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Here’s a look at some noteworthy players with college connections and other things going on in the world of college baseball…

The Ax Man Cometh…

If you have spent any time watching the MLB Playoffs, Baseball Tonight or the MLB Network this season you have likely heard the incredible story about how Milwaukee’s John Axford has gone from cell phone salesman to Big League closer in the course of the last few years. However, that’s not even half of the journey that “Ax”, “The Ax Man” – pick your moniker – has gone through to get to where is is now.

Axford, who posted a 1.95 ERA with 46 saves for the NL Central champs this season, turned down the Seattle Mariners after they drafted him in the seventh round of the 2001 MLB Draft. He opted to play instead at Notre Dame, where he went to the College World Series as a freshman in 2002.

He was 5-2 that year after making 12 starts with five appearances out of the Irish bullpen. His fourth relief appearance was one of his most memorable. Axford entered game two of the Tallahassee Super Regional in the middle innings of what would be a 12-5 Irish loss.

In the fifth inning of that game, Florida State fans did what they always do-sang Oh Canada as the Seminoles prepared to bat in the home half of the inning. It’s doubtful the FSU faithful even gave thought to the fact that the lanky 6’6 Axford-a native of Port Dover, Ontario-was on the mound during their spirited chorus. “It fired me up a little,” Axford told me the next day.

While Axford’s 4 2/3 innings in that loss won’t go down in the Irish records books, they were important none the less. Axford did that day what a pro does. He did the same thing Tim Wakefield did for the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS when he chewed-up 3 1/3 innings in relief in a blowout loss to the Yankees-he held the line. Notre Dame, led by current LSU skipper Paul Mainieri (current Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor was his pitching coach), knocked off the top ranked Seminoles 3-1 the next day to advance to Omaha.

Axford made one relief appearance at the CWS, but it would be the last NCAA Tournament appearance of his career. While teammates like Steve Stanley and Brian Stavisky were drafted that year by Billy Beane and eventually mentioned in Michael Lewis‘ book Moneyball, Axford is one of just two players from that ’02 team to make it to the MLB (they other was Matt Macri who missed the postseason due to injury).

He pitched for Mainieri and O’Connor again in 2003, missed all of ’04 after Tommy John surgery and then complete his collegiate career at Canisus in 2006.

But it wasn’t the elbow surgery that held Axford back as much as his problems with control. The Ax Man had 133 strikeouts, but walked 109 with 21 wild pitches in his two seasons under the Golden Dome. Things were no better as Canisus, where he walked and struckout 79 with 15 wild pitches in 70 innings, while going 3-8.

The guy who was considered by some publications to be the top prep player in Canada in 2001 could lather and rinse, but he just couldn’t repeat. Axford could be brilliantly dominant one day and then dumbfoundedly disastrous the next. Think Nuke Laloosh.

It was never more evident that two midweek starts for the Irish in 2003. Axford struckout 12 with no walks in 7.0 innings in an April 9 win over Western Michigan. However, he followed that start with 5 BB and just 4 K in a win over Central Michigan. Throw-in a 7 BB performance in 2 1/3 innings of relief in a Big East Tournament loss to Rutgers that May and it’s easy to see why it took the guy who now sports the second most recognizable facial hair in the Big Leagues to matriculate his way to Milwaukee.

Ask anyone who knows John Axford though, and they will tell you he is as good a person as he is a pitcher. He’s a case study in perseverance paying off over the long haul. Axford is doing now what he did that day in June in Tallahassee-holding the line.

The Dan Man Can…

Dan Johnson

Tampa Bay Rays first baseman, Dan Johnson, is another big league player with college connections. Johnson is probably now best known for his two-out, two-strike home run in the bottom of the ninth last week against the Yankees to help propel the Rays into the AL Playoffs. Like Axford, Johnson is also well traveled.

Johnson started his collegiate career at Butler University in Indianapolis before transferring to a junior college and eventually Nebraska. He batted .361 with 25 home runs and 86 RBIs in 2001 to help the program reach its first ever College World Series.

The 32-year-old made his Big League debut with the Oakland A’s in 2005. He stayed there through 2008, when Tampa Bay claimed him off waivers. Johnson then spent the 2009 season with the Yokohama Baystars in Japan. He has spent the last two seasons back in Tampa. His last hit prior to last week’s dramatic home run was in April.

Johnson and Axford are among 175 former college players on the 40-man rosters of this year’s MLB Playoff teams. Click Here to see more.

Who Needs High School…

Vanderbilt's Chris Harvey

Bryce Harper is probably the most famous player to skip his final year of high school to prepare for a future in baseball, but he is not the only one. Harper skipped his last two years of high school to enroll and play for a year at a junior college before the Washington Nationals made him their top draft pick.

Like Harper, Chris Harvey has jumped from high school to college early. However, unlike Harper, Harvey is doing at a higher level – both academically and athletically.

Harvey, a catcher like Harper, should be a senior at Germantown Academy in Pennsylvania, but instead he is working toward a shot to be Vanderbilt’s catcher in a year Tim Corbin‘s Commodores are coming off their first College World Series appearance.

The 6’6 Harvey was projected by many to go in the first three rounds of the 2012 MLB Draft, but the itch to play college ball was something he could not resist.

“It’s something that I wanted to do for a while,” Harvey recently told Max Preps. “This gives me an extra year of college, it helps me become a more well-rounded person, and the academics had a lot to do with it. I always wanted to come to Vanderbilt, and to be honest, me and my family weren’t really depending on what we were hearing [from Major League scouts and teams]. I think they basically all said what I wanted to hear.”

Other players who left high school in recent years to begin their college careers early include Levi Michael of North Carolina and UCLA’s Trevor Bauer. Things worked out well for both of them, as both made it to Omaha with their teams. Bauer was the third overall pick by Arizona in this year’s MLB Draft, while Michael went 30th overall to Minnesota.

Who Needs Two?

Speaking of Vanderbilt, tickets are on sale now for the DeMarini Fall Classic between the Commodores and Cal State Fullerton. The two games will take place October 22 & 23 at Vandy’s Hawkins Field in Nashville. The Titans are led by first year head coach Rick Vanderhook, who was an assistant on UCLA’s 2010 CWS runner-up team. Vanderhook was hired after Dave Serrano left Fullerton to become head coach at Tennessee.

Missouri and Iowa Lending A Helping Hand…

The Missouri and Iowa baseball teams will play a pair of fall exhibition games this weekend (October 8 & 9) and the proceeds from the games will go to a worthy cause.

All proceeds from those games will go directly toward rebuilding Joplin, Missouri’s Little League baseball programs, which were ravaged by tornadoes last May. Saturday’s baseball game will be held prior to the Missouri-Kansas State football game. First pitch for the exhibition is set for 12:30 (Central Time) and kickoff for the football game is at 2:30 pm. Sunday’s game starts at 1 pm.

Fans who can’t attend the games but would like to donate to the cause can contact Missouri director of baseball operations, Evan Pratte, at 573-882-1917 or via e-mail at prattee@missouri.edu.

CLICK HERE to see a video with Mizzou head coach Tim Jamieson further discussing the Joplin relief effort.

Schedules, Schedules and More Schedules…

Now that October is here, we will continue to see more and more college baseball teams release their 2012 schedules. we will link them along with team rosters on our master Schedule Page as they are released.

