Coming from Florida State, lefty sophomore Jamie Arnold has pushed his way into talks as one of the top pitchers in the country. Arnold started the 2024 season not allowing an earned run in his first four starts, eventually pushing this streak to 24 straight scoreless innings before allowing a run in a still-dominant 12 strikeout performance against Notre Dame. He has been added to the mid-season Golden Spikes award watch list.
Wake forest hitter Nick Kurtz refuses to stop hitting home runs. The power hitting lefty came into the season as a projected top-five pick in the MLB draft and was one of the most feared bats in college baseball. However, he struggled in the opening half of the season. Through his first 21 games, Kurtz was hitting .231 and had only hit three home runs despite batting .349 last year and launching 22 long balls in 55 games. Now, things have changed, as he has finally found his form. Kurtz has been on a home run barrage starting on March 31st versus UNC where he went deep twice and began a home run streak that he would carry all the way to April 12. He ended this streak hitting 11 HRs in only seven games.
Next up we have Jac Caglianone from the University of Florida. Recently, Cagllianone tied the NCAA record for home runs in consecutive games with long balls in nine straight games. However, he just missed the record breaking mark, going 1-3 against Vanderbilt on April 20. Despite this, Caglianone still notched 10 home runs in the past 12 games, a new high for the junior star. Caglianone is now projected to be the number two overall pick in the upcoming draft. Georgia’s all-around player Charlie Condon is projected to go number one, as the star has been smashing baseballs all season. Condon is hitting .378 with 25 home runs.
As the college baseball season nears the postseason, fans are seeing players in their peak form. Selection Sunday will be Memorial Day so the bracket and the road to Omaha will be revealed very soon.
