Latest / College Baseball Now / Opening Weekend 2026 Preview | Ep. 010

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Opening Weekend 2026 Preview | Ep. 010 · College Baseball Now

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Speaker 1: Finally, and only a few short days, college baseball will
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returned to our television screens. But we're impatient. Let's break
0:08
down the first weekend of the twenty twenty six and
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c DOAA college baseball season to prepare because we want
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college baseball and we've won it now. Yeah, there ain't
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no problems, no problems.
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Speaker 2: That don't want problem.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, let me tut city check then know what was
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going For a minute, I had to be out beat,
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grab a couple of wins with a D I D
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if it's even known the kid.
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Speaker 1: I had to do a B I G. I can
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never be average, and.
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Speaker 2: They want to problem with the boy.
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Speaker 1: They don't want no status, hown need so coach sn
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run a week guy, I want to test.
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Speaker 3: That Tom was standing to control run the game best.
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Speaker 1: Believe them shinning.
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Speaker 2: Dogs counted them my wins.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it when they count me y out
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counting I'm the least sudden shame.
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Speaker 2: Why minute jobs if I running the game to that magic.
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Speaker 1: Nut, don't want to stand. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you
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for taking the time out of your day to join us,
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but honestly, you're not doing anything other than waiting for
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college baseball to kick off either. So who's thinking? Who here?
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Am I right? I'll tell you who you're thinking and
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who's thinking you. It's me, your friends, your host, your boy.
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Drew Wheeler, director of Amateur Scouting in Prospects Life, thrilled
1:47
to be here with you, fugally breaking down actual games.
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We have ascended past drafting, mid major pictures. Baby, we're here.
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We've got games coming up in only a few short days.
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It's gonna be a sweet weekend for sure, and I've
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got three sweet boys ready to talk all about it
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with me, starting, of course, with the gentleman to my right.
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It's mister Josh Catlet Josh with the sweet weekend to head.
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I'm curious, man, what's your favorite candy? Oh?
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Speaker 2: Candy? See, I'm not much of a candy person. If
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you count like chocolates and stuff, then yeah, definitely I
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would say chocolates.
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Speaker 1: It's like.
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Speaker 2: Kit cats or like a TwixT or something a really
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super specific one that I have over Christmas break that
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I just like got a hold of. It's these pretzels
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covered in white chocolate and peppermint, and I just I
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was given like literally twenty bags of them for Christmas.
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From my stepdad, just because they know how much I
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like them, and I finished them off with them like
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two weeks. That tastes like candy. I'll take it.
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Speaker 1: They're gone. So you have zero of twenty bags for me.
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Speaker 2: Correct.
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Speaker 1: Yes, I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud. Thank you.
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Speaker 2: I need to put on the weight. It might not
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be helping me in the right places, but you know what,
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I'm doing my best over here.
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Speaker 1: If you need weight, you should have just asked. I
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can ship you someonever you need it.
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Speaker 2: We can make that deal. After words, don't worry. I
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have your number.
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Speaker 1: We'll figure it out. We can. I'll have your people
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contact mine. Uh. Jake Barjorie in the bottom right corner. Jake, Uh,
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you are a man of Southern heritage like myself, So
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I'm gonna ask you the same question. What's your favorite candy? Jake?
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I know you got to have a good uh.
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Speaker 4: I mean, I don't know if it has anything to
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do with being from the South or anything.
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Speaker 5: I'm a big Resis guy. That's my favorite.
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Speaker 4: That was always my go to like candy bar type
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chocolate thing. If we're talking non chocolate, I like the
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I like the sour like the sour straw gummy things.
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Those things, those are those are pretty good. I haven't
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had that in a long time. Though, now that we're
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talking about it.
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Speaker 1: It sounds like you need to make a trip over
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to the Wahwah get you some gummies. Yeah, maybe I go.
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Speaker 4: I go to wawap probably more than I should. I'll
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have to remember that next time I'm over there.
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Speaker 1: There you go. Well, you know what's on the list
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for next time. And of course the bottom left, mister
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j B. Sebastiano jb Uh sweet treats. I'm gonna stick
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with candy specifically. I know we can get into other
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sweet treats throughout the season. What's your favorite candy, buddy.
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Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with the sour punch straws too. That's great.
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I've always liked that, or sour patch kids something like that,
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like all the sour gummies. I'm a pretty big fan
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of those, So gotta go with that.
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Speaker 5: You, JB.
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Speaker 1: Do you think people who know you personally would say
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that you're more sour or more sweet?
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Speaker 3: That's that's a great question. I think it's pretty split
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depending on who you're talking to. If you're asking Josh
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definitely sour.
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Speaker 1: But you know, I.
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Speaker 2: Think there's a pretty clear answer here, but you know
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that's just my humble opinion.
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Speaker 1: Well, hopefully there aren't too many more clear answers to
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be had, because, of course, today we are talking aboutekend
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one of the twenty twenty six in CAA college baseball season,
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and because we're kicking off the season in style, we
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are going to be including something that you're going to
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be hearing a lot about through the season. I don't
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know if we have a specific name for this ship,
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but essentially what it's going to boil down to is
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us picking games. So you can call it a pick them,
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we can call it a picking Championship, we can call it,
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we can call it Philip for all I care, call
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it whatever. I don't care. It can be named anything,
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because I'm excited to talk about these games with these guys.
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What we're gonna be doing is we're gonna be talking
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about either a specific weekend series or a collective essentially
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a tournament that could be happening, and we're gonna be
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picking who we think will either win that series most
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games won, or picking who we think will win the
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most games, have the best record, et cetera, etc. From
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those multiple game collections across the country. Josh, did I'll
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leave anything out about that before we get started.
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Speaker 2: I don't think so. Be a lot easier the further
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we get into the season, because we'll lose all of
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these six and eight and four team events that we're
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going to and it's just going to be two teams
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facing off. But yeah, I mean like, I feel like
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it's a pretty relatively simple concept.
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Speaker 1: It feels fairly straightforward. One could say. While we are
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talking about this, though, we should probably mention a very
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important person, I guess a website. It's not technically a person,
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but if any of you are familiar with the Twitter
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account duty noble Field on Twitter, they have launched a
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website called my Omaha eight recently and we are partnering
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with them this season to present to you these picks,
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So please be sure to check out my Omaha eight
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dot com. Check them out for all of your picking needs.
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Whether it's a group of friends, your workplace pool, you
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challenging random people on the street to pick college baseball
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better than you. I don't care what you do. Just
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go to the site, pick some games, have some fun,
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and be sure to check out our picks while you're there,
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although I do think that if you do it after
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you listen to this, you will be slightly spoiled. But
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who's to say. I'm not judging you for what you do. Guys.
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Let's get to it. Uh, several things on the docket here,
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if I'm not mistaken. We have got nine, Josh, is
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that right? Nine selections?
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Speaker 2: I think eight one of us is counting.
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Speaker 1: That is eight. That is eight. You've passed. You've passed
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the test math record. You can plus one Josh plus
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zero zero zero zero point zero zero zero zero zero
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one point to you. Well done.
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Speaker 3: The sec math door right there. Auburn versus Tennessee. We
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gotta go in.
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Speaker 1: The first, the first matchup. Now, there's it's a long season, JB.
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I don't want to hear it out of you. Okay,
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it's a long season, California.
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Speaker 2: We don't do a lot of winning over here at Auburn.
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So I'll take my ones where I can get on.
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Speaker 1: I think I think I think I can spare one. Yeah,
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let's get to the first one. Guys. We'll take it
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to Texas Arlington, if you will, for the Shriners Children's
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College showdown, a beautiful stadium. I was just there two
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years ago. Gorgeous, gorgeous park, a big league park. What
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we're going to see here, guys, is a lot of
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players getting some of their first opportunities to be on
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a showcase at this level at a major league park. Josh,
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We're going to go back to you first. That seems
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like an easy path. Just go in a square here,
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So I guess a circle if you will, seeing is
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that is the theme visually of the show? Well, taking
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a circle? I'm an idiot of this group of teams, Josh,
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whether it's a specific player, a specific coach, a specific matchup.
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What are you most looking forward to seeing out of
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the Shriners Children's College Showgow.
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Speaker 2: Let's see. I think as a whole, there's just so
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many I mean, obviously this is like a no dust statement.
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There's a lot of question marks about a lot of
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these teams that need to be answered early. The number
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one thing for me might be Arkansas as a whole.
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There's a lot of questions I want to be answered.
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I think the biggest one this is like a little
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more specific than broad. There's been a lot of talk
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about hundred deats over the summer and over the fall
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and all that about how much he's improved based on
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how he was last year barely pitching last year through
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only I think one point two innings, but he's shooting
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up draft boards fastball up to ninety eight ninety nine.
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I want to see how he does against the TCU
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lineup that he's slated to go against on Saturday, I'm
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pretty sure. And that's just a phenomenal way to get
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right into the season, like there is no coasting into
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it like some of these other teams. TCU's got one
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of the better lineups in the entire country, and I
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want to see how he's able to actually perform and
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can he go five to six seven innings deep into
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that game? So offensive things with Arkansas too, is like
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the construction of that lineup. There's also big poppers in
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that lineup. How does DVH kind of navigate that and
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you know, just how does it actually shake out? Like
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I mean, offense doesn't typically the issue for Arkansas, but
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there's a lot of weird moving parts there that I'm
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really interested to see how it works out over the
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pan of the weekend.
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Speaker 1: I like that, uh you reference hundred Deats and a
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specific matchup with TCU. I love that we're gonna take it.
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Josh to the Baptism by Fire oh meter trademark Drew Wheeler,
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twenty twenty six, with one being this is just a tepid,
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almost cold bath, ten being like a fire. How much
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of a baptism by fire is this for our friend
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Hunter Deats?
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Speaker 2: Ooh, I mean, like I gotta be like a nine
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if I'm thinking at least to Yeah, yeah, you're scale correctly,
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it's at least a nine, because I mean there's just
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like I don't know if there's a hole in that
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I mean, like even down to one person, Like maybe
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there's one person I'm just not thinking of, but like
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I don't know if there's any holes in that lineup
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at all. You get no breaks, like it can be
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a ten. Truly, it's at least a nine though, I mean,
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this is just right into the fire. It would have strategically,
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I don't know how they're gonna handle it and how
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confident they are indeeds compared to someone like Gackle, But
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I mean, I don't know. This is all you can
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ask for match up if you're like you're a scout,
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for example, like trying to look at hundreds and see
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how we goes, how he's gonna perform. This is all
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you can ask for.
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Speaker 1: A primo opportunity to see a top one hundred dollar
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on many outlets, including our own Prospects Live. Jake, looking
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at these teams here spread amongst the SEC and the
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big twelve of them, curious, what are you most looking
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forward to in this series?
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Speaker 4: Uh, yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna talk about kind of
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the other side of things like that Josh was mentioning
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real quick, I'll keep it short with TCU. I mean
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they have you know, they have studs in the lineup
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top to bottom, and they got one of the best
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uh you.
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Speaker 5: Know, Friday starters in the country.
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Speaker 4: I think it's just gonna be fun to see them
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actually get put to the test early because I mean
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they've been hyped up, you know, by us in the
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preseason the whole time pretty much, and it's gonna be
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it's gonna be pretty fun to see how they how
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they match up against some of these top you know,
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SEC teams. I think they got uh they have Vanderbilt
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first and then Arkansas next, so it's gonna they're gonna
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get tested pretty early. But the the other point I
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wanted to make was about Oklahoma state Hunter Watkins. You
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know the bad news about him, it's it's a it's
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a massive loss to the rotation. It's gonna be interesting
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to see who steps up. I believe it's is it Mario?
