Wake Forest had the No. 1 rating by its title, however Duke had arguably been the extra spectacular crew by the primary three-plus weeks of the season. And now, after taking two out of three from the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, the Blue Devils have elbowed their means into the higher echelon of faculty baseball and appear to be a reliable risk to achieve the Faculty World Collection for the primary time since 1961.
The groups cut up the primary two video games, with Duke successful 8-5 on Friday (and roughing up All-American Josh Hartle) and Wake bouncing again with a 6-3 win on Saturday behind a dominant efficiency from Chase Burns, one other of the Deacs’ All-America pitchers. Duke outlasted Wake on Sunday, successful 10-8 in a sloppy recreation that featured 22 walks and 5 unearned runs.
Duke, which climbed to No. 6 in D1 Baseball’s rankings, hosts Clemson this weekend. Wake, now No. 7, visits Virginia.
Collection Secured. Assertion Made. #BlueCollar | #GoDuke pic.twitter.com/LrPJGlcYCl
— Duke Baseball (@DukeBASE) March 10, 2024
Across the horn
Charlie Condon arrived at Georgia as a most popular walk-on within the fall of 2021. He sat out the 2022 season as a redshirt — not due to an damage — after which emerged as one of many high hitters within the SEC in 2023, hitting .386 with 25 residence runs and 67 RBIs.
Now, as a redshirt sophomore, Condon is enjoying his means into the dialog to be the highest general choose within the 2024 MLB Draft. One month into the season, the Marietta, Ga., native has an unfathomable .566/.659/1.290 slash line with 12 residence runs and 25 RBIs. Georgia’s schedule has been comparatively comfortable — the Bulldogs simply swept 0-16 Northern Colorado by a mixed rating of 55-9 in 4 video games — however these are nonetheless unbelievable numbers.
Condon can also be one of many nation’s most versatile gamers. He has already began video games at first base, third base, left discipline and middle discipline and has additionally performed proper discipline.
Georgia, 16-1 underneath first-year coach Wes Johnson, opens SEC play subsequent weekend at Kentucky.
Texas A&M left-hander Ryan Prager has been among the finest tales of the 2024 season. Prager began 9 video games as a freshman in 2022 however missed final season after present process Tommy John surgical procedure.
Now wholesome, Prager is 4-0 and hasn’t allowed an earned run in 23 2/3 innings. He has given up 9 hits and has 40 strikeouts with solely three walks. The competitors will get harder, beginning with this weekend’s journey to Florida, however Prager’s quick begin is a good signal for a crew with nationwide title aspirations.
The Aggies almost suffered their first lack of the season on Sunday however rallied to beat Rhode Island 12-11 in 10 innings in Faculty Station. Texas A&M and Florida State are the one undefeated groups remaining.
Miami opened ACC play by taking two out of three from Virginia at Mark Mild Subject in Coral Gables. The Canes opened the collection with a 6-5 win on Friday night time and adopted up with a wild comeback on Saturday, rallying from a nine-run deficit within the seventh inning en path to a 16-12 victory. Miami scored six runs within the seventh inning and 7 within the eighth (on a grand slam and a three-run residence run) to clinch the collection.
Virginia was six outs away from being swept however scored 4 runs within the last two innings to flee Coral Gables with a 14-11 win on Sunday.
Few groups wanted an enormous weekend greater than Kansas. The Jayhawks obtained off to a tough begin in 2024, starting with a collection loss at residence UIC to open the season, however are 2-1 within the Large 12 after taking a collection from beforehand unbeaten TCU over the weekend.
Kansas obtained strong begins from Reese Dutton on Friday and Dominic Voegele on Saturday, and the bullpen got here by in massive spots (two runs allowed in six mixed innings within the two wins).
The Jayhawks went 25-32 general and 8-16 within the Large 12 in Dan Fitzgerald’s first season however ought to be within the hunt to play in a Regional for the primary time since 2014.
Kansas State welcomed Cincinnati to the Large 12 by throwing a mixed no-hitter — seven innings from Jacob Frost and two from Jackson Wentworth — in a 4-0 win on Friday night time in Manhattan.
The 4 new Large 12 groups went a mixed 5-7 of their opening weekend of league play. Cincinnati misplaced two of three at Kansas State, BYU misplaced two of three at West Virginia, Houston swept Baylor and UCF was swept at Oklahoma.
UCLA’s struggles proceed. The Bruins have been swept at Cal, shedding 11-7 on Friday, 4-1 on Saturday and 6-5 on Sunday on a walk-off residence run by Caleb Lomavita. The Bruins, hoping to bounce again after a disappointing 2023 season, are 5-9 general and 0-3 within the Pac-12. They host Washington State subsequent weekend.
