Top 25 Upsets Highlights an Exciting College Baseball Opening Weekend
From top 25 upsets to standout performances, we run through the top storylines from college baseball's opening weekend.
The Weekend’s Top Stories College News & Analysis
College Player and Pitcher of the Week
Player of the Week – SS Marek Houston – Wake Forest
Stats: 10-for-14, 2B, 3 HR, 5 BB, 11 R, 13 RBI, 2 SB – .714/.7891.714 (2.503 OPS)
Pitcher of the Week – LHP Tomas Valincius – Virginia
Stats: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K
Top 25 Upset Alerts
Louisville comes away with two wins over top 25 ranked teams: Let’s start with the positives over the weekend. The Louisville Cardinals came to play at the Shriners Children’s College Showdown. They, by far, had the toughest schedule for the weekend of any team as they faced No. 14 Texas, No. 7 Clemson, and No. 18 Arizona.
Incredibly, they came away with two wins. One over Texas and the other over Arizona. It was an impressive showing. The Cardinals won in dramatic fashion over Texas as Lucas Moore walked off in the tenth inning. A stellar pitching performance from Friday night ace Patrick Forbes helped them get the W over the Longhorns.
The Cardinals struggled in game two, losing 12-3 to Oklahoma State, but bounced back in a big way on Sunday, beating Arizona 13-1. A big game from outfielder Eddie King, Jr. helped put the Cardinals on top. He went 3-for-5 in this one with a triple and three RBI. The entire team hit as four players had a multi-hit game. Overall, an excellent weekend for Louisville, and they could jump into our Top 25. A strong showing for this ACC team.
Ole Miss takes down two ranked teams, including a top 10: Boy oh boy did Ole Miss surprise at Shriners. They started the weekend by taking down the Wildcats on Friday in a close 2-1 series. As mentioned earlier, Hunter Elliott dominated Arizona, helping the Rebels get their first win over a ranked opponent this year.
On day two, Ole Miss may have tested all their luck when they got a ten-run ruled by Texas in seven innings. What was expected to be a marquee SEC matchup turned into a blowout. Riley Maddox was cruising through three innings and striking out everyone, then suddenly, Texas opened the floodgates in the second.
But that didn’t matter! The Rebels came out Sunday ready to play. They faced their highest-ranked opponent, in No. 7, and the lineup went to work. Luke Hill, the Rebels shortstop and top college prospect for the MLB Draft, went off. He finished the day 3 for 3 with four runs scored, two home runs, five RBI, and two walks in Ole Miss’ 15-5 route of Clemson.
Justin LeGuernic couldn’t throw anything to the Rebels to get them out. What could’ve turned into a bad weekend for Ole Miss ended up being a huge success.
The Cincinnati Bearcats take the series from No. 10 Duke Blue Devils: My goodness, this was the biggest upset of the weekend. The Bearcats have always been a sneaky good team, but Duke is also expected to be a powerhouse of sorts this year. Not only did Cincinnati win two out of three games, but they also won them by a landslide.
They took the first game with a score of 8-3 thanks to right-fielder Landyn Vidourek’s home run and two RBI, which was an exclamation point in the eighth inning. The bullpen also lights out in this one, going 7.1 innings while giving up just one run. Mostly thanks to Joel Pinero, who went four innings of no-run baseball.
The Bearcats lost the second game, but they still put up a fight taking it into the 12th inning. Duke’s Wallace Clark hit a one-out walk-off homer. That brought us into Sunday, and man, did the Bearcats offense show up. They beat the Blue Devils 19-5!
Kerrington Cross was the man of the hour, going 3-for-5 with four RBI. Centerfielder Donovan Ford and shortstop Charlie Niehaus joined the RBI party driving in three runs each. Just a blowout win, and this scrappy team put their name on the map with this series win.
Michigan beats the No. 3 ranked Virginia Cavaliers: This might have been one of the biggest shocks of the weekend. Granted, it’s baseball, and it is only one game, but the Michigan Wolverines went down to Puerto Rico and took out the No. 3 team in the country, the Virginia Cavaliers.
For Virginia, the lineup somewhat struggled in their first two games of the tournament. The Cavaliers trailed against the Wolverines for most of the game until Chris Arroyo, who lived in Puerto Rico as a kid, hit a two-run home run in the seventh.
The game ended in the 11th inning when All-American Mitch Voit worked a walk, and then a three-base Viginia error ended the game. It was a tough loss for the Cavaliers, but they did bounce back with a win against Villanova and Rice. This loss shouldn’t hurt them too badly.
