The Big 12 announced its full 2027 conference slate on Thursday afternoon, and there are tons of intriguing matchups including a Big 12 tournament championship rematch series, in-state rivalries and much, much more.

After six teams reached the NCAA Tournament a season ago, along with a College World Series appearance from West Virginia, the league is hoping for an even stronger campaign in 2027. How it all bears out could have a lot to do with several key series.

Here are 10 matchups (and two honorable mentions) with intriguing storylines and/or potential conference-title implications:

Honorable Mention: Houston vs. Texas Tech | April 16-18

First-year Houston head coach Will Davis appears to be a rising star, and his overhaul of the Coogs’ roster indicates that he’s serious about building a contender, and quickly. Meanwhile Texas Tech made the decision to retain longtime head coach Tim Tadlock, despite the Red Raiders suffering another subpar season by the program’s lofty standards.

Houston took two of three from Texas Tech in Lubbock this past season, and a series win at home in 2027 could indicate a shift in the hierarchy of Texas college baseball.

Honorable Mention: Utah vs. BYU | April 16-18

Both the Utes and the Cougars saw good progress in 2026. Now the big question is, can they continue to build, or was last season a mirage?

There’s enough talent in both programs to be competitive, but 2027 will be all about being consistent enough to be a real threat. A rivalry weekend win could set one of them up with good momentum heading into the back half of the league schedule.

10. Arizona vs. Kansas | May 20-22

The Wildcats have a gauntlet of a home schedule that concludes on the final weekend of the regular season with the defending Big 12 champions. This has all the potential to bring the feel of postseason baseball, as a tremendous amount could be on the line.

Will Arizona bounce back from a down 2026? Will Kansas defend its regular season title?

9. Baylor vs. Kansas State | May 20-22

The Bears’ rebuild has been a slow burn under Mitch Thompson’s leadership, but there’s been noticeable progress year over year. For Kansas State and Pete Hughes, this season is about taking advantage of the talent on the roster after that wasn’t the case in 2026.

We’ll know good and well what each of these teams are by the final weekend, the question is: will they be playing for more than conference tournament seeding?

8. Baylor vs. Cincinnati | May 14-16

Cincinnati has high hopes for 2027 with the amount of talent returning to the squad. Baylor, meanwhile, still needs to show it can consistently compete with and beat the better teams in the league.

7. Oklahoma State vs. Kansas | May 7-9

The Cowboys have been searching for consistency the past two seasons before using late hot streaks to reach the postseason and fight like hell in a regional. Will May in 2027 be any different?

Meanwhile, for Kansas, this is the first of three May series that will define their championship defense.

6. Cincinnati vs. UCF | May 21-23

The Bearcats bring back the most production of any “Big Three” in the league, while UCF is one of the teams with the highest amount of turnover. Both finished in the Top 5 of the league last season, and both have aspirations to finish even higher in 2027.

Could it come down to this final weekend matchup to determine tournament seeding and NCAA postseason hopes for both squads?

5. Arizona State vs. UCF | March 26-28

The Sun Devils and Knights finished in a two-way tie for third place in the Big 12 last season, with Arizona State winning the tiebreaker thanks to a 2-1 series win in Orlando. An early-series win for either team could help tip the conference standings in their favor again in 2027.

Arizona State retained Golden Spikes finalist Landon Hairston, whose looking to lead the Sun Devils back to the promised land of Omaha, while UCF underwent significant turnover, and will have close to 25 new faces on the roster this season.

4. Arizona vs. TCU | April 9-11

Two teams that most would consider candidates to be top dogs in the Big 12 both found themselves in down seasons in 2026. For Arizona, that low included missing the Big 12 conference tournament, while TCU was considered one of the first four our of the NCAA Tournament.

Both made assistant coaching changes and had significant roster turnover this offseason, as Chip Hale and Kirk Saarloos try to get their programs back on track. This weekend series could go a long way to solidifying the end of the first month of Big 12 play for one team, while it could also raise big questions for the other.

3. Kansas vs. Arizona State | March 19-21

This one is the no-doubt headliner of Big 12 opening weekend. You’ve got the defending Big 12 champs hosting the frontrunner for 2027 Big 12 Player of the Year, and both teams have the singular goal of reaching Omaha.

Which one will kick off its conference slate on a high note, and which one will be on its heels right away?

2. TCU vs. West Virginia | May 20-22

Could this series decide the Big 12 regular season champion? It’s possible, after West Virginia finished runner-up a season ago, and with TCU looking to get back on track after missing two of the last three NCAA Tournaments.

West Virginia took two of three from the Horned Frogs on the final weekend of the regular season in 2026, which clinched second place in the league as well as a regional host bid. Will TCU return the favor?

1. West Virginia vs. Kansas | March 26-28

Sure, this is just the second weekend of league play, but a matchup between the 2026 Big 12 Champs and the league’s lone representative in the College World Series will surely provide fireworks. Both teams reloaded their rosters this offseason by using the best practices they built the programs on.

Kansas loaded up with more JUCO talent, while West Virginia is using a blend of talent across divisions, including D2 and D3, to replace key pieces of last year’s historic season.

Who Each Team Misses

With an unbalanced schedule, each team misses three conference mates every regular season. Here’s who each team misses in 2027.

Arizona: Houston, UCF, Texas Tech

Arizona State: Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, TCU

Baylor: Oklahoma State, UCF, Utah

BYU: Cincinnati, Kansas, UCF

Cincinnati: Arizona State, BYU, Oklahoma State

Houston: Arizona, Kansas, Kansas State

Kansas: BYU, Houston, TCU

Kansas State: Houston, Texas Tech, West Virginia

Oklahoma State: Arizona State, Baylor, Cincinnati

TCU: Arizona State, Kansas, Utah

Texas Tech: Arizona, Kansas State, West Virginia

UCF: Arizona, Baylor, BYU

Utah: Baylor, TCU, West Virginia

West Virginia: Kansas State, Utah, Texas Tech

2027 Big 12 Conference Baseball Schedule

March 18-21
Arizona at Baylor
Arizona State at Kansas
Kansas State at Oklahoma State
Texas Tech at BYU
TCU at UCF
Cincinnati at Utah
West Virginia at Houston

March 25-28
BYU at Kansas State
Utah at Arizona
Kansas at West Virginia
Oklahoma State at TCU
Baylor at Texas Tech
Houston at Cincinnati
UCF at Arizona State
April 1-4
Arizona at Cincinnati
BYU at Oklahoma State
Utah at Houston
Kansas State at Arizona State
Texas Tech at Kansas
Baylor at TCU
West Virginia at UCF

April 8-11
Arizona State at West Virginia
Kansas at Baylor
Oklahoma State at Utah
TCU at Arizona
Houston at BYU
UCF at Kansas State
Cincinnati at Texas Tech

April 15-18
Arizona at Arizona State
BYU at Utah
Kansas State at TCU
Texas Tech at Houston
Baylor at West Virginia
UCF at Oklahoma State
Cincinnati at Kansas

April 22-25
Arizona State at Texas Tech
Utah at Kansas State
Kansas at UCF
Oklahoma State at Arizona
TCU at Cincinnati
Houston at Baylor
West Virginia at BYU

April 29-May 2
Arizona at Kansas State
Arizona State at Baylor
BYU at TCU
Kansas at Utah
Texas Tech at Oklahoma State
UCF at Houston
Cincinnati at West Virginia

May 6-9
Utah at UCF
Kansas State at Cincinnati
Oklahoma State at Kansas
TCU at Texas Tech
Baylor at BYU
Houston at Arizona State
West Virginia at Arizona

May 13-16
Arizona at BYU
Arizona State at Utah
Kansas State at Kansas
Oklahoma State at West Virginia
Texas Tech at UCF
TCU at Houston
Cincinnati at Baylor

May 20-22
BYU at Arizona State
Utah at Texas Tech
Kansas at Arizona
Baylor at Kansas State
Houston at Oklahoma State
UCF at Cincinnati
West Virginia at TCU

The 2026 MLB Draft starts Saturday at 1 p.m. ET at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, running 20 rounds across two days. The Chicago White Sox pick first, and are expected to take one of UCLA’s Roch Cholowsky, Texas prep shortstop Grady Emerson or Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey.

After they’re off the board, it’s anyone’s guess as to what happens next. But what we do know is that plenty of Big 12 players will hear their names called over the two-day event. So, I put together a list of players that could likely be among that group, starting with the obvious and moving on to others who have a chance.

One note before we start. This isn’t a WAR ranking. It’s my read on how these 35 get valued this weekend, which means production, tools, age and signability all play a factor.

Let’s dive in.

1. Sawyer Strosnider | OF | TCU

The redshirt sophomore won Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2025, hitting .350/.420/.650 with 11 home runs and 20 walks in 251 plate appearances. He followed it with a .273/.415/.590 line in 2026, 13 home runs, 43 walks and 43 strikeouts, and a team-high 54 runs scored.

The batting average dropped almost 80 points. The on-base percentage went up. His BABIP fell roughly 90 points year over year, which is the number that explains most of the gap.

He’s 6-foot-2, 200 pounds and hits left-handed. He’s a plus runner with an above-average arm and he’s 22-for-28 stealing bases in his career.

2. Cole Carlon | LHP | Arizona State

The 6-foot-5 junior was an All-America reliever in 2025, when his 41.9% whiff rate ranked second nationally among pitchers who threw at least 500 regular-season pitches. Arizona State moved him to Fridays this spring and he made 16 starts, threw 83 2/3 innings and posted a 3.87 ERA with 133 strikeouts against 31 walks. His 38% strikeout rate led all Big 12 qualifiers.

The fastball sits in the mid-90s and has touched 100. The slider is the pitch he finishes with, an upper-80s offering he’ll throw to hitters on either side.

3. Logan Hughes | OF | Texas Tech

The Stetson transfer hit .375/.510/.735 in 55 games with 18 home runs, 71 RBIs, 50 walks and 33 strikeouts. His 1.263 OPS led Texas Tech. He’s the second player in program history to reach 20 career Big 12 home runs, joining Josh Bard, and he’s a career .384 hitter in league play.

4. Chase Brunson | OF | TCU

Toronto took Brunson in the 18th round out of San Clemente High School in 2023, and he said no. Three years later he’s a legitimate center fielder with above-average range and an above-average arm.

He hit .304 in 2026 with 52 hits, a team-high 11 doubles, 10 home runs and 51 RBIs across 51 starts, and his .462 on-base percentage led TCU. He went 13-for-18 on the bases and missed close to a month with an injury.

5. Andrew Williamson | OF | UCF

The nephew of former big leaguer Sean Rodriguez started all 55 games in 2026 and hit .322/.442/.645 with 16 home runs, 13 doubles, four triples and 48 RBIs. He led UCF in runs, home runs, walks, on-base percentage and slugging.

The swing is loose and left-handed with above-average bat speed and pull-side power. The arm plays. Pitch recognition is the piece that still needs work.

6. Jack Natili | C | Cincinnati

The Rutgers transfer hit .339/.424/.674 with 19 home runs, 15 doubles, 65 RBIs and a 1.098 OPS, walking 29 times against 56 strikeouts in 276 plate appearances. He threw out 11 base stealers and was a semifinalist for the Buster Posey Award.

He’s a 6-foot-3, 198-pound right-handed hitter. The arm is a plus tool. The blocking and receiving need refinement, but evaluators expect him to stay behind the plate.

7. Tyson LeBlanc | SS | Kansas

The junior came to Lawrence from LSU Eunice and finished 2026 at .341 with a .706 slugging percentage, 87 hits and 69 RBIs. Not to mention he set a new single-season record for home runs at Kansas with 25.

He led Kansas in home runs and OPS on a team that shared the Big 12 regular-season title and reached the first super regional in program history.

8. Dee Kennedy | SS | Kansas State

Kennedy is one of four players in Division I to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases this season. The Kansas State shortstop hit .357/.461/.733 with 20 homers and 22 steals, and he was atop the Big 12 WAR leaderboard for most of the year.

9. Tre Broussard | OF | Houston

The San Jacinto College transfer hit .344/.433/.472 in 44 games with three home runs, 23 RBIs, 26 walks, 31 strikeouts and a 25-for-29 mark on the bases. A year ago he hit .292/.371/.458 with seven home runs and 31 stolen bases, the sixth-highest single-season steals total in Houston history, and he opened that season with 21 straight successful attempts.

10. Maxx Yehl | LHP | West Virginia

Yehl was the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year one season after Tommy John surgery took his 2025. He went 9-3 with a 2.13 ERA, 112 strikeouts, 26 walks and a 1.07 WHIP across 97 innings and 18 starts, and he became a consensus All-American. He’s the fifth Mountaineer to collect four All-America honors in a single season, joining Chris Enochs, Jedd Gyorko, Alek Manoah and JJ Wetherholt.

He worked out of the bullpen his first two years and led West Virginia with 24 appearances in 2024. He started Game 2 of the program’s first College World Series against North Carolina and struck out seven in 7.1 innings.

11. Tommy LaPour | RHP | TCU

The Wichita State transfer went 8-3 with a 3.09 ERA and 88 strikeouts against 27 walks in 90 1/3 innings in 2025 and made first-team All-Big 12. He made six appearances in 2026 and missed 72 days after his opening-day start. The fastball has reached 101 mph.

12. Nathan Taylor | RHP | Cincinnati

Holds Cincinnati’s career records for wins and strikeouts and set the single-season strikeout record with 115. First Bearcats pitcher named an All-American since 1974.

13. Caden Ferraro | 1B | Texas Tech

Blinn College transfer and 2024 JUCO World Series champion. Hit .374 with 19 doubles, eight home runs and more walks than strikeouts. Second-team All-Big 12 at designated hitter.

14. Owen Kramkowski | RHP | Arizona

15. Kollin Ritchie | OF | Oklahoma State

Hit 31 home runs, the second-highest single-season total in program history, with a .326 average and 75 RBIs. Baltimore took him in the 19th round in 2023 and he didn’t sign.

16. Dominic Voegele | RHP | Kansas

Struck out 15 in a game twice this season and averaged 11.39 strikeouts per nine across 85 1/3 innings.

17. Dawson Montesa | RHP | West Virginia

Threw 5 1/3 shutout innings on 112 pitches against Troy in a College World Series elimination game. The stuff is loud and the command comes and goes. He’s 20 with eligibility remaining.

18. Brady Ballinger | OF | Kansas

Led the Big 12 with 56 walks in 2025. Hit .283 with 63 hits and 45 RBIs in 2026.

19. Hudson Barrett | LHP | Oklahoma State

UC Santa Barbara transfer who lost two seasons to arm surgery. Went 6-1 with a 2.58 ERA and 64 strikeouts against 15 walks in 45 1/3 innings.

20. Nu’u Contrades | 2B | Arizona State

First-team All-Big 12 as a senior. Hit .366 with 74 hits, 21 home runs, a .434 on-base percentage and a 13.8% strikeout rate.

21. Alex Conover | OF | Oklahoma State

Cowley County Community College transfer. Led the Cowboys at .357 and added 14 home runs and 37 RBIs. The plate discipline was there all year. The power showed up in the second half.

22. Lance Davis | RHP | TCU

23. PJ Moutzouridis | SS | Arizona State

24. Matt Sauser | RHP | UCF

25. Chase Meyer | RHP | West Virginia/Arizona State

26. Colin Linder | RHP | Arizona State

27. AJ Evasco | OF | Kansas State

28. Dean Toigo | OF | Arizona State

Fifth-year outfielder who came through UNLV, Hope International and Cypress College. Started all 60 games and hit .321/.422/.650 with 64 runs scored.

29. Armani Guzman | UT | West Virginia

Junior with eligibility remaining. Splits time between the outfield and first base and led the Big 12 in stolen bases. Stole home in West Virginia’s College World Series opener against Troy.

