Happy Friday! The MLB lockout continues as NCAA Baseball enters its second week. The mid-week games were a little crazy with 6 Top-25 Teams dropping games. Weekend #2 doesn’t feature a ton of premier match-ups, but there are plenty of intriguing storylines across the country as teams begin to figure out how good/bad they are. With the weather, don’t be surprised to see game times get moved around or canceled/postponed altogether.

The Top 25 rankings I’m using are our own Top 25 rankings posted earlier in the week, and most other references are from Baseball America, including the Top 150 College Prospects list. While MLB is locked out, I’ll highlight the top match-ups every weekend throughout the college baseball season. There will be plenty of focus on top MLB prospects, so when the draft comes in the summer, you’ll already know many of the names that get called.

Match-ups to Watch

Alabama (5-0) at #1 Texas (5-0)

Friday, 5:30 (LHN): RHP Garrett McMillan (Jr.) vs LHP Pete Hansen (R-So.)

Satuday, 2:30 (LHN): LHP Antoine Jean (Jr.) vs RHP Tristan Stevens (R-Sr.)

Sunday, 2:00 (LHN): LHP Grayson Hitt (So.) vs RHP Tanner Witt (So.)

Texas hasn’t stumbled at all out the gate enroute to a 5-0 record and the clear #1 team in the nation. They’ll have the biggest series of the weekend as Alabama comes to Austin to challenge the Longhorns. Unfortunately, all three games of this series will only be available on the Longhorn Network, which is a shame, because it could be a fun series.

Friday Ace Pete Hansen really should be getting more buzz for the upcoming MLB-draft, but that lack of buzz could perhaps be due to hiss velocity post-injury sitting in the lower 90s. Tristan Stevens and Tanner Witt fill out the elite weekend rotation. Witt in particular could be one of the top college arms available in the 2023 draft. Stud 1B Ivan Melendez, known as the “Hispanic Titanic” has gotten off to bit of a slow start, hitting .235 (4-17) to start the year. The redshirt junior does have 2 HRs and a double, however, as well as 8 walks.

On the flip side, Alabama has gotten to 5-0 after sweeping Xavier to start the year followed by wins over Jacksonville State and Alabama State at home during the mid-week. They’re without ace Connor Prielipp (who would’ve likely been the top college arm for the 2022 MLB Draft) for the season after getting Tommy John Surgery in 2021, and so far top recruit Camden Hayslip (#38 Nationally Ranked HS Prospect in 2021) has only appeared in one game and gotten 2 AB’s. SS Jim Jarvis and 1B Drew Williamson are currently carrying the lineup for the Rolling Tide.

Alabama has gotten off to a great start, but they’re not going to be able to match-up with the #1 team in the land.. The Longhorns will sweep the Rolling Tide at home.

Top Prospects (According to Baseball America’s Top 150 College Prospects)

RHP Tanner Witt, Texas #20

LHP Pete Hanson, Texas #34

RHP Tristan Stevens, Texas #49

1B Ivan Melendez, Texas #53

RHP Aaron Nixon, Texas #68

SS Trey Faltine, Texas #90

2B Mitchell Daly, Texas #115

OF Douglas Hodo III, Texas #136

OF Camden Hayslip, Alabama #137

East Carolina (1-3) at North Carolina (4-0)

Friday, 4:00 (ACCNX): RHP Garrett Saylor (Jr.) vs LHP Brandon Schaeffer, (Jr.)

Saturday, 2:00 (ACCNX): LHP Jake Kuchmaner (Sr.) vs RHP Max Carlson (So.)

Sunday, 4:00 (ESPN+): RHP Jake Hunter (Fr.) vs RHP Shaddon Peavyhouse (5-Sr..)

East Carolina was ranked #12 to start the year, but was swept by Bryant at home to start 0-3 and drop out of our Top-25 rankings. UNC, on the other hand, is off to a perfect 4-0 start after sweeping Seton Hall and beating Elon mid-week. This is a massive in-state rivalry that will take place in Chapel Hill on Friday and Saturday before moving to Greenville for the finale on Sunday. The first two games of the series will be available on ACCNX through ESPN+, while the series finale on Sunday will be available on ESPN+ outright.