Arizona gets swept out of the Shriners Children’s College Showdown: This a weekend Head Coach Chip Hale and the Arizona Wildcats will want to forget. They were ranked Just Baseball’s No. 18 team in the tournament. They had what may have been the most manageable schedule of all the teams this weekend and didn’t come away with a win.
It started with a close battle with Ole Miss. Friday night starter Collin McKinney looked really good and held the Wildcats offense at bay. The only problem was Ole Miss’ Hunter Elliott did the same thing to them.
Things didn’t get easier for Arizona on day two. They face No. 7 ranked Clemson and got absolutely boat raced 16-5. At one point, it looked like Arizona was going to have a fighting chance when top 2025 MLB Draft pick Brendan Summerhill hit a massive three-run home run in the seventh to make it 8-5, but Clemson ended up breaking it out in the top of the ninth scoring eight runs.
Day three brought Arizona another unranked opponent in Louisville, and as we mentioned earlier, that game also didn’t go well for the Wildcats. This weekend could see them bouncing out of our top 25, but it’s a long season, and this Big 12 team will have plenty of opportunities to right the ship.
UNLV and Xavier beat No. 25 ranked Indiana Hoosiers: It was a rough weekend for the Hoosiers down in Arizona. Indiana was a favorite in the Big Ten going into the season but struggled to show up against two unranked opponents in the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic.
It was a rough go for the Hoosier offense, which really only scored runs during their second game against Indiana. UNLV held them to two runs in game one, and Oregon State blanked them in the third game.
The only shot the Hoosier had to win was thanks to some late-inning heroics from 2025 MLB Draft prospect Jasen Oliver. He hit a three-run home run to left-center to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth against Xavier.
Unfortunately, that’d be all for nothing Xavier would answer in the top of the 10th, solidifying their 8-6 win. Indiana committed four late-inning errors that really hurt them in this one. It was a rough weekend for the Hoosiers, and they will likely see their way out of the top 25.
Top 25 Notes
No. 1 ranked and No. 2 ranked Tennessee rolled through their opponents: To no one’s surprise, the Texas A&M Aggies and Tennessee Volunteers did what they needed to do against their opponents. These SEC powerhouses came to play.
Jace LaViolette, our #1 overall college prospect for the 2025 MLB Draft, wreaked havoc for the Aggies, hitting three home runs in two days. The rotation was as good as expected, and the Aggies look strong to start the 2025 season.
The same could be said for the Volunteers. Friday night ace Liam Doyle had a deal fest against Hofstra, which showed why he was one of the most highly coveted arms in the transfer portal. He struck out eleven over five innings while giving up just one hit.
Top 2025 MLB Draft prospects Dean Curley and Andrew Fischer both got their first home runs over the weekend as well. The Volunteers are poised for another strong 2025 run.
Other News
Shriners Children College Showdown was full of action: The Shriners Children College Showdown was some can’t miss baseball. Four out of the six teams were in the Just Baseball Top 25. The weekend included not just one, but TWO top 25 upsets.
Ole Miss took down No. 18 ranked Arizona, and Louisville shocked everyone on day one taking down No. 14 Texas. The weekend also included tons of MLB Draft talent in Just Baseball’s 2025 MLB Draft Top 80 College Prospects. Be sure to check out our recaps from day one and day two.
Hunter Elliott returns to the mound for Ole Miss: One of the big news stories coming out of the Shriners Children’s College Showdown was that Hunter Elliott returned to the mound for Ole Miss. He hasn’t pitched since 2023 and absolutely dominated the No. 18 ranked Arizona Wildcats. He went 5 innings and gave up just two hits while letting across no runs and striking out three.
Drew Burress hits a massive walk-off grand slam for Georgia Tech: Burress has been a staple for the Yellow Jackets since coming to campus. The potential #1 overall college player of the 2026 MLB Draft didn’t disappoint in this opening weekend. It was an absolute thing of beauty.
Rintaro Sasaki makes his debut with Stanford: It was a massive debut out west as Rintaro Sasaki, who was expected to go #1 overall in the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization draft, got his first taste of college ball.
He fully lived up to the hype. He went 6-for-14 with two doubles and eight RBI. Four of the balls he hit were over 100 MPH. It looked to be plus power with an advanced feel for the barrel. The freshman will be an exciting one to watch this year.
Draft Watch: Who’s Making Waves?