30. Paul Schoenfeld | OF | West Virginia

31. Jake Long | OF | Utah

32. Richie Roman | RHP | Houston

33. Alex Overbay | RHP | Arizona State

The UNLV transfer posted a 5.79 ERA in 20 appearances, 16 of them in relief. He saved seven games as UNLV’s closer in 2025 and has given up seven home runs in 73 career innings.

34. Campbell Smithwick | C | Oklahoma State

35. Camden Wicker | RHP | UCF

Draft coverage

The 2026 MLB Draft runs Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

Day 1 covers rounds 1 through 4 plus the compensatory, competitive balance and prospect promotion incentive picks, 135 selections in all. Coverage starts at 1 p.m. ET. NBC and Peacock carry picks 1 through 10 until 2:30 p.m. MLB Network, MLB.com, MLB.TV and MLB+ carry picks 11 through 40 until 4:30 p.m. Picks 41 through 135 stream on MLB.com, MLB.TV and MLB+ through 7:45 p.m.

Day 2 covers rounds 5 through 20 and streams Sunday on MLB.com, MLB.TV and MLB+ from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET.

Drafted players have until 5 p.m. ET on Monday, July 27 to agree to terms.

Thanks for spending part of your day with Base 12. If you haven’t already, go ahead and subscribe so you’ll get all of our analysis directly in your inbox.

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The sports concept of the ‘Big Three’ has been around for well over a century. It started with Harvard, Yale and Princeton, the three programs that dominated college football in its earliest decades and picked up the “Big Three” nickname back in the 1880s. The formalized athletic agreements they struck beginning in 1906 are now considered a precursor to the Ivy League itself.

The modern version of the term grew up in the NBA, where a “Big Three” came to mean the trio of stars at the core of a roster. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are the clearest example, and arguably the most significant. When the three joined forces in Miami in 2010 they reached four straight NBA Finals and won back-to-back titles, and they more or less launched the superteam era that has defined the league ever since. The blueprint looked simple: stack enough top-end talent in one place and the winning takes care of itself.

But what about baseball? Do Big Threes even exist? If they do, what’s the threshold for qualifying as one, and how much of a team’s offense does a trio really carry? And most important of all: can one-third of a lineup be “big” enough to swing a season on a consistent basis?

Let’s dive in.

Yes, Big Threes Exist

This year, 56% of the average Big 12 team’s offensive WAR came from just three hitters. Spread that value evenly across the ~14 guys who actually contribute and those three would account for 22%. Bump it to five players and you’re already at roughly three-quarters of the offense.

There are players with substantial carrying power across the Big 12, the numbers bear that out.

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The 2026 Big Threes, In Tiers

Before we get to what it all meant, let’s take a closer look at each team’s Big Three.

The heavy hitters. Arizona State sits alone at the top at 10.5 WAR, with Hairston (4.8) the single most valuable bat in the league. Right behind: Oklahoma State’s Kollin Ritchie, Alex Conover and Aidan Meola at 9.0, Cincinnati’s Quinton Coats, Jack Natili and Enzo Infelise at 8.8, and Texas Tech’s Logan Hughes, Caden Ferraro and Connor Shouse at 8.1. Four genuinely productive trios of bats.

The solid middle. This is where most of the league lives, bunched between 6 and 7.5 WAR. Baylor (7.5) and Kansas State’s Dee Kennedy-led group (7.1) pace the tier, with West Virginia, Kansas, BYU, Utah and UCF all packed into the 6s. None of these is a headline trio, but every one of them is perfectly functional.

The bottom three. TCU (4.7), Houston (4.2) and Arizona (3.4) round out the bottom. Arizona’s Tony Lira, Beau Sylvester and Nate Novitske combined for less than a third of what Arizona State’s top three produced.

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How Much do Big Threes Impact Winning?

In reality, not much. If you line up the Big Threes against each team’s finish in the Big 12 standings, there doesn’t seem to be too much correlation.

The four best Big Threes in the league finished 4th, 5th, 6th and 12th. Arizona State carried the No. 1 trio and finished fourth. Oklahoma State, with the second-best, came in fifth. Cincinnati, third-best, landed sixth. And Texas Tech, owner of the fourth-best Big Three in the conference, finished 12th.

The two teams that actually finished on top had middle-of-the-pack trios. Kansas won the league with the eighth-best Big Three. West Virginia took second with the seventh. Neither had anything close to a marquee three, they just had more, everywhere.

And it isn’t a 2026 quirk. Run it across the past two seasons and the math says the same thing: a team’s Big Three tracks with its finish at a weak 0.36, on a scale where zero is no relationship and one is absolute. Total roster WAR — offense and pitching, top to bottom — comes in at 0.63. The shape of the value, top-heavy or balanced, lands at 0.03, which is to say it doesn’t matter at all. The trio is a rounding error next to the size of the whole pile.

The Size of the Big Three Doesn’t Matter

That 0.03 is worth sitting with, because it kills the other half of the conventional wisdom too — the idea that you want your value balanced rather than crammed into a few guys.

Look at the extremes. Baylor pulled better than 80% of its offense from three bats, the most top-heavy lineup in the league, and finished eighth. Texas Tech had the most balanced offense in the conference and finished 12th. One stars-and-scrubs, one spread evenly, both middle of the pack or worse.

Meanwhile UCF rode a top-heavy 67% trio all the way to a third-place finish, and Kansas won the thing with one of the most balanced lineups around. Top-heavy teams and deep teams are scattered all over the standings with no pattern to find.

The shape of a team’s roster is a stylistic fact, but there’s no evidence to suggest that one or the other provides a competitive advantage.

Where the Big Three Does Matter

That being said, we shouldn’t pretend a Big Three is worthless, because it isn’t. A couple of honest caveats.

The regular season is a 56-game grind, with 30 conference games that reward depth and punish thin rosters over time. A regional is a best-of-three. In a weekend that short, three hot bats absolutely can carry you — small samples are a heck of a drug, and we just watched a postseason full of teams catching fire. If you’re betting on a single series, give me the scary trio. If you’re betting on a season, give me the deep roster every time.

And the Big Three matters plenty off the field. It’s where the draft stock lives, where the watch-list buzz comes from, where the ticket-selling names sit. Hairston going in the first round is a Big Three outcome. A 24-win conference team that nobody can name is a total-roster outcome. Both are real. They just answer different questions.

What About the Arms?

So if the trio doesn’t move the standings, what does? Well, it’s a clear reminder that the bats are only half of the equation. Most of the answer is hiding in the half of the roster we haven’t discussed in this post.

Total roster WAR is a better predictor because it folds in run prevention, and run prevention is what actually separated this league. The two teams that finished on top owned two of the four best pitching staffs in the conference. West Virginia graded out as the No. 1 staff in the Big 12 by WARc, Kansas checked in fourth, and neither needed a monster Big Three because they were busy not giving up runs. It’s the same story that won West Virginia the league outright in 2025, when their trio ranked 12th out of 14 and their arms carried the whole operation.

Then there’s the flip side. Texas Tech had a top-four Big Three, a top-tier offense, and finished 12th because the staff graded out more than ten wins below replacement. All that thump up top, nowhere near enough underneath, no result. A loud Big Three can’t cover up a subpar pitching staff.

What it Means for the Offseason

So as the portal churns and 2027 rosters start taking shape, resist the urge to grade a class by its headliners. A loud Big Three makes for a great graphic but it seems like it’s simply a way to describe a team, not a way to predict outcomes.

That doesn’t mean we can’t get excited about the Big Threes that are taking shape for next season. Cincinnati bringing back Quinton Coats, Derrick Pitts and Enzo Infelise (7.4 combined WAR, the best returning trio in the league) is a genuine head start on the competition. But like we’ve discussed, the question that decides the Bearcats’ 2027 isn’t those three. It’s what Jordan Bischel stacks up behind them, and especially what he runs out on the mound.

Gather as much total value as you can find and let the rest sort itself out.

It’s officially the offseason, and with that comes the first bits of news about the 2027 schedule. Several Big 12 teams will make their way to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for early-season tournaments, and they offer ample opportunity against SEC, ACC and Big Ten opponents.

Arizona, TCU Head to Shriners

Arizona and TCU will participate in the 2027 Shriners Children’s College Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on February 19-21, as part of a loaded field. The two schools will be joined by Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia and Clemson.

TCU and Oklahoma faced off in the Shriners Showdown on the first weekend of 2026, with the Sooners taking down the Frogs in a run-ruled affair, 12-2. The Sooners, of course, would go on to win the national championship after an excellent run to the College World Series that included take downs of national seeds Georgia Tech, Kansas, Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina.

Texas, meanwhile, hosted and advanced through the Austin Regional and Super Regional, before falling at the hands of Georgia in the College World Series.

Typically, this weekend has been reserved for three Big 12 teams and three SEC teams, but in 2027 (and potentially beyond) the ACC is getting in on the action as well. Virginia was tabbed as an at-large team for the NCAA Tournament after finishing seventh in the ACC. The Cavaliers eliminated Southern Miss from the Hattiesburg Regional before falling to Jacksonville State.

Clemson, much like both Arizona and TCU, suffered a disappointing 2026, going from preseason Top 25 to missing the NCAA Tournament altogether. All three will have an opportunity to start 2027 off right against stout competition.

Amegy Bank Classic to Host Baylor, Oklahoma State

Baylor and Oklahoma State will be at Globe Life the following weekend (Feb. 26-28) for the Amegy Bank College Baseball Classic, which will also feature Arkansas, Iowa, Oregon and Oregon State.

The Bears faced Oregon State in 2026, falling 3-1 at the hands of a 17-strikeout performance from Dax Whitney. Oklahoma State squared off with Arkansas in the Shriners Showdown, falling to the Razorbacks, 12-2.

Oregon State finished the season 45-14, but would later lose Whitney to an injury and fall in the Eugene Regional at the hands of Pac-12 bunkmate Washington State. Arkansas, meanwhile, finished the season 41-22, falling to Kansas in the Lawrence Regional.

Oregon finished second in the Big Ten, amassing a 43-18 record and advanced through the Eugene Regional before eventually falling to Texas in the Austin Super Regional. Iowa went 33-23, failing to get out of pool play in the Big Ten Tournament and missing the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas Will Face Super Regional Rematch in Frisco

The Jayhawks will head to the Frisco Classic on March 5-7, where Oklahoma, Southern Miss and UC Irvine will join them. The defending Big 12 regular season and tournament champions will get a rematch with the team that knocked them out of the NCAA Tournament on their own turf. Kansas squared off against Oklahoma, who won the Lawrence Super Regional in two games on their run to the national championship.

Southern Miss, meanwhile, earned a national seed and hosted the Hattiesburg Regional in 2026, falling to Virginia. UC Irvine suffered a down year, going 25-27 after a 43-win season in 2025.

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Typically, #PortalSZN is centered around the transience of modern college athletics. A player puts together an excellent season, and the assumption is he’ll hit the portal, get a big payday and be on his way to something bigger and better.

That line of thinking is fair, because a good amount of the time it holds true, but the byproduct of this new era is the celebration that comes with a player going against the grain and staying put. Loyalty, it turns out, is a fan favorite.

For Landon Hairston, the list of potential suitors was long and littered with contenders despite the fact he never entered the portal. Instead, he announced his return to Arizona State for his junior year, giving a major boost to one of the most storied programs in college baseball’s history.

The fourth-most College World Series appearances in the sport (22). The fourth most championships (5). But the Sun Devils haven’t wont a title since 1981, and haven’t been to Omaha since 2010.

“Sometimes the Best Gets Are the Ones You Already Have”

The above is a quote from the popular, anonymous college basketball insider, Trilly Donovan. In the case of Hairston, it’s extraordinarily true.

Hairston’s departure from Arizona State would have had repercussions far beyond the Sun Devils losing their best player. It would have raised questions about the coaching staff’s ability to retain top talent, about the donor base’s ability to fundraise at a competitive level, and the seriousness with which Arizona State’s administration was taking baseball.

Instead, retaining not only Arizona State’s best player, but a Golden Spikes finalist and one of the best players in college baseball, is the latest in a long line of signals that the Sun Devils are on the path back to prominence.

It began days before the 2025 season, with ASU’s commitment to the maximum number of scholarships available to baseball teams, 34. The Sun Devils were the first Big 12 team to publicly make that commitment – roughly a $750,000 commitment before Rev Share and NIL.

The next signal was the portal class Arizona State brought in last offseason, which included key contributors like Dominic Smaldino, Dean Toigo, Austin Roellig and Kole Klecker among many others. These were not small additions, and were an indicator of a healthy NIL budget.

Willie Bloomquist’s contract extension, a two-year deal through 2028 that will raise his base pay from $390,000 in 2026 to $475,000 in 2027 and $500,000 in 2028 when it kicks in at the beginning of July, was yet another indicator that Arizona State was serious. Bloomquist has now led ASU to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, something the Sun Devils hadn’t done since 2015-2016.

Now comes the next part.

Building Around a Star

Having Landon Hairston is one thing, and it’s a big thing. However, as we’ve seen across all levels of baseball, one star does not a team make. Now, Bloomquist and his staff have to build around the center fielder and continue to move the program down the road that has been paved with investments.

That comes from three different avenues: further retention, transfer adds and high school signees.

A big piece of the puzzle came through on Monday, with Washington outfielder Jackson Hotchkiss joining the fold. Hotchkiss launched 20 home runs for the Huskies in 2026, and will likely assume one of the corner outfield spots next to Hairston in 2027. His addition to the roster is a culmination of all the other signals Arizona State is sending that they’re serious about baseball, as he is rated as the No. 2 transfer portal entry according to 64Analytics.

Currently, Hotchkiss is Arizona State’s only D1 transfer portal commit and one of two total, joining JUCO pitcher Liam Roche, who is coming off a JUCO national championship with Johnson County. Expect more portal additions in the coming days and weeks.

Retention beyond Hairston has also gone well so far this offseason. Third baseman Austin Roellig and shortstop PJ Moutzouridis, as well as top relievers Taylor Penn and Derek Schaefer, gives Arizona State a veteran core that can welcome newcomers and help them assimilate to the culture of the program.

Incoming freshman signee Jet Berry (Queen Creek HS, Queen Creek, AZ) is a top 120 player in the 2026 class according to Perfect Game, and could push for early playing time at one of the middle infield positions. LHP Evan O’Connor (Brock HS, Weatherford, TX) is a Top 25 LHP in the 2026 class as well, and could become an early contributor on a pitching staff that will look much different in 2027.

All the Way Back

The honest answer is that no single player, even one as good as Hairston, can carry a program to Omaha on his own. The Sun Devils know this better than most. Yes, a Golden Spikes finalist and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances are real progress, but progress and Omaha are separated by a gap that money and momentum alone can’t cover.

The heaviest lift remaining is on the mound. With Klecker, Cole Carlon and a chunk of the veteran pitching staff gone, Bloomquist has to rebuild the pitching half of his roster in one offseason, or he risks going the same way as other recent Big 12 teams with all the firepower in the world and no way to shut opponents down. How quickly the staff comes together will tell you more about Arizona State’s 2027 ceiling than any single bat in the lineup.

That could be a case made for patience, but the reality is that Arizona State fans have been tremendously patient to this point, and the Hairston clock is ticking rapidly to its end. The better case to be made is one of belief.

The 34 funded scholarships, the NIL budget that’s clearly in good shape, Bloomquist’s extension and a veteran core to build around are the actions of a program that understands expectations are rising.

So, can Hairston bring Arizona State all the way back? Not by himself. But for the first time in quite some time the question isn’t whether the Sun Devils are serious, it’s whether they can build the right roster around their best player.

Get that right, and the road back to Omaha runs straight through Tempe.

On Friday, West Virginia showed a national audience exactly how it had been winning baseball games all season long.

On Sunday, uncharacteristic mistakes ultimately doomed the Mountaineers. West Virginia entered the day as a top 20 defense in the country in fielding percentage and tops in the Big 12, but made two seventh-inning errors that allowed North Carolina to take a 5-2 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

“Didn’t play our cleanest baseball,” Sabins said. “When you give great teams opportunities, North Carolina was able to take advantage of that.”

