Tag: d1baseball

Florida projected as No. 3 seed in NCAA Baseball Tournament

The regular season may coming to an end, but Florida’s baseball team is expected to be one of the toughest teams to beat in the postseason.

In the latest projections from D1Baseball.com, The Florida Gators are projected to be the No. 3 national seed in the NCAA tournament this year.

D1’s May 17 update as Florida hosting a regional with Oregon, Troy and Alabama State in the Gainesville region. Wake Forest and Arkansas are the projected Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively.

Florida’s 40-win season means that the Gators are almost locked into hosting a regional, but the outlook wasn’t as positive a few weeks ago. Sweeping Vanderbilt in convincing fashion at home last weekend did wonders for Florida’s national standing, and the Gators are once again considered a top-five if not a top-three team in the country.

Perhaps the most encouraging sign from this team has been its health. Losing Hunter Barco hurt the starting rotation immensely last season, but Brandon Sproat, Hurston Waldrep and Jac Caglianone have held things down all season. The bullpen is much more sound than it was a year ago, and Josh Rivera is the only position player that has missed time recently.

Before the Gators play in the NCAA Tournament, they will take on the SEC’s best in the conference tournament. Florida is close to locking up the top seed in that bracket, and a deep run there could propel Florida to an even high seed in the national tournament.

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LSU’s Tommy White makes D1Baseball’s list of top third basemen

Tommy White was named the No. 2 third baseman in the country in D1Baseball’s power rankings. 

[autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] was named the No. 2 third baseman in the country in D1Baseball’s power rankings.

White had a productive weekend on the plains as he finished 6-for-12 (.500) with three doubles and two RBI. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to bring home a series win for LSU as it dropped two games against Auburn.

White is having a stellar season at LSU in his first year on the Bayou. He is hitting .382 with 18 doubles, 17 homers and an NCAA-best 79 RBI. He has been a catalyst for the Tiger offense, and the combo of White and [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] hitting third and fourth has been a deadly duo so far.

White will have at least one more year at LSU, seeing as he is not eligible for the MLB draft yet. He has lived up to all of the hype and expectations so far. Hopefully, he can keep it going as the Tigers attempt to bring home a trophy from Omaha.

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Latest NCAA tournament projections for LSU baseball

The Tigers are all but a lock to be a top-eight seed and potential super-regional host.

The Tigers have looked the part of the No. 1 team in the country this season, at least most of the time.

LSU is in the midst of a bit of a frustrating stretch having now dropped back-to-back in-state midweek games against Louisiana and, most recently, Nicholls on Tuesday night. Still, coach Jay Johnson’s team is in a fairly advantageous spot.

This team has been fantastic in SEC play. The Tigers are unbeaten in conference series and split with one of the hottest teams in the country in South Carolina on the road. LSU is coming off a road sweep against Ole Miss, and it has no remaining league series against ranked opponents.

As a result, this team sits in a very good position when it comes to being a regional host and (potential) super regional host. Here’s the latest breakdown of LSU’s postseason outlook, per On3.

Note: The article from On3 was published prior to the Tigers’ loss to the Colonels, but that likely won’t impact much as far as the big picture is concerned.

Record: 32-7 (12-5 in SEC games)

RPI: 3

Remaining midweek games: vs. Nicholls, vs. SE Louisiana, vs. Northwestern State, vs. McNeese

Remaining weekend series: vs. Alabama, at Auburn, vs. Mississippi State, at Georgia

LSU is not only locked into the postseason, but the Tigers are all but guaranteed to be one of the top eight regional hosts. That would mean that LSU would host a super regional in the second round, should they win their regional. With a top three RPI, LSU isn’t really in danger of falling much at all over the final weeks of the year. It’s safe to say that the Tigers will be either the top overall seed in the tournament, and it’s hard to see them falling far even if they struggle down the stretch.

Unsurprisingly, LSU was tabbed as the No. 1 overall seed in D1Baseball’s projected field last week.

LSU has been the unanimous No. 1 team in the country throughout the entire season, and barring a surprising series loss or two, this team is well-poised to be the top overall seed and all but guaranteed to be a top-eight seed.