Long Beach State has the best non-conference slate that I have seen so far. Cal, UCLA, USC, Oregon, Arizona State Washington State, and Wichita State are all among the teams the Dirt Bags will face in 2012.

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NEW YORK – UCLA junior right-hander Trevor Bauer earned the 2011 Golden Spikes Award, as presented by USA Baseball on Friday evening during a live television program in MLB Network’s studios.

Trevor Bauer

Bauer becomes the first player in UCLA history to earn the Golden Spikes Award, which has honored the top amateur baseball player in the country since 1978. The GSA is sponsored by Major League Baseball and presented each year to the player who best exhibits exception on-field ability and exemplary sportsmanship.

Bauer was joined on stage with the award’s other two finalists, pitchers Danny Hultzen (Virginia) and Taylor Jungmann (Texas), and their families.

Already honored as the national player of the year by Baseball America and Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball, Bauer had a sensational year for UCLA in 2011. He went 13-2 with a 1.25 ERA in 136.2 innings and led the nation in strikeouts (203) and complete games (10). He allowed just 22 runs (19 earned) and 73 hits, limiting the opposition to a conference-leading .154 batting average.

The day after UCLA’s season ended, Bauer was selected as the No. 3 overall selection in the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Bauer set UCLA career records in strikeouts (460), wins (34) and innings (373.1) and owns the school’s top two marks in single-season strikeouts with 203 in 2011 and 165 in 2010.  In two postseasons, Bauer collected a 4-0 record with a 3.00 ERA, logging school records with 55 strikeouts in 39.0 innings. No UCLA pitcher has ever collected three postseason victories, and only five pitchers have earned two wins.

In his final start, Bauer established himself as the Pac-12 Conference’s single-season strikeout leader. He finished the 2011 season with 203 strikeouts, one ahead of Mark Prior’s 202 strikeouts in 2001 at USC. Bauer ranks second on the conference’s career strikeouts list, 31 shy of Tim Lincecum’s 491 strikeouts at Washington (2004-06).

Bauer was honored as National Pitcher of the Year at the College Baseball Hall of Fame’s Night of Champions in Lubbock, Texas, on July 3. At the conclusion of the regular season, he captured 2011 Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year honors. He was a three-time All-Pac-10 Team selection, just the second player in school history to accomplish that feat (along with infielder Garrett Atkins, 1998-2000).

USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Winners

(in chronological order)

Year     Player Name                 College Attended

1978     Bob Horner                   Arizona State

1979     Tim Wallach                  Cal State Fullerton

1980     Terry Francona              Arizona

1981     Mike Fuentes                 Florida State

1982     Augie Schmidt              New Orleans

1983     Dave Magadan              Alabama

1984     Oddibe McDowell          Arizona State

1985     Will Clark                       Mississippi State

1986     Mike Loynd                   Florida State

1987     Jim Abbott                    Michigan

1988     Robin Ventura               Oklahoma State

1989     Ben McDonald              LSU

1990     Alex Fernandez             Miami-Dade Community College

1991     Mike Kelly                     Arizona State

1992     Phil Nevin                     Cal State Fullerton

1993     Darren Dreifort              Wichita State

1994     Jason Varitek                Georgia Tech

1995     Mark Kotsay                  Cal State Fullerton

1996     Travis Lee                     San Diego State

1997     J.D. Drew                     Florida State

1998     Pat Burrell                     Miami

1999     Jason Jennings             Baylor

2000     Kip Bouknight               South Carolina

2001     Mark Prior                     University of Southern California

2002     Khalil Greene                 Clemson

2003     Rickie Weeks                 Southern

2004     Jered Weaver                Long Beach State

2005     Alex Gordon                 Nebraska

2006     Tim Lincecum                Washington

2007     David Price                   Vanderbilt

2008     Buster Posey                Florida State

2009     Stephen Strasburg        San Diego State

2010     Bryce Harper                 College of Southern Nevada

2011     Trevor Bauer                UCLA

College Baseball Foundation Honors 2011’s Best…

Big First Round For College Guys…

Gerrit Cole – RHP – UCLA

2011 Stats: (6-8), 3.31 ERA, 114 1/3 IP, 119 K, 24 BB, .242 Opp. BA, 4 CG

After helping UCLA to the College World Series Championship Series last year, Cole suffered his second losing season in three years in Westwood. The 6’4 right hander has a 21-20 record in his three seasons. He tied his season high with 11 strikeouts in 7 1/3 IP in UCLA’s L.A. Regional-opening 3-0 loss to San Francisco. Cole was a first round draft pick by the New York Yankees out of high school. He has a 98 mph fastball that you would expect from an overall #1 pick. he has a slider and change-up as well. Cole is the first player in UCLA history to be selected first overall in the MLB Draft.

Peter Gammons: “He is that horse.”

Harold Reynolds: “How can you pass up that arm?”…”You get a guy throwing 98 with that kind of movement…forget about it.”

2. Seattle Mariners

Danny Hultzen – LHP – Virginia

2011 Stats: (11-3), 1.57 ERA, 103 1/3 IP, 148 K, 17 BB, .189 Opp. BA

Hultzen has a 31-5 record on the mound in three seasons at Virginia. He was 9-1 with a 2.23 ERA while helping the Cavs reach the College World Series as a freshman in 2009. He also batted .327 with 37 RBIs that year. He has amassed 378 in 210 innings in his career. His 148 K this year are second nationally to only UCLA’s Trevor Bauer and his 203 K this season. He was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008. He became the first Virginia pitcher to be named ACC Pitcher of the Year this season.

3. Arizona Diamondbacks

Trevor Bauer – RHP – UCLA

2011 Stats: (13-2), 1.25 ERA, 136 2/3 IP, 203 K, 36 BB, .154 Opp. BA, 10 CG

Bauer struckout 14 batters in what is likely to be his last collegiate start-a 3-1 Regional elimination game win over Fresno State. He logged his ninth straight complete game in the win, while setting the Pac-10 single-season strikeout record (203) in the process. Former USC pitcher Mark Prior (202) set the previous record in 2001. He also passed Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, who fanned 199 batters for Washington in 2006. Bauer was 34-8 in his three seasons at UCLA, including a 9-3 mark in 2009. He would have still been a senior in high school that year had he not graduated early to start his college career. Bauer’s delivery is uncannily similar to Lincecum’s.

Harold Reynolds: “(Bauer was) previously not drafted, that’s what I’m thinking about.” “(Scouts) think he’s going to get to the Big Leagues quicker than all the other guys in the draft.”

John Hart: “Bottom line is, this kid can pitch, he’s a winner, he can strike you out. That go-to breaking ball is special.”

Click Here for recent CB360 video interview with Bauer.

6. Washington Nationals

Anthony Rendon – 3B – Rice

2011 Stats: .327 BA, 6 HR, 37 RBIs, 214 AB, 70 H, 20 doubles, .523 slg%, .520 OBP, 33 K, 80 BB, 13 SB

Rice head coach Ray Graham calls Rendon “the complete player”. He was the 2009 National Freshman College Player of the Year and the Dick Howser National Player of the Year last year when he hit 26 home runs. Rendon was bothered by a right shoulder injury and was primarily a designated hitter as a result this season. The 6’0, 190 lb. junior was a shortstop in high school. He was drafted on his 21st birthday.

Harold Reynolds: “He’s and athlete. You draft the athlete and you figure it out after that.”