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Speaker 5: Is it Pesha? Is that how you pronounce that?
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Speaker 4: It is probably gonna be the top guy in that
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rotation now, But you know, behind him, like you know,
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the depth of the pitching staff is going to be
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tested a little bit more now.
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Speaker 5: The the lineup is is is good.
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Speaker 4: It's a little top heavy, so I'm excited to see
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kind of how they hit like at the bottom of
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that order, how they can you know, flip it around
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against some of these good pictures. But uh, the Big
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Twelve's got a big got a big weekend ahead of
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them with this one.
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Speaker 1: Big weekend for the Big Twelve, says Jake. I think
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you're accurate on that one, Buddy, good call, Uh, jb
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looll get at this group of teams. I'm curious a
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lot of stuff to talk about. Obviously, We've heard Josh
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talk about Arkansas really hitting about TCU and really the
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Big Twelve in general, I'm curious, what are you when
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you see this collective? What catches your eyebud?
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Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I thought we were done with the stealing
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by the time we ended the drafts, but Jake kind
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of hit right in the nail in the coffin where
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I was going funny enough, So I'll give a quick
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piece on that and then hop to another thing I
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was gonna discuss. For me, it was more so TCU
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and the pitching against the teams they're gonna have to face.
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I mean, TCU is gonna have to come out and
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play Vandy in Arkansas. You know, it's a good test
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for Lapoor and the rest of the group, and then
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Oklahomaul to finish three SEC teams to really test them,
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and three pretty solid offenses when you look at them
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up and down. But for me, I'm gonna pivot from
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that into an SEC team and talk about Vanderbilt. I
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think Vanderbilt last year being the number one seed getting
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knocked out of their own regional, a lot of stuff
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going up about them after that, and a lot of
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people kind of panicking about corbyin now missing Omaha for
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a good bit of time.
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Speaker 1: Now.
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Speaker 3: So this team at Vandy's very experienced, and I think
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that's one thing that goes well for them. But there's
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not a lot of power in the offense, and that's
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something that's really, really, really concerning a lot of people.
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As the home run numbers have really taken down for Vanderbilt,
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and they have one guy in double digits from a
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year ago that is returning, and they got one transfer
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in the double digit totals from Tennessee Tech. So that's
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something for them that's kind of eyebrow raising. But they
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are experienced. The pitching staff is strong again, but you know,
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it's not a typical Vandy staff, So I think it's
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gonna be interesting to see how they play. But it's
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a big test for them this weekend.
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Speaker 1: It certainly will be. It's going to be with Vanderbilt.
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Like you said, the power is something that I've kind
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of kept a loose eye on is where exactly is
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it coming from? But I think I might have said
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it in the last episode. Even Coach Corbyn makes he
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has made better players out of worst clay, and so
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I'm curious to see what he can do with some
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of the returning cogs here. Let's pick winners, shall we?
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Josh will go to you, who do you think is
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going to have the best record, most wins, and then
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of course the top breaker being the ren differential. Who
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do you pick?
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Speaker 2: I'll say, purely based on how the schedule plays out.
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I think I'm gonna go with Arkansas. I think of
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the SEC teams here to the most talented, and I
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think it's a blessing to have to get to face
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Texas Tech and Oklahoma State Oklahoma State on a Friday
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where your best guy's going Oklahoma State, as we just
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hinted that just lost their Friday guy for a little
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bit of time, if not the whole year. I think
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that's a blessing in the skies. Whereas teams like you know, TCU,
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who's probably the other most talented team being or playing
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in this thing. They're gonna have to face Arkansas, Vandy, Oklahoma,
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three SEC teams. I think it's an easier path for Arkansas,
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and I think they can get it done well, said sir.
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Speaker 1: Jake, going to you, who are you picking you?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I'd love to pick someone different and be a
15:48
little fun, but I'm gonna have to Arkansas too. For
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all the same points that Josh made, I think the
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I think the pitching lines up for him well for
15:56
gat gole to go against Oklahoma State's best, and then
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I feel like just just the rest of the weekend,
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the second game, the first TCU is gonna be a
16:04
fun one to watch. We're gonna get to see, you know,
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both teams have you know, talented Saturday starters. But I
16:11
think I think Arkansas has the has the overall better matchups.
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I think they get the most wins too.
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Speaker 1: Two for the Hogs. JB. What do you say?
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Speaker 3: My initial thought would have been the Hogs, But to
16:23
be different than everybody else, there's another team that was
16:26
close second for me that I'm gonna take, and funny
16:28
enough that the team I doubted the most, I'm gonna
16:30
go with Vanderbilt. I think Vanderbilt, besides playing TCU, if
16:33
they can get through TCU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State
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is a much easier draw, like we kind of talked
16:38
about with everybody else. So I think if they can
16:40
get through the TCU game, I think they're gonna be
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a okay. So, originally my choice would have been Arkansas,
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but I'll go with vandiyear to be a little different,
16:48
and I think they have a good path as well.
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Speaker 1: I agree. I was gonna take Vanderbilt again, just kind
16:53
of using the exact same logic to be different, kind
16:55
of separate a little bit. But I think I'm actually
16:57
gonna go different again and go TCU. I think that
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if TCU can survive Arkansas or even keep it close,
17:04
that might be the edge they need. Not that I
17:06
think Arkansas is really in jeopardy in any of their
17:09
games necessarily. I think they may be tested, but I
17:13
trust Arkansas. But I think I'll go TCU, not only
17:16
to save our graphic put a big twelve name up there,
17:19
but I do think that that's the team I feel
17:21
the second most confident about in that court. All Right,
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we've had our prelim fight. It's time for the main event.
17:29
Only eighteen minutes into the show. All right, gloves up, boys,
17:33
we're talking you see Santa Barbara and Southern miss the
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Western United States, the Southern United States. I'm just gonna
17:41
get out of the way here. I'm just gonna get
17:43
out of the way, Jake, I advise you to do
17:44
the same. Our boys in the corners here are gonna
17:47
duke it out. We're gonna have to step in at
17:48
some point separate them. Josh, We're gonna start with you
17:52
between you see Santa Barbara and Southern Miss. I think
17:55
the obvious storyline is Friday night pitching. I'm curious, though,
18:00
is there anything else that you're wanting to talk about
18:02
before we get into that or are we going straight
18:04
into the big horses going on Friday.
18:07
Speaker 2: I mean I can talk bigger picture with Southern Miss.
18:10
I'll I can. I can stick with the Southern Miss
18:12
side and let JB do UCSB. That's fine. In terms
18:16
of bigger picture stuff, I think it boils down to
18:19
a couple of things. I don't think or first, let
18:23
me back up, I don't fully know if McCarty English
18:27
or Thomas Crabtree or whoever it is, is gonna be
18:29
the Sunday guy that could play a big factor because
18:32
I don't think we fully know who UCSB's is either,
18:35
so that could just be a high scoring matchup or
18:38
you know who works things out pretty early on. I
18:42
think Braydon Harris's role on Saturday is huge. Obviously, I'm
18:45
big on him taking a step up this year, which
18:46
is part of why I'm big on Southern Miss as
18:48
a whole. But I think there's guys like Vets in
18:52
Southern Missus lineup that really need to step up, and
18:54
the lineup there's guys that we know are going to produce,
18:58
guys that are produced in the past coming back, Tucker Stockman,
19:01
Matthew Russo, you know, Caleb Stelly, guys along those lines.
19:05
But it's the guys like Big Ben Higden, Davis Gillespie,
19:09
guys who have been there, Guys who are staples but
19:12
aren't exactly like the high producers like those other guys,
19:14
can they step up and be big in a lineup
19:17
or in a matchup where UCSB isn't exactly known for
19:22
their hitting per se and you just might only need
19:24
a couple of bops here and there to get you
19:27
out of a situation or like get one across in
19:29
a tough spot. And I think those Vets could be
19:30
the guys that come across and play a big role
19:32
if they were to step up in the situation.
19:35
Speaker 1: Interesting, JB, we are gonna go to you for a
19:37
rebuttal Cirt, Yeah, what are you looking most for to
19:41
it in this series?
19:42
Speaker 5: Yeah?
19:43
Speaker 3: The thing about Santa Barbara that I really liked was
19:45
the returning a good amount of the overall production in
19:48
the offense this year, so I think that's one thing.
19:51
There's a lot of older production that's coming back. Along
19:53
with bringing two guys out of the portal Mitch Nami,
19:57
and they also brought in a chansfer from Ball State
19:59
who I'm spacing on the name currently it is Nick Hezowski.
20:04
That's who it is. Both guys are all conference players
20:07
and their respective conferences before two great offensive pieces to
20:10
add in on top of what they had last year,
20:12
and then on top of that, you put Floora on
20:13
the mount on Friday you feel great about. Then you
20:16
have Triba as well, who they're gonna feel great about
20:18
putting out there at some point. And then you have
20:20
Kella Montgomery coming from Long Beach State, who's got the
20:23
experience there. He's a senior, He's done very well at
20:25
Long Beach State. So I think they're very experienced staff.
20:28
They also have a bullpen that is returning most of
20:30
the pieces as well. I think it's a very deep,
20:33
experienced team that's gonna be hungry from last year after
20:36
falling short in the Big West, and also a team
20:38
that added on some big pieces for themselves this year
20:41
on the offensive side, which was their biggest drawback last year.
20:43
So I think Santa Barbara, I think they're gonna put
20:47
up a really good fight that a lot of people
20:48
I think aren't necessarily expecting against the Southern miss team
20:51
that's hosted a lot of regionals recently.
20:54
Speaker 1: Interesting great points on both sides, gentlemen, I'm gonna call
20:58
that a clean round one, and we're gonna send you
21:00
to your corners to spit and sit. Uh. Jake, I
21:03
noticed a minute ago the Bethel Wildcats hoodie gotta shout
21:06
that out. Shout out the man Dinger Daddy, my dad
21:10
at home, and my second favorite Bethel player all time,
21:13
Jake Barjorie, Jake, I'm curious, from an unbiased perspective, what
21:17
are you thinking about this series and what are you
21:19
most looking forward to seeing it?
21:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean they they obviously hit the high points
21:24
on like who's who's gonna play, and like who's gonna
21:26
who's gonna hit, who's gonna pitch?
21:27
Speaker 5: All that kind of stuff.
21:28
Speaker 4: This this game just kind of kind of feels, like
21:30
I think Josh mentioned it, like it's just gonna I
21:33
feel like it's just gonna come down to the Sunday game.
21:35
You know, we don't know exactly who's who's gonna pitch
21:37
necessarily for either team.
21:40
Speaker 5: I feel like one, you know, I.
21:42
Speaker 4: Feel like it's just gonna be a case where one
21:43
team wins Game one or the other team wins Game two,
21:46
and it's just who's who's hot going into Sunday. So,
21:49
I mean, at this point, I'll let you know if
21:51
everybody when we start making our picks, I'm a little
21:54
I'm a little bit torn right now. I have to
21:55
I have to think it over. But uh, I can't
21:57
really say that I'm leaning leaning one way right now.
22:01
Speaker 2: One thing I will say, I don't know if like
22:03
I don't know if y'all seen this or from what
22:04
I've seen, I don't think they're gonna use Cole Triba
22:08
triba Howary Brown's name. I think they might use him
22:11
out of the pin. From what I've seen, I think
22:12
they might go Flora Prosky as a Saturday guy and
22:16
then someone like killing Montgomery's a Sunday guy. I don't
22:18
know if that benefits Southern miss or not, because he's
22:22
gonna I mean, like long term, Tribal's gonna need to
22:26
find a way to carve out a starter's role and
22:27
actually perform in that sense. But I think that Santa
22:30
Barbara thinks he's better coming out of the pin, whether
22:32
it be an a closure role or in a long
22:34
relief roll or whatever it may be. So I don't
22:36
know if they're gonna use him as like a piggyback
22:38
off of Kell Montgomery on Sunday or just close the
22:41
door on say like Saturday for example, of Prosquy's having
22:44
a good game. I don't know how that's gonna work out,
22:46
which is based on everything that I've seen, it's shocking
22:49
they're not using him as a starter if that is
22:51
the case. And I don't really know who it benefits,
22:54
but it just is what it is.
22:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know Jennie Lly too is another one, the freshman,
22:59
another one to get in there at some point.
23:01
Speaker 2: So I yeah, either he don't really know it was
23:04
about Sunday.
23:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's.
23:08
Speaker 1: Gonna be interesting. But I think the time has come, guys.
23:11
I think we're gonna have to pick it. We're finally
23:13
just gonna have to pick it. JB. I see you've
23:15
already made your mark in the format.
23:17
Speaker 3: Who you picking, Santa Barbara? I think everybody knew who
23:21
I'm taking who's Josh is taking, So you two are
23:23
gonna have to split it up between there.
23:25
Speaker 1: But Josh, I'm assuming you're gonna go Southern miss Here.
23:30
Speaker 2: I am, and I think I think it's partially because
23:34
Kolby Allen's gonna be able to hold his own against
23:36
Jack and Flora. And I'm not just saying that, like
23:37
I truly believe it. I'm not saying he's a better picture.
23:40
But like Friday, I think they can take that game truly,
23:43
and the home field I really do think actually matters here.
23:48
Traveling all the way from like southern California all the
23:52
way to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and they riled up now like that,
23:56
that crowd is gonna be ready to go opening weekend.
23:58
They got a big series one. I think that's actually
24:01
gonna play a major factor in this for some guys
24:03
that are not used to playing in environments like that.
24:06
Speaker 1: I really hate that you brought that up, Josh, because
24:08
that was my ace in the hole on this waiting
24:15
was the the Hattiesburg crowd is gonna be hot. All right, Jake,
24:20
I'll go first and I'll let you bring up the
24:22
rear here. Oh, man, JB. I wanted to pick you
24:29
six Santa Barber so bad.
24:31
Speaker 3: But to be an underdog one that's coming.
24:34
Speaker 1: I do think that Southern Miss it's it's gonna be
24:37
the home field advantage. And to counter that, I'll say
24:40
alongside this, I think if TRIPA is coming out of
24:43
the bullpen, I think it damages Southern Miss. I think
24:46
that the the chances that we see him multiple times,
24:50
that is not good for Southern miss. If that's one
24:52
of the most electric arms on that staff, you want
24:54
to see him one and done. I think it actually
24:56
is more damaging to think that they could see that
24:58
electricity multiple time as opposed to once for you know,
25:04
four to six seven innings at a given time. I
25:07
think to split it up would almost be more detrimental
25:10
to uh, to Southern Miss. I am gonna take Southern misregardless.
25:14
Just thinking about that crowded Hattiesburg it has me uh
25:17
Google map checking exactly how far it is to try
25:20
and scalptional tickets. Jake, that is gonna bring us to
25:23
you round us off? What are you thinking?
25:26
Speaker 4: Yeah, So before we met our picks, I was I
25:31
was kind of leaning Southern Miss for all the same
25:33
points that you guys mentioned with the with the rowdy
25:35
fans have been waiting, you know, months to show up
25:37
to another Southern Miss game. I also tend to tend
25:42
to favor Southern missus line up a little bit more.
25:48
But I'm I'm gonna I'm not gonna just make it
25:51
three to one against JB. I'm gonna, I'm gonna go.
25:53
Speaker 5: I'm gonna go. You see Santa Barbara. I like the
25:56
I like the pictures.
25:57
Speaker 4: I like I mean, Jackson Floord, Calvin Prosky. I have
26:00
to bet on them both getting the job done and
26:03
both games. And if it's Tribba or whoever it is,
26:05
you know, if they have a lead going into the
26:07
going into the sixth thing, you can call on Tripa
26:09
to finish it out.
26:10
Speaker 5: I mean, you have to feel good about your chances.
26:12
I'm gonna, I'm gonna go with UCSB.
26:15
Speaker 2: Why are we going easy on them? Like, if you
26:18
think can win, then say it with Convent.
26:21
Speaker 1: Come on now, so let's let's let's ask the answer
26:23
this question kind of independently. No points online. I'm just
26:26
curious the u CSB Southern Miss game on Sunday, is
26:30
there a more can't miss game that you can think
26:33
of on the document, like for the whole weekend, considering
26:39
for Sundays Sunday specifically, and considering the fact that I
26:42
think all of us field this could very easily go
26:44
down to Sunday for this for the series, is what
26:47
I'm getting at.
26:48
Speaker 3: MHM.
26:50
Speaker 1: Probably I'm not sure that there is me personally, I
26:53
think that that's the number one Sunday.
26:55
Speaker 5: Game for me.
26:56
Speaker 4: I feel like I assuming that they're gonna split. If
26:59
they split the first two, absolutely there's not gonna be
27:01
more what Mu's watch.
27:02
Speaker 5: I don't think.
27:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, the Sunday slates worse than the Friday and
27:06
Saturday slates for these events, just based on the way
27:09
it kind of like unfolded. I would feel a lot
27:11
more interested in the Vandy Oklahoma State game on Sunday
27:14
if it wasn't. It's like if I knew who Oklahoma
27:16
State Sunday starter was or even had a relative idea.
27:20
But I don't. So, yeah, I mean this is probably
27:21
gonna be a rubber match in a massive series, so
27:23
I'd say so.
27:25
Speaker 3: Jb any thoughts on that brief question, or I think
27:28
it's gonna be the Santa Barbara and miss and Southern
27:32
Miss game. I just think there's nothing that's going to
27:34
really compete with it. Even if it's one team's down
27:36
two oh. I think it's gonna be an interesting must
27:40
win clawback situation for that team compared to the bigger tournaments.
27:44
A lot of coaches are probably gonna walk out of
27:45
there and be like, hey, guys, you know, it wasn't
27:48
our weekend. Like if we played three games we didn't
27:50
play well, you know, it doesn't really matter what you
27:52
win or lose in a great grander scheme of things,
27:55
we played great teams. RPI is going to reflect that
27:57
we played good teams even if we lost. Like I
28:00
think it's different for this series. I think it's really
28:03
a big deal who comes out on top and at
28:05
least saving one game no matter what.
28:07
Speaker 1: So I agree with that centement JB. I think that
28:10
for the team who might potentially be down to to
28:13
keep the brooms in the opposing team's closet is a
28:16
huge thing here, as you said, And I think that
28:18
that's gonna be a team that would happen to be
28:21
down to a whether Southern Miss or U see Santa Barbara,
28:23
They're gonna be playing with a ton of Conviction on Sunday.
28:26
It's gonna be an electric series. If you don't believe us,
28:29
what are you doing? What do you wireless? Like? Come on,
28:32
it's gonna be insane. We're so hyped for this season,
28:35
or for excuse me for this series if you couldn't
28:37
tell this season as well. Speaking of the season, we've
28:39
got another event for teams meeting in the College Baseball Series.
28:44
I'm gonna switch the order up here. We're gonna go
28:46
reverse order for the College Baseball Series, which is gonna
28:49
feature Oregon State, Arizona, Stanford, and Michigan. Hello, we had
28:55
a had a nice West thing going over there. Michigan
28:59
thrown in randomly the mix because conference alignment. JB will
29:03
start with you here looking at this group before. What
29:05
are you most looking forward to this collection?
29:08
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think the biggest thing I'm looking forward to
29:11
is watching Oregon State. I think there's that's a team
29:14
that a lot of us have really kind of not
29:15
seen a lot about and we're really curious to see
29:18
how they're gonna perform this upcoming season. I think the
29:20
pitching staff is the biggest thing we've heard about all
29:22
off season, and you know, between Segura and Dax Whitney
29:26
and Clein Schmidt. Those are the guys that everybody's gonna
29:28
want to see. I think the offense is gonna be
29:30
something that everybody's gonna be curious to see how it
29:32
bounces back losing a lot of pieces. So I'm very
29:35
curious to see how it pans out for Oregon State.
29:38
Speaker 1: Nice, I think that, like you said, that's gonna be
29:42
some more stuff that everybody wants to tune into, is
29:44
see what that pitching staff does. But then conversely, was offense.
29:48
Look like, Jake, look at those four teams. I'm curious
29:51
what has peaked your attention to the most, Buddy.
29:56
Speaker 4: I think it's gonna be I think it's gonna be Arizona.
29:58
I think they're Arizona and Oregon State. Do you know
30:00
the two favorites coming into this. I kind of view
30:03
Arizona similarly to what JB mentioned with Oregon State. I
30:06
think the pitching is solid. Of the pitching is what
30:09
everybody talks about with a result of the Smith baileol
30:12
when Kremkowski won two punch there. But you know, they
30:15
lost a lot of offense too, similar to Oregon State.
30:17
Did they had a lot of draft guys from that
30:20
from that lineup last year, and I think it's, uh,
30:22
it's just you know, how is how are these new
30:25
faces in the lineup gonna gonna kind of mesh together
30:27
and it's gonna be fun to see him get put
30:30
to the test.
30:31
Speaker 1: Sure, well, I'm looking forward to it too, Josh bringing
30:34
up the rear, buddy, these four teams, what do you
30:36
see that catches your eye?
30:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, this worked out pretty well because I'm not just
30:40
saying this to be different, but I think Stanford is
30:42
actually the team that interests me the most of this.
30:44
I'm not saying to the best, but there's just things
30:46
about them that interest me the most. I think, I
30:49
truly do think they can pick off Arizona on Friday,
30:52
because I mean, I like I like Nick Dougan a lot.
30:54
He's got a wicked change up. As you'll know, I'm
30:56
a sucker for a guy with a wicked change up.
30:59
I think they true have a shot to pick off
31:01
Arizona on Friday. Also because we've obviously heard a lot
31:04
of glowing things about Owen Cramkowski of Arizona this whole
31:07
all season, but I mean the numbers show he didn't
31:11
perform great last year, So I mean, if he even
31:13
keeps up a similar thing to that this year, they
31:15
could lose. They could lose. That one early on has
31:18
been terror Sasaki taken a step up from last year.
31:21
He had so much hype coming end of the year,
31:23
didn't fully perform like we thought he would. Has he
31:26
taken a step up from last year this year? And like,
31:29
can the middle of that infield really carried the team?
31:31
There's a lot of conviction about guys like Jimmy the
31:34
T and Charlie Bates up the middle of that enfield.
31:37
Are they gonna be able to carry the rest of
31:39
an offense that doesn't have a ton of star power
31:42
besides Sasaki or someone like Tatum marsh or whatever it
31:46
may be. I think those are some really big question
31:49
mark I'll like, I'll slightly touch on Michigan's as no
31:52
one else had yet. I don't think they they'll be
31:54
able to hit to keep up with the rest of
31:55
the team. These teams that I will say they kind
31:57
of got a break with the scheduling of the whole
31:59
thing because granted, yes they have Organsteed on Friday and
32:01
you're facing backs Whitney you can just chalk that up
32:04
as a loss.
32:05
Speaker 3: It is what it is.
32:06
Speaker 2: Don't even try. But Stanford doesn't really have the strongest
32:10
number two in the world, and they got them, and
32:13
then Arizona Smith Bailey Kramkowski is the one too, and
32:16
then it kind of drops off after that. They get
32:17
them on Sunday. I don't know. I'm not saying they're
32:21
gonna strain together any wins, but just for the sake
32:24
of keeping yourself interested in Michigan, they could stay close
32:27
in some of these games, just based on the way
32:28
that the schedule worked out for them.