Draft Spotlight Player of the Weekend
5-for-9, 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB
Luke Hill has always had a great feel to hit, but the power was always a question mark. Even when we interviewed Hill on On The Clock, he mentioned how tapping more into his power was a key focus for him and his game going into 2025. Hill was extremely impressive in the power department at the Shriners Children’s College Showdown.
He had five hits in nine at-bats, with three going for extra-base hits. He also launched two home runs on Sunday in Ole Miss’ 15 run route of Clemson. His quick hands and bat speed led to those homers being at 100 and 107 MPH exit velocity. Keep your eye on Hill this season; he could quickly rise up draft boards if he can sustain that power.
Other Big Performances
| Pitcher | Stats |
| LHP Jamie Arnold – Florida State | 6 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K |
| RHP Aaron Savary – Iowa | 6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K |
| LHP Joseph Dzierwa – Michigan State | 6 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 11 K |
| RHP Griffin Hugus – Miami | 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, BB, 11 K |
| LHP Liam Doyle – Tennessee | 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 K |
| LHP Ryan Prager – Texas A&M | 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K |
| LHP – Cade Obermueller – Iowa | 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 10 K |
| RHP Malachi Witherspoon – Oklahoma | 5 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 6 K |
| RHP Kyson Witherspoon – Oklahoma | 5 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K |
| RHP Gabe Gaeckle – Arkansas | 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, BB, 7 K |
| LHP Zach Root – Arkansas | 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, BB, 8 K |
| LHP Kade Anderson – LSU | 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, BB, 8 K |
| RHP Chase Shores – LSU | 5 IP, 3 H, ER, 7 K |
| Hitter | Stats |
| SS Marek Houston – Wake Forest | 10-for-14, 11 R, 2B, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 5 BB, 2 SB |
| OF Jace LaViolette – Texas A&M | 3-for-10, 4 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 4 BB, 2 SB |
| OF RJ Austin – Vanderbilt | 6-for-14, 4 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, SB |
| C Easton Carmichael – Oklahoma | 6-for-11, 5 R, 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 3 SB |
| OF Brendan Summerhill – Arizona | 3-for-11, HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, SB |
| OF Cam Cannarella – Clemson | 4-for-12, 5 R, 3 2B, RBI, BB |
| OF Max Belyeu – Texas | 8-for-14, 6 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, SB |
| OF Nolan Schubart – Oklahoma State | 4-for-10, 2 R, 2 2B, 5 RBI 4 BB |
| 1B Ethan Petry – South Carolina | 3-for-8, 4 R, 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB |
| SS Aiva Arquette – Oregon State | 5-for-10, 3 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB |
| OF Gavin Turley – Oregon State | 4-for-9, 2 R, HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB |
| OF Ethan Conrad – Wake Forest | 6-for-12, 4 R, 5 2B, 7 RBI, 2 BB, SB |
| SS Dean Curley – Tennessee | 4-for-9, 5 R, HR, 2 RBI, BB |
| SS Daniel Dickinson – LSU | 5-for-9, 5 R, 2B, HR, 7 RBI, BB, SB |
| OF Brandon Compton – Arizona State | 5-for-10, 8 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 4 BB |
Just Released: New Interviews, Reports, & Rankings
Interviews
Draft Video
Articles
- MLB Draft
- Evaluation Station: Ethan Petry by Tyler Jennings
- 2025 MLB Draft Deep Dive: Evaluating the College Catchers by JD Cameron
- College
- Shriners Children’s College Showdown: Day 1 Recap by Jared Perkins
- Shriners Children’s College Showdown: Day 2 Recap by Jared Perkins
- What You Need to Know for the 2025 College Baseball Season by Jared Perkins
What’s Ahead
Upcoming Games & Draft Watch
- Some big matchups to watch next weekend:
- #8 Oregon State vs. #3 Virginia – Friday, Feb. 21 @ 7:00 pm ET
- #24 Alabama vs. #18 NC State – Saturday, Feb. 22 @ 4:00 pm ET
- #16 Oklahoma vs. #8 Oregon State – Saturday, Feb. 22 @ 5:00 pm ET
- #5 Arkansas vs. TCU – Saturday, Feb. 22 @ 7:00 pm ET
- #3 Virginia vs. #16 Oklahoma – Sunday, Feb. 23 @ 5:00 pm ET
- Coastal Carolina vs. #18 NC State – Sunday, Feb 23 @ 2:30 pm ET
- Our interview with Wake Forest shortstop and 2025 MLB Draft prospect Marek Houston drops on Thursday!
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Written by
Jared Perkins is a College Baseball and MLB Draft Analyst for Just Baseball. He hosts the On The Clock podcast.