Podcast: Division 1 college baseball preview with Base Path hosts

Boston College will open the 2023 season on Friday, Feb. 17, at Pepperdine. (Joe Sullivan/BC Athletics)

The college baseball season is upon us, and hosts Dan Guttenplan and Matt Feld break down the D1 college baseball landscape just days ahead of the start of the 2023 season.

With 10 New England D1 programs set to kick off the season on Friday, Feb. 17, we go through NEBJ’s top 10 ranking starting with New England’s top team, UConn.

In pursuit of an elusive trip to Omaha for the College World Series, the UConn staff has been as active as any New England program in bringing in transfers over the last two seasons. Only 11 players on the UConn roster are in-state recruits.

“I don’t necessarily disagree with the strategy of Connecticut,” Feld said. “They’re trying to play with the best programs in the country now. They’re trying to prove that they’re not just the best program in New England, but they can beat UVA, they can beat Vanderbilt, they can beat Tennessee, South Carolina or Ole Miss. They’re trying to find the best players in that given year that are going to give them that opportunity to do that. So, I don’t find a lot of faults with the roster construction strategy of the UConn coaching staff.”

Boston College is heading into a pivotal year for the program — a season after the dedication of the Pete Frates Center. BC now has facilities that rival that of any ACC school. The Eagles will look to improve on last year’s 5-25 record in the ACC during coach Mike Gambino’s 13th season as head coach.

“I think players and coaches around the league and people at Boston College, they’ve got great respect for Mike Gambino,” Feld said. “The players I’ve talked to that have played for him have great respect for him. He did so much to build the Frates facility and kind of spearhead that brand new baseball field as well to go with it. I think you have to give him a year or two now. With the new facilities built, I think you’re going to attract better players from the Northeast in particular because of the resources that they have at their disposal.”

Both Guttenplan and Feld identified UMass Lowell as the D1 program on the rise.

“I feel like the transfer from Division 2 to Division 1 would have been an easy time to change coaches,” Feld said. “They stuck with Ken Harring, and I think it’s starting to pay off. When you look at the players they’re recruiting, it’s positive. It’s a team that’s going to hit. Their lineup can grind you out. They were fourth in the country in stolen bases last year. This is a team that can compete for a conference championship.”

Listen to the entire podcast.

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