Category: Baseball

Watch Tony Vitello celebrate Tennessee’s touchdown at Vanderbilt

Watch Tennessee baseball head coach Tony Vitello celebrate the Vols’ touchdown at Vanderbilt.

The 2024 regular-season ended on Saturday for No. 8 Tennessee (10-2, 6-2 SEC). Tennessee awaits its College Football Playoff seeding in the inaugural 12-team format.

The Vols defeated Vanderbilt (6-6, 3-5 SEC), 36-23, on Saturday at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.

A pair of national championship college baseball head coaches were on their respective sidelines during the in-state matchup.

Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin wore a Diego Pavia football jersey on the Commodores’ sideline, while Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello supported the Vols on the visiting sideline.

PHOTOS: Tennessee football defeats Vanderbilt in Week 14

Following a Tennessee touchdown, Vitello took part in doing pushups with the Vols’ cheerleaders. His touchdown celebration can be viewed here.

PHOTOS: Tony Vitello through the years

Tony Vitello. Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Tim Corbin. Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

The 2024 Texas A&M baseball team will be honored at Kyle Field on Saturday

The 2024 Texas A&M baseball team will finally get the recognition they deserve at Kyle Field on Saturday

Last season was very special for the Texas A&M baseball team. As a preseason top-10 team, they met expectations by reaching the College World Series Championship. A heartbreaking series loss hurt, but it ignited the program with some eagerness about the future.

Even though we typically don’t throw parades for second place, they deserved to be recognized for taking A&M to a national championship in one of the big three sports. Instead, the little shine the players should have received was hijacked by the announcement that head coach Jim Schlossnagle was leaving, taking the coaching staff with him.

To add insult to injury, he did it less than 24 hours after hinting he was staying in Aggieland to build something. Then, to leave for Texas, the arch-nemesis of A&M set college sports on fire. So, a national search kicked off, and they ended up right back at home, hiring assistant coach Mike Earley as the new head coach. He was able to retain a majority of the roster and will have a tier squad for the 2025 season

According to TexAgs’ Ryan Brauninger, the 2023-2024 team will be recognized during Texas A&M’s season finale vs. the Texas Longhorns on Saturday night.

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Former Gators India, Singer traded for each other at MLB non-tender deadline

Not one but two former Florida baseball stars were traded at the MLB non-tender deadline, and they were swapped in the same deal!

Former Florida Gators baseball stars [autotag]Jonathan India[/autotag] and [autotag]Brady Singer[/autotag] swapped teams in a trade between the Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals on Friday, MLB’s non-tender deadline.

Both teams could benefit from the trade, according to Keith Law of The Athletic.

India, a middle infielder likely to stay at second base with Kansas City, fell out of favor in Cincinnati thanks to a surplus of talented position players.

He’s a former National League Rookie of the Year drafted fifth overall in 2018 who plays average defense and can get on base more than other infielders on the Royals’ roster. India posted his highest fWAR (2.8) since his rookie year breakout (3.4) and slashed .248/.357/.392 over 151 games.

Singer, the 18th pick in the 2018 draft, has posted steady numbers over hid five-year MLB career. His best season came in 2022 when he finished the season with 3.0 fWAR, a 3.23 ERA and an 8.8 K/9 rate. Similar to India, Singer had his second-best MLB season in 2024 — 2.5 fWAR, 3.71 ERA and a career-high 179 2/3 innings — but Kansas City has a lot of pitching talent in its organization.

With Singer offering the most trade value of any Royal brought up in conversations, it was a no-brainer to deal him at the non-tender deadline, even if it is losing a potential ace who is only 27 years old. The only problem with Singer is that his low arm slot from the right side doesn’t allow him to throw an effective offspeed pitch to attack lefties, who slashed .291/.367/.488 off him in 2024.

India, Singer at Florida

Not only were India and Singer drafted 13 picks apart after spending three years together at Florida and winning a College World Series, they were named the SEC Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively.

Singer also won the 2018 Dick Howser Trophy and was named the National Player of the Year by Baseball Americana and D1Baseball. He left Florida with a 23-10 record over 60 appearances (37 starts, 282 innings), a 3.22 ERA, 281 strikeouts (seventh all time), and four complete games.

India was a consensus First Team All-American at third base for Florida and semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award. He capped off his three-year Gators career with one of the best offensive seasons in program history, slashing .350/.497/.717 with 21 home runs — the most by any Gators third baseman — and 53 RBIs.

Over 194 games (189 starts) as a Gator, India slashed .310/.411/.530 with 31 homers and 126 RBIs. He walked 105 times to 141 strikeouts.

