7 of college baseball s biggest questions before the 2018 season
7 of college baseball’s biggest questions before the 2018 season NCAA.com
TCU is college baseball’s model of consistency. It has won 48, 51, 49 and 50 games in each of the past season, and ended the season in Omaha. The Horned Frogs are on a remarkable run, seemingly reloading as a baseball superpower each year. “We block out everything outside," Luken Baker told NCAA.com. "Everyone has all these expectations for us. But what makes TCU unique is the core values — selfless, excellence, energy — and maintaining the culture of how the program is run. It’s run on character and discipline and doing the little things right.” Madrigal had a huge season for the Beavers, toppling his dazzling freshman year numbers. Oregon State’s second baseman hit .380/.449/.532 with four home runs and 20 doubles, while swiping 16 bags, scoring a team-best 53 runs as one of the leaders for a 56-win Beavers squad. Another preseason first-team All-America honor for Seth Beer! — Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) Beck made an immediate impact on the college baseball landscape as a freshman in 2016. He was just the third freshman to get the ball on Opening Day in Stanford history (Mike Mussina and Cal Quantrill the other two), and quickly became the ace of the rotation, finishing K x
April, 2016
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) Kris Bubic broke out. Bubic is coming off a monster campaign as the Cardinal's ace, going 7-6 with a 2.79 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 90 innings. He continued to light it up in the Cape Cod Summer League with a 1.65 ERA and a league-best 41 strikeouts en route to Pitcher of the Year honors. It's a new era of Stanford baseball as David Esquer steps in after Mark Marquess ended his 41-year tenure as skipper of the Cardinal. Esquer gets to start his career with a one-two punch to be reckoned with. They'll be put to an early test, facing Cal State Fullerton on opening weekend. Broken records, top-25 rankings, upset wins and a return to the NCAA Tournament. We had some fun in. — WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) Despite losing Jackson Cramer and Kyle Davis, WVU has big group of returners. Braden Zabrinsky is the most exciting, finishing the season as one of five finalists for the John Olerud Award. As the only two-way player amongst the finalists back in 2018, he's arguably the early favorite. Zabrinsky led the team with a .336 batting average, albeit in limited time in the starting lineup. He was an even bigger presence out of the bullpen, where he went 6-2 with a 2.75 ERA, a team-best six saves and more than a strikeout per inning. The Big XII is loaded with top notch programs, but with a lot of experienced players, West Virginia could finally rewrite its history and reach the ever-elusive Super Regionals. How quickly can Scott Googins turn around Cincinnati? Xavier baseball wasn't a very big national presence before Scott Googins arrival. He leaves after 12 seasons, the all-time winningest coach, rewriting the record book. Xavier won its first Atlantic 10 Championship in 2008 under Googins, and then went on to win its first NCAA tournament game the same season. He helped make the Muskateers a presence in the Big East, winning back-to-back conference championships in 2016 and '17. Now, Googins takes his talents down the road, looking to turn around a Bearcats baseball program. WOW. CINCINNATI gear never looked so good on you — The Cincy Bearcat (@TheCincyBearcat) This is a big challenge and to expect them to compete in Year 1 is a bit unfair to Googins. The Bearcats haven't been to the NCAA tournament in 43 years, and the American Athletic Conference is stacked with tough competition from top to bottom. But, he can use that AAC exposure and spacious Marge Schott Stadium to go out and bring in players that fit his mold. Swaggerty has been a stat sheet stuffer since his arrival in . He had an impressive freshman campaign, slashing .303/.431/.422 with 12 doubles, four home runs and 20 stolen bases. When the lights shined the brightest, so did Swaggerty, hitting .412 in his first career NCAA postseason. The 5-foot-11 outfielder followed that up with a Second-Team All-American performance, slashing .356/.484/.571 wih 11 home runs and 19 stolen bases. He exploded in the first game of the NCAA Tournament, going 3-4 with a double, home run and four RBI in a 6-3 victory against Mississippi State in the Hattiesburg regional. Swaggerty then became the first Jaguar to play for Team USA over the summer. He represented them well, hitting .328 with 21 hits and six stolen bases. That's a pretty stout resumé for two years. South Alabama enters the season No. 20 in the D1Baseball.com poll, and Swaggerty is piling up preseason All-American honors. All eyes will be on Mobile as South Alabama should contend for the Sun Belt title. With the exciting Dylan Hardy atop the lineup, Swaggerty could be in for his biggest season yet.
