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We have an incredible weekend of games on our hands with many spectacular matchups. Two in-state rivals will match up as we have battles of the ACC and SEC between Miami and Florida and Clemson and South Carolina. We also have three round robins at Globe Life Field, Dodger Stadium, and Minute Maid Park. This weekend of college baseball is going to be electric. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.
We have 17 bets that were posted last night for today in our Premium Discord for our members. If you want all my college baseball plays, I post all my bets in our Premium Discord daily. Use code CASEY to get 10% off any MLB Premium subscription, and you will also receive my daily bets.
This article will focus on money lines, run lines, totals, and often parlaying teams to get better odds. Not all books have college lines, so DraftKings Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook will be my primary books. If you find a line in another book, feel free to use that as well. With no further adieu, here are my favorite bets for Friday, March 1, 2023.
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Today's College Baseball Betting Picks
Texas State (5-3) @ Houston (6-2)
Projected Starters - Bobcats: Austin Eaton | Cougars: Jaxon Jelkin
Our first-weekend matchup occurs between the Texas State Bobcats and the Houston Cougars. This game is the first of the Astros Foundation College Classic at Minute Maid Park. All round-robin games are accessible on the Astros live stream on YouTube.
The Cougars out of the Big 12 will send Jaxon Jelkin to the bump. Jelkin enters his third season start with a 0-0 record, a 3.24 ERA, and a 1.20 WHIP. Jelkin is a junior college transfer out of South Mountain CC who will run his fastball in the mid-90s with an elite slider and changeup. The underlying numbers for Jelkin look even better as he enters today's start with a 36.1% K%, 2.8% BB%, and a 1.43 SIERA.
The Bobcats will also send their ace, Austin Eaton, to the mound this afternoon. Eaton possesses a 1-1 record, a 7.11 ERA, and a 1.89 WHIP in his first two starts this year. Eaton is another junior college transfer, this time out of Navarro (TX). He will pitch in the mid-90s but has struggled with command in the early going, posting just five strikeouts and six walks in only 6 2/3 IP.
They are led on offense by Chase Mora, who broke out as a freshman for the Bobcats after hitting 17 HR, 57 RBI, and posting a 1.035 OPS. Mora has struggled to find his footing in the early going. He's slashing .200/.573/.300 to start the season with 1 HR. Ryne Farber .556/.684/.704 and August Ramirez .429/.478/1.048 have carried the load offensively in the early parts of the season as the Bobcats wait for Mora to get it going.
Houston is red hot on this side of the ball as they have scored under seven runs in only one game this year, including a 27-run performance against Prairie View A&M earlier this season at Schroeder Park. As a team, Houston is slashing .330/.454/.526 and has already hit 12 HR and scored 82 R in eight games.
Jelkin is the better arm in this matchup, and the Cougars offense is on fire now. They are playing a game in their backyard at Minute Maid Park. I love the Cougars at plus money.
Pick: Houston Moneyline (+100) DraftKings Sportsbook
Today's College Baseball Betting Picks
Arizona State (5-3) @ #7 Texas A&M (8-0)
Projected Starters - Sun Devils: Thomas Burns | Aggies: Ryan Prager
We have another game in a big league ballpark between the Texas A&M Aggies and The Arizona State Sun Devils. This time, the games will be at Globe Life Field, home of the defending World Series champs, the Texas Rangers. All games are on FloBaseball as part of their paid subscription package.
Texas A&M is led by their high-powered offense, lined with stars. None bigger than left-handed slugger Jace LaViolette. LaViolette slashes .433/.514/1.167 with 6 HR and 18 RBI in only eight games. He is one of the rising stars of our game and a sure-fire top-ten pick in next year's MLB draft.
His counterpart Braden Montgomery, a Stanford transfer and a two-way star, forms one of the best one-two punches in college baseball. Montgomery is slashing .393/.514/.857 with 13 HR and 12 RBI early this season.