Registering a convincing victory over a Crimson Tide team that has struggled with inconsistency but is coming off a sweep on the road against Missouri would certainly go a long way to solidify that.

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Oklahoma tops No. 14 Texas 2-1 in series opener

Texas’ bats went silent against Oklahoma on Friday.

Oklahoma silenced No. 14 Texas’ offense on Friday night to take game one of the series with a 2-1 victory.

The Sooners took the lead on a two-out bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning. Oklahoma lefty Carter Campbell was excellent in relief, tossing three shutout innings to earn the win.

Texas’ bats squandered a few opportunities to break the game open early on. A bases-loaded strikeout and a double play ball ended Texas rallies. The Longhorns finished hitless with runners in scoring position on the night.

Despite the loss, Lucas Gordon delivered another fantastic Friday night start for the Longhorns. Gordon gave Texas seven innings of one-run ball with a season-high nine strikeouts.

Travis Stehle gets the ball for the Longhorns in game two of the series on Saturday. Texas looks to force a rubber match with a bounce-back performance.

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Texas Baseball: RHP Tanner Witt ‘on schedule’ to return this season

Tanner Witt might be back on the mound soon.

Texas baseball could be getting a huge boost to its pitching staff in the near future.

David Pierce provided an update on the status of former freshman All-American Tanner Witt on Thursday morning. Pierce stated Witt remains on track with his recovery and could be ready to pitch by the end of April.

Texas lost Witt early on in the 2022 season. He went through Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL.

Witt is one of the premier arms in college baseball when healthy. The 6-foot-6 righty pairs a mid-to-upper 90s fastball with a wipeout breaking ball.

D1baseball lists Witt as the No. 13 college prospect eligible for the 2023 MLB Draft.

Getting Witt back in any capacity immediately raises the ceiling of this Texas squad. The Longhorns currently sit with a 21-9 record, ranked at No. 21 in the nation.

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D1Baseball ranks Florida SS Josh Rivera No. 2 in college baseball

Josh Rivera’s decision to return to Florida for another year might have been the smartest of his entire career. He’s now ranked among the top shortstop in all of baseball.

The biggest surprise of Florida’s tremendous 2023 college baseball campaign has undoubtedly been the rise of shortstop [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag], who was pegged to be in the pros around this time last year.

Opting to return for a fourth season in Gainesville might have been the best decision of Rivera’s career so far. He’s hitting for both average (.402) and power (11 home runs), and is still just as slick with the glove as he’s always been. Oh yeah, he’s swiped eight bases too, which is on the higher end for college shortstops so far this season.

Another big improvement in Rivera’s game has been his eye. He’s walked 17 times this season, four more times than he’s struck out. MLB scouts are always looking for guys who get on base often, and limiting strikeouts is always a plus for a power hitter.

Rivera had transformed his draft stock in just about 100 at-bats. He’s now one of the top college shortstops in the upcoming draft class, ranked second on the year by D1Baseball behind projected top-five pick Jacob Wilson (Grand Canyon) and ahead of first-round talent Jacob Gonzalez (Ole Miss).

Rivera could very well hear his name called in the first few rounds of the draft over the summer, but he still has to finish out this campaign strong. If Rivera can maintain these numbers through April and into May, he’ll have a really good chance to finish the season as a top-three player at the position.

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Florida two-way star Jac Caglianone ranked nation’s top 1B

The legend of Jac Caglianone only continues to grow as the 2023 college baseball season continues, and now Florida’s first baseman is getting the national recognition he deserves.

The Florida Gators boast one of the best college baseball teams in the entire country, and at the heart of the lineup is none other than [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag].

Expectations were high for the two-way star as he entered his first full collegiate campaign after taking the first half of 2022 to heal from Tommy John surgery. Caglianone has yet to disappoint. He currently leads the nation with 17 home runs, is slashing .400/.462/.971 and is one of the first names mentioned whenever the Golden Spikes Award comes up.

For those reasons and many more, Jac Caglianone sits at the top of D1Baseball‘s positional rankings for first baseman after Week 6 of the season.

The best part about all of this is that he’s only a sophomore and won’t be eligible for the draft until next summer. That means the Gators get him for two whole seasons at 100% and that this could only be the beginning of one of the greatest runs in Orange and Blue of all time.

