Wake Forest was the unanimous preseason No. 1 team in college baseball due in large part to a weekend rotation that features three potential first-round picks in the 2024 MLB Draft.
The competition wasn’t overly taxing, but the Demon Deacons’ stars were brilliant in the opening weekend. Josh Hartle, Chase Burns and Michael Massey allowed a combined six hits, three walks and one earned run while striking out 18 in 14 2/3 innings in wins over Fordham, Illinois and Akron.
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Burns, a transfer from Tennessee, was especially dominant, striking out 10 and allowing only four baserunners (three hits, one walk) in six innings against Illinois on Saturday.
Burns was a part of the Vols’ weekend rotation as a freshman but was moved to the bullpen midway through his sophomore season. He was outstanding in that role — and was a key reason Tennessee advanced to the 2023 College World Series — but it’s clear he preferred to be a starter.
Was this post by the Wake Forest social media team a shot at Tennessee?
Starter Chase Burns. pic.twitter.com/HkB9BGDfnd
— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) February 17, 2024
The Demon Deacons feature two other projected first-rounders in first baseman Nick Kurtz and outfielder Seaver King. Kurtz went 4-for-12 for the weekend, highlighted by a home run on Saturday and a single with an exit velocity of 111 mph on Sunday. King, a transfer from Division II Wingate College in North Carolina, went hitless in the first two games but bounced back with a strong performance on Sunday (2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs).
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Tennessee lost Burns to the transfer portal and Chase Dollander to the MLB Draft (No. 9 overall), but the Vols still look very strong on the mound. Sophomore AJ Russell, who was fantastic in relief as a true freshman, got the start on Friday night and struck out 10 in 4 1/3 innings in the Vols’ 6-2 win against Texas Tech at the Shriner’s Children’s College Showdown in Arlington, Texas.
Junior Drew Beam, in his third year in Tennessee’s weekend rotation, gave up seven hits and one earned run in 5 2/3 innings in Saturday’s extra-innings loss to Oklahoma.
Duke had a productive weekend at the Baseball at the Beach Tournament in Conway, S.C. The Blue Devils beat Indiana (6-3), George Mason (23-5) and host Coastal Carolina (5-3) to start the season 3-0 for the first time since 2019. Pitching is supposed to be this team’s strength — and it was solid over the weekend — but the Blue Devils were especially impressive at the plate. They hit 16 home runs in the three games, including a program-record 11 in Saturday’s win over George Mason.
Duke was not the only team to feast on the Patriots’ pitching. George Mason went 0-3 in Conway, losing the three games by a combined score of 58-8 while giving up 17 home runs.
Georgia opened the Wes Johnson era with three wins over UNC Asheville by a combined score of 38-7. All-America first baseman/outfielder Charlie Condon went 7-for-11 with three doubles while third baseman Slate Alford, a transfer from Mississippi State, hit three home runs in his Georgia debut. Last year, Alford hit .248 with nine home runs in 176 plate appearances at Mississippi State.
Three of the top six teams in the D1 Baseball preseason top 25 lost a game on the opening weekend.
- No. 2 Florida lost at home to St. John’s, 9-5, on Friday night in the only game played in the series due to inclement weather on Saturday and Sunday.
- No. 3 Arkansas dropped a 7-3 decision to visiting James Madison on Sunday.
- No. 6 Vanderbilt, lost at home to FAU, 5-4, on Saturday afternoon.
Left-hander Ethan McElvain, one of the top pitchers to make it to through the draft in the Class of 2023, threw one perfect inning in his debut for Vanderbilt on Saturday. Fellow freshman Brennan Seiber, a 6-5 right-hander out of Mater Dei in Southern California, retired all nine batters he faced (on only 27 pitches) in an 11-1 series-clinching win on Sunday.
Vanderbilt outfielder Calvin Hewett joined some select company on Sunday, becoming the third Commodore in the last three seasons to steal home. The others: 2022 first-round pick Spencer Jones and 2023 first-round pick Enrique Bradfield.
Let's see it in 4K 🎥 https://t.co/bPuGZ2PqUF pic.twitter.com/htQ343visJ
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) February 18, 2024
It was an interesting debut for Sacramento State outfielder Matt Masciangelo. The transfer from CSU Bakersfield was hit by a pitch seven times in eight plate appearances in a doubleheader loss to Loyola Marymount on Friday (and was hit one time in Saturday’s win). Masciangelo was hit by a pitch just one time in 26 plate appearances last year at CSU Bakersfield.
UCLA was one of the most disappointing teams in the nation last year, stumbling to a 12-16-1 record in the Pac-12 and missing a Regional for the first time since 2016. Well, John Savage’s team is off to a strong start in 2024 with a three-game sweep of visiting Gonzaga. The Bruins scored three runs in the bottom of the eight inning in an 8-7 come-from-behind win on Friday night and then cruised to wins of 10-3 and 6-3 to round out the weekend. After a midweek game against Loyola Marymount, UCLA heads to Fort Worth for a marquee series at TCU next weekend.
Louisville, which has missed the NCAA Tournament two times in the last three seasons, opened the season with two one-run losses at the USF Tournament in Tampa. The Cardinals lost to Indiana State, 8-7, on Friday and to UConn, 4-3, on Saturday. Sunday’s game with host South Florida was canceled.
Texas A&M outfielder/pitcher Braden Montgomery, one of the top transfers in the nation, hit a home run in his first at-bat with the Aggies during Friday night’s win against McNeese. Montgomery, a Mississippi native, hit .336 with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs as a sophomore at Stanford last season. Montgomery will team with fellow All-American Jace LaViolette in what should be one of the most potent outfield duos in the nation this season.
Arizona reached the NCAA Tournament in each of Chip Hale’s first two seasons as the head coach at his alma mater, but expectations — at least externally — were tempered a bit in 2024. It’s early, but the Wildcats are off to a strong start, taking two of three from Northeastern, ranked No. 23 in the preseason, in Tucson. Arizona’s staff limited Huskies All-America outfielder Mike Sirota (.346/.472/.678 in 2023) to three singles in 12 at-bats.
The best moment of the opening weekend? That took place Friday at East Carolina when sophomore Parker Byrd became the first Division I college baseball player to appear in a game with a prosthetic leg. Byrd had part of his right leg amputated following a boating accident in the summer of 2022 that required 23 surgeries. He drew a walk on a 3-1 count.
What. A. Moment. 🤟🏴☠️@parkerbyrd11 pic.twitter.com/qqkzVjfktj
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) February 16, 2024
(Photo of Chase Burns courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics)