This article is part of our College Baseball Picks series.
College Baseball Picks Today: March 9, 2024
The #12 Duke Blue Devils did not disappoint Friday, as they took down #1 Wake Forest. It's kind of hilarious how bad the starting pitching matchup was between two guys who are almost definite first rounders in this summer's draft. It was a statement win for Duke that proved their legitimacy.
The Saturday card isn't very glamorous though. While I would like to follow my original projection for that series and take Wake for the game two bounceback, I'm not laying -190, even with Chase Burns on the mound.
Instead, we're going to the Lone Star State for a Big 12 showdown.
Sports fans in NC can look forward to North Carolina sports betting officially going live this coming Monday, March 11. RotoWire has the intel on the latest North Carolina betting promos, including the upcoming BetMGM North Carolina bonus code.
Texas Longhorns (+100) @ Texas Tech Red Raiders (-130)
I don't know if any of you saw what happened in last night's game, but picture it like you saw your favorite team lose in the Super Bowl, then you hop on Madden with that team and exact revenge by winning 100-0. The Longhorns had a lot of frustrations to take out after being swept last weekend and losing to the Texas A&M in the midweek. Texas threw the Red Raiders a beating so bad that I will question TTU's manhood if they don't come out and even the series. After losing 22-8 and allowing TWENTY HITS, Tech needs to get back in the win column.
While it's unconfirmed, we may be seeing freshman Mac Heuer for the Red Raiders. In the small sample size of work he has had, he's been pretty solid with his 2.61 ERA and no walks allowed. The Texas offense has been pretty bad overall, so the onslaught of 22 runs is an anomaly. They probably ran out of runs to score. With TTU using six different arms in the opener last night, they'll need Heuer to give them at least five or six innings. It's a ball park that plays small at times, definitely last night, especially when the wind was whipping around like yesterday. It will be extremely important for Heuer to keep the ball down and in the yard today.
Via the Longhorns site, they project Cody Howard to toe the rubber opposite Heuer. Howard has been decent this season with a 3.29 ERA, but he was one of the prime culprits last Sunday that allowed Vanderbilt to execute a historic comeback after being down 11-3. He allowed five earned runs and six hits in 4.2 innings of work. One would think a rebound is likely coming, but Howard isn't an experience pitcher with only having 22.2 innings in his collegiate career. Plus, this TTU offense is no joke. Coming into the weekend, they were first in runs scored (163), second in on-base percentage (.488), and third in the country in batting average (.364). Out of eight players with at least 30 at bats, six of them are hitting over .300.
It's the perfect spot for Texas Tech to right the ship. Usually when a team scores so many runs the night before, they are a little slow the next day. Based on the line movement that has favored Tech thus far, sports books think they should be favored as well.
College Baseball Expert Pick
- Texas Tech ML -130
