Road to Omaha - 2016 College Baseball

PaulinMyrBch

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D1 got rolling this weekend.

I know those that follow college baseball have eyes scattered all over, but I'd like to direct your attention to Clemson, SC.

Clate Schmidt, Senior RHP and 2015 32nd round pick of the Boston Red Sox got the start today. Pretty cool story.

 

Fred not Lynn

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Do a lot of people on here follow college baseball closely? I am soon to be immersed in the college game, and while I have learned a thing or two about this level, I am very interested in what the rest of SoSH has to say on the subject...
 

PaulinMyrBch

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This thread usually plods along until the tournament pairings come out. Then it gets rolling pretty good. The folks who drop in are very knowledgable about the college game.
 

Fred not Lynn

Dick Button Jr.
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Well, I hope this year it gets rolling sooner. The team I'm interested in (Mount St. Mary's University/NEC) isn't expected to make the tournament, but I'd love to hear what those knowledgeable folks have to say about the NEC. I know it's one of the lower level conferences in D1, and that Mt St Mary's is one of the weaker teams this year, so don't worry that you're telling me something I don't want to hear...just nice to know what to expect.

I'm going to go to their non-conference games at Jacksonville this coming weekend, Wake Forest mid-week and UNC Asheville the weekend after, so general comments and players to watch on those teams would be useful, too.
 

steveluck7

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NEC - Perfect Game, Baseball America, and the league's coaches all picked Bryant to win the conference again.
They opened the season last weekend in North Carolina by beating Army, Monmouth, and Penn State. They play in the Tony Gwynn Classic this coming weekend out in San Diego
Basically, it looks like another year of Bryant and Sacred Heart at the top of the conference.

Sorry for not being able to be in depth on the conference as a whole but i'm close to the Bryant program!
 

TallManinOregon

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#GoDucks ... I'll be following Oregon Baseball a bit more closely this year. Will check in and follow along with observations, etc. along the way. I got to see them up close and personal during a scrimmage and the outlook is bright in Eugene. They swept San Diego State over opening weekend and have a nice stable of arms in the rotation.
Coach Horton's style isn't my favorite, but it's pretty effective.
Reporting from the Pacific Northwest, I'm the TallMan... now back to you in the studio.
 

Fred not Lynn

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NEC - Perfect Game, Baseball America, and the league's coaches all picked Bryant to win the conference again.
They opened the season last weekend in North Carolina by beating Army, Monmouth, and Penn State. They play in the Tony Gwynn Classic this coming weekend out in San Diego
Basically, it looks like another year of Bryant and Sacred Heart at the top of the conference.

Sorry for not being able to be in depth on the conference as a whole but i'm close to the Bryant program!
Unfortunately, MSMU doesn't play at Bryant this year. I would have come out for that one, lots of family not too far from there. Next year, I guess.

Sacred Heart sounds interesting, if not just because of who the Athletic Director is.

That's a big weekend of wins for an NEC school, and their tournament this weekend sounds great. It's nice to have an opponent who has played, and beaten, some schools from stronger conferences - gives a reference point to see where you really stand.
 

Fred not Lynn

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Sounds like Bryant had a good weekend at the Tony Gwynn Classic, capped off by a win over #22 Kentucky.

As for Mount St Mary's, they took a beating last weekend at Jacksonville, losing by 10+ runs in all three games. It's kind of a shame that a northern school like that has to play many of their toughest opponents on a spring trip when they're least prepared. I guess it's something of a sliver lining to know that Jacksonville beat #15 Florida State two days later.

After a midweek 8-2 loss to Wake Forest (fresh off a win over #21 USC) MSMU lost two straight at UNC Asheville...and then on Sunday victory came 2-1, as the bats woke up...

...ok, the bats didn't wake up, but a win is a win, isn't it?

