2019 College World Series Preview

The College Baseball season is about to end with one of the NCAA’s premier events kicking off in Omaha on Friday night with the opening ceremonies of the College World Series.

The field of 64 is now down to eight as some of the best college baseball teams set to show what they can do. While the field doesn’t feature the MLB’s No.1 draft pick, Adley Rutschman, or the 2018 champion Oregon State Beavers, it does still feature several high-end draft picks playing in their final games for some of the best college baseball teams in the nation.

The Vanderbilt Commodores go in as a favorite following a 49-10 regular season and are joined by several other top teams though Oregon State and UCLA both are on the outside looking in, getting knocked off by the Michigan Wolverines in the Regionals and Super Regionals, respectively. We will see if the Wolverine’s impressive run can continue, if the Commodores can deliver, or if another team will emerge as the winners of the College World Series in Omaha.

2019 College World Series Matchups:

Michigan vs. Texas Tech (Bracket 1)

Arkansas vs. Florida State (Bracket 1)

Vanderbilt vs. Louisville (Bracket 2)

Mississippi State vs. Auburn (Bracket 2)

FAVORITES

The top dogs in this College World Series are Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and Mississippi State.

The Commodores ranked No.2 in the nation heading into the tournament and are the highest ranked team standing after UCLA’s upset.

Vandy is an excellent baseball program and perennial College World Series contender. In fact, of the teams still standing they were the last to win it all, back in 2014. Though, Arkansas was the runner up last year, falling to Oregon State. We’ll get to the Razorbacks in a moment.

As for the Commodores, they’ve got a strong group of pitchers to lean on including Mason Hickman and Patrick Raby with ERAs of 2.23 and 2.82 respectively. In addition, Drake Fellows has proven to be a solid innings eater and Kumar Rocker may be the best of the bunch.

The freshman ended the year with a 10-5 record and 3.50 ERA but finished strong. He had a huge second half with big games against some quality teams like LSU and Auburn. He also delivered a big performance in the Regionals against Indiana State with one run in 6.2 innings. In the Super Regionals, Rocker threw a 19-strikeout gem, no-hitting Duke in a would-be elimination game. With a mid-90s fastball he’s able to dot all over the zone and a devastating breaking ball to keep hitters honest, he’s seemingly been a man among boys over his last several starts. He could be a real factor in Omaha.

Alongside a strong pitching staff, the Commodores also have a fearsome offense headed by No.4 overall pick in this year’s MLB Draft, outfielder J.J. Bleday. Bleday has a .350/.464/.717 slash line with 26 home runs and 69 RBI all within 254 at bats. He’s the power in the order, but this team has two other bats with a dozen dingers each. In addition, it has plenty of speed—including Bleday himself—and a team full of guys able to get on base, including Austin Martin who has a .503 OBP and 18 steals.

Moving on to Arkansas, the Razborbacks are statistically just a bit weaker than Vanderbilt across the board. They’re comparable in homeruns per game, ERA and average, but rank just a bit behind.

Arkansas saw seven of its players selected in the 2019 MLB First Year Player draft including Dominic Fletcher and Isaiah Campbell, both of whom went at the end of the first day.

The Razorbacks needed a third game to topple Ole Miss in the Super Regionals, but they did so in commanding fashion on Monday, winning 14-1. They fell behind 1-0 in the first inning and came back with 14 unanswered runs, capped by a five run sixth inning.

Patrick Wicklander didn’t make it through two innings, but we saw the team’s strong bullpen, including Matt Cronin and Jacob Kostyshock, both 2019 MLB draftees.

Finally, Mississippi State brings a 51-13 record to the table and unlike both Vanderbilt and Arkansas breezed through the Super Regionals relatively unchallenged, outscoring Stanford 14-3 in two games.

That could be a bad thing as we haven’t seen them overcome real adversity yet, but while not boasting nearly as much power offensively as the other two favorites, the Bulldogs have one of college baseball’s best team batting averages and have seven guys with at least 200 at bats and an OBP north of .375. This is a balanced lineup top to bottom capable of producing a different hero every night. And it’s still got some pop, too, with Justin Foscue and Dustin Skelton able to go yard when needed. Mostly, though, this team is a doubles-machine.

