Category: College Baseball

No changes at the top of USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll

The defending champs tumble out of the rankings as in-state school Louisiana jumps 12 spots.

The college basketball season ends on Monday night and all eyes shift to the chase for Omaha. Once again it is the SEC that is reigning supreme in the top 25 rankings with the Arkansas Razorbacks and Texas A&M Aggies replacing last year’s CWS title game participants, the LSU Tigers and Florida Gators.

In the top 10, the Hogs and Ags are joined by the Tennessee Volunteers, Vanderbilt Commodores, and Kentucky Wildcats. The aforementioned Gators landed at No. 18 and the Tigers fell out of the rankings completely.

Kentucky and the UCF Knights are two big winners jumping eight spots in the poll. The Wildcats checked in at No. 8 overall while UCF jumped into the rankings at No. 19. The biggest winner of the week is Louisiana, who is No. 24 after being ranked No. 36.

The Gators were among the big losers after falling nine spots to No. 18. Last week’s No. 18 team, the LSU Tigers, dropped off completely. Florida was swept by unranked Missouri while No. 6 Vanderbilt took two of three from the Bayou Bengals.

Check out the full coaches poll that was released on Monday.

USA TODAY Sports College Baseball Coaches poll

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 Arkansas 27-3 775 (31) –
2 Clemson 28-3 735 –
3 Texas A&M 28-4 716 –
4 Tennessee 26-6 656 –
5 Oregon State 26-4 655 –
6 Vanderbilt 25-7 609 –
7 Duke 24-8 580 +3
8 Kentucky 27-4 503 +8
9 Florida State 26-5 498 +3
10 Virginia 25-7 490 +1
11 East Carolina 23-7 440 +2
12 North Carolina 26-6 432 -5
13 Dallas Baptist 25-6 405 -5
14 UC Irvine 24-4 397 +3
15 Wake Forest 21-10 284 +7
16 Virginia Tech 21-8 216 -1
17 Alabama 22-10 192 -3
18 Florida 17-14 187 -9
19 UCF 21-8 186 +8
20 Coastal Carolina 22-9 166 +1
21 Nebraska 22-7 142 +2
22 Oregon 22-8 128 +7
23 Mississippi State 21-12 114 +3
24 Louisiana 24-8 109 +12
25 Oklahoma State 21-11 94 +7

Schools Dropped Out

No. 18 LSU; No. 19 South Carolina; No. 20 North Carolina State; No. 24 Georgia; No. 25 TCU

Other Receiving Votes

South Carolina 67; Indiana State 59; LSU 54; Georgia 45; Texas Tech 26; Creighton 23; Northeastern 14; TCU 12; North Carolina State 11; Lamar 11; Campbell 11; West Virginia 8; St. John’s 7; Ole Miss 4; Kansas State 4; Oklahoma 3; UC Santa Barbara 2; Southern Miss 2; Louisiana Tech 2; Utah 1

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The Little League World Series icon known as ‘Big Al’ is still hitting dingers (and nearly in college)

Big Al can still hit the ball out of the park and it is so beautiful.

His name is Alfred Delia. Back home, they used to call him Big Al. These days, he still hits dingers.

Delia became a star during the 2018 Little League World Series because of his amazing introduction. It was nearly impossible to watch Delia simply tell the world he hits home runs for his team in Middleton, N.J. without feeling a full sense of joy.

Flash forward and these days, quite a bit has changed for Delia and the world around him. But one thing that we now know for certain is that he still enjoys hitting the ball out of the park.

Delia, now a high school senior at Red Bank Catholic in New Jersey, just crushed his first homer since joining the varsity baseball team.

While he can still go yard, Delia said that people no longer call him Big Al because he is not very big anymore.

The senior plans to play college ball at Felician University, per Asbury Park Press.

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Charlie Condon homers three times in Georgia’s loss to Michigan State

Georgia’s Charlie Condon hits three home runs in Michigan State loss

On a night when the Bulldogs suffered their first loss of the 2024 season at home to Michigan State by a final score of 19-6, the talk around the SEC baseball world was still the performance of Georgia slugger Charlie Condon.

One of the conference’s top hitters, Condon continued his stellar start to the 2024 season Wednesday night, going three-for-four with three HR, four RBI, and three runs scored. Condon, who drew the start defensively in left field, also walked once, with his three home runs coming in the first, second, and fourth innings.

Not only was this certainly an impressive performance from the Georgia slugger, but it also continued what has been a truly stellar start to the year for Condon.

Across nine games, a span in which Georgia is 8-1, Condon is slashing a phenomenal .639/.696/1.417 with seven HR and 13 RBI, along with having drawn eight walks compared to only five strikeouts. Condon is also among the conference leaders in multiple statistical categories, as well as ranking top five in a few nationally.

Is Condon the early frontrunner for the 2024 SEC Player of the Year? He will have some stiff competition from Florida’s two-way star Jac Caglianone.

