Latest / Dugout Dish Baseball Recruiting Podcast powered by EMD Baseball / 2026 NCAA Super Regional Picks, Regional Recap & The Velocity Revolution Reshaping College Baseball - Ep. 170

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2026 NCAA Super Regional Picks, Regional Recap & The Velocity Revolution Reshaping College Baseball - Ep. 170 · Dugout Dish Baseball Recruiting Podcast powered by EMD Baseball

• 0:02
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• 1:10
  Speaker B: welcome to this week's edition of the Dugout Dish podcast. I'm Andy Kiria Kittis. I am unfortunately not joined by my Wonderful co host, Mr. Keith Glasser. But I do have two distinguished gentlemen that will be joining me today. One of them, most of you listeners will know, Mr. Jonathan Grasse. How are you guys?
• 1:29
  Speaker C: How are you?
• 1:30
  Speaker B: And we also have, he's number 34 in your programs back in the day. He's number one in your hearts always. He was the first guest on this podcast and he's returning for today's episode as a pundit. Mr. Eric Suplee. What's up buddy?
• 1:46
  Speaker D: Very excited to be here. First, first, first appearance as a non baseball coach anymore. It's really exciting. So ready to kickstart my next career.
• 1:56
  Speaker B: We, we're glad to have you on here for some insight years and for as well informed as anybody out there. So this is going to be fun. Obviously we had the regionals this past weekend. It was freaking electric all the way down to watching West Virginia's whole stadium sing Country Roads which was just gave me goosebumps watching that all unfold. It was pretty awesome. But I'm going to kick it over to you, Jonathan, to start us off with some, some opening thoughts on the, the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. What do you got?
• 2:28
  Speaker C: Yeah, I think it was awesome, right? I mean for the first time ever we got, you know, since we went to a super regional format, we have two, four seeds in super regionals. Which, you know, I think, I think goes to show that the parody, you know, in this tournament and the parody at, you know, the division one Level is, you know, I mean, overall number one out. Overall number two out. It was wild. I mean, I saw, you know, some people that, you know, were, you know, had bigger social media presences that maybe haven't, you know, followed, you know, as closely as, you know, the three of us and obviously Keith as well. But, you know, talking about May Madness and it's no longer March Madness and it's May Madness, and I think the TV presence, I think the social media presence, I think the tournament got exactly what it deserved. And it was awesome, man. I mean, to sit here and say that, you know, UCLA and Georgia Tech would not be in a super regional, I think last week I would have thought you were absolutely crazy, but play really good for, you know, three or four days and, you know, you end up in a super, you know, that is St. John's that is, you know, Little Rock. And, you know, here we are. And I think it's, I think it's going to be awesome. I think this weekend is going to be awesome. I think we're going to continue right at Omaha. But what a great, great, great start.
• 3:57
  Speaker B: No, it was fantastic. Enjoyed every second of it. What. What do you got, Eric? What are your, what are your thoughts? Opening, opening thoughts for today's pod?
• 4:07
  Speaker D: First thing I wanted to bring up because it's, it's been a big hot topic on Twitter is the umpiring. First, I, I think, I think the umpires, for the most part in college baseball have gotten a lot better. It's just like in professional baseball, especially when you start thinking about the strike zone and how hard it is to call balls and strikes when, when the ball's moving 95 to 97, half the time it seems like. But from that standpoint, the umpiring is, has been fantastic. But then I have a huge issue with a lot of the college baseball personalities kind of crucifying some of these guys on the ejections and stuff. And I think you can. I think the two biggest ones are probably Landon Harrison being ejected for his bat flip and then the Trey Phelps incident. And I think the NCAA really needs to do a good job this off season of writing out clear guidelines of what an ejection is. I don't blame the umpires. What Trey Phelps did, to me, that warrants an ejection. If you saw Blake Sears home run against Miami, I thought that warranted an ejection. And it's, and it's. There's no rule. There's no rule for what it is, really. It's. It's very, there's a lot of gray area. And then also the Landon Hairston one and people defending saying it's an ump show. The, the guy struck out and flipped his bat 15ft in the air like, dude, get out of the game, man. You can't do that. So I, I, I think it's hard. It's, it's get, it's, it's really hard right now for these guys. And I thought overall they did a really exceptional job. Balls and strikes. All things considered, the umpiring has gotten better because there's so many stadiums with trackman and they're held accountable. So. But I think the NCAA needs to do something about what warrants an ejection and have like clear cut guidelines for umpires on this because we here at University of San Francisco, we had the same kid ejected twice for, for bat flipping. And you know, along the lines of what we saw on the regionals, it was very mild bat flips. But you know, those umpires thought it warranted it and you know, that's what happened. But I think they need clear guidelines. And the other thing I mentioned it earlier, the velocity and stuff, you know, there are a lot of tweets going around with the average velocity, the average fastball velocity of each regional and each team. And you know, we have some, some teams making it that, you know, they're in the upper 80s or whatever it might be. And then you have say I'll use them just because I'm familiar with them, but you know, Wake has the highest fastball velocity in the country, 94.4 I think it is. Well, if you're a team that it's at 89 miles an hour, you can win a regional that way. You can have a really good weekend. But good luck going through an entire season in the ACC or SEC pitching at that velocity. It's not going to work. I'm sorry, like it's not gonna, it's not gonna work. If you've ever been to Wake Forest ballpark and the wind's blowing in the wrong direction, 89 miles an hour is going to get turned around and deposited so quickly. You know, you have to have stuff for a season long of the ACC, big 12 sec, you know, even in our conference this year, you look at the fastball velocities, they're starting to like go through the roof. But I think people are really cherry picking some of these teams that had good weekends. And don't be wrong, you can, it's one weekend. It's baseball. It's college baseball, they're 18 to 20, 24 year olds now. Anything can happen. But to say that you don't need stuff and that these higher velocity programs, you know, that's not what's most important. Like, I think you really need to evaluate what would happen over, you know, 10 conference weekends, pitching at 89 miles an hour on average at some of these places. So those are my two big things that, that I got out of, out of regionals more. But I think Rossette did a pretty good job with the other stuff.
• 8:12
  Speaker B: Now, the, the ejection thing, you nailed it, man. Like, I think all those guys cross the line. I think defending it as, like, let the kids have fun is, you know, and I, I like some excitement. I like some kids showing some energy and having some passion and. But there's, there's lines that gets crossed and I, I think you're spot on with that.
• 8:33
  Speaker D: And the other thing, once you, once you cross to the other team, like, warn everyone, whatever it is, and if you, if you go overboard, get them out of the game. But once you cross the line of you're no longer showing emotion towards your own team, at least a warning, and do it fast. And I think the umpires need to do that. And I hope in the supers, they're, they're quick to give warnings out and just be like, hey, guys, like, show emotion, show energy. Do it towards your own dugout, do it towards your own teammate.
• 9:03
  Speaker C: I think it'll give us the best product though, too. Right? Like, because, you know, like, we don't want to see, you know, and I agree with you with the ejection.
• 9:10
  Speaker D: Yeah, I want to see Trey Phelps play, man, for sure.
• 9:14
  Speaker C: I don't think that that regional should be determined without him on the field. You know what I mean? Like, so as long as everybody's on the same page, we're all good. Quick with the warnings, whatever you want to do, but just make it just across the board so you don't have such, you know, variation in terms of what the rule actually is.
• 9:31
  Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, he's going to miss game one against Mississippi State. They need him. He's a fantastic player. I mean, he's, he's freaking electric to watch. And to your point, Eric, like, I want to see that do play. I thought there was two bolts that got hit. The Oklahoma walk off at Georgia Tech and the West Virginia walk off in the first game in the elimination series. The first game the West Virginia had to. Those are like perfect examples of what it should look like. Where they took a good look at it because both of those balls were absolutely tally whacked and they got around the bases, but it was like fiery and exciting and emotional, but they never looked at the other team. It was it. For me, that was like the perfect amount as to set an example. But the velocity stuff, Eric, like, I actually looked at it slightly different where people were highlighting like, oh, well, they throw 89. And I agree with everything you said, but the flip side of it was that it was like 57 or 58 of the teams that were in the tournaments. Average fastball velocity was over 90.
• 10:45
  Speaker D: It's ridiculous. Yeah, we'd be playing teams this year and like we're in. We're in a midweek. It's like the random guy pitching the fifth inning in a six to two game comes out and you're like, oh, he's 91 to 93.
• 10:58
  Speaker B: Yeah, he might be throwing off the
• 11:01
  Speaker D: backstop, but like, yeah, man, things. Things have changed. Things have changed a lot.
• 11:09
  Speaker B: I think it's just as impressive to see some of the run scoring and everybody wants to chalk it up to walks and guys can't command the strike zone. I think the hitters are. Maybe they've. I don't know if caught up is the best word, but velocity just doesn't intimidate anybody anymore.
• 11:26
  Speaker D: I think if I watch. I got to watch a lot of Ole Miss this last in their regional just because they were on late. Seemed like every game they played, Arizona State was going into 18 innings or something and like their whole lineup might be over like 230. Like these guys aren't trying to hit backside singles anymore. It's. I mean, you're totally right. The hitters have kind of caught up. They're physical. They mishit. They mishit balls really far. Like, it's. It's awesome. I think it's. I think it's super cool. It's a totally different game than what we played.