Peter Gammons: “This guy is a really good hitter and he doesn’t necessarily need to hit home runs.”

10. San Diego Padres

Cory Spangenberg – IF – Indian River Community College

2010 Stats: .370 BA, 11 HR, 49 RBIs, .596 slg%, .414 OBP, 24 SB

Spangenberg was named a Freshman All-American and the Big South Conference Freshman of the Year in his only season at Virginia Military Institute in 2010. He was sixth in the nation among Division One Juco players with a .477 batting average this year. His .553 OBP ranked 10th nationally as well. Spangenberg is signed to attend Miami (FL) next year, so he could use that as signing leverage with the Padres.

John Hart: “What they drafted was possibly the best hitter in the draft. They drafted an athlete who can run…the only issue for him is where’s he gonna play.”

11. Houston Astros

George Springer – OF – UConn

2011 Stats: .350 BA, 12 HR, 76 RBIs, 234 AB, 82 H, .628 slg%, .428 OBP, 38 K, 35 BB, 31 SB*

Like pretty much every college baseball player, Springer’s power numbers were down this year thanks to the new BBCOR bats. However, his numbers are only slightly down from 18 last year. The 6’3, 200 lb. junior was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2008, but instead of signing he became the first player in UConn history to be named Big East Conference Rookie of the Year in 2009. His 46 career HR and 76 career SB have him in the same mold in the power/speed department as LSU’s Mahtook.

Peter Gammons: “His upside is huge. There aren’t many athletes like this who come around.”

John Hart: “This is a talented, talented young man. I think this guy has a chance to be something very special. The issue for me is going to be his ability to make adjustments to breaking balls and to be able to handle good fastballs inside.”

* Numbers entering Monday’s Regional final vs. Clemson.

12. Milwaukee Brewers

Taylor Jungmann – RHP – Texas

2011 Stats: (13-1), 1.40 ERA, 128 1/3 IP, 119 K, 29 BB, .168 Opp. BA, 5 CG

All Jungmann has done since starting his career at Texas is win. The 6’6, 220 lb. junior is 32-7 in three seasons wearing burnt orange. He has also racked-up 349 strikeouts in his career. Jungmann helped the Longhorns to a national runner-up finish at the 2009 College World Series. He finished third in the national with a .193 opponent batting average and finished fifth nationally with a 2.00 ERA that year. Jungmann’s only loss (to date) in 2011 came to Kent State in Texas’ NCAA Regional opener. He was the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year this year.

John Hart: “This is an advanced pitcher. This guy’s been a winner. He doesn’t have electric stuff.”

15. Milwaukee Brewers

Jed Bradley – LHP – Georgia Tech

2011 Stats: (7-3), 3.49 ERA, 98 IP, 106 K, 31 BB, .239 Opp. BA

16. Los Angeles Dodgers

Chris Reed – LHP – Stanford

2011 Stats: (6-2), 2.54 ERA, 9 Saves, 49 2/3 IP, 48 K, 15 BB, .201 Opp. BA

17. L.A. Angeles of Anaheim

C.J. Cron – 1B/C – Utah

2011 Stats: .434 BA, 15 HR, 59 RBIs, 198 AB, 96 H, .803 slg%, .503 OBP, 21 K, 31 BB

18. Oakland A’s

Sonny Gray – RHP – Vanderbilt

2011 Stats: (11-3), 2.01 ERA, 107 2/3 IP, 115 K, 39 BB, .192 Opp. BA

19. Boston Red Sox

Matt Barnes – RHP – UConn

2011 Stats: (11-4), 1.62 ERA, 116 2/3 IP, 111 K, 31 BB, .177 Opp. BA, 3 CG

20. Colorado Rockies

Tyler Anderson – LHP – Oregon

2011 Stats: (8-3), 2.17 ERA, 107 2/3 IP, 114 K, 35 BB, .201 Opp. BA

Click Here for recent video interview with Anderson.

22. St. Louis Cardinals

Kolten Wong – 2B – Hawaii

2011 Stats: .378 BA, 7 HR, 53 RBIs, 209 AB, 79 H, .560 slg%, .492 OBP, 23 SB

2010 Cape Cod League MVP – Click Here to listen to CB360 Podcast interview

23. Washington Nationals

Alex Meyer – RHP – Kentucky

2011 Stats: (7-5), 2.94 ERA, 101 IP, 110 K, 46 BB, 4 CG, .222 Opp. BA

28. Atlanta Braves

Sean Gilmartin – LHP – Florida State

2011 Stats: (12-1), 1.83 ERA, 113 1/3 IP, 113 K, 20 BB, .209 Opp. BA

29. San Francisco Giants

Joe Panik – SS – St. John’s

2011 Stats: .398 BA, 10 HR, 57 RBIs, 226 AB, 90 H, .642 slg%, .508 OBP, 21 SB, 44 BB, 24 K

30. Minnesota Twins

Levi Michael – SS – North Carolina

2011 Stats: .297 BA, 5 HR, 48 RBIs, .455 slg%, .444 OBP, 15 SB

Michael enrolled at North Carolina and became a starter for UNC’s 2009 College World Series team in what would have been his senior semester in high school.

31. Tampa Bay Rays

Mikie Mahtook – OF – LSU

2011 Stats: .383 BA, 14 HR, 56 RBIs, .709 slg%, .496 OBP, 29 SB, 32 K, 41 BB

(End of first round)

Compensation Round

37. Texas Rangers

Zach Cone – OF – Georgia

40. Boston Red Sox

Jackie Bradley, Jr. – OF – South Carolina

43. Arizona Diamondbacks

Andrew Chafin – LHP – Kent State

Bruins Gain Momentum – Ducks Seek Identity…

Seattle Mariners General Manager Jack Zduriencik was among those in attendance for last Friday's UCLA-Oregon game.

Friday’s series-opener marked one of the most anticipated pitching match ups in PK Park’s short history. Gerrit Cole, a potential number one overall pick in this year’s draft, faced off against Oregon’s Tyler Anderson, a probable first round draft pick. An estimated 25 scouts were on-hand, including Seattle Mariners General Manager Jack Zduriencik.

The Bruins took advantage of Anderson’s lack of control, tagging him for four runs (three earned) on six hits and drew four walks. Anderson only lasted 5 1/3 innings. Cole’s stuff wasn’t as sharp as usual, but he only allowed one earned run through 7 1/3 innings. A steady drizzle throughout the game could have been a factor for both pitchers, although Anderson said it wasn’t.

Saturday night against Ducks’ sophomore Madison Boer, the Bruins bats did get to Boer early, but not often. UCLA right fielder Chris Giovinazzo led the game off with a double and would later score. They rattled Boer once more in the fifth innings, scoring two runs on three hits and a walk.

The nation’s strikeout leader, Trevor Bauer, was on the hill for the Bruins, and he dazzled as usual. The probable top-10 pick struck out 12 on the way to earning his fifth consecutive complete game (sixth on the year). The only sign of life in the Oregon lineup came from freshman Ryon Healy who drove a 4-seam fastball over the wall for his second home run of the year.

Healy’s performance in recent series’ has earned him a starting spot in the lineup, and has many excited about his future as a Duck.

Adam Plutko was named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week for his efforts on Sunday.