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Diamond Heels reward head coach with a big contract extension

Scott Forbes continued the winning tradition of UNC baseball when he took over as head coach in 2021. He’ll be in Chapel Hill for at least five more seasons.

When legendary head coach Mike Fox retired in 2020 after leading the UNC baseball program for 22 seasons, I wondered two things: Who would be the next head coach? Would North Carolina’s next head coach be able to find the same success Fox did?

When Fox retired in August 2020, the Diamond Heels tabbed longtime Fox assistant Scott Forbes as their next coach.

Since hiring Forbes, the 2024 ACC Coach of the Year, UNC has made the NCAA Tournament every season. North Carolina won the 2022 ACC Tournament and this year’s ACC Regular Season Title, plus made it back to the College World Series this summer for the first time since 2018.

For all the success Forbes has led the Diamond Heels to in just his four seasons, he was rewarded on Monday afternoon with a 5-year contract extension.

Here’s something else you may not know about Forbes: in all the legendary coaches to come through Chapel Hill, he is the ONLY one to lead UNC to NCAA Tournament appearances – in each of a head coach’s first four seasons.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DChrpcYz0l2/

That postseason streak started in 2021, when North Carolina barely squeaked into the NCAA Tournament and finished 28-27. The Diamond Heels won the ACC Tournament in 2022 and reached the 40-win plateau, but were swept in their Super Regional by Arkansas. UNC’s 2023 postseason, sans all-time program great Vance Honeycutt was ended in the Terre Haute Regional by Iowa.

As alluded to earlier, 2024 was undoubtedly Forbes’ best year leading the Diamond Heels. An extremely talented team led by MLB Draftees Honeycutt, Casey Cook and Dalton Pence, North Carolina set off multiple fireworks in the postseason.

First, it was the walkoff against Long Island University in the Chapel Hill Regional Opener. Then, it was staving off elimination against 2023 CWS champion LSU in the ninth inning. UNC kept the momentum rolling into the Super Regional, walking off West Virginia and sweeping the Mountaineers in two games. Honeycutt delivered again in the College World Series, walking off Virginia in Game One.

The Diamond Heels will look extremely different next year, particularly in the field, but I have no doubt Forbes will get the most out of his talent.

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Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball ranks pair of Texas A&M transfers in top 5 with rave reviews

“As if the Aggies needed more big-time bats in their lineup for the upcoming season, Henseler is another big-time playmaker at the plate.”

The Texas A&M baseball team will be on a revenge tour in 2025 and head coach Michael Earley has loaded up in the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Two of Earley’s additions have caught the attention of many, including Kendall Rogers from D1Baseball. On his “Top 50 Impact Transfer Hitters” list, Rogers ranked two Aggie seniors in the top five.

Third baseman Wyatt Henseler was slotted at No. 3 in the countdown.

“As if the Aggies needed more big-time bats in their lineup for the upcoming season, Henseler is yet another big-time playmaker at the plate,” Rogers stated. “The first thing that stood out about Henseler this fall was his physical 6-foot-1, 210-pound frame. He certainly looks stronger than the measurables would suggest.

“Henseler is coming off four decorated seasons with the Quakers. He hit .365 and .385, respectively, his first two seasons before hitting .321 and then .360 his final two seasons at Penn. Henseler hit 14 or more home runs in each of his final three seasons while also accumulating more than 50 RBI in each of those campaigns as well.”

First baseman Gavin Kash was ranked fifth.

“It’s a one-scrimmage sample size, but Kash, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound, left-handed hitter, looked more like his old self in the Aggies’ scrimmage against Houston earlier this fall,” Rogers wrote. “Kash had a monster 2023 campaign at Texas Tech, hitting .326 with 26 home runs and 84 RBI.

“He also had strong power production for the Red Raiders last season, hitting 17 doubles, 15 home runs and knocking in 51 runs.”

Texas A&M will begin the regular season with a three-game series versus Elon at Blue Bell Park, beginning Valentine’s Day at 6 p.m.

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Notre Dame baseball adds another signee

Notre Dame has another big baseball signing.

[autotag]Mason Barth[/autotag] has committed to Notre Dame baseball.

Barth, who plays on the Canes Midwest travel team, is a shortstop and right-handed pitcher from St. John, Indiana.

Like [autotag]Will Jaisle[/autotag], Barth is an Indiana kid staying in the state to play in South Bend. He comes out of Andrean High School.

Barth’s fastball has hit 90 mph.

Along with the athletic Jaisle, this marks two key signings for Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball within the past two days.

