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USA Today
19 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
LSU baseball transfer news: Two talented freshmen enter portal
LSU baseball transfer news: Two talented freshmen enter portal Ahead of LSU baseball's regional final vs. Little Rock on Monday night, reports emerged of two Tigers entering the portal. According to On3, first baseman Ryan Costello plans to transfer. Also portalling up is infielder David Hogg II, as reported by WAFB's John Eads. Costello and Hogg were both true freshman in 2025. Costello ranked as the No. 92 overall recruit and No. 2 first baseman in the class, according to Perfect Game. Hogg ranked No. 79 overall and No. 21 at the shortstop position. Neither saw much time as the pair combined for 10 at-bats in 2025. Costello didn't record a hit, but walked four times and scored three runs. His last appearance came vs. Southeastern on April 29. Hogg saw even less time, but scored a run, drove in a run, and stole a base. Hogg's last appearance came on April 22 vs. Northwestern State. The talented freshmen were buried on the depth chart of LSU's talented in-field. The Tigers have a lot to replace in 2026, but Costello and Hogg will be looking for playing time elsewhere. Despite the portal opening, LSU's postseason marches on. LSU and Little Rock meet at 8 p.m. CT on Monday with a Super Regional appearance on the line.
Fox News
5 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Youth baseball gets MLB technology upgrade as Perfect Game partners with PitchCom
Print Close By Ryan Canfield Published May 29, 2025 PitchCom was introduced to MLB at the beginning of the 2022 season, and the communication system has quickly become prominent in the baseball world, overhauling pitcher-catcher communication. Perfect Game, a youth baseball company that promotes baseball by hosting high-quality amateur events and providing exposure for players to play at higher levels, is the first organization of its kind to partner with PitchCom, Fox News Digital exclusively learned Thursday. PitchCom emerged after the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal during their World Series run in 2017 rocked the baseball world. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON John Hankins, co-investor and co-owner of PitchCom, saw that MLB had a need for a communication device that could prevent sign stealing. The challenge was the device couldn't be vocal, and MLB officials didn't want players to wear a communication device on their bodies. Hankins came up with PitchCom, which allows a catcher to press a button on a transmitter to call pitches. The transmitter sends prerecorded audio clips to the receivers, who in turn will hear the pitch call and defensive signals. The pitcher and fielders wear the receiver in their hats and can hear what the catcher inputs, allowing for clear and secure communication safe from being stolen, unlike traditional catcher signs. When Major League Baseball first heard of it, it loved the idea. TIGERS' TARIK SKUBAL PITCHES INCREDIBLE GAME IN WIN OVER GUARDIANS: 'SKY IS THE LIMIT' "(We had) a meeting before a playoff game. The immediate response was this solves all of our problems," Hankins told Fox News Digital. "That was nice, and we left the meeting feeling pretty good. But, within about an hour, we got another phone call that said, 'Can you meet with 20 of our executives on Zoom tomorrow. That was a positive sign." After that meeting, Major League Baseball became PitchCom's first client. Jered Goodwin, the vice president of scouting operations at Perfect Game, trains with MLB players during the offseason. Goodwin told Fox News Digital the players had "a ton of positive feedback" about PitchCom. "I can tell you from a guy that gets to coach some pitchers during the offseason, they love being on a level playing field," Goodwin said. "They're throwing a pitch without anybody on the field being able to know what's coming (prior to PitchCom), and there's been open conversations about that. There hasn't been a lot of negative feedback. You get some transmitters you got to replace, but it takes a really short amount of time. And I think really everybody in baseball, players to owners and especially fans, have loved the pace of play and the shorter games." "Obviously, some other rules were put into effect as well, but the direct communication in the short amount of time it takes has definitely