The Big 12 nearly placed two teams in the College World Series last year but a misplayed fly ball in Stanford killed that shot. Still, the 2023 campaign was a strong one for the conference, including for upstart TCU. But what about 2024? Here’s our 2024 Big 12 baseball season preview.
Related: 2024 College Baseball Preview: Pac-12
Baylor
We start off our 2024 Big 12 baseball season preview with the Baylor Bears. Baylor lost a key bat from 2023 in the summer when infielder Kolby Branch transferred to Georgia. Branch hit .326 for Baylor last spring.
The Bears went 19-36 last year and Baylor was rated near the bottom by Big 12 coaches earlier in the year. Notable names on Baylor’s 2024 roster include pitcher Mason Marriott and Hunter Teplanszky.
BYU
Two schools finished in a tie for last in the Big 12 coaches’ preseason poll. One of those teams was BYU. BYU finished 24-28 last season.
The three hitters who hit 10 or more home runs for BYU, Austin Deming, Cole Gambil, and Ryan Sepede, last year are gone. Mason Olson, who led the Cougars in strikeouts in 2023, is back.
Cincinnati
The other school that finished in a tie for last in the Big 12 coaches poll was Cincinnati.
Senior Cole Harting is back for the Bearcats after he belted 10 home runs for Cincinnati last year. As for the pitching, Max Bergmann and Tommy Boba returned for a pitching staff that owned a team ERA north of 6.00 in 2023.
Houston
Houston got Justin Murray back for his senior season, one season after the two-way threat hit .379 with 11 home runs and seven saves. The same can be said for senior catcher Anthony Tulimero, who hit 10 home runs for the Cougars in 2023.
One of the new faces in Houston for 2024 is senior outfielder Tre Jones. Jones hit .332 with six home runs last year with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Kansas
Kansas will not have it easy in what is a deep Big 12 conference in 2024. However, two of Kansas’ big bats from 2023, catcher Jake English and outfielder Chase Jans, are back for 2024.
Another name to watch for the Jayhawks in 2024 is infielder Luke Leto. A former LSU commit who hit just .233 in Kansas last spring, Leto did hit well in the Appalachian League this past summer.
Kansas State
Kansas State had just one player — Jordan Wicks — go in the top three rounds of the MLB Draft from 2021-23. The Wildcats could double that number in 2024, thanks to Kaelen Culpepper and Tyson Neighbors.
Culpepper hit .471 for the USA collegiate team last summer and was rated #28 by MLB.com among 2024 draft-eligible prospects heading into the spring. As for Neighbors, the 21-year-old reliever struck out an eye-popping 86 batters over 48.2 IP in 2023.
Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Longhorns went just 31-30 last spring. And given the stiff competition in the Big 12, 2024 won’t be easy for Oklahoma.
However, Oklahoma will have their top two in hits from 2023, Anthony MacKenzie and Bryce Madron, back for the 2024 campaign.
Oklahoma State
It might be a little too early to talk about the 2025 MLB Draft but outfielder Nolan Schubart got his name out there after an electric freshman season. Schubart batted .338 with 17 home runs and 37 extra-base hits in 2023 and he’s set to be a key contributor for the Cowboys in 2024.
Yes, OSU did lose star infielder Roc Riggio to the pros. Carson Benge and Colin Brueggemann are back, though, and are set to help lead a very potent Oklahoma State offense.
TCU
After an incredible run to the College World Series last June, TCU was named the preseason favorite by Big 12 coaches. It’s not hard to see why Kirk Saarloos‘ squad is favored, even though Brayden Taylor and Cole Fontenelle went pro after 2023.
Infielder Anthony Silva returns for his sophomore season after he hit .330 as a freshman. First baseman/DH Payton Tolle, who belted 13 home runs with Wichita State last spring, is now with the Horned Frogs. And on the pitching side of things, reliever Ben Abeldt made D1Baseball‘s third preseason All-American team after he struck out 71 over 55 as a freshman
Texas
The Longhorns finished just behind TCU in the Big 12 coaches’ preseason poll, as Texas looks to put a gruesome end to their 2023 in Palo Alto behind them. Much of the onus will be put on LeBarron Johnson Jr., who struck out 98 over 20 games (13 GS) for the Longhorns last spring. 2021 freshman phenom Tanner Witt is another name to watch.
As for the offense, draft-eligible sophomore Jared Thomas will look to build on a .321 campaign last spring. And keep an eye on Will Gasparino, a California freshman who was highly-regarded out of high school.
Texas Tech
Pitchers are not going to have an easy time with the Texas Tech Red Raiders in 2024. Texas Tech’s roster includes two big bats that could go high in the 2024 MLB Draft. One of those names is Kevin Bazzell, a catcher who hit .348 with 10 home runs last spring. The other is first baseman Gavin Kash, who drilled 26 home runs for the Red Raiders last spring.
Gage Harrelson and Austin Green are also back for the Red Raiders, who finished fourth in the Big 12 coaches’ preseason poll.
UCF
The good news for UCF this spring is that junior infielder Lex Boedicker, who hit 16 home runs for Central Florida last spring, will be back for 2024. As will Andrew Sundean, a catcher who belted 16 as a 20-year-old in 2023.
The bad news for UCF, who finished tenth in the Big 12 coaches’ preseason poll, is that Drew Faurot, Ben McCabe, and Tom Josten, won’t be back. Faurot transferred to Florida State after he hit 15 home runs as a 19-year-old with UCF.
West Virginia
We end our 2024 Big 12 baseball season preview with West Virginia. The Mountaineers will have plenty of eyes on them this spring, thanks in large part to infielder JJ Wetherholt. Wetherholt led the NCAA in batting average last spring with a .449 average thanks to a hit tool that MLB.com rated at a 70. Not only could Wetherholt be the first WVU player to go in the first round since Alek Manoah, but he could also go first.
On the pitching side of things, reliever Carlson Reed is gone after he was drafted by the Pirates last summer. Robby Porco, Aidan Major, and David Hagaman, all of whom had K/9 rates north of 9.0 in 2023, return for 2024.