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A college baseball player was ridiculously ejected for a bat flip after game-tying grand slam

This was an absurd ejection by the umpire after a hype moment.

Hitting a game-tying grand slam is an event that should be cause for massive celebration. According to one college baseball umpire, however, it lead to an ejection instead.

On Sunday, Grand Canyon was playing Nebraska to close out their early-season series against one another. Nebraska won two of three games played, with Grand Canyon looking to tie the series Sunday afternoon. However, Grand Canyon was down 8-4 entering the bottom of the fifth and needed a big offensive half inning to get back into it.

With the bases loaded and no outs, Tyler Wilson delivered for Grand Canyon with a towering shot to right field for a game-tying grand slam. However, as Wilson approached home plate, the umpire motioned his way and suddenly ejected him. Why? Because Wilson threw his bat in the air after the ball cleared the outfield fence.

That’s a pretty innocuous bat flip, all things considered. Wilson didn’t even break stride or trot as he did it!

It’s still early in the baseball calendar but add this one to the bad umpires tally.

Arkansas picked to win SEC in 2024 baseball preseason poll

Arkansas picked to win the SEC in preseason

With the start of the 2024 SEC baseball season next week, the preseason poll was officially released by the conference Thursday ahead of first pitch next Friday, along with the preseason picks for the All-SEC teams.

The preseason pick to win the conference in 2024 was Arkansas, who would receive nine first-place votes. In addition to the Razorbacks, LSU, the 2023 national champions, received three votes, while Florida also received two.

Arkansas was also picked to win the SEC West by receiving nine first-place votes and were followed by LSU with five. Following the two teams were Texas A&M, Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State to round out the predicted West finish.

Florida was also the overwhelming pick to win the SEC East, receiving 11 first-place votes. Tennessee also received two, while Vanderbilt received one, and was followed in order by South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, and Missouri.

The SEC also announced the two preseason All-SEC teams Thursday, which are as follows:

2024 Preseason First Team All-SEC

  • C Cole Messina, South Carolina
  • 1B Jac Caglianone, Florida
  • 2B Cade Kurland, Florida
  • SS Colby Shelton, Florida
  • 3B Tommy White, LSU
  • OF Jace LaViolette, Texas A&M
  • OF Ethan Petry, South Carolina
  • OF Kendall Diggs, Arkansas
  • DH/UTL Ike Irish, Auburn
  • SP Hagen Smith, Arkansas
  • SP Drew Beam, Tennessee
  • RP Brandon Neely, Florida

2024 Preseason Second Team All-SEC

  • C Devin Burkes, Kentucky
  • 1B Charlie Condon, Georgia
  • 2B Christian Moore, Tennessee
  • SS Jonathan Vastine, Vanderbilt
  • 3B Billy Amick, Tennessee
  • OF Braden Montgomery, Texas A&M
  • OF Dakota Jordan, Mississippi State
  • OF Bobby Peirce, Auburn
  • DH/UTL Hayden Travinski, LSU
  • SP Jac Caglianone, Florida
  • SP Carter Holton, Vanderbilt
  • RP Alton Davis II, Alabama

Defending national champion LSU Tigers check in at No. 2 in preseason poll

LSU comes in at No. 2, the SEC dominates the top 10.

It is almost baseball time again for college baseball. Last year’s national champions, the LSU Tigers are poised to defend their title with another run to Omaha. Jay Johnson’s squad loses Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews, but the reloaded team checks in at No. 2 behind the ACC’s Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Overall, the SEC has three of the top five teams with Vanderbilt, Tennessee, and Texas A&M all among the top 10 teams in the country. Eight teams in the preseason USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll hail from the SEC. A future conference team, the Texas Longhorns checks in at No. 13.

The ACC is also well represented with Wake Forest at the top, and fellow in-state schools Duke, North Carolina, and North Carolina State all among the top 25. The Clemson Tigers check in at No. 9 overall and Virginia is No. 11 to give the conference six teams in the rankings.

A look at the full Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports:

Rank Team Points
1 Wake Forest 751 (15)
2 LSU 731 (11)
3 Florida 727 (5)
4 Arkansas 672
5 TCU 643
6 Vanderbilt 576
7 Oregon State 543
8 Tennessee 529
9 Clemson 484
10 Texas A&M 468
11 Virginia 431
12 East Carolina 391
13 Texas 381
14 Duke 351
15 North Carolina 342
16 North Carolina State 289
17 Alabama 197
18 UC-Santa Barbara 187
18 Coastal Carolina 187
20 Iowa 186
21 South Carolina 169
22 Texas Tech 157
23 Stanford 121
24 UCLA 80
25 Northeastern 71

Others Receiving Votes

Kansas State 65; UC Irvine 51; Oregon 42; Oklahoma State 41; Auburn 35; Southern Miss 21; Dallas Baptist 21; Troy 19; Ole Miss 16; Florida State 13; UNCW 12; Arizona 10; Oral Roberts 9; Indiana State 8; Connecticut 7; USC 6; Georgia 6; Campbell 6; Kentucky 5; West Virginia 4; Indiana 4; Georgia Tech 4; Maryland 3; Hawaii 3

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SEC announces new format for 2025 baseball tournament

The SEC has announced a new 2025 baseball tournament format.