been a ton of positive feedback." ROCKIES FAN FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST MLB TEAM, CLAIMS TO HAVE SUFFERED INJURIES DUE TO CLUB'S LACKLUSTER OUTPUT Goodwin said he first thought of trying to bring PitchCom to Perfect Game when MLB began using it. He called it an "easy decision" to bring PitchCom into youth baseball and to form a partnership. "I knew very early on that this was going to be something that was going to stick, so as it's grown into major college baseball, to MLB, it's great that we got to have a direct path for our players and our coaches to be able to learn operationally, intensely during a game. Anything like that of what they are going to use directly at the next level. So, it really was on the agenda as soon as it could be scaled," Goodwin said. Jon Updike, vice president of customer relations at PitchCom, said the device offers youth players benefits beyond just pitcher-catcher communication. "It's just not calling the pitches," Updike said. "It's the ability to send in maybe technical cues, but even more so than that, 'Hey, great job' or 'You're going to get them next time.' "You are able to send in some psychological messages to them as well that will help either uplift them or snap them into place, which is a lot easier when it's being whispered to an 8-year-old or a 12-year-old or 14-year-old's ear than being yelled across the field." Goodwin said the introduction of PitchCom into Perfect Game will allow for more development among kids. "Being able to talk through, especially with direct communication, being able to talk directly about why you called a pitch, how you were calling a pitch, being able to go over what those different reasons were, because you've got just an extra second to be able to do it. When you can speed up the game but also slow down the process, some real development of the 'why?' can happen," Goodwin said. SHOHEI OHTANI'S FIRST TIME PITCHING TO HITTERS AS A DODGER IS A SUCCESS: 'HE'S A TOP-END STARTER' "I think you are going to see some things come out directly related to PitchCom helping with development. Whether it's pitch calling, whether it's the speed of the game, whether it's location that (is) really going to help the youth be able to understand how they are trying to attack, why they are trying to attack, why this in that situation or that pitch in this situation and that's one of the things that nobody is really dove into yet. "But at Perfect Game we are constantly trying to find different ways to develop, and I think this is going to be a real asset to young ballplayers." Not only does Goodwin believe PitchCom will help players' development. It should also change the way coaches teach and communicate in games. "It speeds up the time, but it also slows down what's going on. Reaffirm some of the things that you might have gone over in practice. So, I think it's such a huge advantage when these young athletes are going to be able to have that sense of pace, but also a sense of communication and development at a younger age," Goodwin said. Updike said the introduction of PitchCom at the youth baseball level will make for cleaner games because of the enhanced communication the device allows. "I see it has an opportunity to reduce pitches, which will directly, in turn, have a chance of reducing over usage and injury," Updike said. "Just from having better information or paying attention to it. And then, on top of that, it makes it a cleaner baseball game. Less wild pitches, less cross-ups and more quality executed pitches." The voice that comes through the transmitter is an AI-generated voice, but Updike said the voice can be "anybody's voice." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "It's a simple, easy, clean process. And then what we found is that some of our colleges and some of our major league clubs would run the tracks through an AI voice generator to create something else. Whether it was a star or a famous voice and then put it on, sometimes even recording other players, it's kind of like your limitation is your imagination with it," Updike said. Updike said he heard one pitcher in college baseball customize the voice to be his favorite musician. "I won't give up the secret sauce for a few clubs, but like we have a college, a really good NCAA team, their Friday night guy is a real good pitcher, and he's got a musician that he loves, or a rapper, and it's that rappers' voice every time they