By: Aaron Kirby
Opening weekend of the 2013 college baseball season saw some very good weekends, very bad weekends and plenty of bad weather for Mid-Majors across the country.
Missouri State (2-1) slides up to #1 after finishing 2-1in the Centurylink Bobcat Invitational hosted by Texas State. The Bears opened the season with a 3-2 win over Texas St and followed that up with a 3-2 win vs Sam Houston State on Saturday, but lost 6-4 to Tulane on Sunday. Friday’s game put Missouri State’s All-American RHP Nick Petree (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K) vs Texas St’s All-American RHP Kyle Finnegan (6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 11 K) with neither getting a decision as Missouri St scored a run in top of 9th for the 3-2 win…………..Louisville (2-1) drops down one spot to #2 after going 2-1 in the Big East/Big Ten Challenge in Florida. The Cardinals dropped the season opener to Indiana 2-0 but followed that up with a 10-1 win vs South Florida Saturday and a 9-4 win vs Purdue on Sunday.
Good Opening Weekends
- Coastal Carolina (2-0) moves up two spots to #3 after winning 2 games vs James Madison. On Sunday James Madison scored 5 runs in the top of 9th inning to take a 7-6 lead before Coastal scored 2 in btm 9th to win 8-7. Saturday’s game was CCD due to the horrible weather in the entire Southeast. UNC also had a game CCD in their series with Seton Hall setting up Coastal Carolina traveling to Chapel Hill on Monday
- Florida Atlantic (3-0) moves up to #4 with an opening weekend sweep of Cincinnati
- Pepperdine (4-0) climbs to #5 with a 4 game sweep of Western Michigan.
- Western Carolina (2-1) jumps to #8 winning 2 of 3 from Washington State in the cold and snow flurries. The Catamounts opened the season with an 8-5 win behind the strong start by Sophomore RHP Jeremy Null (7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 13 K)
- St Louis (2-1) moves to #10 after winning 2 of 3 at Oral Roberts.
- Southeastern Louisiana (3-0) moves up six spots to #11 after sweeping Tennessee Martin.
- Mercer (3-0) jumps up ten places to #15 after going 3-0 in Florida. The Bears beat Ohio St 6-5 in 10 innings on Friday, St John’s 13-5 Saturday, and finished the weekend with a 5-4 win vs Notre Dame on Sunday.
- Indiana (2-1) moves up 5 places to #18 going 2-1 in the Big East/Big Ten Challenge in Florida. The Big Ten favorite Hoosiers opened the season with a 2-0 win vs Louisville, followed by a 4-3 loss in 15 innings to UCONN and finished the weekend with a 12-2 win vs South Florida.
Not So Good Opening Weekends
- San Diego (0-3) did not open their new ball park the way they would have liked. The Toreros drop to #7 after cross town rivals San Diego St crashed the party and swept the Toreros by the scores of 8-1, 4-2 and 5-3. SDSU roughed up the former 1st round pick JR RHP Dylan Covey on Friday for 6 runs (5 ER) on 8 hits in just 3 innings.
- Sam Houston State (1-2) drop a spot to #9 after a disappointing weekend vs some very good clubs in the Texas State tourney. The Bearkats lost 2-0 to Tulane on Friday and 3-2 to Missouri State Saturday before salvaging a game Sunday with a 10-9 win vs Texas St.
- Dallas Baptist (0-3) tumbles 8 spots to #14 after being swept at home by Creighton.
- Elon (1-2) fall 7 places to #21 after going 1-2 in their own tourney the Country Inn and Suites Elon Invitational. The Phoenix opened with an 11-3 win vs Marist but followed that up with a 7-6 loss to Boston College and a 6-2 loss to VCU.
- Kent State (0-4) free fall 14 spots to #25 after going winless in Wilmington with 2 games vs UNCW and 2 games vs Virginia Tech. Playing on the road vs 2 good clubs saved the Golden Flashes from dropping out of top 25. However it does not get any easier as they travel to San Diego for 4 games this week and then travel to Louisville the following week for a 3 game set.
Dropped Out
- #7 Wichita St (0-3) falls all the way out of the poll after getting swept at home by Pittsburgh. The Shockers were shocked by the Panthers, who were picked to finish 7th in the Big East by the Big East coaches, 6-4, 10-8 and 11-3.
- #18 Nebraska (0-4) finished winless on the West Coast opening weekend. The Huskers lost 9-4 at Cal St Bakersfield Friday followed by 2 losses (10-5 and 9-0) at Cal St Fullerton and 4-3 at USC on Sunday. The Huskers led 3-2 going into the bottom of 9th on Sunday at USC before a 2 out single gave the Trojans the win.
- #20 Stony Brook (0-3) got swept at Florida International.
- #24 Gonzaga (2-2) went 1-1 vs Utah Valley, 0-1 vs Oregon St and 1-0 vs UC Riverside
Entered Top 25
- San Diego St (3-0) enters the top 25 all the way up to #12 after completing a 3 game sweep at cross town rival San Diego. The Aztecs held San Diego to just 6 runs and a b/avg of just .213. A very impressive start to 2013 for Tony Gywnn’s club.
