2024 Baseball Season

[SFspidur]

Oddly, he's for the 2026 season. One more year at F&M and then coming to us. Looks like he'll get a medical redshirt for this past season (his junior campaign) as he only pitched in 3 games before suffering a UCL sprain and missing the rest of the season, so that's why he'll get a grad year.

This grad transfer stuff is bizarre.

 

[MDspider8]

Here's a grad transfer for next year - Tyler Rigot from D3 Susquehanna.

 

[MDspider8]

Conklin will spend his last year at D2 West Chester.

 

[MDspider8]

Also, didn't realize the portal window officially closed last week. Glad we didn't lose too many guys of consequence this year. The A10 continues to be devastated by the portal as a whole, made evident by this thread. Dayton in particular got crushed, but their coach did leave to take an assistant job at Vandy.

 

[AnnapSpider]

Also, didn't realize the portal window officially closed last week. Glad we didn't lose too many guys of consequence this year. The A10 continues to be devastated by the portal as a whole, made evident by this thread. Dayton in particular got crushed, but their coach did leave to take an assistant job at Vandy.

View embedded media

I hate to see this happen to any school. The NCAA has really (f word up) college sports.

 

[MDspider8]

VCU skipper LeCroy is taking the open Liberty job. That’s a big blow to them with just a month until kids are on campus. You’ll see some late portal entries here.

 

[GKiller]

VCU skipper LeCroy is taking the open Liberty job. That’s a big blow to them with just a month until kids are on campus. You’ll see some late portal entries here.

View embedded media

Interesting move. Conf USA is solid baseball league so step up but probably more a reflection on weakness of A10.

 

[MDspider8]

Jared Sprague-Lott was just drafted by the Athletics in the 9th round. Congrats to him! Still counts as a #ProSpider in my book.

 

[AnnapSpider]

Interesting move. Conf USA is solid baseball league so step up but probably more a reflection on weakness of A10.

Was VCU a constant conference top team during his leadership?

 

[MDspider8]

Checking in on some summer ball performances - DJ Pacheco is slashing .304/.430/.598 with 8 HR and 24 RBI through 31 games in the New England Collegiate League. He was recently named a NECL all-star for his efforts. The game will be on ESPN+ this Sunday at 5pm ET. Some other notables:

• Jordan Jaffe is slashing .247/.307/.430 with 2 homers, 7 doubles, and 2 triples in the Alaskan League.
• Aidan O'Keefe sports a .386 batting average with 19 BB to just 8 K's in 16 games in the Hamptons League.
• Jack Arcamone is slashing .286/.368/.341 with 20 RBI in 24 games in the Futures Collegiate League.
• Chase Topolski has pitched to a 2.20 ERA with 11 K's in 16.1 innings in the NECL.
• Incoming grad transfer Tyler Rigot is pitching for the Boone Braves in the Costal Plain league. He's posted a 4.43 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP with 23 K's to 12 BB in 22.1 IP.
• Incoming freshman Paul Witkop has a 2.03 ERA and picked up 2 saves in 13.1 IP in the Cal Ripken league.

Pacheco Selected as NECBL All-Star Starter - University of Richmond Athletics

RICHMOND, Va. – Richmond baseball outfielder DJ Pacheco was named as a starter for the New England Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game, the organization announced.

richmondspiders.com

 

[KE Spider]

Jaffe playing in the Alaskan League intrigued me. Didn't expect much BB up there, so looked it up, Five member league with two teams in Anchorage. Jaffe plays for the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks currently in the league basement at 8-18, ouch. Play the Mat-Su Miners tonight. Go Chinooks! Go Jordan! Hit a few frozen ropes.

 

[Wood Hall]

Jaffe playing in the Alaskan League intrigued me. Didn't expect much BB up there, so looked it up, Five member league with two teams in Anchorage. Jaffe plays for the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks currently in the league basement at 8-18, ouch. Play the Mat-Su Miners tonight. Go Chinooks! Go Jordan! Hit a few frozen ropes.

The Alaska League is a shadow of what it used to be. It's a great experience, but not great competition anymore.

 

[SFspidur]

Rickabaugh is playing on the same team.

Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks

Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks

cerchinooks.com

 

[AnnapSpider]

The Alaska League is a shadow of what it used to be. It's a great experience, but not great competition anymore.

Does that matter as long as they are playing in leagues during the summer? They’re still getting batting and field playing experience.