32:31
Speaker 1: With you from the scheduling perspective, it's certainly interesting. Jake,
32:34
what's up?
32:36
Speaker 4: I just want to say to Michigan's defense there just
32:38
chalking up that first game as a loss. I actually
32:41
like Take Carry. I think he's probably the Friday guy
32:44
from Michigan. I mean, like you said that, there's the
32:48
question marks in the lineup. I don't really think that
32:50
Michigan's gonna be able to put up many runs against
32:53
Stax Whitney, or is anybody in the country gonna pu
32:54
up runs against Sax Whitney.
32:56
Speaker 1: But like.
32:57
Speaker 4: I like Take Carry, I think he has a chance.
32:59
You know, well, if it's a one run game and
33:02
both starters come out of the game, you know, who
33:03
knows what happens if the bullpens come in. So I
33:06
don't want to just chalk it up as a loss yet,
33:08
but I just wanted to defend Michigan a little bit there.
33:11
Speaker 2: You're right, Like, Take Carry's good and I like him,
33:13
and he's been like some places considered him the best,
33:17
if not just at least one of the best big
33:19
big thing pitchers this year. But with the way that
33:22
Michigan lineup stacks up, if Dax Whitney goes eight innings
33:28
allows one run, like, is anyone going to be shocked?
33:31
Speaker 1: No?
33:31
Speaker 2: Like then again, I mean like I'm not totally convicted
33:34
about the Oregon State line up either, So Take Carry
33:36
could do a similar thing. You get like, you are
33:38
right there, you got a point, But I think that's
33:40
what there's levels to it.
33:43
Speaker 1: I'm with both of you that I think the Oregon
33:46
State Michigan matchup could be much more of a duel
33:49
than like your traditional pitchers duel. Then I think we're
33:52
giving it credit for just because to kind of piggyback
33:54
off of JB and into you Josh, we don't know
33:58
a lot about either of these offenses in terms of
34:00
their potency. I definitely think that that match up on
34:04
Friday Night, not only not only for Becks Whitney, but
34:07
just to see these two offenses that we can really
34:10
safely put a question mark next to see how they
34:13
perform against an offense of a similar ILK. I guess
34:16
comparatively speaking, it's gonna be really interesting. Comparatively speaking, a
34:20
very very even crop of four teams. I think all
34:23
of them have got some really big questions that need
34:25
to be answered. This is a series I'm gonna be
34:27
watching really closely, guys. Of course, being that I covered
34:31
the Big Twelve for the Daily Sheet, I'm gonna have
34:33
to be We're gonna start with you. Of these four teams,
34:37
who do you like to take the win?
34:39
Speaker 3: Yeah? Well, the one comment I'll make quickly before you
34:42
get into that. And I know Josh is big on him,
34:44
but seeing him in person, I was not impressed at
34:46
all the two times I've gotten to see him. I
34:48
think Smith Bailey is getting way too much hype. He
34:51
is very very stockwrighty. I think Oregon State coming in there,
34:56
especially if Client Schmans on the Mound I think could
34:58
do some damage on Arizone on Saturday. So that's my opinion.
35:02
I'm not a Smith Daily guy. I don't think that
35:04
he is very impressive at all. He's very very stock
35:06
in every aspect of his offerings and everything. But that's
35:10
my opinion. So I'm not a not too high on him.
35:14
But in that note, I'm gonna take Oregon State probably
35:16
on the weekend. I think they're gonna do pretty well.
35:19
Speaker 1: It's you for jb A lot of a lot of
35:23
letters there, Jake, We're gonna go to you, buddy, What
35:27
are you thinking in this quartet?
35:30
Speaker 4: Just so so kind of on the flip side of that,
35:33
I like, I like Arizona here and I think they
35:35
are going to be my pick. I'm just looking at
35:38
the matchups, like we just broke down that Friday matchup
35:40
Michigan Oregon State. If you know, if take Carry can
35:43
can keep Michigan in the game long enough, they could
35:46
they could shock the world there. I think Arizona caught
35:49
a break not having to face Dax Whitney with their
35:52
first game. Yeah, I'm just I'm just gonna go Arizona.
35:57
I think I kinda kind I think they're I think
35:59
they're gonna hit also, so I'm going with him.
36:03
Speaker 1: Interesting, Josh, thus far we have one Oregon state, we
36:07
have one Arizona. Curious where you're leaning.
36:10
Speaker 2: Sir, I mean, I've got to refute what JB just said.
36:13
First of all, I'm actually I don't know where you've
36:14
got the whole. I'm like the Smith Bailey guy thing.
36:17
I don't really like he's good, Like his stuff isn't great,
36:20
likes wing and miss But I do want to say,
36:23
you do remember what he did in Chapel Hill, right
36:25
like you do remember how that season ended, right like
36:28
it was specifically it was a specific Smith Bailey like,
36:32
I don't know he shut down that line. It's just
36:34
very I'm not gonna like dispute it per se because,
36:36
like I said, I'm not like totally the Smith Bailey. Sure,
36:40
it's an interesting thing considering the last things you saw
36:42
from him in person.
36:44
Speaker 3: All I will say, well, this is a I'll we
36:47
can talk about this later, but you know, all I'll
36:49
say is Smith Bailey. I'm going to stand on my
36:53
hill on this one that I especially in the summer afterwards,
36:56
I was not I was not anywhere near impressed. In
36:59
two looks. But it's just it's an I think the
37:05
blood was coming out on the Oklahoma.
37:09
Speaker 1: Arizona all this.
37:12
Speaker 2: I'm not the Smith Bailey. Yeah, I don't know where
37:14
this came from. But I mean, like I just swear every.
37:16
Speaker 3: Time I talk about Arizona, Josh is the one that
37:18
always goes. I always hear something about Smith Bayley, like
37:21
you know, it's cramp cash and it's like Smith Bailey.
37:24
They got Smith Bailey. It's really positive. I swear if
37:27
we go back to find the clips, it's always Smith
37:30
Bailey's name with Arizona every time.
37:33
Speaker 1: Or editor the clips. He's not gonna do anyway.
37:38
Speaker 2: Whatever whatever. Where was I my pick? Yes, yeah, part
37:45
I think I'm gonna take Oregon State here. I mean
37:48
I don't. I don't fully believe in the lineup, but okay,
37:52
what do you Why are you shot? I choose the
37:54
best team. That's like whatever, they're all playing each other.
37:57
They don't get themselves like it works out like I
38:00
will take I will like say Stanford could go to
38:04
in one three, you know it wouldn't shock me. Like
38:06
I don't think it's a wild claim to say they
38:08
have the best offense in this field, Like, I really
38:10
don't think that's a crazy statement at all. So depending
38:15
how the pitching plays out, Like, I really think that
38:17
they got a shot there, But I will take Oregon
38:20
State just because I mean that rotation is just so elide.
38:24
There are some people calling it the best in the country.
38:26
It very well could be, so I mentioned to see
38:28
how that plays out. So I don't know, that seems
38:31
like a relatively layup pick.
38:35
Speaker 1: I really want to just super dog this and take Michigan.
38:40
But I I think I think Stanford is a safer
38:43
pick because honestly, Josh, you just you led into it
38:46
really perfectly by talking about the offense I think it
38:49
might have despite the litany of question marks it has,
38:53
is it the safest offense? And that's kind of where
38:55
my brain was at. I I thought myself as neither
39:01
a Smith Bailey guide nor a Smith Bailey detractor yet,
39:04
So I'm just gonna stay off of that train. I
39:06
don't know, I need to listen, I need to see
39:08
a pitch a little more. I'll make a decision later
39:10
in the season, but I just I don't know. I
39:14
think I think I'm gonna go Stanford just to be spicy. Uh,
39:17
I just there's a lot of questions there. But I
39:22
I've been a Stanford guy this whole off season, and
39:24
I need to put my money where my mouth is.
39:26
Let's see Charlie Bates blow up.
39:28
Speaker 2: I'm jealous someone else is gonna have Stanford on the
39:30
graphic and not me for talking about him. I'm actually jealous.
39:33
You went on, you went on that loan.
39:35
Speaker 3: Issue with the Drew. They had four returners that hit
39:37
over three hundred last season, and then you ask the
39:39
hockey and Bates on top of that. So that is
39:42
an offense that was It's like.
39:44
Speaker 1: I said, Buddy, I do think that it's And this
39:47
is weird because I I think my brain is saying
39:52
pick Oregon State, but my heart is saying you have
39:56
waved a banner for Stanford all off season. You've said
39:58
Charlie Bates will take us tea forward. This whole offseason,
40:01
dri in tons of episodes, roll the clips editor. He's
40:04
not going to, But I truly I'm gonna put my
40:07
money where my mouth is here. I think I'm gonna
40:09
go stand. We'll see what happens. I could look like
40:11
a crazy person that it's happened before. All Right, from
40:15
one crazy person digging around in these offenses to a
40:18
bunch of crazy people digging around in the desert. It
40:21
is the MLB Desert Invitational, and what a all eight teams, guys,
40:27
tons of tons of gold. And then Dar Hills and JB.
40:31
We're gonna talk about this collection of teams including Kansas State, Nebraska, Iowa, Yukon, Northeastern,
40:37
Penn State, Grand Canyon, and all of our favorite team
40:41
Air Force JB. I'm pitching it to you who exactly,
40:45
rather what exactly are you seeing that catches your eye
40:49
from the Desert Invitation?
40:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the first one that stands out to
40:54
me is kind of seeing Nebraska come back this season
40:57
after last year putting up a big Big ten tournament
41:00
and coming out of there. I think that's something that
41:02
a lot of people are gonna have questions about this year.
41:03
The offense was really kind of shaky the whole year,
41:06
and then at the very end in the Big Ten
41:07
Tournament they had a big surge. So I think the
41:09
offense will be interesting to see this year. Devin Nuniez
41:12
is gonna lead the way for them again. It's gonna
41:14
be the guy you got to watch and then the
41:16
pitching staff is gonna be something that's very unproven but
41:19
very promising. We talked a lot about Carson Yassa before,
41:23
and there's a lot more guys in there, so I
41:25
think for them it's really gonna come down to how
41:27
the pitching pans out and if the offense takes a
41:28
step forward. But overall, I think it's a very relatively
41:33
weak field in this invitational.
41:36
Speaker 1: Interesting stuff. I think that Nebraska could have a pretty
41:40
clear ish path to a victory here for us, but
41:43
there's some other interesting, other interesting teams in the Knicks.
41:46
Jake gonna go to you, man, look in at this
41:50
desert reputational which facet which matchup? Which thing are you
41:54
seeing like a mirage in the deep desert?
41:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, kind of feel similarly to to JB. It's not
42:03
like it's not this obviously, that's not like the star
42:06
studded field of like top teams or anything. But there
42:09
are some interesting teams in there. There's a I'm very
42:13
curious of who's going to pitch for Iowa. You know,
42:16
they had such a really really nice rotation last year
42:20
and all three guys were drafted and like that, those
42:23
were like the three starters from ageinning to end of
42:25
the season, so we didn't really see any other starters
42:28
for them, so I don't I'm interested to see how
42:30
that pitching staff is gonna play out. Also, Penn State.
42:35
I tend to like Penn State. They're kind of like
42:39
my my home Big Ten team I got to see.
42:42
I got to see them in the fall. They actually
42:46
are one of the few teams that's released their their
42:48
their weekend rotation. I kind of like the way that
42:50
it that it shook out, but uh yeah, I like
42:53
they brought in some pretty good transfer pitchers. They have
42:55
a freshman actually supposed to go on that Sunday game,
42:59
and they have an experience lineup.
