What To Watch For This Weekend In College Baseball (3/6)

Image credit: Patrick Bailey (Photo by Brian Westerholt/Four Seam Images)

Top 25 Schedule

Rank	Team	Opponents (Fri., Sat., Sun.)	TV	Notes
1	Florida	South Florida	SEC Network+
2	Texas Tech	Rice	TexasTech.TV (Fri., Sat.), Fox Sports Southwest+ (Sun.)
3	Vanderbilt	at (5) UCLA, at Southern California, vs. (22) Texas Christian	Pac-12 Network+ (Fri., Sat.)	Southern California College Baseball Classic
4	Georgia	Massachusetts	SEC Network+
5	UCLA	(3) Vanderbilt, (22) Texas Christian, at Southern California	Pac-12 Network+ (Fri., Sat.), Pac-12 Network (Sun.)	Southern California College Baseball Classic
6	Louisville	at Wake Forest	ACC Network Extra
7	Miami	Pittsburgh	ACC Network (Fri.), ACC Network Extra (Sat., Sun.)
8	Arizona State	Fresno State	Pac-12 Network+
9	Mississippi	Princeton	SEC Network+
10	Michigan	at Pepperdine	Stadium
11	Oklahoma	San Diego State	SoonerSports.TV
12	Mississippi State	Quinnipiac	SEC Network+
13	Arkansas	South Alabama	SEC Network+
14	Florida State	at (16) Duke	ACC Network Extra
15	North Carolina State	at Virginia	ACC Network Extra (Fri., Sat.), ACC Network (Sun.)
16	Duke	(14) Florida State	ACC Network Extra
17	Long Beach State	Xavier	None
18	Tennessee	Wright State	ESPN3
19	Central Florida	Butler	UCFKnights.TV
20	Louisiana State	Massachusetts-Lowell	SEC Network+
21	Dallas Baptist	Oral Roberts	PatriotsBroadcastingNetwork.com
22	Texas Christian	at Southern California, at (5) UCLA, vs. (3) Vanderbilt	Pac-12 Network+ (Fri., Sat.)	Southern California College Baseball Classic
23	Clemson	Boston College	ACC Network Extra (Sat., Sun.)
24	Auburn	Chicago State	SEC Network+
25	East Carolina	at Charlotte	Charlotte49ers.TV (Fri., Sun.)

Southern California College Baseball Classic, Los Angeles

This tournament, co-hosted by Southern California and UCLA, is typically known as the Dodger Stadium Classic because it hosts the tournament’s final day, highlighted by a showdown between the Trojans and Bruins. But with Dodger Stadium undergoing renovations ahead of this summer’s All-Star Game, it isn’t available. No. 5 UCLA and USC will host the first two days of the tournament against No. 22 Texas Christian and No. 3 Vanderbilt before the action concludes at USC’s Dedeaux Field. Though this tournament won’t get the grand stage of Dodger Stadium, it figures to be an exciting tournament. UCLA’s (11-1) game against Vanderbilt (11-3) on Friday night could be an Omaha preview and figures to be a very well-pitched affair. TCU (10-2) is off to a strong start and entered the rankings for the first time this week, while USC (7-4) has something to prove under the direction of first-year coach Jason Gill. All of that is sure to make for a fun-filled weekend in LA.

(10) Michigan at Pepperdine

Just up the coast from Los Angeles, Pepperdine (10-2), one of the season’s best early stories, will host Michigan (7-5), which is completing a California swing. The Wolverines have come back to earth since their blockbuster 3-0 start that included wins against Arizona State and Vanderbilt but remain one of the nation’s best teams. The Waves are 9-0 on weekends and count some solid wins in that group, but this is their biggest test to date. Pepperdine this season has scored runs in bunches and is averaging 7.5 runs per game. If it can keep that up against Michigan’s impressive pitching staff, it could be in for a banner weekend.

(14) Florida State at (16) Duke

The ACC begins conference play this weekend and opens with a top-20 showdown between the Seminoles (9-3) and the Blue Devils (10-2). Florida State is in the midst of a difficult part of its schedule, coming off four games last weekend against Florida Atlantic and Texas Tech with a game at Florida on tap Tuesday, followed by a series against Georgia Tech. The pesky Blue Devils and their stout pitching staff (1.42 team ERA) make for a tough start to conference play. Duke is coming off back-to-back super regional appearances and is pitching at a high level. The Seminoles’ young lineup is still rounding into form and now faces a road trip for the first time this year.

(15) North Carolina State at Virginia

With Virginia outside the Top 25, this series doesn’t have quite the same level of hype as Florida State at Duke. But it should present a fascinating matchup, nonetheless. The Wolfpack (12-0) are one of four undefeated teams left in the nation and have shown off an impressive offense that’s averaging 10.4 runs per game. They’ll face a good challenge on the road at Virginia (10-3), which has a 3.38 team ERA and is led on the mound by Andrew Abbott (3-0, 0.00), Griff McGarry (3-0, 1.12) and Mike Vasil (2-0, 2.25). The Cavaliers haven’t faced strong competition since an Opening Weekend series against Oklahoma in Pensacola, however. NC State’s offense, led by Preseason All-American catcher Patrick Bailey (.308/.472/.744, 5 HR), will be a step up. Both teams figure to answer some significant questions this weekend.

San Diego at Indiana

In another West Coast Conference-Big Ten showdown, San Diego (9-3) travels to Indiana (7-3). The Toreros have played well to this point and are 8-1 in weekend games (the lone loss coming on Opening Day against Pepperdine). The Hoosiers, the reigning Big Ten champions, have been strong in the early going as well, holding their own Opening Weekend at Louisiana State and then playing well in back-to-back tournaments. Their only losses to date, in fact, are against SEC competition. This is a four-game set that will test both teams and should look good on both of their NCAA Tournament resumes in May. A potential X-factor is the weather. While it’s supposed to warm up throughout the weekend, Friday’s high in Bloomington is forecasted to be a balmy 39 degrees, a far cry from San Diego’s 66.