UCLA looked to earn the sweep behind the arm of freshman Adam Plutko on Sunday. Plutko was a sixth round draft pick in 2010 by the Houston Astros out of high school, and showed he why on Sunday. He and Oregon starter Alex Keudell matched zeroes until Keudell came out of the game after 6 2/3 innings. In the eighth inning, UCLA got on the board first. Things fell apart for the Ducks in the ninth as relief pitcher Scott McGough was tagged for three earned runs.

Plutko earned his first complete game of the season in a shutout effort. He pitched to his scouting report, as he worked his fastball and changeup effectively and recorded seven strikeouts. He did show an extreme lack of confidence in his curveball. Following a base hit up the middle by Oregon center fielder Brett Thomas on a hanging curveball in the fourth inning, Plutko did not appear to throw another curve throughout the rest of the game.

By series end, the Bruins had outscored the Ducks 14-2, and continued to prove that their weekend rotation is among the best—if not the best—in the nation. They also out-hit the Ducks 30-to-13. UCLA was able to get to the Oregon pitching staff in a way that not many teams have. Bruins head coach John Savage said that any concerns about his team’s offense were “a non-issue,” and that is hard to argue after their showing at the plate over the weekend.

John Savage's UCLA offense is starting to get hot at the right time of year.

Bruins third baseman Cody Regis raised his batting average over the weekend from .287 to .302—he went 4-for-4 in the final game of the series. Including Regis, the Bruins two, three, four and five hitters in Sunday’s lineup are all hitting above .300.

UCLA’s offense was reeling during the first half of the year, but that was likely due to a lack of comfort with the new bats. While they did leave 26 runners on base over the weekend, they found ways to get on base and continuously executed sacrifices, helping to bring runners home. With their pitching staff, that might be all it takes to win games now, and possibly into June.

Following the game on Sunday, there was plenty of insult to add to the injury. Second baseman Danny Pulfer’s streak of reaching base consecutively ended at 31 games. It was the first time the Ducks have been swept at home since May 24, 2009. They were also held to a season low two hits.

Last year the Ducks were selected for regionals with a 13-14 record in the Pac-10. They now sit at 5-13 and would have to go 8-1 through their remaining conference schedule to match their record from last season. That includes a three game series against No. 3 Oregon State at home to finish the regular season.

Oregon appeared to be a team finding their stride as of late. After taking two out of three against Arizona , the Ducks went on the road and played No. 21 Cal. Oregon did drop the series but both losses came on walk-off hits by the Bears.

In the week before UCLA, the Ducks beat Oregon State during a mid week, non-conference game, 7-2.

But by many accounts following the sweep, this is a team that consists of some players who have given up on the season.

“Pretty sure we established that we’re soft two weeks ago…” Pulfer said. “Some guys are focused, some guys aren’t.”

George Horton's Oregon Ducks have struggled to find consistency in 2011.

Ducks head coach George Horton echoed Pulfers thoughts. “I feel like throwing up. I thought it was one of the weakest offensive efforts that I’ve seen in a long time,” he said of Sunday’s game. “I’m out of speeches.”

While by last year’s standards the Ducks are not yet eliminated from the postseason, mentally they appear to be. In the week leading up to this series, Horton described his team as being “immature”, and those feelings are probably even stronger after the weekend. 21 of the 35 Oregon players are underclassmen, and the immaturity could be a result of that.

This is a team that hasn’t found an identity, nor do they have the emotional stability that would make them poised enough to finish the year by going 8-1. To be a year older and a year wiser could create for an impressive turnaround next season. They’re a team with raw offensive talent and freshman set to become the face of the program in the next couple of years. But with every step forward comes two steps backwards.

Barring a dramatic epiphany, Oregonis a team better suited for the future than the present.

Conference Races, Upsets & A Hit Streak Highlights…

The latest weekend of college baseball was, overall, light on upsets in the College Baseball 360 Top 50 Rankings. In fact, higher-ranked teams won 76% (29-9) of Sunday’s games involving the CB360 top-50. There were 40 series over the past few days involving CB360 top-50 teams, with 14 resulting in sweeps by the higher-ranked teams while 19 other favorites won their series 2-1.

The weekend saw a total of just six Top 50 series upsets, with Ole Miss pulling off the biggest series shocker-taking two of three games from #3 South Carolina.#21 Arkansas had the other big SEC upset by taking two of three from #4 Florida. (SEC Standings & potential Tournament seeding listed below.)

The rest of the series upsets came from the lower half of the Top 50. Wichita State took two of three from #36 Creighton, Missouri won its series at #44 Kansas State, and UNC Greensboro & Western Kentucky took series from #49 College of Charleston and #50 Florida Atlantic, respectively. #14 Fresno State didn’t lose its series, but did tie Louisiana Tech with two wins each.

Missouri started 2-9 in the Big-12, but has now won three straight series against Top 50 conference opponents Baylor, Texas A&M and K-State to move to 8-12 and seventh place in the Big 12.

Big 12 Standings

1. Texas A&M 15-6 2. Texas 17-7 3. Oklahoma St. 12-8 4. Oklahoma 13-9 5. Texas Tech & Baylor 9-12 7. Missouri 8-12 8. Kansas St. 9-14 9. Kansas 9-15 10. Nebraska 7-13

Chad Holbrook

This Tweet from South Carolina Associate Head Coach Chad Holbrook probably sums-up college baseball Sundays the best “Why do we talk about Sundays?? Its simple really-Teams that win on Sundays host regionals and play in Omaha. That’s what we are trying to do.”

Dallas Baptist dropped two out of three games in its series at #11 Texas A&M, but in winning the second game of the set the Patriots added to their quality win resume. DBU (32-15) has wins this season over Oklahoma State, TCU (2), Oklahoma, Rice, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M as the DI independent shoots for an at-large NCAA bid.

Speaking of TCU, the #15 Horned Frogs picked-up a Super Regional quality series win at#20 Oklahoma State. What’s probably most impressive about Jim Schlossnagle’s squad taking two of three in Stillwater is the fact that they did it without pitchers Matt Purke and Steven Maxwell. Purke (4-1, 1.55 ERA) is out with a shoulder injury, while Maxwell (5-0, 2.90 ERA) was sidelined due to a sore biceps. Purke threw on flat ground from 120 feet on Sunday. TCU hopes he will be available for the Mountain West Conference Tournament, which starts on May 24.

Princeton locked-up an NCAA bid by winning the Ivy League title Sunday.

Princeton locked-up an automatic NCAA bid by winning the Ivy League Championship Series over the weekend. The Tigers downed defending Ivy champion Dartmouth 8-5 on Sunday in the deciding game three of the series. The win gives Princeton (23-22) its 17th conference crown and first since 2006. While the Tigers are just a game over .500 this season, they handed LSU its first loss of the year back on March 6 in Baton Rouge.

The quarterfinalists for the National Pitcher of the Year Award were announced heading into the weekend, and it would be hard to make an argument against UCLA‘s Trevor Bauer as the current front runner for the honor. The junior fired his fifth straight complete game (and sixth this year) in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Oregon to help the Bruins to a three-game sweep in Eugene. Bauer (9-2) struckout 12 and leads the nation with 154 Ks. His 411 strikeouts make him the first Bruin with more than 400 in a career. He needs just 10 more Ks to set his own single season record from a year ago. Bauer’s efforts helped UCLA to its first road sweep of the season. The Bruin pitching staff has given-up just six runs over the last six games.