 

[Wood Hall]

Does that matter as long as they are playing in leagues during the summer? They’re still getting batting and field playing experience.

I suppose not, although I'd think you'd want to play against the best competition possible.

 

[MDspider8]

The NCAA is getting rid of the 11.7 scholarship limit for D1 baseball starting in the 2025-2026 season. The rosters will now sit at 34 players with NO limit to the amount of scholarships that can be offered, meaning a school could theoretically have all 34 players on scholarship if they wanted/can work it out with Title IX. Pretty exciting for the overall growth of the sport as a whole.

Realistically, this is really going to shift things at the high-major level, and unfortunately for us, I think will even further widen the disparity between mid/low major programs and the big boys. We know we aren't even at the current limit of 11.7 scholarships right now (believe the quote was "We are typically in the range of the amount of scholarships allowed"). One can hope that this rule change will initiate more funding and allow us to field better teams, but I don't see that happening.

Sources: NCAA to increase scholarships for sports, with football getting roster limit of 105 players

As part of the new revenue-sharing model, by-sport scholarship restrictions will be eliminated, and schools are permitted to offer scholarships to the entirety of their rosters.

sports.yahoo.com

College Baseball's Golden Age receives jolt with more scholarships on the way • D1Baseball

We're in the middle of college baseball's Golden Age, and the sport's situation is about to get even better with a move to allowing programs to offer full scholarships.

d1baseball.com

 

[SFspidur]

While increased scholarships is one side of the coin, the other side is the roster limits. We had 37 on the roster this year if I counted correctly, and I'm sure other programs had more, and they'll all need to drop back to 34.

This is going to have a big effect on how walk-ons are handled. For example, men's swimming is shaping up to have a roster/scholarship limit of 23 when many of the top teams currently have 35 or more on the roster. (The current scholarship limit is 9.9.)

Potentially more money for the big schools to throw around in scholarships, but with fewer roster spots overall, some of the quality recruits who might normally walk on at a top school will trickle down to lower programs.

But the biggest concern is that in a day when the SEC and Big 12 are fully funding these sports with dozens of scholarships, smaller schools will just throw in the towel and axe their minor programs.

 

[spiderstudent17]

 

[Wood Hall]

Got a nice card from the program today, team photo on the front and everyone's signature inside. I don't expect anything as a donor but a thank-you card was nice to receive. I never received anything as a donor when Woodson was the coach.

 

[Wood Hall]

Jared Sprague-Lott was just drafted by the Athletics in the 9th round. Congrats to him! Still counts as a #ProSpider in my book.

View embedded media

He has signed with the A's.

 

[spiderstudent17]

 

[MDspider8]

Looks like we've added Mauricio Rodriguez, a transfer pitcher from Rice. Played his freshman year at Georgetown, spent a year at community college, and then the last two years at Rice. Doesn't have great ratios, but did post a solid 11.8 K/9 (46 K's in 35.2 IP). His 8.07 ERA was really inflated by a few blow-up outings against top-level competition last year (LSU, Texas A&M, Tulane, etc). I'd expect better results against A10 competition.

Mauricio Rodriguez - Baseball - Rice University Athletics

Mauricio Rodriguez (4) RHP - Honors at Rice C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll, 2023 2024: Appeared in a career-high 14 games and finished fourth on the team wi...

riceowls.com

 

[Wood Hall]

Who knows if any of these new guys will pan out, but our pitching was awful last year and he's making an effort to address the problem.

 

[SFspidur]

Lorenzo is headed to D-III Franklin & Marshall, so I guess he was the player to be named later in our deal to acquire Anvar for 2025–26.

 

[AnnapSpider]

Lorenzo is headed to D-III Franklin & Marshall, so I guess he was the player to be named later in our deal to acquire Anvar for 2025–26.

View embedded media

Sounds like they have all dropped down a level.

 

[MDspider8]

After originally being committed to Houston, Elbeery has switched his pledge to Minnesota.

 

[SFspidur]

 

[SFspidur]

Picking up a pitcher from Wagner, Ryan Bilka, with two years left. Worked out of the bullpen his frosh year with a couple of ROW honors. Was elevated to Sunday starter role a month into sophomore season and was named second-team All-NEC.