call a pitch. So, it's unique to see how creative everybody's been with the product," Updike said. Goodwin said he heard a story about how a coach programmed the voice to be a player's mother's voice, and that it provided good results for the player. "The guy had a really close relationship with his mom, and the coaches wanted to see if that in turn would kind of be a calming presence. So I thought that was pretty cool, pretty interesting. Obviously, a lot going on with sports psychology now and things like that. So, I think there are a lot of things that you can do here even from voice recognition to maybe help kids, and maybe not," Goodwin said. "I do know that in the early stages of this the kid actually did very well when it happened." The PitchCom's will be given out to Perfect Game in August, and coaches and players will be able to use them for the All-American Classic and PG Select Festivals. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Print Close URL
USA Today
6 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Where Alabama lands in Top 25 college baseball polls, rankings entering NCAA Tournament
Where Alabama lands in Top 25 college baseball polls, rankings entering NCAA Tournament Alabama baseball is coming off its best regular season in the recent history of the program. With a roster that includes a top MLB draft prospect heading into next year in shortstop Justin Lebron, Alabama (41-16) reached 40 wins in a regular season for the first time since 2002. Dropping two of three to the Florida Gators to close the regular season and then losing on Day 2 of the SEC Tournament to Tennessee cost Alabama a shot at a host site regional for the 2025 NCAA Tournament, but the Crimson Tide got a pretty favorable postseason draw regardless. They're in the Hattiesburg Regional featuring No. 16 overall seed and host Southern Miss (44-14). To look at it another way, Alabama essentially finished one spot below the host seed line and drew the lowest-seeded team of the 16 regional hosts. The Crimson Tide join the Miami Hurricanes (31-24) and Columbia Lions (29-17) from the Ivy League in Hattiesburg, only about two and a half hours by car from Tuscaloosa. Here's where Alabama baseball ranks in this week's Top 25 polls entering the NCAA Tournament. NCBWA updated Top 25 ranking for Alabama baseball In the latest Top 25 poll from the NCBWA (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association), Alabama fell four spots to No. 19 following their 15-10 loss to Tennessee at the SEC Tournament in Hoover. The Crimson Tide enter the NCAA Tournament ranked one spot below No. 18 Northeastern (48-9) and one spot ahead of No. 20 UC Irvine (41-15). Southern Miss, which placed second in the Sun Belt regular season standings to Coastal Carolina and was runner-up in their conference tournament, is ranked No. 13. LSU (43-14) tops the NCBWA poll at No. 1, followed by North Carolina (42-12) at No. 2, Vanderbilt (42-15) at No. 3, and Texas (42-14) at No. 4. Arkansas (43-13) rounds out the top five. The SEC has 10 schools teams in the NCBWA poll as regionals begin, the most of any conference. The ACC is second with five teams in the NCBWA's poll. D1 Baseball updated Top 25 ranking for Alabama D1 Baseball has Alabama at No. 24 in their new rankings, down one spot from last week. UC Irvine ranks one spot ahead of the Tide, while Kansas rounds out the top 25. UNC topped D1 Baseball's rankings at No. 1. The Tar Heels were also No. 1 in this week's USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and are the No. 5 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Alabama is ranked No. 20 in the Coaches Poll, up one spot from last week. Baseball America, Perfect Game ranking for Alabama Baseball America and Perfect Game did not unveil new rankings after conference tournaments. In the most recent Baseball America poll on May 19, Alabama was ranked No. 18 following the regular season. The Crimson Tide were No. 20 in Perfect Game and No. 16 in The Athletic's rankings. Alabama's regional schedule The Crimson Tide, the No. 2 seed in the Hattiesburg Regional, opens the 2025 NCAA Tournament against No. 3 seed Miami at Pete Taylor Park Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on ESPN2. As the higher seed, Alabama will be the designated home team against Miami. After Alabama-Miami, Southern Miss will face No. 4 seed Columbia at 6 p.m. Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinion.