CHAMPS
PRESENTED BY Last week, we took a look at a few things that will make the Southeastern Conference fun to watch this season. But what about the rest of the country? Will TCU end the season in Omaha for a fifth consecutive year? NCAA BaseballTCU is college baseball’s model of consistency. It has won 48, 51, 49 and 50 games in each of the past season, and ended the season in Omaha. The Horned Frogs are on a remarkable run, seemingly reloading as a baseball superpower each year. “We block out everything outside," Luken Baker told NCAA.com. "Everyone has all these expectations for us. But what makes TCU unique is the core values — selfless, excellence, energy — and maintaining the culture of how the program is run. It’s run on character and discipline and doing the little things right.” Madrigal had a huge season for the Beavers, toppling his dazzling freshman year numbers. Oregon State’s second baseman hit .380/.449/.532 with four home runs and 20 doubles, while swiping 16 bags, scoring a team-best 53 runs as one of the leaders for a 56-win Beavers squad. Another preseason first-team All-America honor for Seth Beer! — Clemson Baseball (@ClemsonBaseball) Beck made an immediate impact on the college baseball landscape as a freshman in 2016. He was just the third freshman to get the ball on Opening Day in Stanford history (Mike Mussina and Cal Quantrill the other two), and quickly became the ace of the rotation, finishing K x
April, 2016
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) Kris Bubic broke out. Bubic is coming off a monster campaign as the Cardinal's ace, going 7-6 with a 2.79 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 90 innings. He continued to light it up in the Cape Cod Summer League with a 1.65 ERA and a league-best 41 strikeouts en route to Pitcher of the Year honors. It's a new era of Stanford baseball as David Esquer steps in after Mark Marquess ended his 41-year tenure as skipper of the Cardinal. Esquer gets to start his career with a one-two punch to be reckoned with. They'll be put to an early test, facing Cal State Fullerton on opening weekend. Broken records, top-25 rankings, upset wins and a return to the NCAA Tournament. We had some fun in. — WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) Despite losing Jackson Cramer and Kyle Davis, WVU has big group of returners. Braden Zabrinsky is the most exciting, finishing the season as one of five finalists for the John Olerud Award. As the only two-way player amongst the finalists back in 2018, he's arguably the early favorite. Zabrinsky led the team with a .336 batting average, albeit in limited time in the starting lineup. He was an even bigger presence out of the bullpen, where he went 6-2 with a 2.75 ERA, a team-best six saves and more than a strikeout per inning. The Big XII is loaded with top notch programs, but with a lot of experienced players, West Virginia could finally rewrite its history and reach the ever-elusive Super Regionals. How quickly can Scott Googins turn around Cincinnati? Xavier baseball wasn't a very big national presence before Scott Googins arrival. He leaves after 12 seasons, the all-time winningest coach, rewriting the record book. Xavier won its first Atlantic 10 Championship in 2008 under Googins, and then went on to win its first NCAA tournament game the same season. He helped make the Muskateers a presence in the Big East, winning back-to-back conference championships in 2016 and '17. Now, Googins takes his talents down the road, looking to turn around a Bearcats baseball program. WOW. CINCINNATI gear never looked so good on you — The Cincy Bearcat (@TheCincyBearcat) This is a big challenge and to expect them to compete in Year 1 is a bit unfair to Googins. The Bearcats haven't been to the NCAA tournament in 43 years, and the American Athletic Conference is stacked with tough competition from top to bottom. But, he can use that AAC exposure and spacious Marge Schott Stadium to go out and bring in players that fit his mold. Swaggerty has been a stat sheet stuffer since his arrival in . He had an impressive freshman campaign, slashing .303/.431/.422 with 12 doubles, four home runs and 20 stolen bases. When the lights shined the brightest, so did Swaggerty, hitting .412 in his first career NCAA postseason. The 5-foot-11 outfielder followed that up with a Second-Team All-American performance, slashing .356/.484/.571 wih 11 home runs and 19 stolen bases. He exploded in the first game of the NCAA Tournament, going 3-4 with a double, home run and four RBI in a 6-3 victory against Mississippi State in the Hattiesburg regional. Swaggerty then became the first Jaguar to play for Team USA over the summer. He represented them well, hitting .328 with 21 hits and six stolen bases. That's a pretty stout resumé for two years. South Alabama enters the season No. 20 in the D1Baseball.com poll, and Swaggerty is piling up preseason All-American honors. All eyes will be on Mobile as South Alabama should contend for the Sun Belt title. With the exciting Dylan Hardy atop the lineup, Swaggerty could be in for his biggest season yet.