Will the Diamond Hogs have their long-awaited revenge or will Friday end with heartbreak?
Arkansas fans can still hear the low, muffled sounds of baseballs thumping the warning track of Charles Schwab Field in their nightmares. On Friday, those same fans could have their faux trauma partially healed… or it could mean they’re stuck holding their breaths on every time an opponent hits a pop-up, foul ball.
For the first time since the 2018 College World Series, Arkansas will meet No. 7 Oregon State on the diamond during the Kubota College Baseball Series. Heading into the game, the Beavers are perfect, boasting a 5-0 record over New Mexico, Minnesota (twice), CSU Bakersfield, and Texas Tech.
Oregon will be a great early test for Arkansas’ Bullpen. They outscored their foes 52-17 and scored at least 10 runs in 3 of their 5 games. The team averages a .339 batting average and .412 on-base percentage. Whatever weakness the Hogs have on the mound, the Beavers have the talent to find it.
Second baseman and leadoff hitter Travis Bazzana has been a bull at the plate. So far this season, he has recorded 12 RBIs on 16 hits and 5 home runs. Although he doesn’t have the RBIs like Bazzana, nine-hole hitter Trent Caraway likes to get on base with 18 hits and an OBP of .526 in his first five games.
The Beavers are led by former Oregon State player and two-time National Champion Coach Mitch Canham. Canham has led Oregon State to the postseason every year since his move to Corvallis in 2019, making just one super regional in 2022. If the name sounds familiar to some in Fayetteville, Canham had a small stint as a Northwest Arkansas Natural in 2013
In 2018, Arkansas played Oregon State in the CWS finals. The Razorbacks won the first game 4-1, but in the second, Arkansas dropped a championship-clinching, gimme fly ball in foul territory in the bottom of the ninth with two out. OSU came back to win 5-3 and took game 3, winning the CWS.
So this begs the question, will Friday night in heartbreak again? Or will the Diamond Hogs have their long-awaited revenge?
No.12 Duke baseball kicked off 2024 campaign with a 6-3 win over Indiana.
Friday started what head baseball coach Chris Pollard hopes to be a historic season for the Duke Blue Devils baseball team.
No. 12 Duke got their 2024 campaign started as they hope that this year is the year they break down the door and punch their ticket to Omaha, Nebraska, and the College World Series.
Duke started its campaign with a win over the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big 10. Preseason second-team All-American Jonathan Santucci has been tabbed as the ace of Duke’s staff, so it was only fitting the junior was given the ball in the season’s first game. His first inning was rocky as he allowed a walk and a hit but fought back to strike out three Hoosiers to get out of the gym.
Braden Risedorph started for Indiana and held the Blue Devils in check for four innings before the top of the fifth rolled around, and the Blue Devils scratched across their first run of the season. True freshman Kyle Johnson doubled with two outs and was knocked in on an RBI double from Oklahoma transfer Wallace Clark. Indiana would bring in Ryan Kraft, and he’d close the door on the Blue Devils in the fifth.
Santucci would give Duke one more scoreless inning before his day was over. He threw 86 pitches in his 2024 debut and struck out seven batters while walking two and allowing zero runs on four singles.
Back-to-back home runs by catcher and captain Alex Stone and Harvard transfer Logan Bravo stretched Duke’s lead to 3-0 in the top half of the sixth before Indiana answered with two runs courtesy of shortstop Tyler Cerny, who took Duke reliever Owen Proksch deep.
Duke responded with two more runs at the top of the seventh, thanks again to the combination of Stone and Bravo. Stone hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Wallace Clark. Bravo would come behind him and rip a single down the left-field line to score Zac Morris and make it 5-2 Duke.
Indiana pushed back on Duke again with a home run by center fielder Carter Mathison in the bottom of the seventh against Proksch before Pollard went to his bullpen to call on 2024 stopper-of-the-year nominee Charlie Beilinson to get Duke out of a two-on-and-one-out jam with the game at 5-3. Beilinson would do just that: strike out the two batters to end the Hoosiers’ threat and send the game to the 8th inning.