(The UNC Asheville starter went 8, and was replaced by a reliever who finished out the no-hitter for him)
 

PaulinMyrBch

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Saw the middle Clemson - South Carolina game Saturday. Going to dwell on the Schmidts again. Younger bro Clarke is the Friday night Gamecock starter. He shuts down Clemson over 8 innings for the win. Cancer survivor Clate is the Sat night Clemson starter and he takes a no hitter into the 6th for the win and combines with another reliever for the shutout. I'd say that's a pretty good weekend for the parents.
 

steveluck7

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Sounds like Bryant had a good weekend at the Tony Gwynn Classic, capped off by a win over #22 Kentucky.
They certainly had a nice weekend, beating San Diego State on Friday, then Kentucky on Sunday. This past weekend, they took 2 of 3 from George Mason.
They travel to Maryland this coming weekend for 3 then play Delaware before starting NEC play
 

PaulinMyrBch

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Seth Beer. Freshman. Clemson. Skipped his senior year of high school, enrolled in Jan, currently batting 4th for the Tigers. Through 13 games: 7 home runs through today (2 off Fri night guys) 19 RBI, batting 409. 12 game hitting streak, 2 K's

Prom is so overrated.
 

Fred not Lynn

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Seth Beer. Freshman. Clemson. Skipped his senior year of high school, enrolled in Jan, currently batting 4th for the Tigers. Through 13 games: 7 home runs through today (2 off Fri night guys) 19 RBI, batting 409. 12 game hitting streak, 2 K's

Prom is so overrated.
I think I saw that guy at a Showcase at Wrigley Field two summers ago...he'll be a success at the pro level for the jersey sales alone.

Back to the D1 basement: Mt St Mary's lost two to Buffalo on the weekend, one was a double-digit beatdown, the other a 2-0 pitching showcase. The good news at MSMU is that the best pitching is coming from freshmen, with that 2-0 loss shared by two (but not the one I'm following; he's been more or less competent over the 4 innings he's pitched so far though).

Conference play starts at Fairleigh Dickenson on Friday. I am taking the red eye to LaGuardia, arriving in NYC on St Pat's/March Madness morning and if I survive the journey across Manhattan on that festive day (I plan to enjoy it, with a likely overnight near Penn Station), I will pick up a rental car at Newark on Friday and will be in attendance at the 1 pm game.
 

PaulinMyrBch

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Seth Beer. Seems to like this conference play stuff.

6 ACC games in 2016
.500 BA, 1.455 SLG%, .571 OB%, 2.026 OPS, 6 HR, 3 2B, 11 RBIs, 10 runs & 1 outfield assist.

On a 17 game hit streak. Hit a 10th inning walkoff home run today.

An article on Seth Beer on the Clemson webpage

The true freshman currently leads Clemson in batting average (.448), home runs (9), RBIs (26), slug percentage (.940) and on-base percentage (.548). He has struck out just 7 times all year, while drawing or being intentionally walked 14 times, which is tied for the team lead.
 
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PaulinMyrBch

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This might just turn into a Seth Beer thread. Not sure why anyone is pitching to him. Stats for the year below. Last night Georgia pitched to him in the 8th ahead 6-5 with no one on base. He did this...said post game it was the hardest ball he ever hit. Look at the top of the screen above the scoreboard to see the ball go into the trees. (Kid is supposed to be a high school senior, graduated early and enrolled in Jan)


Avg 430
OBP 538
SLG 935
OPS 1473

He's played 27 games and has a 25 game hit streak. 13 HR's, 8 2B, 37 RBI, 19 BB v 9 K's.
 
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Fred not Lynn

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Well, on the other end of the spectrum, there's still Mount St. Mary's. Another double digit loss to start a series, this time to Central Connecticut State U.

Anyone in or near New Britain who wants to help a guy drown his sorrows, PM me...
 

Fred not Lynn

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In other college baseball news, I just got notice that the Mt St Mary's series to be played at Sacred Heart had to be relocated due to double booking of the stadium.

