly in this postseason, he has held opponents at bay. Even against Oral Roberts in Florida’s second game in Omaha, Waldrep allowed seven hits. But just one run scored, and it proved to be a difference-maker, giving the Gators a 5-4 win, keeping them in the winner’s bracket. In his previous start at South Carolina, in the super regionals, Waldrep tossed eight innings against SEC rival South Carolina. Try as they might, with their season on the line, the Gamecocks failed to break through, shutout with just three hits off Waldrep. “He’s been able to make adjustments in-game,” O’Sullivan said of Waldrep. “He’s had the ability to throw his curveball, slider, and split early in the count. “Through the first half of the year, his split was more of a two-strike pitch, but now he’s been able to slow the ball down. And when people are swinging early in the count like they did, he’s got multiple weapons that he can go to.” Combining with the bats That quality starting pitching, especially in the later months of the season, has meshed nicely with the power-studded lineup that allowed Florida to find success at the plate in both the regionals and super regionals. The Gators .544 slugging percentage ranks second in the SEC. No. 1? You probably guessed it: LSU. Wyatt Langford is the name to know, in addition to Caglione, when it comes to Florida's offensive prowess. He hits for a team-best average of .369, and boasts a .493 on-base percentage. But notably, Langford struggled through his first three games in Omaha, going 2-for-11. Yet, he has come through in the big moments, including with a game-tying home run in the ninth inning of Florida’s 6-5 victory over Virginia. Winning in late-game situations has been key to Florida’s success in Omaha While the Gators haven’t yet lost in Omaha, the path to the championship series did not come stress-free. All three of Florida’s wins were decided by a single run, starting with the win over Virginia. Three runs in the bottom of the ninth, including Langford’s homer and Luke Heyman’s walk-off sacrifice fly, gave Florida the victory, leading O’Sullivan to remark: “We have a chance to hit the ball out of the yard. So one swing of the bat, you can hit a two-run homer or a three-run homer and feel like you can get back into it. It’s not like we have to string together three, four, or five hits in an inning to score.” Then came a 5-4 win over Oral Roberts, marked by another late-inning stresser. Due to NCAA rules, coaches are only given five mound visits per game. Once that number is exceeded, the coach is required to bring in a new pitcher if a mound visit is conducted. With Oral Roberts batting in the bottom of the eighth, the bases loaded, and Florida leading 5-3, O’Sullivan walked out to the mound, aiming to talk with All-SEC closer Brandon Neely. But it was O’Sullivan’s sixth mound visit, meaning Neely could not remain in the game. On came freshman Cade Fisher, in the game’s most pivotal moment. Fisher induced a lineout, and then escaped from another bases-loaded jam in the ninth. “Nobody feels more terrible about it than I do,” O’Sullivan had said of the late-game hiccup, but added, “Cade comes in from Friday night, and is put in a really tough position. He should feel really good about himself. The team was fired up.” Closing it out The similarities are obvious between the SEC bluebloods; quality starting pitching is a major trait they both share, as is a lineup with several proven power hitters. They’ve each shared stretches of pure dominance in this postseason, while simultaneously fighting out one-run games in nailbiter finishes. This has all the makings of a series decided in three games, thanks to the depth and experience found on both rosters. Every great performance needs a memorable final act. And the 2023 College World Series is more than set up for one of the best finales in recent memory. Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

The last two seasons we’ve seen the team who was clearly the best team in college baseball fail to win it all – Wake Forest hopes to end that streak this year. There is no question the Demon Deacons have been the deepest and most consistent team in the country all season. But we also haven’t seen a number one national seed win the College World Series since 1999. And this bracket is full of blue bloods who have the talent to knock them off. Wake Forest (52-10) It’s been complete domination all year as Wake Forest hasn’t lost a single series and hasn’t even lost back-to-back games. They’ve won all five of their NCAA Tournament games while outsourcing their opponents 75-16. One of the biggest questions for Wake Forest entering Omaha is how their offense will play in a park that is much more pitcher friendly than their home ballpark. Brock Wilken hit 30 home runs this year and has big time power in any park. As does Nick Kurtz who hit 24. It's not a boom or bust offense though, many of their hitters have more walks than strikeouts, including leadoff hitter Tommy Hawke who also paces the team with 13 stolen bases. And despite pitching in such a home run field park, they also boast one of the best pitching staffs in baseball headlined by Rhett Lowder who has a 1.92 ERA in 108 innings with 131 strikeouts. Josh Hartle struck out 11 in 6 innings of work against Alabama in the super regionals. Camden Minacci has 12 saves and 44 strikeouts in 29.2 innings, and Sean Sullivan has become a big weapon out of the bullpen for them. Stanford (44-18) The Cardinal continue to carry the torch for the west coast making their third straight trip to Omaha. They always seem to get it done in dramatic fashion as they did this year by losing their second game in the regional and first game of the supers but still advancing. Their final game against Texas was a wild one that ended in a walk-off because the outfielder couldn’t find a pop-up. But this team is super talented and deserving to be in Omaha. The offense is led by Tommy Troy who is hitting .397 with 17 home runs and 17 stolen bases. But he’s supported by some other great hitters like Alberto Rios, Eddie Park, and Braden Montgomery. This is a really deep lineup with six players that have 14 home runs or more this year. The pitching side of things is where they might have some issues. Quinn Mathews leads the staff with a 3.60 ERA in 120 innings with 152 strikeouts. He threw 156 pitches in game two of the supers to help save the bullpen for game three and he was brilliant. If Ryan Bruno is in control he can be a huge difference-maker with his dominant stuff that helped him strike out 54 batters in 33 innings this year. Brandt Pancer and Joey Dixon are arms they’ll need to step up if they’re going to make a run in Omaha. LSU (48-15) LSU was the preseason darling and held the top spot for most of the season, but injuries to the pitching staff and others not performing as projected led to some struggles down the stretch. Still, they managed to run through the regionals and super regionals without much stress. Paul Skenes is perhaps the best college arm we’ve ever seen, and when he pitches it’s almost an automatic win for LSU. He has a 1.77 ERA and 188 strikeouts in 107 innings. And has 12 wins in 17 starts. Ty Floyd and Thatcher Hurd are a couple of arms that will need to step up in starting roles. But the bullpen has come together nicely with Riley Cooper and Gavin Guidry playing big roles. It’s a star-studded lineup as well with perhaps the best hitter in college baseball in Dylan Crews who has a 1.303 OPS. Backing him up is one of the best power hitters in the country in Tommy White who has 22 long balls on the year. They have seven players with double-digit home runs, but they’re more susceptible to strikeouts than some of the other teams in this bracket. Tennessee (43-20) After the disappointment of missing the College World Series last year and the ups-and-downs of the 2023 season, the Volunteers reach Omaha despite having to go on the road in the regionals and super regionals. They lost the first game in the super regionals at Southern Miss, but then came back to beat Tanner Hall in game two and then shutout the Golden Eagles in game three. We also knew it would be the pitching that would have to carry them in 2023, and that was questionable at times during the season. But they seem to be hitting their stride at the right time. Andrew Lindsey, Chase Dollander, Drew Beam, Chase Burns, and Seth Halvorsen lead a very deep and extremely talented pitching staff. Dollander and Burns each have over 100 strikeouts on the season, while Beam and Lindsey have the best ERAs of those four. The offense isn’t nearly as deadly as last year’s group, but there is still plenty of talent up-and-down with guys like Maui Ahuna, Jared Dickey, Christian Moore, Blake Burke, and Zane Denton. Denton has had some big home runs in this postseason, including a go-ahead 3-run homer in the ninth against Clemson and a 3-run homer in game three against Southern Miss. There is a ton of talent on this side of the bracket with 17 of the top 200 prospects in this year’s upcoming MLB Draft among these four teams. It will be exciting to see which of them rises to the occasion. Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