Oregon State's Tony Bryant

#7 Oregon State kept its steam train rolling by taking two of three games from #24 Cal. The Beavers (34-11, 14-4) have won each of their six Pac-10 Conferences series this season, while Cal (28-16, 12-9) has dropped two of its last three conference sets. OSU closer Tony Bryant earned his ninth save in as many chances this season in Sunday’s series clincher.

Pac-10 Standings

1. Oregon St 14-4 2. Arizona St 13-5 3. UCLA 14-7 4. Cal 12-8 5. Arizona 9-9 6. USC 8-10 7. Stanford 8-9 8. Oregon 5-12 9. Washington St. 4-13 and Washington 4-13

Ray Graham reached a career milestone over the weekend. The Rice head coach got carer win number 900 in Friday’s 8-2 win over cross-town rival Houston en-route to a series sweep. Graham and the Owls sit in second place behind Southern Mississippi in the Conference USA standings. The two teams meet in Hattiesburg, Miss to close the regular season.

Conference USA Standings

1. Southern Mississippi 14-4 2. Rice 12-6 3. East Carolina 11-10 4. Memphis & Houston 9-9 6. Tulane 8-10 7. UAB 9-12 8. UCF 7-11 9. Marshall 5-13

There were just two league series played in the ACC, with North Carolina and Wake Forest sweeping Maryland and Boston College, respectively. The rest of the teams in the league were either playing non-conference series or on break for final exams.

ACC Atlantic Standings

1. Florida State 16-8  2. Clemson 13-11  3. North Carolina State 11-13  4. Wake Forest 10-14  5. Boston College 7-19  6. Maryland 5-22 …

ACC Coastal Standings

1. Virginia 20-4  2. Georgia Tech 18-6  3. Miami 16-7  4. North Carolina 16-8  5. Virginia Tech 9-15  6. Duke 5-19

The West Coast Conference race got tighter when San Francisco dropped two of three at San Diego and Gonzaga swept Santa Clara. The Bulldogs now lead the WCC standings by percentage points over the Dons. Gonzaga (25-13-1, 9-3) has three conference series to play, while USF (25-22, 11-4) has just two left. The two teams meet in the regular season finale May 27-29 in Spokane. With no conference tournament, the WCC’s automatic NCAA bid is likely to be determined that weekend.

WCC Standings

1. Gonzaga 9-3 (.750)  2. San Francisco 11-4 (.733) 3. San Diego 8-7 4. Portland 6-6 5. Pepperdine 5-7 &  Loyola Marymount 5-7 7. St. Mary’s 6-9 8. Santa Clara 4-11

Cal State Fullerton has won five of its last seven games since dropping two of three Big West Conference games to Cal Poly two weeks ago. The Titans (33-13, 14-4) swept three at Riverside over the weekend to inch closer to another conference crown. UC Irvine (31-13, 10-5) took two of three from Cal Poly (21-21, 10-8) and sits in good shape to get at least an at-large NCAA bid. Poly likely needs to win at least nine of its final 12 games to have a chance at the program’s second bid in the last three years (and in program history). They close the season with three games at Pacific, a game at Stanford and three at Cal State Bakersfield.

Big West Standings

1. Fullerton 14-4  2. Irvine 10-5  3. Cal Poly 10-8  4. Long Beach & Davis 8-7  5. Riverside & Santa Barbara 6-9  7. Pacific 7-11  8. Northridge 3-12

The longest active Division One hitting streak in the nation is still alive at 33 straight games after Ryan Jones collected at least one hit in each of Michigan State’s (30-14, 13-5) three weekend wins over Purdue. Jones’ efforts helped the Spartans improve to 9-0 in Big Ten home games this season. They went into the weekend tied for first place with the Boilermakers in the conference standings, but now lead Minnesota (which they swept last month) by two games with two series to go. The top six teams advance to the Big Ten Tournament.

Michigan State's Ryan Jones extended his DI leading hitting streak to 33 games.

Big Ten Standings

1. Michigan St. 13-5  2. Minnesota 11-7  3. Purdue, Ohio St. & Illinois 10-8  6. Penn St. & Indiana 8-10  9. Iowa & Northwestern 7-11  11. Michigan 6-12

Big East Standings

1. UConn 17-3  2. St. Johns 13-7  3. West Virginia 13-8  4. Pittsburgh 12-9  5. South Florida 11-9  6. Louisville & Cincinnati 11-10  8. Notre Dame 10-10  9. Seton Hall 10-11

Southern Conference Standings

1. Elon 21-6  2. Greensboro 16-8  3. Charleston 15-9  4. Samford & Georgia  Southern 14-10  6. Appalachian St.  7. 12-11..Furman 10-13  8. Wofford & The Citadel 8-16

Southland Conference Standings

1. Texas St. 20-7  2. Stephen F. Austin 17-10  3. Sam Houston St. 16-11  4. Southeastern Louisiana 15-12  5. Texas A&M Corpus Christi 14-13  6. UT-Arlington & UT-San Antonio 13-14  8. McNeese & Nicholls 12-15

WAC Standings

1. Hawaii 12-4  2. Fresno St. 12-6  3. San Jose St. 9-7  4. New Mexico St. 7-8  5. Louisiana Tech 8-11  6. Nevada 6-9  7. Sacramento St. 3-12

America East Standings

1. Stony Brook 15-2  2.  Binghamton 12-4  3. Maine 12-5  4. Albany 9-7  5. Hartford 1-15  6. UMBC 0-16

Atlantic-10 top-9

1. Charlotte & Rhode Island 15-6  3. LaSalle & Dayton 11-7  5. Xavier & Richmond 10-8  7. Fordham & St. Bonaventure 9-8  9. StLouis 7-11

Atlantic Sun top-8

1. Stetson 20-4  2. Jacksonville 18-9  3. Belmont 14-10  4. Kennesaw St. 13-10  5. East TN 12-10  6. Mercer 12-11  7. Florida Gulf Coast 11-13  8. North Florida 13-14

Big South Standings

1. Coastal Carolina 17-4  2. Liberty 15-6  3. Charelston Southern & Gardner-Webb 12-9  5. Winthrop 11-10  6. Radford 10-11  7. VMI 9-11,  8. UNC-Asheville & High Point 7-14  10. Presbyterian 5-16

Colonial Standings

1. Old Dominion 16-8  2. James Madison & UNC-Wilmington 15-9  4. Towson 14-10  5. Delaware 15-12  6. Georgia State & William and Mary 13-11  8. Northeastern 10-14  9. VCU & Hofstra 9-15  11. George Mason 6-21

Horizon League Standings

1. Wright St. 13-5  2. Valparaiso 13-6  3. Illinois-Chicago 11-7  4. Milwaukee 11-8  5. Youngstown St. 7-11  6. Butler 7-12  7. Cleveland St. 4-17

MAAC Standings

1. Manhattan 16-1  2. Rider 15-6  3. Siena 10-8  4. Marist & Fairfield 9-9  6. Canisius 8-8  7. Iona 7-11  8. St. Peter’s 4-13  9. Niagara 4-17

MAC East Standings

1. Kent St. 17-4  2. Miami 14-7  3.  Bowling Green 10-11  4. Ohio 7-14  5. Akron 5-16  6. Buffalo 2-18

MAC West Standings

1. Central Michigan 14-7  2. Eastern Michigan & Toledo 13-8  4. Northern Illinois 12-9  5. Western Michigan 10-11  6. Ball St. 8-12

