College Baseball 360 » Garrett Buechele

College Baseball Weekend Preview-April 15

Sean Stires — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:13:14 +0000

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Big SEC Series Headlines Weekend Action…

There are a handful of big conference series on tap around the country this weekend in college baseball action. The biggest of those series has #3 Vanderbilt at #4 South Carolina, with Sunday’s series finale scheduled to be televised on ESPNU.

Here’s a look at some of this weekend’s action(all rankings are based on the latest College Baseball 360 Composite National Rankings).

CLICK HERE for Friday’s College Baseball 360 Top 50 Matchup/Scoreboard coverage page.

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#3 Vanderbilt (31-3, 10-2 SEC) @ #4 South Carolina (26-6, 10-2 SEC)

Christian Walker

The new bat standards have made many college offenses look quite mortal this season, but not these two powers. Christian Walker (.344, 7 HR, 37 RBIs, 1.031 OPS) leads the offensive charge for the defending national champion Gamecocks. Jackie Bradley, Jr.’s average sits at .286, but he’s still belted 6 HR as well. Vanderbilt’s balanced offensive attack is hitting .316, with seven players who have started at least 20 games batting .303 or better. Anthony Gomez (.379), Jason Esposito (.320) and Curt Casali (.319) share the team RBI lead with 27 each. Aaron Westlake (.397, 5 HR, 25 RBIs) has been the top overall Commodore hitter. The Friday pitching match-up is one to see. South Carolina send 2010 College World Series hero Michael Roth (7-1, 1.25 ERA) to the mound, while Vandy counters with Sonny Gray (7-1, 1.54 ERA). The two teams have closers who have been lights-out as well. Commodore Navery Moore has a ridiculous 0.46 ERA with 7 saves in 18 appearances, while the Gamecocks counter with Matt Price (3-2, 2.82 ERA, 10 saves). SC set-up man John Tayler is 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 29 1/3 IP.

Oklahoma (25-8, 6-5 Big 12) vs. Oklahoma State (26-8, 8-4 Big 12)

Dane Phillips

Bedlam. That’s what they call it when these two programs get together, and it should be no different when they square-off this weekend. For years Oklahoma State was the perennial baseball power in the Sooner State, but it’s Oklahoma that’s coming-off a trip to Omaha. However, OSU is back on track in 2011. The Cowboys need three wins to match their overall 2010 win total and they already have as many wins in conference play as they did last year. The series features a pair of .400 hitters. Dane Phillips (.404, 3 HR, 26 RBIs, 1.096 OPS) leads the Oklahoma State offense and Garrett Buechele (.401, 7 HR, 42 RBIs, 1.046 OPS) tops an OU that’s batting .330. Brad Propst (6-1, 1.25 ERA) tossed his (and OSU’s) second complete game of the season in last week’s sweep of Missouri. Michael Rocha (7-1, 1.02 ERA, 2 CG) fronts the Oklahoma staff. Game one of the series in in Tulsa, with the last two games are in Oklahoma City.

#13 Oregon State (24-7, 5-1 Pac-10) at #16 Stanford (16-9, 3-3 Pac-10)

Mark Appel

Stanford’s record is anything but spectacular, but the Cardinal has played some pretty spectacular competition so far. Consider this, Stanford Friday starter Mark Appel is just 2-3, but he has gone head-to-head with Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray and Taylor Jungmann of Texas. Both are expected to be high first round draft picks in June. It won’t get much easier for Appel this weekend when he faces OSU’s Sam Gaviglio (6-1, 1.34 ERA, 3 CG). Both pitching staffs are solid, but neither has “strikeout” pitchers. The Stanford staff has a 3.28 ERA with 116 Ks and 85 BB in 217.0 IP, while the Beavers have 228 punchouts and 79 walks in 277 2/3 innings. Oregon State has 33 sac bunts, compared to just 13 home runs. Andrew Susac (.364, 25 RBIs) and Parker Berberet (.256, 27 RBIs) share the team lead with 4 HR each. Stanford has gone yard just 14 times. Kenny Diekroger (.373) has the top Cardinal average, while Brian Ragira (.304, 3 HR, 24 RBIs) is the RBI leader. In a series where a lot of balls will be put in play defense could be the x-factor. Oregon State has a slight edge with a .973 fielding percentage, compared to Stanford’s .965.

Click Here to read more about this series.

