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SEC Baseball: 10 takeaways from opening weekend

hunterby:Hunter Shelton•02/17/25•

HunterShelton_

Syndication: The Knoxville News-Sentinel
Tennessee pitcher Liam Doyle (12) throws a pitch at the Tennessee baseball season opener against Hofstra, in Lindsey Nelson Stadium at University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., Friday, February. 14, 2025.

The opening weekend of the 2025 college baseball season is in the books. For much of the SEC, it was a return to a five months-long grind, packed ballparks, and most importantly, the win column.

The 16-team conference went 40-8 across the first three days of the season. All but one team — sorry, Missouri — is heading into the first full week of the campaign with a winning or .500 record.

It’s far too early to make any concrete claims or separate the top of the pack in the conference just yet, but many schools provided a positive snapshot of what’s to come on the diamond. Here’s 10 takeaways from the opening weekend of the season.

Rankings are via the updated D1Baseball Top 25

1. Friday starters look the part across the league

Just about every pitching staff in the conference is loaded with quality arms and will bring a frontline starter to the bump on Friday nights. That point was duly noted on opening day.

Nine game one starting pitchers threw for at least five scoreless innings: Gabe Gaeckle (Arkansas), Liam Peterson (Florida), Nic McCay (Kentucky), Kade Anderson (LSU), Pico Kohn (Mississippi State), Hunter Elliot (Ole Miss), Liam Doyle (Tennessee), Jared Spencer (Texas) and Ryan Prager (Texas A&M).

Strikeouts were plentiful, too. Those nine starters averaged over seven strikeouts and combined for just 18 total hits and 11 walks. Peterson, Kohn and Doyle each fanned 11, while Anderson and Prager each struck out eight.

The trend of excellent left-handed pitching leading the way was apparent on Friday. Anderson, Kohn, Elliot, Doyle, Spencer and Prager all bring elite stuff from the left side and are primed to terrorize middling opposing offenses.

Going deep into games is not yet a priority as teams are looking to get their entire staff innings early on in the season, but there were big outings all over the place, setting the tone for what turned out to be a positive weekend of pitching for much of the conference.

2. No championship hangover for Tennessee

Poor Hofstra.

The Pride stood no chance at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, as No. 4 Tennessee came out guns blazing to begin their College World Series title defense. The Volunteers outscored their opponent 46-2 across three games, winning 15-0, 18-1 and 13-1.

Eight Vols drove in three or more runs across the trio of wins. Six of the 21 innings played saw Tennessee score four or more runs. Seven home runs were hit, including grand slams from center fielder Hunter Ensley and right fielder Reese Chapman.

The pitching was stellar, too. Junior left-hander Liam Doyle set the tone with five scoreless innings in the opener on Friday, striking out 11 while allowing just one hit and no walks. Saturday saw right-hander Marcus Phillips allow one hit across four scoreless, while righty Nate Snead delivered three innings of one-run ball on Sunday.

It was a near-perfect start to the campaign for Tony Vitello’s squad. Tennessee takes on UNC Asheville on Tuesday before welcoming SoCon power Samford to Rocky Top for the second weekend series of the season.

3. Jace LaViolette brings the boom early for No. 1 Texas A&M

It was only a three-hit series for Texas A&M junior center fielder and Preseason National Player of the Year Jace LaViolette, but he made each one of them count.

Helping A&M sweep a feisty Elon squad that provided fits at times throughout the opening weekend, LaViolette hit three home runs. He was held in check on Friday night, but got to the Phoenix pitching staff twice on Saturday, with the latter homer being a towering grand slam high off the batter’s eye in dead-center field.

He then cranked a two-run homer in his first at-bat on Sunday, tattooing a high fastball far over the wall in right field. LaViolette finished the 2024 season with 29 homers and 78 RBIs and is clearly set to make a run at those totals in 2025.

The top-ranked Aggies will have a target on their back every time they step on the field, but LaViolette knows that the best is yet to come in College Station.

“I think that our best baseball is far, far down the road,” LaViolette told reporters after the 16-6 win on Saturday. “I think that we haven’t even scratched the surface of even playing good baseball. I think that we have a lot of room to grow and I’m just excited to see what we can do.”

Up next for A&M this week is four home games at Blue Bell Park. McNeese State comes to town on Tuesday, while Cal Poly will make the trip to Texas for three games on the weekend.

4. Welcome, Texas and Oklahoma

This summer, the Hoover Met will welcome two new faces for the SEC Tournament. Both Texas and Oklahoma are exciting additions to what’s already considered the best conference in the sport, and both teams showed out to start the season.

The No. 16 Longhorns, now led by former Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle, took part in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington. After a disappointing 4-3 loss to Louisville on Friday night, Texas rebounded in a big way, steamrolling Ole Miss 10-0 before closing the event out with a 14-8 win over No. 19 Oklahoma State.

Star right fielder Max Belyeu, third baseman Adrian Rodriguez and center fielder Will Gasparino were a three-headed monster at the dish. The trio combined for 13 extra-base hits, each hitting a pair of home runs. The pitching was impressive, too. Lefty starters Jared Spencer and Luke Harrison combined for 12 scoreless innings, striking out six each.

Expectations are lower for the Sooners in 2025, but they had no issues over the weekend in a convincing sweep of Lehigh, winning 11-3, 13-3 and 12-1. On the mound, twin junior right-handed pitchers Kyson and Malachi Witherspoon each impressed in their first starts, allowing a combined three earned runs, striking out 15 across 10 innings.

Junior catcher Easton Carmichael belted a pair of home runs and drove in eight runs across the three victories. Sophomore center fielder Jason Walk racked up seven hits, notching three in each of the last two games of the series.