MEAC Standings

1. Bethune-Cookman 18-0  2. Delaware St 11-7  3. Norfolk St. & North Carolina A&T 9-8  5. Maryland-Eastern Shore 7-11  6. Florida A&M 6-12  7. Coppin St. 2-16

Missouri Valley Standings

1. Creighton 10-5  2. Wichita St. 9-6  3. Missouri St 8-6  4. Illinois St. & Southern Illinois 8-7  6. Evansville 6-8  7. Indiana St. 6-9  8. Bradley 4-11

Mountain West Standings

1. TCU 15-2  2. Utah 15-5  3. New Mexico 10-11  4. BYU 7-9  5. UNLV 7-10  6. San Diego State 7-11  7. Air Force 2-15

Northeast Conference Standings top-7

1. Monmouth 22-6  2. Sacred Heart 19-9  3. Long Island 18-9  4. Bryant 15-12  5. Central Connecticut St. 15-13  6. Wagner 12-16  7. Quinnipiac 11-21

OVC Standings top-7

Austin Peay 13-4…SE Missouri 10-6…Jacksonville (AL) St..TN Martin 9-8…E. Ill. 9-9…E. Kentucky 10-11..TN Tech 8-10

Summit League Standings

1. South Dakota St. 16-4  2. Oral Roberts 14-6  3. North Dakota St. 11-8  4. Western Illinois 10-10  5. Southern Utah & IPFW 8-12  6. Centenary 6-13

Sun Belt Standings top-8

1. Troy 16-7  2. Florida International 15-8  3. Florida Atlantic & Louisiana-Lafayette 14-9  5. Western Kentucky 13-10  6. South Alabama 11-12  7. Arkansas St. 10-13  8. Arkansas-Little Rock 8-15

SEC West Standings

1. Alabama & Arkansas 12-12  3. Auburn, Mississippi & Mississippi St. 11-13  6. LSU 8-16

SEC East Standings

1. Vanderbilt 19-5  2. South Carolina & Florida 18-6  4. Georgia 14-10  5. Kentucky & Tennessee 5-19

SEC TOURNAMENT SEEDINGS AS OF 5/9/11

1. VANDERBILT
2. ALABAMA (Won 2 of 3 vs. Arkansas)
3. SOUTH CAROLINA (Won 2 of 3 vs. UF)
4. FLORIDA (Lost 2 of 3 vs. SC)
5. GEORGIA
6. ARKANSAS (Lost 2 of 3 vs. Alabama)
7/8/9. AUBURN (2-1 vs. UM; 0-3 vs. MSU)
7/8/9. OLE MISS (1-2 vs. AU; TBD vs. MSU) 7/8/9. MISS. STATE (3-0 vs. AU; TBD vs. UM)
————————————————————————
10. LSU
11. TENNESSEE
12. KENTUCKY

Tournament Seeding Information

The eight teams that make up the 2011 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament are determined by the best winning percentage in conference competition.

The divisional champion with the highest conference winning percentage is the first seed and the remaining divisional champion is the second seed.  All other teams are seeded 3-8 by conference winning percentage.

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Cardinal Back On Track…

Tyler Gaffney (courtesey Stanford)

The Stanford offense had an unmemorable weekend overall, but knocking around Gerrit Cole on Thursday night was certainly impressive. The Cardinal hit three home runs, including Zach Jones‘ third three-run homer of the year, and sophomore Tyler Gaffney knocked Cole out of the game after just 6 and 1/3 innings with a two-run shot.

But even though the Cardinal bats woke up against UCLA’s “Ace 1A,” they went silent just a day later against “Ace 1B.”

Trevor Bauer struck out 17 Cardinal hitters in a complete game 4-1 win on Friday night, and his stuff was unbelievable. The junior had 10 strikeouts through just four innings, using a fastball that touched 97 miles an hour, and a dominant curveball that never seemed to miss the strike zone.

After watching his performance on Friday, if someone were to tell me that Bauer is not the best pitcher in college baseball this year, I’d just assume they were crazy. Bauer leads the nation with 127 strikeouts, has an ERA of 1.42 and a WHIP of .802 in just ten starts this season (oh, and four of those starts were complete game wins). Simply put, I don’t think it’s possible for any team to hit Bauer when he’s pitching like this.

And, to make matters worse for other teams, freshman Sunday starter Adam Plutko is also very good – a 1.69 ERA this year – but the UCLA bullpen is a bit of a cause for concern because UCLA will most likely be in a lot of low-scoring games this year.

Trevor Bauer leads the nation with 127 Ks.

This is because UCLA’s bats are not special, but they hit just well enough behind their three-headed monster of a pitching staff to beat anyone on any given day. The Bruins only have three batters that hit over .300, but they did have eight extra-base hits in three games off the Stanford pitching staff, so every batter can make you pay, particularly against righthanded pitchers because UCLA starts five lefties in their lineup.

Looking ahead, both of these teams are going to be threats in the postseason, but both teams do have things to fix. UCLA’s starters give them a chance to go back to Omaha – and maybe to win it all – but their offense and bullpen are concerns. Like I said, I don’t foresee UCLA scoring a ton of runs, so if any team can find a way to get past their starters and dig into the bullpen, the Bruins are vulnerable. However, I’m not sure how a team can get past all three Bruin starters in a double-elimination format, so expect to see UCLA in June.

If Stanford wants to make it deep into the postseason, it needs two players to regain their early-season form – Kenny Diekroeger and Jordan Pries.

Diekroeger has been struggling at the plate lately – his batting average has dropped from .422 to .336 over the last month – but he did have a three-run homer in Stanford’s midweek game against Santa Clara, as well as the walkoff single in Saturday’s game.

Pries has now lost his last three decisions (one against Trevor Bauer and his 17 strikeouts), but his stuff has not looked spectacular lately. After watching Pries dominate Cal and Vanderbilt in his first two starts of the season, I expected him to have a monster year, but he has not been able to dominate the mound like he did early in the year in his last two starts. However, he has not gotten any help from his offense – Stanford has scored only three runs in his last three starts.

Do I expect those two to get right over the last two months of the season? Absolutely. Both are veterans who know what it is like to go through the ups and downs of a long season, and I think the big series win over UCLA will help them regain their form. If that does happen, the Cardinal could be poised for a major late-season surge deep into the postseason.

Every weekend provides every team the opportunity to make a statement in the college baseball world, and this past weekend was no different. However, for the most part it was favorites and not underdogs that made statements from April 15-17.

Friday’s games saw higher ranked teams in the College Baseball 360 Composite National Rankings go 30-8, for a .790 winning percentage. That percentage dipped to .580 (25-18) on Saturday, but the higher ranked teams bounced-back on Sunday by winning at a .700 (26-11) clip.

Two underdogs that broke that trend were #4 South Carolina and #21 Oklahoma State, which each took two of three games in their high profile series against #3 Vanderbilt and #15 Oklahoma, respectively.