The result – West Virginia will head to the elimination bracket on Tuesday afternoon, where a rematch with Troy is on deck. North Carolina will await the winner, sitting just one victory away from championship weekend.

The Rundown

An intense game got off to an interesting start, with Maxx Yehl running into trouble in the first inning. A missed call by home plate umpire Brian Miller extended the first at bat of bottom of the inning, as Yehl’s fastball inside caught Jake Schaffner on the shoulder as he swung and missed, but Miller called it a foul ball live.

Later in the at bat, Schaffner singled and eventually scored the game’s first run on a bases-loaded walk issued by Yehl. A ground out brought another run home before Yehl worked his way out of the inning with West Virginia trailing 2-0.

North Carolina’s Ryan Lynch was sharp through two innings, but ran into trouble in the third as Ben Lumsden led off the inning with a hard hit single to right, moving to second on a ground out from Hall. Armani Guzman drove him in with a single to center field that cut North Carolina’s lead in half, 2-1.

The Mountaineers drew level in the fourth as Sean Smith scored on a double play off the bat of Matt Ineich.

Yehl was his usual self after the first, keeping North Carolina from advancing into scoring position for five straight innings before errors put him behind the eight ball in the seventh. A booted ball by Hall started the inning off, putting Colin Hynek on first.

He became the first out, as Gavin Kelly made an incredible play on a sacrifice bunt to get the lead runner at second base.

Yehl appeared to get out of the inning next, getting a routine ground ball to Kresser at second that looked like the start of a double play. Instead, everyone was safe as Kresser let the ball kick off the heel of his glove. One batter later, Gavin Gallaher tripled home two runs, coming home to score on an Owen Hull single moments later, to put North Carolina up 5-2.

Walker McDuffie was nails for North Carolina out of the bullpen, going 3.2 innings of shutout ball while striking out four. He ran into trouble in the ninth, as the Mountaineers put runners on first and second with one out to end his night. Caden Glauber slammed the door after that with strikeouts of Lumsden and Hall to end the contest.

That pressure from West Virginia is a reason for hope, according to Guzman, who pointed out that they were still one swing away from being right back in the game.

“Even at the end of that game, you could see we weren’t out of it,” Guzman said. “We’ll never be out of any game, and we’ll practice tomorrow, do what we have to do tomorrow, and then when it comes to Troy we’ll just win a pitch when it comes that time.”

What the Loss Means

West Virginia now finds itself in the elimination bracket, with one day to prepare for a rematch with Troy. The Mountaineers knocked Troy into the elimination bracket to open the College World Series, taking down the Trojans 7-5.

Troy, meanwhile, fought its way to Tuesday on Sunday morning, scoring seven unanswered runs to come back from 6-2 down to eventually win 12-8.

The rematch is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on Tuesday, with the winner heading to face North Carolina on Wednesday afternoon and the loser going home to begin its offseason.

The intriguing part of this Tuesday rematch is that both Troy and West Virginia have been in this situation once already in the postseason. The Trojans lost their opening game of the Gainesville Regional before rattling off four straight wins to earn the right to host a Super Regional. West Virginia dropped the second game of their regional before coming back to beat Kentucky twice to advance.

Now, with both teams in a familiar position, we can expect a hard-fought battle to earn a berth to the Bracket 1 final.

The Rest of the Big 12 is Loading Up

While West Virginia is still playing, the other 13 Big 12 teams have been busy in the transfer portal. West Virginia has been, too, balancing recruiting with an Omaha run like a team and coaching staff much more experienced than one handling it’s first foray in the College World Series.

In all, 93 players have committed to Big 12 schools between the transfer portal and JUCO level, with another 132 preparing to join teams from the high school ranks.

You can keep track of all the moves with our 2026 Offseason Roster Tracker, which also provides WAR/WARc projections for 2027 against league averages.

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Day one of the College World Series delivered with two great games decided late, as the Mountaineers and Tar Heels both came away with victories.

For West Virginia, the game took shape in similar fashion to so many wins this season. The Mountaineers executed on the bases, in tough counts with two outs, and got excellent bullpen work to seal the deal.

Let’s dive in.

West Virginia Does What It Does In 7-5 Win Over Troy

We couldn’t have gotten a better game to kick things off if we scripted it. West Virginia and Troy, two newcomers to the event, threw haymakers at each other on what looked to be an absolutely perfect day in Omaha.

Each starter appeared to have some nerves, as Chansen Cole and Benjamin Stubbs uncharacteristically left pitches up in the zone, giving both offenses early opportunities to score runs.

Speaking of runs, the first one was iconic.

There aren’t many, if any, bigger threats on the bases in college baseball than Armani Guzman, whose ability to change the game can happen at any moment once he gets on. With 38 stolen bases entering Friday, Guzman had already tied West Virginia’s single-season record for swipes.

His 39th will be remembered for a long time.

The record-setting steal of home put the Mountaineers up 1-0 in the early going, but it was far from the last time West Virginia put pressure on Troy.

It’s hard to imagine a better start to West Virginia’s first foray into mid-June baseball, and head coach Steve Sabins like the tone that was set early on, as his team settled in and got down to the business of creating chaos and executing in big spots as they have all season long.

“I thought our guys came out fearless and aggressive,” Sabins said. “It started with Armani turning an error into a double, advancing to third on a throw across the diamond and stealing home.

“It wasn’t anything that was unusual to us, it was just playing the way we play, so I was just really proud of the guys for settling in.”

Tyrus Hall continued to put together a fantastic postseason. The nine-hole hitter logged two more hits, each of which drove in two runs. His first big swing came in the second, when he doubled off the wall in left-center to bring home two more WVU runs. His next was a chopper over first base in the bottom of the eighth to put West Virginia ahead for good.

“Tyrus Hall played as good as anybody,” Sabins said. “Had the big double off the left center field wall, followed up by an incredible defensive play that ended up saving a run.”

In all, Hall was 2-3 with four RBIs, a double and a walk. He’s now slashing .333/.590/.400 in the postseason, compared to his line of .272/.411/.410 in the regular season, and he has a three-game multi-hit streak with 10 RBIs since the first game of the Super Regional.

By WAR metrics, Hall has contributed 0.458 to his season total 1.220 WAR in the 11 games since the start of the Big 12 tournament, meaning he has accounted 37.5% of his total production in 18.6% of his games played this season. Talk about getting hot at the right time.

Korn Delivers In Relief

Ian Korn’s relief efforts were critical to the proceedings for West Virginia, as he provided six innings of one-run work out of the bullpen. Korn entered for Cole, who lasted just 2.2 innings and allowed four earned runs, and kept Troy hitters off balance with a mix of pitches that likely went against any scouting report the Trojans had on him.

Afterward, Korn noted that he didn’t feel like he had his best slider, which led to more usage of his cutter and slider. In the end, Korn struck out four and threw 51 of his 79 pitches for strikes.

“We were mixing [it] up a little bit more than usual,” Korn said. “Kind of against the scouting report they probably had. Our goal is just to go out there and throw strikes, and that was what I did.”

Korn gave way to Ben McDougal with two outs in the ninth, who induced a pop up from Troy’s Jimmy Janicki to end the game.

“What Ian Korn did in that game to stabilize it, going six innings, two hits was nothing short of miraculous,” Sabins said. “And then obviously McDougal with the big out there to close it.”

West Virginia entered the weekend with three of the top 10 pitchers in the field when it comes to WARc, including both Cole and Korn. The good news is, Cole’s 52 pitches are the second fewest he’s thrown since late April, meaning he’s more than likely available in a relief role at some point over the weekend.

The setup of the CWS is perfect in this regard as well, since West Virginia will have Saturday off as Bracket 2 gets underway.

That’s an even bigger deal for Korn, who has already thrown in back-to-back games this postseason. He threw 131 total pitches over two outings against Kentucky in the Morgantown Regional, but won’t have to put that kind of stress on his arm with the CWS schedule.

Instead, he and the Mountaineers get one more day of rest before facing off against North Carolina in the winner’s bracket. That game is scheduled for Sunday at 6 p.m. CT.

Troy Didn’t Go Down Easy

To the Trojans’ credit, they responded nearly every time West Virginia fired a shot. Five different Trojans drove in runs on the day, starting with good old Jabe Ruth.

Jabe Boroff got Troy on the board with an RBI single to left in the second, continuing his stretch of excellent hitting in the postseason. Boroff’s RBI tied the game at 1-1.

Back-to-back rockets off the bat of Blake Cavill and Janicki led to a Steven Meier sacrifice fly and a Drew Nelson single, once again tying the game, 3-3.

Sean Darnell gave the Trojans their only lead of the game with an RBI double after that, as Troy chased Cole in the third inning and went ahead 4-3. Four innings later, trailing 5-4, Janicki delivered a game-tying home run, his team-high 20th of the season, before Troy ultimately ran out of steam.

The Trojans now head to the elimination round in Bracket 1, with that game against Ole Miss scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.

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The Road to Omaha has been long and challenging, full of obstacles to overcome. Now, eight teams are left standing as the College World Series prepares to kick off on Friday.

I’ve put together a College World Series Hub where you can see team stats, compare matchups, fill out a bracket and build your own charts, all with data pulled from 64Analytics and run through Base 12’s WAR/WARc calculations.

You can pull an image of your bracket and/or chart and share on socials for all the world to see. If you do that, I would love if you tagged @base12sports on X/Twitter so I could see it!

Let’s go through each team in the field.

Georgia

51-12 · No. 3 national seed · 7th CWS appearance · 28.5 WAR

SEC Regular Season Champs · SEC Tournament Champs

Won Athens Regional, 3-0 · Won Athens Super Regional vs. Miss St., 2-0

Georgia arrives in Omaha as the top remaining national seed and the most fearsome lineup in the country. The Bulldogs sit No. 1 on the Base 12 board at 28.5 total WAR, and as the No. 3 overall seed they hosted their way through a regional and a super regional to reach their seventh College World Series. Nearly all of that value lives at the plate. Georgia logged a 1.067 OPS as a team with a 136 wRC+, the best offensive profile in the field by a decent margin.

The star of Georgia’s show is catcher Daniel Jackson, and he is the best hitter in Omaha. Jackson slashed .396/.492/.837 with 31 home runs and a field-best 4.85 WAR, which earned him recognition as a first-team All-American and a Golden Spikes Award finalist. But while Jackson is the headliner, he;s far from alone in the lineup.

Tre Phelps hammered 19 homers with a .486 on-base, Rylan Lujo slugged .650 out of center and first baseman Brennan Hudson added 21 long balls and a .743 slug. There is no soft spot in this order, and on a warm night Georgia can bury anyone.

The question, as it has been all year, is the pitching. Georgia’s staff grades out at just 2.3 WARc, second-worst in the field, and a 4.60 FIP and 1.43 WHIP say the margin for error is thin. Caden Aoki (4.04 ERA, 1.17 WARc) and Joey Volchko (86.1 innings, 1.15 WARc) have been the most consistent producers, with Justin Byrd behind them out of the pen. If the arms can keep games within reach, the bats have the ability to handle the rest. Bracket 2 will not make it easy: Georgia opens against Texas, the No. 2 team on the board, Saturday at 7 p.m. CT.

Texas

45-13 · No. 6 national seed · record 39th CWS appearance · 24.8 WAR

Won Austin Regional, 3-0 · Won Austin Super Regional vs. Oregon, 2-0

Texas is the most complete team in the field, and the numbers make the case loudly. The Longhorns rank No. 2 on the Base 12 board at 24.8 total WAR built on a near-even split, 15.9 from the lineup and a field-best 8.9 from the staff. This is the program’s record 39th College World Series appearance, and as the No. 6 national seed it hosted through the opening rounds. No team in Omaha is better equipped to win a game 3-2 or 9-7.

The rotation is the separator. Sophomore Dylan Volantis is the best arm in the bracket, a 2.04 ERA across 88.2 innings with a 12.86 K/9 and a staff-leading 3.31 WARc. He is backed by Ruger Riojas (13.52 K/9, 2.07 WARc) and freshman Samuel Cozart, who carried a 1.65 ERA out of the bullpen. A team SIERA of 2.77 and an 11.72 K/9 mean Texas misses bats in waves, exactly the trait that travels in a single-elimination grind.

Meanwhile, the bats provides talent up and down the lineup. Carson Tinney went .333/.484/.710 with 22 home runs from behind the plate, Aiden Robbins matched him with 24 long balls and a .720 slug and freshman Anthony Pack Jr. chipped in a .485 on-base. Temo Becerra lengthens the order from the left side of the infield. Texas does not have Georgia’s raw thump, but it doesn’t really need it.

With pitching this good, the Longhorns have the ability to control the kind of low-scoring games that decide championships. They drew the toughest possible opener, Georgia on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT, in what amounts to a heavyweight bout to start Bracket 2.

North Carolina

50-12-1 · No. 5 national seed · 13th CWS appearance · 21.2 WAR

Won Chapel Hill Regional, 3-0 · Won Chapel Hill Super Regional vs. USC, 2-1

North Carolina earned this trip the hard way, and the resume backs it up. The Tar Heels went 50-12-1 and, as the No. 5 national seed, rallied from a Game 1 loss in their super regional to win the next two and punch a ticket to their 13th College World Series. They land No. 3 on the Base 12 board at 21.2 total WAR on a balanced 14.4 hit, 6.8 pitch profile, the kind of two-way team that wins multiple games in Omaha.

Owen Hull sets the table for the lineup. The center fielder hit .390/.505/.589 with a team-best 3.18 WAR, reaching base at a .505 clip that makes everything behind him easier. Jake Schaffner (.358, 2.85 WAR) gives the top of the order a second on-base machine, and the power comes from Cooper Nicholson (16 home runs) and Erik Paulsen (11).

Freshman Caden Glauber posted a 2.22 ERA across 81.2 relief innings for a team-high 1.89 WARc, while Jason DeCaro anchored the rotation with a 2.28 ERA over 87 innings. Walker McDuffie gives the bullpen a third trustworthy arm. The staff’s 9.41 K/9 is the lowest among the true contenders, so the Heels win with contact management and a deep bullpen rather than overpowering stuff.

North Carolina opens against Ole Miss on Friday at 6 p.m. CT in the more navigable Bracket 1, where a clear path to the final is there for the taking.

West Virginia

45-15 · No. 16 national seed · 1st CWS appearance · 19.4 WAR

Won Morgantown Regional, 4-1 · Won Morgantown Super Regional vs. Cal Poly, 2-0

The Mountaineers are the lone Big 12 program in Omaha, and they are making the first College World Series appearance in school history. They did it the right way: a 45-15 record earned the No. 16 national seed, and WVU hosted and won a regional and a super regional to break through. They sit No. 4 on the Base 12 board at 19.4 total WAR.

Gavin Kelly is the straw that stirs the drink for the Mountaineers. The sophomore catcher hit .384/.484/.720 with 17 home runs and a 3.75 WAR that ranks second only to Daniel Jackson among every hitter in the field. Paul Schoenfeld (.342) and Sean Smith (.521 slug) give the order length, and shortstop Matt Ineich grinds out a .439 on-base. Ben Lumsden and Tyrus Hall have become postseason darlings, with both seeing their slash line jump since the end of the regular season. It is a balanced .877 OPS lineup that does not beat itself.

The pitching staff should also give Mountaineer fans reasons to believe. Maxx Yehl is an ace, a 2.10 ERA across 90 innings for a 2.24 WARc, and Chansen Cole matches him with a 2.87 ERA over a team-high 94.2 innings and a 1.79 WARc. Late, Ian Korn is a weapon, a 3.08 ERA built on absurd command at 1.28 walks per nine. Three arms that can win a game by themselves is the formula that holds up in Omaha, and it lands the Mountaineers in the friendlier Bracket 1.