On the mound, the squad is heavily dependent on Ethan Small. J.T. Ginn and Peyton Plumlee are solid starters, but Small is the ace at 10-2 with a 1.76 ERA. Notably, the Bulldogs have the best team ERA of any team still standing and that could be the difference maker for Mississippi State.

DARKHORSES

The Louisville Cardinals and Texas Tech Red Raiders are a couple interesting dark horse teams in this College World Series.

Neither Louisville or Texas Tech are were top-5 teams heading into the tournament, but with teams like UCLA and Stanford sent packing in the Super Regionals, the Cardinals and Red Raiders are what qualifies as the next teams up behind the likes of Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Arkansas.

Louisville is a sneaky play thanks to it’s pitching which has a 3.56 team ERA, second of the final eight teams to Mississippi State. Texas Tech sits at a respectable 3.90.

Offensively, both of these teams have found ways to plate runs, each ranking in the top dozen of college teams in runs scored. Texas Tech, however, is the better offensive team with a team average of .301 and more than their share of dingers.

Josh Jung is the heart and soul of the Red Raiders’ team. He’s locked down the left side of the infield. The third baseman’s .342/.476/.636 slash line along with his 14 homers and 56 RBI earned him the eighth overall pick in the MLB Draft, but he wasn’t even the best hitter on his team.

Jung has the better batting eye, but first baseman Cameron Warren produced a better average a .354 and hit a team high 17 home runs with 76 RBI. He also struck out less than Jung.

The two will make it hard for anyone, but when you add in Dru Baker and Brain Klein, it’s hard to find a better infield. Add in some speed and quality on-base numbers in the outfield and this team can mash.

The issue for the Red Raiders will be the pitching. There are some interesting relief arms, but the team lacks a true ace-level starter. If they can get enough from Micah Dallas and Caleb Killian, this team could be dangerous.

As for the Cardinals, Louisville saw three arms taken amongst the first seven rounds of the MLB draft. Michael McAvene and Bryan Hoeing are strong relievers along with Michael Kirian who has a 1.53 ERA in 29.1 innings. McAvene has a 0.83 WHIP in 30.1 frames and a staggering 46 strikeouts.

As a starter, Reid Detmers is the team ace with a 12-4 record, 2.85 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 107.1 innings.

The Cardinals don’t have quite the power of other teams, but can manufacture runs. They’ve got some quality hitters in freshman Alex Binelas and Logan Wyatt, the Giants’ second round pick, to name a few.

LONGSHOTS TO WATCH

Auburn came out guns a blazing against a strong UNC team on Monday’s win-or-go-home showdown in the Super Regionals, putting up 13 runs in the first inning, helping them earn one of the final tickets to Omaha.

While that inning could very well be a bit of a fluke with the Tar Heels choking, it is—nonetheless—an impressive offensive showing worth noting and something that could help build confidence for the Tigers’ pitchers who know what the offense is capable of as well as the offense itself.

Keep an eye on Auburn as they now look for another upset victory against Mississippi State in their first game of the College World Series. The Tigers will need to keep the offense rolling in that game as the Bulldogs boast the fifth best team batting average in NCAA Division 1 play.

Michigan is another interesting longshot in the College World Series. Having already gotten by Oregon State in the Regionals and UCLA in the Super Regionals, the Wolverines have shown what they’re made of against the reigning College World Series champions and this year’s top program coming into the tournament.

From here, it’s hard not to believe Michigan could keep the good times rolling on the backs of a couple junior arms good enough to be drafted in the early rounds of this past MLB draft.

Add in an offense led by the Big Ten Player of the Year in outfielder Jordan Brewer and the Wolverines have a nice balanced, interesting team.

Brewer is not alone on the offensive front either. He’s got a .982 OPS, but that doesn’t even lead the team. He’s also merely one of four players with at least 12 homers and one of five with double-digit steals. The Wolverines have shown they can hit for power, but also manufacture runs as the game dictates.

Florida State sits as a longshot as well. They rolled to a 41-21 record but were just 11-10 on the road and 2-2 on a neutral site. The Seminoles, however, did show some fortitude to get here with wins over Georgia and LSU. They blew out the Bulldogs and managed to win both against the Tigers, outlasting them in a 12-inning marathon in the second game.