This shouldn't happen at this level. Sacred Heart clearly has a blatantly incomptent Athletic Director.
 

steveluck7

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Back to the NEC, Bryant is on an 9 game winning streak after beating Brown yesterday, sweeping Stony Brook over the weekend and crushing Northeastern mid-week last week. Regular season title and #1 seed is essentially up for grabs this weekend when they host Sacred Heart
Some good accolades and press for a few bulldogs
Sophomore James Karinchak on National pitcher of the year watchlist
ESPN Boston did a nice write-up on Junior CF Matt Albanese
 

Fred not Lynn

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Bryant is a legit team this year. I think they could get an at-large team if they didn't win the NEC and could make some noise in a regional.
I'm looking forward to seeing Bryant at Mount St Mary's in a few weeks - headed out for the last series of the season. I wasn't there, but Mt St Mary's @ Wagner was a fantastic series - with The Mount taking three of four to crawl out of sole possession of the NEC cellar, one win with a dramatic 8th inning 5 run comeback, another in 12 innings, with the one loss being an extra-inning game as well. All accounts are that they played much better baseball than they have been...they'll need to keep it up if they want to be competitive against Bryant.
 

RedOctober3829

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I'm looking forward to seeing Bryant at Mount St Mary's in a few weeks - headed out for the last series of the season. I wasn't there, but Mt St Mary's @ Wagner was a fantastic series - with The Mount taking three of four to crawl out of sole possession of the NEC cellar, one win with a dramatic 8th inning 5 run comeback, another in 12 innings, with the one loss being an extra-inning game as well. All accounts are that they played much better baseball than they have been...they'll need to keep it up if they want to be competitive against Bryant.
Watch out for Bryant's CF Matt Albanese is a big time prospect who could be drafted in the first 3 rounds. He is as good or better at this level than our 2012 CF Travis Jankowski who was a sandwich pick and is currently on the Padres. Albanese has power, speed, and plate discipline.
 

steveluck7

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Albanese is certainly a legit draft prospect. Certainly their biggest positional prospect in probably forever. It's fun following Kevin McAvoy in the sox system.
Albanese OPS this season is 1.109. Looking forward to the series starting today against SHU. Bryant smoked BC 18-6 on Wednesday
 

Fred not Lynn

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Just left Salt Lake City where PAC 12 leader Utah took 2 of 3 from Stanford. I went to the Sunday game, an 8-3 Utah win.

In NEC news, Bryant is ranked #24 by Baseball America now...

And guess who they're playing this weekend. I am on my way out to Emmitsburg via Amtrak - first game of the series is Thursday.

The series might be meaningless for Bryant, but I can assure you that MSMU is motivated - nothing better to end the season on than a strong series against a tough opponent to take the sour taste of an embarrassingly poor start out of a team's mouth.
 

steveluck7

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The series has some meaning to Bryant as even a sweep will likely ding their RPI since MSM is struggling this year. They need all the RPI help if they hope to get an at-large bid if they don't get through the conference tournament. Losing one will hurt more, losing two... well, you get the idea.
 

Fred not Lynn

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I prefer "rebuilding"...

And yeah, sad to be so bad that you hurt your opponent most just by showing up at the game.

In MSM's defence, 3 of 4 regular infield starters are freshmen, as are 2 of 4 starting pitchers. They lost another freshman starting pitcher and the senior closer to medical redshirt and two more pitchers for other reasons. They have played much better in the 2nd half of the season as younger guys have adjusted to a new level, and have two new catchers coming in (one freshman, one transfer) and should be much better next year.
 

Fred not Lynn

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rps20160519_133009.jpg

Game 1 underway in Emmitsburg. They changed the schedule from one game each on Thursday and Saturday and a DH Friday to two DHs Thursday and Friday. Seems to happen a lot, actually - setting up a weird 9 inning/7 inning deal each day. No score headed into B2...

Final score was 6-0 Bryant. Albanese didn't play game 1, and isn't in the lineup for game 2.
 
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Fred not Lynn

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Albanese took the weekend off (well, Thursday and Friday, but it felt like a weekend).

The worst four words in baseball were spoken on the mound that day,

"I heard it pop"

One of the few bright spots for MSMU this year had been this freshman - and now he's booking an appointment with Dr. Andrews.

MSMU Checked out after that, beaten down by the emotion of that injury and the emotion of Senior's day. The final score was 19-1, I think.

Bryant is a good team, and it's good to take a beating from the best some times so you know where you need to go.