ECU’s ace Carson Whisenhunt, a likely 1st round draft pick in the 2022, was suspended for the Opening Weekend series due to a violation of team rules. Looking at ECU’s official game notes release, he is not one of the projected starting pitchers for this weekend. Not sure if that means he is still suspended or that he’ll be available out of the bullpen. Junior RHP Garrett Saylor will get the start on Friday in Whisenhunt’s absence, with Jake Kuchmaner and true Freshman Jake Hunter getting the starts on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. 1B Josh Moylan, who anchors the Pirates lineup, has been atrocious to start the season, hitting .214 (2-14) with 3 walks and 7 strikeouts.

North Carolina is predicted to be a bubble team for the 2022 NCAA Tournament and they’ll be looking to get a big series win against a quality opponent in ECU. Freshman Vance Honeycutt has been stellar, hitting .462 (6-13) with 3 HRs already to start the year. The entire Tar Heel lineup has come out of the gate swinging, hitting .357 as a team in their first four games. Brandon Schaeffer will be the Friday night starter, and will likely be the only UNC pitcher that will go beyond 5 innings. Max Carlson was very good in his season debut, despite only going 4 innings, while Peavyhouse was decent despite only going 3.2 innings in his first start.

UNC’s offense is off to a great start, but I think ECU gets back on track this weekend and takes 2 of 3 from the Tar Heels.

Top Prospects (According to Baseball America’s Top 150 College Prospects)

LHP Carson Whisenhunt, East Carolina #13

1B Josh Moylan, East Carolina #133

Karbach Round Rock Classic

Friday

1:00 PM- Louisiana (3-1) vs #9 Stanford (3-1)

5:00 PM- #4 Arkansas (2-1) vs Indiana (0-3)

Saturday

12:00 PM- Indiana (0-3) vs Louisiana (3-1)

5:00 PM- #9 Stanford (3-1) vs #4 Arkansas (2-1)

Sunday

12:00 PM- Indiana (0-3) vs #9 Stanford (3-1)

5:00 PM- #4 Arkansas (2-1) vs Louisiana (3-1)

The Karbach Round Rock Classic at Dell Diamond in Round Top, Texas looks to be a premier event for college baseball. Unfortunately, these games will only be able to stream through Flo Sports, a streaming service that will cost $29.99 monthly, which may not be worth it for a mere weekend of games. This is unfortunate, given that these 6 teams have a slew of top prospects to watch, including #1 prospect Brock Jones of Stanford and a slew of top draft eligible prospects from Arkansas. The premier match-up of the weekend will be #9 Stanford vs #4 Arkansas at 3:00 PM on Saturday. But don’t sleep on Louisiana, who got off to a great start by taking two of three from previously-ranked #19 UC-Irvine.

Top Prospects (According to Baseball America’s Top 150 College Prospects)

OF Brock Jones, Stanford #5

2B Robert Moore, Arkansas #16

3B Cayden Wallace, Arkansas #42

OF Jace Bohrofen, Arkansas #46

3B Drew Bowser, Stanford #57

1B Peyton Stovall, Arkansas #63

RHP Jaxon Wiggins, Arkansas #69

SS Jalen Battles, Arkansas #110

2B Tommy Troy, Stanford #120

Other Top 25 Matchups

Towson (0-4) & Southern (2-2) at #2 LSU (3-1)

Towson was swept in a 4-game set on Opening Week while Southern went 2-1 vs Alabama State, Jackson State, and Florida A&M before being blown out by Missouri mid-week. LSU had a record-setting Opening Weekend hosting Maine, but lost 11-6 under the lights mid-week to #22 La Tech. The Tigers 1-2-3 hitters, Tre’ Morgan, Jacob Berry, and Dylan Crews, went 0-13 in that game with 4 strikeouts and several errors. They’ll be itching to get back on track against Towson and Southern this weekend, with all 4 games available on SECN+ through ESPN+.