Cal, in the meantime, had a pleasant bounceback after shedding to Ohio State and Pittsburgh final weekend in Las Vegas. The Bears beat Stanford on Tuesday in a nonconference recreation earlier than sweeping the Bruins.
WALK OFF FOR THE SWEEP! 🧹 @braddahcaleb with the walk-off homer! #GoBears 🐻 pic.twitter.com/68s6wAogii
— Cal Baseball (@CalBaseball) March 10, 2024
Jac Caglianone entered the season as one of many nation’s most feared hitters and a pitcher with a ton of potential however with no monitor document of consistency on the mound.
Living proof: On Might 14 of final season, he allowed one hit and one earned run in 6 2/3 innings in a stress-free win towards Vanderbilt. Lower than two weeks later, he didn’t get out of the second inning in a loss to the identical Vanderbilt crew within the SEC Event.
Properly, it appears like Cags has put all of it collectively in his junior season. On Sunday, he threw six no-hit innings within the Gators’ 10-0 win over Saint Mary’s. For the season, he’s 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA and has allowed solely 5 hits in 15 innings with a 27-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
His emergence has been a brilliant spot on a Florida workers that has unexpectedly struggled by the primary month of the season. The Gators have a 5.43 crew ERA and gave up 20 runs in non-Cags’ begins to Saint Mary’s over the weekend.
Oh, and Caglianone can nonetheless swing the bat. He’s hitting a team-high .429 with 5 residence runs and 16 RBIs.
Texas’ journey to Houston for the Astros Basis Faculty Basic two weeks in the past was a catastrophe. The Longhorns misplaced all three video games, together with blowing an 11-3 result in Vanderbilt on Sunday. They adopted up with a 9-2 loss at rival Texas A&M on Tuesday.
So it’s truthful to say there was slightly little bit of stress on David Pierce’s crew in its Large 12 opener at Texas Tech. And it’s truthful to say the Horns responded, taking two of three from the Purple Raiders, highlighted by Friday night time’s emphatic 22-8 win.
Texas, now 9-6, steps out of Large 12 play this weekend to host Washington.
And eventually
• Some robust information for Virginia Tech, which introduced final week that first baseman Garrett Michel is predicted to be out for the remainder of the season with a damaged wrist suffered on March 1 towards Stony Brook. Michel was hitting .400 with 4 residence runs and 12 RBIs in 9 video games on the time of his damage. As a freshman in 2023, he hit .339 with 11 residence runs and 45 RBIs.
• It was an fascinating Friday for UC Irvine. The Anteaters prolonged their season-long successful streak to 12 video games with a 32-2 win over Columbia on the Fresno State Event. Later within the day, UCI misplaced for the primary time in 2024, falling 13-1 at host Fresno State. On Saturday, the Anteaters beat Columbia 25-7.
• Kennesaw State took two of three from Kentucky in Lexington, successful 13-1 on Friday night time and 10-2 on Saturday earlier than falling 5-2 in Sport 3 on Sunday. Earlier this season, the Owls gained at Clemson 18-1.
• Hagen Smith: nonetheless good! Since giving up three earned runs in a single inning within the opener towards Murray State, Arkansas’ junior lefty has allowed 5 hits and one earned run in 16 innings with 38 strikeouts and 5 walks.
• Alabama continues to swing the bat properly. The Crimson Tide scored not less than 10 runs in all three video games of a weekend sweep of Lipscomb. Alabama ranks seventh nationally in batting common (.345), tenth in runs scored (167) and twelfth in slugging (.590).
• Louisville noticed its 10-game successful streak snapped on Sunday with a 6-3 loss at residence to Northwestern. The Cardinals are displaying indicators of life after beginning the season with 4 consecutive losses, however not one of the 10 wins came to visit a crew with a successful document,
• Xavier scored solely 4 runs in its weekend journey to LSU however snuck out of Baton Rouge with one win, 2-1 on Sunday afternoon. Starter Nick Boyle gave up one unearned run in 5 innings, and three relievers mixed to surrender one hit and no runs in 4 innings to safe the win.
• Pitt entered ACC play with some momentum after posting convincing wins over Oklahoma and California in Las Vegas however obtained swept at North Carolina over the weekend.
• Southern Miss took two of three at Louisiana Tech in a key nonconference collection between two mid-major packages with NCAA Event aspirations. The Golden Eagles at the moment are 10-6 and have gained all 4 weekend collection. Louisiana Tech opened the season with 12 straight wins however has misplaced three of its final 4.
(Picture of AJ Gracia and Ben Miller courtesy of Duke Athletics)
