Welcome to the Prospects Live Weekly College Baseball Roundup! Each week, we’ll bring you highlights and stories from the college baseball series happening over the weekend, MLB Draft prospect performances to note, and a recap of our analysts' incredible work nationwide!

The Full D1Baseball Top 25 List. Top 4 Include:

Arkansas
Oregon State
Vanderbilt
Clemson

Highlights From the Week/Weekend

Mississippi State takes down #2 LSU: Mississippi State improved to 15-6 after their takedown of #2 LSU. The Bulldogs took two-of-three from the Tigers and just continue to role. The offense pulverized LSU pitching, scoring 25 runs in their two wins. They even run-ruled LSU 15-5 in their second win on Sunday. Dakota Jordan continues to do Dakota Jordan things and has been tearing the cover off the ball (more on him below). The pitching continues to roll as well. Nolan Steven was electric out of the bullpen on Friday night, going 5.2 IP giving up just one hit and one earned run while striking out eight. It was more of the same from Jurrangelo Cijntje at his start Sunday, where he went five innings while giving up three earned runs and striking out six. It was good enough to help seal the victory for the Bulldogs. Mississippi State finds itself just inside the top 25, but with a few more series victories like this in the SEC, they could see themselves moving on up the ranks.

Virginia takes the series from Wake Forest: In what was a back-and-forth series between Virginia and Wake Forest, the series ended with an incredible ending. Virginia’s Casey Saucke hit a game-tying home run on the last strike to send the third game into extra innings, which Virginia eventually won. Outside of Chase Burns’ electric performance on Saturday, pitching was a struggle most of this series. Virginia won game one on Friday night with a final score of 16-10. Neither Wake’s starter Josh Hartle nor Virginia’s stater Cullen McKay made it into the third innings. Hartle gave up six earned, and McKay gave up seven earned. Virginia’s offense was powered by leadoff hitter Griff O’Ferrall, who went 3-for-6 with 3 RBI.

Saturday was a different story as Chase Burns was an electric factory as per usual. He went 7 innings while striking out 13 and only giving up two hits and one earned run. Sophomore Jack Winnay did his best Nick Kurtz impression, who left Friday’s game with an injury. He hit two home runs and drove in three in the 9-3 victory. Sunday became a quick bullpen as well as Wake Forest freshman Haiden Leffew didn’t make it out of the third inning and Virginia starter Jay Woolfolk didn’t make it out of the fourth. The teams went back and forth until Virginia’s Casey Saucke hit a game-tying home run on the last strike to send the third game into extra innings. That followed with Wake Forest committing back-to-back fielding eros in the bottom of the 10th, one on the final play that scored the game-winning run. This matchup will for sure shake up the top 25.

Florida State is the last undefeated team: After Texas A&M lost their series to the Florida Gators, the Seminoles remain the only undefeated team. You could say it is for a lack of competition, but they did sweep Notre Dame this weekend. The Noles’ success has been led by their pitching staff, who has combined for a team ERA of 2.94. Jamie Arnold has been lights out, striking out 44 batters in 27.2 innings pitched while posting a 0.33 ERA in five starts. Florida State’s offense has been right in line with their pitching staff, with Cam Smith, James Tibbs III, and Jaime Ferrer providing most of the offense. They’ll get their first major test as they take on #4 ranked Clemson next weekend.

NC State lost four straight last week: Not the week NC State hoped for. They lost all four games this week and dropped out of the top 25. They lost their midweek game to UNC Greensboro (UNCG). If that name sounds familiar, UNCG beat Wake Forest in a midweek game on February 20th. NC State took that loss into the weekend and then ended up getting swept by Georgia Tech, including being 10-run ruled on Sunday. NC State’s pitching staff struggled to keep the Yellow Jackets offense at bay, giving up 31 runs in three games. The offense has been a strong point for NC State, but their pitching staff has a team ERA of 6.53. The pitching struggles finally came to bite the Wolfpack this weekend. It doesn’t get any easier for them as they welcome Duke into town this coming weekend.

MLB Draft Prospect Updates

Chase Burns dazzles yet again: I mean, what more can we say about Chase Burns at this point? He was absolutely electric again this weekend against a tough Virginia lineup. He has gone back-to-back, starting with 10+ Ks against two of the best lineups in the ACC and possibly in all college baseball. He has a total of three consecutive games with 10+ K’s. I witnessed this start in person, and he was nearly untouchable. He only gave up two hits (one being a solo home run to Henry Godbout) and one earned run. The fastball was 95-99 and topped at 100 mph with insane carry and ride. He was 97-99 very rarely in the game. The slider was diabolical and his best pitch of the night. He even flashed a changeup (sort of had splitter tendencies to it) that hit 93 mph. Just an insane start, and very easy to see why he is the number on pitching prospect in this MLB Draft.

Dakota Jordan’s insanely quick hands: It wasn’t the best series for Mississippi State’s Dakota Jordan as he finished 4-for-11, but he hit a massive HR that helped secure the series win over #2 ranked LSU. He sent this three-run shot in the 5th to the moon. He has some of the quickest hands in this draft class that help him generate insane bat speed. He strikes out a tad much, but it is hard to ignore the production when he does make contact. He’s up to a .408/.550/.895 slash line with 10 HRs and 32 RBI on the year. He’s only eight RBI away from his total for the year in 2023.

https://x.com/HailStateBB/status/1769446059913449815?s=20

Nick Kurtz is out 3-4 weeks with an injury: He was removed from Friday night’s game against Virginia in the third inning after he dove for a ball in the second inning and injured his shoulder. On the ACC Network broadcast, they mentioned that Wake Forest Head Coach Tom Walter was hoping that Kurtz would be able to return in three to four weeks. It’s a massive blow to the Demon Deacons and Kurtz, as he has been struggling at the start of this year. Hoping that it is a speedy recovery and doesn’t take longer than those three-to-four weeks.

Other Names of Note:

1B/3B Tommy White (LSU) - 5-for-13 with 3 HRs, 7 RBI, 3 BB

3B Carson DeMartini (Virginia Tech) - 7-for-12, 5 HRs, 7 RBI, 4 BB

LHP Payon Tolle (TCU) - 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, 10 K

LHP Hagen Smith (Arkansas) - 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 10 K

LHP Carter Holton (Vanderbilt) - 7 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 9 K

RHP Trey Yesavage (ECU) - 6 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, 10 K