On the bump for the Aggies this evening will be Ryan Prager. Prager is 2-0 this season with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.69 WHIP in 11 2/3 IP. The southpaw enters today's start with a 46.3% K%, 2.4% BB% and a 0.20 SIERA. To say he has been elite this season is an understatement.
Opposing him in the other dugout will be Arizona State ace Thomas Burns. The Freshman out of Wisconsin, Burns has been excellent in his own right. He will throw a mid-90s fastball and has shown composure in two starts this year, posting a 1-0 record with a 2.89 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. He also has a 42.9% K%, 5.7% BB%, and a 0.76 SIERA. These numbers are all elite, but something tells me this spot may be a little big for the Freshman.
Pick: Texas A&M Moneyline (-180) DraftKings Sportsbook
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Today's College Baseball Betting Picks
#10 Clemson (7-1) @ #19 South Carolina (8-1)
Projected Starters - Tigers: Billy Barlow | Gamecocks: Eli Jones
We had the battle of North Carolina last week between ECU and UNC. This week, we get the battle of South Carolina between the Clemson Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks. This is one of baseball's coveted annual three-game sets and my favorite series this weekend. All games can be found on ESPN+.
I am very high on South Carolina this season and lower than the public on Clemson, so I will be backing the Gamecocks this weekend. Like the North Carolina series, this series takes place in three different ballparks. The first game will take place at the home of the Gamecocks at Founders Park, followed by Saturday's game at the neutral Segra Park. Clemson will host on Sunday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
If you remember the Florida series at Founders Park last season, this ballpark was rocking. I expect the same type of energy tonight for the Gamecocks to feed off.
The Gamecocks are led by one of college baseball's best offenses. They are slashing .285/.474/.464 with 11 HR through nine games. Stars are littered up and down this order. Ethan Petry and Cole Messina were both pre-season all-Americans. Petry is slashing .357/.561/.714 with 3 HR. Messina has struggled to get it going early, but his impact goes much deeper behind the plate leading the pitching staff. Gavin Casas, little brother to Triston Casas of the Boston Red Sox, is another left-handed power threat in the middle of the order.
Clemson has been better than the Gamecocks on this side of the ball through two weeks. As a team, they are slashing .330/.441/.570. Cam Cannarella is one of the nation's premier leadoff hitters and a top-three pick in next year's draft. He has been electric to start the year, slashing .517/.576/.759 with 2 HR. He is one of my favorite players to watch.
The Tigers will send Billy Barlow to the rubber tonight. Clemson has struggled on the mound to start the year with a team 4.62 ERA. Barlow is 1-1 with a 6.43 ERA and a .355 BAA. Barlow will pitch in the low 90s with a lot of arm-side run. He will mix in a mid-80s slider and a changeup. If he doesn't figure it out soon, this Gamecocks offense is too elite not to do damage.
The Gamecocks veteran ace Eli Jones will get the rock tonight in game one of the rivalry. Jones is 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA and a 0.33 WHIP this season. He has a 24.2% K%, 0.0% BB%, and a 2.05 SIERA. Jones will sit in the mid-90s and throw five pitches to both righties and lefties.
The Gamecocks staff has been elite on the mound so far this season. They have a 2.40 ERA and 85|33 K|BB to start the season. Considering how potent this offense is, if this team pitches like this all season, they will be in Omaha by the season's end.
I see the Gamecocks being way too much at home for Clemson with the struggling Billy Barlow on the bump.
Pick: South Carolina Moneyline (-135) DraftKings Sportsbook
Thank you for reading our College Baseball Bets saga. If you have any questions, you can message me or tweet me on Twitter @CaseyW22. Most games are accessible on ESPN+, but if you have trouble finding them, head to each team's athletics website, and you can follow the games on live stats or even sometimes free live streams. Make sure to sign up for a Premium MLB pass to access all college baseball bets. Good luck, RotoBallers!
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