• 12:05
  Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely. I gotta. I got a couple things that I thought were interesting this weekend. I think it was a really, really tough weekend for the acc and North Carolina is the only team to make it out of a regional. None of the two or three seeds that made it from the ACC even made it to a regional final. Obviously, Florida State and Georgia Tech had tough losses where both teams lost twice and couldn't get. Or excuse me, Georgia Tech lost twice and St. John's ran the table at. At Florida State. But that was a tough weekend for the acc. And I, I don't Know, if it's. I don't think the ACC is taking a step back. I think it's more of a reflection of. I think the regionals are the hardest part of the NCAA tournament. And I don't think it's close. Having to win four games, play five games in some cases to get out of a regional. It's freaking hard. And even the best teams in the country, like ucla, you get into that losers bracket and it gets really, really difficult. And I also think that's why the game, the, the, the regional round for me is the most fun because you see some crazy stuff happen. And I think it's what makes it awesome. Like St. John's and Little Rock being able to make it out of a regional as four seeds. I mean, it's, it's why you watch this thing, because crazy stuff happens and it's, you know, credit to those two teams. I was texting with coach Brown this morning congratulating him because he's awesome and kid from my hometown plays third base for him and it's a really fun team to watch. They play super hard, they compete their butts off. And then the other thing was, I think some of the defense that's being played is just absolutely outstanding in the athleticism, the ability to make the routine play, the ability to go beyond the routine play. I mean, there's been some plays made that change innings that prevent runs. It was overall just incredibly impressed with the physicality, the athleticism that was displayed. And I think a lot of that actually shows up on the defensive side of the ball.
• 14:12
  Speaker D: Totally agree. Like the defense and I, I talked about the physicality with, you know, Ole Miss as an example. You, you usually think about some of these guys that are in some of these lineups and you're like, oh, well, he's. He's just like a DH donkey and stuff. And then you, you know, you see him make a defensive play, like, what is going on out there? But I, you're totally right. The athleticism, the amount of money that teams spend now on, especially at the higher levels, you know, strength and conditioning, coaches, nutrition at facilities, stuff like that, and how much emphasis is put on that and that, that really leads towards, you know, corner outfielders run like deer and they hit tanks and everyone sees the offensive side. But man, there was, it was a, it was a play in the, in the. Oregon. Oregon staking where the left fielder made this ridiculous diving catch on a ball that. I mean, it had to be like 1, 105 plus off the bat and it's like, did.
• 15:17
  Speaker C: How. How.
• 15:19
  Speaker D: That's amazing, you know, and lower levels of college baseball, that's. That's a triple. Like, it's ridiculous. But you have to. You have to. With how hard these guys are hitting the ball now, you have to have defenders all over the place at the higher levels.
• 15:34
  Speaker C: Dude, how about the. How about the play. I know we talked about it. How about the play that the Georgia Tech shortstop made in the 9th to even give them a chance?
• 15:41
  Speaker D: Yeah, we're texting each other, like, how is he out? Like, how.
• 15:46
  Speaker C: I'm like, how is he out? Like, that's it. That's a hit, like, every day of the week.
• 15:51
  Speaker B: I thought, well, they make, they make some of these plays look way more routine than they actually are. You know, a couple shortstops coming in on the ball that, you know, they're. They're smooth, they're athletic, they got a ton of. Ton of hand speed and arm speed to make these throws, but they make it look simple. And I think if you go back 10 years, like, you don't see quite as much of what we're seeing right now. And it. To your point, Eric, I think it's a testament to a lot of the work that these kids put in off the field. But, I mean, I just, I'm blown away every year, and this year's no different. I'm a sucker for some really good infield defense, and there was. There was plenty of it this week.
• 16:30
  Speaker D: So I don't want to sound like a new age warrior here, but a lot of this is, you know, being able to machine use ground balls, being able to hit, you know, being able to put balls and, and have these kids practice it. You know, guys can hit the best fungo ever. But, you know, you. You watch in. In. In like a BP session for an SEC team, they travel with machines and they, they shoot machines all through BP and stuff and in IO and whatnot. And they're. They're working on balls you just can't hit as a fungo, and they practice this stuff all the time. And it's like coaching has gotten a lot better and the players have responded and they are able to do things because they, you know, that, that play, that guy for Georgia Tech, for the shortstop, made, like, I bet he. I bet he's made that play, you know, multiple times in the last week off a machine, probably. Who knows? I don't know. I don't know what they do. But, like, I think you have more access to tougher plays like that and doing More difficult things in practice than guys have ever done.
• 17:41
  Speaker B: Matt Kirby's the only guy that I could see being able to just manipulate Fungos. It's the best fungal guy I've ever seen in 20 plus years of college baseball. But outside of that, I'm not sure I think you're right. Just better practice, better accident. I mean, that goes to you. Talk about machines. You wonder why guys are really good at handling velocity. You can mimic it.
• 18:04
  Speaker D: Everybody, everybody takes BP off velocity machines throughout the week. You get, you get some teams, you get some teams that in bp. And I, I don't totally agree with this, but pregame bp, they've got machines set up on the field, you know, right or wrong, but you know, they're either spinning, breaking balls or it's carry fastballs and, and a lot of velocity and, and you know, it's hard, it's hard. You see guys getting blown up and stuff and you're trying to evaluate swings and you're like, we don't have anybody that throws that hard. But that's, that's where we're at right now. And it's, it's good and it's bad, but guys are getting on time with better velocity, better than they ever have before. And you, you listen to some of the stats that some of these announcers are rolling out and like there was a guy in the West Virginia regional that he was like on fast balls over 94 miles an hour. His ops is over a thousand. You're like, say that again.
• 19:03
  Speaker B: It's why you see guys who throw 95 with a heavy mix of off speed stuff. I mean the kid, the last night kid from Kentucky, big, big, big dude, he's a transfer from western Kentucky. He's 94, 96. He, he threw, he had a sequence where I think he threw six straight sliders. And I think it's because, I mean, you tell me you guys are both pitching guys, but at a certain point that slider is a better pitch than 95 because guys are so comfortable swinging at velocity and being on, on time for it.
• 19:39
  Speaker D: The, the value of the average slider is higher than an above average fastball. And I'm not making that up. Like that's data. Like those are actual numbers. But yeah, like you need to, it's almost like you need to throw hard so that your off speed is hard to make it better. And again, if, unless you have some serious metrics and something unique on your fastball, you really got to be throwing that thing really hard. You, you look at some of the best fastballs in baseball and, you know, pro ball, college, whatever. And it's usually not tied to velocity. It's about release, height, approach, angles. Some. Something is unique about that fastball that makes it usable at say, even a 50% clip without getting tally whacked all over the yard.
• 20:35
  Speaker B: Like Logan Redman, great example. Just throwing balls that look like they getting launched off a go kart ramp.
• 20:43
  Speaker D: Yeah. Like, you know, the guy that. We talked about this yesterday, the guy thrown for St. John's I mean, I could probably look it up right now, but like, he threw all fastballs and he's just obliterate. And it was, I don't know, 91, 93. I think it was good. But he's throwing all fastballs against an ACC lineup. And when it was up at the top of the zone, it's not getting hit and it's a low slot and it looks like it's ride, run. And it's. It's not normal. It's not. It's very unique. And that's also where you get into. Like, that pitch isn't able. You're not able to duplicate that really, with a machine, unless you've got it like a traject. So the, the average college program can't duplicate that fastball. They can get to 93. But there's something on that pitch, metrically, release height, whatever it is, that's unique that you can't duplicate. And hitters don't see very often.
• 21:38
  Speaker B: The kid from Liberty, who. Their closer who started against Georgia in the elimination game was really similar where. And you guys are both, well, much more informed on this than me, but really unique approach angle, release height, extension metrics. And he wasn't. It wasn't like he was top, you know, 98, 99. It was 93. And he's just arguably the best offense in college baseball right up there with Georgia Tech. And I mean, he stuffed it on him for five innings. Just absolutely stuffed it on him for five innings.
• 22:13
  Speaker D: And again, this isn't anything new with baseball. It's just. And this is, I think, something that the older guys have problems with is you can, you can just quantify it now. There's a machine that tells you exactly what the ball is doing and it's okay. Like, it's okay. But yeah, you can just actually quantify unique traits now. And it's not just eyeballing it. You can actually have concrete evidence of why this fastball. Like, there's. There's 2% of college baseball fastballs that do this, we should throw it more often than the guy that's in like the 10%, 10 percentile of movement and, and all that stuff. So I think it's awesome and I think it's really cool that some of the announcers were pretty well versed on it and they're, they're doing a good, some of the guys are doing a really good job explaining why these pitchers are doing what they're doing. I think when they talk about exit velocities and like how hard the ball is actually being hit on some of these, you know, some of these home runs, talking about the distances and stuff, I think it's great, it's measurable, like concrete evidence of how good the game is. And I think it's awesome.
