Last weekend in college baseball fit the billing of March Madness as we saw multiple top 25 teams lose series, and the biggest of them all helped propel a team to the "Rocky Top."
With the new landscape in place, we trek on into week seven of the season, and this Tuesday's slate is as big as any. So, let's build off our 5-1 week and stay hot with today's best bets.
College Baseball Best Bets
NC State vs. East Carolina, 4:30 p.m. ET
The Wolfpack showed they still have some fight left in them as they got a much-needed series sweep over Georgia Tech. NC State's offense got back into the swing of things as it outmuscled one of the best offenses in the country on their own turf.
Tommy "Tanks" White and James Groover III continue to lead the way, hitting .359 and .370, respectively.
ECU has been a bit of a disappointment as it began the season ranked but has struggled to stay afloat. The Pirates have dropped series' to Bryant, UNC and the College of Charleston. Getting an NC State team that is starting to heat up is not what they need at the moment.
The Wolfpack will also have the advantage on the bump in this one as it will be a bullpen game for both sides. However, the Pack's bullpen has been lights-out of late as they held the Yellow Jackets to just one run over 13 innings of work over the weekend.
Ride the hot team in this one and back the Wolfpack.
Pick: Nc State ML -140
San Francisco vs. Oregon, 7 p.m. ET
The Oregon Ducks are winners of nine of their last 11 and enter this midweek matchup fresh off a series win over USC.
Oregon has been tearing the cover off the ball this season as it has a .337 team batting average and has hit 40 home runs in 23 games.
The Ducks' lineup is going to be like a school of sharks that smell blood in the water against this San Francisco pitching staff. The Dons may be two games over .500, but it has come against weaker competition, and their staff numbers are still not pretty.
They'll enter with a 5.20 team ERA and have given up double-digit runs on three separate occasions this season. Oregon should roll in this one, and it could look like extended batting practice.
Take the over as the Ducks could cover this themselves.
Pick Over 13.5
UC Santa Barbara vs. UCLA, 9 p.m. ET
The Bruins are a very young team loaded with upside, and the upside has shown through against some elite competition. UCLA enters this matchup after taking a series from a red-hot Arizona program that was ranked 11th in the country.
The Bruins are looking to ride that momentum into tonight's matchup with UC Santa Barbara. The Guachos can't be overlooked here as they are the cream of the crop in the Big West. UCSB's hot start stemmed from tremendous work on the mound this season, as it has a 2.93 team ERA.
Tonight's matchup has all the making of a pitching duel as the Bruins' Kelly Austin will hook up against UCSB's JD Callahan. Kelly has been solid in five starts this season, posting a 3.00 ERA with a 0.97 WHIP.
Callahan has shown flashes as opposing batters are hitting just .163 against him, but has struggled with his command through 12 innings of work.
While the arms are quality, the bats are not. UCLA is hitting just .252 as a team, and UCSB is not much better at .269. So expect these respective staffs to duel and make runs come at a premium.
Pick: Under 9
