Foley’s National Weekend Preview (March 4th-6th)

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We enter the third weekend of action in College Baseball today with a couple of good tournaments and series around the country. Sr. Writer William Knox will be in Austin TX this weekend covering the Stanford vs Texas series while Assistant Editor Mark Rafferty is flying down to San Diego to cover the University of San Diego tournament. Both Sr. Writer Katherine Cornetta and Editor Brian Foley will be in the CBD East Coast office running the twitter and answering questions on twitter. Remember to follow the site’s twitter account @CB_Daily for the latest news and notes from the games. Also, we will be running a live chat at 10pm on Sunday evening to go over the weekend of action in college baseball and you can sign up for a reminder by entering your email address in the box on the right side of the site.

Houston College Classic
Who to Watch

Anthony Rendon (Rice) is the consensus top player in the country but is battling a right shoulder injury which has limited his time in the field as he has been a DH the last week or so. He is currently hitting .429 with two homers and nine RBI in ten games. Scouts will be looking at him for the rest of the year to see if he can get back to starting at third base after being injured the last two summer seasons with ankle injuries.

John Stilson (Texas A&M) has been excellent in his first two starts of the season as he is 1-0 without giving up an earned run in his 15 innings of work. He has struck out 18 batters while walking only one batters and holding opponents to a .143 batting average against.

C.J. Cron (Utah) heading into the summer, he was in a battle with Bethune-Cookman’s Peter O’Brien for the top eligible college catcher in the 2011 draft. He suffered an injury just before the start of the Team USA tryouts which ended his summer early. He has started the season well hitting .389 with three homers and five RBI in five games.

Alex Meyer (Kentucky) is a righthanded pitcher which scouts have been loving based on his 6’9 220 pound frame since his high school days but has never put it all together on a college diamond. In his first start of this season, he went seven innings against Miami (OH) striking out a career high 13 batters. He followed that up with a start against Illinois-Chicago as he struck out seven batters in his five innings pitched grabbing the win.

Stanford at Texas
Who to Watch

Taylor Jungmann (Texas) has been one of the top pitchers in the country through his first two starts on the year. He has tossed a complete game shutout in both games while giving up only nine hits while striking out 18 batters while walking one.

Jordan Pries (Stanford) leads the pitching staff for the Cardinal as he is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA in eleven innings while holding opponents to a .118 batting average against.

Erich Weiss (Texas) has stepped right into the starting lineup for the Longhorns. As a freshman this year, he leads the team in hitting at .538 with eight RBI.

Kenny Diekroger (Stanford) was considered the top prospect last summer in the NECBL and has continued his stellar summer this spring. He leads the team with a .441 batting average with a homer and six RBI through the first eight games of the season.

USD Tournament (Oklahoma, Cal, Uconn, San Diego, San Diego State)
Who to Watch

Garrett Buechele (Oklahoma) is currently leading the team in all three triple crown categories with a .489 batting average, five homers and 17 RBI in the first 11 games of the season.

Erik Johnson (Cal) enters the weekend with a perfect 2-0 record without giving up a run in 13 innings. He has struck out 14 batters while walking three and holding opponents to a .136 batting average against.

George Springer (Uconn) is considered the second best college position player in the 2011 MLB Draft but has gotten out to a very slow start. He is currently hitting .136 with a homer but leads the team with seven RBI.

Matt Barnes (Uconn) is one of the top right handed pitchers in the upcoming 2011 MLB Draft is expected to pitch on Sunday against Cal. He has been the Huskies most consistent starter this year in two starts with a 0-2 record and a 3.46 ERA in 13 innings while striking out 20 batters. He has found his control which he struggled with in 2010 as he has walked only four batters.

There is also a couple of big series between ACC and SEC programs this weekend with South Carolina and Clemson facing off, Florida hosting Miami, and Florida State heading on the road to Georgia. You can check out those series in my ACC Weekend Preview which can be checked out by clicking here.

What series are you looking forward to this weekend? Leave your comments below.

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