5. Florida pitching dominates in sweep of Air Force

No. 10 Florida’s sweep of Air Force was far from unexpected, but the starting pitching that the Gators received will leave confidence through the roof in Gainesville.

Right-hander Liam Peterson got the ball rolling on Friday, delivering six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out 11. Righty Jake Clemente also completed six innings in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday, fanning eight while allowing two earned runs on three hits. Left-hander Pierce Coppola capped things off with a 12-strikeout showing in his debut, giving up one hit and no runs in five innings.

Not only was the UF trio effective, but it also filled the strike zone and got ahead in counts. Of the 221 pitches thrown by the three starters, 157 were strikes, good for a 71-percent rate. To boot, the five Florida relievers that appeared during the series allowed just six hits and two earned runs.

Three home runs and a pair of doubles from junior catcher Brody Donay powered the Gators offense, but a stout effort on the mound set the pace for a clean weekend of baseball at Condron Family Ballpark. UF plays a midweek game at Jacksonville before hosting Florida A&M for one and Dayton for three this week.

6. Ole Miss leaves Arlington on a positive note

Ole Miss’ best chance at racking up quality victories before conference play came this weekend, as it battled three ranked teams once each in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown in Arlington.

While a 10-0 run-rule defeat to Texas got away from the Rebels on Saturday, Mike Bianco’s group bookended the event with two big wins. Behind a staunch start from returning lefty Hunter Elliot, Ole Miss fought past then-ranked Arizona for a gritty 2-1 win to begin the season on Friday. It then was on the right side of a run-rule on Sunday, pounding No. 14 Clemson 15-5 in seven innings.

Sunday’s offensive outburst witnessed four home runs, two of which came off the bat of second baseman Luke Hill. Left fielder Ryan Moerman pulled a three-run homer in the top of the first, setting the tone for a 13-hit day against one of the top programs in the ACC.

The Rebels will play their next 13 games at home and have a real chance to stack wins ahead of what will be a grueling SEC slate. A 2-1 showing at Globe Life Field is an excellent start as Ole Miss looks to return to a Regional for the first time since 2022.

7. Vanderbilt wins twice out West

Vanderbilt was the marquee name in the MLB Desert Invitational and Tim Corbin’s club left Arizona with a pair of wins over two solid mid-major programs. The box scores may not have always shown it, but the Commodores barreled the baseball all weekend.

Junior lefthander JD Thompson struck out six batters in four-and-two-thirds scoreless innings against Grand Canyon on Friday. The Commodores piled on 10 hits and snuck out a 4-3 win. They then fell to No. 23 Nebraska in a tight 6-4 contest on Saturday, unable to get many hard-hit balls to drop.

Thanks to an eighth-inning grand slam by first baseman Riley Nelson on Sunday, the Dores left the Grand Canyon State with a winning record, besting a game UC Irvine squad, 9-8. Righty Cody Bowker struck out six in four scoreless innings to begin his 2025 campaign.

Both Nelson and star junior RJ Austin had six hits across the weekend. Vandy immediately gets back to work on Monday for the first of two midweek games against Air Force, then hosts Saint Mary’s for three games on the weekend, weather permitting.

While not the most impressive pair of wins on paper, Vandy showed some positives at the plate in the desert.

8. The big dogs take care of business

None of the top programs in the country will get credit for beating up on mid-majors to start the season, but losing some of those games can come back to haunt when the postseason rolls around. Most of the SEC handled its business to start the season.

So far, eight SEC teams swept their first series of the season. Arkansas, currently 3-0, is going for its fourth win over Washington State on Monday. Across 27 games, those teams (Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, LSU, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Mississippi State) averaged over 11 runs per game.

Thanks to a mix of bats getting hot early and some suspect pitching from opponents, there weren’t many chances for upsets. Lipscomb took a game from Kentucky, Holy Cross defeated Auburn on Saturday and No. 8 Georgia dropped its finale against UNC Wilmington on Sunday.

9. Mizzou face early struggles in Puerto Rico

Missouri took part in one of the more interesting early-season tournaments over the weekend, playing in the inaugural Puerto Rico Challenge. The Tigers picked up a nice 11-7 victory over usual Big East champion UConn on Saturday, but the first and last game of the event made for a less-than-ideal start to the year for Kerrick Jackson’s squad.

On Friday, Mizzou fell 10-0 in a non-competitive showing against Penn State where it accumulated just two hits. On Sunday against Stetson, the Tigers allowed five runs late in what ended as a tough 9-7 loss. While the bats got going in the final two games of the weekend, the pitching was inferior, allowing 35 hits and 26 runs.

It’s far too early to send the Tigers down the road, but they were picked to finish last in the conference by the league’s coaches and confidence won’t be through the roof in Columbia following the first three outings of the year. Mizzou will stay on the road, play a midweek game at UCF on Wednesday and then take part in the Andre Dawson Classic in Vero Beach, Fla. against some of the top HBCUs in the country this weekend.

10. Auburn’s Cade Belyeu hits emotional home run

The story of the weekend took place on Friday night at Plainsman Park in Auburn.

It was an emotional night for the sophomore outfielder Cade Belyeu, to say the least. Earlier in the day, Belyeu’s mother, Staci, passed away following a battle with breast cancer. After deciding to play, he delivered a memorable moment in the sixth inning.

The lefty smoked an 0-1 off-speed pitch over the wall in right-center for his first home run of the season:

“One of the most inspiring things I have seen in 32 years,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said after the game. “That is the story line of this ball game, regardless of outcome or result. Staci wanted her son to play. I didn’t know how it would go, but he played an amazing game. It was pretty incredible.”

Auburn won the game 4-1 and took two of three from Holy Cross to open the season. Belyeu, an SEC All-Freshman selection in 2024, went 6-12 in the series, driving in two runs and also stealing five bases.