43:00
Speaker 5: I think they're kind of a kind of a sleeper
43:02
here that could pick up a few wins.
43:05
Speaker 1: Very interesting. Yeah, Penn State's weekend rotation. Do you have
43:09
that handy? Can you share that? I haven't seen them.
43:12
I'll tell you what I'll okay, go ahead.
43:15
Speaker 4: No, yeah, I have it right here. It's Colin Fitzgerald's
43:19
going to go in the first game. He's a transfer
43:21
from Maine. Ben Hudson, West Virginia transfer is going to
43:25
go on the Saturday game and freshman Isaiah Schater is
43:28
going to go on the Sunday game. I got to
43:30
see him last year in high school. He's he's a
43:34
he's a pretty fun arm. I think he's like mid
43:36
to upper nineties, really good slider, pretty good change up.
43:40
I was shocked to see that he got the Sunday spot.
43:42
I was expecting to see him more out of the
43:44
out of the pen to start the year.
43:45
Speaker 5: But I'm excited to watch a pitch.
43:47
Speaker 1: It's gonna be pretty interesting. Yeah, Josh will go to
43:50
you man, thirsty man in the desert. He's looking for
43:54
water anywhere he can find it. And I'm curious, what
43:57
are you seeing? No matter which way you like facts, cheers,
44:00
which way, what are you saying, no matter which way
44:01
you look with the desert invitation.
44:03
Speaker 2: I'm saying runs galore because there are a lot of
44:06
lackluster pitching staffs and this ta, Let's just be real,
44:09
this event has a lot of really rough pitching staffs.
44:14
Speaker 1: Who are you to doubt Grand Canyon's pitching staff. I
44:18
don't know.
44:18
Speaker 2: I could be proven wrong, but like I will hand up,
44:21
I will doubt Grand Canyon's pitching staff. I mean, I
44:23
have no problem doing it. I think that the most
44:26
interesting team here is probably Kansas State. To me, they
44:30
have probably like what seems to be a lot of
44:33
power in that lineup coming back, or at least he
44:36
got a reliable guy, a lot of reliable guys like
44:38
Grant Gallaher of the transfer coming in from Etsu. He
44:42
should be a big piece in that a j. Vasco.
44:45
I think the pitching is a question mark, but they
44:48
have a kind of definitive guy James Gayet going on
44:51
Friday that should work in their favor. I think Nebraska
44:55
is another one that was interesting, you know, kind of
44:57
touched on that for most of the same reasons. I
45:00
think another one that we haven't talked about that I'll
45:01
just briefly hit on. Northeastern had a really good year
45:05
last year. We know how how strong that program is,
45:08
how strong that program has been over the past few years.
45:11
But they're in a really interesting spot because they lost
45:13
so much this year. I'm interested just broadly, how does
45:17
this team stack up this year because they have a
45:20
really elite borderline preseason All American coming back in the
45:26
outfield in Harrison Feinberg. Carmelo Musakia. I think it's pronounce
45:30
his name He'll be a staple at shortstop that I
45:34
think is someone that can rely on on the middle
45:37
of the lineup or at the beginning whatever they do
45:39
with them, that kind of gives a cornerstone they can
45:44
rely on when all these other moving parts are trying
45:47
to move into the lineup and they're trying to figure
45:48
it out. But they lost ninety percent of their endings
45:50
last year, so the mound. I don't know what that's
45:52
gonna look like from them, but I guess we'll find
45:53
out a lot, you know, this weekend.
45:57
Speaker 1: Indeed, we will. I think you could say that about
45:59
a lot of these teams, Josh, But what a what
46:01
a good way to round it out. Uh. One thing
46:03
that I just want to throw out there about these
46:05
teams is that one of us sleeper teams last year
46:09
was Yukon. I loved watching Yukon play and unfortunate that
46:13
a lot of their their powerhouses have gone on to
46:17
uh other things in the baseball world. We'll just leave
46:20
it at that, but alas these things happen, JB. You
46:25
got you a good swig of whatever it is you're
46:27
drinking there. I'm assuming it's bush light. Knowing you JPM periods.
46:33
Where are you going with the desert?
46:34
Speaker 3: I'll start off with a nice promo for Trader Joe's
46:37
Sparkling Water right there, so you know that's where we
46:39
walk in.
46:40
Speaker 1: We're looking for sponsors Trader Joe's, and we love it.
46:43
I love your the salt caramel chocolates at Christmas time.
46:48
Speaker 3: They're great. Yeah, I agreed. I was torn between two,
46:53
so I'll take the one I already talked about. I'll
46:56
take Nebraska. I think the offense returns a lot of
47:00
the production there now is it was it a consistent
47:03
offense throughout the year. No, But a lot of their
47:05
production is back, and I think the pitching is more
47:07
intriguing than a lot of the other options there. So
47:09
I'm gonna stick with them. But Case State would be
47:11
a close second for me.
47:12
Speaker 1: I think, interesting, Jake, curious, are you gonna go with
47:17
your home away from home? Are you thinking something different here?
47:22
I thought about taking Nebraska. I think they do have
47:26
the most well rounded team probably out of this group.
47:30
But I'll go Penn State.
47:32
Speaker 4: I like I like the pitching staff, I like the
47:34
I like the arms, I like the experience coming back
47:36
in the lineup.
47:37
Speaker 5: So I'll go I'll go I'll go Penn State there.
47:39
Speaker 1: I need to remember that later in the season that
47:41
I can tempt you into changing your pick, and you will.
47:44
On the fly.
47:46
Speaker 5: I was already going there, I promise, I promise.
47:49
Speaker 1: I love it. Josh to you, buddy, who are you
47:51
thinking here?
47:52
Speaker 2: Fascinating Penn State pick there? I don't know. I'm between
47:58
JB and I on the same wavelength here, I'm between
48:00
Kansas State and Nebraska.
48:02
Speaker 3: Uh.
48:04
Speaker 2: I think I am gonna go with Nebraska solely based
48:08
on the draw.
48:10
Speaker 3: We're gonna do it out again, all right.
48:12
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't feel strongly about this at all.
48:15
I'm gonna I don't have to. I don't have the
48:16
passion that I do about Southern miss and apparently Smith Bailey.
48:20
Speaker 1: So we're learning here.
48:24
Speaker 2: They draw a yukon Northeastern and Grand Canyon, and I
48:28
mean that compared to where to go, I just had
48:31
to hear Kansas State Drawsway State. It's close. But I mean,
48:39
like I I give a slight edge Nebraska's draw there,
48:42
and I'm gonna go with him. For that reason. I
48:44
think the teams are very similarly sacked up.
48:46
Speaker 1: Though, mm hmm, guys, I think if anything we've seen
48:51
so far said I like to take. I like spicy
48:53
takes occasionally, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go with grand
48:57
Ol Nebraska, moth kind. I thought about going Nebraska. I'm
49:00
really torn. I want to make it interesting to pit
49:03
Kansas State, but I'll take Kansas State. I'll take Kansas State.
49:06
I'll go with gallaher uh the transfer. I think that
49:11
Kansas State is interesting enough that I can put them
49:14
at the same tier as Nebraska and feel solid love
49:17
the Penn State pick from Jake, though I do agree
49:19
with him saying that there's a lot of returning pieces
49:21
that make that. Josh, what did you say a fascinating selection?
49:25
I was going to say a compelling selection, So we'll
49:27
go with that. Interesting synonyms, I love Synonyms.
49:34
Speaker 3: Always does win a lot of games in that tournament.
49:36
Though it's one thing I will say, you go back
49:38
to the history. They make some upsets in there, so
49:40
that's true.
49:41
Speaker 2: They got know one this year compared to usual. That's
49:43
the thing.
49:44
Speaker 1: They usually have a dude or two, though I'm unfamiliar
49:47
with that team.
49:48
Speaker 2: So admittedly, yeah, air Force has more of a dude
49:51
than them this year, and Walker's up. I mean like
49:53
they got at least a name, like a name. Grand
49:56
Canyon got no one that I know.
49:58
Speaker 1: Are we missing anybody from Grand Canyon? Like, are we
50:00
just doing mad disrespect to Green Canyon right now?
50:03
Speaker 2: No?
50:03
Speaker 5: No, I don't. I don't think it was really.
50:08
Speaker 1: Yeah. Actually there's a good guy that team. Great Canyon
50:10
fans all just unsubscribed. Good to know, all right, Moving on, Josh,
50:16
we've gotten back to standard matchups here, just one on ones, uh,
50:20
Indiana versus a team that you might have heard us
50:23
talking about once maybe twice on the show North Carolina. Josh,
50:28
when you look at this this series, what what catches
50:31
your actel?
50:33
Speaker 2: I'll say the unc talk for the other guy on
50:37
this podcast might yeah, Jake, who he might not? I
50:40
was thinking you actually true? I mean, like the one
50:45
thing I will if I can make one point on
50:47
you and see I've been skeptical about guys like to
50:50
Caro and Lynch maybe making a step up. So I'm
50:52
interesting to see that. But Matthew Matthias was one of
50:56
the better relievers in the country two years ago, and
51:00
he was out all of last year. He's back. Is
51:03
he gonna be able to return to the form that
51:04
we've seen him at. Because if he really can, then
51:08
that bullpen, I mean, the pitching staff as a hole
51:10
for Caroline is gonna take them to the Promised Land
51:12
if anything does. But that bullpen's really gonna elevate their
51:16
floor and their ceiling at the same time. Indiana, I'll
51:20
tug a couple of things. Just how bad is the
51:23
starting pitching gonna be? And that's a terrible note to
51:25
start on, But I mean, like it's really true, Like
51:28
I really don't know, Like Tony k Newbek's gonna be
51:31
their Friday guy. Probably that's a missoo transfer. He's got
51:35
solid stuff, but not a lot of velo. He struggles
51:37
throwing strikes, you know, Brydon Thomas going on Saturday, probably
51:41
Sunday Jackson Bergman, I mean, he's rity not a lot
51:45
of swinging miss stuff. Like, I really don't know how
51:46
it's gonna han out from them, Like going up against
51:50
guys like to Caro and Lynch another one like has
51:53
Jake Hanley taken a step up? He's obviously far and
51:56
away their best prospect and the biggest draw for that team,
51:59
But can that guy really carry the team like he's
52:02
expected to although the infield as a whole, like they
52:04
got some names like like Aiden Stewart, Cooper malam Masian,
52:07
like they won't be terrible. I don't think like Hogan Denny,
52:11
is he gonna behind the plate? Is he gonna be
52:13
in the outfield? I've seen different things. He can play
52:15
both ways. I think there are a lot of question
52:19
marks that have to be answered for that pitching staff
52:20
more than the offense, and not really a fun lineup
52:25
to be facing if you have question marks about your
52:27
pitching staff in the first week going to the Bosh
52:29
and going facing guy like that litany of elite bets
52:35
that we think is gonna come out of that Carolina
52:37
lineup this year, not not which you really want to
52:40
be starting with. But I'm always for fun non conference
52:44
series opening up instead of just like putting into the season.
52:50
Speaker 1: I yeah, you covered it very very well. Jake will
52:54
go to you, uh, looking at this matchup with Indiana
52:58
and North Carolina. Obviously we've heard quite a bit about
53:01
one of these teams, but Indiana is not a complete pushover.
53:04
I think Josh alluded to there's guys who we need
53:06
to see take steps forward. But I'm curious Jake, what
53:09
do your eyes see when you see this matchup? What's uh?
53:12
What's calling to you? Man?
