D1 Baseball....WAY too early field of 64 projections

I like the enthusiasm toward the program, but I'm not quite sure the expectations are warranted unless all the Frosh are outstanding and the pitching shows some depth and big game ability. I mean a guy as good as KJ only hit .239/.330 slg% in Pac12 play. No other starting type was above .300 and we hit .250 as a team. Pac12 play is no joke and I do not see Frosh coming in a doing much better than KJ right away.

We also lost a lot of big innings from AM... besides Hickey we have only 2 guys with any decent experience and they were 5-5 with a ERA near 4. It was pitching that carried us to a 19-10-1 record, holding opponents to a .218 BA. In the same vein the Frosh/newcomers need to produce in roles... and Thompson regain his form. If we hold to form 80+% of our league innings will come from the three starters/closer... so we just need those four to 'hold serve' plus newcomer support/surprises.

I think we could be good... but there is a lot that has to happen to be voted almost unanimous Pac12 champs (it was by the other Pac12 coaches so!!) and a #3 national seed. Just seems weird to get so much pub/hype with such a young/inexperienced team. I sort saw this as a 18-12 to 16-14 team (but not that into what each of the other teams bring back) that makes the regionals and with a good draw goes to Supers.. that the next 2 years would be the years to head to Omaha?! I think pitching is the BIG unknown/factor compared to what we are used to/expecting from this team..

While that is exciting to see there is way too much baseball to be played in a very good conference. As noted pitching is probably the biggest question mark and we will need some guys to step up. It seems in the past years we have had deeper returning staffs than this years but I will continue to believe in Casey and the rest of the coaches as OSU continues to be one of the premier programs in the country.

Some rookies will need to step up and the veterans will need to continue their growth and leadership. There is a lot of pressure on KJ (he's still just a kid) so hopefully he will respond and others will step up as well and help protect KJ and make us dangerous 1 thru 9.


Less than 48 hours til the first game. Looking forward to an exciting ride.

Some of the expectations may be coming from the "new" pitchers that did not play last season - Martinek, Thompson and especially Engelbrekt.  A pretty good team in contention to host a regional lost a staff ace, along with Tweedt, Reser and a few minor bullpen contributors.  Moore is clearly a huge loss, but every top team loses someone important on the mound every year.  Not many teams are able to offset that with some high-level arms that have been in your program for a year or more.