For one year, another tournament stole the spotlight from the Houston College Classic, as the 2008 USD Tournament attracted flocks of scouts to see top-flight pitchers such as Brian Matusz, Aaron Crow, Tanner Scheppers and Tyson Ross. Undoubtedly Minute Maid Park still had the better crowds and the more intense atmosphere, and this year the Houston tournament has reclaimed the best field, as well. Five of the nation's top 10 teams, plus a good Houston Cougars club, will face off over three days at the home of the Astros.
"For fans and for scouts, this is probably as good as it can get," said Baylor coach Steve Smith, whose team also played in the tournament in 2005 and 2007. "There are a lot of outstanding clubs and players from all over the country. When it's this loaded, coaches can scratch their heads about whether they should be in it or not this early in the year. But when players go to college to play college baseball, they want to play the best. They want to play great teams in great venues in front of great fans, and this event offers all of that."
Rice and Houston have played in the Classic every year since its inception in 2004 (when it was called the Minute Maid Classic). Owls coach Wayne Graham has seen some awfully good teams come through the event -- 2007 sticks out, when the top-ranked Owls opened up against David Price and a loaded Vanderbilt club, and Arizona State and Texas A&M also finished the season ranked among the nation's top 12 teams -- but he's never seen a field like this year's.
"It looks like the best Minute Maid tournament ever," Graham said. "The kids, they're playing in a major league venue, and it's exciting for them. It's always exciting to play good competition. In my old age, I don't want to go to the field and play a team we're going to beat 20-0. I want to go to the field and play good competition. It may not be good for job security, but it sure is a lot more fun."
Here's a look at a few of the Classic matchups that figure to be the most fun:
No. 1 Texas A&M vs. No. 5 UC Irvine
The first game of the weekend (Friday at 1 p.m.) is a dandy, as the top-ranked Aggies take on the fifth-ranked Anteaters. This game features two of the nation's fiercest left-handers in A&M's Brooks Raley (1-0, 1.50) and UCI's Daniel Bibona (1-0, 1.17) the latter of whom carried a no-hitter into the eighth in the season-opener against Hawaii. Both teams also use pressure offenses, though the Aggies have considerably more explosive bats, while the 'Eaters out-execute just about everyone. This will be the first meeting between these two programs, and it should be a treat.
No. 6 Baylor vs. No. 9 UCLA
This Saturday game pits Baylor sophomore right-hander Shawn Tolleson (1-1, 7.50) against UCLA freshman sensation Gerrit Cole (1-0, 0.00). Tolleson has a great arm and could be a top-two-rounds draft pick as a redshirt sophomore this June, but Cole is something else altogether. Cole, an unsigned first-round pick of the Yankees and the nation's No. 1 ranked freshman, used a 94-97 mph fastball that touched 98, an 85-88 mph slider and an 81 mph changeup to dominate UC Davis in his collegiate debut.
"We get Gerrit Cole -- and I like our chances against that better than against the guy throwing 84," Baylor coach Steve Smith said. "We hit in our intrasquads all the time -- we knock our guys pretty good. Then we get in games and nobody's throwing like Kendal [Volz], so I think it's an adjustment. I think some of our guys will be a little more comfortable playing some of these power arms."
No. 10 Rice vs. No. 1 Texas A&M
The Saturday night game traditionally draws the biggest crowds at Minute Maid, largely because it usually pits Rice against either Texas or Texas A&M. This year it'll be the Aggies, who figure to throw junior right-hander Alex Wilson against Rice ace Ryan Berry (0-0, 9.64). Graham said he's leaning toward flipping his top two starters so that Mike Ojala (0-0, 1.42) goes Friday night against UCLA and Berry goes Saturday. The reason is because he wants catcher Diego Seastrunk to have a day off from catching in the middle of the series, and he wants freshman Craig Manuel to catch Berry. The junior right-hander was hit hard in his 2009 debut, but he has experience pitching on a big stage and against Texas A&M, which he faced in super regionals each of the past two years.
"They should have a huge crowd for that A&M game Saturday night," Graham said. "We could have over 20,000 fans Saturday night."
One talent evaluator who was at Wilson's A&M debut against Wright State last weekend reported, "Alex Wilson is the real deal. He was 94-95 with a wipeout slider and good command." Wilson struck out 14 and allowed just one walk and three hits over 6 2/3 shutout innings.
"The Aggies, of course, are really loaded, especially now that it appears Wilson will be everything they hoped," Graham said. "They were already good without him, and they've got a real chance to do something if they've got enough offense."
For more information on college baseball, check out Baseball America.