Road to Omaha -- 2019 College Baseball Thread

AMS25

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Thought I'd start this thread while I'm still feeling optimistic about the Sooners' baseball season.

OU has begun its season 6-0, with its starting pitching being a very bright spot indeed. Skip Johnson has stretched out a couple of relievers (Cade Cavalli and Levi Prater) and has seen improvement by Nathan Wiles this year.

I wish I could have seen the Sooners play in their home-opener, but it was miserably cold that weekend, even by New England standards. Right now, they are out in California at the Tony Gwynn Classic. Today, they will face a promising team, Cal State Fullerton.

Hoping it gets warmer soon, as the Sooners are slated to play Columbia next weekend at home. I'd love to take my daughter and youngest son for our first baseball game of the spring.
 

LeftyTG

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I went to the Texas game yesterday - or at least game 1 of the doubleheader. Very young team (I noticed the freshman starting SS is a kid from New Hampshire), but for the first time in a while they seem to be developing talent. I'm curious to see if Bryce Elder can develop into a legit Friday night starter. He's off to a strong start to the season. I watched former Sox draft pick Donny Diaz throw the 9th. He's coming off Tommy John surgery (Sox dodged a bullet there).

I'm looking forward to this season. I'm not as knowledgeable about college baseball, but I really enjoy the experience of being at the ballpark. It is the quaint setting of minor league baseball with the connection/loyalty of college sports. My boys (8 and 9) can go buy a snack and i don't worry about them getting swallowed up by a crowd. It is very family friendly, with the kids allowed to go run the bases on Sundays. I can get free tickets anytime I want through a family connection, and I think I'm going to really start following the sports this season. I'm hoping to catch one of the Texas/LSU games next weekend.
 

AMS25

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I'm not as knowledgeable about college baseball, but I really enjoy the experience of being at the ballpark. It is the quaint setting of minor league baseball with the connection/loyalty of college sports. My boys (8 and 9) can go buy a snack and i don't worry about them getting swallowed up by a crowd. It is very family friendly, with the kids allowed to go run the bases on Sundays.
Agree about the family-friendly, cozy environment. My youngest son has moderate-severe autism, and I can trust him to go to the restroom and find us again in the crowd. Kids can sit on the grass in foul territory and try to catch foul balls, and it's fun to watch the scouts, waving their radar guns.

I'll say this about college baseball -- there can be some pretty bad pitching out there. Lots of players getting hit by pitches and walks. Also, there are quite a few errors and botched defensive plays, especially in Oklahoma where the wind makes it difficult for outfielders to get a read on the ball.
 

Bosoxen

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Lefty has the Horns covered so I'll throw a shoutout to my alma mater, New Mexico State. In their season opening series against the reigning SWAC champs Texas Southern, the good Aggies scored 62 runs in the middle two games of the series. They went on to score 98 runs for the entire four-game series and won the series by a combined score of 98-19. Eight games into the season, they've failed to score double-digit runs only once in a 4-2 loss to Yale. Which, maybe not so coincidentally, is their only loss so far.

We'll see how they fare against a big boy program as they face off against #3 Texas Tech in Lubbock tonight. Should be an interesting game if it can be found on television.
 

canderson

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Texas is hosting #1 LSU this weekend. Tonight the good guys kicked the Cajuns’ ass 8-1.

I don’t follow college baseball too closely but Texas and LSU should play every year.
 

LeftyTG

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great atmosphere tonight. Largest crowd since 2012 and the LSU fans definitely showed up with lots of tailgating. I'm already counting the days until the football game - I plan to be at the game both this year and next year in Baton Rouge. I saw Malcom Roach and Jordan Pouncey at the game supporting the baseball team.

I'm really impressed with Elder. He let up a cheap run in the first - bleeder groundball single, error on a pick off, and then two passed balls on breaking balls in the dirt the catcher couldn't corral. He was mad at himself, but didn't lose composure and was just nails for the rest of the game.

Texas caught a lot of baseball breaks. LSU ran a hit and run and the batter hit a laser right over the bag, which turned a single into a double play. Texas an inning or two later executed a perfect hit and run where a routine grounder was hit to where the second baseman vacated. Stuff like that. Still, Texas was the better team tonight, though neither team looked particularly sharp.

Another great day at the park. I wish I could go to the other games in the series, but I have other obligations the rest of the weekend. I was happy to finally snag one of those burnt orange yeti ramblers.
 

steveluck7

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In northeast baseball, Bryant University has had a great start to the season. Started by taking 2 of 3 from Albine Christian in TX. They followed that by being swept by #1 LSU, losing games by 7, 9,and 1 run. This past weekend, they took 2 of 3 against previously unbeaten Virginia Tech with the only loss coming on a botched suicide squeeze / steal of home in the 2nd game.

Bryant is picked to win the NEC again this year buoyed by their lineup, anchored by RS sophomore Ryan Ward who garnered national acclaim (and NEC rookie and player of the year in 2018, collegiate Baseball Newspaper co national Freshman of the yearand and Rawlings 2nd team all American) and RS sophomore Jimmy Titus who missed almost all of last year with a tie. ACL. Titus won the 2017 NEC rookie of the year.
Looking forward the seeing the guys play in person later this month and through the NEC conference schedule.
 

AMS25

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Looking forward the seeing the guys play in person later this month and through the NEC conference schedule.
Thanks for the update on Bryant. I'll keep my eye on them. Hopefully, it'll be warm enough for you to catch some games soon. We had hoped to watch the Sooners play at the ballpark this weekend, but it was too cold. They ended up taking all four games from Columbia (not unexpected) while we went to watch the men's basketball team defeat West Virginia.
 

steveluck7

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This weekend, Bryant took 2 of 3 against CAA favorite Elon.
In game 1, they outlasted pre-season All American Kyle Brnovich, winning 6-4
They lost game 2 (first game of a DH) 1-0 but got 11 ks from senior LHP Steve Thetgee
They then won game 3 in 16 innings on Sunday afternoon (into the evening)

A good series win against a top CAA team with a couple of highly regarded pitching prospects (Brnovich and Greg Kirby)

Up next are a couple of mid-week games starting today against Winthrop and tomorrow against Wofford, both down in South Carolina and a weekend series against Richmond
 

AMS25

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OU baseball keeps chugging along. The Sooners swept a mid-week series from New Mexico, and will open Big-12 competition this week against Kansas. At 18-4, OU cracked the Top 25, and are ranked, yep, #25.

We made it to our first game last Saturday when the Sooners defeated Missouri State, 11-2. It was a little chilly, so we only lasted until the 7th inning stretch. Plus, it was a blow-out....

The Sooners' starting pitches have been very good, especially Levi Prater. The offense has been surprisingly productive, given the loss of players like Steele Walker and Kyler Murray.
 

steveluck7

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With March Madness behind us, and college seasons well underway. The 2019 Bryant Bulldogs are once again sitting atop the NEC and have done so by absolutely mashing so far this season.

Once they started the northern part of their schedule, they've beaten Toledo, Hartford, Quinnipiac, Brown, & URI. They dropped a rain shortened game to UCONN. They will host Boston College on Wednesday

In 40 games on the season, they've scored 367 runs with a team OPS of .935 and lead all D1 schools with 67 Home Runs.

They hold a 5 game lead over Wagner in the NEC and travel to Staten island this weekend to try to extend that lead.
With 1 month to go until the conference tournament, they sit in a good position

edit: Stats updated. They're #2 nationally in HR.
Full stat breakdown:
 
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Humphrey

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The CWS used to be more fun to watch around Boston when it was guaranteed an Eastern team (in a lot of cases, New England) was in it. Now, it's a rare occurrence as they seed the teams same as basketball. I don't think there's much chance of Holy Cross being replaced as the last local team to win the CWS.
 

AMS25

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Still watching the Sooners. Man, their bullpen sucks. In their last two games against Texas Tech, OU's starters left the game with the Sooners out in front. That didn't last long..... I feel bad for the starters who pitched their butts off only to have the bullpen blow up. Ugh. Oh well; at least the weather is nice. Yesterday was "Bark in the Park," where people could bring their dogs. Fortunately, the dogowners congregated in dog-friendly parts of the park. My son has autism and finds dogs to be too unpredictable. Maybe, the Sooners will win today..... Sigh.
 

RedOctober3829

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The CWS used to be more fun to watch around Boston when it was guaranteed an Eastern team (in a lot of cases, New England) was in it. Now, it's a rare occurrence as they seed the teams same as basketball. I don't think there's much chance of Holy Cross being replaced as the last local team to win the CWS.
Stony Brook made it to Omaha in 2012 and St. John's and UConn have both been in Super Regionals in the last 10 years. If you're talking regionals, there will be a number of teams vying for spots.
 

RedOctober3829

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Rutgers has hired Bryant coach Steve Owens as their next head coach. Home run hire for Rutgers as Owens has built a dynasty at Bryant in the NEC. 8 straight regular season titles with 3 NCAA berths. He has a career record of 914-483-3(.654) at Bryant, Le Moyne, and Cortland.