• 23:33
  Speaker B: I concur. 100. As a data guy, I think it's just, if nothing else, it's fun. Like, even if you don't care that much about it, it's fun to know that a dude hit a ball with a 23 degree angle and hit it 479ft and it was traveling at 109 miles an hour. Like that's fun. I don't care what, what you say, it's fun. All right, let's get to some read some super regional talk here. And I'm going to start with get your guys thoughts on the Lawrence super regional because I think Kansas had one of the most impressive weekends. I thought that they had the toughest regional and it wasn't a cakewalk for him. But it never, I don't know if they really ever broke a sweat. And I think it says a lot given the quality of the teams that were in that regional. With Arkansas, with Missouri State and with Northeastern and a Northeastern team that was, has been playing really, really well. I thought that they were as impressive as it gets and they got Oklahoma coming to them and what Oklahoma did to beat Georgia Tech, I don't know how people, I'm not sure if people understand how difficult it is to come out of the losers bracket and do what they did. Really, really impressive. So Jonathan, what do you, what do you got? What do you got for this matchup?
• 25:04
  Speaker D: Yo, Grasse, before you start, can we go like back eight years to being back in the Ivy League? And every time we're at some random game in Texas and Fitzgerald's there, we're
• 25:16
  Speaker C: like, he's been brought up, dude.
• 25:18
  Speaker D: This guy is everywhere.
• 25:21
  Speaker C: I broke out if South Carolina, if you're serious, you'll just hand him the check and just so you can fill the Numbers out yourself.
• 25:29
  Speaker D: We've been Kansas believers. Before he even got to Kansas, he
• 25:33
  Speaker C: had that thing rolling. I played him, we played him when I was at Brown when he was the third base coach for Dallas Baptist. And they had a dude, I can't think of his name right now at the top. I had. He went to Boston in the third round and I gave him the, the best compliment I think I've ever given a hitter. And it was, we would get two strikes on him and the adventure had literally just begun. Like, he was, he was money at Dallas Baptist, he's been money at Kansas. Everybody knows. You know, kind of my opinion on it, I love them. Any of you said it best though, right? Like, wasn't it, it wasn't a cupcake, it wasn't a cakewalk. Like, we're going to get to a couple cakewalks here that were, they were pretty simple for some teams. But man, with, with, with how easy it kind of looked with the talent in that bracket, it's hard to say anybody was more impressive, you know. And then I guess, you know, the other part of it, right, is Oklahoma probably did the biggest, was the most impressive coming out of the losers bracket too, because of who you had to beat coming out of the losers bracket. You know, it wasn't a situation where St. Mary's eliminated, you know, UCLA and you know, Polly just kind of walked through that regional, you know, this was Oklahoma had to come back through the losers bracket and then upset, you know, beat Georgia Tech twice. Really, really, really impressive. I'm gonna take Kansas, I'm gonna stay with Kansas. I just think it's the year of the Jayhawk, and I'm gonna say that we get Kansas and Omaha here and you know, 10 days or so, 15 days,
• 27:13
  Speaker B: what do you got? Coach, please,
• 27:17
  Speaker D: man. It's hard to disagree with all that. I, I actually think Oklahoma was the most impressive though, because it's not just, it's not just beating Georgia Tech. If you look at Oklahoma and what they do, well, they can pitch, they run a lot, and Georgia Tech is a band box. So it's, it's not only that they beat Georgia Tech, who a lot of people, you know, I thought they were on the best teams in the country. Probably an easy, like top five team. Probably like, you know, if we're just talking about talent alone, maybe the best team. But you didn't just beat Georgia Tech. You, you beat him at their field. And playing a game in an environment that you're not really built for. Oklahoma's got two Guys on the roster with double digit home runs. You know, I don't, I think Georgia Tech was. Did they leave the country in home runs or maybe they're right behind Georgia, whatever it is. But I thought that was awesome. And going in. There's actually something I, I do want to bring up. I, I didn't mention this at the beginning. I'll bring it up after I talk about Kansas. But I, I think Jonathan's correct with, with Kansas coming out of this. I mean the shortstop, what's his name? LeBlanc. Like, bro, that guy's such a good player. I love Kansas's bullpen. They have a bunch of different. They can do a lot of things out of their bullpen. Ton of high spin guys, ton of strikeouts, ton of swing and miss. But one thing I do want to bring up, and Kansas really ran some of their guys into the ground a little bit. And I'm not saying that as a bad way with, with their arms. You know, with, with Ray, for example, you, you wonder. And it's not just this regional, but the, the, the Andy, you, you hit on hard. It is to win a regional, especially if you have to play more than three games. You're really running some of these guys into the ground and asking them to do stuff that you haven't asked them to do all year. And it's fine. I'm not like a pitch count by like Thumper, you know, I'm not Keith Law here. I, I'm totally fine with this happening occasionally. But like, you wonder some of these guys how they're going to recover. And I think that's why it's hard to really predict some super regionals. It's like, dude, what if, what if Bode Ray is just. What if he's got a couple ticks off his fastball? I, I don't know if that's true, but like what if, what if they're down a couple takes because of what he just did? Kansas is a totally different team and you know, to, for them to, for Oklahoma to come out of the losers bracket. Like, dude, those guys are running on fumes and they have to fly back to Oklahoma and then they have to travel to Kansas. And, and that for me is, is, is why I think Kansas is, is going to come out of this. But man, that atmosphere there with those two fan bases, you know, old school rivalry, middle of America, like, it's not that far either.
• 30:29
  Speaker C: It's not that far
• 30:32
  Speaker D: like they're gonna travel. Well, it's. And, and there's still not A lot of seating there. It's gonna be, it's tight quarters there. I, I think this is a, this is a top three super for me. Like I'm very excited about this one. I think there's athletes all over the field. Both pitching staffs are, they got some dudes on both sides and they got a lot of different looks too. So I'm, I'm excited about this. But I, I think being at home, the travel, not playing as many games as Oklahoma did last weekend, I, I, I'm on board with Kansas.
• 31:09
  Speaker B: Yeah, I don't have a whole ton to follow up. I think you guys hammered that one pretty good. But I'm on the Kansas train and so is our, our, our other host, Mr. Glasser is also on the Kansas train.
• 31:21
  Speaker D: So I, I, I will say that one, one other thing though is if, if, if Oklahoma can get on baseball with, especially with those bullpen arms, they, they're not afraid to slam stuff into the ground and they throw a lot of all speed. They throw a lot of change ups down, a lot of curveballs down. That's late in games that I think they can put some pressure on and I think that's, there's a couple of regionals actually where there's a, there might be a little bit more athleticism and base stealing and kind of where baserunning is going to come into play because I think these games are going to be tight and that could factor in a little bit in Oklahoma's favor. 117 bags.
• 31:56
  Speaker B: Yeah. In, in the SEC. Stealing that many is, is no joke.
• 32:01
  Speaker D: Yeah, because there's a lot of bad catchers,
• 32:05
  Speaker B: kind of bad throwers. Nobody likes to hold runners. You know, it's just easy to steal bases there. All right, let's take it. We'll stay on that side of the bracket. We've got the, the number four seed, the, the New York darling, St. John's making a trip down to Tuscaloosa to play the Alabama Crimson Tide. I have some, some skin in the game here as a, a young man from my hometown plays third base for St. John's I, I, I think that calling them just gritty I think does them a little bit of a disservice. I think they've got some, some pretty good position players. The Legrand kid was the Cape Cod MVP last summer. You don't do that if you're not a really good ball player. The Agresty kid is obviously a difference maker behind the plate and, and at the plate with, seems to have a little Bit of a clutch gene too. I mean the grand slam was kind of the, that was a tough one for, for Florida State to swallow and they really couldn't come back from it. And then on the other side of it you got Bama where go back eight weeks and there was people clamoring about how Rob Vaughn wasn't the right guy for the job.
• 33:17
  Speaker D: So they just can't do it, man. He' just not a winner. Rob Von is not a winner, man.
• 33:23
  Speaker B: I think, you know, but for me, I think the emotion of it all, the travel, having to go to Alabama. I think Alabama's playing really well at the right time. I think Alabama is going to, going to advance here. I mean there's a, there's a part of me that wants to certainly see St. John's make it there because I think it'd be incredible. But I think Alabama is going to move on. I believe this will be the first time they've been to the College World Series if they get there, if they can get a job done against St. John since 1995. So this would be a massive moment for a program that's been on the brink of it a couple times. They lost twice in the super regionals to two of the best North Carolina teams of all time. They've had some really good moments, but this could be an all time high for Alabama and I think they get it done.
• 34:12
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• 35:14
  Speaker C: what
• 35:14
  Speaker B: do you got, Jonathan?
• 35:17
  Speaker C: Yeah, I think this is an interesting one because you know, St. John's obviously played Monday. My guess is that the NCAA probably didn't fly them home. They probably kept them down there. I don't know that for sure, but my guess would be they probably just bust them across. Being in Tallahassee, it's actually not that far from Tuscaloosa. I just think that when you look at it, and I know I brought this up a few times this year, like, you have a potential top 10 pick in. In Justin LeBron, and like, he's still. I mean, he had an okay regional, but nothing spectacular. And, you know, you're talking about maybe the best, you know, the highest ceiling Pro bowl player on the field. And Alabama just keeps winning. Like, they just keep doing it. They've been really consistent all year that really haven't, you know, had too many ups and downs. They've been pretty steady Eddie, for the most part. I mean, really, if you just take away that. Honestly, if you take away that sweep at Kentucky opening SEC weekend, you're talking about a pretty steady Eddy team. I think. I think the Crimson get to get to Omaha, too.
