Chase Burns, Charlie Condon Highlight NCAA Week 12 Standouts (Hot Sheet)

Brody Brecht, RHP, Iowa

Class: 2024

What He Did: 8 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 13 K

Brecht turned in his fourth start of the season with two or fewer walks last weekend against Northwestern. He also struck out 14 batters, his most of the season, to make seven different games with double-digit strikeouts. Brecht pitched heavily off his slider in this outing and generated 18 misses on the pitch while averaging 96 mph with his fastball and touching 98. He’s now fifth in the country with 108 strikeouts and has a 3.43 ERA, 38.7% strikeout rate and career-low 14.3% walk rate. –CC

Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest

Class: 2024

What He Did: 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 13 K

For as dominant as Burns has been all season, he might have turned in his best outing last weekend against Western Carolina. The big righthander tossed six no-hit innings and struck out 13 batters—his sixth game of the season with that many or more. He now has 140 strikeouts over the full season which is 11 more than the second pitcher in the country (Ryan Johnson). As is typically the case with Burns, he sat in the upper 90s with his fastall and dominated with that and his upper-80s slider. He generated 14 misses with the slider, seven with the fastball and finished all but one strikeout with those two pitches. –CC

Clark Candiotti, RHP, Arizona

Class: 2024

What He Did: 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K

Candiotti this weekend turned in one of the best starts of his five-year college career, and spun a complete-game shutout in which he allowed just five hits—all of which were singles—with seven strikeouts. The well-traveled righthander—who is at his fifth school in as many seasons—relied heavily on his mid-80s slider that generated 11 whiffs, while staying off the barrel with his low-to-mid-90s fastball. Candiotti has an advanced feel for his slider—which has a 38% miss rate this season—and does a nice job of varying its shape. He has been a key piece for the Wildcats and has pitched his way to a 2.93 ERA with 77 strikeouts to just 18 walks in 70.2 innings. -PF

Charlie Condon, 3B/OF, Georgia

Class: 2024

What He Did: 6-for-14 (.429), 8 RBI, 9 R, 4 HR, 4 BB, 1 K

Condon continues to make SEC competition look like little league. He’s riding a seven-game home run streak and now has a seven-homer lead on Florida’s Jac Caglianone for the home run title. Teddy Cahill wrote earlier this week about his chances to become just the fifth college player to homer 40 times in a season and his grip as the No. 1 player in the class has only gotten tighter in recent weeks. He’s hitting .459/.568/1.105 with 33 homers, 16 doubles, a 17.4% walk rate and a 14.8% strikeout rate. If opposing teams are smart, that walk rate should only rise in the final stretch of the season. –CC

Kendall Ewell, OF, Illinois-Chicago

Class: 2024

What He Did: 10-for-16 (.625), 9 RBI, 7 R, 4 HR, 3 2B, 3 BB, 2 K

Ewell is a 22-year-old outfielder (who will turn 23 in a few days) in the midst of his fifth, and best, college season with Illinois-Chicago in 2024. He homered four times and raised his season tally to 16 homers on the year and is now slashing .386/.488/.766 with a 21.3% strikeout rate which is the lowest mark of his career. He leads the Missouri Valley Conference in hitting, is third in on-base percentage, first in slugging and fifth in homers through 44 games. His performance could make him a senior target on late day two of the draft. –CC

Leighton Finley, RHP, Georgia

Class: 2025

What He Did: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 11 K

Finley turned in his best start of the season against Vanderbilt last weekend. He threw six shutout innings and allowed three hits while striking out 11 and walking three. Finley has done a nice job managing his walks and limiting damage despite not getting lots of whiffs throughout most of the season—the opposite was true in this start. His three walks tied the most he’s allowed in a single game in 2024 while the 11 strikeouts he racked up were five more than any other game. He pitches off a fastball, slider, changeup combination but it was the slider that was the primary bat miser and most effective pitch in this outing. He used it 47% of the time and generated nine misses with the pitch. Finley now has a 4.53 ERA through 12 starts and 53.2 innings with a 23.3% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate. –CC

Andrew Fischer, 3B/DH, Ole Miss

Class: 2025

What He Did: 7-for-18 (.389), 11 RBI, 4 R, 3 HR, 2 2B, 0 BB, 6 K

Fischer is a power-hitting righthanded bat who has made a significant jump in power production in 2024 after playing for Duke in 2023. After homering three times last week—once in each weekend game against Auburn—Fischer is now up to 18 home runs on the season. That’s seven more than his 11-homer mark in 2023 and he’s doing that while improving across the board in all triple-slash categories, cutting his strikeout rate and marginally improving his walk rate. Fischer is hitting .302/.410/.686 with a 19% strikeout rate and 14.8% walk rate. –CC