North Carolina native and sophomore outfielder Tyler Albright hit a hanging breaking ball deep to left field to give Duke a 6-3 lead in the top half of the eighth, and Beilinson would shut the door in the eight and ninth to end his day and secure the win for the Blue Devils.
Logan Bravo led the way with a 3/5 one-home run and two RBIs. Alex Stone had two RBIs as well. In total, Duke amassed ten hits and had zero errors defensively.
The Blue Devils will rest up and prepare for a Saturday matinee affair with the George Mason Patriots tomorrow with lefty Andrew Healy on the bump.
Duke baseball gets set to open their 2024 season. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Blue Devils’ season opener.
1961. 1961 was the last time a Duke Blue Devils baseball team made the College World Series.
Last year was about showing up every doubter of the Duke baseball program as the team broke every preseason expectation of them en route to a 39-24 record, coming up just one win short of a trip to Omaha, Nebraska.
Head coach Chris Pollard retooled the Duke roster in hopes of clearing that final hurdle and leading his program to heights not reached in over 50 years.
Duke will start the season ranked as the No. 12 team in the country. In short, they will not be sneaking up on anyone this year. And that presents one of many challenges the Blue Devils will face this year: going from solely the hunters to being hunted while still hunting the class of the ACC, Wake Forest, Clemson, and Virginia as they too pursue a trip to Omaha.
The question now is: How does Duke live up to and exceed last year’s results?
It starts with their pitching. Duke’s pitching staff last year was unconventional but highly effective. At season’s end, they had the 18th-best ERA in the country. They’ll need to keep Duke in games as the bevy of transfers and new faces in the lineup, especially around the infield, begin to gel.
The staff’s ace is preseason second-team All-American Jonathan Santucci, a lefty with big strikeout stuff. James Tallon, Fran Oschell, and Andrew Healy are talented pitchers who received preseason award buzz. With that core four of pitching along with reliever Charlie Beilenson, Duke should remain competitive in many games.
They also should get a boost from two-way true freshman Kyle Johnson, who is expected to start in the outfield while contributing a solid number of innings on the mound for the Blue Devils.
Johnson was among the 50 best high school prospects per Perfect Game and was named the number one impact freshman in the ACC during the fall by D1Baseball. Expectations are high, but many around the Duke program believe they are warranted.
Duke’s season will depend on health and how long their revamped infield takes to gel. The Blue Devils lost every infielder from last year’s team that made it to Super Regionals. Some hit the transfer portal, and others were drafted in the MLB Draft last June.
Ben Miller (Penn), Logan Bravo (Harvard), Ben Weaver (Wheaton), and Wallace Clark (Oklahoma) are just a few of the names that transferred in with significant opportunities to start in Duke’s infield. They all have over 50 games of starting experience, so they are far from inexperienced. They’ll need to hit the ground running and quickly find their stride at the plate. As soon as Duke’s nonconference schedule ends, they’ll jump right into conference play, where the ACC is home to five other top-20 teams, and Duke will open ACC play by taking on four of them to start.
As the Blue Devils ready themselves for a weekend slate of games in the Baseball at the Beach tournament hosted by No. 18 Coastal Carolina, they do so knowing that this season won’t be easy. They open up this weekend with Indiana, George Mason, and Coastal Carolina.
The possibilities for this team can be sky-high, but things could get scary if their pitching, health, and offense don’t gel in unison. Nonetheless, this team is talented enough to get to Omaha. Will they?
Could Alabama Baseball be a hidden gem in 2024? Many believe they have what it takes.
In 2023, Alabama baseball finished the season with an overall record of 43-21 and an SEC record of 16-14, but that’s not why people were talking about the Crimson Tide. The betting scandal that led to head coach Brad Bohannon’s dismissal from the team stole headlines.
Now, Alabama baseball enters the 2024 team with a new head coach, Rob Vaughn, and plenty of new players. Expectations for this team are, for the most part, unknown. For that reason, you can’t rule out the Crimson Tide too early.