All eyes might be on football and basketball right now, but the baseball season will be here sooner than you think.

Notre Dame announces starting pitchers for series vs. Tennessee Tech
Jun 21, 2022; Omaha, NE, USA; A practice ball sits on the dirt before the game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Charles Schwab Field. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

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Where does the Texas A&M baseball’s 2025 class rank on signing day

Check out where the Texas A&M baseball team was ranked in the Baseball America rankings after National Signing Day

National Signing Day wrapped up on Wednesday for multiple sports, and college baseball rankings are starting to drop. After a monster 2024 season and a controversial coaching change, Texas A&M was able to pull in a top-10 2025 recruiting class.

Like most rankings, the SEC holds a majority of the top spots. In Baseball America rankings seven of the ten are SEC teams and one through six are all SEC teams. The Aggies is right in the middle with the No. 5 behind 2024 College World Series Champion Tennessee who came in at No. 4. There are a few caveats regarding these rankings.

The first is that there are still a few of the top recruits that have not signed yet. While that’s simple enough the more interesting issue is the MLB draft, and which players make it on campus or not. But for now, you can view the rankings as of Nov 13 below.

  1. LSU Tigers
  2. Texas Longhorns
  3. Vanderbilt Commodores
  4. Tennessee Vols
  5. Texas A&M Aggies
  6. Mississippi State Bulldogs
  7. Virginia Cavaliers
  8. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
  9. Ole Miss Rebels
  10. Oklahoma State Cowboys

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Notre Dame baseball gets big commitment

Notre Dame baseball gets a key commitment.

Notre Dame baseball has gotten a commitment from right-handed pitcher [autotag]Will Jaisle[/autotag].

The Batesville, Indiana product will be staying in state. Batesville is located southeast of Indianapolis.

Jaisle is 6-foot-1, 205 pounds and also plays quarterback. He threw for a school record 55 touchdowns for Batesville High School. He also played running back and safety.

In addition to pitching, Jaisle has played catcher, outfield, and corner infield.

The class of 2025 product will be bringing more than a little bit of athleticism to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball team when arrives on campus in South Bend.

Notre Dame announces starting pitchers for series vs. Tennessee Tech
Jun 21, 2022; Omaha, NE, USA; A practice ball sits on the dirt before the game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Charles Schwab Field. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

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Paul Skenes announced as finalist for NL Cy Young and Rookie of the Year

Former LSU star Paul Skenes is a finalist for some major awards

Recognition is rolling in for [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] after his stellar rookie campaign. The former LSU star flew through the Pirates minor league system to make his debut in May, less than a year after being drafted.

On Wednesday, the MLB announced Skenes as a finalist for the 2024 National League Cy Young Award and the National League Rookie of the Year award.

Skenes racked up 170 strikeouts and posted a 1.96 ERA in 2024. Those numbers were among the best in the NL.

Expectations were sky-high. Skenes’ arrival was the most anticipated starting pitcher debut since Stephen Strasburg over a decade ago. Skenes didn’t just meet expectations — he blew by them.

Skenes spent just a year at LSU, but led the Tigers to a College World Series championship in 2023.

With only 133 innings, Skenes isn’t considered the favorite for the Cy Young but is nearly a lock for Rookie of the Year.

WHERE SKENES FINISHED AMONG NL PITCHERS

Statistic Ranking Among NL Pitchers (130+ innings)
ERA 1st 1st
FIP 2nd 2nd
K/BB% 1st 1st
Opponent AVG 5th 5th
Ground Ball Rate 5th 5th
Soft Contact Rate 8th 8th

2026 INF/P Harper Gates has committed to Texas A&M baseball

Texas A&M baseball earns commitment from a talented 2026 infielder out of Tomball, TX

Texas A&M baseball head coach Michael Earley continues to roll on the recruiting trail, gaining another commitment from another top player in Texas. On Tuesday, infielder Harper Gates, out of Tomball, TX, announced via social media that he will join the Aggies in Bryan, College Station.

Gates, like his teammate Catcher Hopkins, who recently committed, is one of the top players in Texas who can do a little bit of everything. He’s a capable pitcher with a high 80s fastball and a solid glove in the infield. He has the frame to add weight at 6’4″ and 175 pounds, and his power at the plate is just reaching its early potential.

If most of the 2025 and 2026 classes make it on campus, this will be one of the deepest Texas A&M rosters we have seen in a while. Gates is another one of those pieces that utility guys that will give the coaching staff plenty of lineup options and competition to keep the team sharp.

https://x.com/HarperGates3/status/1856413801891148214

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