They open against fellow first-timer Troy on Friday at 1 p.m. CT.

Ole Miss

41-21 · Unseeded · 7th CWS appearance · 16.4 WAR

Won Lincoln Regional, 3-0 · Won Auburn Super Regional vs. Auburn, 2-0

The Rebels are back in Omaha for the first time since they won the whole thing in 2022, and they got here as an unseeded club that went 41-21 and advanced on the road. They check in No. 5 on the Base 12 board at 16.4 total WAR, and their best trait, missing bats, is the one that ages well in elimination baseball.

The power is real, if not slightly concentrated in a few bats. Third baseman Judd Utermark hit 22 home runs with a .645 slug and a team-best 2.67 WAR, and Tristan Bissetta actually out-homered him with 23 and a .617 slug of his own. Will Furniss (.311) and Dom Decker (.413 on-base) round out a group that can run into three runs in a hurry. The .853 team OPS undersells how dangerous the top of this order is on a given night.

On the mound, Ole Miss has the strike-throwers to win a track meet or a pitcher’s duel. Taylor Rabe is the headliner, a 12.58 K/9 against a microscopic 1.41 walks per nine, good for a near-9.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.43 WARc. Walker Hooks gives the bullpen a 2.45 ERA and a 1.35 WARc, and Cade Townsend misses bats at a 12.38 K/9 in the rotation. A team SIERA of 2.86 says the underlying stuff is contender-grade.

The Rebels open against North Carolina on Friday at 6 p.m. CT.

Troy

38-30 · Unseeded · 1st CWS appearance · 15.0 WAR

Won Gainesville Regional, 4-1, Won Troy Super Regional vs. Little Rock, 2-0

The Trojans are making the first College World Series appearance in program history, an unseeded 38-30 club that punched through as an underdog. They sit No. 6 on the Base 12 board at 15.0 total WAR, but that number hides a split as lopsided as any team in the field.

The bats are legitimately excellent, and the postseason surge of Jabe Boroff only adds to the depth. Troy’s 14.5 offensive WAR ranks third in Omaha behind only Georgia and Texas, and it is led by catcher Jimmy Janicki (.341, 19 home runs, 3.04 WAR) and Aaron Piasecki (.346, .454 on-base, 2.65 WAR). Steven Meier reaches base at a .461 clip and Blake Cavill adds 13 homers. A .883 team OPS and a 110 wRC+ mean this is no fluke. The Trojans can hit with the big boys.

Troy’s big challenge will be its pitching, which struggles against good lineups. The staff grades out at 0.5 WARc, second-worst in the field, with a 4.71 FIP and a 1.54 WHIP that lead the bracket in the wrong direction. Zach Crotchfelt (3.53 ERA, 1.23 WARc) is a reliable arm, while Benjamin Stubbs (4.94 ERA) and Tommy Egan (5.38) will be tested by the best lineups they have faced all season. The formula is simple and loud: score in bunches or go home.

Troy opens against West Virginia on Friday at 1 p.m. CT in a meeting of first-timers.

Alabama

42-19 · No. 7 national seed · 6th CWS appearance · 14.1 WAR

Won Tuscaloosa Regional, 3-0 · Won Tuscaloosa Super Regional vs. St. John’s, 2-0

Alabama is back in Omaha for the first time since 1999, and it gets there as the most balanced of the field’s longer shots. The Crimson Tide earned the No. 7 national seed and hosted their way through the opening rounds to reach the sixth College World Series in program history and the first in 26 years. They sit No. 7 on the Base 12 board at 14.1 total WAR on an even 8.5 hit, 5.6 pitch split.

The offense is steady rather than spectacular. A .817 team OPS and a 100 wRC+ are middle of the pack here, and the production starts with catcher Brady Neal (.328/.442/.562, 2.07 WAR). Bryce Fowler (.322) provides contact up the middle, and shortstop Justin Lebron supplies the thump with 16 home runs. There is enough to scratch out runs, but Alabama will not overwhelm anyone the way the teams above it can.

The arms are the reason this is not a one-and-done trip. Zane Adams leads the staff with a 3.98 ERA across 88.2 innings and a 1.58 WARc, and freshman Myles Upchurch (3.59 ERA) has pitched well beyond his experience. Workhorse Tyler Fay logged a team-high 103 innings. A 3.68 team SIERA says the run prevention is real even if the bullpen depth gets tested over a long week. Alabama opens against Oklahoma on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT, with the winner earning the right to face the survivor of Georgia and Texas. It is a brutal draw, but the Tide are built to hang around.

Oklahoma

38-22 · Unseeded · 12th CWS appearance · 12.4 WAR

Won Atlanta Regional, 4-1 · Won Lawrence Super Regional vs. Kansas, 2-0

Oklahoma is the purest boom-or-bust team in the bracket, and it bashed its way to Omaha. The Sooners are unseeded but battle-tested, reaching their 12th College World Series by winning a winner-take-all super regional game on the road in Lawrence against Kansas. They land No. 8 on the Base 12 board at 12.4 total WAR, and every bit of that comes from the lineup.

The bats can carry them on any given night. A .876 team OPS and a 108 wRC+ are far better than the seed suggests, fronted by catcher Deiten Lachance (.332, 15 home runs, 2.23 WAR). Trey Gambill works a .444 on-base, Camden Johnson hits .309 from the hot corner and Brendan Brock adds 12 homers from behind the plate. There is no shortage of ways for Oklahoma to put up a four-spot.

The trouble is that the staff has provided essentially nothing, by the math. Oklahoma’s pitching grades out at 0.0 WARc, dead last in the field, with a 5.02 FIP. Cameron Johnson misses bats at a 12.18 K/9 but walks an alarming 7.27 per nine, LJ Mercurius carries a 5.00 ERA over a team-high 70.2 innings and the depth behind them is thin.

That being said, freshmen Cord Rager and Xander Mercurius were excellent in the super regional against Kansas, and they have the potential to change the narrative around Oklahoma’s pitching staff this week.

Oklahoma opens against Alabama on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.

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Plus, the duo talks about Kansas' historic season coming to an end against Oklahoma, and the offseason task at hand for Dan Fitzgerald and the Jayhawks.

Also: Cincinnati gets excellent news this week, while TCU hires new coaches and several big names hit the transfer portal.

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West Virginia kicked off a great first day of Super Regionals with a big win over Cal Poly (more on that momentarily). The Mountaineers were, interestingly, one of two host teams to win on Friday, with Troy taking down Little Rock by an identical 12-2 score.

Ole Miss and USC continued to play spoilers after making their way through their respective regionals as 2-seeds, taking down Auburn and North Carolina, respectively.

I’ve also made some more updates to the Offseason Roster Tracker, which now shows coaching staffs along with all incoming players, outgoing players and draft risks. That mini-site also hosts the Production by Position tool I put together this season, with a short explainer for both in the Methodology tab.

I’m planning to add one or two more tools to that toolkit this offseason, so keep an eye out for those, and play around with the tracker in the meantime. It’ll be updated multiple times a day as players commit, hit the portal, etc.

But for now, let’s dive in to the news of the day.

West Virginia Slams Cal Poly in Game 1

Friday Final: West Virginia 12, Cal Poly 2

Tyrus Hall stepped up to the plate, bases juiced, Mountaineers leading 4-1 and the more than 4,500 fans in the Ken, and the 1,000-plus fans watching from Randy’s Ridge, were beginning to rumble.

Then, Hall swung.

As he pumped his fist rounding first, the Mountaineer faithful could have registered as a small earthquake. For the third time in as many games, West Virginia delivered in a big moment to take control, as Hall’s grand slam gave the ‘Eers some breathing room from Cal Poly.

The momentum carried West Virginia to the 12-2 victory, its first-ever in a Super Regional. Now West Virginia sits one win away from its first trip to Omaha, and in less than a week it feels like the program has been changed forever.

“The atmosphere was stupid,” head coach Steve Sabins said. “It was as good as anything I’ve ever seen, and I keep saying that after every game because it keeps getting better.

“I think we’re in the midst of something really special and everybody is starting to recognize what’s happening here is unique and special.”

Chansen Cole was masterful on the mound, and he did it with a pitch that the Mustangs usually have a ton of success against.

Cole leaned heavily on his sinker, notching a season-high 11 strikeouts, completing seven innings of work without issuing a walk and working around eight hits. He did a tremendous job keeping the ball down in the strike zone with all of his pitches, leaning on his sinker early and mixing in his breaking ball late.

Cole has delivered every time Steve Sabins has asked him to this postseason, with 29 strikeouts in 19.2 total innings dating back to the Big 12 tournament, with a 2.29 ERA.

He approached this game with the same level of stoicism we’ve seen from Cole throughout the season.

“I’ve been told throughout my life that I’m a pretty boring person,” Cole said, smiling after the win. “No, but it’s just trusting your routine and trusting in all the work and preparation you’ve done.”

Sean Smith also got rolling after a quiet regional, going 3-4 with a three-run home run that got the scoring started in the bottom of the second.

The biggest part of the equation on Friday, though, was who West Virginia didn’t use. Ian Korn and Dawson Montesa didn’t have to pitch. Meanwhile, Reese Bassinger threw 20 pitches in one inning of work, and has made appearances on back-to-back days six times this season. The result is a completely loaded bullpen with one game standing between West Virginia and the College World Series.

Game two takes place on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT. Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Maxx Yehl will take the ball for West Virginia while Carson Turnquist will pitch for Cal Poly.

Kansas Gets Going On Saturday

While West Virginia was one of four Super Regionals to kick off on Friday, Kansas-Oklahoma had to wait an extra day to get rolling.

Dominic Voegele will get the ball for the Jayhawks while freshman Cord Rager will start for Oklahoma. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT.

Read more about this series from Thursday’s Super Regional preview.

Cincinnati Retains Key Contributors

It’s certainly something, that in recent years players have begun announcing their return to a school in similar fashion to a high school commitment video. However, that’s the reality of modern college athletics, and this week the Cincinnati Bearcats were the biggest beneficiaries of the trend.

Quinton Coats, Derrick Pitts, Enzo Infelise and Adam Buczkowski all announced their commitment to return to Cincinnati for the 2027 season, a huge boost to Jordan Bischel and his staff as they look to continue building the program.

Coats, Pitts and Infelise’s combined WAR of 7.4 is the highest mark for any trio of returning hitters in the Big 12 (more on Big Threes next week), giving the Bearcats a leg up on the competition in the offensive capability category (plus Ryan Tyranski’s 1.509 WAR would be tops for any returner on four other Big 12 teams).

While last year’s production doesn’t guarantee what next year’s will look like, that’s an incredible core for Bischel to build around, and it sets Cincinnati up for a third consecutive run at making it out of an NCAA Regional for the program’s first Super Regional appearance.

TCU Hires Texas State’s Danny-David Linahan

If you read Thursday’s post, you got a hint that this one was coming.

“As for the open hitting coach vacancy, keep an eye on Texas State’s Danny-David Linahan as one of several candidates that could be considered.”

TCU’s final coaching vacancy has been filled, with the school hiring Linahan, as I announced Friday on X. Linahan has spent the past two seasons with the Bobcats, coaching the lineup to a Sun Belt record 116 home runs this year. Texas State also logged 119 doubles. Both numbers were Top 40 in the country.

Linahan has also spent quite a bit of time in the professional ranks since graduating from Hardin-Simmons University in 2019. He’s spent time working for the Dodgers, Guardians and Twins organizations prior to his time at Texas State.

Linehan joins a reconfigured staff under Kirk Saarloos, that also includes new-hire pitching coach Tommy Eshelman. Both hires are excellent ones on paper for Saarloos, coming with major-league coaching experience, an analytics-forward approach to the game, and experience making in-game decisions.

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The Super Regionals begin on Friday, and two Big 12 teams will be front-and-center as Kansas and West Virginia host two of the eight matchups. You’ll find previews of both matchups below, with our standard Base 12 series matchup preview and a new item — a position-by-position look at Kansas vs. Oklahoma and West Virginia vs. Cal Poly.

Plus, two Big 12 teams have filled assistant positions with talented names this week, and the transfer portal machine is in full swing, with a couple of big Big 12 names finding new homes.

Super Regional Preview: No. 15 Kansas vs. Oklahoma

Kansas’ first super regional in program history has sent shockwaves through Lawrence, as the next step in a storybook season that has included two Big 12 titles and a pair of excellent wins over Arkansas in the regional.

Now, an old friend comes back to town. Prior to Oklahoma’s departure for the SEC, Kansas and the Sooners had spent over 100 years in the same conference, ever since Oklahoma joined the Big Eight in 1919.

Oklahoma is the reason this Super Regional is taking place in Lawrence, and they arrive having already knocked off No. 2 national seed Georgia Tech along the way. They certainly didn’t come all this way to be a footnote in Kansas’ 10-year retelling of this season’s story.

Balance has been the name of the game for Kansas all season. Tyson LeBlanc, the Big 12 Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and KU’s new single-season home run record holder headlines a lineup that just keeps coming at you. Per WAR, he’s the most impactful player in this series.

Oklahoma’s path to victory is to out-slug the Jayhawks. Deiten Lachance, Trey Gambill and Camden Johnson can flip a game with one swing.

Both lineups have the ability to produce runs, but where Kansas has the perceived edge is starting pitching. Dominic Voegele and Mason Cook have put together productive outings over the last several weeks, and according to our Position by Position breakdown they give Kansas an advantage.

Oklahoma’s pitching staff has struggled with run prevention at times this season, however, they’ve stepped up in the biggest moments all weekend long in Atlanta, and momentum, plus confidence, is a heck of a drug this time of year.

Note: Since publishing, Oklahoma has announced that Cord Rager will start game one for Oklahoma.

Our model gives Kansas a 71% chance to win this series. It might feel a tough high, but Kansas is the deeper team and they’ll be playing in front of a Hoglund crowd that has waited a very, very long time for this.

The Pick: Kansas books its first trip to Omaha in program history.

Super Regional Preview: No. 16 West Virginia vs. Cal Poly

The third time is supposed to be the charm, right?

West Virginia is back in a Super Regional for the third year running, and for the first time in program history, this year, the Mountaineers get to do it at home. The last two Junes ended in Baton Rouge and Chapel Hill with the same result: a two-and-out.

This year, Kendrick Family Ballpark is theirs, the crowd is very much theirs and once again Omaha is squarely in their sights.

Standing in their way is a Cal Poly team that nobody anticipated being here and that no one should overlook. The Mustangs won the Big West and then took the Los Angeles Regional as a three seed, getting some help from Saint Mary’s eliminating No. 1 national seed UCLA, to get here. Larry Lee’s group swings it well and has a pair of arms capable of stealing games on the road.

Griffin Naess and Carson Turnquist have put together excellent seasons on the mound, and catcher Ryan Tayman is the kind of player who can turn a game, and a series, quickly. Tayman brings a 13-game hitting streak into the weekend.

On paper, the lineup runs deeper for West Virginia. Gavin Kelly, Paul Schoenfeld and Armani Guzman all provided heroic moments at the plate in the regional, helping the Mountaineers overcome multiple deficits and adversity to even get here.

At the end of the day, though, the whole thing could come down to one person: Maxx Yehl. The Big 12 Pitcher of the Year exited his first regional start with an arm injury, before coming back and throwing 67 pitches in five innings of work in the regional final on Monday.

West Virginia’s ceiling hinges on his health, and while the team showed it has the pitching depth to overcome his injury once, the question becomes — can they do it again if they need to?

Note: Since publishing, West Virginia has announced that Chansen Cole will start game one.

The pick: West Virginia takes this series, but don’t be surprised if Cal Poly drags this to a winner-take-all game three.

Arizona Hires Jack Meggs as Hitting Coach

Chip Hale filled the open hitting coach position on his staff Wednesday, bringing in Jack Meggs from Saint Mary’s. Meggs spent the past four years as Saint Mary’s hitting coach and the past two as the associate head coach.

In 2026, Saint Mary’s led the WCC in almost every major hitting category, including batting average, hits, runs, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, walks, sugging percentage and on-base percentage.

The prolific 2026 continued a trend for the Gaels bats under Meggs, who have been increasingly impressive over the past four seasons. In 2024, Saint Mary’s set a new program record with 103 home runs.

Meggs’ move to Arizona also marks his return to the Big 12, as he formerly served as the hitting coach at Kansas in 2022.

Former Arizona hitting coach Toby DeMello posted a very nice goodbye note to the Wildcats on Wednesday as well:

TCU Hires Thomas Eshelman as Pitching Coach

The Horned Frogs entered the offseason with one open assistant coach position, with the understanding that veteran pitching coach Dave Lawn would retire at season’s end. Head coach Kirk Saarloos doubled his workload last week, parting ways with hitting coach Bill Mosiello as well.

Now, Saarloos has filled one of the vacancies, hiring former MLB pitcher and current Orioles staffer Thomas Eshelman as the Horned Frogs’ new pitching coach.

Eshelman has been Baltimore’s upper-level pitching coordinator this season after spending the past four years in pitching coach roles in the San Diego Padres’ organization.

The former right-handed pitcher spent his collegiate years at Cal State Fullerton, a school he was recruited to by Saarloos, who was the recruiting coordinator at the time. Saarloos departed Cal State Fullerton for TCU the summer prior to Eshelman getting on campus.

Eshelman was dominant for the Titans, setting the NCAA’s single-season walk-per-nine-innings record, issuing just three walks in 115.2 innings of work in 2013. For his career, Eshelman issued just 18 walks in 376.1 innings of work.

Now, he’ll be tasked with helping TCU’s pitching improve on a 2026 team ERA of 5.26 (fourth in the Big 12).

As for the open hitting coach vacancy, keep an eye on Texas State’s Danny-David Linahan as one of several candidates that could be considered.

Two Big 12 Portal Names Find SEC Homes

Two of the bigger names to enter the transfer portal have found homes in the SEC this week. Texas Tech transfer Linkin Garcia committed to Texas, while TCU transfer Jack Bell committed to Texas A&M.

Garcia and Bell are currently the No. 3 and 4 outgoing transfers from the Big 12 this cycle in terms of WAR.

Both, notably, are staying in state to make their moves while Bell is returning to his original college destination. The infielder was a part of Texas A&M’s College World Series runner-up team in 2024, before transferring to TCU where he spent the past two seasons.

Garcia, meanwhile, was one of the highest-rated players from the state of Texas for the 2025 recruiting class and had a strong freshman campaign for the Red Raiders. Unfortunately for Texas Tech, Garcia’s departure continues a trend in Lubbock of many highly-regarded players electing to finish their careers elsewhere.

You can keep track of the full list of incoming and outgoing transfers across the Big 12 as part of our newly developed Offseason Roster Tracker, which breaks down what each team’s roster looks like based on returning players, incoming transfers and freshmen signees.

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Plus, an autopsy of Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Cincinnati and UCF's tournament runs.

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Sunday delivered in the biggest of ways across the country, as the day racked up instant classics. The Big 12 played eight total games, winning five of them, but at the end of the day all but two had been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.

Two fell just shy of reaching the regional finals, two more fell in extras trying to force game sevens, while one managed to do so and one moved on to the Super Regionals.

Let’s dive in.

KU Knocks Off Arkansas Again to Sweep Regional

Sunday Final: Kansas 13, Arkansas 10

For the first time in program history, the Kansas Jayhawks are heading to the Super Regionals.

Dan Fitzgerald’s squad pulled off the feat with their second win over Arkansas in as many days — a come-from-behind affair that marked the 25th time this season Kansas has come back to win.

Arkansas jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead behind runs in each of the first three innings, while reliever Ethan McElvain was strong through three. The Jayhawks unloaded in the fourth, scoring six runs, capped by a three-run home run from Tyson LeBlanc to take the lead.

The swing marked LeBlanc’s third home run of the weekend and 24th of the season as he continues to extend his single-season program record.

A three-run blast from Josh Dykhoff in the sixth capped a stretch of 11 unanswered runs for the Jayhawks.

Arkansas hit several home runs late to cut into Kansas’ lead, but the Jayhawks responded with two more runs in the eight which gave them enough padding to hold on.

Boede Rahe picked up the final six outs, including four strikeouts, as he slammed the door on Arkansas to seal the deal.

The win capped an incredible weekend at Hoglund Ballpark, which hosted its first regional, full with a renovated “Backyard,” and set new attendance records of over 4,000 fans.

“Unbelievable crowd, unbelievable atmosphere," Fitzgerald said. “Just could not be more proud, and couldn’t be more excited to keep playing baseball.”

Kansas will await the winner of Georgia Tech-Oklahoma on Monday to learn who its next opponent will be. A Georgia Tech win means the Jayhawks would head to Atlanta. An Oklahoma win would mean more baseball at the Hog.

West Virginia Comeback Forces Monday Showdown

Sunday Final: West Virginia 10, Wake Forest 5

Sunday Final: West Virginia 11, Kentucky 9

It certainly wasn’t easy for West Virginia on Sunday, but the Mountaineers got yeoman efforts from a multitude of players to get the job done and force a Game 7 in the Morgantown Regional.

Dawson Montesa shined against Wake Forest, striking out seven and throwing 123 pitches in 7.1 innings of work while giving up four earned runs. Montesa’s outing was his longest of the season from an innings perspective, and his ability to save West Virginia’s bullpen arms set them up to have just enough in the nightcap.

Sean Smith broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth with an RBI single to score Gavin Kelly, and a six-run sixth gave the Mountaineers some breathing room the rest of the way. Smith capped that inning as well, with an RBI double to right that once again scored Kelly.

Reese Bassinger shut the door with 1.2 innings in relief, sending the Mountaineers to the regional final and a rematch with Kentucky. The end of the game didn’t come without a scare, though, as Paul Schoenfeld took an awkward dive and appeared to injure his shoulder in the top of the ninth.

That scare would be a distant memory by the end of the night.

A rematch with Kentucky was next, and as has become the norm when these two teams face off in the postseason, chaos ensued. Kentucky starter Ben Cleaver lasted just a third of an inning as the Mountaineers jumped out to a 3-0 lead. David Hagen couldn’t make it more than two innings for West Virginia, as Kentucky punched back with seven runs in the first four innings to take a 7-6 lead.

The Wildcats extended their lead to 9-6 in the seventh inning with back-to-back home runs, setting up a last-ditch effort for Steve Sabins’ crew.

A Kentucky fielding error kicked off the top of the ninth as the Mountaineers loaded the bases with no outs. Armani Guzman worked a walk to bring one run home, before Kelly hit a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 9-8.

A balk from Kentucky pitcher Tristan Hunter brought the game-tying run home, and set up this magical moment that sent Morgantown into another dimension.

I guess Schoenfeld’s shoulder feels alright. The five runs scored in the ninth inning set a new NCAA Tournament record, but the game still needed closing. Ben McDougal, worked around a two-out single to slam the door, finishing a career-long five-inning outing to send the weekend to a Monday night contest.

The Mountaineers will play for a chance to advance to a Super Regional for the second consecutive season. With UCLA’s loss on Sunday afternoon, West Virginia is in line to host Cal Poly with a win on Monday.

Landon Hairston Ejected, Arizona State Falls in Regional Final

Sunday Final: Arizona State 11, Nebraska 8

Sunday Final: Ole Miss 5, Arizona State 4 (10 innings)

Arizona State’s day began with a matchup against regional host Nebraska, and the Sun Devils didn’t waste time breaking out the big sticks. Nu’u Contrades launched a home run in the bottom of the first to give ASU the early lead.

A Dominic Longo two-run blast capped a four-run third inning that put the Sun Devils ahead 5-1, and two home runs from Dominic Smaldino in the fifth and sixth, the second of which was a grand slam, blew the game wide open.

Colby Guy delivered with a fantastic start on the mound, striking out seven over six innings of work in his longest outing of the season.

Nebraska made things interesting late, scoring seven runs over the final three innings to cut the deficit to 11-8, but Derek Schaefer slammed the door in the ninth to earn his ninth save of the season.

A lapse from Landon Hairston ended his day early in the fifth inning, as he tossed his bat in the air after a strike three call that ended the frame. After a brief meeting, the umpires ejected Hairston for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Any player ejection automatically comes with a one-game suspension, which meant Hairston wouldn’t be with his team in the nightcap.

Arizona State needed a win on Sunday night against Ole Miss to keep its season going, and for a while it looked like things would break the Sun Devils’ way.

Dean Toigo took over the leadoff spot in Hairston’s absence, and wasted no time making an impact with a solo shot in the top of the first. He drove in two more runs in the second to put Arizona State ahead 3-0 as the Sun Devils took command quickly.

Ole Miss responded by getting to Colin Linder for two runs in the second and another in the third, chasing him from the game. Arizona State’s bullpen put together a masterpiece throughout the evening, as Alex Overbay struck out five over 3.1 innings of one-hit work.

A wild pitch in the fourth allowed PJ Moutzouridis to score and put ASU back in front, 4-3, and they held that lead all the way into the seventh. An RBI double with two outs allowed Ole Miss to draw level, and a sacrifice fly off of Schaefer scored the walk-off run in the bottom of the 10th.

Ultimately, the pitching did its job for Arizona State until the final moments, while the bats went quite against Ole Miss’ bullpen. From the fifth inning on, Arizona State managed to get just three runners in scoring position, going 0-6 in those situations with a pair of strikeouts.

The loss marked the second extra-inning defeat at the hands of Ole Miss this weekend, a frustrating way to go out for the Sun Devils. However, it’s the second straight tournament appearance for Arizona State, and with a guy like Hairston expected to return in 2027, the window appears to still be open for Willie Bloomquist and his squad.

Cowboys Falter In Regional Final vs. Alabama

Sunday Final: Oklahoma State 12, USC Upstate 1

Sunday Final: Alabama 9, Oklahoma State 7 (11 innings)

Oklahoma State and Arizona State’s seasons ended within just a few minutes of each other, as the Pokes also fell late on Sunday night in extra innings in the Tuscaloosa Regional.

The Cowboys put themselves in position to force a game seven with a dominant win over USC Upstate to start the day. Six home runs, including two each from Campbell Smithwick and Remo Indomenico paced the Cowboys while Hudson Barrett struck out 10 over seven innings of work to make life easy on the Cowboys’ bullpen.

Things didn’t come as easy in the nightcap against Alabama, although back-to-back home runs from Brock Thomspon and Kollin Ritchie did give Oklahoma State a 6-5 lead in the seventh inning.

However, Oklahoma State left the bases loaded in the eighth, ninth and 11th innings while Alabama used a three-run blast in the top of the 11th to ultimately put the game away.

In all, Oklahoma State left 13 runners on base, including seven in scoring position and three at third base.

Mario Pesca came on in the 10th, pitching in an extra-inning situation for the second consecutive day, taking the tough-luck loss in the process. He threw 28 pitches, just a day after throwing 78, and arguably deserved a better fate than he received.

Oklahoma State’s season ends in a regional final for the second straight year, after injuries and inconsistencies once again plagued the Cowboys. For Josh Holliday, the goal will be more consistency in 2027, as he once again has to replace a tremendous amount of talent on the roster.

Bearcats Fall to Louisiana

Sunday Final: Louisiana 8, Cincinnati 6

The Bearcats couldn’t fight out of the elimination bracket on Sunday afternoon, becoming the first Big 12 team eliminated in the NCAA Tournament this season.

Enzo Infelise drove in a pair of runs in the top of the first to put the Bearcats ahead early, before five unanswered runs from Louisiana set UC behind the eight ball.

Cal Sefcik launched a two-run home run in the fourth to cut the deficit to one, before a Charlie Niehaus single tied the game and a Derek Pitts walk in the sixth put Cincinnati back in front.

Connor Blue pitched into the sixth, giving up seven runs (six earned) on eight hits while striking out three. The two runs he allowed in the sixth put Louisiana ahead for good, before a home run in the seventh put an exclamation mark on the Ragin’ Cajuns’ win.

Ultimately, the weekend was defined by Cincinnati’s pitching being unable to step up in big moments. However, this season can still be looked upon as another step in the right direction, as Cincinnati reached back-to-back regionals for the first time in program history.

Jordan Bischel has the Bearcats moving in the same direction as Kansas, West Virginia and UCF, and is another of many Big 12 coaches who are building impressive resumes at their current stops.

UCF Runs Out of Gas Against Auburn

Sunday Final: Auburn 9, UCF 3

Rain played a factor in this one, delaying the start of the game for several hours before impacting the early innings as well.

DeAmez Ross launched a solo home run to put UCF up in the first before lightning triggered a delay. Ross drove in a run in the second as well, before another delay kicked in.

The second rain delay seemed to turn things for Auburn, as the Tigers got to Roman Kimball for four runs from the third to fifth innings. Auburn scored a run in every inning after the second, pulling away one paper cut at a time as UCF just couldn’t stop the bleeding.

The Knights managed to overcome pitching attrition all season, and even this weekend to an extent. But the first four pitchers to take the mound on Sunday all gave up at least one run, and just like that the game was out of reach.

Ross was the only Knight to log multiple hits, and UCF managed just six altogether. A Zak Skinner solo home run in the sixth inning briefly cut into Auburn’s lead, but the Tigers tacked on five more runs to close out the game.

Regardless of Sunday’s outcome, 2026 can be looked at as a huge step in the right direction for UCF’s program under Rich Wallace. He’s now made the NCAA Tournament in two of the past three seasons, made it to the Sunday of a regional this year and has a young, talented core set to return in 2027.

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Is the week between conference tournaments and NCAA regionals the best time to leave the country? Not really, but there wasn’t a chance I was going to miss two dear friends getting married.

That’s a bit of advice from me to anyone reading this: be there for the big moments. Other stuff will be there when you get back.

But now that I am back, let’s dive into all the news that happened this week, along with the highlights from day two of regional play, as Big 12 teams went 3-3 but none were eliminated from the tournament.

Kansas Outduels Arkansas to Reach Regional Final

Saturday Final (Lawrence Regional): Kansas 5, Arkansas 3

The Jayhawks are headed to the Lawrence Regional Finals after a 5-3 win over Arkansas on Saturday afternoon. Tyson LeBlanc and Augusto Mungarrieta launched home runs in the victory, while the Kansas bullpen held strong against a potent Arkansas lineup.

LeBlanc’s two-run blast, his 23rd of the year, flew into the newly constructed Backyard beyond left field, and drew the Jayhawks even with Arkansas after the Razorbacks had taken a 3-1 lead.

Tyson Owens worked a bases-loaded walk to score the go-ahead run in the seventh, before Mungarrieta added an exclamation point in the seventh with his 17th homer of the season.

After Mason Cook gave the Jayhawks 4.2 innings of work, allowing three runs (two earned), he passed the ball off to Riane Ritter. Ritter struck out four without allowing a hit over 2.1 innings of work, before handing things off to Boede Rahe to begin the eighth.

Rahe recorded his 11th save of the season, going two hitless innings of work with three strikeouts to slam the door.

The win comes a day after a 6-3 win over Northeastern to kick off the regional, and marks the first time since 1993 that Kansas has gone 2-0 in an NCAA Tournament.

Now, Kansas sits and waits for the winner of Arkansas-Northeastern tomorrow, with a Super Regional berth on the line. A win on Sunday night would send the Jayhawks to their first Super Regional in program history.

West Virginia Stumbles as Maxx Yehl Exits with Injury

Saturday Final (Morgantown Regional): Kentucky 11, West Virginia 9

The Mountaineers faltered on Saturday evening, dropping a hectic game to Kentucky to fall into the elimination bracket. The game started in the worst possible fashion, with Maxx Yehl giving up four earned runs in just 0.2 innings of work, before the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year was removed from the game with an undisclosed arm injury.