When Oral Roberts University alum Bill Springman arrives in Omaha on Thursday, joined by several fellow graduates, it will be the first time he has witnessed his alma mater take the field on college baseball’s biggest stage. 1978 was the last time ORU reached this point; when Rosenblatt Stadium served as home to the annual gathering of college baseball’s best, Jimmy Carter was president, and the NCAA Tournament field remained at just 48 teams. Springman remembers that team–and season–like it was yesterday. He did not go to Omaha to watch that season. He went as ORU’s starting second baseman, a senior who would soon be drafted in the seventh round by the California Angels. “When we hit the field for our first practice, everybody was awestruck,” Springman recalls. “You’ve reached the pinnacle at the highest level of college baseball.” The 2023 squad became the second team in ORU’s long-spanning baseball history to reach Omaha when the Golden Eagles pulled away from Oregon in the decisive third game of the Eugene Super Regional on Sunday evening. For a team that entered the Stillwater Regional as a No. 4 seed, ORU is in the midst of a Cinderella-style postseason run. “Our kids are smart,” ORU head coach Ryan Folmar told College Baseball Nation. “They continued to see the stat that 70% of [teams] that get out of the super regional win game one. They knew that, but they weren’t going to be part of that statistic. They decided, ‘It’s our time. We’re going to get this done.’” Truth be told, ORU’s status as an “underdog” stems more from the name than the resume itself. A private Christian university of about 2,800 undergraduates in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Golden Eagles may not be the most recognizable name to the average viewer. But there is no question that they very much belong. They took two of three from Texas State on the road in late February, beat Wichita State twice in midweek play, and handed Oklahoma State, the NCAA Tournament’s No. 12 overall seed, a pair of regular season losses. The 8-5 ORU win in Stillwater on April 11 marked the Golden Eagles’ third straight win over OSU. “I hope they draw on those experiences,” Folmar said of his team, which carries a 51-12 record into the College World Series. “Going on the road in tough places to play and having success…hopefully that culminates in confidence. And I think this is a group that took all of those experiences and turned it into confidence. And you can see the way they’ve played at the end of the year.” "I think their best overall characteristic is they love each other, there’s no one person that stands out, but they all work in their roles and play very well together as we did in ‘78.” -Bill Springman, ORU Baseball Alum Springman, who still lives in the Tulsa area and often attends games and practices, sees several similarities between the two ORU teams to have reached Omaha. They share a number of characteristics, particularly in their rich team chemistry. “This group is very cohesive,” Springman said. “That’s probably their best strength. Even though they’re solid in all three areas; pitching, defense, and hitting, I think their best overall characteristic is they love each other, there’s no one person that stands out, but they all work in their roles and play very well together as we did in ‘78.” He also draws quick comparisons to the 1992 national championship Pepperdine squad, on which he served as the associate head coach. Despite winning a stacked West Regional, the Waves were the seventh-seeded team at the College World Series. Multiple opposing coaches failed to credit Pepperdine’s skill level and talent throughout the tournament, building motivation along the way. “When you’re the top dog, it’s hard to do the expected,” Springman said. “That’s why a lot of people like to be the visiting team and the underdogs and love bulletin board material. Coach Folmar and the ORU coaching staff does a wonderful job of putting the team in the right mindset.” Conversations with both first baseman Jake McMurray and left-handed pitcher Harley Gollert certainly backed up Springman’s second point. Teams do not get to this point in the season, as one of the final eight still standing, without an exceptional approach. And it almost always starts with focusing on the internal aspect of the squad, rather than the external comments being made, whether they be positive or negative. “We understand that others might be disrespecting us because of our size of school or program, but truthfully, there’s a lot of belief in our dugout,” Gollert said. There’s belief that we’re just as good as anybody in the country and I think that goes a long way in not only performing, but also staying within ourselves.” And that approach will not change later this week when ORU opens its second appearance in Omaha with a 1 p.m. matchup against TCU. “Obviously the stage will be bigger, and there will be lots more people,” Gollert added. “The atmosphere will be exciting. But at the same time, I think what allows us not to get ahead of ourselves in these big moments, despite not playing in front of tons of people during the season, is that there is truly a belief that we belong and are just as talented as anyone else in the field.” Maintaining poise in the chaos Perhaps what has fueled ORU’s fire the past two weeks is the fact that they have been front and center in some of the tournament’s most back-and-forth contests. Notably, after beating OSU 6-4 on the opening night of the Stillwater Regional, Washington put seven runs on the board in the first inning of the Saturday duel, and added another in the second. Down 8-0, something intriguing happened within the ORU dugout: the Golden Eagles regained their fight. “In a strange way it almost juiced our guys up,” Folmar said. “In that moment, there was zero panic and zero doubt that we were going to win that game. It motivated our guys.” That motivation revealed itself starting with a four-run third, then a three-run fourth. A five-run fifth put ORU up by four runs, as they ended up prevailing 15-12, having hit four home runs. Fast forward to the second game of the Eugene Super Regional. Less than 24 hours before, ORU saw its 8-0 lead vanish in the form of nine unanswered Oregon runs. The last of which, scored by leadoff hitter Rikuu Nishida on Drew Cowley’s single to right field, ended the contest in walk-off fashion for the hometown Ducks. That would not be ORU’s fate on Saturday night. “I think at that time, it’s easy for a team to say, ‘It’s not meant to be,’” Folmar said of the defeat in the opening game of the super regional. “In no way shape or form was that what our team was about. You have experiences like we did [getting swept at Dallas Baptist] early in the year, where you get punched in the mouth. The question is, how are you going to respond? Instead, the Golden Eagles returned the favor, as Justin Quinn’s perfectly-placed bases-loaded single with one out in the ninth dropped directly on top of the left field line, stunning Oregon in an 8-7 walk-off win. “That’s the kind of group we have,” Folmar said. “They’re not going to quit. They’re not going to back down.” “This is as close of a group as we’ve ever had” Even going back to the fall, when the season opener against Northern Illinois was several months away, the team and its coaching staff knew something special was brewing. And that is saying something, considering ORU’s enormous success on the diamond over the last 45 years. From 1998-2012, ORU reached the NCAA Tournament every year–15 seasons in all. Folmar served as an assistant with the program for the final nine years of the streak, and since joining the Summit League nine seasons ago–all under Folmar’s leadership as head coach–ORU has reached the NCAA Tournament on six occasions. Yet, this group separated itself. It is hard to put a finger on just what it was, but Folmar noted it starts, quite simply, “with having good players” and exceptional leadership. “Again I think it starts with our leadership council and how they’ve brought this team together,” Folmar added. “It’s as close of a group as we’ve ever had. It’s also as selfless of a group as we’ve ever had. “There’s a lot of different components to being able to have a team like this. It all happened the right way. But it starts with good players, good leaders, work ethic, character, and integrity. This team epitomizes all of those.” Gollert agrees. He noted that while several upperclassmen, such as McMurray, are entering their third, fourth or fifth seasons at ORU, there is also a significant group in their first season in the program. That group includes Gollert, who pitched five years at Austin Peay before transferring in prior to this season. “There’s a bit of a common goal for all of us, coming from all of these different places,” Gollert said. “We’re old, experienced, and extremely deep. I’ve been on teams where it feels like, at certain points in the year, on the pitching side you run out of arms, or even the team in general relies on a few guys. “But we haven’t felt like that. Being deep and balanced is something that really goes a long way in postseason baseball.” Plate discipline has been pivotal That depth is especially prevalent at the plate, where the lineup ranks fourth in the nation in batting average, hitting .323. From McMurray to center fielder Jonah Cox, to the power-hitting Quinn and on through the order, ORU’s offensive performance has turned heads. The Golden Eagles put at least six runs on the board in all three games at the Stillwater Regional, and continued staying in rhythm against Oregon, pushing at least