Gamecock Statement…

Considering South Carolina is the defending national champion, it’s kind of hard to consider its series win over #3 Vanderbilt an upset. However, the Commodores are the second SEC team that South Carolina has beaten this year (Florida is the other) that was ranked #1 in one of the national polls at the time the Gamecocks beat them in a best two-of-three series. Vandy’s (32-5, 11-4 SEC) series loss is its first since dropping last year’s Super Regional at Florida State, while South Carolina (28-7, 12-3 SEC) has won every series it has played in 2011.

Matt Price

This series was everything it was supposed to be, with great pitching, timely hitting and great defense. There were just two errors committed all weekend. Michael Roth (8-1) out-dueled Sonny Gray (7-2) to give South Carolina a 3-1 game one win. Each ace fired 7 2/3 innings, with Matt Price closing the door with 1 1/3 perfect innings and four strikeouts for his 11th save. The teams combined to use 11 pitchers in Saturday’s 6-4 Vanderbilt victory. Aaron Westlake and Mike Yastrzemski each had two RBIs to help Grayson Garvin improve to 7-1. South Carolina used a 4-run 7th inning to win Sunday’s finale 5-3. Roth was again spectacular out of the bullpen, notching 7 Ks in 3.0 shutout innings to improve to 4-2.

By the way, how would you like to be in the SEC East, where South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Florida all reside? The defending national champs now sit atop the division at 28-7 overall and 12-3 in conference play, followed by Florida (28-9) and Vandy (32-5), which are both 11-4 in the SEC. The Commodores and Gators go head-to-head in Nashville May 13-15.

Beavers Surging, Cardinal Slumping…

Sam Gaviglio

Oregon State swept Stanford in Palo Alto in a match-up of teams who are now heading in completely opposite directions. The Beavers (27-7, 8-1 Pac-10) have won nine straight, with eight of those wins coming against conference foes Arizona, Arizona State and now Stanford. Meanwhile, Stanford (16-12, 3-6 Pac-10) has dropped five of its last six games, including five straight in conference action.

OSU’s Sam Gaviglio (7-1) was masterful in Friday’s 1-0 series-opening win. He mixed enough fastballs in between his devastating curveballs to limit the Cardinal to four hits over 8.0 innings. Gaviglio and his staff mates combined to hold Stanford to five runs on the weekend. It doesn’t get any easier for the Cardinal next week, with UCLA coming to Sunken Diamond.

CLICK HERE for even more in-depth analysis of this series from CB360 contributor Jack Blanchat.

Bedlam Breakthrough…

Oklahoma State took two of three from Oklahoma in the Bedlam Series for its first series win over the arch-rival Sooners since 2008. Both Cowboys wins came in walk-off fashion. Davis Duren gave OSU the win on Sunday with a 10th inning walk-off RBI single for an 11-10 victory in Oklahoma City. Dane Phillips ended Friday’s 8-7 win in Tulsa with a 9th inning lead-off home run.

Break-up The Bruins…

Beau Amaral

The adage that good pitching beats good hitting held-up as UCLA picked-up its biggest series win of the season by taking two of three games from hot hitting Arizona. The Wildcats were averaging 7.5 runs-a-game with a .342 team batting average heading into the series, but the vaunted Bruins pitching staff limited Arizona to 3.3 runs-a-game and a .202 average over the weekend. Trevor Bauer (7-1) fanned 13 and gave-up just four hits in Saturday’s complete game win. Bauer has hit double digit Ks in eight of his nine starts this year. His 110 strikeouts leads the nation. Beau Amaral led the Bruins by hitting 7-for-12 (.583) for the weekend, including six RBIs in Sunday’s 8-5 series clincher.

Wolfpack Attack…

North Carolina was red hot entering its series with arch rival North Carolina State, but the Wolfpack red gave UNC the blues by sweeping the Tar Heels in Raleigh. North Carolina had won 16 of its previous 18 games, including a sweep of Clemson and 2-of-3 vs. Florida State, entering the weekend. Pratt Maynard led NC State by going 6-for-12 with five runs scored in the sweep.

Red Storm Rising…

Joe Panik

Louisville is finding out just how hard it is to maintain dominance over an extended period of time. St. John’s swept the Cardinals (20-15, 6-6 Big East) to hand Louisville its fifth straight loss. Louisville’s 15 losses are one more than it suffered all of last year. St. John’s shortstop Joe Panik was 6-for-14 (.428) with 5 RBIs and a home run in the sweep. Louisville committed 12 errors in the series and has just a .963 fielding percentage this season.

Big SEC Series Headlines Weekend Action…

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.

Both The Good & The Bad…

It’s no surprise that offense has been down, while pitching numbers have been better so far this season. However, nobody predicted James Madison would erupt for 91 runs with those new bats in a four-game sweep of Bucknell to open the season. Jake Lowery and David Herbek have combined to lead not only the Dukes, but also the nation with 14 and 12 home runs, respectively, while also sitting among the nation’s Division One leaders in sever other offensive categories.

Following is a look at some other surprises, both good and bad, to this point in the season.

Pleasant Surprises…

Danny Hultzen is 6-0 with a 1.36 ERA in 2011

Virginia was supposed to be good this year, but Brian O’Connor’s Cavaliers have been flat-out great so far. UVA debuted at #15 in our Preseason Composite National Rankings, but is 29-2 overall and 11-1 in ACC play heading into this weekend’s showdown with Georgia Tech. The Cavs lost just one game in the month of March-their series finale against Florida State. They’ve done anything but mash the ball out of the yard en-route to their 29 victories. Keith Werman has nearly twice as many sac bunts (13) as his team has home runs (7), while they still average 7.3 runs a game with a .300 team batting average. Danny Hultzen (6-0, 1.36 ERA) is second in the nation with 78 strikeouts for a pitching staff that’s so deep that midweek starter Will Roberts, who pitched a perfect game last week, is riding a 21-inning scoreless streak. Virginia has a 1.93 team ERA with 333 strikeouts and just 64 walks this season.

Fresno State was a team that many thought deserved an NCAA bid in 2010, but the Bulldogs (38-25) just missed the field of 64 after Hawaii ended their reign of four straight WAC Tournament titles. Offense wasn’t a problem for Mike Batesole’s squad, but the pitching staff ended the season with a 6.05 ERA. Things have been much different for the 2011 edition of the Bulldogs (20-3). Greg Gonzalez (6-0, 1.36 ERA) fronts a pitching staff that sports a 2.50 ERA. The senior led the staff with 73 strikeouts last year, but he already has 52 Ks with just 9 BB in 46 1/3 IP in 2011. Charlie Robertson has slammed the door at the end of games with 9

Fresno State's Charlie Robertson is among the DI leaders with 9 saves.

saves in 10 appearances. He is yet to surrender an earned run in 16 1/3 IP this year. Like everyone, Fresno State’s offense is still adjusting to the new bats. Most notably Jordan Ribera, who hit .343 and led the nation with 27 home runs last year. He is batting just .244 with one HR and 7 RBIs in 23 starts in ’11. Dusty Robinson has picked-up the slack though, with a .321 BA, 6 HR and 19 RBIs.

Georgia was just 16-37 last year with a dismal 5-23 record in the SEC. Outfielder Zach Cone (.363, 10 HR, 53 RBIs) was practically the entire offense for Dave Perno’s Bulldogs, while the pitching staff had a bloated 8.51 ERA with no complete games. The Bulldogs (15-14, 6-3) are one win from matching last year’s overall win total, while a series win over LSU and a sweep of Mississippi State has already exceeded last year’s conference win total. Georgia also boasts wins over UCLA, Florida State and South Carolina. There’s still work to be done, but where UGA is now is a far cry from a season that started by being swept in a 3-game series at Stetson.