D1Baseball recently asked every baseball team in the country which program could be a “sleeper team,” or a team that may surprise many, with its performance in the upcoming season.
Though East Carolina received the most votes with 20, Alabama received 10 votes. Alabama has not been back to Omaha for the College World Series since 1999.
Opening Day for the Tide is Friday, Feb. 15 in Tuscaloosa against Manhattan College, which is the first game of a three-game series.
Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama baseball as the 2024 season gets started.
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Arkansas second baseman Peyton Stovall will be returning from shoulder surgery after missing the Diamond Hogs’ postseason.
As painful as it was for Arkansas second baseman Peyton Stovall to watch from the dugout as the Diamond Hogs’ season came to an end in the Fayetteville Regional last June, the rising junior is getting back on track and excited for the season ahead.
“I’m a couple of weeks away from being able to take some ground balls, but not throwing or anything, yet,” Stovall said while attending an event in Camden on Saturday. “I just started lifting some weights a few weeks ago, so I’m really starting to get back into it, physically. I’ve been super excited to start ramping it up again.”
The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Haughton, La., product, was one of the highest-rated recruits Dave Van Horn has ever landed at Arkansas. But after a brilliant freshman season in 2022, his sophomore season was cut short by a torn labrum in his shoulder.
He had surgery on June 5 in Dallas and is now in the early stages of rehab, but should be 100 percent by the time the upcoming season arrives.
He did battle through pain to play in 38 games before being shut down in May, hitting .253 with five home runs and 31 runs batted in, while boasting a .982 fielding percentage.
“I really dealt with that shoulder injury for a large part of the season,” he said. “I just played through it and I probably shouldn’t have, because it may have made it worse. But it did allow me to play more games.”
He will return to Dallas on Sept. 5 for his three-month checkup with renowned orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Keith Meister.
“The first couple of weeks after the surgery was pretty tough, being in a sling, not being able to sleep a lot,” Stovall said. “But I’m in a really good place now, mentally, for sure. So, hopefully within the next month I will be able to start swinging again. And then it should go fast from there. I do a hitting program, that will take two or three weeks. Then I will start a throwing program. Hopefully, there will be no restrictions, coming around November.
“I’ve just been rehabbing a lot and doing a lot of strengthening on my rotator cuff and my shoulder. I’ve got my full-range of motion back.”
Coming out of Haughton High School, Stovall shocked a lot of people when he turned down a possible estimated $2.5 million professional contract to become a Razorback. He was a Perfect Game All-American, rated as the top player in Louisiana, the No. 11 shortstop, nationally, and the No. 47 overall prospect.
He was on the board to be the No. 29 player selected in the 2021 draft, a pick with a slot value of $2.42 million.
“It would have been life-changing money, but I wanted to win SEC championships and national championships at Arkansas,” he said at the time. “The draft will still be there in three years.”
Once he arrived at Baum-Walker Stadium, he did not disappoint. He started 51 games as a true freshman — 48 at first base and three at second base. He finished fourth on the team with a .295 batting average with six homers and 31 RBIs, and was nearly perfect with a .995 fielding percentage. He made just two errors in 441 chances, helping the Razorbacks set a new school record in fielding percentage with a .982 mark for the year.
He really shined brightest during Arkansas’ postseason run to the College World Series. He hit .500 (8-for-16) in the Stillwater Regional and was named to the All-Regional team, then proceeded to hit .500 (4-for-8) in the Chapel Hill Super Regional, including a momentum-shifting home run in a Game 1 win over the Tar Heels.
He then hit .360 (9-for-25) on the biggest stage, in Omaha, with another homer and a team-high 10 RBIs. His five-hit performance against Auburn was the most in a World Series game since 2009.
But it was costly for the Hogs when he had to sit out this past postseason.
“It was extremely tough, especially just having to go out there and watch, and not being able to help in the Regional at home,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to play in a Regional at home, so having to just watch wasn’t fun. But I just did what I could to support my teammates.”