Top Prospects

3B/OF Jacob Berry, LSU #2

OF Dylan Crews, LSU #4

IF Cade Doughty, LSU #18

1B Tre’ Morgan, LSU #28

OF Gavin Dugas, LSU #50

RHP Ty Floyd, LSU, #107

SS Jordan Thompson, LSU #126

VCU (2-2) at #3 Ole Miss (4-0)

VCU lost to Rider (7-6) and Wake Forest (6-4) on Opening Weekend, but beat Lafayette (13-3) and Longwood (8-3) to even their record at 2-2. Ole Miss, on the other hand, has been perfect through their first four games, hitting .342 as a team and pitching well too. SS Jacob Gonzalez and 1B Tim Elko are each only hitting .273, but have both walked 4 times and Elko has 2 of the team’s 7 homers. VCU’s star 3B, Tyler Locklear, is 5-15 to start the season with 3 HR and 9 RBI. All three games will be on SECN+ through ESPN+ this weekend.

Top Prospects

SS Jacob Gonzalez, Ole Miss #14

1B Tim Elko, Ole Miss #25

C Hayden Dunhurst, Ole Miss #43

3B Tyler Locklear, VCU #77

OF Kevin Graham, Ole Miss #80

OF TJ McCants, Ole Miss #143

Quinnipiac (1-2) at #5 NC State (5-0)

Quinnipiac dropped two of three on Opening Weekend to the Saint Joseph’s Eagles while NC State’s lineup has been one of the stories of the season so far. The Wolfpack have scored an incredible 74 runs in 5 games to start the year, with true freshman Tommy White pacing the team by hitting .619 (13-21) with 5 HRs and 15 RBIs while playing perfect defense at second base. JT Jarrett and LuJames Groover III have likewise been on fire, hitting .647 and .423, respectively. Ace Sam Highfill will pitch on Friday, while Chris Villaman, the closer, has yet to see action this year but should make an appearance even if just to get him some work. All three games will be on ACCN.

Top Prospects

RHP Sam Highfill, NC State #66

LHP Chris Villaman, NC State #82

Wright State (0-3) at #6 Oklahoma State (2-2)

Wright State was swept on Opening Weekend by Georgia Tech. This series will begin on Saturday and be completed with a doubleheader on Sunday. Oklahoma State won a monster Opening Series on the road at Vanderbilt, but then dropped an extra innings affair to a decent Sam Houston State team mid-week to fall 2-2. They have one of the best 1-2 pitching punches in the country with Justin Campbell and Miami-transfer Victor Mederos. All three games should be available through ESPN+.

Top Prospects

RHP/1B Justin Campbell, Oklahoma State #58

RHP Victor Mederos, Oklahoma State #64

3B Nolan McLean, Oklahoma State #78

1B Griffin Doersching, Oklahoma State #113

Northern Kentucky (0-3) at #7 Mississippi State (2-2)

Northern Kentucky were swept by East Tennessee State on Opening Weekend and gave up double digit runs in all three games. Mississippi State lost their Opening Series to Long Beach State at home, and will be looking to bounce back. Top college pitcher Landon Sims, who dazzled in his season debut, will pitch on Friday night and honestly is worth the watch. On Opening Day against a very good Long Beach State team, he pitched 7 innings, gave up 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 13 and walking 0. He only threw 81 pitches and was extremely efficient despite the high strikeout number. All 3 games will be on SECN+ through ESPN+.

Top Prospects

RHP Landon Sims, MSU #8

C Logan Tanner MSU #26

Army (1-2) at #8 Vanderbilt (2-2)

Army are the Patriot League preseason favorites but struggled on Opening Weekend losing to rival Air Force (4-3) and Ball State (10-6) following an Opening Day win against Richmond (8-0). Vanderbilt, as always, is loaded with talent but legendary Head Coach Tim Corbin seems to be still trying to figure out his team. Against Oklahoma State, he opted to leave returning starters Patrick Reilly and Christian Little out of the rotation. Reilly ended up pitching 4 innings out of the bullpen piggybacking off of Friday night starter Chris McElvain while Christian Little pitched an inning after true freshman Carter Holton started on Sunday. That could be the case again this weekend, with McElvain going Friday, Holton pitching Saturday, and Nick Maldonado going on Sunday. All three games will be on SECN+.