(The injured freshman wasn't my freshman, it was his room mate, team mate and friend. I guess it's a good thing it snapped now, instead of in the fall - might as well get it fixed sooner...)
 

steveluck7

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Stinks to hear that about a freshman... hopefully he gets back up to speed to salvage a nice career at the school!
I don't know what's up with Albanese, he left the Sunday game against CCSU then sat against Umass Lowell, and all 4 against MSM (although those latter 5 games happened in a 3 day stretch)
Bryant recently cracked the baseball america polls (#21 this week) and are up to #15 in the PG poll.
They have the second most wins in the country with 44 and the most road wins (24).
Here's hoping they roll through the NEC tournament and can do damage in the NCAA's

edit: just heard Albanese broke his forearm and is out
 
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Fred not Lynn

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I had heard Albanese was injured, didn't realize it was that bad.

My highlight of the series was seeing Bryant held to a scoreless 7th in game 2 on Thursday - but I'm biased. We won't talk about Robby Rinn muscling a first pitch inside fastball for a double down the line late in game 1 or the unfortunate immediate aftermath of the injury on the mound (they give you all the pitches you need, but you're never really ready...)

In PAC 12, Utah took 2 of 3 from Cal to set up a de-facto Championship Series at home vs. Washington this weekend. Washington plays one tonight against Washington State, then goes to Salt Lake City where the PAC 12 title will be decided. PAC 12 doesn't have a tournament - so it's kind of cool to have the Championship decided in a head-to-head series.

Utah doesn't have a great non-conference record, so they might not make the tournament if they don't win PAC 12 outright.

Great year in Utah for college baseball, actually. BYU Having a strong season, too - and the recent BYU-Utah game in Salt Lake city drew over 5,000 to Smith's Ballpark...
 
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Dave Stapleton

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So BC can't win a game in football or basketball but managed to rally at the end of the season to qualify for the ACC tourney in baseball. Lost in the first round but they have a legitimate chance of being selected to the CWS.
 

Fred not Lynn

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NEC Awards came out - All NEC first team featured one player from Wagner, three from Central CT and the rest from Bryant...and I'm pretty sure the rest of the Bryant regulars were named to 2nd team.

The aforementioned Robby Rinn was named NEC Player of the Year, as well as New England Player of the Year.
 

RedOctober3829

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A kid from my hometown is on a storybook run for Clemson in the ACCT. Mike Triller had been a little-used player during his 4 years at Clemson only starting 2 games this year. Monte Lee sticks him in at DH in the tourney opener because he liked his swing for the monster in LF at Durham Bulls' park. What does he do? Pops a HR and draws the walk which became the winning run then hits another HR on Friday to beat Wake Forest.

Clemson plays FSU at 11 am for the ACC title.
 

PaulinMyrBch

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13-1 Clemson in the 3rd.

In the second rain delay since game started. If they resume, I'd expect Clemson to send guys up to K swinging on 3 to move things along. Need to get to the 5th.
 

PaulinMyrBch

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Link to the full bracket. Announced a few minutes ago

Top 8 National Seeds 1. Florida 2. Louisville 3. Miami 4. Texas A&M 5. Texas Tech 6. Mississippi State 7. Clemson 8. LSU

Field of 64
 

yeahlunchbox

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It hasn't been officially announced, but he did pitch the first game of the Atlantic 10 tournament, so I'd assume so.

For those who don't know, Wilson is a sophomore and now two time Atlantic 10 pitcher of the year for URI from Palmer, MA.
 

Kremlin Watcher

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No trip to Omaha this year for Texas, and Augie Garrido did the right thing and stepped down as Texas head coach. The Horns have fallen pretty far and Augie has pretty clearly lost his edge.

He was an ok baseball coach. Coached for 48 years. All-time leader in NCAA wins with 1,975 victories. Won five NCAA titles (1979, 1984, 1995, 2002, 2005). Led teams to the College World Series 15 times, made 33 NCAA Regional appearances, won 16 NCAA Regional Tournament titles and 25 Conference Championships, while being named National Coach of the Year six times (1975, 1979, 1984, 1995, 2002, 2005).

Wonder who will have the right stuff to follow in the footsteps of Gus and Augie to lead Texas baseball back to the top.
 