 

[MDspider8]

We still don't have a full 2025 roster, but the team Instagram account tagged a few new players we didn't know about before. Conveniently, they're both grad transfers from D3 Colby College:

Cole Palmeri (C/OF) - 4 year starter at Colby who posted BIG numbers this past year - slashed an unbelievable .416/.521/.876 (yes, thats a 1.397 OPS!!!) with 11 HR, 38 RBI, and 15 2B in 32 G. He was named a D3 baseball All-American and NESCAC POY for his efforts. Have to believe he'll be an everyday player for us with those numbers.

Brady O'Brien (3B/IF) - Another 4 year starter with very solid career numbers. Has a career slash line of .333/.449/.538 and put up 46 H, 18 2B, and 31 RBI last year.

Two very exciting additions!

Cole Palmeri - 2024 - Baseball - Colby College

Cole Palmeri (9) C - Why I chose Colby: I chose Colby because of the elite combination of academics and athletics. Major: Economics with a concentration in financial

colbyathletics.com

Brady O'Brien - 2024 - Baseball - Colby College

Brady O'Brien (8) INF - Why I chose Colby: I chose Colby because Colby has an amazing coaching staff, unrivaled facilities and a great academic reputation. Major: Economics

colbyathletics.com

 

[MDspider8]

Picking up a pitcher from Wagner, Ryan Bilka, with two years left. Worked out of the bullpen his frosh year with a couple of ROW honors. Was elevated to Sunday starter role a month into sophomore season and was named second-team All-NEC.

View embedded media

Bilka was named a top-65 transfer pitcher by D1 Baseball.

 

[MDspider8]

Another 2025 on board - that makes 16(!) commitments from that class, according to Perfect Game (15 listed + Brenner Green above). 9 pitchers, 7 position players.

Perfect Game Baseball Player College Commitments

Perfect Game

www.perfectgame.org

 

[spiderstudent17]

 

[KE Spider]

Pitching was a challenge last season. Glad to see we have been loading up on pitchers.

 

[AnnapSpider]

Pitching was a challenge last season. Glad to see we have been loading up on pitchers.

I’m glad to see we’re loading up on players-period!

 

[SFspidur]

Pitt Field upgrades this offseason: all-new turf, new fence padding, expanded home bullpen, new hitting simulator. Kinda sad to see the classy brick and wrought iron fencing along the bullpens replaced with chainlink and padding, but I get why they did it.

 

[MDspider8]

Pitt Field upgrades this offseason: all-new turf, new fence padding, expanded home bullpen, new hitting simulator. Kinda sad to see the classy brick and wrought iron fencing along the bullpens replaced with chainlink and padding, but I get why they did it.

View embedded media

Totally agree - I understand why they're removing the brick pillar fencing, but it's definitely going to be a visual downgrade.

 

[SpiderTrap]

Totally agree - I understand why they're removing the brick pillar fencing, but it's definitely going to be a visual downgrade.

I guess they could have just replaced with a solid brick wall? But not sure how that would look. They have made good improvements over the years - now they just need the lights! Night games would be awesome. And this fear by the neighboring houses it will be too loud - really? Have you been to a football game or baseball game - I don't think you need to worry about that.

 

[Wood Hall]

If you're going to have a padded chain-link fence - much safer than a brick wall, I agree - then you need to put some advertising on the padding. Oregon State does this and it's a healthy boost to the budget (see link below).

Glad to see more institutional investment in baseball. Hallock said he would do this and he is living up to his promise.

Goss Stadium At Coleman Field - Facilities - Oregon State University Athletics

Goss Stadium At Coleman Field. The official facility page for the Oregon State University Beavers

osubeavers.com

 

[AnnapSpider]

I guess they could have just replaced with a solid brick wall? But not sure how that would look. They have made good improvements over the years - now they just need the lights! Night games would be awesome. And this fear by the neighboring houses it will be too loud - really? Have you been to a football game or baseball game - I don't think you need to worry about that.

With the new led lighting that is used by stadiums, lighting won’t be a problem.
Noise- we’re talking about a college baseball game. 30,000 fans at an Oriole game
only make a little noise when something exciting happens, and I’ve never heard a complaint
about noise. What is the maximum attention of a UR - maybe 1,500.
That is a bogus excuse.

 

[KE Spider]

Get sick of the "neighborhood" BS. University of Richmond was there first. If you chose to build/buy a home about it later, live with whatever the school chooses to do. You certainly don't have squatter rights so quit acting as if you do.