- Creighton (3-0) also got an impressive sweep to start the 2013 season. The Blue Jays enter the top 25 at #13 after going to Texas and sweeping Dallas Baptist. Creighton hit .378 on the way to scoring 29 runs in the 3 game sweep.
- Pittsburgh (3-0) comes in at #23 after going to Wichita State and sweeping the Shockers. The Panthers who were picked to finish 7th in the Big East by the Big East coaches pull off the biggest surprise of opening weekend.
- Georgia Southern (2-1) enters the top 25 at #24 winning 2 of 3 vs in-state rival Georgia. The Eagles dropped the opener 6-5 but won 3-2 on Saturday and won series with an 11-2 win on Sunday. Georgia Southern, which set a 3 game series stadium attendance record after game 2, had over 3,000 fans each day and ended up with series attendance of 9,225.
Bad Weather and Notes
- Appalachian St (1-0) opened season with 6-3 win over Carlos Rodon and NC State however weather forced the cancelation of the remaining 2 games. Cold weather tried to ruin opening weekend for most of the South and several games were canceled because of snow and cold in both North and South Carolina.
- Friday night Alabama St’s sophomore RHP TJ Renda threw a no hitter in 14-0 win vs Chicago St. Renda threw 123 pitches while hitting one, walking one and striking out 15.
| CBD Mid-Major Top 25 Week 1 | |||||
| Rnk | School | Record | Pvs | Wk | |
| Week Results 2/15-2/17 | |||||
| #1 | Missouri State | 2-1 | #3 |
| |
| 1-0 at Texas St; 1-0 vs Sam Houston State; 0-1 vs Tulane | |||||
| #2 | Louisville | 2-1 | #1 |
| |
| 0-1 vs Indiana; 1-0 vs South Florida; 1-0 vs Purdue | |||||
| #3 | Coastal Carolina | 2-0 | #5 |
| |
| James Madison | |||||
| #4 | Florida Atlantic | 3-0 | #9 |
| |
| Cincinnati; | |||||
| #5 | Pepperdine | 4-0 | #12 |
| |
| Western Michigan | |||||
| #6 | New Mexico | 1-2 | #4 |
| |
| Oklahoma St | |||||
| #7 | San Diego | 0-3 | #2 |
| |
| San Diego St | |||||
| #8 | Western Carolina | 2-1 | #14 |
| |
| Washington St | |||||
| #9 | Sam Houston State | 1-2 | #8 |
| |
| 0-1 vs Tulane; 0-1 vs Missouri State;1-0 at Texas St | |||||
| #10 | St Louis | 2-1 | #15 |
| |
| at Oral Roberts | |||||
| #11 | SE Louisiana | 3-0 | #16 |
| |
| Tennessee Martin | |||||
| #12 | San Diego State | 3-0 | NR |
| |
| at San Diego | |||||
| #13 | Creighton | 3-0 | NR |
| |
| at Dallas Baptist | |||||
| #14 | Dallas Baptist | 0-3 | #6 |
| |
| Creighton | |||||
| #15 | Mercer | 3-0 | #25 |
| |
| 1-0 vs Ohio State; 1-0 vs St Johns; 1-0 vs Notre Dame | |||||
| #16 | Fresno State | 1-2 | #10 |
| |
| UC Santa Barbara | |||||
| #17 | UNCW | 2-2 | #17 |
| |
| 2-0 Kent State; 0-2 Virginia Tech | |||||
| #18 | Indiana | 2-1 | #23 |
| |
| 1-0 vs Louisville; 0-1 vs Connecticut; 1-0 vs South Florida | |||||
| #19 | College of Charleston | 2-1 | #19 |
| |
| Xavier | |||||
| #20 | Notre Dame | 2-1 | #21 |
| |
| 1-0 vs Ohio State; 1-0 vs FGCU; 0-1 vs Mercer | |||||
| #21 | Elon | 1-2 | #13 |
| |
| 1-0 Marist; 0-1 Boston College; 0-1 VCU | |||||
| #22 | Austin Peay State | 2-1 | #22 |
| |
| Iowa | |||||
| #23 | Pittsburgh | 3-0 | NR |
| |
| at Wichita St | |||||
| #24 | Georgia Southern | 2-1 | NR |
| |
| Georgia | |||||
| #25 | Kent State | 0-4 | #11 |
| |
| 0-2 vs Viginia Tech; 0-2 at UNCW; | |||||
| Dropped Out |
|
| |||
| #7 | Wichita State | 0-3 |
|
| |
| #18 | Nebraska | 0-4 |
|
| |
| #20 | Stony Brook | 0-3 |
|
| |
| #24 | Gonzaga | 2-2 |
|
| |
| Others Receiving Votes |
|
| |||
| FIU | 3-0 |
|
| ||
| Belmont | 3-0 |
|
| ||
| Appalachian State | 1-0 |
|
| ||
| Cal St Bakersfield | 2-1 |
|
| ||
| Kennesaw State | 3-0 |
|
| ||
| Troy | 4-0 |
|
| ||
| Loyola Marymount | 2-1 |
|
| ||
| Liberty | 1-2 |
|
| ||
| Gonzaga | 2-2 |
|
| ||
| UT-Arlington | 3-0 |
| |||
11 comments
Keep an eye on South Alabama. They have a couple of outstanding freshmen added to a nice crop of returnees. Look for the College of Charleston series March 1-3rd at Charleston. That should tell us for sure if the Jags are for real.