Ian Korn entered and tried to stabilize things, giving up two runs in the second before putting up zeroes in the third and fourth as the Mountaineer bats woke up.

Gavin Kelly launched his first of two home runs to get West Virginia on the board in the third, before a three-run fourth brought WVU to within a run, 6-5. Armani Guzman tied the game in the fifth, scoring on a throwing error committed by Kentucky catcher Owen Jenkins, who threw the ball into left field attempting to catch Guzman stealing third.

Jenkins put Kentucky back in front in the bottom of the fifth, driving in a pair of unearned runs on a single to center. West Virginia tied the game up again, using Kelly’s second home run of the day and an RBI double from Tyrus Hall to draw even.

Reese Bassinger couldn’t keep West Virginia level, giving up three runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the loss.

West Virginia now faces Wake Forest in an elimination game on Sunday afternoon. A win means a rematch with Kentucky on Sunday night, a loss means the Mountaineers’ season ends. Dawson Montesa will likely get the ball for West Virginia with the season on the line.

Arizona State, Oklahoma State Survive to Sunday

Saturday Final (Lincoln Regional): Arizona State 17, South Dakota State 0

Saturday Final (Tuscaloosa Regional): Oklahoma State 8, Alabama State 7 (11 innings)

Both the Sun Devils and Oklahoma State advanced through the elimination brackets in their respective reasons albeit in wildly different ways.

Arizona State blasted the Jackrabbits, launching three home runs including a pair of grand slams in the victory. Nu’u Contrades hit his third home run of the weekend in the fifth inning — a grand slam that served as part of an 11-run inning.

Austin Roellig launched a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to cap the scoring. Roellig was one of just three Sun Devils to record multiple hits, and he led the team with five RBIs on the day.

Kole Klecker was also dominant on the mound, setting a new career high with 13 strikeouts over eight innings of work, allowing just two hits and three walks. South Dakota State only had one at bat with a runner in scoring position all game.

The Sun Devils now move on to a matchup with the loser of Ole Miss-Nebraska, which was suspended at the end of the eighth inning due to weather in Lincoln.

Oklahoma State, meanwhile, had to sweat out an extra-inning win over 4-seed Alabama State, after seeing a 6-0 lead disappear in the late innings.

Colin Brueggemann got the scoring started with a towering grand slam to center field that put the Cowboys up 4-0 in the fourth inning. An error allowed two runs to score in the sixth to expand Oklahoma State’s lead.

Alabama State scored two in the sixth, another in the seventh and three in the eighth to tie it, ultimately forcing extra innings before Kollin Ritchie put Oklahoma State ahead for good in the 11th with a solo home run.

Mario Pesca wobbled in relief, loading the bases in the 10th before recording a strikeout on a full count to end the inning and keep the game tied. Alabama State put two runners on base again in the 11th with two outs, before another Pesca strikeout ended the contest.

The Cowboys will now face South Carolina Upstate in another elimination game on Sunday afternoon. A win would set up a matchup with regional host Alabama.

Cincinnati, UCF Sent to Elimination Bracket

Saturday Final (Auburn Regional): UCF 9, NC State 3

Saturday Final (Auburn Regional): Milwaukee 13, UCF 6

Saturday Final (Starkville Regional): Mississippi State 10, Cincinnati 5

UCF’s marathon day began with a conclusion of its first game of the weekend - a victory over NC State that sent the Wolfpack into the elimination bracket.

The Knights then ran into what feels like a team of destiny in Milwaukee. The 4-seeded Panthers jumped all over Mateo Gray and the rest of UCF’s pitching staff, scoring at least two runs against every arm that appeared except for Zachary Malvasio. The positive news on the pitching front is that only Evan Jones threw more than 40 pitches, which likely means every arm that threw can be available if UCF pushes its season past Sunday’s elimination matchup with Auburn.

A five-run sixth inning gave the Knights a bit of life, as Andrew Williamson launched his fourth home run of the regional to spark a crooked inning. Landon Moran, Jordan Lodise and Austin Jacobs all delivered RBI hits to cut into the deficit, making it a 10-6 ballgame at the time.

Three more runs from Milwaukee in the eighth put the game out of reach.

Cincinnati, meanwhile, walked a tightrope with Mississippi State early, stranding six runners in scoring position while giving up just one run. A Christian Mitchelle RBI double in the second tied the game at 1-1, before the Bulldogs scored nine-straight runs from the fifth to seventh innings to pull away.

The Bearcats added a pair of runs in each the eighth and the ninth, with Ryan Tyranski driving in two of them.

Cincinnati will face Louisiana in a rematch of game two of the Starkville Regional, after the Ragin Cajuns defeated Lipscomb to survive on Saturday morning. The winner will get Mississippi State on Sunday night.

Houston Hires Will Davis, Has Portal Turnover

As soon as I left the country, Houston made a hire. The Cougars have their next head coach, as announced on Tuesday of last week. Lamar’s Will Davis will take over after 10 years at the helm of the Cardinals.

On paper, this is an excellent hire for Houston. Davis and Lamar won 40+ games in 2024 and 2025 before winning the Southland Conference tournament in 2026 and earning a berth into the College Station Regional.

I wrote recently about how Houston needed to approach the hire, considering the financial challenges facing the program and the overall athletics department.

Houston has operated at a budget deficit since joining the Big 12, and although its going to receive a full share of Big 12 revenue for the first time in 2026, it’s unlikely that a significant amount of those new dollars will be set aside for baseball.

Well, Lamar’s total baseball budget in 2025 was $1,065,227. That includes the line items for staff salaries, travel and financial aid. Needless to say, Will Davis has made the most of very little during his time in Beaumont, and can take that same mindset to Houston as he looks to build a staff and a roster capable of competing in the league.

As Davis gets to work, two big names have hit the portal for Houston. Junior first baseman Riley Jackson and sophomore outfielder Xavier Perez will both look for new homes in 2027. Perez (1.127) and Jackson (1.100) were third and fourth, respectively, in WAR this season for the Coogs.

Baylor Sees Portal Exits

The Bears’ offseason has started to see a bit of attrition as well, as Mitch Thompson and his staff look to build around Brady Janusek as they look to take another step forward in 2027, after finishing 8th in the Big 12 in 2026 and reaching the conference tournament quarterfinals.

Two Bears recently announced their intent to enter the transfer portal. Both played mostly in reserve roles for Baylor in 2026, and now will look for more playing time elsewhere.

Junior RHP Luke DeVasher made 16 appearances on the mound for the Bears, all in relief, totaling 13 innings of work. He finished with a WARc of -0.351, struggling to find consistency and thus innings as the JUCO product will end his Baylor career after just one season.

Robert De La Garza announced he was entering the portal on Saturday as well. The junior reserve infielder saw action in 20 games this season, compiling a total WAR of 0.105, eighth-most among Baylor bats. However, a young core of infielders including Pearson Riebock and Brytton Clements made the outlook of earning more playing time somewhat challenging for De La Garza.

TCU Parts Ways With Bill Mosiello

Friday night brought some news out of Fort Worth as well, as Kirk Saarloos and TCU parted ways with associate head coach and “offensive coordinator” Bill Mosiello. Mosiello had been on TCU’s staff for the majority of the time since 2014, apart from two seasons spent as the Ohio State head coach.

Mosiello was in his second season back with the Frogs, and was fully in charge of TCU’s offense, from strategy to practice focus to the lineup card. He was also responsible for in-game decisions, although all decisions and signs came from the dugout, as Mosiello’s physical limitations kept him from manning third base as he had done for the majority of his career.

TCU’s offense struggled in 2026, finishing 11th in the Big 12 in batting average, 10th in slugging percentage and 9th in on-base percentage, despite having the likes of Sawyer Strosnider, Chase Brunson and Nolan Traeger on the roster.

Now, Saarloos will be tasked with replacing both his pitching and hitting coaches this offseason, as pitching coach Dave Lawn retired at the end of the season.

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For the first time since 2021, the Big 12 regular season and tournament championship trophies have the same home: Lawrence, Kansas.

Saturday’s 9-0 win over West Virginia win marks Kansas’ first Big 12 tournament win since 2006, and the Jayhawks are the first since TCU to hold both conference titles simultaneously. Prior to that, no one had won both titles since Texas did so in 2009.

“Super proud of these guys. Great team effort.” head coach Dan Fitzgerald said afterward. “Just excited to bring this home to Lawrence, and hosting a regional in Lawrence is going to be incredible.

“Incredibly proud, incredibly blessed and very thankful.”

Kansas earned the victory behind stellar defense, excellent pitching and a six-run eighth inning that put to rest any hope of a Mountaineer comeback.

The Rundown

Mathis Nayral started on the mound for Kansas, and he ran into a spot of trouble in the first, as the Mountaineers put runners on the corners with one out. The junior got out of the jam with some help from his defense, in the form of a 6-4-3 double play that ended the inning, stranding a runner on third.

The Jayhawk bats picked him up in the bottom of the inning, as Tyson Owens launched a solo home run to put Kansas ahead early, 1-0.

Nayral worked around more trouble in the second inning, stranding another Mountaineer at third base, and he got an unassisted double play from Josh Dykhoff at first base to end the third inning, as the Jayhawks continued to put together double plays.

Stellar defense was a key theme of the day, and the Mountaineers put up their highlight-reel moment in the bottom of the second. With Kansas attempting to execute a hit-and-run, as Dylan Schlotterback hit one hard to left off WVU starter Ian Korn. Matthew Graveline made a sliding catch before popping up and starting a 7-4-3 relay that doubled Augusto Mungarrieta off of first to end the inning.

While the shutout was an impressive one for Kansas, it didn’t happen due to a lack of opportunities for West Virginia. The Mountaineers stranded a total of 10 runners on base, including four in scoring position and three at third base. Twice West Virginia had the bases loaded with less than two outs and came away with nothing to show for it.

“You’re just looking for a double play at that point,” Fitzgerald said.

That’s what Kansas got in the fifth, with the bases loaded and one out, but not in the most traditional of ways. Facing Kansas reliever Toby Scheidt, Gavin Kelly hit a fly ball to right field, where Jordan Bach caught it and fired a strike to home plate, where Mungarrieta tagged out Brodie Kresser attempting to score.

West Virginia loaded the bases again in the sixth, and again Scheidt got a ball in the air out toward right field. This time it was Dykhoff who came down with it, sprinting into shallow right and catching the ball with his back to home plate.

West Virginia DH Sean Smith stood between third and home, unsure if Dykhoff would actually catch the ball, and on the catch he went back to third and tagged up, only to get caught in a rundown.

The rundown lasted roughly 30 seconds, which felt like a lifetime, as the Jayhawks first attempted to get Smith out, before turning their attention to Graveline, who had attempted to get to third, and ever so briefly to Armani Guzman between first and second, before all Mountaineer base runners successfully returned to their bases.

Scheidt got out of the inning moments later, as a slow grounder to the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Tyson LeBlanc, ended the frame.

“It looked like we had a double play until we threw the ball 40 times in that rundown,” Fitzgerald said. “But, I thought it was unbelievable composure for Toby to stay in there and get the ground ball, and then a phenomenal play to get out.”

West Virginia wouldn’t threaten again, managing just two base runners over the final three innings of the contest.

Kansas’ offense, meanwhile, broke things wide open in the bottom of the seventh and never looked back. LeBlanc started the scoring off with an RBI single to left center, before Dykhoff, Mungarrieta and Bach hit home runs back-to-back-to-back to extend the lead to 8-0.

An unearned run in the bottom of the eighth brought the game to its eventual final score, as Boede Rahe slammed the door over two innings of work, striking out three and allowing just one hit.

What it Means for Kansas

There’s absolutely no doubt that the Jayhawks will be hosting a regional, the question now is: have they done enough to work their way back into the national seed conversation?

They Jayhawks currently have an RPI of 18, a DSR of 11, 25 wins in the Big 12, 42 total wins and a Q1 record of 11-6. There’s a chance that Kansas could slide into the No. 8 national seed, earning the right to host a Super Regional as well, but it’s an outside chance.

Either way, Kansas fans should be prepared to show up and show out at a Lawrence Regional, and potentially be prepared for a little extra room at Hoglund Ballpark as well.

What it Means for West Virginia

The Mountaineers are on the wrong side of the title race for the second time this season, but while there’s undoubtedly a bitter taste in their mouths right now, the reality is that they still have a resume worthy of hosting an NCAA Regional.

The unfortunate situation is that they have to wait until Sunday night to know for sure, but I believe they should feel confident. West Virginia’s RPI is still at 17 after the loss, well within the hosting conversation.

Pair that with a DSR of 9, 21 regular season wins in the Big 12 and a Q1 record of 8-5, and they have a resume worthy of getting to stay home in front of a friendly crowd next weekend.

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Day four of the Big 12 tournament brought with it two of the best games of the week, as the intensity ratcheted up a notch, especially when the sun went down and the second game kicked off.

Now, the Jayhawks and Mountaineers will face off on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. local time for the Big 12 championship.

Jayhawks Pull Away from Cowboys Late

FINAL: Kansas 9, Oklahoma State 2

Kansas advanced to the Big 12 championship with a win over Oklahoma State on Friday afternoon, bringing the Jayhawks one step closer to being the first Big 12 team to win both the regular season and the tournament since 2021.

Tyson LeBlanc launched his 21st home run of the season, a grand slam in the eighth inning, to tie the Kansas single-season record set by Tony Thompson in 2009. Mason Cook, meanwhile, pitched into the sixth inning, striking out seven and allowing just one run.

The Jayhawks took advantage of a pair of walks issued by Oklahoma State starter Ethan Lund in the bottom of the first. Augusto Mungarrieta drove in one run with a single to right, and Jordan Bach drove in the second with a double to left.

The Jayhawks added another run in the second on an RBI double from LeBlanc that brought Dariel Osoria around to score.

Lund settled in over the next four innings, allowing just two hits as he worked to give the Cowboys opportunities to climb back in the contest. The Oklahoma State bats couldn’t overcome Cook until the sixth inning, when Avery Ortiz ripped a double to bring home Kollin Ritchie for the Cowboys’ first run of the day.

Oklahoma State added another run on a Campbell Smithwick sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth, which briefly cut the deficit to just one, 3-2.

Kansas responded with a six-run bottom of the eighth, which saw Mungarrieta double home a run before he scored on a Savion Flowers single to center. Osiora worked a walk, before LeBlanc’s grand slam put the game out of reach.

Riane Ritter, who got knocked around a bit on Thursday, came back and looked great, earning his fourth save of the season as he struck out four over two innings of work while allowing one run.

Mountaineers Outlast Sun Devils in Heated Affair

FINAL: West Virginia 7, Arizona State 3

The Mountaineers won a raucous game in the nightcap, overcoming a sixth-inning deficit and an extremely pro-Arizona State crowd to advance to the title game on Saturday.

WVU struck first in the bottom of the second. Sean Smith led off the inning with a double to left center, and came around to score after a good piece of two-out hitting from Brodie Kresser. Kresser fell behind in the count, 1-2, before driving a ball down the line in left to score the game’s first run.

Arizona State responded with a loud two-run blast from Dean Toigo in the fourth inning, who bashed a 457-foot home run off of Chansen Cole. The hit put the Sun Devils ahead 2-1, but also served as the last hit Arizona State would record until a Matt Polk single in the ninth.

Cole Carlon threw 79 pitches, one shy of his max of 80 pitches that head coach Willie Bloomquist was willing to let him throw. Carlon got the ball after missing the final weekend of the regular season with arm fatigue and a shoulder issue, and Bloomquist wanted to limit Carlon’s outing as a form of injury prevention.

Carlon was stellar, striking out six across 5.1 innings of work while allowing one run. He exited with a 3-1 lead, handing the ball to Finn Edwards after recording the first out of the sixth inning.