seven runs across in each game of the three-game set. “One through nine on this year’s club–which is very unique for any team across the country–they don’t give away at-bats,” Springman, who in the past served as a hitting coach in both the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers organizations, said. “The grind out every at-bat. “They have a plan at the plate, and that’s a credit to the coaching staff. They take it pitch-by-pitch, moment by moment. Their plate discipline is very good and they know their strike zone.” Embracing the moment Each of these elements has played into the ultimate point of success currently guiding ORU into Omaha. This is a team that understands the history of the program they are a part of, and seeks to honor the tradition originally set forth by Springman and his teammates in ORU’s first NCAA Tournament run 45 seasons ago. “Every day that we practice at J.L. Johnson [Stadium], we see the 1978 College World Series sticker on the wall,” McMurray said. “We wouldn’t be here where we are today without the foundation that was laid before us by the alumni. “This is a special program. No matter what year you played here at ORU, you’re part of this family. This super regional championship and this college world series berth is not just shared by this group, but it’s shared by the countless number of players who have come before us.” They have also been driven by a deeper purpose, a Christian faith that has kept them both grounded and united over the course of the season’s 63 games. At a university built upon Christian values, Folmar and his staff take great pride in leading their team in a way that glorifies God and keeps baseball in perspective through the ups and downs it brings. “It’s a huge part of our identity,” Folmar said. “We’re very proud of the fact that we have a different value system than most. I think it adds a perspective to what is going on around you; our identity is not wrapped up in our sport, it’s wrapped up in Christ. “We had the opportunity to walk around campus a little bit [after a workout on Friday morning at Oregon] and went into one of the bookstores. On a T-shirt, there was a quote from Marcus Mariota. I’m going to paraphrase it, but he said something to the effect of, ‘When adversity hits, when bad things happen, you always have your faith to fall back on.’ We’re fortunate to be grounded in that faith.” "Everything we need is in this room.’ 32 guys against the world and here we are…one of the final eight teams.” -Jake McMurray, ORU First Baseman And with that approach, it is onto Nebraska they go, playing another weekend in another state. They’ve gotten used to it by this point. The final regular season series came at Western Illinois, and the Summit League Tournament was held in Fargo, North Dakota. Then of course, the Golden Eagles took the short trip to Stillwater, and a much longer one to the west coast this last week. “It has brought us closer together,” McMurray noted, describing the team as “road warriors”. With one final destination for its historic season, ORU is driven by faith, anchored by a belief in one another, and marked by what has become an unwavering resilience in this postseason. “We don’t even have a full roster of 36 guys,” McMurray said. “We have 32 guys in this room and we sat down at the beginning of the year and said, ‘Everything we need is in this room.’ 32 guys against the world and here we are…one of the final eight teams.” Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

While Florida might seem like the easy favorite in bracket one, the other three teams in that bracket are as hot as anyone, including Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts have been the biggest storyline of the college baseball postseason so far after sweeping through the Stillwater Regional as a 4-seed and then taking down the Pac-12 Tournament champs in Oregon at Eugene. You could debate whether or not they should have been a four-seed to begin with, but that’s what the committee decided, and as a result, they became just the third 4-seed in this tournament format to reach the College World Series. To continue their run, they'll have a tough task in bracket one as they first have to face a TCU team that might be the hottest team in the country right now after sweeping through the Big 12 Tournament, Fayetteville Regional, and then Super Regional. Also, at the top of the bracket, you have the regular season SEC champion Florida Gators and one of the best teams from the ACC in Virginia to get through. Florida (50-15, 20-10 SEC) The Gators won 20 games in the SEC to win the regular season championship. In the Gainesville Regional, they lost a 5-4 game to Texas Tech and had to come through the loser’s bracket and force a game 7 to advance. In those five Regional games, the Florida pitching staff allowed a total of 8 runs. That theme continued in the Super Regionals where they allowed just 4 runs to a very potent South Carolina lineup. Brandon Sproat, Hurston Waldrep, and Jac Caglianone form one of the more dominant starting rotations in baseball with 343 combined strikeouts in 258.1 innings. Waldrep might have the best stuff in this year’s MLB Draft behind Paul Skenes and he’s starting to put it all together. In his Regional and Super Regional starts he combined to strike out 25 batters in 15 innings while allowing just 1 run on 8 hits and 4 walks. Brandon Neely has become one of the best closers in college baseball with 64 strikeouts in 46.2 innings to go along with 13 saves. Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan will lean heavily on those four arms in Omaha. And oh, by the way, this team can hit as well. Outfielder Wyatt Langford seems like a lock to go in the top 5 of this year’s MLB Draft after posting a 1.267 OPS with 18 home runs in 2023. He headlines a powerful offense that includes shortstop Josh Rivera, Caglianone, Cade Kurland, and BT Riopelle. Virginia (50-13, 19-11 ACC) The Cavaliers hit a bit of a lull in the middle of the season where they lost series to Virginia Tech, Pitt, and Notre Dame. But they won their last nine regular season games to carry some good momentum into the NCAA Tournament. A lot of people thought they might lose their own Regional, which included a good Army team and East Carolina. However, they jumped all over Army in their first game, won a close one against East Carolina, and then rallied late to finish off the Pirates in the Regional final. They faced a little adversity in the Super Regionals dropping a 5-4 game to Duke. But then the offense woke up as they smashed the Blue Devils in the next two games to advance. Kyle Teel, a potential top 10 pick in this year’s MLB Draft, leads that potent offense with a .418 average. Batting in front of him in the lineup are Griff O’Ferrall, Ethan O’Donnell, and Jake Gelof. They have a team batting average of .335 and four players with at least 13 home runs, including Gelof who leads the team with 23 long balls. In the rotation, they have three guys with an ERA under 4.0 in Nick Parker, Connelly Early, and Brian Edgintgton. Early and Edgington both had over 90 strikeouts this year, and Edgington threw a complete game in the clincher of the Super Regionals. Jay Woolfolk, Jake Berry, and Jack O’Connor are arms they’ll rely on out of the bullpen – and possibly as starters if needed – during the College World Series. Oral Roberts (51-12, 23-1 Summit League) It was a surprise to many when Oral Roberts was selected as a 4-seed after going 23-1 in the Summit League, sweeping through their conference tournament, and winning 46 games. Their only quality wins in the regular season came against Oklahoma State, so, naturally, the committee sent them to the Stillwater Regional where they beat the one-seed for the third time in 2023. They erased an 8-0 deficit against Washington to comeback and win the second game of that Regional, and then held off Dallas Baptist 6-5 in the Regional final. To start the Supers it was Oral Roberts who blew an 8-0 lead, dropping game one to Oregon 9-8. That also put an end to their 21-game win streak. They scored 4 runs in the final three innings of game two, including 2 runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk it off. And then they cruised to Omaha with a 11-6 win in the final. Cade Denton is a real weapon for them out of the bullpen with a 1.85 ERA and 0.94 WHIP with 15 saves in 58.1 innings pitched with 78 strikeouts. Jonah Cox leads the offense with a .420 average and 1.148 OPS to go along with 11 home runs and 28 stolen bases. Matt Hogan leads the team with 18 long balls and a 1.155 OPS. We’ll have more on them in a feature article to come soon. TCU (42-22, 13-11 Big 12) The Horned Frogs were the talk of college baseball after week one when they scored 29 runs in wins over Vanderbilt and Arkansas. They followed that up with losing a series at home against Florida State and four of their first six Big 12 series. Then they won their last three regular season series and then won four straight games in the Big 12 Tournament. Their bats remained on fire in the Fayetteville Regional where they scored 44 runs in three games, including two blowout wins over host and number three overall seed Arkansas. They lucked into getting to host the Super Regionals where they took down Indiana State in two games thanks to some good pitching. With all the offense in the Regionals, their pitching may have been overlooked as they haven’t allowed more than 4 runs in any NCAA Tournament game. Kole Klecker was fantastic in the Super Regionals tossing 7 scoreless innings allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk with 9 strikeouts. They don’t have a lot of dominant arms that get a lot of strikeouts, but there are several guys they trust coming out of the bullpen like Luke Savage, Garrett Wright, and Ben Abeldt. Abeldt has had two big appearances in the NCAA Tournament already, and he’s allowed just 1 earned run in his last 12 outings. He’s gone multiple outings in a lot of those appearances. If the Horned Frogs are going to keep this hot streak going, their offense will likely need to carry them. Brayden Taylor is likely a top pick in this year’s draft and leads his team with 23 home runs. Tre Richardson went off in the Fayetteville Regional with 9 hits, 14 RBI, and 2 grand slams – but he cooled off in the Supers. Cole Fontenelle led the offense against Indiana State with 5 hits, including 2 home runs. This bracket figures to be a highly competitive one with a couple of blue bloods, a Cinderella story, and a team on a big hot streak. Action will get underway in Omaha on Friday. Thanks for stopping by and checking out our College Baseball NCAA Tournament Field of 64 projections! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