• 36:27
  Speaker D: Yeah, I want. I want George Brown to go, but I don't think it's happening. And I. Andy brought this up earlier. It's. It's. It's easier, potentially easier at times to win a regional or. Sorry, it's more difficult to win a regional than it is a super. And I think this is a really good example because Alabama can line up those starters. They've got, what, three. Those three bullpen arms. And, you know, I like, I just don't. I don't. I don't see St. John's being able to beat those three guys twice. Like, maybe you get one and, you know, then you have to face them again. It's not like, oh, we beat. You know, for example, they beat Florida State. Okay. Like, Florida State goes. Goes and plays someone else. And Coastal had to face Beard and Mendez. You know, you're. You're lining up against three really good starters this weekend. And my two favorite teams, which we'll get to later, Andy, you know, one of them. But it's. It's the same thing is when you get in these supers and the College World Series is. Is similar, you know, you get five or six good arms, and a lot of these teams just lean on five or six guys. Like, good luck, man. And. And Jonathan's correct. They're gonna have the best player on the field every single game from here on out. I believe with. With LeBron, if they make the World Series, and that means something. I mean, he's still. Still 40 bags this year. 16 bolts. Like, dude, this is. This is some wild offensive stuff. I know he had a bad year on defense with making some errors. And stuff, but he still makes the incredible play. But for me, the big difference is that that rotation and then being able to line their starters up against St. John's is going to be, is going to be the kicker for me playing at home. I just, I don't, I actually, I think this is like a two and queue kind of situation.
• 38:34
  Speaker B: Coach Glasser would disagree. He's picking the Johnny's
• 38:39
  Speaker D: K, Keith.
• 38:42
  Speaker B: All right, so we got writing down our picks here. All right, staying on that same side of the bracket, we get into some firepower here. Next couple, couple regionals here. We got Oregon traveling to Texas. Some pretty good, pretty talented fellows will be roaming the field at Dish Falk down in Austin this weekend. Jonathan, what do you, what do you got here?
• 39:11
  Speaker C: This is a tricky one for me because I think, you know, I think there's, there's some X factors, you know, that go into, you know, some of these decisions. And I know we've, we've talked about it a little bit with travel and, you know, how do you handle, you know, the, the regional setting and, you know, go into a conference tournament and, and honestly, next week we're going to bring it up again with how do you handle, you know, the travel to Omaha. So you have two teams that are going to be super familiar with kind of how this whole thing works, Right. Slosh obviously has been, you know, two supers hosted a bunch. One got to Omaha. He'll have all his ducks in a row. He'll have them ready to play. They're another one, right? Been really, really, really steady. Didn't really have too many issues, to be honest with you, in that regional. Kind of breeze right through it and then you go to the other side, right? And you know what, what Wise has done in Oregon, I mean, they've been to supers three of the last four years, right. And this is a, this is the second time that they'll host or they'll, they will be a non host. I'm sorry. They hosted once, so they've had to travel, they've had to do it, they've had to, you know, do the distance. Those guys are ready for it. Again, didn't really have too many issues in their own regional kind of breeze right through it, kept their pitching right in line and they go down there. I think when I was looking at it earlier today, like this might be the toughest one to pick when you really go through it. And I'm just going to give a slight nod to Texas. I think the Volantis kid could Be an X factor, I think, I think it goes three games. I think we're going to get, we're going to get all three here. Texas is home. I'm just going to give a slight nod to Texas here, but this is a really tough one for me.
• 41:09
  Speaker B: What do you got here, Eric?
• 41:13
  Speaker D: I am going to agree. I think Texas, Texas is all year long, I think it's for me one of the two best teams in the country. But if, if you look at their numbers and how both teams play, construction of the pitching staff there, these are two very similar, two very similar teams. And it's interesting because I think you have two very similar head coaches in ways. They're both. Really good program guys, though. They're very calculated in how they construct their programs. They're very well coached, super detail oriented. But I mean, man, they're so both, both these teams are so athletic. It's, it's, it's ridiculous. Like, I think this is a great example of, oh, it's, you know, big physical guys, whatever, but man, these guys can really defend. Both teams really, really defend. They can both really, really pitch. They both throw a lot of strikes, they strike out a lot of people. And this is like, I think it's an easy one. Just be like, oh, well, they're at Texas. And you know, if you look at Oregon's travel, not just this year, but just out of nature of who they are and where they are, they travel a lot. They're, they're not. This isn't going to phase them being on the road and having to go into a hostile environment. But I mean, I'm going to go Texas. Grasse hit Volantis, man, that guy. Those. I mean, some of the arms, they, I mean, you know, Oregon's got good arms, too, but some of these arms that they can just run out. And I think the strikeout numbers are a little bit more impressive. If the ball's in play a lot for either one of these teams, it's probably a bad thing just because it's, you know, if you look at Texas's walk numbers, it's something that they do really well. They, they drag out at bats, they force pitch counts. I just think they got a little bit more. I could see this being like, ugly game, ugly game. You know, kind of like eight, two games where both teams kind of throw in the towel halfway through and then game three just being like an epic banger. But I think Texas just, I think they got a little bit more. They got a little bit more firepower, which Is crazy to say because Oregon's got some guys that can absolutely blast it. Kid from Utah, the fresh. Wait till you see this kid. If you haven't seen Oregon play yet,
• 43:47
  Speaker C: like it's a joke of that, right?
• 43:51
  Speaker D: He's really trying to annihilate that four hole. But I, I think, I think you're spot on. This could be the best regional as far as the two best teams going against each other. Maybe this one and I don't know, it's hard to say. The Auburn and the Georgia one are pretty incredible too. But this, this could be the best. The two best teams as far as like just playing baseball and being able to do a lot of different things because they can. Both of these teams can, can beat you different ways. And I think that'll be really unique in this regional. But I got Texas by smidge.
• 44:27
  Speaker B: I think I'm leaning in that direction as well. I think what I'll highlight and I hope it lines up like this. I don't know what the rotations are going to be, but Will Sanford versus Dylan Volantis could just be like, stop whatever you're doing and just go watch 2 really dominant in ultra talented arms compete against teams against lineups that are really hard to pitch against it. It could be electric. Like if on paper it's probably the best matchup if it happens in the series. If those two pitch against each other is probably the best matchup in the Supers.
• 45:01
  Speaker D: If you want to, if you haven't seen Volantis pitch and you want to know like what unique like approach angles look like entering the strike. Zone. Like he's, he's kind of a little bit the opposite of, you know, there's a lot of ride and carry and stuff. But watch the depth of his off speed stuff that he throws. Like it's, it's, he's like one of those classic guys where you'll be watching them and there's probably some guy in the stands like, like and yelling at the hitters, like, make an adjustment. It's like, bro, I don't think you understand what's going on at home plate.
• 45:38
  Speaker B: Hunt the fastball up in the box. Choke up.
• 45:43
  Speaker D: Get your foot, get your foot down. I mean, Oregon's hitters, if I have one piece of advice, make sure you get your foot down early. But yeah, man, dude, that first again, I, I think it's going to be two ugly games. Like not close, maybe like it gets away in the middle of the game. But I think this, this matchup does have an opportunity that, that first game, if those two throw against each other, it could be, it could be pretty awesome. All three of the matchups could be potentially there's just so, there's so many good players and in this, in these supers, it's awesome.
• 46:20
  Speaker B: The thing I think I might be most excited about this is that I think people are going to get a chance to watch Oregon and kind of appreciate how good that program is. And I. There's certainly some, you know, some east coast bias when it comes to college baseball, but I think oftentimes they play late. Even if you're a college baseball fan, you're probably not turning on, you know, a 10 o' clock start on a Friday to watch Oregon. And I think it's a really good opportunity to watch a team from the west coast that is freaking legit. Like to your point. They play the snot out of defense. They don't have a single everyday player who's made double digit errors. They're fielded982. If it hits a glove, it's an out.
• 46:59
  Speaker D: Yeah.
• 47:00
  Speaker B: Ultra athletic.
• 47:03
  Speaker D: They played a series against USC and I want to say the last game win like 14 innings. It was a 2 to 1 game and they won on a, on a walk off safety squeeze. I don't know, I can't remember if it was a suicide or safety but like you know, they can, it's, you know, it kind of sucks. They're on the Big Ten network. The only time I watch them is when they play Portland and Gonzaga and they're on ESPN plus midweeks, you know, side, you know, Big Ten Network, get it together for all of us. But like you're, you're 100, right? Yeah. Like there's.
• 47:38
  Speaker C: This year the Big Ten Network has gotten, has received heat on this show so.
• 47:42
  Speaker D: Well, I'm really glad that I can just pile on. Yeah, but you're totally right. I think, I think this is a cool opportunity to see how good I, you know, we talk. We thought Martyr was getting Grand Canyon. I, I don't know if he wanted it or whatever. But you know that coaching staff at Oregon is. They do as good of a job as anybody as anybody else because you still deal with like the weather and it, it's not, you know, we've gone up there in April before and it's snowing during BP sometimes. So it's not like it's you know, an easy. They got a lot of cool stuff but it's, it's not like it's you know, just a baseball hotbed around there either. So they, They've done an awesome job and I'm. I think it's cool that a lot of people are going to see them for the first time.