Logan Gallina, 1B, New Mexico State

Class: 2024

What He Did: 7-for-18 (.389), 5 R, 10 RBI, 4 HR, 1 2B, 1 BB, 4 K

After exploding for 21 home runs in his true freshman season, Gallina has seen a dip in production. However, this week was a step in the right direction as in the Aggies’ big-time series win over Louisiana Tech he went 7-for-14 with 9 RBIs. Gallina homered in all three games and collected four RBIs on both Saturday and Sunday. In Saturday’s 16-15, 13-inning slugfest, Gallina kicked off a seven-run comeback with a two-run blast in the seventh before crushing a game-tying home run in the 11th. He has a long, steep swing and this season his highest quality of contact has come to the pull side. Gallina raised his average over 40 points from .236 to .279 and his 11 home runs rank third on the team. -PF

AJ Guerrero, OF, Washington

Class: 2025

What He Did: 13-for-20 (.650), 8 R, 14 RBI, 4 HR, 1 BB, 2 K

Up until this week, it had been a rather modest season for Guerrero who last year hit .345 with 20 extra-base hits. On Tuesday, the junior outfielder turned in his first multi-hit performance in nearly three weeks with a 3-for-4 effort against Gonzaga. There was no shortage of runs in this weekend’s series between Washington and Arizona State, but Guerrero led the charge for the Huskies and hit four home runs and drove in 13 runs between Saturday and Sunday. His five hits and eight RBIs on Sunday are both new career-highs, and he is now hitting .290/.359/.580 with a team-leading 13 home runs and 42 RBIs. -PF

Luke Jewett, RHP, UCLA

Class: 2024

What He Did: 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K

Jewett had a career-game against Cal State Fullerton last Friday when he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and didn’t allow a single run over eight full innings with nine strikeouts and two walks. Both the innings and the strikeouts were the most he’s had in a game in his career and helped him lower his season ERA to 3.75 in 12 starts and 69.2 innings. Jewett has pitched in the 91-92 mph range this season and touched 94 while mixing in a slider, curveball and changeup. It’s his first season as a starter after spending the first two years with UCLA as a reliever. He could fit as a day three draft pick. –CC

Danny Macchiarola, RHP, Holy Cross

Class: 2025

What He Did: 7.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 13 K

Macchiarola’s previous career-high of 10 strikeouts stood for just seven days, as he followed last weekend’s quality start with the best outing of his career. In the Crusaders’ key win over Lafayette, Macchiarola spun 7.2 shutout innings with 13 strikeouts and surrendered just two singles. The sophomore righthander threw strikes at a 73% clip and generated an impressive 25 swings and misses, including nine apiece with his slider and changeup. Macchiarola’s sweeper is his best pitch and averages almost 14 inches of lateral movement, but he also has an advanced feel for his changeup that flashes plenty of fade and late tumble. He lowered his ERA by almost a full run down to 5.29 and has collected 63 strikeouts in as many innings. -PF

Jake McDowell, RHP, Sacred Heart

Class: 2024

What He Did: 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K

Following a rough first month of the season, McDowell has emerged as one of the best arms on Sacred Heart’s pitching staff. The starter of Friday’s game allowed five runs and lasted just three innings, but McDowell fired six shutout, hitless innings in relief to close the game and earn the win. Since March 12, McDowell has not allowed more than one run in any appearance and has lowered his ERA from 11.57 all the way down to 3.34. -PF

Nick McLain, OF, Arizona State

Class: 2024

What He Did: 13-for-22 (.591), 13 RBI, 14 R, 5 HR, 2 2B, 2 BB, 1 K

McLain was named the Pac-12 player of the week after a torrid series of games which included homers in all five of his games, 13 RBIs and 14 runs. The week included four multi-hit games including a 5-for-5 effort in Sunday’s finale against Washington. McLain is the youngest brother of both 2022 fifth-rounder Sean and 2021 first-rounder Matt. He’s now hitting .297/.418/.581 with nine home runs, 13 doubles and more walks than strikeouts. –CC