With many high school seasons wrapping up, the college conference tournaments in full swing, and barely six weeks standing between us and the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft, now’s as good a time as ever for CBN to present our first mock draft. Rather than continue on with a long, flowery introduction, we’ll just warn you that this edition is a real zinger, with a shocker right at the top. And the surprises will keep on coming. CBN will publish at least two more mocks prior to the actual draft on July 9th as well as provide crucial updates via Twitter when necessary. Feel free to follow me at @H_Frommer. Buckle up, ladies and gentlemen! 1) Pittsburgh Pirates—Wyatt Langford, OF, Florida: LSU OF Dylan Crews has been the chalk pick here all season—and for good reason because up until several weeks ago he was flirting with a .500 batting average while showcasing exceptional batted ball data and pristine swing decisions in the ultra-tough SEC—but in the last week Langford has entered the 1-01 picture in a big way. There are three primary reasons for Langford’s sudden ascent. First, multiple player evaluators have revealed to CBN that the gap between Crews and Langford is not as sizable as previously thought—their conventional numbers are strikingly similar, while Crews boasts better swing decision data. However, their exit velocities are nearly identical with Langford enjoying a slight edge in foot speed. The second factor has to do with the team doing the selecting at 1-01, the Pirates. It’s no secret that Pittsburgh likes to go significantly under slot at the top and achieving a 7-figure savings there would enable the Bucs to land a pick 20-25 caliber player when they select next at 42. Again, this is all based on the premise that GM Ben Cherington & Co believe the gulf between Crews and his SEC counterpart Langford is not significant. The third reason for our decision to buck convention and move Langford into the 1st overall pick is the seeming willingness of his camp to strike a below-slot deal at 1-01. Slot here is for $9,721,000, while slot at 1-03 (Langford’s perceived floor at this juncture) is $8,341,700. Let’s assume for a second that the Langford camp agrees to sign with Pittsburgh for $8,600,000. This would represent a win for Langford, as he would earn over $200,000 more than had he gone to Detroit at 1-03, as well as a win for the Pirates, who would now have more than $1.1 million in savings to use with subsequent picks. Late last week, multiple draft insiders told CBN that the Langford camp was willing to explore a below-slot deal at 1-01 if one was offered. CBN was also informed by these same sources that Pirates officials had been rolling deep to Langford’s games. It also bears mention that officials from an AL team picking in the top half of the 1st round confided to an SEC-based source they believed Langford would ultimately be the Pirates’ selection at 1-01 for all the reasons just discussed. Obviously, we won’t know for sure whether Langford will be the 1st overall pick or if this is all merely subterfuge undertaken by the Pirates in an effort to drive down Crews’ asking price. But it all makes sense logically so we’ll go with it and continue to monitor the situation. 2) Washington Nationals—Dylan Crews, OF, LSU: In a normal world, the Nationals would follow the Pirates’ selection of Crews by picking LSU ace Paul Skenes. Nationals GM Mike Rizzo is said to be enamored with the 6-06/245 Skenes, who’s had a season for the ages and may be closer to big league ready than any college hurler since Gerrit Cole in 2011. But the world hasn’t been normal since Adam decided to go apple picking, so what happens if Cherington does the nasty with Langford? Does Rizzo stay true to his first love Skenes or does he go for a walk on the wild side with Crews? After conversations with baseball insiders, we assess that Rizzo would take Crews. Washington has never been an organization that shies away from Scott Boras clients (Crews is represented by the mega agent), as their past selections of Anthony Rendon, Stephen Harper, and Bryce Harper would indicate. Imagine a future outfield in the nation’s capital that features Crews alongside some combination of James Wood, Elijah Green, and Robert Hassell. 3) Detroit Tigers—Walker Jenkins, OF, HS (Oak Island, NC): New Tigers GM Scott Harris is pining for a polished college hitter who could rocket through the system and aid Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene in reviving a dormant Tigers lineup. But if Langford and Crews are both off the board as this scenario suggests, Harris is in a conundrum. Does he take Skenes and all the risks associated with amateur arms (even those as supremely talented as Skenes) or does he opt for a high school bat that may be further away from the bigs? Enter Jenkins. Though still a high schooler, he’s considered extremely polished and may even beat a number of the highly touted college bats taken right after him to The Show. Additionally, Rob Metzler, Tigers Assistant General Manager and the overseer of the team’s domestic and international scouting efforts, and Mark Conner, Amateur Scouting Director, are said to be very fond of Jenkins, which could be decisive in the Tigers’ war room on draft night. It's important to note that both Metzler and Conner were in Atlanta last Thursday and Friday to watch Virginia C Kyle Teel torch Georgia Tech pitching. Is it possible that both senior evaluators were dispatched to Hotlanta by Harris as part of the latter’s search for a college bat? While Teel projects as a 60-hit tool with sufficient athleticism and catch-and-throw prowess to stick behind the dish long-term, he’s widely viewed as a slight overdraft at 3 and a better fit in the 10-15 range. 4) Texas Rangers—Paul Skenes, RHP, LSU: The Rangers are said to be infatuated with Jenkins and love Max Clark, but if Skenes “falls” to 4, expect Texas to grab him. An interesting scenario would arise if Texas continues to contend and is still in the playoff picture come late July or August. Officials from other teams have told CBN that they believe the Rangers would then ramp up Skenes to have him bolster their pitching corps down the stretch. Yes, he’s that good. 5) Minnesota Twins—Max Clark, OF, HS (Franklin, IN): The Twins are in a great position to snap up the member of the Lanford-Crews-Jenkins-Skenes-Clark quintet that falls and they do just that. Clark would be something of a local pick for Minnesota, and numerous high-level Twins officials have been in to see Clark on multiple occasions. 6) Oakland A’s—Jacob Wilson, SS, Grand Canyon University: The budget-minded A’s have always been about exploiting market inefficiencies, and in this era where power reigns supreme and teams are willing to live with sky-high K-rates, Oakland will opt for a kid with a deluxe hitting tool and just 5 K’s in over 200 PAs. The A’s have also appeared interested in Teel and Ole Miss SS Jacob Gonzlaez. 7) Cincinnati Reds—Chase Dollander, RHP, Tennessee: Though Dollander’s slider has backed up this year, he’s still viewed as a unique talent who could emerge as a front-of-the-rotation stalwart if the right player development department gets its hands on him. The Reds, with progressive pitching coach Derek Johnson and other like-minded instructors, have never shied away from ambitious projects. Cincinnati has also been in to see Maryland 2B Matt Shaw. 8) Kansas City Royals—Enrique Bradfield Jr, OF, Vanderbilt: The Royals were always a logical candidate to take pitching this early, but with new GM J.J. Piccolo at the helm, that’s likely changed. Bradfield would give Kansas City a bona fide speedster and Gold Glove candidate to man Kauffman Stadium’s spacious CF for the next decade as the stolen base is once again en vogue. 9) Colorado Rockies—Matt Shaw, 2B, Maryland: The Rockies have been all over the map this spring. High ranking executives have been in to see Teel, Dollander, Wake Forest RHP Rhett Lowder, and Bradfield, among others. But we believe they’ll choose Shaw, whose upside as a Brett Boone-type 2B and proximity to the majors will influence their decision. 