The Backyard Bullpen

This week we bring you the second weekend of the Backyard SEC where we take a closer look at how SEC Teams performed across the world of college baseball this past weekend. This was another incredibly solid weekend for SEC baseball, we saw walk off wins, some dominant pitching performances, and Tennessee actually even played their first 2 full 9 inning games! (They've hit the run rule in 5 of their 7 wins on the season). We talk about results from the entire conference and give a look ahead at some of the midweeks that we will be keeping a particularly close eye on. All things considered I think there are still a fair amount of question marks around just about every team in the conference, but as the season progresses we will see more and more answers for those questions, and I think this will once again be a dominant year for teams in the SEC.

Now that we have had a full week of college baseball under our belt it is time to take a look back at some of the highlights in midweek action along with some stat leaders from week 1 in college baseball. Along with that we also highlight some of the biggest matchups for the upcoming weekend in college baseball, and shine a light on what players I am keeping a close eye on in this weekends games. We have all that and more coming right up!

In our inaugural episode of the Backyard SEC Host Stephen Schoch takes us into the mind of college baseball players on opening day. In the SEC opening weekend is a great time as you get to play against a bunch of guys you typically don't get to in the season (unless you are Texas and Ole Miss) and it is a great time to get a lot of different players some college baseball experience. As someone who played for smaller schools most of their college career, Steve knows what its like to come to these schools and try to prove yourself on opening weekend, we typically got swept... Thats not important though, in this episode we give a recap of what all was going on in the SEC so you can always stay up to date without having to watch all 50 or so games.

In this episode I have the absolute pleasure of being joined by Texas A&M's 12th man in Hayden Schott. Hayden has one of those brains that can just take a conversation in any which direction and it was an absolute blast to get to pick his brain. We cover a wide range of topics from what it was like missing conditioning this fall, to coaches leaving the day after going to the CWS, to joining in on the school's nationwide coaching search, and so much more. This was a really fun one to record and I had even more fun going back and just listening to the dude talk!

This week we had the absolute pleasure of getting to know Oregon State University's Trent Caraway. He got off to a blazing start last season before a broken finger sidelined him for a good portion of the year. Now that he is back and healthy he is once again ready to terrorize pitchers far and wide. Hear from Trent on what it was like adjusting to the college game and what all goes into being one of the most highly touted freshmen to make it to campus last season, and what work and preparation goes into having success at a high level!

Its no secret, weird arm slot guys are this nation's backbone. If I were connected to a polygraph though, I would have to refer to Clemson's Lucas Mahlstedt as a weird arm slots guy, since this fall he started to expand his horizons and throw more than just submarine. Hear from Lucas on how he got to this point in his collegiate career, and what led him to being a weird arm slot guy in the first place. Lucas started his collegiate career at Wofford and after making a name for himself there he decided it was time to help the Clemson Tigers collect some outs and immediately made an impact for the Tigers where last season he had a whopping 28 appearances. Along the way Lucas has also helped countless other dudes make their own transition into submarine pitchers while spreading the gospel of weird arm slot guys on his instagram @SubbyUniversity. If you want to learn more about the craft and what goes into making a submarine pitcher make sure to check out his profile linked below! https://www.instagram.com/subbyuniversity/

In this episode we are joined by MLB.com's number 1 college prospect for the draft in Texas A&M's Junior outfielder Jace LaViolette. Jace immediately made a name for himself in the 2023 season as a freshman and has only continued to dominate since he found his home at A&M. Hear from him on what makes being an Aggie so special, what it was like to play in Omaha, and so much more!

In this episode I was graced by the presence of a brand new Arkansas Razorback for the 2025 season in LHP Landon Beidelschies. Landon is one of the more easy going guys you will find in the college game and I could not have been more excited to pick his brain about what goes into his baseball process. Aside from a load of talent on the mound that will definitely help the Razorbacks out this season, Landon brings an entirely different vibe with him that I think any team can benefit from in an insanely positive manner. Landon's path to the Razorbacks may not have been the smoothest, so tune in to hear about how he ended up finding his home in Arkansas and what we as fans can expect out of the Razorbacks in 2025! Support the Show, and get some merch!www.Bigdonkeybrand.com

In this episode we are joined by the always impressive Nolan Schubart from Oklahoma State. Nolan is one of the top sluggers in college baseball and I would expect to see him go pretty early in the 2025 draft. I personally would argue that he has one of the smoothest swings in college baseball, and am very glad he is not someone I would have to throw baseballs to. Nolan had a crazy recruiting journey where he was committed throughout highschool, then had a coaching change happen three weeks before he was supposed to get to campus. The good news for Nolan was that he was well connected and it certainly was no secret that he could mash baseballs. He almost immediately found a new home and was on campus in Stillwater adjusting to the college level. It hasn't always been sunshine and long homeruns for the lefty though, as he talks us through what got him out of slumps and what it was like adjusting to the level of play up in Cape Cod. Nolan has had an awesome baseball story up to this point and I personally am very excited to watch him mash this season.

In this episode host, Stephen Schoch, is joined by Georgia Tech Star Centerfielder Drew Burress to recap his insane freshman season, along with taking us through his first summer ball experiences. Drew immediately made a name for himself during his freshman season hitting 5 home runs in hist first 7 collegiate games. If that wasn't impressive enough shortly after in a game against Georgia State he only decided to swing the bat 4 times and was rewarded with 4 home runs, etching his name in the Georgia Tech record books for most home runs in a single game. He ended the season with an enormous 25 home runs, just one shy of the 26 home run record set previously by standout catcher Kevin Parada. He did have a game against Georgia where he hit a massive home run, but the game ultimately got rained out and never rescheduled, robbing him of tying the record and I think its about time Drew gets some justice! On top of all that, he also became the first ever collegiate bat designer in launching the 44pro Drew Burress Power XP BBCOR bat in a really cool NIL deal. If you want to swing what one of the best power hitters in college baseball swings, you can pick it up for the low low price of $199 here: https://44pro.com/limited-edition-bats/special-edition-drew-burress-power-xp-bbcor-baseball-bat?srsltid=AfmBOorkezHz2lZ8DuAdDiU9oDMSekOdNk5kv1f7TqRdK7TzK275isYHFollow the Backyard Bullpen on X/Twitter:https://x.com/backyardbullpodBuy Some College Baseball Merch:https://bigdonkeybrand.com/