Top Prospects

OF Enrique Bradfield, Jr., Vanderbilt #17

RHP Nick Maldonado, Vanderbilt #31

SS Carter Young, Vanderbilt #41

RHP Patrick Reilly, Vanderbilt #47

C Dominic Keegan, Vanderbilt #60

2B Davis Diaz, Vanderbilt #88

LHP Carter Holton, Vanderbilt #96

OF Spencer Jones, Vanderbilt #103

RHP Christian Little, Vanderbilt #116

3B Parker Noland, Vanderbilt #121

Milwaukee (3-1) at #10 Arizona (4-1)

The Milwaukee Panthers started the 2022 season with a three-game sweep of Alabama A&M. This series against Arizona will be a 4-game series that started Thursday night with 14-3 Arizona win. Arizona dominated the State Farm College Showdown last weekend, including a signature 13-2 win over fellow Top-25 team Texas Tech. They appeared to be a top-10 team until mid-week when they hosted Grand Canyon and got walloped 19-3. Former World Series winning Bench Coach with the Nationals, Chip Hale, will look to get his team back on track with this 4-game series. Ace TJ Nichols will pitch for the Wildcats on Friday night, but the big name for Arizona is catcher Daniel Susac, who is off to a good start hitting .346 (9-26) to start the year. The games will televised live on ArizonaWildcats.com for free.

Top Prospects

C Daniel Susac, Arizona #7

RHP TJ Nichols, Arizona #91

Iona (0-3) at #11 Tennessee (4-0)

Iona started the season being swept by Old Dominion while Tennessee started with a dominant series sweep over Georgia Southern and a 16-1 midweek win over UNC-Ashville. Tennessee’s ace Blake Tidwell is out for some time with a shoulder injury, so freshman Chase Burns and sophomore Chase Dollander will work to pick up the slack. OF Jordan Beck is hitting .357 (5-14) to start the year and will be the lethal bat in the Vols’ lineup. All 3 games will be on SECN+.

Top Prospects

OF Jordan Beck, Tennessee #36

RHP Blake Tidwell, Tennessee #62

RHP Chase Burns, Tennessee #94

RHP Chase Dollander, Tennessee #144

Xavier (0-5) at #12 Oregon State (5-0)

Xavier has had a difficult schedule to start the season, having faced Alabama on Opening Weekend before a Monday match-up with Louisville. Now, they’ll travel to Surprise, Arizona and hope to get their first win of the season against #12 Oregon State. This is a 3-game series that started Thursday night (with a 13-3 OSU win) and ends on Saturday. Top pitching prospect Cooper Hjerpe will pitch for the Beavers on Friday, while the lineup has been paced by stud OF Jacob Melton, who hit 2 HR on Thursday night and is hitting .571 (12-21) to start the year with those 5 extra base hits and 13 RBIs. All three games will be available on FloSportsTV.

Top Prospects

LHP Cooper Hjerpe, OSU #30

2B Travis Bazzana, OSU #65

RHP Will Frisch, OSU #93

OF Jacob Melton, OSU #128

Samford (4-0) at #13 Florida State (3-1)

Samford’s lineup went off on Opening Weekend enroute to a three-game sweep of Arkansas State, scoring 32 runs before squeaking out a 6-5 mid-week win over Alabama State on Tuesday. Florida State had a great start to the year over JMU before falling on the road to Jacksonville, 3-2. They have the best 1-2 punch in the country with lefties Parker Messick and Bryce Hubbart pitching on Friday and Saturday night. They dazzled against top draft OF prospect Chase DeLauter and JMU, giving up just 1 combined run on 4 hits over 10.2 innings with 24 strikeouts vs just 2 walks. If you’re looking for pitching, you can’t do worse than those two. All 3 games will be on ACCNX.

