Many of the Top 25 schools are playing in "Round Robin" style tournaments this weekend, so the list of notable 3-game series is pretty short. With that being said, there are still some powerful matchups to watch! Let's take a look...
This is the series to watch this weekend, not only because they are the two premier programs in the state of Georgia, but because they are both ranked in the NCBWA Top 25. Georgia Tech is coming off of a sweep against Ohio State at home, while Georgia went 3-1 against a very good west coast team in Santa Clara. For both teams, this will be their first matchup against an opposing Top 25 team, so we can expect to see playoff atmosphere baseball from these two rivals.
#6 Mississippi State vs Long Beach State
Mississippi State is coming off an interesting week. Though they won the series against a powerhouse in Oregon State, they did drop a mid-week game to an winless Texas Southern on Tuesday. Mississippi State is way too talented of a team for that loss to be a concern, so this will be a big weekend for them to get back on track. However they will go up against a scrappy Long Beach State team that just swept #21 Wake Forest, proving that they will not shy away from a challenge against a Top 25 team. Long Beach State can easily take the series if the Bulldogs don't bring their A game.
#11 Arizona State vs Nebraska
Arizona State ran into some road blocks against Michigan and Oklahoma State to start the season, but appear to be hitting their stride after a sweep against Boston College and an extra inning win against New Mexico State. Though Nebraska is only 1-5 to start the year, they have faced four extremely competitive teams in Baylor, San Diego, San Diego State, and Arizona. It is also worth noting that they have yet to play a game in their home state, so the struggle of being on the road could very well be affecting their performance. The real question for this series is how many times will Spencer Torkelson be intentionally walked (he already has 11 in 9 games)?
Clemson vs South Carolina
Clemson started the season 7-0, but dropped the midweek game to East Tennessee State on Tuesday. Their largest win margin this season is only 4 runs, so they are finding a way to win close ballgames. Despite South Carolina losing the series to Northwestern this past weekend, they are still 6-2 on the season. We expect some very close games between these two evenly matched teams, though Clemson's recent success in 1-run ballgames may give them the edge in this series.
Cal State Northridge vs #25 Central Florida
Battle of the undefeated. Central Florida made a lot of noise last week with their sweep over #21 Auburn, establishing themselves as a serious mid-major to watch. Meanwhile CSUN has put together a 7 game winning streak to start the season, including 2 wins over a talented Grand Canyon team. Even though UCF is the favorite to take this series, it will be a good indicator if CSUN is a legitimate contender to make the NCAA tournament.
Grand Canyon vs Stanford
Stanford is 1-7...definitely not the start the 2019 regional host was hoping for. They played some tough competition in the Round Rock Classic last week, but they flat out struggled to put runs on the board. They need to regroup before heading into Pac-12 conference play in the coming weeks. On the flip side, Grand Canyon started the year with a series win vs Oklahoma State and have continued to play good baseball since. Grand Canyon will put up a good fight while Stanford needs to win this series to gain some momentum.
#18 Michigan vs Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Michigan is coming off a disappointing series loss to UConn, losing 3 of the 4 games they played against them this season. Cal Poly started the season with a bang taking down the reigning national champions Vanderbilt, but have only won 1 game since then. With both teams having the raw talent to make the tournament, each team sees this as a must-win series to put them in a better position moving forward.
UC Berkeley vs Texas Christian
TCU has been playing good baseball as of late, taking 2 of 3 from Minnesota and narrowly missing this week's NCBWA Top 25. For UC Berkeley, this is a very defining series. If they have any hope of returning to the regionals again this season, they will need to put up a good showing against TCU. Taking down a borderline Top 25 team will help their RPI rankings and give them the reassurance that they can win against good competition without Andrew Vaughn anchoring their offense.
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