• 48:30
  Speaker B: All right, last matchup on this side of the bracket. We're going to Athens. In some ways, it's unfortunate that two teams of this caliber have to face off in the super regional, but it is what it is. We're going to get to a couple other bracket, a couple other matchups that are similar. At least one that in my mind is similar. But got Mississippi State, Georgia. Mississippi State is going to go to Georgia. I got Mississippi winning it all. Mississippi State winning it all at the beginning of the year. So that's going to be my pick. It's going to be a grind. I think the difference in this series will be the fact that Mississippi State has so much quality depth on the mound that I think they're going to be able. I think coach o' Connor will be able to manage that bullpen in a way where you can prevent, ideally prevent Georgia from putting up those really big numbers because you can have a quicker trigger because they legitimately have 10 or 11 guys that can go out and be really, really good for you. So I don't know. They don't have. They have the. I'm gonna butcher his name, but they have the lefty Valenticious, I believe is how you pronounce it. Pronounce it. Apologies if you're listening. You're freaking awesome. I love watching you throw baseball. And he's kind of their bonafide bro. But they've got big time arms out of that bullpen that I think could ultimately be the difference here. And I think Mississippi State's offense gets slept on a little bit. And for anybody who's followed Coach o' Connor and Max careers, they're really hard to pitch against. They are disciplined. They grind out at bats. There's going to be juice they can run when they need to run. I think Coach o' Connor will have Mississippi State ready to go. I think this goes three games, but I think Mississippi State is going to get to Omaha. Eric, what do you got?
• 50:33
  Speaker D: There's almost 1300 combined strikeouts between these two pitching staffs in, in this regional. There are, I think, seven short like. And, and to your point, man, this is, this is a really interesting one because Georgia, Georgia plays as a bandbox and you know, we're going to go throw Phil Disher a bone here and the, the Georgia, South Carolina super from. I don't even know what year that was? 2006. Whatever. When South Carolina hits six home runs in a row or whatever this time of year especially the ball flies there.
• 51:13
  Speaker B: And.
• 51:18
  Speaker D: I think that, you know, that's what Georgia does really well. But you know, Mississippi State's bullpen, you hit it, you nailed it. For me, they can do a lot of things. And I think that the way that o' Connor manages, I mean the guy's won World Series before, he's been to Omaha a bunch of times. And Mack, I mean, has there been a better hitting coach over the last three decades, two and a half decades of college baseball as far as just taking the best at bats? And I think that's maybe the weakness of George is if you can really grind them down and get into some of those other arms. And I don't think Wes Johnson necessarily wants this to be a bulping game, you know, a bullpen competition. So I. Sorry, my nine month old scrying peeking
• 52:07
  Speaker B: here,
• 52:09
  Speaker D: I think I'm right there with you with Mississippi State. But I think this is going to be an awesome one. Like again, two of the better teams in the country. Power all over the field, athletes all over the field. You know, maybe Trey Phelps not playing is going to be the difference in for game one. So with Trey Phelps, you know, he got hit 34 times this year. His own base person is almost 500, 490 some base almost 50% of the time. Like what a joke. So it's not just that like these teams can hit bolts and stuff like that, but I mean, dude, Georgia's on base 44 of the time and they hit 165 home runs.
• 52:53
  Speaker C: Is that good?
• 52:54
  Speaker D: Like we're, you know, I'm just cherry picking here. But like it, it's, it's so much more people miss so much more than just like, oh, like Georgia Tech hit a lot of home runs. Well, they get on base all the time too. Same thing with Georgia, you know, Mississippi State, like these teams are so multi dimensional with how they can beat you and they put so much pressure on you. Like every guy in the lineup for, you know, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Seven guys and double figures home runs for Georgia. One guy's got nine. Two guys have nine. Like dude, you're getting hit that much, you're walking that much.
• 53:27
  Speaker B: And 20, what do you want? 25? 25?
• 53:32
  Speaker D: 29. Yeah, 29 and he's got 25 bags. 25 or 27. But like it's just crazy how good these teams are. But I agree, I Got Mississippi State. And I think this is more of a. More of a nod towards their staff, o' Connor and I. And I. Maybe Georgia might have the best hitting coach in the country of what Coggin's done the last few years, but I just think the experience, you know, I don't think they expected to be this good this quick, you know, so maybe they're playing with a little bit of house money, they feel like. But I. My nod here goes a little bit more towards o' Connor than, you know, saying that Mississippi State's just actually better than Georgia.
• 54:24
  Speaker B: Jonathan.
• 54:24
  Speaker C: Yeah, I think that's a good point. I think the, you know, the experience things will play a big factor in this. I. I said at the midway point, I said, you know, I felt like if Georgia could keep themselves in that building, they were going to get to Omaha. I'm gonna stay with that. I'm just gonna give a small nod to. To the Bulldogs, I think. I guess the Georgia Bulldogs, right. I think the. The one thing, Eric, I think you brought up, I think, you know, West Johnson does not want this thing to be a bullpen series. That's not that. That does not favor them. But they're going to be home twice, you know, nothing against Mississippi State. Like, I think Mississippi State could win the whole thing, to be honest. I mean, you hear coach, you know, you hear Matt Deggs talked about it after they got eliminated by them, and, you know, he's, you know, he was talking about how, again, multifaceted Mississippi State was and how, you know, he's been around a long time. He's, you know, been, you know, doing this at a really high level for a long time. And for him to say, you know, he thinks that, you know, that looked like a team that could win a national championship, I think he's dead right. I think this is another one. I think we're going to probably get three games. I'm just going to stay with what I stuck with at the midway point, and I'm going to say the advantage, Georgia in their own building. The team was built to play in that building. Small nod, I guess. Go Georgia.
• 55:53
  Speaker D: Totally agree, man. Like, I. If this. If this is at Mississippi State, I think it's slam dunk Mississippi State. Be the home runs and the way that ball flies there and what they want to do and the pressure that they put on you. The one other thing with Mississippi State, too, is. Is McFerson being back gives you three real starters. He went five. He was able to go five innings this last weekend. You know Louisiana's good. They're not Georgia. But him being back and, and them having three bonafide real starters, that's another one for me because I totally agree and I, I think he's going to start game three based on how they lined it up last weekend. I don't think they're going to mess with that too much. I, I think this one goes three and I, I think it's going to be, I think it's going to be like wild, like some just wild stuff going on.
• 56:49
  Speaker B: Yeah, I'm here for it. This, that was a. Unfortunate to be on the, the ass whooping side of two of the better Virginia teams while I was at William and Mary. And this Mississippi State team reminds me a lot of the two, the national championship team and the World Series runner up team at uva that coach o' Connor and Mack and that staff put together and it's gonna be, it's gonna be a good one and we got another all SEC matchup next on the docket with Ole Miss going to Auburn. What do we got here, Eric?
• 57:35
  Speaker D: Ah, man, I still don't know. I've been thinking about this. I'm really excited about this one. I think this is another like super tight, super close. You're talking about two teams that can really pitch. I'm, I'm probably leaning Auburn. I think they're a better offensive team. The difference with Ole Miss is they are. I mean dude, wait till you see all these guys get in the box. It's like dude, this every guy that gets in the box for Ole Miss, I'm like he's going to hit the ball a mile. And again they're not trying to hit backside ground balls. You know, maybe you think. And, and, and I do, I do think. I, I know Auburn had a hard time and it looked like it. You know, they, they didn't start out very well against Milwaukee, but I still, even when they lost game one and like you're kind of going through it and it's like dude, there I still felt like the whole time they were winning that regional just because they're so deep on the mound and I just didn't feel like there was anybody that really stacked up to them in that regional. Ole Miss played those two extra inning games and they, I think they got pushed a lot and again the travel, they're not going far to Auburn but I, I think just the cumulative amount of innings they had to throw and stretching some of those guys out and, and the travel that's associated with, with That I, I'm going Auburn just. But it, I could see this being another just kind of massacre between two teams just beating the absolute out of each other. Now let's say that I don't know if I'm allowed to.
• 59:20
  Speaker B: Good to go.
• 59:21
  Speaker D: Okay, great. But yeah, I think Auburn can just do a little bit more. Their pitching's a little bit better, but man, some of the arms that Ole Miss is going to run out there, they're awesome. They, they do a really good job of throwing carry fastballs at the top of the zone and just, I just think Auburn's got a little bit more in there at home and that, that atmosphere at night, you know, they actually talked about this. They didn't want to play those games early, but because of whether they decide to with regionals and stuff, you can, you know, it's the ones that you can pick whether you want the early or the late game. And you know, for playing these games at night, I think the atmosphere, the atmosphere and everybody up on the parking deck and stuff, I think that's what's going to push them over a little bit. But this, this Ole Miss team is, they're fun to watch and they play really hard and they, they get their hacks off, to quote Brett Berretti. And that's always fun to watch.
• 1:00:18
  Speaker B: What do you got for this one, Jonathan?