53:15
Speaker 4: Yeah, Josh obviously all the high points there with Indiana,
53:18
and I will leave most of the North Carolina talk
53:20
to JB as he's much more knowledgeable than I am there.
53:25
But but like I said, I think Josh had all
53:26
the hot points with them. Like it's a new look team,
53:30
they have some they have some key returners like you
53:32
mentioned with Hanley h.
53:35
Speaker 5: With you know, Hogan Denny, with Malamagian.
53:40
Speaker 4: Cole Decker, I think is gonna he's He's another returner
53:43
probably gonna be in that lineup. Will Moore gonna be
53:46
the third baseman there? I can I can name names.
53:49
I don't know how they're really gonna match up against
53:52
this North Carolina rotation and bullpen for that matter, Like
53:56
you mentioned, it is gonna come down to who's gonna pitch.
54:00
Speaker 5: For Indiana.
54:02
Speaker 4: I think if they if they come out of this
54:04
series not necessarily winning all the games or or whatever,
54:09
if they come out of the series with a better
54:11
knowledge of like who's you know, what their rotation is
54:13
gonna look like, who's gonna, you know, start going forward
54:16
with them?
54:16
Speaker 5: I think they should be okay with that.
54:20
Speaker 1: Interesting. I'm with you as well, Jake. I think you
54:23
guys are making the points. But y'all are Josh with
54:27
the pick, Jake with the set, and JB we're ready
54:30
for you to spike it. Tell us your thoughts here.
54:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, So, I mean kind of the Indiana points quickly.
54:37
I mean they talked about all the offensive threats. The
54:39
offense is what's going to have to drive away for
54:40
them to have any success. The pitching is very similar
54:43
across the board. When you go across their pitch plots,
54:45
it's very very similar across the board of what type
54:49
of guy they're bringing in. So that's kind of interesting.
54:51
They're very cookie cutter. But for UNC there's kind of
54:54
a couple main points. The pitching is gonna have to
54:57
lead the way, which Josh already talked about, and it's
54:59
DeCaro Lynch and Folder Boaz on Sunday. Most likely those
55:02
are the guys who are going to have to lead
55:03
the way, and they're all going to have to be
55:05
able to go out there and throw strikes and try
55:07
to eat up five innings of a game. Now, Matthias
55:10
is coming back off of Tommy John surgery. He pitched
55:12
halfway through last year, got hurt coming back now. Kyle
55:15
Percival as well in the same situation. But Matthias McDuffie
55:20
and see Graves are three main pieces that they're really
55:22
gonna need out of the pen, along with Kaden Globber,
55:24
who's taking a really big step up and kind of
55:26
jumped on the scene early, and Rollie freshman Amos Rich
55:29
two should eat a lot of innings as well. Those
55:32
are the guys that you're really going to be looking
55:34
forward to, and the X factor's Boston Flannery as someone
55:37
else who could get in the game there. On offense,
55:40
it's a completely new infield besides Gavin Gallaher. Gallaher is
55:43
going to play second. Outside of that, it's all transfers
55:46
from Winslow behind the plate, Paul Sen at first, Nicholson
55:48
at third, Schaffner at short, brand new team. Owen Hole
55:52
is going to start in center. And the biggest question
55:54
mark I think for this team, besides kind of how
55:56
the bullpen shapes out, is the outfield. Owen Holes the
55:59
long guy that we really know who's gonna play out
56:01
there right now, and outside of that, it's two spots
56:03
up for grabs between a lot of names. French who
56:05
we saw all of last year for a big part
56:08
of it, Sawyer Black who we saw for a bit
56:10
last year, Tyler how the freshman and transfer, Michael McGinnis,
56:14
or the other guys that are really trying to compete
56:16
for that spot. And it'll be interesting to see who
56:18
ends up out there on opening Day. So I think
56:21
it's a really good chance for UNC to prove a
56:23
lot of things and figure some stuff out for them.
56:26
But I don't think it's necessarily a pushover either. I
56:28
think the biggest strength for them is going to be
56:31
the pitching to get them through Indiana.
56:33
Speaker 1: I think so too. I think they have to be
56:35
and I love that you called out the strike throwing.
56:40
We have to see that from these guys. It's because,
56:42
as Josh alluded to it, as you second and and
56:45
fermented there, and Jake you I think you even alluded
56:47
to it there. The North Carolina pitching is the horse
56:51
they are gonna have to ride this season, and I
56:53
think that that's just fine. I like these bats. I
56:57
think there are some solid guys here on this team,
57:00
but I do think the pitching is going to kind
57:02
of lead and the team will follow. It's gonna be interesting.
57:05
And I do think that we're about to see the
57:08
first broom of our Hick Them season, but we have
57:12
to go through it proper. Josh, who are you taking
57:15
before I pick?
57:16
Speaker 2: I want to ask. I've been mean to actually ask
57:18
this off air, but I think it's fine on air
57:19
or two JB.
57:21
Speaker 5: Do you know if.
57:22
Speaker 2: Glowber is going to be like the midweek guy, ors
57:24
are going to be the Flannery, do you know? Or
57:25
is like glob We're gonna pitch this weekend.
57:28
Speaker 3: It's he probably would be the midweek, but for us
57:31
in the past, the midweek guys are still usually available.
57:34
So okay, so you could pitch this weekend. Yes, usually
57:40
the weekend. You're still available on the weekend, but you know,
57:42
the midweek. Usually our starters aren't necessarily a full five
57:45
inning type of deal. It's usually a by committee type
57:48
of game. Whenever we throw our midwek So he may
57:51
be the starter, but it'd probably be just for like three, four,
57:53
maybe five if he hasn't pitched the whole weekend. But
57:56
ee be available for Indiana.
57:58
Speaker 2: So all right, yeah, I mean I'll pat Carolina probably
58:03
a sweep. If anyone's a gambling person out there taking
58:06
overs in the series. From my humble opinion, I think
58:08
you're gonna get lots and lots of runs on both sides,
58:11
at least very interesting.
58:14
Speaker 4: Jake, what are you thinking. I'll just I'll just keep
58:19
it simple. I'm going North Carolina. I think they're I
58:22
think they're they're gonna kind of over match g Indiana
58:24
at least his first weekend toil Indiana finds their footing
58:27
a little bit.
58:28
Speaker 5: But I'm going. I'm going. I'm going to Tar.
58:30
Speaker 1: Hills JB two for U n C.
58:34
Speaker 3: What are you thinking I'm gonna go to the Tar
58:36
Heels again. I think it's kind of a clear cut
58:39
deal there. I think Indiana's got the offense that maybe
58:42
push it to make some games interesting, but I think
58:45
it they just don't have the pitching.
58:47
Speaker 1: Are you contractually obligated to say that?
58:51
Speaker 3: I'm not, but I could get in trouble, so you
58:54
know i'd be very frowned upon at the facility if
58:56
I didn't.
58:58
Speaker 1: All right, well, raise up, taking shirts off, twist around
59:01
your heads like helicopters. We'll call it a clean sweep.
59:03
I'll thank you and as well, pretty Pablo Baby, Thank you, sir.
59:07
Pretty pretty straight answer. I think, honestly, for me, I
59:11
just I don't see it. I don't see it. I
59:13
think you UNC should dog walk these guys as a
59:16
matter of fact, So we'll see what happens. Hope they do,
59:19
all right, guys, these next three series, let's pick up
59:22
the pace just a little bit. Give me something that
59:24
you're looking forward to seeing, and we'll get through these
59:27
last three Josh, we will start with you again, Xavier
59:30
and East Carolina. Curious what you think is gonna go
59:33
down with this team. I know who I'm looking at
59:35
as the clear cut star of the show, but I'm curious, Josh,
59:39
what are your eyes see?
59:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you're referring to Ethan Norby, and that's
59:42
probably the case. He's clearly the main guy in this series.
59:48
How is he actually gonna bounce or how is he
59:51
gonna come off of last year, improve improve his draft
59:54
stock and become a clear ace and a weaker conference
59:57
than they're usually used to seeing in the American this year,
1:00:00
this weekend, specifically, there's lots of returners in this lineup.
1:00:02
I kind of want to see how that offense smashes
1:00:04
along with a couple of transfers. Apparently Sean Jenkins is
1:00:08
coming out of the pen instead of starting, which is
1:00:10
really interesting to me. So kind of like the cold
1:00:12
Triba thing that we talked about. I don't know how
1:00:14
that's really gonna work out from them and if it
1:00:15
benefits them, I would say it probably does. From like
1:00:18
a you know, team's perspective. Xavier, I've heard a lot
1:00:24
of promising talk on of fall. I'll just say I'll
1:00:27
put it that way. I don't really know how well
1:00:30
they're gonna do this week and against East Carolina, considering
1:00:33
how much of an advantage that lineup would have against
1:00:35
Xavier's pitching. I note that I'll make on Xavier because
1:00:38
we got to discuss that. Have y'all seen their non
1:00:40
conference schedule?
1:00:41
Speaker 5: It is nuts, they go I haven't, I haven't looked.
1:00:44
It's always tough, though they always put it together.
1:00:47
Speaker 2: Schedule exceptionally tough.
1:00:48
Speaker 5: This year.
1:00:48
Speaker 2: They go at East Carolina, at Arkansas, at cal State,
1:00:52
Flortson at Oregon State, all that on the road. That
1:00:56
is nuts. Like I don't know why there's such massochists
1:00:59
over there, But like this, I was.
1:01:00
Speaker 1: About saying that's great. A masochism was the Yes, I
1:01:03
was gonna make Josh nuts.
1:01:04
Speaker 2: That's nuts. I don't know. That just has to be mentioned,
1:01:06
like kudos to him, because I'm all four interesting series
1:01:09
earlier in the year. But good lord, that's brutal.
1:01:13
Speaker 1: That'll be interesting series for sure. But the next word
1:01:15
out of my mouth again beyond Mexicanism is brutal. Jake,
1:01:18
Curious what you make of this one man. Josh highlighted
1:01:21
that Xavier's got some interesting stuff to their name, and
1:01:25
you've talked about Xavier as well. I'm curious what are
1:01:28
you thinking here?
1:01:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, the Friday matchups I think is actually going to
1:01:33
be interesting. I don't think that the East Huge can
1:01:35
just run away with it. With Ethan Norby, I think
1:01:37
he's you know, he's gonna be the favorite there. But
1:01:40
don't I don't want us to sleep on Ryan Peach.
1:01:42
He's going to be the Xavier Friday starter.
1:01:46
Speaker 1: Uh.
1:01:46
Speaker 4: He started, you know, fourteen games for him last year.
1:01:50
You're a just above four. He's got like a like
1:01:52
a twenty four twenty k right, He's got some pretty
1:01:57
good stuff, some pretty decent secondaries as well. I'd like
1:02:01
to think he's gonna be able to keep him in
1:02:02
the game long enough at some point for the offense
1:02:06
to figure it out. I do also kind of like
1:02:10
Xavier's offense a little bit. They got some decent returners.
1:02:13
Catcher Jason Jelex coming back to probably start every game
1:02:17
for them. There, Uh Connor Mish coming back as the
1:02:21
first baseman. Also Clay Bordette Landon Mensik in the outfield.
1:02:28
Two solid players there. Also kind of kind of like
1:02:32
I mentioned with Penn State earlier, they have some experience
1:02:35
in their lineup. I don't know how well it's gonna
1:02:38
hold up against the EASCU pitching. You know, Norby's gonna go,
1:02:40
Shawn Jenkins is gonna go Saturday. It's it's gonna be
1:02:42
tough matchups all the way around. But I don't think
1:02:45
it's just a given the EASCU is just gonna run
1:02:47
away with it.
