7 bold predictions for the 2019 college baseball season
7. UCLA finishes fourth in the Pac-12
At the top of Baseball America’s preseason poll sits three SEC teams among the top four spots. Breaking up that dominance, though, is the UCLA Bruins, the third-ranked team in the poll. And, in truth, it’s not hard to see why. They went 38-21 and made it to a Regional Final last season and return the bulk of the key pieces in their lineup, namely Chase Strumpf and Michael Toglia.
As talented as this team is, however, there is some concern about what their rotation will look like as, though talented, there is a distinct lack of experience amidst that group. Playing in a Pac-12 conference that boasts teams like the defending champion Beavers, the Stanford Cardinal and a sleeper Arizona Wildcats team, UCLA will take some lumps in 2019 and finish noticeably short of winning the conference.
6. Georgia Tech finishes as the highest-ranked team in Georgia
In the loaded SEC for the 2019 college baseball season, a team to watch is no doubt the Georgia Bulldogs. After getting back on the map last season, hosting a regional in their first tournament appearance in six years, the Bulldogs again figure to be a problem after not suffering many noticeable losses. Yet, it’ll be their out-of-conference rivals, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, that finish as the highest-ranked school in the state.
For one, Georgia playing in the SEC isn’t going to do them any favors. Again, this conference is absolutely stacked this season and, despite their experience and talent, they could ultimately end up taking plenty of lumps in conference play. On top of that, Georgia Tech is going to be a sleeper out of the ACC this year with a strong pitching rotation. While they have to replace MLB first-rounder and now-San Francisco Giant Joey Bart, the Yellow Jackets will come out and be a force in 2019.
5. UC Irvine makes NCAA Tournament Super Regionals
We’re not too far removed from seeing the UC Irvine Anteaters establish themselves as a perennial sleeper However, they missed the NCAA Tournament last year, which made it three-straight years of sitting outside the tourney field. However, the Anteaters should be able to not just break that streak in the 2019 season, but also make some noise once they get in.
Despite a change in head coach from Mike Gillespie to Ben Orloff, UC Irvine has a dangerous lineup that’s led by Christian Koss at shortstop and the top of their starting rotation is just as dangerous as well. Both Trenton Denholm and Andre Pallante are studs that can carry the Anteaters, all the way to the Super Regionals, in fact.