• 1:00:21
  Speaker C: Yeah, I, I love Auburn. You guys know that. I love Auburn. I love that pitching staff. I, I think it's, it's absolutely legit. I'm just gonna go back to. And I know I brought this up early in the year. I said if Ole Miss can pitch, I thought they would find their way, you know, towards the end of the season, you know, playing for something important. And I actually thought about it after I said it last week about, you know, the two seed and, and when I picked them and to win that, that Nebraska Regional. You know, those two seeds in the SEC just seem to always do well. You know, when, when, when, when a lot of people are picking against them and a lot of people like, yo, there were, you know, one or two above.500 or right at 500 in the SEC. Those teams always seem to do well this time of the year, right? Like those two seeds always seem to do well. I'm just gonna go slight just because I picked them. And I know I picked Auburn to win their regional, but I don't think that was a shock. I'm gonna take Ole Miss here. I think, I just think that if they can pitch it and they can keep themselves in it, that offense could, can get them to Omaha. So I'm gonna take Ole Miss.
• 1:01:38
  Speaker B: I don't really have a great reason to pick up real quick.
• 1:01:42
  Speaker D: Andy. Yeah, that was one thing I had highlighted. Another reason why I like Auburn is as much as I've been blowing up their offense and how they take G hacks and stuff, they have struck out 635 times, You know, so while they're getting their swings off,
• 1:02:06
  Speaker B: little swing a bit. Actually, I saw an interview with Bianco and he bent, he's like, there's some swing and miss in our lineup.
• 1:02:16
  Speaker D: Grasse is totally correct though. They've been better and I still think it's going to be an awesome series. But that was, that was another main point I had for, for Auburn. Smidgen one out here.
• 1:02:32
  Speaker B: Parents, if you've ever felt overwhelmed trying to navigate youth sports, there's a new resource designed just for you. Team Match. Team Match is an online platform built to streamline how families find the right youth sports teams by location, sport and skill level all in one place. It also provides a safe, organized space for kids to share their accomplishments, stats and highlights while giving coaches and teams a clear way to connect with athletes who are the right fit. Less searching, less stress, more confidence in the process, youth sports just got simpler for families. This is Team Match. Check it out today@teammatch sports.com I think all the points you guys made are valid. I think I'm gonna, I'm gonna hang my hat and I think that this past weekend was like a real wake up call for Auburn. And sometimes it, sometimes it's a good thing to like kind of get kicked in the nuts a little bit. Like, you know, their, their ace at the front end there, Marciano, like he didn't got hit like that all year and I just, I think it was, I think it was a little bit of a wake up call. I think they're going to be dialed in. The atmosphere at Auburn, if you haven't watched it, it's, it's one of the cooler ballparks in college baseball in my opinion. It's really unique that night game atmosphere between two teams that, you know, they're not friendly with each other in terms of the fan bases and the rivalry obviously with the sec. So the home field advantage and the fact that I think sometimes having to get a little bit of a gut check is a good thing for teams. And that's where I'm going to pick Auburn. All right, gonna head to the east Coast, Chapel Hill, usc flying across the country to face God. I picked Mississippi State to win the title this year. But this North Carolina team is my favorite team in, in the tournament. I think they are just the epitome of a really high quality baseball team that they pitch, they play the absolute snot out of defense, they take just professional at bat after professional at bat. It's just clean baseball and like you look up and you know they win 6 to 2 and it just, it's just, they just play, they're super hard to beat. Might be the best way to put it. But I love this North Carolina team. They use seven guys in the whole regional. They threw seven guys in the whole regional, which I think, I think it
• 1:05:17
  Speaker D: was supposed to be the toughest regional.
• 1:05:20
  Speaker B: I heard there was. There were some friends of media outlets that were telling us that this was going to be the toughest regional and they, they kind of just made easy work like it was light work. They just kind of dominated from the first pitch. I like this team. They're going to be my pick. But game one with Mason Edwards on the mound, UNC is going to have their hands full. I mean the numbers that that kid has put up, I'm assuming UNCL throw the Caro which if they can get 5 out of him, I'm sure they'll hand it off to their, their two bullpen studs to try to finish that one out to get game one. But watching, watching Mason Edwards throw against a really polished UNC lineup is going to be really fun to watch. And Eric, you've brought this up a couple times about, about metrics and release angles and you know, all the characteristics of a fastball like Edgewood is another one of those guys who the velocity numbers aren't going to blow you away, but dudes just have a really hard time getting good quality swings off on his fastball and he's really fun to watch. So I'm excited for that Game one. I think UNC makes it to Omaha here, but I think this is a sneaky good matchup because of the way that USC has been swinging the bats in the fact that they do have arguably the best left handed pitcher in the country that's going to throw game one for him. So what do you got, Eric?
• 1:06:54
  Speaker D: Big number for me. 32 and 1 is USC's record at home this year and they are 12 and 13 away. And this will be three true routines for them across the country. I think that's where a huge edge is and that's a unc. They, they're tough to beat at home. They always have been. And we talked about. We're going to talk about Mississippi State staff and the continuity with those guys and what they did at uva. It's. It's the same staff with a new pitching guy. But uncle. I mean, these. You talked about the top three guys. It's. I mean, how, how long have they all been together? And, and, you know, Gaines was pitching there when the other. When, when. When the other two were coaching, so I think that matters. Man, I, I almost wish USC was going somewhere else because UNC's been my pick all year.
• 1:07:57
  Speaker C: I've.
• 1:07:57
  Speaker D: I've thought kind of like what you said. You really break down their numbers and stuff, and it's like, yeah, they're good, but, you know, compared to some of the, the, the sexier numbers that some of these SEC and even, you know, Georgia Tech and, you know, whatever in the acc, you know, Wake strikeout numbers, they just win, man. They play the. Out of defense, the balls that they throw so many strikes. And this is kind of another one of those situations where we talked about it with how tough it's going to be for St. John's with Alabama being able to line those three guys up. UNC wants to use five arms, maybe six. And if they can line these guys up and, you know, yeah, USC can hit a little bit better than a lot of west coast teams. They got a little bit more thump and stuff, but I think these are going to be three low scoring games. I, I could see UNC sweeping, but, like, it just kind of built it. Both these games are going to be built for how both these teams want to play. And I think UNC's got the edge because they're at home. USC is flying across, but this is another situation, like Oregon, Big Ten network. You know, we can complain about it. I'm. I'm glad that people are going to see how good this team is and how good this pitching staff is. Stankowitz, you know, it's not everybody's cup of tea, but, man, he's done a good job there. Like, dude, this program's been dead for, I don't know, what, 30 years, 25. I. I don't. I don't know what. You know, they had that little resurgence last decade, but for briefly, there was some heat around him, but, man, what a job he's done. It's just. And it's been quick, too. But I think unc, I think UNC gets it done. They're just. It's hard to go against them, especially at their ballpark, they're tough. They're just winners.
• 1:09:57
  Speaker B: I concur. Yeah.
• 1:10:00
  Speaker C: I think, unfortunately, I love usc. I love everything you just said about usc, because I think that that staff deserves a ton of credit. But it. I think this is just a terrible matchup for usa. Like, the more you look at it, like, Andy, I know you said. And I'm going to steal your line. I think you said it last week. UNC just really comfortable winning six, four. Like, they, like, they don't even break a sweat. It's just another day at the office. Like, they're. They're good. They're totally cool playing, you know, 1, 2, 3 run games all day, every day. Like, doesn't matter to them. They don't need to blow you out. They don't. They're not even trying to blow you out. I don't think. You know, I think the wild thing, too, is, is that I could easily see USC winning on Friday, but I could see North Carolina winning Saturday. Sunday, though. And I think USC having to play the night game last night on Monday, right. This Tuesday, they had to play the night game. This is a Friday, Saturday, Sunday regional. That's a huge disadvantage for usc. And I know they're only coming halfway across the country because they're going to come from Texas, but, you know, they couldn't line the pitching up. They had to come through the losers bracket. It's just, this is. This does not. This is not the matchup USC wants, in my opinion. And I, I think if you're North Carolina, kind of like what they do in those one and two or three run games, even if they lose Friday, if. If Edward stuffs it on them, I don't even think they break a sweat. Right. Like, especially if you don't need to use McDuffie. Right. Like you, McDuffie lined up with full rest Saturday, Sunday. Like, North Carolina's in business at that point. So even if they get a small hiccup, I don't think they're going to. I think it's gonna be two games. I just think, again, nothing against usc. They've done a phenomenal job coming out of that losers bracket, you know, in. In Texas A and M. But I don't know. This North Carolina just. They're built for this.
• 1:11:50
  Speaker B: It just seems like, yeah, that's a clean sweep with Coach Glass agreeing with UNC as well. You brought up a good point about usc. Like, for. For people who haven't watched college baseball or don't know a ton about the history of College baseball. USC still has the most national champions championships by like a fairly wide margin and that's been done a lot. The last one was a long time ago and USC had just hadn't been really a factor in college baseball in a long time. And I think they're back. I don't think they're going anywhere either. Like, I think this is the first big step to USC being a legitimate, you know, a legitimate factor in, in college baseball again, which I think the sport's always better when you have brand names like that that are legitimately in the mix to, to make something happen. I think them coming out of the losers bracket against A and M, like, it's just the, the difficulty to pull that off. The team's obviously tough, they're resilient. I think they're going to put up a good fight. But give me the target.