Will put them on the “bubble” list. Thanks
How does Austin Peay not get a mention for good opening weekend? Two out of 3 games against Big 10 Iowa?
This is a fun poll. Some thoughts….
First (not asked as a criticism but for information), who votes in the poll?
Second, I can answer apsufan82’s question: Because Austin Peay’s wins were against Big 10 Iowa. They’re a weak team in a weak baseball league.
Good to see you drop Wichita State and Dallas Baptist. This ranking toughness adds credibility to the poll.
By disagreement, I think Georgia St. and Indiana should change places. It means a TON more to win 2 of 3 against SEC’s Georgia than it does to beat Louisville and USF while losing to U.Conn. I realize L’Ville was #1, but anyone’s pre-season ranking of mid-majors would be soft by nature of the competition.
Elon should also drop out for losing to Boston College and VCU while beating only Marist.
A little hard on Stony Brook, I think. Two of the 3 losses were close. Against a Florida school in the first series of the year. I’d have kept them at 22-25.
Finally, I’d have kept Gonzaga in the ranking. They’re the only drop out with a .500 record — and theirs is against West Coast competition which is certainly ahead of most of the country in February.
Good fun.
I just put that because it sounds better than Bubble Boys. LOL However i do ask
opinions of several people most weeks. They are some current coaches, a scout
or two and guys i have played with or played against. I have been waiting for someone to ask that question.
Austin Peay did have a good weekend but i would expect them to atleast win 2 of 3 from Iowa and probably should sweep them. I do like The Governors this year and ill take 2 of 3 just about any weekend. Actually have an old Governors
practice shirt from one summer when exchanged shirts.
I really do not like dropping someone from #7 all the way out. The reason Wichita State dropped all the way out is because they got swept at home by a Big East school who was projected to finish 7th. That just cannot happen sorry. But for the first 4-5 weeks ill expect a good bit of movement before clubs settle in to conference play. Dallas Baptist getting swept at home by Creighton is not as bad but still bad enough.
It’s Georgia Southern by the way not Georgia St. I watched the majority of all 3 games this weekend between Georgia Southern and Georgia. While any time you take 2 of 3 from a SEC school its pretty damn good for your resume. But not taking anything away from Georgia Southern but Georgia is not good. Those two will settle it on the field this weekend anyway. Indiana travels to Statesboro for 3 game set this weekend. BTW if you get a minute this weekend go watch the Georgia Southern video, it is very impressive.
Stony Brook and Gonzaga fell on the sword because of Pittsburgh and Georgia
Southern. The first to go was Stony Brook because they got swept and what Pittsburgh did was more impressive then GSU. So I struggled with dropping
Gonzaga out. I did the rankings 3 times before I finally dropped them out. It
was more of what Georgia Southern did rather than what Gonzaga did or did not
do.
Before struggling with Gonzaga I really had issues at the top. While Western Carolina did win 2 of 3 from Washington State I’m not sold on them being at #8 just yet. They did not hit the ball very well this weekend and were helped out by WSU. But it is hard to play in 30 degree weather and snow flurries.
Actually found the old Governors shirt from 1998
Hell, if it’s your ranking and not a poll, just call it the CBD Mid-Majors Ranking. Makes no difference. Probably takes more work than a poll; still provides a healthy venue for college baseball fans to share opinions.
I appreciate your reasoning….with one exception:
I’m sorry, but ANYBODY in the SEC has to carry more weight than Wichita State. I admit that beating a competitive team in any mid-level league is a serious accomplishment for a Big East also-ran. But a team made up of the 27 worst players in the SEC — or their sisters — is still better than WSU.
My faux pas.. I’m always confusing GA State with GA Southern.
Good fun. Well thought out. Looking forward to the next one.
I never even really noticed that the post says “poll”. Damn you dont miss anything!!! LOL
Well that maybe true but i still think Pittsburgh going to Wichita State is a bigger deal than Georgia losing 2 of 3 at Georgia Southern. Ive watched alot of Georgia Southern games the last 15-16 years so them winning 2 of 3 at home from Georgia is damn good but not nearly as big of accomplishment as what Pitt did no matter what you think of Wichita State. What is more of a shock is how Georgia continues to put out very average at best teams.
You get Georgia State and Georgia Southern confused? And where are you from?
I spoke to Coach Jordano and he stated that Wichita State hadn’t been swept at home in 42 years…Pretty big deal to go there and win for the Panthers.
WOW. They have not been swept at home in 42 years. Does that include the entire season or just opening weekend?
Not even a mention that the #1 team in most polls (Arkansas Razorbacks) lost to a mid-major this weekend?!
That is 100% my fault and you are right. Should have mentioned Western Illinois in the notes section at the end. That was a huge win for the Leathernecks.
Comments are closed.