His replacement at second base, junior Peyton Holt, filled in admirably, hitting .392 with a pair of home runs and 17 RBIs. But Stovall expects to
Jun 21, 2022; Omaha, NE, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks first baseman Peyton Stovall (10) gets an out against the Auburn Tigers to end the seventh inning at Charles Schwab Field. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports
return to his position in the spring.
“Peyton Holt came in a played second, and did a phenomenal job for us,” Stovall said. “We couldn’t be more excited to have him back this year. He’s one of my really good friends.”
But for now, it’s just one step at a time for Stovall, allowing his body to heal properly.
“I’m just looking forward to a healthy season,” he said. “And really, I’m looking forward to just being able to get back out there with my guys.”
The Florida Gators finished on top of the 2022-23 Men’s Capital One Cup standings following a deep run at the College World Series.
The University of Florida won the 2022-23 Men’s Capital One Cup following the conclusion of the college baseball season, finishing with 91 points.
Stanford (83), Georgia (80), Penn State (75.5) and Virginia (71) round out the top five. Florida’s win ties the program with Stanford for the most all-time at three apiece. The two schools are the only ones to win both at least one men’s and one women’s title over 13 years.
Gators Athletics receives a donation of $250,000 from Capital One for athletic scholarships for winning.
Florida’s 91 points stem from national championships in golf and outdoor track and field. Each championship netted 20 points, and Florida’s second-place finish in the USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Poll in baseball added another 36. A third-place finish in indoor track and field counts for 10 points, and the swimming and diving team’s sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships brings in the final five.
The Gators finished tied for 14th in the women’s standings with South Carolina.
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We’d much rather it be Florida than LSU. CC: @gatorswire
Although Notre Dame earned a spot in the College World Series for the third time in program history last year the Irish are far from a blue-blood in regards to college baseball. That said, they held a College World Series record for over 60-years that few are probably aware of.
Key word being held.
Florida and LSU are meeting in this year’s best-of-three championship round and it was the Tigers who had a chance to clinch things Sunday night in game two. Instead, Florida put it on LSU in grand fashion, earning a 24-4 victory and setting up a winner-take-all game on Monday.
The 24 runs scored by Florida are now a College World Series record, surpassing Notre Dame’s 23-run showing way back in 1957.
A 66 year old record fell today @CWSOmaha when the Florida Gators scored 24 runs — surpassing the 23 runs scored by the 1957 @NDBaseball team in the College World Series.
That was a 23-2 win over Colorado State College in the losers bracket that kept the Irish alive. They’d eventually fall one round short of reaching the championship.
Per DraftKings, oddsmakers have Skenes as a -225 favorite to go first overall next month to the Pittsburgh Pirates, while Crews is +170 to be selected first. He’s a likely fit for the Washington Nationals, who hold the draft’s second pick.
LSU pitcher Ty Floyd is also expected to be picked in an earlier round during next month’s draft.
As for the Gators, they’ll be able to celebrate the impending selection of outfielder Wyatt Langford, who has +2000 odds to go first but could be a fit for the Detroit Tigers with the draft’s third-overall pick.
#LSU is the 1st school to win basketball & baseball national titles in the same year. #USC’s Sam Barry is 1 of 3 head coaches to make a Final Four and a College World Series.
The LSU Tigers just became the first Division I athletic program to win an NCAA basketball national championship and the College World Series in the same year. It’s a monumental feat which elicits many questions. One of them: “Has any coach reached the Final Four and the College World Series in a career?”
The answer: Yes. Three people have pulled off that double. One of them belongs to the University of Southern California.
His name is Sam Barry, whom we wrote about in an extensive series during the pandemic in 2020.
Barry joins Everett Dean of Stanford and Frank McGuire of St. John’s as the only three people to earn a Final Four appearance and a College World Series berth as a head coach.
Dean led Stanford basketball to the 1942 Final Four and then guided Stanford to the 1953 CWS.
McGuire led St. John’s baseball to the 1949 CWS and then guided the Johnnies to the 1952 Final Four. McGuire later won the 1957 college basketball national championship at North Carolina.