10) Miami Marlins—Noble Meyer, RHP, HS (West Linn, OR): There’s a school of thought that GM Kim Ng is feeling the heat and may therefore command her scouting department to move in the direction of a college bat like Gonzalez, Stanford’s Tommy Troy, or Virginia Tech’s Jack Hurley. We’ll believe that when we see it. Instead, the Marlins will stay true to their roots and select the flamethrowing Meyer. 11) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim—Rhett Lowder, RHP, Wake Forest: The Angels are seemingly always looking to replenish their pitching via the draft and this year’s no different. In Lowder, they’d be getting a guy with excellent command of his entire repertoire who could quickly establish himself as a mid-rotation horse. Teel and Troy also appear to be on the menu for LAA. 12) Arizona Diamondbacks—Walker Martin, SS, HS (Eaton, CO): In recent years, the D-Backs have demonstrated a propensity for taking high ceiling prep bats, and their strong presence at Martin’s games this spring is consistent with this trend. Another high school SS, Colin Houck, has been prominently mentioned here, as well as prep C Blake Mitchell. 13) Chicago Cubs—Arjun Nimmala, SS, HS (Valrico, FL): At this stage of the 1st round, there is no team tied to a player as closely as the Cubs are connected to the toolsy Nimmala. 14) Boston Red Sox—Colin Houck, SS, HS (Lilburn, GA): The two names we’re hearing the most here are Houck and Mitchell. Houck has been on a steady upward trajectory for over a year, and ESPN Analyst Kiley McDaniel has compared his overall game to Evan Longoria. 15) Chicago White Sox—Kyle Teel, C, Virginia: We’ve heard the ChiSox strictly on collegians—Teel, Hurley, Gonzalez, and Florida’s Hurston Waldrep. At 15, Teel is an excellent value play. 16) San Francisco Giants—Tommy Troy, 2B, Stanford: At this stage in the 1st round, we start to see a mini-run on college bats as teams look to tap into a largely untapped demographic. Troy, who the Giants’ brass has been able to see on numerous occasions due to Stanford’s proximity to Oracle Park, offers a mature bat who should fly through San Francisco’s barren system. 17) Baltimore Orioles—Colt Emerson, SS, HS (Cambridge, OH): It’s fair to say that the Orioles have had plenty of success in recent years picking left-handed-hitting high school shortstops with strong hit tools (Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday). GM Mike Elias & Co will go back to that well in ’23. 18) Milwaukee Brewers—Jacob Gonzalez, SS, Ole Miss: Gonzalez, once thought of as an almost surefire top-5 candidate, is falling as teams question his unorthodox swing mechanics and ability to stick at SS. The Brewers, who are also in on Hurley, take the plunge. 19) Tampa Bay Rays—Blake Mitchell, C, HS (Sinton, TX): The Rays, who mine value in the draft as well as anyone, have cast a wide net. We’ve heard them connected to Mitchell, who could easily go a half dozen picks earlier, HS OF Dillon Head, and HS SS Adrian Santana. This is also the first possible destination we’re hearing for fast-rising HS SS George Lombard Jr. 20) Toronto Blue Jays—Kevin McGonigle, 2B, HS (Aldan, PA): We don’t have a good feel for the Blue Jays’ intentions and therefore have them grabbing McGonigle, one of the best pure hitters in the prep ranks. 21) St. Louis Cardinals—Thomas White, LHP, HS (Rowley, MA): Since 1998, it’s been the Cardinals’ m.o. to snatch guys who fall to them and they’ll play the game again that year by taking the Vanderbilt-bound White. A northern arm, White was at one point seen as a possible top-10 pick but has gradually fallen. 22) Seattle Mariners—Hurston Waldrep, RHP, Florida: The Mariners are in an interesting position with the 22nd, 29th, and 30th picks and have already revealed they plan on playing “money games” to land an above slot talent at one of these selections. Waldrep, despite a nuclear arsenal, has fallen because of lapses in command and questionable pitch calling. He’ll likely go below slot, thus clearing the way for the M’s to pop HS 3B Aidan Miller at either 29 or 30. Because of his long history of performing against showcase pitching, Miller was expected to go in the top 15 picks; however, a hamate injury this spring has pushed him down boards. Back to Waldrep for a second—Seattle’s player development department has shown an innate ability to get the most out of young hurlers with electric stuff (see Miller, Bryce) and the hope here is that history would repeat itself with the enigmatic Waldrep. 23) Cleveland Guardians—George Lombard Jr, SS, HS (Pinecrest, FL): Lombard’s stock is exploding like a dotcom in the late 1990’s, and the Guardians’ draft model emphasizes youth and upside. Lombard is still 17. This is a match made in heaven. 24) Atlanta Braves—Charlee Soto, RHP, HS (Kissimmee, FL): For 30 years, the Braves mantra has been “pitching, pitching, and more pitching,” and primarily high-upside high school arms. Why change it now? 25) San Diego Padres—Bryce Eldridge, 1B/OF/RHP, HS (Vienna, VA): There is no bigger wildcard in baseball than Padres GM A.J. Preller, so why not have the Padres take the most intriguing talent in the draft in Eldridge? San Diego has closely monitored Eldridge, along with a number of other preps like Lombard, Head, and Mitchell. 26) New York Yankees—Jack Hurley, OF, Virginia Tech: In recent years, New York has jumped on left-handed collegiate power bats like Austin Wells and Spencer Jones in an effort to take advantage of Yankee Stadium’s short right field porch. Hurley has plenty of power, as evidenced by some of the best batted ball data in college, and could continue this draft night trend. 27) Philadelphia Phillies—Dillon Head, OF, HS (Glenwood, IL): Phillies GM Dave Dombrowski views draft picks—even 1st rounders—as valuable trade currency and Head could be no different. The 5-11/180 Head can fly and has a burgeoning hit tool. If he has a good start to his professional career, he could become a valuable trade piece for the built-to-win-now Phillies. 28) Houston Astros—Brayden Taylor, 3B, TCU: With a strong pitching pipeline in Latin America, it’s doubtful the Astros would opt for an arm this early. Houston also is notorious for seeking value in the draft. Enter Taylor, who some viewed as a possible top-15 pick but had a topsy turvy junior year while having difficulty with in-the-zone fastballs. He offers plenty of power, patience, and a refined glove at the hot corner and did start to come on as the college postseason was beginning. 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It's time for another field of 64 projection! The SEC leads all conferences with 10 teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament, followed by the ACC with eight and the Big 12 with six teams. The Pac-12 ends with five teams while the Sun Belt has four, rounding out the top 5 conferences. UC Irvine, Kansas State, Arizona State, and Arizona are the first four teams out, while USC, NC State, Oklahoma, and Louisiana are the last four teams in. We went back and forth for a while on the bubble teams. A team like Kansas State who has a head-to-head sweep over Oklahoma and finished higher in the conference standings than Oklahoma was left out of the field in our projection just because of Kansas State's RPI (55) compared to Oklahoma's (40). We also felt UC Irvine just didn't have the quality wins that some of these other teams did. Arizona State dropping out of the top 50 in RPI took away UC Irvine's only top 50 RPI wins, putting them at 0-1 vs the Top 50. Arizona made a really nice run in the conference tournament, but we think they needed to win the auto bid to ensure their standing in the field. They finished Pac-12 regular season play with a 12-18 record, which feels too hard to overcome. Thanks for stopping by and checking out our College Baseball NCAA Tournament Field of 64 projections! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

It's time for another field of 64 projection! The SEC leads all conferences with 10 teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament, followed by the ACC with eight and the Big 12 with 7 teams. The Pac-12 holds steady at six in, while the Sun Belt, Big Ten, and Big West are all tied at 3 teams in a piece, rounding out the top 5 conferences. Notre Dame, UC Irvine, Texas State, and Kent State are the first four teams out, while Kansas State, Oklahoma, NC State, and Arizona State are the last four teams in. Thanks for stopping by and checking out our College Baseball NCAA Tournament Field of 64 projections! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

