Conference tournaments are over and the Field of 64 has been announced for college baseball. We have a total of six Big 12 teams in the postseason and two of them will be hosting a regional this upcoming weekend. Here are my six things to watch this weekend for Big 12 teams in the postseason.
Oklahoma Needs To Win Game One
No disrespect to Oral Roberts, but the 2024 team is nowhere near as good as the 2023 team that made that miraculous run to Omaha. It’s important for Oklahoma to take care of them early because you don’t want them hanging around. The reasons is because the loser of this game will have to face the loser of the Duke/UCONN game and I wouldn’t want to face either one of those teams in an elimination game. Duke is playing some of their best baseball of the season right now and UCONN’s pitching staff is extremely deep. I know the Sooners are as good as anyone in the county offensively, but I am curious to see how their pitching staff is able to hold up against an elite offense like Duke.
Can Oklahoma State Finally Break Through?
It’s been five years since Oklahoma State has made it out of the first weekend of the postseason and I feel like this could be the year to end that streak. While the Cowboys seem to turn every game into a home run derby at O’Brate, the reason what makes them so dangerous this season is their pitching. Sam Garcia and Brian Holiday have been excellent this year and so has the bullpen with Robert Cranz, Gabe Davis, Janzen Keisel, and Tommy Molsky. Of course, I can’t forget about two-way star Carson Benge. The Cowboys not only have the edge offensively but defensively as well in their regional. Florida and Nebraska could make things very interesting but neither team is as good as Oklahoma State.
Does Texas Have Enough Arms?
The one thing that doesn’t concern me with Texas is their offense. The Longhorns had the third best batting averaging in conference play (.280) and hit the second most home runs (57). Max Belyeu was named Big 12 player of the year after crushing 18 homers this season and he’s got six other teammates who have double digit home runs this season as well.
The College Station regional is LOADED with plenty offensive talent (looking at you A&M) and that means pitching will be very important especially in these high pressure situations. Every team in this regional can hit but the question will be who has enough arms to make it out alive? Texas has had some bright spots between Max Grubbs, Ace Whitehead, Gage Boehm, and Andre Duplantier II but will that be enough to take down Louisiana and Texas A&M?
It’s going to be an Old Western Shootout in Tucson
If you can imagine four cowboys squaring off in the old west then you should have a pretty good idea of what this regional will look like. Any one of these four teams (Arizona, West Virginia, DBU or GCU) are capable of winning this one. Arizona has the best pitching staff in this regional and offensively DBU is good. And I can’t forget about Grand Canyon who is as dangerous as any four seed in the entire field of 64. West Virginia is going to have to lean on their power hitters (Reed Chumley, JJ Wetherholt, Kyle West, Grant Hussey, and Sam White) to get the offense going. The one thing I worry about for the Mountaineers is going to be the pitching outside of Derek Clark. If they can get that down then West Virginia can make it out of Tucson to fight another day.
Can Kansas State Hit Their Way Out of Fayetteville?
While the Wildcats got into the NCAA Baseball Tournament, they got thrown into an absolute meat grinder of a regional. They will have to face a good Louisiana Tech team and then most likely Arkansas along with their ace pitcher Hagen Smith if they decide to save him for Saturday. With Kansas State finishing with the ninth best ERA in Big 12 play, pitching has not been their strong point. Don’t get me wrong, Jackson Wentworth has been a pleasant surprise for this team and Owen Boerema has been playing better along with Tyson Neighbors but the bats will have to carry them out of this regional. There is no shortage of talent in their lineup with Brady Day, Kalen Culpepper, and Brendan Jones and they will have to play their best baseball this weekend if they want a shot at the supers.
How Far Can UCF’s Arms Take Them?
The Knights may not have an electric offense like Alabama or Florida State but will have the best pitching staff in Tallahassee this weekend. Dominic Castellano and Dom Stagliano have been excellent this season and Chase Centala, Kyle Kramer, and Kris Sosnowski have all played key roles as well. UCF’s is by far the deepest team when it comes to arms in their regional but I do wonder if they will have enough offense to get the job done against teams like Alabama and Florida State.
