Division I college baseball is officially back, and opening weekend did not disappoint. There was the annual tournaments in Arizona, Texas, and Florida, while Coastal Carolina brought in Duke and Indiana to outscore George Mason a combined 58-8, only to see the Patriots bounce back on Tuesday afternoon and clobber Coppin State 21-2. We saw wild upsets with none bigger than St. John’s heading down to Gainesville and knocking off Florida.

There may not have been a cooler moment than seeing Parker Byrd make his college debut after having part of his right leg amputated following a boating accident in July 2022. He became the first player in NCAA Division I history to play in a game with a prosthetic leg.

What. A. Moment. 🤟🏴‍☠️@parkerbyrd11 pic.twitter.com/qqkzVjfktj

— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) February 16, 2024

All the feels as the Byrd family watched @parkerbyrd11 step into the batters box for the first time 🥹🤟 pic.twitter.com/G5h3kwR7wG

— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) February 17, 2024

On the other side of the country, we saw Matt Masciangelo wore SEVEN hit by pitches in a Sacramento State’s opening day double header, then got hit again in his first trip to the plate in game three.

𝙉𝙊𝙏 1, 𝙉𝙊𝙏 2, 𝙉𝙊𝙏 3…
But how about 7? Sacramento State's Matt Masciangelo was a hit… err… was hit… by a pitch seven times in eight plate appearances in his Hornet debut against Loyola Marymount on Friday… #StingersUp pic.twitter.com/U4enqrAQwD

— Sac State Baseball (@SacStBaseball) February 17, 2024

On the bump, AJ Russell, Chase Burns, and Cam Leiter all really showed had excellent debuts to the season, while Oregon State put college baseball on notice with their incredible freshman third baseman Trent Caraway. He had a double and a home run in the first three pitches he saw as a collegiate player. His teammate, and potential 1-1 pick come July, Travis Bazzana was not about to be out done, as he immediately went yard right after Caraway did.

Here were my takeaways in terms of the players themselves I was watching this past weekend:

Oregon State

Travis Bazzana – 2B – Quick bat with some natural launch angle in the swing along with elite bat speed leads to his natural plus power. Showed incredible range running down a foul ball well behind first base. Future is still certainly at second base, but could be very good defender there and the bat plays everywhere.

Trent Caraway – 3B – While he is a mature freshman, will be a sophomore eligible player next season, he shows it as he may be the most polished freshman in the country. Wasted no time adapting to the college game, gets arms extended well but clears the zone well and won’t get beat by velo.

Tennessee

AJ Russell – RHP – First eight outs recorded came via the strikeout, most on the fastball. It was running a ton with plenty of sink and topped out at 98 while sitting 94-95. The slider and change were inconsistent, but the fastball was so dominant he didn’t need a secondary offering as he went 4.1 innings and struck out ten while allowing just three hits.

Billy Amick – 3B – Amick traded shades of orange in his transfer from Clemson to Tennessee, and he made an immediate impact. He had four hits on the weekend, homering twice and tripling once. He was driving the ball pull side with ease and showed good balance at the plate.

UCSB

Zander Darby – SS – UCSB did not have a great weekend at Campbell, dropping two of three, but Darby showed well. He went 4/13 with three home runs and scored five times. The lefty bat has a healthy leg kick, but gets it down early and has quick hands to the zone. He has a great bat plane that will allow him to make a ton of contact and the bat speed to drive the ball. Darby is a guy who will be climbing draft ranks all season.

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