Cal State Bakersfield is well on its way to eclipsing last year’s win total. The Roadrunners are off and running to a 20-7 start after finishing with a 26-30 record in 2010. Bill Kernan’s squad hasn’t shied away from tough competition either. The DI independent has wins over top 10 opponents Arizona State and defending national champion South Carolina along with series wins over Washington and Ohio State. Ryan McIntyre (.363, 10

Tommy Hoenshell has helped spearhead Bakersfield's pitching staff.

doubles, 4 triples, .966 OPS) leads an offense that has five regulars hitting above .300, but it’s pitching that’s really fueled Bakersfield so far. Tommy Hoenshell (5-3, 1.97 ERA) has two complete games and leads the nation with 64.0 IP, Jonathon Montoya (5-1, 3.06 ERA) is tied for the DI lead with four complete games and closer Martin Medina (1-1, 2.45 ERA, 5 saves) has 19 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings to date.

Cal may or may not be reinstated beyond this season, but the Golden Bears are doing everything they can to make 2011 memorable. Dave Esquer has his team off to a 19-7 record, including 5-1 in the Pac-10, in what could be the program’s swan song. The pitching was expected to be good in 2011, but so far it’s been flat-out great. Justin Jones and Erik Johnson are each 4-1 with respective 2.47 and 2.08 ERAs, while Kevin Miller (3-2, 0.63 ERA, 1 save) has been nearly lights-out in a swing role. The senior has made three relief appearances and five starts, with a team-high 53 strikeouts and just 7 BB in 43.0 IP. Cal has a balanced offensive attack. Six regulars are batting between .317 and Austin Booker’s team-best .346, while eight players have accounted for the team’s 12 home runs.

Central Florida’s sites have been set on Omaha since Terry Rooney left his job as an LSU assistant to take over in Orlando. Now in his third year, Rooney has a team that’s starting to make some noise. The Knights (20-9) opened Conference USA with the program’s first ever series win over Rice only to be swept last weekend by Southern Mississippi.  However, UCF responded by toppling Florida 4-3 Tuesday night in Gainesville. D.J. Hicks (.347, 6 HR,

UCF's D.J. Hicks is among the top overall Conference USA hitters this season.

1.008 OPS) leads an offense that has seven starters batting above .300. Freshman Ben Lively (5-0, 1.88 ERA) has been UCF’s top weekend starter, while relievers Nick Cicio (1.08 ERA) and Joe Rogers (2.04 ERA) have each made 11 appearances out of the Knight’s bullpen, combining for 8 saves and 42 Ks with 5 BB in 44.0 IP.

Stetson (22-7) is another Florida school that’s exceeded most expectations so far. The Hatters need just five wins to match the win total of last year’s team that finished 27-31. Head coach Pete Dunn’s 32nd edition of the Hatters is also just five wins away from matching its 14 Atlantic Sun Conference win total from 2010. Robert Crews (.378, 3 HR), Nick Rickles (.345, 10 doubles, 3 HR, 28 RBIs) and Mark Jones (.343) have provided the bulk of the offense, while relievers Robbie Powell (4-0, 1.05 ERA) and Jake Boyd (2-0, 2.45 ERA) have combined for 8 saves in 31 appearances. The pitching staff has notched 232 strikeouts with 94 walks so far this season.

Head-scratching Surprises…

Connecticut was the darling of the north heading into the 2011 season. The Huskies brought back most of their line-up and pitching from last year’s team that won a school record 48 games and hosted an NCAA Regional. Most is the key word. UConn struggled to an 8-9-1 start to the new campaign without table setter Pierre LePage (.327, 63 R, 29 SB) and top run producer Mike Olt (.318, 23 HR, 76 RBIs), who were both drafted last June. The Huskies (15-10-1) have won seven of their last eight and look like they are back on the right track after sweeping St. John’s last weekend. Ace pitcher Matt Barnes (5-2, 1.00 ERA, 2 CG) has been as dominant as advertised. After starting the season in the Saturday starting role, he’s now the Friday night man. The UConn staff currently sports a 2.78 ERA, which should go a long way toward curing what ails Jim Penders‘ team now that Big East play is here.

UCLA road its pitching and a scrappy offense to a national runner-up finish in Omaha last year. The Bruins might have to lean on the arms of Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole even more this year. UCLA hit .304 as a team and averaged 6.8 runs a game last year, but those numbers are down to .244 and 4.0 through 24 games this year. John Savage’s Bruins (14-10) weren’t a team built on power to begin with (Dean Espy’s 9 HR led the club last year), but they have just four home runs to date in ’11. Seven different Bruin regulars batted .308 or better last year, but Cody Keefer’s .293 currently leads the team. Bauer (5-1, 1.46 ERA), who leads the nation with 82 Ks, and Cole (3-2, 2.06 ERA, 57 K) and the staff have been overpowering, with a 2.06 staff ERA and 259 strikeouts vs. just 74 walks in 218 2/3 innings this season. But consider this: After a 22-game win streak to start the season, UCLA didn’t lose its first game until April 2 last year. They lost 17 times in 68 games last year, but they have already lost 10 games this season.

San Diego has been to the NCAA Tournament in four of the last five seasons, but the Toreros will have a tough time getting back this year. San Diego (7-19) is off to one of the worst starts in Rich Hill’s 13-year tenure. USD currently sports a .256 team batting average, .325 on-base percentage and 4.82 ERA. The holes in the weekend pitching rotation left by Kyle Blair (8-4, 2.84 ERA) and Sammy Solis (9-2, 3.42 ERA) have been tough to fill on the mound, while the bats of Chris Engall (.416) and James Meador (.391) have left a big offensive void as well. To its credit, San Diego has played a tough schedule, with losses to the likes of Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Cal, Coastal Carolina, and Fresno State.

New Mexico had its best season in nearly 50 years in 2010, but things have been different this year. After earning the program’s first NCAA bid since 1962, the 2011 Lobos are off to a 9-20 start, including eight straight losses to start the campaign. However, Ray Birmingham’s squad returned just one position starter and six pitchers from last year’s team that went 38-22. Birmingham’s teams have always been offensive minded, but it’s hitting a whopping 80 points below last year’s .346 team batting average, while reaching base at a .342 clip (down nearly 70 points). The lack of offense, combined with a 6.05 staff ERA has been a recipe for  misfortune so far. Give Birmingham credit though. He knew what kind of turnover he would be facing this year, but still scheduled the likes of Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Arizona, and Oklahoma. The first of two conference series against TCU is this weekend.

Oregon is off to just a 14-12 start after an NCAA berth in just the second year of existence in the program’s return. The 40-24 record and that postseason appearance brought high expectations and a top 10 ranking coming into 2011. Like UCLA, George Horton’s offense is know for its small ball approach, but the Ducks are waddling to the tune of a dismal .229 team batting average and a .310 slugging percentage. Aaron Jones (.310) and Danny Pulfer (.301) are the only Ducks batting above .300, while K.C. Serna, who hit a team-best .348 in ’10, is struggling at .194 this season. Oregon scored just three runs in last week’s sweep at the hands of Arizona State to open Pac-10 play, making this weekend’s home series against Washington huge.

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