Perhaps that sounds like hyperbole, but it’s the truth. His 38 RBIs pace all first basemen as well, and the only area of his game that could use some work is drawing walks. Strikeouts aren’t a major issue because he hits the ball so often.

Caglianone’s crowning as the top first baseman in the country might have been a formality to some degree for D1Baseball, but now he has to stay on top, which can be much harder to accomplish.

An 0 for 11 run against Alabama showed that he is indeed human, but a four-homer weekend against Ole Miss suggests that he was just making some adjustments at the start of SEC play.

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Texas baseball by the numbers while riding 15-game winning steak

Texas baseball has turned the tide after a sluggish start to the 2023 season. 

Texas baseball has turned the tide after a sluggish start to the 2023 season. Continue reading “Texas baseball by the numbers while riding 15-game winning steak”

SEC controls D1 Baseball Top 25 Rankings in latest rankings

SEC leads all conferences with nine teams in D1Baseball latest top 25 rankings.

SEC Baseball is still at the top of the college baseball mountain. 

After another eventful weekend of games, D1Baseball released their latest top 25 rankings, and the SEC has six teams in the top ten and nine overall in the top 25, leading all conferences. The ACC is right behind the SEC with eight teams but only No. 6 Wake Forest rest in the top ten. Pac-12 has two teams in the top 25, one being No. 2 Stanford.

Arkansas moved up one spot to No. 8. If it wasn’t for a series-ending loss to Eastern Illinois, the Diamond Hogs could have jumped a couple more spots.

The other SEC teams ahead of the Diamond Hogs are No. 7 Vanderbilt, No. 6 Florida, No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 3 Tennessee, and No. 1 LSU. LSU took a surprising loss to Iowa in the Round Rock Classic but remained at the top spot.

No. 15 Texas A&M fell ten spots after a rough weekend, losing three straight and weekend series to Portland. No. 20 Alabama and No. 23 South Carolina round out the top 25 for the SEC.

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Three pitchers earn spot on Preseason Top 200 list

D1Baseball considers three Auburn starters to be among the nation’s best.

There are a few questions surrounding Auburn Baseball as they prepare to make another run to the College World Series in 2023… one of those is who will anchor the pitching staff?

The Tigers will be without two of their three weekend starters from a season ago. [autotag]Trace Bright[/autotag] and [autotag]Mason Barnett[/autotag] have begun their professional careers, which leaves [autotag]Joseph Gonzalez[/autotag] the perfect opportunity to become the rotation’s ace.

Who will take over the other two spots? D1Baseball has delivered its suggestions.

The baseball media outlet released their preseason top 200 starting pitchers rankings and included three members of Auburn’s roster. Gonzalez is Auburn’s highest-rated pitcher checking in at No. 20, while [autotag]Chase Allsup[/autotag] and freshman [autotag]Zach Crotchfelt[/autotag] round out the list at No. 44 and No. 183 respectively.

Gonzalez alternated between Saturday and Sunday starting roles in 2022. In seven starts, he bumped an ERA of 3.20 while striking out 24 batters and walking five in 45.0 innings of work. His strongest outing of the season came against Vanderbilt on April 10, where allowed eight hits and one earned run while striking out eight batters in a complete-game effort, earning the 8-2 win. Opposing batters hit .275 off of him last season.

Allsup was used as a reliever last season and did not pitch more than two innings in his 23 outings. He struck out 36 batters in 29.1 innings of work, boasting an ERA of 3.38.

Crotchfelt, a freshman from Jackson, New Jersey, makes the list without ever having thrown a collegiate pitch. He signed with Auburn as the No. 9 overall left-handed pitcher from the 2022 recruiting cycle, and the No. 93 overall recruit by Perfect Game. He was named a MaxPreps All-American after striking out 130 batters in 65.0 innings of work as a senior at Jackson Memorial High School.

It will be worth keeping an eye on these players as potential fillers to the rotation. [autotag]Tommy Sheehan[/autotag] is also seen as a potential weekend starter for the Tigers after he struck out 29 batters in 33.2 innings of work last season. Out of his 16 appearances, he earned three starts.

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