• 1:13:02
  Speaker D: Their last one was in 98, 1990. They have 12. So they didn't want a national title in the lifespan of any of their players. But I, I think it's awesome that you mentioned it. You know, USC is their blue blood program, like in college baseball, but you have that, that rivalry with, with UCLA reignited awesome. Their, their series against Oregon was awesome up in. Or like what, like. And I, I think that's good for the Big 12 or, sorry, the Big Ten. Big 12 is fine, whatever. They're good. But the Big Ten, you know, has been, let's, let's be, let's call it. What is there. They've been a real snoozer. Michigan's been disappointing for the last decade or so. You know, they've had some good teams. You know, Illinois has run some good teams out there. You know, Maryland's had its, its bright spots. You know, Purdue's had a couple good seasons where they popped up out of nowhere. I think Ohio State's on the up and up like they've been, They've looked great, but man, you have three teams. Ucla, probably the most disappointing of the teams in regionals this year, but you have three real teams that, you know, midway through the year out of the big Nebraska too. Sorry, that's like another. I mean, they had a great year. They've been great the last few years. And it doesn't look like that's changing. But you, you know, you have three west coast teams that are injected into that league that halfway through the year you could be like any one of these three teams could win a national championship potentially. And I think that's great for the Big Ten. And you know, you're going to see some programs that just aren't going to care. But then, like, I'm curious to see what happens, like, with these three teams with Nebraska and the crowd that they pull every. Every game. Like, is this going to elevate Ohio State? I think, you know, what's his name? Is it Campbell? You know, I know a joke about, like, the wagon and stuff, but, like, dude, that guy's a winner. And is Ohio State going to look around and be like, we need to match this? Or are they going to be like, whatever? And that's clearly what some of the Big Ten teams have done in programs that, you know, they're focused on football, and that's fine. But I think these three west coast teams, and with the success that Nebraska's had, I think you might have the opportunity here for a couple of these kind of meddling Big Ten programs to step up and be like, hey, this is. This is a real thing for us now. Like, let's. Let's go do some cool stuff. And I'm. I'm curious to see. I feel like there's going to be a couple that are going to jump on board with it. You also have Washington. Washington's kind of in a little bit of turmoil right now, but they've. They've done better the last. You know, they really outperformed last year. So you've. You've got some interesting things happening. Potent, potentially, in the Big Ten that I think is great for baseball.
• 1:16:03
  Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's few years, few and far between, where you could legitimately look at the Big Ten and go, there's a team in there that could win a national championship. And now moving forward, there's going to be three or four of them. And in any given year where you're going, one of those guys, they could win it.
• 1:16:22
  Speaker D: Yeah. And this is with Indiana being terrible this year.
• 1:16:24
  Speaker B: Yep.
• 1:16:25
  Speaker D: You know, that's. That's a place that really, you know, maybe not as much as football, obviously, but now, but that's a place that cares about baseball and, you know, next couple years, I wouldn't be surprised if they're back in to what. What they have been. So I think it's great. These three west coast teams and what they've done and hopefully elevating the rest of the league and kind of kicking some of them in the button, forcing the administration to do something about it.
• 1:17:02
  Speaker B: All right. The most. The least sexy of the regionals, but also probably one of the cooler ones in a lot of ways. Got little Rock, I mean they were kind of a darling Cinderella ish last year. Like made a run and got in and this year they're not. They didn't really sneak up on anybody like a much more competitive regular season. I think they ended the regular season with 36 wins and I mean, shoot, they just, they kind of just played well and they're in the super and Troy coming out of the losers bracket. You know, like Troy was one of those teams that I think you could have made a really strong case that they shouldn't have been in the tournament. They're, you know, certainly one of the last four in. They're in. They played really well this weekend and because of the circumstances in other regionals, they're going to host one which is, I mean that's as cool as it gets. I think Troy's going to move on here. I think there's just a little bit more talent there. I think they're playing really well. I think they're a little bit more battle tested. Well, that's tough to say after what Little Rock did in the regional, but I think Troy played a really challenging schedule this year. You know, shout out to coach me for kind of making some adjustments with some criticisms that a lot of mid majors have been given around RPI and strength of schedule and you know, playing on the road and, and doing all that kind of stuff. And Troy really challenged themselves. Won enough games in a good conference to, you know, to ultimately get that at large bid. And I think we're going to see Troy in, I think we're going to see them in Omaha. So what do you got on this one, Jonathan?
• 1:18:46
  Speaker C: So here's my take. I was thinking about this earlier and I think this is really cool and hopefully, you know, a lot of kids are listening to this because I think this is a really cool thing about this regional. This regional is filled with players who were told no. Somewhere where you're told no, you can't go to Division 1 out of high school and you have to go to junior college. We're told no. Hey, we brought you in to XYZ Place. SEC Power four conference just doesn't work. You got to go in the portal, you got to get out of here. But this cut, this, this super is filled with those kids. You look at all the transfers, all the JUCO guys, it's awesome. And it's awesome because it just goes to show you like, just stay with it. Just keep working. Just don't let people tell you no, right? And you will have an opportunity to Keep doing it. So I think that's really cool. I think it's a really cool storyline for this regional or this. Super. I'm sorry. I think you made a really good point though, Andy. I think Troy, with the schedule, they're just a little bit more battle tested. I think, you know, sometimes when you're that four seed, you kind of ride it high with Little Rock and sometimes the Cinderella story ends. I wouldn't be shocked if Little Rock gets out of this. Super. But I'm just gonna give a little bit of a nod to Troy here.
• 1:20:15
  Speaker B: Where are you at with this one, Eric?
• 1:20:19
  Speaker D: I agree Troy's at home, but same look at like, Little Rock's roster. They got. They got a ton of guys that. From Power 5 schools, bigger schools that got told to take a hike. I think that means something for them. You know, they expected to play in these environments and they're doing it in a totally a different uniform than, than probably their original plan. But exactly what, what Jonathan was saying, like, did. You got to keep working. You got to keep grinding away. Ah, God, I hate that word. We're not stonemasons. Like, we're. We don't go. We don't work in a coal mine. You got to keep plugging away. But I got Troy. They're going to have the best player on the field. Janicki is. Yeah, he's. He's the best guy. But, man, what if you watch Little Rock and we talked about the velocity before. You watch these two teams and you're like, oh, mid major teams. Like, dude, there's going to be some juice on the mound. Both of these teams can. They've got some guys that throw the ball hard. Look, I, I think Florida, we, we. We've joked about Florida all year in, in our group chat and you know, maybe Troy was just a little like, if Troy had been the Yankees. We're talking about Little Rock against going to Florida probably, but you know, it's still what they did, dude, beating Florida two times in a row. And I know they're super flawed and they've got a lot of issues, but dude, Sullivan's. That guy can coach with. With anybody. Like, that guy puts really good teams together and he just did they, those, those last couple games down there full. I mean, they just waxed. Florida didn't even look like Florida belonged on the field with him. And, and I will say this up front, I don't think Troy should have, should have been in a regional. And even with them making it out, I don't. I Don't think they should have made regionals. They're 35 and 30 right now, you know, like, dude, I don't think you should get into a regional with that record. And I'll, I still don't think they should have been in a regional, but I think they're going to be in the World Series. And it kind of goes back though. It's like, man, it's hard to win a regional. It's. And I, I think they're, they're, they're more talented than Little Rock. They have better players. They're gonna have. Again, I'm big on. If you have the best player on the field, I think you have an edge. They're going to have head and shoulders. The best player of both of these teams and he's a huge impact. He touches the ball on almost every play because of his position and you know, he's got the most home runs. The ball's going to fly there. It's, it plays as a band box. I think they've got more juice than Little Rock. They've got about 20 some more home runs, but it's not a cakewalk. And, and there's going to be some good players on both sides of the ball even though they're both mid majors and I think it'll probably be the least viewed regional. But I think it's cool for these mid major programs that can play and you know, again, Little Rock's got Power 5 kickbacks littered on their, on their roster. So these guys can play, they have talent. And I just think Troy's gonna, they're, they're just better, they're a better team and they're gonna have the best player.
• 1:23:53
  Speaker B: Coach Glasser agrees with you. Clean sweep, Troy. Last regional, Cal Poly. We got another west coast team flying to, I guess we'll call West Virginia the East Coast. Technically no coastline, but we'll, we'll give it to him. The atmosphere in Morgantown was just those last two games with Kentucky. Like, I know Coach Maisie came out and said it's the best atmosphere in college baseball. I don't know about that, but it's freaking up there. It's a really cool setup. It's going to be a tough place to play for Cal Poly for sure. I think West Virginia's just got some mojo, really talented group of players. The Kelly kid is, he'll be the best player in the regional. There's not a lot of games that that kid plays in that he's not the best player. And I think that that goes to your point, Eric. Like, sometimes just having a guy like that's a difference maker. It's hard not to like Saban. He's just, he's just got a way about him that you can tell that those kids love playing for him. They love being at West Virginia, and I think that that says a lot. I think they're playing for a little bit more than just the uniform, if you will. I think there's like, general genuine camaraderie and like a brotherhood there. At least that's the, the feeling I get. With that being said, Cal Poly is playing exactly how we thought they were going to play. When we talked on the preseason podcast where this team was set up to be a regional team, we just didn't think it was going to have to be them winning the Big West. Thought they were going to be an Outlaws team. Eric, you know a lot more about these guys, but they, they play really, really good baseball and there's a lot of talented players on this roster. And it's another really good opportunity for folks who don't watch a lot of west coast stuff to see one of these west coast teams play in a hostile environment that's going to be televised. And you get a really good feel for how good the baseball is that's being played out there. So I got West Virginia. It's hard, it's hard for me to pick against them with the home field advantage. And I just, I, I think, man, for man, they're a little bit better. What they did to, to beat Kentucky was fantastic. So I got West Virginia. But this, I think this Poly team will put up a pretty good fight.
