College Baseball 2024

One more week left in April as the season is grinding down to a halt. These are my opinions on college baseball. Also, check in at tomknuppel.com for other college sports such as, volleyball, football(on Fridays) and college basketball will be back. Let’s take a look at the Top 25 according to Tom and how they fared this week.

#1 Texas A&M – The Aggies are 35-5 overall and went 3-1 this  week as they beat Air Force in a mid week contest and defeated Alabama 10-5, 18-9 and lost the final contest on Sunday 10-9.

#2- Arkansas – We find the Razorbacks are 34-6 and was 4-1 on the week. They defeated Texas Tech 9-8 and 5-4 in midweek games and won  2-1 on Friday against South Carolina and lost Saturday  6-3 but took the rubber game of the series 9-6.

#3- Tennessee –  is 33-7 on the year. They were 3-1 this week after destroying Bellarmine 20-5 then won two of three against a good Kentucky team with a loss on Friday 5-3 but wins over the Saturday/Sunday contests with 9-4 and 13-11 wins.

#4- Clemson- the Tigers are 32-7 overall and 13-5 in the ACC conference. They defeated Pittsburgh two of three this weekend with a loss on Saturday. They are on the road at Georgia on Tueday and again on the road for the weekend series at Louisville.

#5- Florida State is 31-8 and lost two of three to a former #1 team in Wake Forest this weekend with all three contests decided in the final inning.  They will next face Duke next weekend.

#6 – Duke – The Blue Devils are 29-11 on the year and won all three in close affairs over Virginia Tech. They face Florida State in an important weekend series.

#7- Kentucky – The Wildcats are 32-7 and 2-2 on the week. They opened up with a midweek win 17-13 over in-state rival Louisville but then won on Friday and lost twice to Tennessee. It doesn’t get any easier as they face the South Carolina Gamecocks for three next weekend.

#8-  East Carolina- The Pirates are impressive with an overall record at 32-7. They were dominant with three wins over Wichita State and now look ahead to play North Carolina in a midweek game and then host Memphis.

#9- Wake Forest – The former #1 team is back to playing stellar baseball as their overall record is now 26-13. They were productive with a 2 of 3 wins over the weekend against Florida State. They next will travel to Notre Dame for a weekend series.

#10- Vanderbilt – The Commodores are 29-11 and had a successful weekend by winning 2 of 3 games against the Florida Gators. They next play at home at Hawkins Filed to take on Mississippi State next weekend.

#11- North Carolina- The tar Heels are 30-10 on the season and finished a tough week after losing midweek at home to Coastal Carolina. This snapped a 27 game home streak. Then they lost 2 of 3 to NC State in a pair of one run games but came back on Sunday to salvage the series with a 14-3 win. They will face Virginia Tech at home for a three game series.

#12- Virginia- is 29-11 on the year with a 12-9 ACC record. They had a bad midweek loss to Old Dominion and they dropped two of three against Georgia Tech over the weekend. The Cavaliers travel to Boston College for a weekend series.

#13- UC Irvine – They are 28-8 overall and lost in a midweek game to USC 12-4 but came back to sweep a series against San Diego State. Next up is a week day game at UCLA followed by traveling to UC Riverside for the weekend series.

#14- Oregon State – They are 30-9 on the season and 10-7 in the Pac 12. They were swept three games over the weekend by Cal. Next up they host the Oregon Ducks for a weekend series.

#15- Coastal Carolina jumped up in the polls after a 3-1 week. The Chants are currently 27-12 overall and beat two ranked opponents in North Carolina and 2 of 3 from Louisiana. They travel to Creighton for a midweek game and host Troy for a series n the weekend.

#16-  Oklahoma- The Sooners are 24-14 overall and 14-7 in the Big-12 conference. They swept BYU and now take on Wichita State and Texas.

#17- NC State is 22-15 overall but lost two of three to UNC. This coming midweek, they face a ranked East Carolina team and then host Ball State for the weekend series.

#18-  Oregon is 27-12 and won 2 of 3 at Stanford after defeating Gonzaga in a midweek contest. Now the Ducks will travel to Oregon State for a weekend series.

#19 – Oklahoma State dropped two of three to Kansas State to drop their overall record to 26-4. A crucial weekend series is looming this week as they host BYU.

#20- Alabama- the Tide are 25-15 over but a poor  7-11 in the SEC.  They took one of three from the top team in the nation in Texas A&M and now they get to face Mississippi on the road.

#21- South Carolina- The Gamecocks are currently 27-13 overall and 9-9 in the SEC..They lost a pair to Arkansas over the weekend. Next up is the Kentucky Wildcats.

#22- West Virginia finished the weekend with a 23-26 overall record after getting swept by Texas Tech. Going forward, the Mountaineers will have Penn State for one game and Baylor for a weekend series.

#23- Arizona enters the rankings after sweeping Washington State even though they lost a week day game to Grand Canyon. Their next weekend event will be traveling to face the Washington Huskies. for three games.

#24- Indiana Tate enters the Top 25 with an overall record of 12-3 in the Missouri  Valley and 29-8 overall. They travel to Carbondale to face Southern Illinois in the weekend series.

#25- Louisiana- the Ragin’ Cajun are 31-11 and 15=3 in the Sun Belt conference. They lost two of three against Coastal Carolina over the weekend series. Now, they host Houston Christian midweek and Southern Miss in the weekend bout.

