This article is part of our College Baseball Picks series.
College Baseball Picks for Saturday, February 15
Wow, what a wild first day. If not for Texas' absurd meltdown and UVA no-showing against Michigan, it would have been a perfect card in my college baseball VIP discord (5-2 +2.96 units). We did get the Vanderbilt boys home behind some strong pitching. I've already locked in my Day 2 slate and I'm expecting more chaos on Saturday.
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Shriners Children's College Showdown
Louisville Cardinals (+140) vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys (-180) | Total: 12.5
It was terrible to be on the wrong side of that Texas-Louisville game the Longhorns had no business losing after being in control for over eight innings. If there is a silver lining to the game that wrapped after midnight on the East Coast it's that the Cardinals have to turn around for a 4:00 p.m. ET game with Oklahoma State after using a lot of arms in what may be considered a letdown spot. For the Cowboys, it was a bummer how they yielded to Clemson in the late innings after commanding most of the game. Here we have a matchup of two teams where yesterday one of them played great for most of it and lost, and the other played bad for most of it and won. That's irony.
Oklahoma State is slated to roll with Hawaii transfer left-handed pitcher Harrison Bodendorf (4-3 record, 4.61 ERA, 64/28 K/BB in 56.2 IP, 3.60 SIERA). It's a four-pitch mix for the southpaw with a funky 3/4 arm slot; fastball, sinker, slider, change-up. He relies heavily on his change piece (threw it 36.7 percent of the time last year – his most used pitch). Bodendorf gets a lot of chases (35.9 percent) and misses (29.9 percent). The transfer has high expectations for the Cowboys, who are loaded with a lot of high-octane arms.
The lefty will see a Louisville lineup that was carved up last night by Texas' new Indiana State transfer Jared Spencer. Spencer has success mixing the fastball, slider and sinker combo. While the Cardinals have some studs in the lineup like Zion Rose and Eddie King – both over 1.000 OPS in 2024 – it's not an offense that scares me to death. Bodendorf should be able to find success on Saturday afternoon on Day 2 of the Shriners Children's College Showdown.
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If you missed the Clemson-Oklahoma State game yesterday, I pity the fool. It was a fantastic contest featuring a lot of stars. Clemson ace Aidan Knaak was untouchable the first time through the order, striking out eight of his first nine batters. However, the Cowboys started teeing off the second time through the order. To be honest, I got excited about how good this Cowboys lineup is going to be this year.
The Cowboys will see Louisville's Parker Detmers, the younger brother of Los Angeles pitcher Reid Detmers. Detmers didn't get a ton of action for the Cardinals during the 2024 season, especially starts. In his 14 appearances (18.2 IP), only two of them were starts. It was a rough go for him with a 7.23 ERA and a 17/14 K/BB ratio. Now he has to face a pissed-off Oklahoma State lineup with a lot of juice. This is the game where I believe one of my Golden Spikes horses, Nolan Schubart, hits his first homer of the season after a 1-for-4 day yesterday. Louisville used some key relievers in their thrilling win, especially star closer Tucker Biven. I like the Cowboys to do a lot of damage.
Give me Oklahoma State to bounce back.
College Baseball Best Bet Today
Pick: Oklahoma ML (-180 DraftKings)
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