#22 Arizona (22-11, 4-5 Pac-10) @ #25 UCLA (17-11, 7-2 Pac-10)

Kurt Heyer

This sneaky series features three of the top power pitchers in the country, let alone the Pac-10. UCLA’s Trevor Bauer (6-1, 1.67 ERA) and Gerrit Cole (4-2, 1.74 ERA) don’t sneak-up on anyone, but Arizona’s Kurt Heyer (5-1, 1.38 ERA) also checks-in with 80 strikeouts in 65.0 innings pitched as well. Bauer leads the nation with 97 strikeouts, Heyer’s 80 ranks third and Cole’s 64 Ks is 13th. Arizona’s .342 team batting average has defied the national offensive downward trend. The Wildcats, led by Joey Rickard (.428) and Cole Frenzel (.408) took two of three last weekend from Cal against, arguably, the second-best pitching staff in the Pac-10, but they’ll face the top staff in the conference this week. UCLA has struggled to score enough runs to support its vaunted hurlers in 2011. The Bruins have actually brought their team batting average up to .258 in recent weeks, but they’ve still managed to win their first three conference series against USC, Washington and Washington State. Dean Espy (.318) is the only UCLA regular batting over .300.

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Top 11 College Baseball 3B To Watch In 2011

Sean Stires — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 21:33:10 +0000

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We have looked at the up the middle guys (catchers, shortstops and second basemen) in our first looks at some of the top players in college baseball. Now we’ll look at some of the top corner men, starting with the hot corner.

1. Anthony Rendon – Rice

Rendon’s first two college seasons have looked like this: 2009 – .388 Avg., 20 HR, 14 doubles, 72 RBIs, .702 slugging percentage, 1.163 OPS, named National Freshman of the Year and Conference USA Freshman and Player of the Year. 2010 – .394 Avg., 26 HR, 12 doubles, 85 RBIs, .801 slg. %, 1.331 OPS, 14 SB, named C-USA Player of the Year and C-USA Male Athlete of the Year for all C-USA sports, and National College Baseball Player of the Year. Rendon has also walked 96 times with just 45 strikeouts in his first two years. He’s a player you just know a guy like Theo Epstein (and obviously others) would love to get his hands on. Did I mention the fact that the City of Houston proclaimed June 29, 2010 as “Anthony Rendon Day“? The only thing Rendon is yet to accomplish in his already legendary college career is a trip to the College World Series.

2. Matt Skole – Georgia Tech

After two seasons, Skole is already one of the top power hitters in Georgia Tech history. He enters the upcoming campaign with 37 long balls, which ranks 11th in the Yellow Jacket record books. He also placed third at the inaugural TD Ameritrade Home Run Derby last summer. Skole earned first team All-ACC honors last year when he batted .335 with 20 HR, 15 doubles, 63 RBIs, and a 1.119 OPS. Like Rendon, he is disciplined at the plate. Skole had 45 walks with just 34 strikeouts last year, which was a drastic turn from his freshman season when he fanned 69 times with just 27 BB. Skole still hit .302 with 17 HR and 58 RBIs that year to earn Freshman All-American status. He will be called upon to produce early this season as one of two returning position playing starters in the GT line-up.

3. Austin Maddox – Florida

Maddox was a do-it-all guy who started all over the place in his freshman season last year. He made 29 starts at third base, 19 as Florida’s DH, 14 at first base, and even one start at catcher. The SEC Freshman of the Year typifies the wealth of young talent back from the Gator’s 2010 College World Series team. Maddox led Florida with 17 home runs , 72 RBIs and .587 slugging percentage, while his .333 batting average was second to Matt den Dekker’s .352. He also drove-in fellow freshman Nolan Fontana with the winning run in the 10th inning of game two of the Super Regional win over Miami. In addition to consensus Freshman All-American honors, Maddox also received third team NCBWA All-American status. That made him the first Florida freshman since 1996 to be so honored.

4. Jacob Tanis – Mercer

The school may be small, but Tanis has played big in his first two seasons at Mercer. He earned Freshman All-American honors by hitting 11 home runs with 35 RBIs and a 1.090 OPS in 2009. The 6’1 Tanis stepped his game up last year when he batted .388 with 22 HR, 25 doubles and 88 RBIs, while setting new school records with 102 hits and 197 total bases. His 88 RBIS tied for second in the nation, while his OPS hit a whopping 1.183. Tanis’ efforts helped Mercer to the Atlantic Sun Championship and a berth in the NCAA Atlanta Regional. He also earned third team All-American honors.

