College Baseball Week 13 Standouts: Hunter Hollan Spins A Gem

Image credit: Arkansas lefthander Hunter Hollan (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

The penultimate weekend of the regular season brought a handful of big-time performances on both sides of the baseball, including two SEC southpaws having career outings, two hitters from the same team combining for 22 RBIs, a trio of gems from West Coast arms and a lot more.

Hunter Hollan, LHP, Arkansas

Hollan on Sunday spun the best start of his Arkansas career, throwing a complete game in which he allowed one earned run on five hits and struck out 10 to clinch a big series win for Arkansas against South Carolina. After a couple of shaky starts in the last few weeks, Hollan got back to pitching with the same intensity and fearless mentality that makes him the pitcher he is. He went right after a potent South Carolina lineup, throwing quality strikes, avoiding hard contact and sequencing his pitches well. Hollan attacks from a three-quarter slot and while he will pitch in the low 90s, he can run his fastball upwards of 95 mph when he needs to. He supplements his heater with a sweepy low-80s slider and a slower, bigger curveball. Hollan’s ERA now sits at 3.75 with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 61-to-26 in 69.2 innings pitched. 

Jac Caglianone, LHP, Florida

The two-way sensation had a career day on the mound in Sunday’s finale against Vanderbilt, firing a career-high 6.2 innings in which he matched his career high in strikeouts with nine and allowed only one run on one hit. It was evident early on that Caglianone had his stuff working, as he was comfortably sitting in the upper 90s with his fastball while mixing in a quality slider and changeup. The 6-foot-5 lefthander held his premium velocity for the entirety of his 103-pitch outing, as he was still touching 99 mph in the seventh inning. In addition to his changeup and slider, Caglianone also mixed in a high-80s cutter that was effective, particularly against lefthanded hitters. After a rocky month of April, Caglianone has allowed three earned runs in his last 13.1 innings pitched. He has lowered his ERA to 4.47 and has struck out 63 in 54.1 innings of work. 

Nico Zeglin, RHP, Long Beach State

Zeglin was magnificent in his Friday start against UC Santa Barbara, spinning a complete game shutout in which he collected 10 strikeouts and allowed three hits. Zeglin did an excellent job of essentially splitting the zone in half, locating all his pitches either up in the zone or around the knees. Hardly any of his offerings ended up in the middle of the strike zone, which enabled him to avoid being barreled up. The veteran righthander got 16 swings and misses on the night, with nine of them coming against his changeup. Zeglin’s changeup is his best offering, with plenty of tumble and fade to the arm side. He shrunk his ERA down to 2.21 and has an impressive 104 strikeouts to 23 walks in 81.1 innings this season. 

Roman Angelo, RHP, Fresno State

Angelo on Saturday enjoyed the best outing of his 2023 season, going the distance against UNLV and racking up 10 strikeouts while not allowing an earned run. The fifth-year senior does not miss a ton of bats with his low-90s fastball, but his slider and changeup have gaudy miss rates of 48% and 50%, respectively. Angelo has natural deception in his delivery, as he has a short arm action and has somewhat of a “drop-and-drive” type of motion. His slider has flashed above-average with late bite, but his changeup is his most effective offering. It is a pitch for which he has advanced feel, and he’s comfortable throwing it to both righthanded and lefthanded hitters. On the season Angelo has pitched his way to a respectable 4.82 ERA with 67 strikeouts across 71 innings pitched. 

Caden Aoki, RHP, Southern California

Aoki may not have racked up double-digit strikeouts or lit up the radar gun, but his incredibly advanced feel to pitch allowed him to throw eight shutout innings against a high-powered Arizona State lineup. He allowed a measly three hits and walked none, while working heavily to the arm side of the plate. There is not a ton of swing-and-miss to Aoki’s game, but he generated six whiffs with his changeup that seemingly disappears as it crosses the plate. Aoki is consistently keeping the baseball below the barrel of opposing hitters, as evidenced by his 49% groundball rate this year. He has quietly turned in one of the strongest seasons of any starting pitcher with an ERA of 2.04 across 53 innings of work. 

Alberto Rios, OF, Stanford

In a week where the Stanford offense scored a total of 58 runs across four games, plenty of Cardinal hitters had great weeks at the dish. Rios stood out from the rest, however, as he went 10-for-18 with four home runs and 11 RBIs. Most notably, Rios went 5-for-6 with three home runs and nine RBIs in Sunday’s slugfest with Arizona. He set a new single-game high with three home runs, but it was the second time he’s driven in at least nine runs—earlier this season he drove in 11 against Cal-State Bakersfield. The junior outfielder is having a career-year for the Cardinal, and is currently hitting .402 with 16 doubles, 16 home runs and 72 RBIs in 46 games. Rios logged just seven total at-bats across his first two collegiate seasons, but he’s played his way into a likely draft selection this July. 

Cole Foster, SS, Auburn

The standout shortstop this weekend turned in three multi-hit efforts and helped lead red-hot Auburn to a resounding sweep of Ole Miss. In three games played, Foster went 9-for-15 with a double, three home runs and six RBIs. He got the series started with a bang, as he went 4-for-5 with a double, two home runs and four RBIs in Friday’s opening game. The switch-hitting Foster has a beautiful swing, particularly from the left side. He stands upright at the plate with a slightly open side and the bat is almost completely horizontal over his back shoulder. Foster uses a slight barrel tip as a timing mechanism to allow his barrel to explode through the zone. He has above-average bat and hand speed, as well as plus power to the pull side. Foster has been a steady riser on draft boards this spring and is hitting .337 with 12 doubles, 10 home runs and 41 RBIs in 47 games. 

Andrew Pinckney, OF, Alabama

Pinckney this weekend led the charge offensively for the Crimson Tide, going 7-for-15 with three home runs and nine RBIs against Texas A&M. Following a quiet 1-for-4 effort in the first game of the series, Pinckney went 6-for-11 in the final two games. In the box, Pinckney has an open front side and a fairly low handset. His thunderous bat speed allows him to drive the ball with authority to all fields and consistently generate high-quality contact. At 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, Pinckney has a pro body. He moves well in the outfield and has a strong arm which will allow him to stick in either center or right field long term. This season Pinckney is hitting .353 with nine doubles, a career-high 14 home runs and a career-high 45 RBIs.

Carter Graham, 1B, Stanford

Very rarely do two players from the same school get featured in this piece, but Graham made it impossible to leave him off the list. The physical first baseman went 12-for-21 with three doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs in four games. Graham had two separate four-hit performances this week, headlined by a 4-for-5 game against Santa Clara in which he hit two doubles, two home runs and had seven RBIs. After an extremely slow start to the season had Graham’s average sitting at .193 on March 17, it has since skyrocketed to .311. Graham has recorded a hit in 15 consecutive games and has driven in at least one run in nine of his last 10 contests. He has 14 doubles, 12 home runs and 64 RBIs to go along with his .311 average.

Chase Adkison, C, Oklahoma State

The veteran backstop went 7-for-11 with a triple, a home run and eight RBIs to lead No. 18 Oklahoma State to a key series win against Kansas State. Adkison collected at least two hits in each of his three games played, but his best performance of the weekend came on Saturday as he went 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Adkison has had an interesting path as he began his collegiate career at Boise State but wound up at juco power San Jacinto (Texas) after the Broncos disbanded their program. He is now in his second season at Oklahoma State, where he is hitting .342 with eight doubles, six home runs and 38 RBIs.