College Baseball Weekend Recap, April 26-28

Another weekend of college baseball passes us by. Parity exists once again in the college baseball world as dominant baseball entities LSU and North Carolina actually lost games played this weekend. The weekend highlights:

Team Highlights

- Best Team: #1 North Carolina - The Tar Heels (41-4, 19-3 ACC) split the series with nemesis #13 NC State due to getting Carlos Rodon'd in Game 2. I say split because Game 3 was canceled on Sunday thanks to our old friend, weather. Junior lefty ace, Kent Emmanuel was superb (8 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 9 K) in Game 1.

- Falter of the Week: #5 Virginia - The Cavs (38-8, 17-7 ACC) had a golden opportunity to gain some ground on UNC. Instead they wet the bed versus in state rival Virginia Tech by dropping both games of a Saturday doubleheader.

- Best SEC Smackdown: #11 South Carolina at #2 LSU - The Tigers (39-6, 16-5 SEC) were handed their first shutout in over a year (on ESPN no less) as I tuned in to see my Gamecocks (33-12, 13-8 SEC) hand them their first series loss on the 2013 season as well.

- Under the Radar Performers: West Virginia - The unexpected has occurred as the unheralded Mountaineers (27-18, 9-6 Big 12) have held their own in their first season as a Big 12 baseball school. They're now tied for 3rd in the Big 12 following a weekend sweep of Kansas.

- State School Combo of the Week: #6 Oregon and #7 Oregon State - The in state showdown between these two schools in mid-May will make for one hell of a matchup. Both schools posted impressive sweeps this weekend.

The Ducks (33-10, 16-5 Pac-12) swept Mark Appel and #21 Stanford. Ryon Healey, touted junior First Baseman, hit two home runs in Game 2.

The Beavers (34-8, 14-4 Pac-12) swept USC. Senior lefty, Matt Boyd, threw a gem (8.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 11 K) in Game 1. Boyd was drafted in the 12th Round by the Indians last Summer.

- Mid Major of the Week: South Alabama - The Jaguars (34-12, 15-6 Sun Belt) now find themselves in first place following their crucial weekend sweep at UL-Monroe. Star Junior first baseman, Jordan Patterson is batting .379/.502/.574.

- West Coast Team of the Week: #22 UC Irvine - The Anteaters (28-12, 10-5 Big West) find themselves only two game back of #3 Cal State Fullerton following their weekend sweep of UC Davis.

- Steamroller of the Week: New Mexico - D.J. Peterson and the red hot Lobos (27-16, 17-4 MWC) have won ten games in a row following their weekend sweep of UNLV, including Sunday's wild affair.

- Best Upset Award: Boston College - The Eagles entered the weekend 0-20 in the ACC. I've made fun of them before. Now it's time to give them positive credit following their shocking series win over Miami.

Individual Highlights

Photo: Seton Hall Athletic Communications

- Pitcher of the Week: Jon Prosinski - RHP - Seton Hall - The underrated Pirates Senior ace has quietly thrown three complete games in his last four starts. On Friday versus Villanova, Prosinski put together an outstanding performace (9 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 13 K) as Seton Hall blanked the Wildcats 7-0.

HM/ Alex Gonzalez - RHP - Oral Roberts, Kyle Lloyd - LHP - Evansville, Kevin Ziomek - LHP - Vanderbilt, Aaron Blair - RHP - Marshall, Nick Vander Tuig - RHP - UCLA, Matt Boyd - LHP - Oregon State, Jason Inghram - LHP - William and Mary

Photo by: Mark Crammer

- Hitter of the Week: Zane Evans - C - Georgia Tech - Evans, whom I've previously suggested as the best catcher in college baseball, backed me up with a stellar line (.750, 8-12, 2 HR, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K) this weekend versus Clemson.

HM/ Kris Bryant - 3B - San Diego, Ryan Kinsella - C - Elon, Ryon Healy - 1B - Oregon, D.J Peterson - 3B - New Mexico, L.J. Mazzilli - 2B - UConn, Daniel Palka - OF - Georgia Tech

- Freshman of the Week: Jack Wynkoop - LHP - South Carolina - He's the one mostly responsible for handing LSU their first shutout in over a year. Deservingly, he has once again earned SEC freshman of the week.

- Mid Major Ace of the Week: Kyle Lloyd - LHP - Evansville Evansville calls themselves the Purple aces and Senior righty Kyle Lloyd sure pitched like one (9 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 12 K) in Saturday's walkoff win over Missouri Sate.

- Stock Rising Award: Alex Gonzalez - RHP - Oral Roberts - The likely Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year has been generating buzz as a Top 50 draft prospect. His recent start (7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 12 K) versus Nicholls State.

- Underrated Hitter of the Week: Ryon Healy - 1B - Oregon - As mentioned earlier in the post, Healy (.347/.411/.588) dropped two bombs in Game 2 versus Stanford raising his season total to 9. Previously, the lack of in game power was a knock on Healy, who's always demonstrated a solid feel for hitting. He's a possible 4th to 6th rounder according to crawfishboxes.com.

- Reason No. 320 Why Kris Bryant is a Tank: Bryant HR total (22); The rest of the San Diego hitters combined HR total (20)

- "My Dad's a Former MLB Manager" Player of the Week: L.J. Mazzilli - 2B - Connecticut - Mazzilli, considered one of the better middle infield prospects in the upcoming draft, went 6-11 this weekend and is batting .343/.400/.514 with 4 home runs. The Twins drafted him in the 9th Round last year but he chose to return to school.

The latest rankings via College Baseball Writers

College Baseball Daily's Mid Major Rankings

(Note: I recently submitted an official review of South Carolina's fine college baseball facilities for Stadium Journey that I recommend checking out here)

That's all I have for new as we wrap up the month of April. Have a great week. Stay classy, not crassy.