That’s when West Virginia really went to work, but prior to that, in the top of the sixth, the game got ratcheted up a notch. With Landon Hairston coming up, Mountaineer head coach Steve Sabins turned to Joshua Surigao out of the bullpen. The energetic lefty induced a ground out, and chirped at Hairston as the Big 12 Player of the Year ran out the play at first.

Hairston turned and responded, which fired up both the Sun Devil dugout and fanbase, which made up the majority of the attendees.

Later in the inning, facing Carson Estridge, Nu’u Contrades scored from second base on a wild pitch after Gavin Kelly booted the ball near West Virginia’s on-deck circle and couldn’t recover in time to make a throw home. At that point, with Arizona State leading 3-1, all of the momentum was on the side of the maroon and gold.

The chippyness continued throughout the rest of the contest, but the Mountaineers responded in the bottom of the sixth to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Sean Smith recorded one of his three hits on the evening to get the ball rolling, eventually coming around to score on an Armani Guzman RBI single. A wild pitch moved Guzman and Matthew Graveline into scoring position, when PJ Moutzouridis committed a throwing error that allowed both runners to score.

Reese Bassinger and Dawson Montesa shut down Arizona State the rest of the way, combining for 3.1 scoreless innings in relief, including a pair of strikeouts and just one hit.

Jayhawks, Mountaineers Both Solidify Regional Hosting Resumes

The wins on Friday did more than just put Kansas and West Virginia on a collision course in the Big 12 title game. They also acted as bows on top of two resumes that are worthy of hosting regionals in the NCAA Tournament.

Both coaches addressed the opportunity to host a regional in their postgame press conferences, advocating for their institutions to receive a host site.

Yormark Makes An Appearance

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark got into town ahead of the first semifinal game, taking a moment to speak with both Dan Fitzgerald and Josh Holliday on the field before the game got underway.

Utah Loses a Reliever to the Portal

The Utes’ offseason just began on Thursday, but they’ve already begun to see some portal movement as Gary Henderson looks to continue improving the roster ahead of a successful step forward in 2026.

Reliever Cameron Nielson announced he was entering the transfer portal on Friday.

The righty from Salt Lake City saw his ERA jump to 6.20 this season, as he made 14 appearances (three starts) and had an opponent batting average against of .349. Neilson has two years of eligibility remaining.

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14 and a half hours of Big 12 baseball took place on Thursday in Surprise. Every minute of it was fantastic. The Big 12 quarterfinals were mostly chalky, outside of a 5-over-4-seed “upset” to kick the day off, but all four contests showcased excellent talent across all eight programs

Pitching Paces Pokes Past UCF

FINAL: Oklahoma State 12, UCF 6

The day started bright and early with a fun matchup between Oklahoma State and UCF. The Pokes came out on top, 12-6, largely due to…pitching! The way Hudson Barrett and Mario Pesca threw the ball on Thursday has to have Oklahoma State fans fired up, because it’s a key sign that the Pokes are becoming a complete team at exactly the right time.

“If you look at the last five weeks, our pitching has been very consistent, and they’ve been very good in key moments,” head coach Josh Holliday said. “That’s really what our team has been built on in the last five or six weeks is just the growth of the whole team.”

Barrett ran into some trouble in the first inning, conceding a run but ultimately getting out of the jam thanks to a Web Gem moment from Alex Conover in left field.

Camden Wicker scrapped on the mound early for UCF as well, conceding the first run of the game on a two-out RBI single from Campbell Smithwick. A pair of RBI singles from Garrett Shull and Brock Thompson gave Oklahoma State the lead in the fourth, before two more runs in the fifth pushed their advantage to 5-1.

UCF responded with big swings in the bottom of the fifth, with a Zak Skinner RBI double and Javier Crespo’s 3-run blast to tie the game, 5-5. While Barrett’s outing ended with a no-decision, Holliday’s biggest takeaways were the length of the outing and Barrett’s presence on the mound.

“It was great to see Hudson get stretched back out. That’s his longest outing now since Sam Houston State I think,” Holliday said. “What a great sign for our team and for him to go pitch well. We really wanted to get him to that 90-100-pitch mark, ideally five innings if not more. I thought he was pitching really well, we created one extra out and paid for it.

“I thought his level of execution got better and better as the game went on. His positive emotion returned. He started to have the kind of mound presence he’s known for amongst us and that’s a great step for our team as we try to lengthen our staff and prepare for what lies ahead for us.”

As Barrett’s outing came to an end, Holliday called on Pesca, who has thrown in a variety of roles for Oklahoma State this season. Pesca was excellent, striking out four over three innings of work while allowing one run on three hits.

“Mario shortened the game, he’s pitched in every role known to mankind for us. Starter, closer, stopper, middle man. He’s in a great spot right now, healthy, so that was a goal of ours.”

The offense has been potent all season for the Cowboys, but pitching has been the differentiator for Oklahoma State over the last five weeks or so, as the staff gets healthy.

The result is that Oklahoma State has now won 13 of its last 16 games, still has an opportunity for its seventh Big 12 championship (regular season and tournament combined), and carries a ton of energy and momentum into a regional.

For UCF, the pitching has overcome a tremendous amount of attrition this season but just ran into a hot offense on Thursday. The loss really doesn’t impact the Knights from a tournament standpoint, as UCF will be in the field somewhere when the regionals are announced on Monday.

The goal now is to get healthy. Head coach Rich Wallace suggested that Matt Sauser was available to pitch this week, which indicates that the Knights are close to having one of their best arms back just in time for a potential run in the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas Walks Off Baylor After Bears Force Extras

FINAL: Kansas 8, Baylor 7 (10 innings)

I had heard tale of Kansas’ chirpy-ness in the dugout this season, but on Thursday I got to see it up close in the photo well. There’s no doubt that the Jayhawks are a noisy bunch, but they didn’t do much to truly cross the line despite receiving a bench warning in the second inning.

The warning arose from Augusto Mungarrieta’s two-run blast to put Kansas ahead 2-0. He carried the bat well down the first base line before tossing it in the air, drawing the ire of Baylor’s dugout and fanbase. The umpires issued the bench warning as much for the bat flip as anything else.

Tyson LeBlanc and Tyson Owens launched back-to-back solo home runs in the fifth to extend the Jayhawks’ lead, which elicited a phenomenal golf clap celebration from the dugout in response to the warning.

While the Jayhawk bats were building a lead, Dom Voegele was holding Baylor’s lineup silent. The Kansas ace struck out eight in seven innings of work, allowing one run on four hits and not issuing a walk.

Baylor got the bats going once Voegele left the game, scoring six runs in the final two innings to force extras.

Brytton Clements brought a pair home on an RBI double to right center, and two more came home on an error by Josh Dykhoff at first base, when he let a ball get past him off the bat of Dylan Perez. Pearson Riebock delivered in the biggest moment, taking an 0-2 pitch with two outs in the ninth and driving it into right field, bringing two runs home to tie the game.

The Bears’ upset bid ultimately fell short, though, as Savion Flowers launched a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th, his first home run of the season, to propel the Jayhawks to the semifinals.

“A guy like Savion hasn’t had the chances that he’s honestly earned, because we’ve played really well and been hot, and had guys ahead of him that consistently played and the door hadn’t really opened,” head coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “It’s an incredible moment for the door to open and have a guy like [Flowers] step in. It’s a testament to you just keep working while you wait.”

Afterward, Baylor head coach Mitch Thompson got emotional hearing Ty Johnson speak about the impact of the program on his life. It’s a good watch, and a nice reminder that while baseball is front and center, these programs are about so much more.

For Kansas, the win not only moves them closer to becoming the first team to win the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles in the same season since TCU in 2021, but it’s also another notch on their regional host resume that continues to get stronger and stronger.

Maxx Yehl, Gavin Kelly Power Mountaineers to Semifinals

FINAL: West Virginia 4, Kansas State 2

Sometimes it’s just in a team’s best interest to have the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year. Maxx Yehl wasn’t the entire difference for West Virginia on Thursday, but he was certainly a large part of it. Yehl struck out seven in 6.1 innings of work, allowing two earned runs on three hits. He was his usual dominant self, and the win moved him to 8-2 on the season.

To his credit, Lincoln Sheffield went toe-to-toe with Yehl, despite getting the start on one day of rest. Sheffield threw 26 pitches in Kansas State’s first round win over Utah on Tuesday just to come back and throw 90 pitches as he worked into the sixth inning on Thursday.

Sheffield scrapped, allowing 10 hits and striking out just two, but getting some quality defense behind him with a pair of double plays along the way.

Gavin Kelly got the party started in the first with a solo home run to center field.

That 1-0 lead held until the sixth, when West Virginia added three runs. Several moments required big-time execution, and the Mountaineers were the team that did that better. With Sean Smith on third base and one out, Armani Guzman got a safety squeeze bunt down. Both Sheffield and Grant Gallagher crashed down on the ball, colliding with one another and allowing Smith to score.

After a Brodie Kresser single put runners on the corners and Kresser stole second base, a wild pitch from Sheffield allowed Guzman to score. Kresser scored moments later on a Brock Willis RBI single.

Gallagher got a pair back for Kansas State with a two-run blast to center field in the seventh. The swing also ended Maxx Yehl’s day, as the Mountaineers called on Ian Korn.

Korn was excellent, striking out five in 2.2 innings of relief work while allowing just one hit.

In similar fashion to Kansas, West Virginia’s win adds another mark in the “pros” category when it comes to the regional host conversation.

For Pete Hughes and Kansas State, it’s back to the drawing board. Hughes noted after the game that this was the most talented roster he’s ever coached, and yet it finished in 11th place in the Big 12 and will miss the NCAA Tournament.

Hughes is a veteran coach who guided the Wildcats to back-to-back tournament appearances for the first time in program history in 2024 and 2025, and his offseason approach is one that indicates he has no plans of staying away from the tournament for more than one season.

“Iw ill say this is probably the most talented roster I’ve ever coached, so that’s why it’s disappointing,” Hughes said. “So we’ve got to recruit, and recruit more depth that’s going to sustain injuries.

“That’s what we’re going to do. We’re not going to stop. We’ll start Saturday when we get back home, start getting kids on campus and attacking the portal and building our roster.”

Landon Hairston Sets Home Run Record as Arizona State Smacks Cincinnati

FINAL: Arizona State 10, Cincinnati 2

The Big 12 Player of the Year made his presence felt in Thursday’s nightcap, as Landon Hairston launched his program-best 28th home run of the season and the Sun Devils took advantage of an unusually subpar defensive effort from the Bearcats.

Cincinnati finished the regular season as the best defensive team in the Big 12 with a team fielding percentage of .979, but four errors resulted in three unearned runs, and there were several more moments where an error could have been scored.

Both starters, Kole Klecker for Arizona State and Nate Taylor for Cincinnati, saw their pitch counts balloon early as both teams put up runs in the first inning. Cincinnati struck first, putting runners on the corners with one out for Derrick Pitts, who grounded out but brought Tyranski home to score.

Arizona State responded with runs in each of the first four innings. Dominic Smaldino got it rolling with an opposite-field two-run home run to put the Sun Devils up in the bottom of the first. A Charlie Niehaus fielding error allowed another run to score in the second, and two more runs came home in the third on a Garrett Michel ground out and Matt Polk single.

Hairston got involved in the fourth, launching the home run that set him apart as the single-season home run record holder for a historically great baseball program and putting of the Sun Devils ahead 7-1.

Matt Polk added a home run in the seventh and Dean Toigo’s RBI double drove home the game’s final two runs to seal the Sun Devils’ victory.

As for Arizona State’s NCAA Tournament resume, a lot has been made of the mid-40s RPI (currently 44) and whether or not the Sun Devils are deserving of a bid.

Frankly, anyone who is using RPI as a reason to keep ASU out of the tournament is doing so with ulterior motives, is refusing to look at the full picture, or is just lazy. As Bischel put it plainly on Thursday night, Arizona State will be in the tournament, potentially even as a two-seed at this point, and will be dangerous.

Updated Bracket

There are three games left in the Big 12 tournament, with the semifinal games taking place on Friday afternoon/evening/night depending on your time zone. Winners play for the Big 12 championship on Saturday.

No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State

Kansas Starter: RHP Mason Cook (4-1, 4.53 ERA, 0.270 WARc)

Oklahoma State Starter: LHP Ethan Lund (5-1, 5.32 ERA, 0.786 WARc)

No. 2 West Virginia vs. No. 3 Arizona State

West Virginia Starter: RHP Chansen Cole (8-1, 3.00 ERA, 1.145 WARc)

Arizona State Starter: LHP Cole Carlon (5-2, 3.64 ERA, 1.318 WARc)

More News & Notes

Tim Tadlock Will Return to Texas Tech in 2027

Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported on Friday morning that Tim Tadlock will return as the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders in 2027.

I’ll talk more about the Red Raiders as we get into the offseason, but for now I think this is the right call for Texas Tech. Tim Tadlock is still capable of getting excellent high school talent on campus, as evidenced by Linkin Garcia, Jesse Rusinek, and is able to develop talent that other programs clearly want.

The challenge for the Red Raiders has been retention and portal recruitment, two issues that, at their core, are revenue share/NIL issues. Tadlock has started to publicly come around on NIL in the last month, and Texas Tech hasn’t had any issue raising funds to build competitive rosters in the majority of the other sports on campus.

Arizona Sees Several Portal Exits

This offseason was always going to be one with high turnover after a year like the Wildcats had, and the movement has begun this week as Arizona conducts exit interviews and determines how to move forward.

Catcher Roman Meyers played in 25 games for the Wildcats this season, starting 20, with a slash line of .214/.386/.345. His WAR of 0.260 ranked fifth on the Wildcats. Meyers transferred to Arizona from Golden West College (JUCO) during the 2025 offseason.

Outfielder Chaz McNelis didn’t see any playing time in 2026 after transferring to Arizona from College of Southern Nevada (JUCO). Fellow outfielder Sean Barta is a similar story. Barta did not play in 2026 after transferring from Pima CC (JUCO) last offseason.

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The second day of the Big 12 tournament is in the books, after two more teams notched wins to keep their runs alive while two more squads were sent home.

The underdog Kansas State Wildcats really seem to be getting hot at the right time, while Baylor made sure they weren’t a one-and-done in Surprise.

Baylor Outlasts BYU to Earn Quarterfinal Berth

Baylor took down BYU, 13-9, in the first of two games on Wednesday afternoon. Ethan Calder was excellent in relief, striking out eight over 4.2 innings and allowing just two runs. Brady Janusek drove in five runs for the Bears, including a massive three-run home run in the sixth inning to put the Bears in front for good.

Baylor jumped on BYU starter Wayland Crane early, after Crane issued a walk to Tyce Armstrong. Brady Janusek’s double put two in scoring position, and both Armstrong and Janusek came home to score on an RBI single from Pearson Riebock. Brytton Clements drove in Riebock moments later on an RBI double to the wall in right center.

BYU went to Ashton Johnson out of the bullpen earlier than they would have liked, as the Bears added two more runs in the bottom of the second on a Janusek RBI single.

The Cougars struck back in the third, taking the lead with a six-run inning and chasing Davenport from the ballgame. Eight consecutive Cougars reached base, with four straight batters driving in runs.

Baylor drew level with a Travis Sanders RBI single to right in the fourth after a BYU throwing error allowed Ty Johnson to reach base to lead off the inning.

Calder, who came on in relief of Davenport, ran into trouble in the fifth inning. Bryker Hurdsman drove in a run to retake the lead for BYU, before Keoni Painter doubled to left to add another run to the tally.

Calder managed to wiggle out of the jam, striking out Crew McChesney to leave the bases loaded. His ability to minimize the damage paid off an inning later, as Janusek’s home run put the Bears ahead, 9-8.

More Baylor pressure drove Johnson from the game in the seventh, as the Bears put the first two batters on base. BYU called on Garrison Sumner, who gave up two runs, just one earned, as Baylor extended its lead.