Top Prospects

LHP Parker Messick, FSU #12

LHP Bryce Hubbart, FSU #19

RHP Carson Montgomery, FSU #98

OF Logan Lacey, FSU #127

Marist (3-0) & Monmouth (3-1) vs #14 Notre Dame (2-1)

Marist swept Norfolk State to start the season and they’ll face Notre Dame twice over this weekend, with a matchup against Wofford in between. Monmouth is 3-1 following wins over Northeastern and LIU. They’ll face Notre Dame in a doubleheader on Saturday. Notre Dame lost a 2-1 game to Delaware on Opening Weekend, and will be looking to prove the doubters wrong. Notre Dame ace John Michael Bertrand will pitch against Monmouth on Saturday and the Irish will likely avoid Monmouth ace Trey Dombroski. The 4 games will not be available to stream.

Top Prospects

LHP John Michael Bertrand, Notre Dame #56

3B/RHP Jack Brannigan, Notre Dame #95

LHP Trey Dombroski, Monmouth #102

Sacramento State (4-0) at #15 Long Beach State (2-1)

Sacramento State swept Northern Illinois in a 4-game series on Opening Weekend, and will now travel to #15 Long Beach State. If you’re looking for a fun match-up that will be easy to watch, look no further than Long Beach State hosting Sacramento State. The Friday and Sunday night games will be on ESPN+ as the Dirtbags look to build off their massive Opening Series win over Mississippi State. Luis Ramirez, who outdueled Landon Sims, will go on Friday night for Long Beach State.

Top Prospects

RHP Devereauz Harrison, LBSU #54

Cornell (0-0) at #16 Virginia (4-0)

Cornell opens the season at #16 Virginia in Charlottesville. Virginia swept through Bellarmine, Gardner-Webb, and NJIT on Opening Weekend before pounding VMI in their home opener on Wednesday. Ace Nate Savino will likely pitch on Friday, followed by transfer Brian Gursky on Saturday and Brandon Neeck on Sunday. The ‘Hoos have shut out their opponents in 3 of the first 4 games, and will be looking to continue that pitching dominance this weekend. All three games will be on ACCNX.

Top Prospects

C/OF Kyle Teel, UVA #44

LHP Nate Savino, UVA #74

OF Chris Newell, UVA #76

Akron (1-2) at #17 Georgia (4-0)

Akron dropped 2 of 3 to Lipscomb University to start the season. Georgia swept Albany and beat Wofford 7-1 mid-week to go 4-0. They’ll host Akron for four games with a doubleheader on Saturday. Ace Jonathan Cannon will pitch for the Bulldogs on Friday. All 4 games will be on SECN+.

Top Prospects

RHP Jonathan Cannon, UGA #40

C Corey Collins, UGA #132

Gardner-Webb (2-3) at #18 Georgia Tech (4-1)

Gardner-Webb lost three straight at home to NJIT, Virginia, and Bellarmine before bouncing back to beat Bellarmine the second time and Carolina University mid-week. After sweeping Wright State to start the year, Georgia Tech struggled mid-week, losing to Georgia Southern on the road 10-6 and going down early to Presbyterian before coming back to win 17-7. OF Trea Gonzalez and C Kevin Para have been as good as advertised, but there are concerns with the Yellow Jackets’ pitching. Even Zach Maxwell, their best starter, struggled in his debut, giving up 2 earned runs in 3 innings. He had 3 walks and struggled with command. All three games will be on ACCNX.

Top Prospects

C Kevin Parada, GT #15

OF Tres Gonzalez, GT #101

RHP Zach Maxwell, GT #105

3B Drew Compton, GT #135

Georgia State (4-1) at #19 Florida (3-2)

Georgia State are 4-1 following a 4-game sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne and a mid-week loss to Kennesaw State on Wednesday. Much like Vanderbilt, Florida is loaded with talent but trying to figure out the team. They dropped two of three to Liberty, with the lone win coming in large part thanks to ace Hunter Barco’s great start on Opening Day. He went 6 innings and gave up just 1 hit while striking out 11 and walking 1. The talented lineup, on the other hand, has struggled and is hitting just .232 as team through the first 5 games. Losing another series ahead of SEC play would be a disaster for the Gators. The Friday and Sunday games will be on ESPN+ while the Saturday game will be on SECN.