USA Today
20-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Auburn baseball pledge Mason McCraine leads Glenwood to state championship
Auburn baseball pledge Mason McCraine leads Glenwood to state championship The Auburn pledge struck out 10 batters in Glenwood's deciding win over Gordo last week. The future of Auburn baseball is bright as one of its 2025 commits recently led his high school team to a state championship. Mason McCraine, a 6-7 utility player from Glenwood School in Smith's Station, Alabama, and the brother of current Auburn player Brandon McCraine, recently played a large role in Glenwood's state championship run. The Gators took down Gordo High School in two games during last week's action to win the AHSAA Class 3A state championship at Jim Case Stadium in Jacksonville. The win was Glenwood's first state championship as a member of the AHSAA. McCraine was a vital piece to his team's championship run. He logged two hits and two runs in Glenwood's 7-4 game one win over Gordo, and followed suit in game two by striking out 10 batters and allowing two runs on the mound. He added another hit at the plate in the Gators' 12-3 state championship win. McCraine is one of 10 players committed to play for Auburn as part of its 2025 signing class, and one of six commitments that hail from Alabama. According to Perfect Game, Auburn holds the No. 27 signing class from the 2025 cycle, and ranks No. 13 in the SEC in a conference that occupies the first seven spots in the rankings. The Tigers boasted the No. 5 signing class in the 2024 cycle with signees such as Christian Chatterton, Chris Rembert, Chase Fralick, and Jackson Sanders contributing to Auburn's success early in their careers. Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__
USA Today
19-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Alabama baseball Top 25 rankings: Where Crimson Tide sit after 40-win regular season
Alabama baseball Top 25 rankings: Where Crimson Tide sit after 40-win regular season The Alabama Crimson Tide closed out the regular season in Gainesville with a fairly significant accomplishment. Despite losing two of three to the streaking Florida Gators, the Crimson Tide (40-15 overall, 16-14 SEC) won their 40th game of the season. It marks only the third time Alabama baseball has reached the 40-win margin in a season since 2010. The Tide won 43 games in 2023 and reached the Winston-Salem Super Regional, their first trip to a super regional since 2010. Alabama will head to the SEC Tournament in Hoover as the No. 9 seed and will face the No. 16 Missouri Tigers beginning at 9:30 a.m. CT Tuesday. The game will be televised on SEC Network. Here's a roundup of where Alabama sits in Monday's new college baseball Top 25 rankings and polls. USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll ranking for Alabama The Crimson Tide dropped to No. 21 in this week's USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. Alabama is ranked one spot below No. 20 Ole Miss (37-17) and one spot ahead of No. 22 Northeastern (44-9). Last week's Coaches Poll ranking: No. 16. Coaches Poll No. 1 ranked team: LSU Tigers (41-13) Baseball America Top 25 ranking for Alabama Over at Baseball America, the Crimson Tide fell to No. 18. Curiously, Alabama ranks one spot below No. 17 Southern Miss (40-13) -- who the Crimson Tide beat in the regular season just over a month ago -- and one spot ahead of ACC regular season champion Georgia Tech (38-16) in these rankings. Baseball America's Peter Flaherty and Jacob Rudner said of Alabama: "Alabama couldn't carry over the momentum from its series win over then-No. 1 Georgia, dropping two of three at Florida to close the regular season. Still, it capped an undeniably strong campaign—topping 40 wins and finishing 16-14 in SEC play while navigating the nation's No. 16 strength of schedule. Offensively, Justin Lebron and Kade Snell paced a consistent lineup, while Riley Quick, Braylon Myers and Carson Ozmer led the charge on the mound. The Crimson Tide sit on the hosting bubble and will need a strong showing in Hoover to secure a top-16 seed." Last week's Baseball America ranking: No. 16 Baseball America's No. 1 ranked team: LSU D1 Baseball Top 25 ranking for Alabama Veteran analyst Kendall Rogers and staff bumped Alabama down to No. 23 in their rankings, behind No. 22 NC State (33-18) and No. 21 Tennessee (41-15). Last week's D1 Baseball ranking: No. 18. D1 Baseball's No. 1 ranked team: LSU New York Times Top 25 college baseball ranking for Alabama Mitch Light of The Athletic dropped Alabama up to No. 16 in his Top 25 rankings. It marks the Crimson Tide's highest spot in any of the rankings. Alabama is ranked one spot below No. 15 Tennessee and one spot ahead of No. 17 UCLA (39-15). Last week's New York Times ranking: No. 10 New York Times No. 1 ranked team: Texas Longhorns Perfect Game college baseball ranking for Alabama baseball Alabama fell to No. 20 in Perfect Game's top 25 rankings, where they sit between UC Irvine (39-13) at No. 19 and Northeastern at No. 21. Last week's Perfect Game ranking: No. 16 No. 1 team: LSU Alabama baseball SEC Tournament schedule Alabama will face the Missouri on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. CT at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