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Each week I bring the Top 25 to you in College Baseball. There is always change and sometimes even big name, such as LSU, that drop out. Let’s get started!

#1- Arkansas – The Razorbacks are still going well with 27-3 record and 4-0 in conference play. They won four games this week with a midweek win 13-0 over Arkansas State . The weekend saw them sweep Ole Miss 5-2, 8-3 and 7-4. They have a weekend series with Alabama next.

#2- Clemson – They are 28-3 and 10-2 in conference play. They beat Upstate SC in the week day contest and swept Notre Dame with the Sunday game being an 11 inning win 13-12. they play North Carolina for three games over the weekend.

#3- Texas A&M – The Aggies are 28-4 overall and 8-4 in their conference. They won 2 of 3 over South Carolina in the weekend series with the Sunday contest going to the Gamecocks 6-5. Next up for them will be an important series against  a top ten team at home with Vanderbilt.

#4- Tennessee – The Volunteers are 28-6 overall and 6-4 in SEC play. They won 2 0f 3 against Auburn . Losing the first game, they roared back with 12-2 and 19-5 wins. This weekend they play the reigning national champions in the LSU Tigers.

#5- Oregon State – Overall, they are 26-4 and 8-3 in the PAC-12 conference. They won five games this week with two over Gonzaga and swept three from Arizona State. They host the Stanford Cardinals for three this weekend.

#6- Vanderbilt – The Commodores are 25-7 overall and 6-4 in the SEC. They had a good weekend as they swept three from LSU. It doesn’t get any easier as the play #3 Texas A&M for a weekend series.

#7- Kentucky – The Wildcats are currently 27-4 with a conference leading 11-1 in the SEC. They defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide in three contests and now will face Auburn for three.

#8- Duke- the Blue Devils enter this week with a 24-8 overall record and are 6-4  in the ACC. the swept Miami over the past weekend and now will face Pittsburgh for three contests.

#9 – Florida State- Overall, the Seminoles are 26-5 and 7-3 in conference play. They took two of three from Boston College and now play Florida midweek and face Miami for three over the weekend.

#10 – East Carolina – The Pirates are 24-6 and  3-1 in the American Conference. Last week they took two of three from FAU and now will square off against Charlotte.

#11 – UC Irvine- The first West Coast team in the rankings finds them overall with a 24-4 overall record and they are currently 2-1 in the Big West. They took two of three from a strong UC Santa Barbara team and now move forward to take on UC San Diego on the road.

#12 – Virginia – The Cavaliers are 24-7 0verall, but the strongest completion has come in conference as they are 7-4 in the ACC. They defeated North Carolina twice over the weekend and now travel to face Louisville

#13 – North Carolina – is 24-6 overall and in the ACC they are 11-4. The Tar Heels lost 2 of 3 last week against Virginia. This weekend they have a series at home against Notre Dame.

#14- UCF- I should have had them in my Top 25 last week. This week they took 2 of 3 from Kansas State and sport a record of  21-8 with 7 of the losses in the Big 12. This weekend they have a series at West Virginia.

#15 – Wake Forest – The former top team of the polls is currently with a  21-10 record and struggling in the ACC with a 7-8 record. Last weekend they swept Virginia Tech in three games and now face Boston College on the road for three contests.

#16- Virginia Tech – is 21-8 overall and 10-6 in he Atlantic Coast Conference. Last weekend they were swept in three games by Wake Forest and now they head to Georgia Tech for three.

#17- Oregon – they have a 22-8 overall record and are 8-4 in conference play. They won 2 of 4 from UCLA last weekend and  take on USC at home this weekend.

#18 – Dallas Baptist- I might have this team higher except their schedule is weaker than the others. Their record is 25-6 and 2-2 in conference play. They lost 2 of 3 from Western Kentucky over the previous weekend and now travel for a weekend series at Air Force.

#19 – Oklahoma State – at 21-11 and 7-5 in the Big 12, I almost didn’t include them but they are 3-3 against Top 25 teams. They took 2 of 3 from in-state rival Oklahoma the previous weekend and now they face Cincinnati at home.

#20 – Nebraska – The lone Big Ten team left in the polls, the Huskers are 22-7 overall an 0-1 in conference play plus they are 0-1 facing Top 25 teams. They took two of three from Ohio State and now travel to Rutgers for a three game series.

#21 – Louisiana – This team is 24-8 and 11-1 in the Sun Belt conference. They swept Louisiana-Monroe and are riding a 15 game winning streak. They face Marshall at home.

22- Coastal Carolina- The Chanticleers have been hanging around the is area of the Top 25 most of the season. They are 22-9 along with a 7-5 record in the Sun Belt conference. They travel to Georgia Southern for a three game series this weekend.

#23- Mississippi State – With a 21-12 overall record along with a 6-6 record in the SEC, I couldn’t put them as high as the national polls. They lost 2 of 3 to Georgia last weekend and now face in-state rival Mississippi for a series.

#24- Alabama – The Tide come onto this week with a 21-10 record and a poor 4-8 in the conference. They were swept by Kentucky this past weekend and now face the top in the country Arkansas coming up.

#25- South Carolina – The Gamecocks are 22-8 overall with a 11-1 in the Sun Belt. However, they are 0-1 against Top 25 teams. They will take on Marshall for a weekend series.

Dropped out- Florida Gators. LSU Tigers