5. Harold Martinez – Miami

Martinez had a breakout sophomore season last year when he belted 21 home runs (up from nine in 2009). He batted .295 with a team-best 69 RBIs for a Hurricane team that fell to Florida in the Super Regionals. He missed the last game of that Super Regional in Gainesville due to injury and spent the summer rehabbing after surgery on his leg. Martinez had fouled several balls off the leg over the course of the season and had to have a lump removed as a result. With the loss of first round MLB Draft pick Yasmani Grandal, Martinez will have even more responsibilities in the line-up in 2011.

6. John Hinson – Clemson

Hinson is a guy who had question marks coming into the 2010 season. He played a little as a freshman in 2008, batting .264 with one home run and 11 RBIs. He missed all of 2009 with a back injury, so just what he would bring to the table in ’10 was a great unknown. Hinson played in all but two of Clemson’s 69 games last year though, batting .351 with 17 HR and 75 RBIs. All of those numbers were the second-best on his team for the College World Series participants. He also led Clemson with 25 stolen bases, while sporting a 1.008 OPS.

7. Matt Leeds – College of Charleston

Like Clemson’s Hinson, Leeds missed what would have been his sophomore season in 2009. Like Hinson, Leeds came back with a vengeance in 2010. He was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year after batting .326 with 21 home runs, 23 doubles and 88 RBIs. His RBI total tied with Mercer’s Tanis for second nationally. Leeds had an 1.123 OPS, and was hit by pitch 22 times. His efforts earned third team All-American status and helped the Cougars reach the Myrtle Beach NCAA Regional. Leeds was named to the All-Regional Team and then went on to participate in the TD Ameritrade Home Run Derby at Rosenblatt Stadium last summer.

8. Garrett Buechele – Oklahoma

Now a junior, Buechele was OU’s triple crown winner as a redshirt sophomore in 2010. The 6’0 slugger batted .359 with 17 home runs and 65 RBIs for the College World Series bound Sooners. He was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2009 after sitting out the 2008 season. The son of former Major Leaguer Steve Buechele slugged a team-best .630 with a .438 OBP. He walked just 20 times, but was hit by pitch 19 times. Buechele has been good in the field as well. In his 128 starts at OU he has committed just 12 errors.

9. Jason Esposito – Vanderbilt

Esposito broke through as a sophomore last year, raising his batting average from .287 to .359. He also belted 12 home runs with team-highs 64 RBIs and 31 stolen bases, while leading the SEC with 25 doubles. Esposito batted .476 (10-for-21) with five RBIs at the Louisville Regional to help Vandy reach the Tallahassee Super Regional, where he batted .364 with two home runs and five more RBIs. The 6’2 sensation had big moments during the regular season as well. He had a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 17th inning to beat Louisville and also set a school record by reaching base safely 15 straight times in an SEC series against Mississippi State.

10. Scott Woodward – Coastal Carolina

There are infielders who play outfield, but Woodward is the rare combination of a corner infielder who also plays centerfield. He enters his senior season at CC with a school record .502 on-base percentage and ranks second in the record books in three other offensive categories. Woodward hit .324 with five home runs, four triples, seven doubles, 35 RBIs, and 75 runs scored. He also stole 55 bases to finish behind only teammate Rico Noel’s 56 for the DI national lead. The 6’2 Markle, IN native swiped 32 of those bags and hit .457 in Big South Conference games. Woodward was drafted last year in the 15th round by the Oakland A’s, but opted to return for his senior campaign.

11. Tony Renda – Cal

Renda earned Freshman All-American honors last year after batting a team-best .373 with three home runs and 37 RBIs. At 5’9, Renda started all 54 Cal games and also led his team with 81 hits, 55 runs, 21 doubles, and four triples, to help Dave Esquer’s Golden Bears to the NCAA Tournament. The Cal lead-off man batted .555 (5-for-9) with three runs and two RBIs in Cal’s two games at the Norman NCAA Regional. Renda was drafted in the 42nd round by the Los Angeles Dodgers coming out of high school.

Others To Watch…

Joe Corfman – Toledo

Brian Hernandez – UC Irvine

Micah Johnson – Indiana

Sherman Johnson – Florida State

Richie Pedroza – Cal State Fullerton

Rob Segedin – Tulane

Chris Taladay – Central Florida

Joe Terdoslavich – Long Beach State

Corey Thompson – East Carolina

Jantzen Witte – TCU

* Note: There are several corner men who played both first and third base in 2010. If you don’t see one of them on this list you may still see them on our list of top first basemen.

Related

Top 11 Non-Conference Schedules In 2011

Top 11 Catchers To Watch In 2011

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Top 11 Second basemen To Watch In 2011

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