BigSoxFan

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Garrido is 77 so makes sense to move on to someone younger. Kind of shitty timing on UT's part to announce this today. It's effectively a firing. Won't take much to get this program back on track. So much baseball talent in state of Texas:
 

gingerbreadmann

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Texas just couldn't bear to be out of the spotlight for an entire hour, huh? I think that's the world's smallest violin playing for everyone in Austin. Sheesh, as if we don't hear enough about the Longhorns the other 11 months of the year already. I almost forgot they were a sports powerhouse.

Aside from the exciting number of New England teams already being mentioned, I just wanted to shout out a thrilling Colonial tournament in which a sub-.500 William & Mary came out of the losers bracket to miraculously beat eventual 2-seed UNCW. Tribe were down 8-1 in the 9th inning Saturday night, and scored 7 to tie it 8-8 before a tropical storm pushed extras to Sunday. Won 9-8 on a 12th-inning home run, then won game two 14-9 on a tiebreaking 8th-inning grand slam. Absolutely nuts. The icing on the cake is getting to play the regional at hated UVA as well as taking away the last at-large spot that leaves UNC on the outside looking in. Beautiful stuff, and should be a fantastic tournament.
 
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Fred not Lynn

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Big year in Utah for college baseball - two out of the three D1 programs in the state (Utah and UVU). BYU had a great start, cooled off and didn't have a great conference tournament - must have been one of the final cuts.

In fact, UVU and Utah taking automatic bids by winning their conferences probably had a direct impact on BYU. That's got to make the sting even worse in Provo.

Utah, by the way, attracted crowds of 6,000 + in Salt Lake City on Saturday AND Sunday...and a crowd like that on Sunday is very meaningful.

Utah plays off campus at Smith's Ballpark, home of the Salt Lake Bees (AAA Angels). Beautiful ballpark, must have been a great atmosphere. They're looking to actually upgrade their on-campus facility and play games there in the near future. This year's success will probably help a bit with fundraising...
 

canderson

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Augie needed to go.

Texas will hire Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan after the CWS IMO. Texas is the premier baseball job in the country.
 

Bosoxen

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Texas just couldn't bear to be out of the spotlight for an entire hour, huh? I think that's the world's smallest violin playing for everyone in Austin. Sheesh, as if we don't hear enough about the Longhorns the other 11 months of the year already. I almost forgot they were a sports powerhouse.
There's so much butt hurt in this post, I have a feeling the violin you're hearing is playing in your head.

But seriously, my wife's uncle is the pitching coach, Skip Johnson. My father-in-law informed me that he is on the list of possible replacements for Augie, but the names being thrown around - in addition to his contract expiring in August - all point to his chances being somewhere between slim and none. I think his best-case scenario is to stay put as the pitching coach but that contract situation would probably make that unlikely. I'm rooting for him but I have a feeling he won't be sticking around.
 

RedOctober3829

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There's so much butt hurt in this post, I have a feeling the violin you're hearing is playing in your head.

But seriously, my wife's uncle is the pitching coach, Skip Johnson. My father-in-law informed me that he is on the list of possible replacements for Augie, but the names being thrown around - in addition to his contract expiring in August - all point to his chances being somewhere between slim and none. I think his best-case scenario is to stay put as the pitching coach but that contract situation would probably make that unlikely. I'm rooting for him but I have a feeling he won't be sticking around.
To your knowledge are they shooting for the moon and the stars for this hire? Would they be trying to pry somebody away from a very successful program like a Paul Manieri from LSU or a Dan McConnell from Louisville?
 

Bosoxen

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To your knowledge are they shooting for the moon and the stars for this hire? Would they be trying to pry somebody away from a very successful program like a Paul Manieri from LSU or a Dan McConnell from Louisville?
In addition to the aforementioned O'Sullivan, the top names I've seen bandied about are Tim Corbin of Vanderbilt, Jim Schlossnagle of TCU and McConnell. I haven't seen Manieri mentioned at all. This is all based on publications, mind you, I don't have any inside knowledge.

But to my previous point about Skip, that's some pretty stiff competition for a guy with no experience as head coach at a major college program. My hope for him has always been that Augie was grooming him as his replacement but I admit that was just a pipe dream.