The Weekend Set: Opening Weekend

The Round-Up

Despite waking up to sub-zero temperatures on opening day, Spring has officially sprung and we made it to the 2025 college baseball season. Not only did I spend the entire weekend watching as much college baseball as humanly possible, but I had some takeaways which I’ll share below. We had upsets like Cincinnati taking down #8 Duke in a set at The Jack, Michigan walking off #2 Virginia on opening day, and Louisville taking down two ranked teams in three days in #19 Texas and #20 Arizona. We also had classic college baseball beat-downs like Wake Forest over Marist, Mississippi State over Manhattan, and Indiana State beating Wagner 36-3.

• Watch out for Stetson: An extremely impressive showing in Puerto Rico starting their season 3-1 with wins of UConn, Penn St, and Mizzou, this Hatters team is going to be a thorn in the side in the State of Florida this season during midweeks. While they ended up getting beat by Michigan in the Championship, I was very impressed with their performance in weekend one.

• Oklahoma State impressed: We all knew this Pokes team would mash, but I was beyond impressed with the lineup 1-9, adding guys like Avery Ortiz into a lineup potential Golden Spikes Winner Nolan Schubart is dangerous. Hawai’i transfer Harrison Bodendorf showed out in his start on Saturday vs Louisville, and despite going 2-2 this weekend with losses to ranked Clemson and Texas, they really impressed me.

• Texas is the real deal: Staying in Arlington, the Longhorns dominated outside of one bad inning which led to a loss against Louisville. Max Weiner has the opportunity to stamp his name on this Texas pitching staff and become known as one of the best pitching coaches in the country. If he unlocks some of the talent they’ve had in Austin, lookout Omaha.

• Clemson is GRIT: Notching two ranked wins in two days over #16 Oklahoma St in a comeback victory and a beat down on #20 Arizona was extremely impressive. While they dropped their final game in Arlington to Ole Miss, the Tigers may be a force in ACC play.

• North Carolina, book your ticket to Omaha: There, I said it. What would this section be without some small sample size overreactions? The Tar Heels despite only hitting .250 as a team through their sweep of Texas Tech, the Heels pitching staff allowed just six runs and held the Red Raiders to a .196 b/avg and flashed a multitude of arms that should dominate all season.

• Trouble in Durham? #8 Duke gets taken down in their opening series against the Cincinnati Bearcats. While I personally believe Chris Pollard’s Blue Devils will be fine, there certainly were a few red flags this weekend. Tip your cap to the Bearcats though, they played some fantastic baseball all weekend.

• Arizona State Big 12 Dark-horse: The Sun Devils affirmed one hunch for me this season, they can bang. Brandon Compton did nothing but be a walking 100+ exit velocity machine all weekend including one of the most impressive home runs you’ll see and a walkoff on Saturday en route to a sweep over the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Backside Breakouts

Top-25:

Climbing the Ladder

• Michigan: Opening their 2025 season with a win over #2 Virginia would’ve been enough to hang your hat on leaving Puerto Rico, but to start 4-0, and truly dominate every game they played in, the Wolverines really looked like a force in the Big 10. I’ll keep my eye on this club over the coming weeks, but if they are anything like what they showed this first weekend, lookout.

• Hawai’i: Not only did they take home the series against Marshall, they walked them off twice. Rich Hill’s ballclub is the epitome of gritty, and with some fantastic pitching performances from Keith Zuniga’s staff, there’s a reason they were a consensus to win the Big West at Backside Groundballs Media.

• North Carolina: A team we talked about being a potential to win the ACC and had Omaha potential, but if this weekend showed anything, it’s that the Tar Heels are built for it. With pitching and defense top to bottom, they showed they can dominate teams without hitting the ball around the yard like we believe they will later in the season. Not to mention Scott Forbes manages his bullpen better than most in the country, that’ll come in handy come June.

Slump Alert

• Arizona: This one pains us, but starting the season 0-3 is certainly not what Chip Hale’s Wildcats had in mind to start the season. Not all losses are created equal, and playing #11 Clemson, a very solid Louisville team, and what proved to be a much better Ole Miss squad than we expected was no easy task. But, the Wildcats just couldn’t prevent the big inning all weekend and they didn’t hit the way we expected with a lot of swing and miss, still have a lot of confidence in this ball club but with #1 Texas A&M, #4 Tennessee, and #17 Mississippi State approaching on their schedule, they’ll have to turn the tides quickly.

• Duke: Getting beat in a series at home to Cincinnati is certainly not what I expected from the Blue Devils who have deep postseason run expectations. Their lone win coming on a walkoff home run from Wallace Clark, and it was all Bearcats after that. Losing major pieces between 2024 and 2025 is certainly something to consider when talking about a team that could be a slow starter, but with a midweek matchup with UNCW on Tuesday, it will be a great opportunity to get back on track against a very solid Mid Major club.

• Indiana: Another team we are extremely high on this year, struggled mightily dropping games to UNLV, Xavier, and #5 Oregon State. While the Beavers were a nice litmus test for the Hoosiers, going into that game 0-2 while struggling to keep teams off the board was a recipe for disaster. Felt like nothing went right for Indiana this weekend, but replacing the entire rotation from 2024 to 2025, we expected some rocky games early. After another loss to UNLV on Monday, They’ll look to get back on track against IPFW on Wednesday.

Merch

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