1:02:49
Speaker 1: Very interesting. They're a little bit of a throw a
1:02:52
little bit of water on that fire. Okay, JB, curious
1:02:55
where are you at in this East Coast matchup?
1:02:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I'm gonna take ECU. I just think
1:03:02
that ECU is going to be the team that's gonna
1:03:05
kind of run away with it. For a couple of reasons.
1:03:07
You guys talk about Southern Mist getting rowdy, if you
1:03:10
haven't been down there to the jungle, you'll know that
1:03:12
it's a new breed of different down there in the jungle.
1:03:14
They will say a lot of things and throw a
1:03:16
lot of things out you in the jungle. That it's
1:03:19
a tough environment to play, So I think, Xavier, it's
1:03:23
something that they probably haven't experienced at all if they
1:03:25
haven't played anywhere near here, And I think it's tough.
1:03:28
And on top of that, you know obviously Norby and
1:03:30
then Austin Erby and Braden Burris as well, the two studs,
1:03:32
So I think you see all the way.
1:03:36
Speaker 1: Really glad to hear Buris brought up. He was a
1:03:38
name that I had circled and highlighted as well. I
1:03:41
think that he I'm curious to see what he does.
1:03:43
I think Norby obviously is the one that everybody is
1:03:45
wanting to see take that step and kind of make
1:03:47
that Cementa's stock. Burra's is going to be interesting to
1:03:51
see how he plays here as well. All right, Josh,
1:03:54
in this series, what are you thinking?
1:03:57
Speaker 2: I think it's easy, you pretty simple. Ethan Norby Frink
1:04:00
going or probably gonna be way too much and they're
1:04:03
gonna overwhelm that Davior lineup. And like JB hit on,
1:04:06
the Jungle isn't a place you want to play anywhere
1:04:08
during the year, but especially opening weekend coming from cold
1:04:11
Ohio weather, Like that's just not something you want to
1:04:14
deal with right now.
1:04:16
Speaker 1: It's gonna be It's gonna be interesting for sure. Jake curious, man,
1:04:21
I know you put some water on the CCU train,
1:04:24
but are you gonna take Xavier or are you sticking
1:04:26
with the CU.
1:04:27
Speaker 5: No, I'm gonna go east to you.
1:04:29
Speaker 4: I am intrigued by the Friday matchup because I do
1:04:31
like Ryan Peach, but I'm gonna go.
1:04:34
Speaker 5: I'm gonna go Ea see you very good.
1:04:37
Speaker 3: JB curious what you're thinking here, Yeah, I'm going to
1:04:40
see you kind of the same thing I allude to
1:04:42
and and Josh talked about and like you talking about Buris.
1:04:45
He's a big one that everybody's gonna want to see.
1:04:47
But I think another it's underrated too, is Austin Herby.
1:04:51
He was a big one that teams wanted to go
1:04:52
and get in the portal and he didn't decide to
1:04:54
go in the portal he stayed. So he's a big
1:04:57
time freshman All American that'll be a great player for them.
1:05:01
Speaker 1: Interesting, I was, how boring are we getting late in
1:05:04
the game here, But I'm gonna go with the Pirates
1:05:06
as well. We'll make it another suite pre SeeU. All right,
1:05:10
those Carolina teams, they're doing it to us. All right, guys,
1:05:13
talking about a new series here in Michigan State and Louisville.
1:05:17
JB will start with you for this one. Curious what
1:05:20
you make of this matchup? What catches your eye?
1:05:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the thing that really caught my eyes
1:05:25
how much of a lack of depth Michigan State has
1:05:29
going into the series. You look at the pitching, there's
1:05:32
really not a lot of bright spots there at all
1:05:34
when you go through what's returning on the pitching side
1:05:36
of the ball. And then you come into it and
1:05:38
try to look at the offense, and Ryan McKay is
1:05:41
the only one that you can really pick out something
1:05:43
positive about on this offense that you really really like
1:05:47
in three nineteen with the nine to sixteen ohps last year,
1:05:50
five homers at second base. But I think Louisville is
1:05:53
just gonna overpower them, you know, Zion Rose, Lucas Moore,
1:05:56
take Davis as Seam as a whole is just I
1:05:59
think they're gonna steam roll them, and you know, it's
1:06:02
kind of tough luck.
1:06:05
Speaker 1: I I do agree with you not to jump the
1:06:07
order here, guys. I'm sorry. I do think that Louisville's
1:06:09
a team that's gonna need to come out hot. I mean,
1:06:11
think about how far they went last year and the
1:06:14
the accelerator was pressed to the floor for this team,
1:06:18
and I think the Cardinals are really gonna want to
1:06:20
step up and step out in a big way against
1:06:23
Michigan State. Jake, curious your thoughts on this matchup of
1:06:26
Michigan State Louisville. What's the most calling to you?
1:06:30
Speaker 5: Yeah, like JB said, Michigan State.
1:06:33
Speaker 4: When you look at their team, it's it's kind of
1:06:35
Ryan McKay in the lineup and and who else is
1:06:37
gonna step up, uh into those bigger roles. And it
1:06:41
also really hurts they lost Joe Jerwell last year as
1:06:44
their Friday guy.
1:06:44
Speaker 5: They really relied on him a ton last year.
1:06:47
Speaker 4: He was he was kind of much watch baseball, must
1:06:50
must watch baseball in the Big Ten last year.
1:06:51
Speaker 5: Every time he pitched, so not having him out.
1:06:54
Speaker 4: There, Nolan Higgins, I think is the guy that's gonna
1:06:56
step up into that Friday roll. But going going into Louisville,
1:07:01
I watched a little bit of Louisville as we were
1:07:04
preparing for this and like just watching them play, like
1:07:07
their brand of baseball is unique, Like they they're not
1:07:12
just like relying on their power hitters to hit home
1:07:14
runs every time.
1:07:15
Speaker 3: They have that.
1:07:15
Speaker 4: They have that, you know, ability to hit home runs
1:07:19
a lot. But like they they they run, they steal bases,
1:07:22
they they bunt, they you know, manufacturer runs the way
1:07:25
that I guess you can say like the game is
1:07:27
meant to be played right. But the team really bought
1:07:31
into that kind of play style last year. And when
1:07:34
you look at it that way, it's not the It's
1:07:36
not hard to see, uh why they were an Omaha team.
1:07:39
But I like I like Ethan Eberley. I like watching
1:07:43
him pitch. He just kind of goes right at guys,
1:07:45
you know, he keeps the tempo taxes on. I do
1:07:50
like Louisville here, and I'm interested to see the depth
1:07:53
that Michigan State rolls out on the pitching side.
1:07:57
Speaker 1: It will be interesting to see for sure. I like,
1:08:00
I like what you had to say about Louisville in
1:08:01
the way that they're playing the game last year at least. Well,
1:08:04
it'll be interesting to see if that carries over. I'd
1:08:06
like to think it will. Josh to you, sir, looking
1:08:08
at this matchup, what most appeals to you?
1:08:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean they probably hit on like most all
1:08:14
my points I will say. I mean, this is such
1:08:16
a good team for Louisville just to coast the year,
1:08:18
like coaching to the year on because for being real,
1:08:20
Michigan State might stink. They really might stink this year.
1:08:24
That rotation is very lackwill Yeah, that rotation is very lackless, sir.
1:08:29
I mean, like no one Higgins can't throw strikes, a
1:08:32
Donovan lacks stuff, and ve low Logan procure gets no
1:08:36
swinging miss. Like, there's lots of issues everywhere in that
1:08:40
rotation that I think Louisville is she gonna be able
1:08:43
to take advantage of early and often. I mean, yeah,
1:08:46
I think I think it's pretty cut and dry, like
1:08:48
it's the brands are cool playing each other in this,
1:08:51
but like, I don't really see how Michigan State has
1:08:53
any kind of chance against the team that is as
1:08:55
stacked as Louisville.
1:09:00
Speaker 1: Word, no, you just you just went in and I
1:09:06
just I love it. Well done, all right?
1:09:08
Speaker 3: JA didn't use the Southern hospitality, is all I gotta say.
1:09:11
There was a straight, straight, cutthroat gillotine style.
1:09:15
Speaker 5: It was over.
1:09:16
Speaker 3: I mean, it's just Gordon none whatsoever.
1:09:19
Speaker 1: Hey, I like it though, JB. Who are you taking here, Bud?
1:09:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll take Louisville. But to kind of put some
1:09:25
water on the fire we're putting with Louisville here. The
1:09:28
one thing I will say is the pitching is a big,
1:09:30
big question mark for this team. Last year it was
1:09:34
kind of so so, but they had some guys step
1:09:36
up that are that's left now. So I think for
1:09:38
them it's really a question of how the pitching kind
1:09:40
of steps up and how it looks this season. But
1:09:43
the offense is great, but Michigan State doesn't really have
1:09:46
much to to back up to go against it. So
1:09:48
I think even without the pitching, they coast through.
1:09:51
Speaker 1: Said Jake, what are you thinking?
1:09:55
Speaker 4: I'm also gonna go Louisville. I think the lineup is
1:09:57
gonna be way too much for for whoever missions eight
1:10:00
runs out to pitch I think I think Louisville's gonna
1:10:03
pitch well enough to get them, get them the series win.
1:10:08
Speaker 1: Josh, how much money would I have to offer you
1:10:11
to take Michigan State here?
1:10:15
Speaker 2: Like twenty bucks? I'm really tough over here.
1:10:19
Speaker 1: No, I get it, I get it. I'd probably be
1:10:22
the same way. I was curious what you'd set that
1:10:24
money margin on who you're taking Louisville.
1:10:27
Speaker 2: Sweep sweep it up.
1:10:31
Speaker 1: That's what it's gonna be, Louisville for Drew as well Drouval,
1:10:34
if you will. All right, final series of the weekend
1:10:38
that we're gonna talk about and JB resart with you again.
1:10:40
Notre Dame Florida Atlantic. A bit of a deep cut,
1:10:44
but it's one that I'm really in. I'm intrigued to
1:10:47
hear your conversation points guys on this matchup, the series specifically,
1:10:52
and JB, we are going to start with you. What
1:10:53
catches your eye here?
1:10:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think Notre Dame. There's been a lot of
1:10:57
talk out of there camp about how much this team's
1:10:59
improved and how good they'll be and how competitive they'll
1:11:02
be an ACC play, So I'm very curious to see
1:11:05
how that goes It's very reminiscent of how people looked
1:11:08
at Stanford last year, and I think the difference is
1:11:10
Stanford more so had the traveling gauntlet that it's very
1:11:13
hard to go from the West Coast over to anywhere
1:11:15
in the East Coast every single weekend to play. I
1:11:18
think Notre Dame's in a better position. They probably are
1:11:21
a sleeper team in the ACC to do fairly well,
1:11:24
especially in a tournament format now where everybody's in, but
1:11:28
the main points will be Jack Riddell obviously is going
1:11:30
to lead this team. Kaden Crowell, the freshman left handed,
1:11:33
is a really interesting guy to look at along with
1:11:34
Stanford transfer funny enough, Ty Uber and Noah Rooney from
1:11:38
Minnesota be no water. Why I think it's waters is
1:11:42
how you're gonna pronounce. That is the key bat there
1:11:45
for them that they're really going to rely on. And
1:11:47
also two transfers, Mark Latroni from Cornell and Drew Berkland
1:11:51
from Minnesota. Those guys are all going to be the
1:11:54
people that they really rely on in the offense. But
1:11:56
Notre Dame, to me, it's not as deep of a squad.
1:11:59
They've got a lot to top end talent, but they
1:12:02
do have enough talent to make them an interesting team
1:12:04
to steal some games.
1:12:06
Speaker 1: With You there, Jake curious looking at these two teams,
1:12:10
Notre Dame FAU, What do you see? What's what's calling you? Sir?
