LA SALLE BASEBALL IS BACK
After 4 years of waiting, the Explorers finally returned to the diamond. Dave Miller returns as manager, but this time with an entirely different roster than the 2021 squad that he won A10 coach of the year with. After the long wait, how did La Salle perform in their first game back? The second most runs in school history. 27 to be exact, with the game ending in a run-rule win in the 7th inning. Another run rule followed in game two, and a less dramatic 7-4 win closed out the opening series in a sweep that featured 48 total runs of offense from the Explorers. Elon transfer Alec Welshans would be named A10 player of the week for his 3 homer, .500 BA, 2.043 OPS to begin the season. La Salle sits at 3-1 as I am writing this, and no matter the final result of the season, Philly baseball fans can enjoy the return of one of the city’s top programs.
A Grand Debut
- That is the year in which Louisville first baseman Jim LaFountain hit three grand slams in one game, and arguably more impressively, two in one inning. This stood on its own as one of college baseball’s greatest performances for nearly 50 years, until opening day 2026, when Baylor first baseman Tyce Armstrong matched it with his own 3 grand performance against New Mexico State. Even better, the record tying performance came in his Baylor debut. The Bears won the game 15-2 in 7 innings, and are 4-0 at the writing of this article. Nice start to the season for a Baylor squad looking to contend in the competitive Big 12.
Virginia scores 56 runs in one day against Wagner, sets school record with 31 in single game
I guess this title speaks for itself here.
Hawaii ends opening day with a walkoff bunt
Every single high school baseball coach in the country is loving this, as should all baseball fans. Will my opinion change when I’m spending two hours practicing bunt defense this spring? Probably.
Grounds crew of the year award goes to Alabama
While the talk of the sports world is the electric double overtime game between Alabama and Arkansas in college basketball, I’d like to talk about one of the early contenders for funniest college baseball moments of the year. But first, let me set the scene. Alabama State @ Alabama. It’s the top of the 5th inning with one out. Alabama has runners on second and third. Hornets starter Jaxon Baptist has just been pulled. As Camden Matthews enters the game in relief, he runs into the bullpen door and breaks it. The game is delayed for about 10 minutes, and when it returns, Alabama scores the winning run on a passed ball in the dirt. Just an overall hilarious sequence of events.
Best series of week 2: #7 TCU @ #1 UCLA
Game 1:UCLA
Game 2:TCU
Game 3:UCLA
Prediction updates
Golden Spikes: Roch Cholowsky/ Justin Lebron
Cholowsky: Through 20 plate appearances, Cholowsky is batting .438, with a .500 OBP and 1.668 OPS, in addition to 3 homers. Already proving to be a solid pick.
Lebron: Through 19 plate appearances, Lebron is batting .286, with a .714 SLG and 1.188 OPS in addition to 6 steals. Cholowsky is ahead at the moment, but Lebron’s not far behind
NPOTY: Cameron Flukey
Flukey went 5 ⅔ innings with 7 strikeouts and 2 earned runs on opening day. Not his best outing, but 7 strikeouts are a good sign for the rest of the season.
Overrated: Georgia Tech
On Tuesday, the Yellow Jackets scored 25 runs with a school record tying 19 strikeouts. They’ve scored 75 runs in their first 4 games, and despite my concerns, the pitching looks fine. This one’s not looking great so far, I’ll need the ACC to come through for me once conference play begins.
Underrated: Troy
Well, I was right about the “tough start”. Troy dropped ⅔ in their opening series against Mercer, then got routed by #4 Mississippi State. However, that potential that I wrote about a week ago is still shining through, despite the 1-3 record. Aaron Piasecki, Drew Nelson, Jimmy Janicki, and Sean Darnell all post batting averages above .400 and an OPS above 1.100 in 12-16 at bats. Once the rest of the roster gets into the groove of things, Troy will be ready to compete.
National Champs: UCLA
The Bruins dropped a game in their opening series, but the roster looked about as strong as we expected for the most part. My feelings on this pick haven’t changed
Things have been happening across the college sports space outside of baseball, so let’s look at some of the standouts
MACremento
The MAC is almost entirely made up of Midwest schools, with the only exceptions being Buffalo and UMass close by in the northeast. This all blew up when the decision was made to add Sacramento State as a football only member. One of the last regional based conferences has fallen. Are you guys excited for MACtion at 10 PM EST? I’m not.
NDSU finally leaves the kids table
No disrespect to the FCS, especially after their incredible playoff this season, but this was overdue. The Bison have won 5 of the last 10 FCS National Championships and have wins against FBS teams like Iowa, so I’m very interested to see how NDSU performs at the FBS level. This also seems to open the door for other elite programs of the area like rival South Dakota State, defending national champion Montana State, and Montana to move up to the depleted Mountain West conference.
Federica Brignone’s incredible comeback
Brignone tore her ACL less than a year ago. Apparently that doesn’t mean anything because she won gold for Italy in the women’s super-G. Skiing is a lot more entertaining than I thought.
Tony Clark?
A lockout is just a season away, and the MLBPA executive director is cheating on his wife with his sister in law. Speaking of that lockout, enjoy this season because every recent development has made it less likely next season is played. On the bright side, 2027 is gonna be a big college baseball year! Better get ready ESPN.
Georgia Oklahoma popcorn fire
There really isn’t anything to this, but the video is kind of hilarious.
Trinidad Chambliss’s arbitration hearing
The Trinidad Chambliss vs the NCAA saga has finally ended, and despite the NCAA’s best efforts, Trinidad Chambliss is returning to Ole Miss. A judge ruled in favor of Chambliss in court, which sends Chambliss back to college and to the top of the 2026-2027 Heisman Trophy watchlist. On paper, this whole thing seems pretty open and shut, until you realize the judge is an Ole Miss graduate. Then it all starts to make sense. While I tend to be against athletes staying past graduation in college, the idea of Chambliss taking on Lane Kiffin and LSU is enough for me to look past it this time.