Avery Neaves, OF, College of Charleston

Class: 2024

What He Did: 8-for-8 (1.000), 8 R, 5 RBI, 3 HR, 2 3B, 3 2B, 2 BB, 0 K

Neaves more than made the most of what was a two game week for the Cougars, going a perfect 8-for-8 with eight extra-base hits and five RBIs. In addition to notching four hits in both games this weekend, Neaves also laced a quartet of extra-base hits in each. His Saturday performance was his best of the season, as he crushed two home runs and matched his season-high in RBIs with four. Neaves is plenty physical with no shortage of natural strength throughout his 6-foot-2, 225-pound frame and this season he has shown the ability to drive the baseball with authority to all fields. He is currently hitting .344/.490/.720 with 19 doubles, 31 RBI and a team-leading 12 home runs. -PF

Logan Reddemann, RHP, San Diego

Class: 2026

What He Did: 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 9 K

Reddemann on Saturday turned in his third-straight quality start—this one the best of his young career—and twirled eight shutout innings in which he struck out 9 to up his season total to 52. The true freshman has come into his own after a rocky start to the season and cemented himself as a reliable starter on a quality San Diego team. Reddemann moves well on the mound with plenty of arm speed, and his fastball has been up to 96 with life through the zone. It doesn’t generate a ton of whiffs quite yet, though it is particularly effective when located in the top-half of the strike zone. His slider and changeup have both garnered their fair share of whiffs to the tune of miss rates of 44% and 46%, respectively. Both are viable secondary offerings, though I am particularly intrigued about the potential upside of his slider. Reddemann this year has worked a 3.82 ERA and is a West Coast arm to follow closely going forward. -PF

Jake Reinisch, OF, Wake Forest

Class: 2024

What He Did: 9-for-21 (.429), 5 R, 13 RBI, 3 HR, 2 2B, 2 BB, 3 K

After a disappointing 2023 season in which he struggled with injuries, 2024 has been the most productive year of Reinisch’s career. Last week, he registered at least one hit in each of his five games punctuated by a 4-for-6, five RBI performance on Wednesday. Reinisch over the weekend logged just three hits, but all three were home runs. This season, he has demonstrated an advanced approach while flashing above-average power to the pull side. Reinisch last week upped his average to .321 and his 14 doubles, 14 home runs and 56 RBIs are all new career-highs. -PF

Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas

Class: 2024

What He Did: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 14 K

Another day, another lockdown effort from Smith. Kentucky is his most recent victim and Smith allowed just one run over six innings while striking out 14—his second-best mark of the year—and walking just two. Smith averaged 95 mph in this game and touched 98 while racking up 30 misses between his fastball and mid-80s slider. Smith attacked up and to the arm side with his fastball consistently and buried the slider down and in to his glove side for a lethal two-pitch combination that has led to a 1.36 ERA on the season through 12 starts and 66 innings. He has consistently led the country this year in strikeout rate and at 49% maintains a narrow lead over Chase Burns (48.3%) for the top mark in the country. He also has the lowest opponent average (.132) in the nation and lowest ERA. Smith has pitched more than six innings just once and has only eclipsed the 100-pitch mark three times—100 on March 15, 105 on April 4 and 101 on May 3. –CC

Blake Wright, 3B, Clemson

Class: 2024

What He Did: 6-for-11 (.545), 11 RBI, 6 R, 3 HR, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K

Wright has been an intriguing draft prospect for several years but went unselected as a junior after a disappointing 2023 season. He’s bounced back with what looks like a career-best 2024 season and last week homered three times—including a two-homer, seven-RBI day on Saturday. Wright is now hitting .335/.370/.685 with 19 homer runs and eight doubles. He has an aggressive approach at the plate and rarely takes a walk, but has added a bit more contact and thus in-game power production in his fourth season with Clemson. –CC

Trey Yesavage, RHP, East Carolina

Class: 2024

What He Did: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 11 K

In what has become par for the course this season, Yesavage turned in yet another stellar start and notched 11 strikeouts across seven innings of one-run ball. The physical righthander carved through South Florida’s lineup and dominated with his mid-80s gyro slider that accounted for 16 of his 21 whiffs. Yesavage this year has cemented himself in the top tier of pitchers in this year’s draft. On top of his thunderous fastball that has been up to 97 with an average of almost 23 inches of ride, Yesavage’s low-to-mid-80s split-change and aforementioned slider are both bonafide swing-and-miss pitches. He is an above-average strike thrower with an advanced feel for his entire arsenal, and there is little-to-no reliever risk. Yesavage this year has been outstanding to the tune of a 1.69 ERA with a career-high 124 strikeouts to just 21 walks in 74.2 innings. He has top-half of the first round upside this July. -PF