BYU committed four errors, a vast departure from a season partially defined by strong defense. The Cougars had a team fielding percentage of .977, good for third-best in the Big 12. The errors allowed five unearned runs to come across for Baylor, a significant amount considering the Bears won by four.

Baylor advances to play No. 1 Kansas on Thursday for the right to move on to the semifinals.

BYU turns to its offseason, one that will require Trent Pratt and his staff to replace a host of incredibly talented seniors who have helped move the program in the right direction.

Kansas State Thumps TCU 9-4

For the second straight game Kansas State posted nine runs, and paired it with an excellent start from Tazwell Butler, who struck out nine over 4.2 innings of work and held the Frogs to just one hit through the first three innings.

Meanwhile, Wildcats jumped on Tommy LaPour early, scoring two runs in the top of the first. Ty Smolinski got the scoring started with an RBI double, driving in Dee Kennedy. The hit would be the first of three for Smolinski, who finished a home run short of the cycle while driving in three runs.

AJ Evasco also went 3-5 with a triple, driving in two runs.

Trailing 7-0, TCU tried to fight back in the fifth inning. The Frogs used back-to-back doubles from Preston Gamster and Noah Franco to get on the board. Franco came around to score later in the frame on an RBI single from Rob Liddington.

The Wildcats scored two in the top of the sixth to answer right back, and when TCU threatened again in the seventh, a former Frog came on to shut it down.

With the bases loaded and no outs, Kansas State reliever Cohen Feser came into the game. A fielder’s choice scored a run, while a fielding error kept the Wildcats from recording an out. Feser struck out Nolan Traeger next before issuing a walk to Lucas Franco to give the Frogs their final out of the night.

Feser recorded the next two outs to get out of the inning, and didn’t allow a hit over the next two innings en route to earning his fourth save of the season.

Kansas State has now strung together two wins in two days, and has a date with West Virginia slated for Thursday afternoon.

TCU, meanwhile, will have to sweat the bubble for the second time in three seasons after another year of unmet expectations and inconsistent play. The Frogs saw their RPI fall to 46. That, along with a seventh-place finish in the Big 12 and a 6-12 Q1 record means the Frogs could find themselves on either side of the cutline come Selection Monday.

Updated Bracket

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What a long day Tuesday was. It began at 3:30 a.m. for me, before hopping in the car at 4 to start the long drive from Fort Worth to Surprise, AZ. It really is a nice drive, although I’ve been called crazy multiple times for saying that out loud. I suppose I just really enjoy the southwest.

Anyways, I pulled up to BYU-Texas Tech with the Red Raiders leading 5-1, and from there it was roughly eight more hours of baseball, plus postgames, before getting to my hotel just before 1 a.m. local time.

So, I apologize for this getting out a little later than it will the rest of the week (the normal bight and early AM time, depending on your time zone).

But we’ve got a lot to talk about today, so let’s go ahead and dive in.

BYU Run Rules Texas Tech, 18-8

The fireworks got started early in Surprise, as BYU routed Texas Tech, 18-8, in a seven-inning run-rule.

The Red Raiders struck for five runs in the third inning, including a two-run home run from Logan Hughes. As has been the case for so much of the season though, Texas Tech’s pitching couldn’t hold the lead.

BYU scored three runs in the third and three more in the fourth to take a 7-5 lead, before a seven-run sixth inning helped the Cougars break the game open.

Four runs came with two outs, including a pair on a Keoni Painter triple and two more on Ridge Erickson’s second home run of the contest.

Easton Jones also launched a pair of home runs as the Cougars amassed 20 hits, including 12 of the extra-base variety. Jones’ second home run of the day served as the walk-off moment for BYU in the bottom of the seventh, ending the game early and preserving some BYU pitching for Wednesday.

Over the past two seasons now, BYU has not only reached the conference tournament, but has advanced to at least the second day. That’s a significant step in the Cougars’ progress under head coach Trent Pratt, who knew it was going to be a long journey.

“I knew it was going to be a slower build, and we’ve just tried to get better each year,” Pratt said. “I think we’ve done that, and now it’s just, can we take another step, can we go win another game and advance to another day?”

BYU will face Baylor at 4:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday afternoon. The Bears took two of three in the regular season series between these two teams in Waco.

Texas Tech, on the other hand, heads home after another disappointing season that has head coach Tim Tadlock reflecting on what needs to change in order for the Red Raiders to rebound.

“Obviously we’ve recruited a good group of guys,” Tadlock said. “I think it starts though on the mound. In the years where we were really good, everybody knew when youstepped on the box, you got to be ready to hit. Strike one’scoming.We played defense at a real highlevel. The combination of those two things is where it starts.”

Texas Tech finishes the season with a team ERA of 7.92 and a team fielding percentage of .971, both figures that were dead last in the Big 12.

Kansas State Gets Hot Late to Top Utah

The second game of the night was wildly entertaining. Both teams felt each other out early, putting runners in scoring position but unable to get anything across for four innings.

James Guyette worked five innings for the Wildcats, with the Utes getting to him in his final frame. He struck out six and allowed two earned runs, three total. Afterward, head coach Pete Hughes spoke about setting up this week by holding Guyette out on the weekend to try and gain an advantage.

“The thought process began going into last weekend,” Hughes said. “We all went to Kansas State to make the national tournament, so every move we make is to go to the national tournament…Our mindset was to get into the national tournament, and that was to save Jimmy [for Tuesday.]”

Derek Smith reached base on a single, moving to third on a single from Luke Jacobs, before both runners came home to score on a Jake Long double down the line in right field to give Utah the lead.

Kansas State didn’t waste any time responding, as AJ Evasco launched a two-run blast in the sixth. The Wildcats added three more runs in the seventh, using a Dee Kennedy triple and Kyan Lodice single to put KSU in front. A Bear Madliak sacrifice fly gave the Wildcats some insurance.

Utah struck back with a 408-foot blast from Luke Jacobs in the seventh, followed by a Cal Miller sacrifice fly tied the game, 5-5.

Kansas State used a four-run eighth to pull away for good, taking advantage of a throwing error to take the lead before Kennedy and Ty Smolinski both drove in runs with two-out RBI singles. Kennedy finished with three hits, a pair of RBIs and reached base four times.

The Wildcats will face off against No. 7 TCU in the second game on Wednesday. TCU took two of three from Kansas State in Manhattan, KS earlier this season.

For Utah, 2026 was a step in the right direction in the fifth season under head coach Gary Henderson, who said the energy around the program is much better than a season ago.

The energy around the program is dramatically better than it was a year ago,” Henderson said. “We have a ballpark on campus. People enjoy it and the event is good, it's fun. There's some energy in the stands, people feel like they're creating a home field advantage for us. We're in a good place.”

Hairston, Yehl Capture Season Awards

For the second straight season, the players who finished atop Base 12’s WAR/WARc standings earned hardware from the Big 12 Conference.

Arizona State’s Landon Hairston was tabbed as the Big 12 Player of the Year. With a WAR of 4.791, Hairston finished almost a full win ahead of Oklahoma State’s Kollin Ritchie in second place in the standings. Hairston also became the second Sun Devil to record a 20-home run, 20-double season and he has a chance this week to propel Arizona State into a better position for the NCAA Tournament.

West Virginia’s Maxx Yehl earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Year after posting a 7-2 record and 2.10 ERA in 13 starts this season. Yehl was the only Big 12 pitcher to eclipse the 2 WARc mark, finishing almost a half-win ahead of Cincinnati’s Nathan Taylor.

Kansas’ Dan Fitzgerald earned Big 12 Coach of the Year honors for the second-consecutive season after leading the Jayhawks to the regular season title.

Here’s the full list of award winners.

Of the Year
Player - Landon Hairston, Arizona State
Pitcher - Maxx Yehl, West Virginia
Newcomer - Tyce Armstrong, Baylor
Freshman - Enzo Infelise, Cincinnati
Scholar-Athlete - Ashton Johnson, BYU
Coach - Dan Fitzgerald, Kansas

All-Big 12 First Team
C: Gavin Kelly, West Virginia
IF: Nu'u Contrades, Arizona State
IF: Tyce Armstrong, Baylor
IF: Quinton Coats, Cincinnati
IF: Tyson LeBlanc, Kansas
IF: Dee Kennedy, Kansas State
OF: Landon Hairston, Arizona State*
OF: Alex Conover, Oklahoma State
OF: Kollin Ritchie, Oklahoma State
OF: Logan Hughes, Texas Tech
DH: Enzo Infelise, Cincinnati
UT: Connor Shouse, Texas Tech
SP: Cole Carlon, Arizona State
SP: Nathan Taylor, Cincinnati
SP: Chansen Cole, West Virginia
SP: Maxx Yehl, West Virginia*
RP: Boede Rahe, Kansas
RP: Tanner Sagouspe, TCU
RP: Ian Korn, West Virginia
*- unanimous selection

All-Big 12 Second Team
C: Jack Natili, Cincinnati
IF: Dominic Smaldino, Arizona State
IF: Travis Sanders, Baylor
IF: Ezra McNaughton, BYU
IF: Josh Dykhoff, Kansas
IF: Aidan Meola, Oklahoma State
OF: John Smith III, UCF
OF: Andrew Williamson, UCF
OF: Jake Long, Utah
OF: Paul Schoenfeld, West Virginia
DH: Caden Ferraro, Texas Tech
UT: Cade Baldridge, Kansas
SP: Camden Wicker, UCF
SP: Dominic Voegele, Kansas
SP: Ethan Lund, Oklahoma State
SP: Lance Davis, TCU
RP: Caleb Bunch, Baylor
RP: Ashton Johnson, BYU
RP: Adam Buczkowski, Cincinnati

All- Freshman Team (12)
Tony Lira, Arizona*
Nate Novitske, Arizona
Brady Janusek, Baylor
Jordan Lodise, UCF
Max Murray, UCF
Connor Blue, Cincinnati
Enzo Infelise, Cincinnati*
Ryan Tyranski, Cincinnati
Brady Dallimore, TCU
Linkin Garcia, Texas Tech
Jesse Rusinek, Texas Tech
Cal Miller, Utah
*-unanimous selection

All-Big 12 Honorable Mention
Arizona: Garrett Hicks, Tony Lira
Arizona State: Sean Fitzpatrick, Taylor Penn, Dean Toigo
Baylor: Lucas Davenport
UCF: Evan Jones, Kris Sosnowski, Zak Skinner
Houston: Tre Broussard, Cade Climie, Ryne Rodriguez
Kansas: Brady Ballinger, Mason Cook
Kansas State: Bear Madliak
Oklahoma State: Stormy Rhodes, Brock Thompson
TCU: Chase Brunson, Cole Cramer, Zack James
Texas Tech: Tracer Lopez, Jesse Rusinek (OF, UT)
Utah: Jet Gilliam, Cameron Gurney, Cal Miller
West Virginia: Reese Bassinger, Carson Estridge, Armani Guzman, Matt Ineich, Sean Smith

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Welcome to the postseason.

The Big 12 tournament kicks off today, and we have two first-round games to get the fun rolling in Surprise. Plus, a head coaching vacancy now exists in the Big 12, and another team is starting to shuffle some staff around.

Let’s dive in.

Two Games on Tuesday

Game 1: No. 9 BYU vs. No. 12 Texas Tech

The first game of the Big 12 tournament features the Cougars and the Red Raiders, two teams that likely have different feelings about playing in the first round.

For BYU, the week represents the second-straight year of making the tournament. Last season the Cougars were the 12-seed, and made a run to the quarterfinals before being eliminated. Now, as a nine-seed, BYU is attempting to make another run. They’ll rely on a freshman arm to start things off in Blade Paragas who has only thrown three innings this season.

For Texas Tech it was a fight to even reach the tournament. The program seems to be trending down over the last few seasons, but a run in this year’s tournament could help start turning the bus around.

The Red Raiders have the offensive firepower to stay in any game, but the pitching has been a liability all season. If they can jump on Paragas early, Lowe might be able to go deep enough into the game to set them up well for a potential second game.

The winner of this game will face No. 8 Baylor on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.

Game 2: No. 10 Utah vs. No. 11 Kansas State

This one has the makings of a slugfest, with both the Utes and Wildcats capable of putting up big numbers. The model favors Kansas State with James Guyette on the mound, plus the offensive numbers all lean in Kansas State’s direction.

But don’t count out the Utes, who put up big numbers against Baylor last weekend despite dropping the series, which forced them to play on Tuesday instead of getting a bye to the second round.

The winner of this game will face No. 7 TCU on Wednesday at 8 p.m.

Todd Whitting Removed as Houston Head Coach

After 16 seasons, Todd Whitting will no longer be the head coach of the Houston Cougars. He was officially relieved of his duties on Sunday, as AD Eddie Nuñez elected not to retain him. Whitting spent 2026 coaching on the final year of a three-year contract extension that paid him $325,000, and he will not be owed a buyout.

The writing had been on the wall for more than a season, and it seemed as Houston’s season came to an end on Saturday that Whitting began to grapple with it.

Houston finished seven games under .500 this season, including a 7-23 record in Big 12 play to finish in last place, but while the play on the field isn’t competitive, that’s not the biggest challenge facing the program.

The biggest questions surrounding Houston right now are financial. The Cougars have not made significant investments in the baseball program in any aspect — from facilities, to coaching salaries to revenue sharing and NIL.

Since joining the Big 12, Houston’s athletic department has operated at a loss. In 2024, that deficit was roughly $8 million while in 2025 it lost $6.1 million. These deficits won’t last forever.

2026 will mark the first season Houston will receive its full revenue share from the Big 12, which will be around $40 million, a massive jump from $18 million in 2025.

How Houston decides to use those extra funds is unclear, but the likelihood is that the bulk will go to football, which on its own lost roughly $9 million in 2024. Men’s basketball is expected to get a good amount of those funds as well, as the program has won multiple conference titles since joining the Big 12 and played for a national championship two seasons ago.

In that case, it’s not unreasonable to assume that very few, if any, dollars will be allocated to baseball’s budget, which is one of the smallest, if not the smallest, in the conference.

So, who could Houston expect to target for its new head coach under these conditions?

Well, start by looking at places where head coaches have made the most of the resources they’ve been given. Lamar’s Will Davis has posted five-straight 30-win seasons with the Cardinals, including 40-win seasons in 2024 and 2025. Davis has been the head man at Lamar for 10 seasons, and has his team playing for a Southland Conference title later this week. Davis is a name to watch for the Houston job, sources have told Base 12.

Louisiana Tech’s Lane Burroughs and Arkansas State’s Mike Silva will both be names that come up in multiple searches this cycle. Of course, a buyout of any significance could become an obstacle to being hired by Houston. Silva is currently signed through 2031 with the Red Wolves, while Burroughs is entering the final year of his contract in 2027.

Arizona Shuffles Its Staff

It’s not surprising to see Chip Hale make some changes after a long season that saw Arizona lose the most games in a single season since 1995. After five years on staff, hitting coach Toby DeMello will not return in 2027. D1Baseball’s Kendall Rodgers was first to report the news.

DeMello was originally hired in 2021 as a volunteer assistant coach, being promoted to assistant coach in 2023. Prior to his time in Tucson, DeMello spent three seasons at Sacramento State.

The Wildcats struggled mightily at the plate in 2026, finishing last in the Big 12 in batting average (.256), slugging percentage (.398), on-base percentage (.340), runs scored (270) and RBIs (251).

Some of the regression was to be expected after the Wildcats lost close to 10 total WAR from it’s 2025 Omaha squad. However, many of the transfers Hale and Co. brought in didn’t perform nearly to the level at their previous stops, nor did several of the key returners.

Not to mention the injuries. Easton Breyfogle suffered a shoulder injury in early march that required surgery, taking him out for the remainder of the season. Several other players missed key amounts of time, and eventually Arizona turned its attention to getting many of its impressive freshmen consistent playing time.

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