• 1:26:27
  Speaker D: Yeah, I think West Virginia is better. I want to pick Cal Poly so bad. Before I get to that, I was selfishly hoping. I don't know. Selfishly is the wrong word. I was really hoping that Kentucky was going to beat West Virginia just so there was a chance that Cal Poly was going to host. Because I want everybody in the country to know that. That, that stadium, I mean, dude, that place, when, when Larry Lee's retires, there's, there's going to be people lining up at the ad's door to interview if, if they don't hand it to somebody that's already in the program, like the central coast of California. My God. All right, we'll get over it. But I, I mean, I think they actually, like, lead the west coast and, and like, attendance and stuff too. They, they draw really well. It's a really cool place. But some, some interesting things with them they can really pitch. Their, their pitching coach, Seth it's, he does an unbelievable job. I mean they're probably one of the only west coast schools as Kennetrax which, you know, having, having that resource. They've got good starters, Bond out of the bullpen. I mean wait till you see this guy throw if you haven't seen him yet. He's 5 10, 150 pounds maybe and you know he's touched 100 this year. It's a, it's nitro. They can pitch something really unique with their offense. They play in a lot of graveyards. They play in a lot against a lot of teams where it's hard to hit the ball out of the yard and they 60 bolts but they have 10 guys with double digit doubles. So you know they've, they've actually got more power than you would think. And especially for a West coast team, they play a little bit different on offense. They don't bunt as much, they don't run at all. Their defense has actually been kind of shaky this year. So playing on turf at West Virginia is probably good for them. Man, I want to take him. I'm going to take Cal Poly. I think West Virginia is a better team. You know, the question mark surrounding Yell is, is interesting to me with him coming out of that game early. You know, West Virginia's bullpen and, and they're, you know, they have better arms. Not that I don't think Cal Poly's are good. They got draft arm. Cal Poly's got draft arms up and down their roster. Man, West Virginia's run game is. Could be the difference. Cal Poly's again like surprisingly giving up more bags than you would think from a really good west coast team. I'm just going to pick them because I pulling on my heartstrings a little bit. But I think this is actually a really good regional. But yeah, Gavin Kelly probably going to be a top five ten pick. It's going to be on Team USA this summer. Going to be the best guy on the field at all times. But I, I think that Cal Poly, they're not going to be intimidated. They're, they're going to go in there, they're going to play super hard, they're going to put the bat on the ball, they're going to hit line drives into the gap, they're going to put some pressure on them. I think this is actually a sneaky cool two teams that actually are very similar. Not a lot of juice, two really good pitching staffs. I'm going to go Cal Poly, but I do think West Virginia is just a better team. But I'm only good Cal Poly.
• 1:29:56
  Speaker C: Coach Cross, this is, this is one for me. I think that I have a little bit of a gripe with the NCAA on this one. You know, Cal Poly wasn't sure last night, you know, up until about 9:30 Eastern Time, where they were going, if they even had to travel. Right. Because there was a possibility. They, you know, we've seen, you know, kind of the report that they went all in to host it. Kentucky would have won that game last night, which went into extras. You know, they could have been staying at home. They didn't find out till, you know, maybe we'll call it 11 Eastern Time. And now they have to turn around. They have the noon game on Friday. So I think the NCAA could have did a little bit of a better job. You know, I'm not saying that anyone deserved that, you know, to have the noon game because I know it's TV and they have to, they have to go with all that stuff and they're going to put somebody in that. Somebody has to play on that noon slot on Eastern time. I get it, you know, and it just, it is what it is and you know, but I just, I don't think that's great for Polly. I don't necessarily know it's totally fair. I also think it's going to be a better series than people think. I don't think, like, if you're just a casual fan and you're just looking at this, be like, oh, well, West Virginia, like Big 12, you know, they run her up, you know, in the regular season, runner up in the tournament, like, yeah, they're gonna, they're 15 seed. Like they're gonna pound now. That ain't happening here, I don't think. I think you're gonna get at least two good games. You know, they may win, they may win both, but I think it's gonna be closer than people think. I think that there's going to be, you know, both or all three will go down to the wireless. I think they're, they're a little bit more evenly matched because, I don't know, with West Virginia kind of having to come out of the losers bracket. I think tax their arms a little bit kind of back to what we just said with, you know, the Monday game, the night game, had to bring guys back. It'd be Kentucky twice and you know, basically 24 hours. Ish. I think it's going to be tighter than people think. I'M going to take West Virginia. I'm a little bit biased. Coach Rossinger is a good friend of mine. I was talking with him this morning. He was all fired up. I'm going to go Morgantown, you know, and West Virginia gets to Omaha for the first time ever.
• 1:32:20
  Speaker B: Well, there we have it. Picks are in. They will be held against you.
• 1:32:26
  Speaker D: I don't even remember half my picks. Just, just don't worry.
• 1:32:29
  Speaker B: I wrote them down. I wrote them down.
• 1:32:33
  Speaker D: Are you gonna make one of those graphics and put it on Twitter and just like, roasted. Just like roast us and like, let all these burner accounts, like, tell me how dumb I am.
• 1:32:44
  Speaker B: I do not want to be subjected. Some of these burner accounts for college baseball are. You could argue that some of them may cross the line, but you can't argue that they're not funny because some of these, some of these burner accounts are just. Oh, boy. But we got a really good weekend of baseball coming up and yeah, it's. It's some really good storylines. You got some underdogs, you got some blue bloods, you got some in conference bath bashes that are going to take place. You got west coast coming east. There's. There's a lot of really cool stuff to unpack here. And I think all I really have left to say is if you're a college baseball fan, you know, find a way to sit down and watch some of these. Should be. Should be a good show. And we'll be back next week to figure out what the heck we got wrong and talk about what's going to happen in the College World Series. So anything else from you two gentlemen?
• 1:33:44
  Speaker C: That was fun.
• 1:33:46
  Speaker D: I got. If I, if I get more picks right than Keith, I get to take his spot again.
• 1:33:54
  Speaker B: Fair enough. Fair enough. You heard it here, listeners. You heard it here. If, if coach who plays on the pod next week, you know that Coach Glasser failed in his picks. You do. You guys do have several picks that are different. So what.
• 1:34:10
  Speaker D: What do we have different? What do we have different?
• 1:34:12
  Speaker B: He's got.
• 1:34:13
  Speaker D: He's gotta have West Virginia.
• 1:34:15
  Speaker B: He's got St. John's in Oregon, in Georgia and Ole Miss. So you have four of your picks. Yeah, he's wrong. He's wrong.
• 1:34:27
  Speaker D: So what time next week do I.
• 1:34:28
  Speaker B: Should.
• 1:34:28
  Speaker D: I plan on.
• 1:34:30
  Speaker B: We'll make sure that you're on the invite, but.
• 1:34:34
  Speaker D: Yeah, you're right. There's so many good players in this. Like, it's. Dude, some of these matchups, you're really like, you're splitting so many hairs with, with these teams. It's going to be so legit. Pretty fired up for us. Yeah.
• 1:34:49
  Speaker C: Saturday got eight games too. It just is so legit. Like, I mean, like it, it goes. I believe the first pitch is thrown at 11am Eastern time on Saturday.
• 1:34:58
  Speaker D: It's 8am out.
• 1:35:00
  Speaker C: Yeah. Get that coffee brewing, baby.
• 1:35:04
  Speaker D: Rolling out of bed and just grabbing Archer and plopping them down.
• 1:35:08
  Speaker C: That's it.
• 1:35:09
  Speaker D: Can't wait.
• 1:35:10
  Speaker C: This is what, this is what a good day looks like.
• 1:35:13
  Speaker B: Arch is going to learn about approach angles and spin axis and what a rise looks like.
• 1:35:20
  Speaker D: Man, we're, we're so far into into Trackman CSVs with him already. He's, he's already got the right columns picked out that, that he's looking at
• 1:35:30
  Speaker B: learning the best way but. All right, well, thank you everybody for listening. Tune in next week. We'll talk to you then. Thank you for listening this week. If you're watching on YouTube, go ahead and hit that subscribe button and smash that like button for us. Check us out on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, as well as Spotify. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram MD Baseball. If you want to find out what me and Keith do to help families and players navigate the recruiting process, go ahead and check us out on emdbaseball.com take a few minutes to check out our new online academy. I promise you'll get some good information out of that. Thanks again for listening. Check in with you next week.