College Podcast: Previewing Week 5

Image credit: Catcher Mat Nelson (Photo courtesy of Larry Novey/Florida State)

On this episode of the Baseball America College Podcast, presented by Rapsodo, Teddy Cahill and Joe Healy preview the fifth weekend of action around college baseball.

 

 

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This week represents the start of conference play in the SEC and Pac-12, and a soft opening to conference play for the Big 12. The series previewed on this episode include: 

• Florida State traveling to Coral Gables to take on No. 5 Miami. After getting swept by Pittsburgh to begin ACC play, FSU has bounced back nicely and just recently took a game off of another in-state rival in Florida. Not unlike Florida State, Miami continues to win games despite clearly still having things to figure out. The offense hasn’t been as potent as expected for either team, so both will look for this weekend to be a breakout performance. 
• No. 25 Oklahoma State going where few teams win, Lubbock, Texas, to take on No. 7 Texas Tech. After a tough weekend in Arlington to begin the season, Texas Tech has gotten rolling, led by an offense that is as prolific as ever and a standout in Patrick Monteverde in the rotation. OSU will look to bounce back after losing a series to Vanderbilt last weekend, and a series win on the road against Texas Tech will send a message that the Cowboys are likely ready to contend for the Big 12 title. 
• No. 17 Arizona getting Pac-12 play started with a road series against No. 23 UCLA. Both have the feel of teams trying to get on track and stay on track after inconsistent starts to the season. 
• No. 1 Arkansas hosting No. 22 Alabama. Alabama has been ranked since the preseason, but hasn’t had the type of marquee wins or dominant performances that would allow it to move up very much. Certainly, a shot at the No. 1 team in the country could change that. Arkansas, meanwhile, will look to solidify its place as the best team in the country. 
• Big West play getting started with Long Beach State traveling to Hawaii and Cal Poly heading to Cal State Northridge. Given the lack of fall practice for the teams and that these are their debut weekends, it’s hard to know what to expect from the Dirtbags and Matadors, but we’ll start to find out soon.