Top Prospects

LHP Hunter Barco, Florida #9

OF Jud Fabian, Florida #24

OF Sterlin Thompson, Florida #83

SS Josh Rivera, Florida #117

OF Michael Robertson, Florida #129

Nebraska (1-3) at #20 TCU (3-1)

Nebraska was picked by many to win the Big 10 this year, but so far they’ve struggled, dropping 3 of 4 to Sam Houston State on Opening Weekend. This is an underrated match-up and will be played at Globe Life Park in Arlington. TCU lost a 7-6 squeaker to California, but other than that has been perfect to start the year. Horned Frogs ace Austin Krob will pitch on Friday night and will be fun to see how he handles Nebraska star Max Anderson. All three games will be available on FloSportsTV.

Top Prospects

3B Brayden Taylor, TCU #71

LHP Austin Krob, TCU #85

3B Max Anderson, Nebraska #130

Harvard (0-0) at #21 Miami (5-0)

Harvard opens the season visiting #21 Miami. Miami has been great to start the year, sweeping Towson in a 4 game series before crushing Florida Atlantic mid-week 9-1. Alejandro Rosario will pitch for the Hurricanes on Friday while top prospect Carson Palmquist will pitch on Sunday. All three games will be on ACCNX.

Top Prospects

LHP Carson Palmquist, Miami #21

RHP Alejandro Rosario, Miami #75

3B Yohandy Morales, Miami #114

RHP Alex McFarlane, Miami #119

Tulane (4-0) at #22 Louisiana Tech (4-0)

Tulane has started the season with 4 straight wins over UMass Lowell and Nicholls, but they’ll face a much sterner test in #22 Louisiana Tech, who outclassed LSU mid-week. What a massive start to the season for Louisiana Tech. They swept a good Wichita State team on Opening Weekend and then dominated LSU in the rain mid-week in front of an electric atmosphere. Taylor Young in particular was phenomenal and finished the game a single short of the cycle. Tulane is another difficult opponent. All three games will be on CUSA TV.

Top Prospects

SS Taylor Young, Louisiana Tech #86

C Bennett Lee, Tulane #131

LHP Jonathan Fincher, Louisiana Tech #141

Jacksonville State (0-4) at #23 Southern Miss (3-1)

Jacksonville State weas swept by Kentucky and then lost to Alabama mid-week to start the season 0-4. Things don’t get any easier, as now they’ll face #23 Southern Miss. Southern Miss loss in extra innings to North Alabama and will looking to bounce back. All three games will be on CUSA TV.

UC-Riverside (0-4) at #24 UCLA (2-3)

UC-Riverside was swept by Fresno State and loss to Washington mid-week. UCLA meanwhile, has had an atrocious start to the year and dropped both mid-week games this past week. UC-Riverside is just the team they needed to face this weekend to get back on track. All three games will be on PAC-12 Plus.

Top Prospects

RHP Max Rajcic, UCLA #73

RHP Jared Karros, UCLA #100

LHP Gage Jump, UCLA #109

Kent State (1-2) at #25 Texas Tech (2-2)

Kent State went 1-1 vs Coastal Carolina and lost to West Virginia on Opening Weekend. Texas Tech dropped two of three in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown, losing to Auburn 2-1 and Arizona 13-2. They bounced back with a big win over previously ranked Dallas Baptist, and will be looking to continue that success against their worst opponent of the season so far. Jace Jung, who could be a Top-5 pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, is hitting just .250 (3-12) and has yet to hit a home run. He does have 5 walks already, however. All three games will be available on ESPN+.

Top Prospects

2B Jace Jung, Texas Tech #3

1B Cole Stilwell, Texas Tech #147