The 2023 SEC Baseball Tournament is underway in Hoover, Alabama featuring some of the best talent and teams in all baseball. As usual, there will be plenty on the line in Hoover with teams trying to work their way into the NCAA Tournament, earn a regional host spot, and earn a national seed. And, oh, there is also that conference tournament title. Jake Mastroianni will be in Hoover for the tournament and giving an update on each game here. Game 17: Texas A&M (36-25, 14-16) - 4 vs. Vanderbilt (41-18, 19-11) - 10 Updated: Sunday, May 28th, 7:30pm CT Texas A&M came into the 2023 SEC Baseball Tournament needing a win to feel secure about their spot in the NCAA Tournament. They did much more than that advancing to the championship game, but they fell just short against Vanderbilt. For Vanderbilt, they looked like a clear favorite to win the SEC regular season title for the majority of the year, but slipped up down the stretch. Bouncing back to win the tournament is a pretty solid consolation prize. As for the game itself, Texas A&M took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning on a fielder's choice after a double and single started the rally. In the bottom half of the inning, Troy LaNeve hit a monster 3-run shot off A&M starter Nathan Dettmer. The ball traveled 425-feet and nearly chopped down a tree behind the right field fence. The Aggies fought back to tie the game in the 6th inning with a 2-out, 2 RBI single by Max Kaufer. But once again, the Vandy bats answered as Enrique Bradfield Jr. dropped down a sacrifice bunt to score a runner from third. It remained a 1-run game until Vanderbilt blew the game open in the eighth inning by scoring 5 runs. Calvin Hewett, who fittingly replaced LaNeve, capped the inning with a bases clearing double. The two teams combined to use 13 pitchers to get through the game. Both now will get rested for the NCAA Tournament to begin next weekend. Vanderbilt knows they will be hosting, but A&M will be watching on Monday to see where they’ll be heading. Game 16: Florida (44-14, 20-10) - 6 vs. Vanderbilt (40-18, 19-11) Updated: Saturday, May 27th, 7:15pm The Gators had everything setup to move to the championship game with Jac Caglianone on the mound Saturday. But the Vanderbilt offense had ideas as they came out swinging, scoring 4 runs in the first, 2 runs in the second, and 4 more runs in the third. Things kind of unraveled for Florida in the first inning with 2 errors, a hit batter, walk, and a wild pitch. Wyatt Langford tried his best to bring Florida back going 3-5 with a home run, but the deficit was just too big to overcome. Nick Maldonado came in to close the game out for Vanderbilt retiring the last six Gators’ batters of the game. Florida will now get rested for the regionals next weekend while Vanderbilt and Texas A&M will face off on Sunday for the tournament title. Game 15: Arkansas (41-17, 20-10) - 4 vs. Texas A&M (37-24, 14-16) - 5 Updated: Saturday, May 27th, 3:30pm CT Texas A&M continued its magical run in the 2023 SEC Baseball Tournament with a win over rival Arkansas on Saturday to advance to the championship game. The pitching for the Aggies continued to be excellent in this one as Matt Dillard gave them 4 strong innings of shutout baseball allowing just 2 hits and a walk with 6 strikeouts. Shane Sdao came on in relief and gave up just 1 run in 2.2 innings. Things got a little dicey in the ninth inning before Troy Wansing came on and struck out a couple of batters to hold onto for the 5-4 win. The Texas A&M offense took advantage of four straight walks in the sixth inning that helped 3 runs cross the plate. Arkansas continued to work Brady Tygart along as he was solid for 3.1 innings for them showing that really good curveball. He figures to be a big piece for them in the postseason. Game 14: Vanderbilt (40-18, 19-11) - 9 vs. Alabama (40–20, 16-14) - 2 Updated: Friday, May 26th, 10:15pm CT The Commodores came out strong and pretty much put the Alabama crowd to sleep after scoring 5 runs in the first inning. RJ Austin put the exclamation point on the inning with a 2-run homer – the first of 3 hits on the night for Austin. Chris Maldonado also had a big night at the plate going 2-3 with a home run and 3 walks. Devin Futrell and Thomas Schultz combined to allow just 2 earned runs on 5 hits and 4 walks with 6 strikeouts. Alabama probably did enough to earn a hosting spot in the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt will try to get revenge on Florida and advance to the finals. Game 13: LSU (43-15, 19-10) - 4 vs. Texas A&M (35-24, 14-16) - 5 Updated: Friday, May 26th, 6:20pm CT The one big weakness for LSU going into the postseason is the bullpen, and that came back to haunt them in this game. Brayden Jobert had a couple of RBI early to help give LSU a 3-1 lead. Ty Floyd was solid allowing just 1 earned run on 3 hits and 1 walk with 7 strikeouts over 5 innings. Once Floyd left and the game was turned over to the LSU bullpen, that opened the door for a Texas A&M comeback. The big blow come in the seventh inning when Hunter Haas hit a 3-run homer to give the Aggies a 5-3 lead. After a good start on the mound by Will Johnston, Texas A&M went to Evan Aschenbeck who closed it out to pick up his eighth win of the season. Texas A&M has boosted their RPI significantly in this tournament and now they’re just looking to win the whole thing, but they have to get through Arkansas on Saturday. LSU will rest up and get ready for the NCAA Tournament. Game 12: Vanderbilt (38-19, 19-11) - 3 vs. Florida (45-13, 20-10) - 6 Updated: Thursday, May 25th, 10:30pm CT BT Riopelle might have wrapped up player of the tournament honors in two games. On Wednesday he hit a walk-off 3-run homer and then on Thursday he hit a grand slam to lift Florida over Vanderbilt. Hunter Owen returned from injury to start for Vanderbilt and looked solid with 5 strikeouts over 3 innings. Brandon Sproat started for Florida and gave up just 2 earned runs in 6 innings with 6 strikeouts. The story of the game was easily Riopelle who also homered early in the game before the huge grand slam. The win earns Florida an off day on Friday, while Vanderbilt and Alabama will face off in an elimination game. Game 11: LSU (43-13, 19-10) - 4 vs. Arkansas (41-15, 20-10) - 5 Updated: Thursday, May 25th, 7:30pm CT Perhaps the most anticipated pitching matchup of the tournament with Paul Skenes facing Hagen Smith. Both only lasted 3.2 innings giving up 2 earned runs while Skenes only struck out 3 and Smith struck out 9. LSU struck in the first inning with three straight singles to take a 1-0 lead. A wild pitch plated another for LSU in the fourth. Skenes cruised through the first 3 innings in typical "Skenes" fashion, but the Arkansas bats started to figure him out that second time through plating 5 runs in the fourth inning. It started with a hit by pitch, then he allowed two singles and a walk before exiting. A catcher’s interference proved costly, leading to 3 more runs coming home after Skenes left the game. Jace Bohrofen had a big 2 out, 2 RBI single in that fourth inning for Arkansas. After Smith’s exit Dave Van Horn called on Hunter Hollan to finish it off. He allowed a pair of runs in 5.1 innings but struck out eight batters and held on for the 5-4 win. Smith and Hollan combined to strike out 17 LSU batters in the game. Dylan Crews brought LSU within a run hitting a leadoff home run in the top of the ninth. Arkansas now gets a day off on Friday and advances to the semi-finals. LSU already has a national seed locked up, but they’ll try to continue their weekend on Friday against Texas A&M. Game 10: Auburn (34-21-1, 17-13) - 4 vs. Alabama (40-18, 16-14) - 7 Updated: Thursday, May 25th, 3;30pm CT Veteran starter Garrett McMillan came up big for Alabama in this one allowing just 3 earned runs on 5 hits and 3 walks over 6 innings with 8 strikeouts. He really cruised through the first 5 innings and then battled to get through the sixth and help Alabama save some arms. Tommy Seidl had a big day at the plate for Alabama hitting a solo shot in the first and then he added an RBI single in the fourth that made it 4-1. Andrew Pinckney drove in a pair of runs as well in the 7-4 win for the Crimson Tide. In the loss, Bryson Ware hit his 24th home run of the year and he hit a home run in every game of the SEC Tournament. Alabama feels like a lock to host at this point, and even after being eliminated, Auburn is in good shape to host a regional as well. Game 9: South Carolina (39-19, 16-13) vs. Texas A&M (34-24, 14-16) Updated: Thursday, May 25th 1:25pm CT Texas A&M came into the SEC Baseball Tournament with a team ERA approaching 6, but on Thursday they pitched their second 1-hit shutout of the tournament in a 5-0 win over South Carolina. Justin Lamkin tossed 7 shutout innings allowing just 1 hit and 3 walks with 9 strikeouts. His first five outs of the game were all on strikeouts. Trevor Werner had an RBI triple in the third inning – part of a 3-hit day for Werner. A 3-run inning by the Aggies essentially put this one away with how Lamkin was throwing the ball. If there were any doubts about Texas A&M being an NCAA Tournament team, those should be gone now – they’re in. South Carolina will now have to hope their early season work was good enough to earn them a hosting spot in regional play. Game 8: Auburn (34-20-1, 17-13) - 4 vs. Vanderbilt (38-17, 19-11) - 6 Updated: Thursday, May 25th 12:30am CT Both teams came out swinging as Cole Foster homered for Auburn in the top of the first, but a walk, single, and walk to start Vanderbilt’s half of the first led to 2 runs. Chris Stanfield hit a solo shot in the third inning to tie the game at 2, and that’s where it stayed until Vanderbilt broke through with a single run in the sixth to take the lead. The Commodores would add 1 in the seventh and 2 in the eighth, which was needed as Bryson Ware hit a 2-run homer in the ninth to pull Auburn closer. Auburn will now host rival Alabama in an elimination game on Thursday afternoon that should be a lot of fun. Vanderbilt will look to get some revenge against Florida after the Gators swept them in the regular season and took the SEC regular season title from