The SEC officially announced Thursday afternoon that the annual conference tournament will be undergoing some change starting in 2025, coinciding with Oklahoma and Texas joining the conference that year from the Big 12.

Applying to baseball, the conference’s annual tournament in Hoover, Alabama, will now include all 16 of the SEC’s teams making the conference tournament. This is a change from what is currently a 12-team format. In addition to all 16 teams making the tournament, it will be solely single-elimination throughout, which is also a change from the current format with games also remaining from Tuesday to Sunday.

As for the conference’s current SEC Tournament format with 14 teams, each of the Top 12 teams in the conference earn a trip to Hoover, with the two bottom teams in the conference missing out. The current format is also a mix of both single-and-double elimination.

An additional breakdown of seeding and round-byes can be found on the SEC’s website, as well as the days/times which each seed plays and more.

Wake Forest, Florida atop D1Baseball’s 2024 preseason rankings

The Demon Deacons and the Gators are considered the teams to beat in college baseball as the 2024 season approaches.

With the calendar turned to the start of 2024 and warmer weather theoretically on the way, college baseball season is quickly approaching. The first signs of life on the NCAA diamond came on Tuesday when D1Baseball released its preseason rankings of the 25 best teams this upcoming year.

The defending champion, LSU, is only six months removed from its College World Series title. However, the rankings think the leaders the Tigers lost, including the first two picks of last year’s MLB draft in pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews, are enough to drop LSU down to a humble fourth.

Two conference foes slot in ahead of the defending champions. Florida, the team that lost to LSU in the final series, sits second. The Gators also won the title in 2017 and were atop the national rankings with a 16-1 record in 2020 before the rest of the season was canceled due to COVID-19. Arkansas finished the regular season 39-15 last year, but a surprising 4-3 postseason campaign held them back from advancing to Omaha after TCU stunned them in their home regional.

All three of the top SEC teams are looking up at Wake Forest, however. The Demon Deacons lost to LSU in the 11th inning of a survive-and-advance game with a ticket to the championship series on the line.

Here are the full rankings:

Rank Team 2023 Record
1 Wake Forest 54-12
2 Florida 54-17
3 Arkansas 43-18
4 LSU 54-17
5 TCU 44-24
6 Vanderbilt 42-20
7 Oregon State 41-20
8 Texas A&M 38-27
9 Tennessee 44-22
10 Clemson 44-19
11 East Carolina 47-19
12 Duke 39-24
13 N.C. State 36-21
14 Virginia 50-15
15 North Carolina 36-24
16 Texas 42-22
17 UC Santa Barbara 35-20
18 Coastal Carolina 42-21
19 Alabama 43-21
20 Iowa 44-16
21 Texas Tech 41-23
22 UCLA 28-24-1
23 Northeastern 44-16
24 Kansas State 35-24
25 South Carolina 42-21

 

Report: LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson agrees to seven-year, $12.5 million deal

The Tigers coach becomes one of the highest paid coaches in the country after he led LSU to a College World Series title in his second year.

LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson is set to become one of the highest-paid coaches in the country after the Tigers’ national championship run this spring, per a Thursday report from The Advocate’s Wilson Alexander.

Alexander reported that Johnson and the Tigers agreed to a seven-year contract worth $12.55 million dollars according to a records request The Advocate received on Thursday.

Johnson’s base salary next year will be $1.65 million, the highest publicly known mark in the country. Vanderbilt’s Tim Corbin is believed to make more, but since he is employed by a private university, his contract is not subject to public record.

Johnson took over the LSU program before the 2022 season. He’s gone 94-39 in his two seasons at the helm, including last year’s College World Series title.

Globe Life Field will host the Big 12 baseball tournament through 2028

Big 12, Globe Life Field extend agreement to host the annual conference tournament through 2028

It was announced on Wednesday that the Big 12 and Globe Life Field extended their agreement to host the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship.

The home of the Texas Rangers hosted the tournament for the last two years and will continue to do so through 2028. Globe Life Field opened in 2020 and hosted the 2020 World Series.

“The Big 12 is thrilled to announce our Baseball Championship will be staying at Globe Life Field through 2028,” said Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark via a press release. “Through this extension, we will host our Baseball Championship at a world-class, climate-controlled venue in our own backyard. We are grateful for the support and partnership of REV Entertainment and the Texas Rangers.”

The 2024 tournament is set to run from May 21 through May 25. Tickets will be made available early next year. In 2023, the TCU Horned Frogs defeated Oklahoma State for the championship.

The tournament was hosted at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City in every season since 1997 with the exception of the 2002 and 2004 seasons when it was held at The Ballpark in Arlington, which is now known as Choctaw Stadium.

Globe Life Field is set to host the MLB All-Star Game in July of 2024.