Here's Everything You Missed From This Weekend Of College Baseball (The Official Monday NCAA Baseball Round Up Blog)

Butch Dill. Shutterstock Images.

The Whistler is back in action so I might as well join him. I used to write long MLB round up blogs on Monday mornings to get everyone on the same page about big news from the weekend. That should probably come back and I think the best way is to start with college. There's a lot more college baseball fans than you think and I would like to start doing something nice for you. Give me feedback at carl@barstoolsports if you want to see different segments, teams, etc. 

We're in this together.  

Let's get started:

NCAA Season Week: 2

Rankings Update (via D1baseball)

These rankings are absolutely meaningless unless you want to argue. In that case, your team sucks, your program’s overrated and you're not going to convince me otherwise. 

VANDY IS OBJECTIVELY BETTER THAN ARKANSAS THROUGH WEEK 2 BUT NOT NEARLY AS GOOD AS OLE MISS WHO IS BETTER THAN FLORIDA BUT WORSE THAN OLE MISS

 Don’t change guys.

To the Round Up:

Player of the week - Liam McFadden-Ackman, Northern Kentucky

Maybe the easiest award I'll ever have to give. Liam hit 2 grandslams for NKU in the 1st inning of Sunday's game against Western Michigan (0-6, outscored 60-17 on the season). 

McFadden-Ackman had 6 career HR's in like 190 AB's going into the season. He now has 4 in 23 AB's including the 6-11 weekend with 11 RBI's. Interesting enough, he didn't even start Friday night. Meaning he's the Barstool Baseball national player of the week while not being good enough for the Friday night lineup. Or maybe he was hurt. I'm just telling you guys what I know, and I know this is the first time I've talked about a Tatis Senior in so long. 

Feels good to bring that back. Thank you, Liam. 

Best Play - Drew Biano, Houston

Honestly just shut up and watch this catch. 

Russilo thinks this should be a HR. Personally I think we need to be as liberal as possible with recording outs in college baseball. Close enough is good enough in my book. 

While we're here, this Bianco kid is well known across college baseball because his Dad, Mike, is the 20+ year coach at Ole Miss. Won their first title last year and all that shit. Well anyways, son doesn't play for Dad. Instead he goes to LSU for his first 4 years with limited playing time. He gets to make another move this offseason and does he end up with Dad and the champs at Ole Miss? No. He's at Houston. 

I'm not done. 

Drew isn't a very good hitter by the numbers. But he gets drilled a staggering amount. Maybe the most I've ever seen in my life - 26 HBP in 342 plate appearances. That 7.6% rate absolutely SMASHES Craig Biggio's 2.5% career number. In other words, this guy gets hit 3x more than the most frequently drilled guy I can possibly remember. 

The most fucked up part is that this catch wasn't even the best play of the weekend. I lied. 

THE REAL BEST PLAY

Are you fuckin kiddin me buddy? Texas dudes scare the shit out of me. Like that's just some regular looking A&M student. First and last glance, he looks so unimpressive. But lurking underneath the mediocrity is an animalistic, instinctual ability to casually barehand 96mph worth of exit velo that's slicing away HARD. Sure being on the varsity team is a nice advantage. But our friend in the stands here will certainly accomplish more in the world of promoting Texas A&M baseball this season than half the roster. 

That's not mean. It's just true that Texas A&M fans are different. 

Some would say Clinically Insane:

Old clip but a good one. Let's stay on A&M for a second.

Biggest Upset Of The Weekend: Texas A&M Almost Gets Swept By Portland

Really tough scene for A&M going 0-3 into the Sunday game and needing 3 runs in the 9th to avoid a sweep. 

I should probably give more credit to Portland, but their basketball team has never covered for me. EVER. I've been taking the Portland points going back to Stuckey Covers Days, and I swear it's a guarantee loss. Portland has a long way to go for me. 

Undefeated Teams

There's a long way to go in the season too. But even so, the following teams are undefeated and that's cool. (Top 25 only):

- Wake Forest (9-0)

- Virginia (7-0)

- Alabama (7-0)

- NC Sate (7-0)

- South Carolina (8-0)

- Texas Tech (8-0)

Good for them. The midweek starting pitchers who ultimately lose the first game (likely freshmen on large scholarships) are gonna feel like shit after and that's exactly what the coaches want. Only way to get an average baseball player to improve is to subject them to humiliating failure. 

The Week's Most Unbelievable Statistic

I wish I was making it up because then my brain could move on from this. But it's true and I can't stop thinking about it: 

Oklahoma State threw BACK TO BACK staff no hitters. It started on Tuesday and rolled into their Friday night and I can't stop thinking about the 0 hits, 4 walks and 24 strikeouts in 18 innings. 

No Hitter 1 - Cal Baptist

No Hitter 2 - Loyola Marymount

The Cowboys go 3-1 on the week with the loss being a 10-8 shootout. They combined to give up 1 run in the other 3 games. That's amazing but worth reminding everyone of something else: 

The SEC Is Unlike Any Other Conference On The Planet

Maryland vs. Ole Miss this weekend was a huge nonconference matchup. One of Mintzy's to watch if you follow him on the Tik Tok. The Big Ten's best program (allegedly) with a stud Friday night guy vs. the defending champs. 