1:12:16
Speaker 4: I feel similar to JB. I like Jack Ordell on
1:12:20
the Friday game.
1:12:21
Speaker 1: For sure.
1:12:22
Speaker 4: He's gonna give him a chance every time he every
1:12:24
time he comes out to pitch against, no matter who
1:12:26
they're playing against. He also hit on the three names
1:12:29
that I was gonna mention on the offensive side for
1:12:31
Notre Dame, So I'll go to FAU. They also have
1:12:35
a star kind of in their lineup with Marshall Lipsey
1:12:38
in centerfield. He had a ops over one thousand last year,
1:12:42
twelve bombs, eighteen stolen bases. He's just a really well
1:12:45
rounded player, also plays good defense in center field.
1:12:49
Speaker 5: I don't.
1:12:52
Speaker 4: I also also like that Fau's playing at home. Notre
1:12:56
Dame's going from that we talked about. I forget the
1:12:58
other matchup we talked about earlier, but it's pretty It's
1:13:01
probably pretty chilly up in South Bend right now, and
1:13:04
they're going down to down to FAU in the warm
1:13:06
weather of Florida. You know you don't know how it's
1:13:08
gonna affect guys, but I like Mark wa Trony. I
1:13:11
got to see him as a freshman for Cornell, and
1:13:15
then Beino Waters, Drew Berklin the other two guys in
1:13:17
that lineup that I expect to hit as well.
1:13:23
Speaker 5: But yeah, that's that's that's all I got for.
1:13:25
Speaker 1: Them, Josh. They've set you up really well to talk
1:13:29
about Notre Dame in Florida and Atlantic and I'm just
1:13:32
gonna turn it over to you. I'm curious what you're
1:13:33
gonna say. What Mike you're gonna drop here?
1:13:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know I'm dropping any mics on this one,
1:13:38
but I mean, like, I think I think the big
1:13:40
point here for Fau is James Littman. How can he
1:13:43
hold his own on Friday? I think Jack Raydell is
1:13:45
good enough. All his production speaks for itself. Litman had
1:13:48
some issues producing and Swing and Myss last year. That's
1:13:51
not gonna hold against the lineup like under Dames this year,
1:13:53
I don't think. I think for Notre Dame the bigger
1:13:59
questions are gonna be the Saturday Sunday guys, their Saturday guy,
1:14:02
Dennis Hellwig. It seems to be has his control improved
1:14:05
from last year. They got a freshman, Caden Crowell that's
1:14:08
probably gonna be the Sunday guy. I mean, like any
1:14:11
kind of freshman stepping into a role like that immediately
1:14:14
for a Power conference team is huge. How does the
1:14:17
infield look offensively? I think that could be more of
1:14:21
a question mark than anything else, because I mean, yet
1:14:23
Mark Quatrini, I think is gonna be fine. I don't
1:14:26
know if Youno Waders is gonna play the infield or
1:14:28
the outfield. He could be first base, I've seen that
1:14:30
some places, but he's probably an outfielder long term and
1:14:33
he's played there in the past. Him alongside Drew Berklan
1:14:36
and Davis Johnson, I think that outfield is gonna be fine.
1:14:39
Infield's probably gonna round out the bottom of their lineup.
1:14:42
How do they meet expectations? And is if a you
1:14:46
a good enough pitching team to where it's gonna matter
1:14:49
this weekend? I'm not sure, But long term that's more
1:14:53
of the question marks they could probably there are a
1:14:55
couple of guys that could probably answer some questions this
1:14:57
week And for me though, it.
1:14:59
Speaker 1: Is really a fabulous kind of first test for this
1:15:02
new look Notre Dame team that the Notre Dame team
1:15:05
that has JB alluded to is on the come up
1:15:07
in the ACC and really nationally as well. FAU is
1:15:11
going to do a really reasonable job as being kind
1:15:14
of that first roadblock to see whether this crew is
1:15:18
ready to roll for the long term and especially into
1:15:20
that Atlantic coast gauntlet through the year. JB, who are
1:15:24
you picking here?
1:15:26
Speaker 3: I'm gonna take Notre Dame short and simple. I think
1:15:29
they got more talent. But FAU is going to be
1:15:31
a team that really I think will be a pretty
1:15:33
solid test, especially having to travel for Notre Dame, so
1:15:36
it will be a good series, But Notre Dame for me.
1:15:39
Speaker 1: Jake, what are you thinking here? Is the is the
1:15:42
road game gonna take down Notre Dame before they can
1:15:44
even get the wheels rolling.
1:15:48
Speaker 4: I think I think I want to go FAU. I
1:15:51
think I want to take FAU playing at home. They're they're, they're,
1:15:55
they're they got to be comfortable playing at home and
1:15:57
getting the cold weather team coming down to see them.
1:15:59
Speaker 5: I'll take what seems to be the underdog. I'll go
1:16:02
with you.
1:16:04
Speaker 1: I was so tempted to do the same now I'm
1:16:06
even more tempted, Jake. Maybe maybe I'll match you there. Josh,
1:16:09
what are you thinking here?
1:16:10
Speaker 2: I did not expect anyone to take Fau. That gets
1:16:12
me going. I'm fired up. I mean, I'm not gonna
1:16:14
do it myself. But like all, like I mean, I
1:16:18
don't know they could pick off one, like I think
1:16:20
they could. That's a long road trip to go for
1:16:21
a week one. But this the talent's probably gonna overwhelm Fau.
1:16:24
If I had to guess, m I think so too.
1:16:28
Speaker 1: I'll go with I'll go with our boy Marshall Lipsey,
1:16:32
I'll go with Joke, I'll take fa Why not, we'll
1:16:35
keep it spicy for that last round of selections. Why not?
1:16:39
What a graphic We're We're out here doing things. The
1:16:44
Drew teer is the Drew column is gonna be a
1:16:46
wild one. Alas, that's what we do it for. We
1:16:49
do it. We do it out of our gut. All right,
1:16:52
this was fun, guys. I think we alluded to it
1:16:54
at the top of the show. But man, it's good
1:16:56
to talk about some baseball coming up. And the next
1:16:58
time we talk, we're not just gonna talking matchups come.
1:17:00
We're gonna be talking about matchups that have happened. We're
1:17:02
gonna have performance from the twenty twenty sixth season to discuss.
1:17:06
I can't wait until that time. There's a little bit
1:17:09
of a gap in time, so guys, I want you
1:17:11
to tell the folks at home what you're working on.
1:17:13
Where they can find you between episodes of College Baseball. Now,
1:17:16
Josh will start with you.
1:17:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can follow me on Twitter at Josh Catlett three.
1:17:21
I just got done posting all my All American Teams
1:17:23
Top twenty five. By the time this airs, I will
1:17:26
have like a preseason bracketology thing out, So that's pretty cool.
1:17:29
I worked on that. I'm kind of proud of how
1:17:31
that turned out. I'm sure JB and Jake and you
1:17:35
were gonna mention it. We just put our prep top
1:17:37
one hundred out on the website the other day. Super
1:17:39
proud of that. Gotten some glowing reviews of that. Yeah,
1:17:44
I mean, that's probably that's about it. I'm proud of
1:17:46
how everything turned out, Like, I actually think it's a
1:17:48
really it's a much better constructive list than the first
1:17:50
top fifty we had. We messed around with a few things.
1:17:52
I think we got it a lot better. This time.
1:17:56
Speaker 5: Very good.
1:17:57
Speaker 1: Glad to hear that, Glad to hear that you're gonna
1:17:59
get that out of. I'm looking forward to the bracketology thing.
1:18:01
I'm really high for that. I know you mentioned the
1:18:04
methodology going into and I'm excited to see this pot
1:18:06
Jake word, I know you mentioned that that was something
1:18:09
you really geek out about, So I always like seeing
1:18:12
the kind of convergence of your interests in all.
1:18:14
Speaker 5: Of you guys.
1:18:15
Speaker 1: The same way, Jake, I know you're rolling along, you
1:18:18
were getting close to meeting your goal. So tell them
1:18:20
what you're working on and where they can find you
1:18:22
between episodes. Fun.
1:18:24
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think I mentioned last time.
1:18:26
Speaker 4: I was kind of hoping that that will be the
1:18:27
last time this gets mentioned, but I think this will
1:18:29
actually be the last time it's mentioned. The conference previews
1:18:33
the SEC is I'm going to be finishing that up
1:18:36
the next day or two, hopefully get that out before
1:18:40
the season starts. Also, I've been kind of tracking a
1:18:44
lot of these Northeast kids up here on the showcase
1:18:46
circuit up here.
1:18:47
Speaker 5: Just went to a nice PBR pro case up here.
1:18:49
I got to see some pretty awesome talent.
1:18:51
Speaker 4: I might have an article out Nonetheless, I'll have you know,
1:18:54
video out on Twitter.
1:18:57
Speaker 5: For the guys that I got to see. So that's
1:18:59
what I'm working on.
1:19:00
Speaker 1: I love to hear it. Where can they follow you
1:19:02
between episodes?
1:19:03
Speaker 2: Sir?
1:19:03
Speaker 5: You can follow me on Twitter at Jake Barge right
1:19:06
under my name. They're on the screen.
1:19:08
Speaker 1: Got a boy that's one of my favorite Twitter follows
1:19:11
and JB round us out. Where can they find you
1:19:14
between episodes? And what are you working on?
1:19:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, so you can follow me on Twitter at gb
1:19:19
underscores to Ostiano. Obviously, as we talked about the prep
1:19:23
list that was huge. I agree with Josh. I think
1:19:25
we did a great job. You know, big kudos. So
1:19:27
he doesn't hear enough. Drew, you really put this together
1:19:30
and helped us do a really good community list this
1:19:32
time that I think improved from the last time. So
1:19:35
big shout out to Uncle drewski over there for getting
1:19:38
it done. So if you do us to you. But
1:19:40
that's it, Yeah, the prep stuff, and then you'll see
1:19:42
some stuff probably on college baseball for me soon enough
1:19:45
when I start going to some games this weekend. But yeah,
1:19:48
so what we got, it's.
1:19:49
Speaker 1: Gonna be awesome. It's gonna be so sick obviously. Like
1:19:53
the guys said, the Prep one hundred list is amazing.
1:19:55
I really liked the team groups articles, so check that out.
1:19:57
It's a really good companion piece. Hopefully there'll be another
1:20:00
opinion piece which features not only to find work of
1:20:02
our scouts, but our partnership visual edge we've got. Obviously,
1:20:06
the College Daily Sheet is going to be starting this weekend.
1:20:08
Cannot wait. That's gonna be such an amazing endeavor and
1:20:11
I can't wait to get going with that. Have some
1:20:13
stuff coming up soon, and I don't want to get
1:20:18
ahead of myself, but you guys, stay on the lookout
1:20:21
for maybe some stuff that you could rep your favorite
1:20:25
podcast that College Baseball now, very very soon. I can't
1:20:28
say anything more than just wait and until next time
1:20:32
College Baseball Neil is going to bid you ad oh.
1:20:35
Follow me on the Twitter machine, excuse me on Instagram,
1:20:38
on Blue Scott, follow me at all the places, and
1:20:40
Drew is okay. Appreciate the kind words from you guys,
1:20:43
Appreciate all the GLOIG reviews and all the feedback we've
1:20:45
gotten on the Prep one hundred list. On everything, guys,
1:20:48
the college baseball season, it's it's practically here. I wish
1:20:52
I could think of a fun rhyme, like something from Christmas,
1:20:54
but alas I cannot. But until next time, we will
1:20:57
see you. The season's here.
1:20:58
Speaker 2: Whoo