them. Game 7: Alabama (39-18, 16-14) - 6 vs. Florida (43-13, 20-10) - 7 (11 innings) Updated: Wednesday, May 24th 9:30pm CT The games started to one-up each other as this was the second straight tournament game to finish in walk-off fashion in extra-innings. It started as a great pitcher’s duel between Luke Holman and Hurston Waldrep who each lasted 5.2 innings. Florida took an early 2-0 lead with a Josh Rivera home run in the first inning. Alabama chipped away with singles runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth to take the lead. A throwing error by Alabama in the eighth led to a run for Florida that tied the game, and it stayed tied until the 11th inning when Tommy Seidl hit a bases clearing double to give Alabama a 6-3. But the heart of that Florida order is deadly and pulled off an incredible comeback without making a single out. Wyatt Langford singled, Jac Caglianone singled, Rivera single, and then BT Riopelle walked it off with a 3-run homer. A win there for Alabama might have locked up a hosting spot, but now they might need another win on Thursday. Florida is secure as a national seed and is one of the favorites to win the College World Series. Game 6: Texas A&M (33-23, 14-16) - 5 vs. Arkansas (39-15, 20-10) - 6 (11 innings) Updated: Wednesday, May 24th 5:06pm CT The best game of the tournament so far, there were a lot of fireworks late. However, in the beginning it was all Texas A&M as they had a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. The Aggies scored 3 runs in the third with Trevor Werner getting a big 2 RBI single. Ryan Targac added another run in the fourth with a solo home run. Zack Morris came on in relief for Arkansas in the third inning and allowed some inherited runners to score and then that solo home run, but then he held the Aggies right there tossing 5 innings with 5 strikeouts. The Arkansas offense had a frustrating start to the game leaving 7 runners on base in the first 4 innings. But they finally took advantage in the seventh after a walk, error, and walk loaded the bases for Jared Wegner who hit a go-ahead grand slam. But Texas A&M answered back with a game-tying leadoff home run by Austin Bost to start the ninth inning. Kendall Diggs finally put an end to this one with a leadoff, walk-off home run in the 11th inning for the 6-5 win. Even with the loss, Texas A&M feels like a lock for the NCAA Tournament at this point. But they’ll get another chance to boost their resume Thursday morning against South Carolina. Arkansas will tangle with LSU Thursday night in what should be one of the more entertaining matchups of the tournament. Game 5: South Carolina (38-17, 16-13) – 3 vs. LSU (42-13, 19-10 ) - 10 Updated: Wednesday, May 24th 1:07pm CT As LSU continues to look for someone to step up in the rotation behind Paul Skenes, they got a good effort from Thatcher Hurd on Wednesday. Through 5.1 innings he allow 3 earned runs on 4 hits and 2 walks with 4 strikeouts. He was really cruising through the first 5 innings before running out of gas in the sixth where he gave up 2 singles and 2 walks before getting pulled. A starting pitching performance like that is typically going to be good enough for this LSU offense – as was the case in this one. Brayden Jobert got the scoring started with a 2-run home run in the second. After Ethan Petry got South Carolina on the board in the top of the sixth, LSU responded by starting out the bottom half with 3 singles and 2 walks that ultimately led to a 4-run inning. The Tigers ran away with it from there, getting the 10-3 win. They now advance to face the winner of Texas A&M and Arkansas. South Carolina will face the loser of that game on Thursday as they remain on the hosting bubble. Game 4: Missouri (30-24, 10-20) - 4 vs. Auburn (34-19-1, 17-13) - 10 Updated: Wednesday, May 24th 12:15am CT The Auburn Tigers complete a 4-game sweep over the Missouri Tigers having just taken three from them last weekend and then winning 10-4 to open the SEC Baseball Tournament. Tommy Vail had one of his worst outings in a while, giving up 4 runs (2 earned) on 2 hits and 4 walks over just 3.2 innings. He did still strike out 5 batters as he looks to be a big part of Auburn’s postseason run. Fortunately for him and Auburn the rest of the pitching staff was lights out, tossing 5.1 scoreless innings to finish off a 10-4 win. The offense put up three crooked numbers scoring 3 in the third to take the lad and then 4 in the fourth to re-take the lead. And then 3 more in the eighth to put it away. Cole Foster and Bryson Ware both went deep and drove in 3 runs. It was Auburn’s ninth straight win as they continue to be one of the hottest teams in college baseball. They’ll try to continue that streak Wednesday night against Vanderbilt. Missouri’s season comes to a disappointing end after a very promising start. Game 3: Alabama (39-17, 16-14) - 4 vs. Kentucky (36-18, 16-14) - 0 Updated: Tuesday, May 23rd 10:00pm CT It was the third straight shutout to start the tournament as the wet conditions and a pitcher friendly ballpark kept a lot of balls in the yard. But there were also some really good pitching performances, including this one that saw Hunter Furtado toss 5 scoreless for Alabama and Darren Williams strikeout 6 in 5 innings for Kentucky. Andrew Pinckney broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning with a 2-run homer and then later drove in a run as he reached on an error to make it 3-0. Ed Johnson would plate a run in the eighth to give Alabama a little more breathing room in the 4-0 victory. Alabama moves on to face Florida as they try to improve their chances of hosting a regional. Kentucky is done in Hoover and now they have to wonder if their high RPI will be enough to earn them a host spot. Game 2: Texas A&M (32-23, 14-16) - 3 vs. Tennessee (38-18, 16-14) - 0 Updated: Tuesday, May 23rd 8:12pm CT Texas A&M came into this game like a team that didn’t want to leave their fate in the hands of the committee. Aggies starting pitcher Troy Wansing had the outing of his life as he was perfect through 5.1 innings before allowing a 1 out single in the sixth. Texas A&M plated single runs in the third, fourth, and sixth innings, including a solo blast from Jace LaViolette. That’s all the offense they would need as the Texas A&M pitching staff blanked the Tennessee offense. The Aggies almost feel like a lock for the NCAA Tournament at this point, but I’d sure they’d like one more win. As for Tennessee’s chances of hosting, it seems rather unlikely at this point. Game 1: Georgia (29-27, 11-19) - 0 vs. South Carolina (39-17, 16-13) - 9 Updated: Tuesday, May 23rd 2:24pm CT South Carolina came into Hoover on a bit of a cold streak that has put them on the bubble for hosting a regional. But they get off to a strong start in the SEC Baseball Tournament with a 9-0 win over Georgia. James Hicks gave South Carolina a huge start and perhaps earned an opportunity to start a regional game. He went 6.2 innings – his longest outing of the year – allowing 4 hits, 2 walks, and 0 earned runs with 6 strikeouts. The sinker was highly effective for Hicks in the low 90s as he got 9 ground ball outs. Evan Stone had a big 2 out, 2 RBI single in the second inning to put South Carolina on the board. The Gamecocks scored 3 runs in the fourth inning on 5 singles and 2 walks as all nine batters came to the plate. Will Tippett had a 3-run triple in the seventh to break the game open. It was his third hit of the game. Georgia’s season comes to an end, while the Gamecocks look to improve their resume with at least two more games in Hoover. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

The story began gaining traction before it even got started. Then all at once, it found its way on television screens and social media accounts, and into the hearts of the American public. It was a simple idea, really. The same idea Deion Sanders famously had when he took a helicopter to Three Rivers Stadium while with the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS hours after appearing in an NFL game for the Atlanta Falcons. Ever since he could remember, John Rhys Plumlee had wanted to do one thing: play his two favorite sports, baseball and football, at the highest level possible. “I remember from my earliest age, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do: play football and baseball at the highest level,” Plumlee, the starting center fielder for the UCF baseball team and starting quarterback for the Knights football team. On April 14, he did both in the span of just a couple hours. Rumblings about what Plumlee planned to do circulated on the internet in the days leading up to that Friday evening, when the UCF baseball team was set to host Memphis in a AAC series while the football team’s annual spring game played out at nearby FBC Mortgage Stadium. Then came Plumlee’s video, posted that morning to Twitter, captioned “Today is gonna be one for the books!! Y’all stay tuned”. People took his advice. As the day progressed, more and more people caught on, watching the video updates he posted to Twitter every few hours. He was going to play in a baseball game and a football game on the same night, at the D-I level. “A lot went into it, with the two coaches, Coach [Greg] Lovelady and Coach [Gus] Malzahn, scheduling the two events and moving times and all that good stuff to even give me a chance to be able to do it,” Plumlee said. “It ended up working out perfectly. I couldn’t have drawn it up any better.” The video from it all that set the sports world on fire came in the form of a one-minute clip that featured Plumlee running up the steps of the UCF’s John Euliano Park and into a waiting golf cart that promptly shuttled him–still wearing his pinstriped UCF baseball uniform–to FBC Mortgage Stadium. Once there, on came the shoulder pads, off went the baseball jersey. And he ran onto the field as the crowd let out a cheer. Undoubtedly, they had been following the exceptional, rarely-seen story, for much of the day. That tweet alone was seen by 1.4 million people. “It was really cool to get a lot of publicity on it,” Plumee added, “but at the end of the day, it was a lot cooler for me to do it. Don’t get me wrong, having a bunch of people following your journey is really cool, because I remember when I was a little kid and looked up to college athletes. But to be able to do it and play the sports that I love is something really special to me. I’m blessed to be able to do it.” At 6:15 p.m., Plumlee sent a triple into the left-center field gap, driving in runners from second and third as UCF took a 2-0 lead. And at 8:38 p.m., seven minutes after he had left the eventual 12-3 win in the 7th inning after his second hit, Plumlee tossed a touchdown pass to Javon Baker. He threw another one 10 minutes later, which went 70 yards and across the goal line with Kobe Hudson on the reception. It was a level of versatility rarely seen at the highest levels of college athletics in a present-day, sport-specialization society. Yet, the senior from Hattiesburg, Mississippi has figured it out, and is more than just playing two sports for UCF. He is a leader in both of them. As starting quarterback in 2022, Plumlee rushed for 862 yards, the sixth-best mark in the AAC, and his 11 rushing touchdowns ranked fourth in the league. This spring on the baseball diamond, he has swiped a team-high 18 bases this season in addition to his exceptional play as the team’s starting center fielder, starting 55 games with 87 putouts. Not to mention, he is hitting .284 with 32 RBIs and 10 home runs entering the AAC Tournament, which began Tuesday. “From a kid that did T-Ball then would run over to football practice and put a helmet on, to doing it in the spring game at a place like UCF, I’m living my dream,” Plumlee said. “It does show that you don’t have to specialize at an early age. Kids can be kids, and do what they love. For me, I love playing baseball and football.” Early in Plumlee’s high school career, the college coaches began calling. They wanted him for football, and as a defensive back or wide receiver at that. Soon enough, one school realized his potential at quarterback, and offered the future Mississippi Class 6A Offensive Player of the Year a roster spot throwing passes, rather than intercepting them. So he called the rest of the schools back, and sure enough, a year later they too now felt he had a future as a signal caller. “Beggars can’t be choosers,” Plumlee said. “I went from a guy who would take anything from a waterboy spot to a manager spot to be in college athletes to having the opportunity to be a chooser [with all of the offers that I had].” Soon enough, another school called up, and sweetened the deal. He’d have the chance to play quarterback, and play baseball, which was not an entirely surprising offer, considering Perfect Game ranked him as the 11th-best baseball player in the state of Mississippi in the 2019 Class. More doors quickly opened, and the two-sport dream at the D-I level had become a reality. He eventually settled on Ole Miss, which afforded him an opportunity to stay in his home state, compete in the SEC, and see the field in both sports very early on. “I’m super thankful for my time at Ole Miss,” Plumlee commented. “I feel super blessed to have had that opportunity and live out my dream there.” Plumlee suited up at quarterback as a true freshman in 2019, starting eight games for the Rebels, as he rewrote the record books. Amongst his first-year accomplishments included becoming the first quarterback in program history to rush for 100 yards in three straight games, and the freshman record holder for rushing yards in a season (1,023). On the baseball field, his freshman year was cut short in 2020, though he made two starts in the Rebels’ outfield. A year later, he started 18 games and played in 47, including a 2-for-5 performance in the Tucson Super Regional. In January of 2022, Plumlee put his name into the transfer portal, writing on Twitter that "God is now calling me to serve him in a different area. I am unsure where I will be yet, but I am entering the transfer portal. My prayer is that He will continue to guide and bless my path." Plumlee was blessed with an opportunity to keep his two-sport stardom rolling when UCF came into view. The Knights football program was head coached by Malzahn, the former Auburn head coach who had known Plumlee since high school. “Going through the transfer process, Coach Malzahn gave me his word that I could play football and baseball here,” Plumlee recalls. “Nowadays in college football, it is kind of hard to find coaches and people who stick by their word, but Coach Malzahn is definitely one of those guys. Not only did he give me the opportunity to do it, but he and Coach Lovelady almost jumped through hoops to make sure that it happened.” That included being accommodating to Plumlee’s often-hectic schedule, balancing the demanding time commitment required from both sports. The investment from both the coaching staffs and the support staff around UCF has been invaluable, Plumlee said, when it comes to his ability to excel simultaneously on the gridiron and the diamond. It certainly isn’t a singular effort. “They went the extra mile to schedule times and practices, and make sure there is enough time in the day to do both,” he adds. “Along with the coaching staffs, a ton of other staff made it to where I was able to do both, whether it was the strength & conditioning coaches, the training staff in the training room, or the nutritionist. Obviously my teammates as well, realizing that I’m doing it, and supporting me the whole way.” To say Plumlee is well-rounded athletically would be an understatement. He possesses an exceptional speed that reveals itself on the basepaths, or when he is tracking down a high-arcing fly ball in center field. It also shows when he breaks from the pocket and travels downfield for a significant rushing gain on the football field. The arm strength is another thing, and while his strong arm has played a role in his ability to throw touchdown passes one minute, and relay a flyout to home plate the next, the thought behind throwing motions of each do not exactly go hand-in-hand. “The football throw, more relates to a baseball swing, to me,” Plumlee said. “The two pieces of the mechanical tendencies in both of those. Obviously, they are different, but they’re two rotational-type actions.” Sometimes, using the skills developed in baseball add to his football skill set, and vice versa. Other times, trying to compare and mix the two is a fool’s errand. But the unique experience Plumlee has had at the college level certainly contributes to his evolving success. “When you do both, why would you not try to incorporate one thing into another?,” Plumlee notes. “It’s been really good for me. In the spring, when football days would get long, and maybe I had a bad day, I could go over and play baseball. And vice versa. If I have a bad day at the plate, I could go over and focus on football. My mind wouldn’t be trapped in one spot.” It is not only because of his versatility as an athlete that “well-rounded” is one of the first adjectives that comes to mind when describing the 6-foot, 245-pound standout. Believe it or not, he can also play the piano. And he can play it well. “My parents told me when we were little to do something now that we can enjoy now, so for us, that was always sports,” Plumlee said. “It was something you could enjoy in the moment, as of today. But they also said, ‘We want you to do something you can enjoy later in life.’” Insert: piano. Inspired by his grandmother, who has played the piano in church for 33 years, Plumlee began learning too, starting in second grade. Soon enough, he was listening to country music songs on the radio, and going home and playing the chords. “I figured out that I could look up the chords, and play the stuff that I heard on the radio,” Plumlee recalls. “My focus shifted from classical music to playing what I heard. And I enjoyed it that way.” Even now, in the midst of his balancing act, Plumlee still sits down at the piano every so often, and begins playing. “Now it’s something that I enjoy doing when I get a little bit of down time,” he added. “Through long days, it’s cool to be able to hop on the piano and forget about school and ball for a little while, and be in your own little world.” Such is what makes Plumlee unique. He has an ability to juggle enormous responsibility on both the football and baseball fields for the Knights, yet doesn’t seem to be worn down by all of it. He’s in his own world when he is taking snaps at quarterback or fly balls in center field. And he wouldn’t want it any other way. “When you love something, it shows,” Plumlee said. “I’m living my dream, to say the least.” Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!