Ole Miss comes out and gets roughed up Friday night 9-2 only to outscore Maryland 30-14 to close the weekend. 

Ole Miss is sweet. Maryland has a good program. Both clubs are very solid, but I just want to use this as an opportunity to highlight the strength of the SEC. Ole Miss is one of the many SEC teams capable of winning Omaha. You get smoked at home by a northern program and you think their boys would be down for a minute. NOT TRUE. This is so routine I almost don't want to make a big deal out of it. The SEC is just so fucking good. 

Even more notable - Maryland plays Ole Miss AGAIN in two weeks at the Cambria Classic, a northern tourney hosted by Minnesota at the Vikings stadium. Three Big Ten teams mix with three warm weather programs. This year it's Hawaii, Vandy and Ole Miss. 

Maryland's Friday guy Jason Savacool is rising on draft boards. Especially after shoving against Ole Miss this weekend. Not to get too far ahead but that 4th game between Ole Miss and Maryland should be absolutely electric. 

He does this shit again in a couple weeks and I think we need to have a Savacool segment ready to go. 

Speaking of Big Ten vs. SEC… 

LSU Gets Their Asses Kicked By Iowa

If I didn't beat LSU myself then I would say it's impossible

12-4 is an objective ass kicking, and even so, that still sounds so much better than the box score

 … 4-0 after 3

… 7-2 after 7

… 11-2 going into B7

It was never close, but let's be clear about something real quick: 

LSU Is By Far The Best Team In The Country

That's because they have the best players, like #1 draft prospect Dylan Crews. He's an averaged sized righty with monster pop. A career .365 hitter with 71 XBH's in 132 games for the Tigers. He was the highest ranked HS player in 2020 (13th) to skip pros for college. Now into his 3rd season with LSU, he's considered a can't miss prospect. 

Just listen to Jay Johnson talk about him 

He's a simple looking hitter that favors the center of the field. Legitimately a perfect looking college baseball player. Blah blah blah. Get a taste of the swag: 

Also shoutout to Stephen for doing the Lord's work on college baseball. Guy doesn't miss shit and he only threw like 84 while being an All American for Virginia. The game needs guys like Stephen. 

FOR EXAMPLE: 

Arturo Disla Still Doing It

Remember this big sumbitch? 

Well turns out he's still doing it. This weekend's bomb pushes him to a 1.293 OPS in the NAIA. 

If anyone in NAIA has better power, please email me their stats carl@barstoolsports.com

What else. 

This Jac Caglianone Kid Might Be Better Than Arturo

All you D-1 rats getting so mad. I get it. Here's a kid from Florida that pitches in the weekend rotation, throws gas, and then hits bombs. Another thing you have to see to believe: 

If you hit 6 homers in an entire season where your primary responsibility is to pitch on weekends, then you're a certified gangster in the world of college baseball. Jac reigns from Plant HS in Tampa, FL which has like half-a-dozen high impact big leaguers right now. Good chance he's gonna be 7 before the rest flame out. He's got another year before getting drafted. 

Enrique on the other hand? We don't call out anyone in the SEC without making sure Enrique gets his love.

ENRIQUE

That's 97 stolen bases in basically two seasons. I'm saying no doubt he gets to 150. And if this is the 1st time you're seeing him, that's okay. He's the most electric baseball player I have ever seen in person. Like legitimately Take Your Breath Away kind of athleticism. 

The only problem is people can't figure out his game for the pros. He's an 80 speed and a 75 glove with absolutely no power and maybe an average arm. And I mean NO power. 

Even so, kind of encouraging people are saying top-10 pick. 

That's so routine for Enrique and a perfect example of the 80 speed. Fastest guy playing baseball anywhere right now. But he can't hit home runs. Somebody picking top-10 will have the balls to draft him. Personally I have no clue how the career turns out. I just want to see someone rip 70 stolen bases at the big league level. 

Speaking Of Stolen Bases

This is meaningles to many. But if you've practiced baseball indoors during the winter time, you know that about 50% of your time is doing simulated drills and bunt defenses. Under that premise, there's really no excuse for Iowa to give up a double steal. It's quite literally all those kids have practiced for the last couple weeks. 

On record - I happen to love a double steal like this. Even if you're basically telling the hitter that he sucks. 

Tommy Tanks Check-In

Couple more things to wrap our first college baseball round up. 

Tommy White became Tommy Tanks last year for NC State when he hit like 50 something bombs. 

He ended up transferring this year to LSU and hurt his shoulder first game of the year. He's still playing a little but hasn't really done shit with the bad shoulder. Kind of sad but you guys should know that he's ready to play every day. Coach Johnson loves the attitude and thinks he's a real gamer. Should be a couple more weeks before the Tommy Tanks highlights are flying around like crazy. Be patient. He's still out there. 

Lastly - Illini Beat Southern Miss

Of course I'm going to mention my Illini. They're 4-3 with a series win over Southern Miss this past weekend. I personally got emotionally for a minute watching Saturday: 

Logan ended up blowing the save but he throws 96 and will likely get drafted high enough to have a real career. Meanwhile I'm still sitting here. Give me the 96 all day and let's go win a championship. 

Speaking of which I threw long toss today. Building up to 90 before the season starts. Episode 1 should be on the YouTube page later this week if you want to see me blow my UCL in real time. Subscribe here: