Last Week’s Leaderboards: Clemson’s Wright Piles Up 21 RBIs

    Clemson’s Blake Wright drove in 21 runs in five games while plenty of other standouts appear on the March 19-24 leaderboards.

    blake wright

    Clemson’s Blake Wright had a massive week at the plate, piling up 21 RBIs, while the likes of LIU’s Dominic Pieto and TCU’s Payton Tolle spun gems on the mound. All that and more in this week’s look at the stat leaders throughout D1 baseball.

    Inspired by a recurring NBC Sports column, this weekly piece will serve to highlight the leaders throughout the country both at the plate and on the mound. For rate stats, the minimum is 12 ABs (average of three at-bats per game for a typical four-game week). The dates considered are Tuesday-to-Monday, capturing both weekend series and midweeks.

    Without further ado, let’s get into the leaders!

    Hitting Leaders (Week of March 19th)

    Hits

    1. Zain Zinicola, Northern Colorado — 13 hits
    2. Lenny Montesano, Jackson State — 13 hits
    3. Jordan McCladdie, Jackson State — 13 hits
    4. Blake Wright, Clemson — 13 hits
    5. Three players with 12 hits, including Jared Thomas (Texas), Kade Lewis (Butler), and Carter Dorighi (Butler)

    Jackson State is off to a perfect 5-0 start in SWAC play, winners of three straight and boasting a 19-5 record overall. They went 4-1 last week, headlined by a series sweep of Mississippi Valley State. Lenny Montesano and Jordan McCladdie had big weeks, logging 13 hits apiece, and the Tigers now sit 10th nationally in batting average (.330). Montesano is hitting .313 while McCladdie is up at .391 with a 1.120 OPS.

    RBIs

    1. Blake Wright, Clemson — 21 RBI
    2. Jake Holland, New Mexico — 14 RBI
    3. Michael Anderson, Rhode Island — 13 RBI
    4. Corey Collins, Georgia — 13 RBI
    5. Cole Christman, Southern Illinois — 12 RBI
    6. Dylan Drumke, Eastern Illinois — 12 RBI

    One of the biggest stories of the weekend was Clemson’s potent lineup and Blake Wright was leading the charge. The Tigers put up double-digit runs in a pair of midweek victories, then swept Florida State — twice rallying from massive deficits. Wright went 13-for-22 (.591) with six home runs and 21 RBIs, a remarkable output. He had a three-homer game against Presbyterian, then extended his home run streak to four and logged at least three RBIs and four total bases in every game vs. the Seminoles.

    Home Runs

    1. Travis Bazzana, Oregon State — 6 HR
    2. Blake Wright, Clemson — 6 HR
    3. Corey Collins, Georgia — 6 HR
    4. 10 players with four home runs, including Jac Caglianone (Florida), Max Belyeu (Texas), Charlie Condon (Georgia), and Josh Kross (Cincinnati).

    Travis Bazzana is the potential No. 1 pick in the upcoming MLB Draft and he showed why this past week. The junior hit six home runs — and now has eight in his last five games. The Beavers were a buzzsaw against Washington as they moved to 21-2, winning the last two games of the series by a combined 28-2 margin. To top it off, Bazzana has hit a leadoff home run in four straight games.

    Stolen Bases

    1. South Trimble, George Mason — 6 SB
    2. Kai Roberts, Utah — 6 SB
    3. Six players with five stolen bases, including Jordan McCladdie (Jackson State), Easton Cullison (USC Upstate), and Kevin Skagerlind (UMass).

    George Mason’s leadoff hitter South Trimble has had an excellent career for the Patriots and wreaked havoc on the basepaths this past week. The graduate second baseman went a perfect 6-for-6 on stolen bases to raise his total to 18 on the year, tied for third nationally. Trimble stole 25 and 30 bases, respectively, the last two years but is well on his way to surpassing that mark. He’s two off the national lead held by Oakland’s Trent Rice.

    Top Hitters

    1. Corey Collins, Georgia – 2.353 OPS ( 6 HR, 13 RBI)
    2. Travis Bazzana, Oregon St. – 2.225 OPS ( 6 HR, 11 RBI, 1 SB)
    3. Andy Nelson, Iowa – 2.070 OPS ( 3 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB)
    4. Blake Wright, Clemson – 2.034 OPS ( 6 HR, 21 RBI)
    5. Bryce Dawson, Merrimack – 2.024 OPS ( 3 HR, 7 RBI, 2 SB)
    6. Mason Guerra, Oregon St. – 2.016 OPS ( 3 HR, 9 RBI)
    7. Jacob Ference, Virginia – 1.983 OPS ( 3 HR, 4 RBI, 2 SB)

    Bazzana and Wright had massive weeks, but Georgia’s Corey Collins went 11-for-17 (.647) with six home runs and 13 RBIs to pace our leaderboard. After just one game as the leadoff hitter entering last week, Collins moved to the leadoff role and made four straight starts to great success. The Bulldogs went 4-0 and he provided a spark throughout a big series sweep of Alabama. Collins missed the last 20 games of 2023 due to a hand injury and has seen sparse playing time so far this year — he had just seven starts before this run — but could play a big role moving forward.

    Pitching Leaders (Week of March 19th)

    Game Score

    1. Dominic Pieto, LIU (vs. Norfolk St.) — 94 Game Score
    2. Chandler Alderman, Middle Tenn. (vs. Liberty) — 90
    3. Ryan Johnson, DBU (vs. Sam Houston) — 89
    4. Payton Tolle, TCU (vs. Oklahoma St.) — 89
    5. Justin Sinibaldi, Rutgers (vs. UConn) — 87
    6. Brett Sears, Nebraska (vs. New Mexico St.) — 87
    7. Braden Davis, Oklahoma (vs. West Virginia) — 87

    It’s now three straight starts of seven-plus innings for LIU’s Dominic Pieto, who racked up a program-record 17 strikeouts in a win over Norfolk State. The redshirt-junior righthander turned in eight shutout innings in a 14-6 win and struck out seven straight at one point.

    Strikeouts

    1. Keegan Johnson, Ball St. — 17 K (10 IP)
    2. Dominic Pieto, LIU — 17 K (8 IP)
    3. LP Langevin, Louisiana — 17 K (8 IP)
    4. Ryan Johnson, DBU — 15 K (9 IP)
    5. Payton Tolle, TCU — 15 K (9 IP)
    6. Chase Carson, Charlotte — 15 K (11.2 IP)
    7. Brian Holiday, Oklahoma St. — 14 K (9 IP)

    Ball State freshman southpaw Keegan Johnson earned Co-MAC Pitcher of the Week honors after piling up the strikeouts last week. Johnson spun three scoreless against Valparaiso on Tuesday, scattering a hit and a walk while fanning six, then turned in a career day against Toledo. He struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run on four hits and two walks.

    Saves

    1. Chase Grillo, Washington St. — 3 SV
    2. 18 players with two saves, including Ethan Bates (Louisiana Tech), Aiven Cabral (Northeastern), and Jackson Wentworth (Kansas St.)

    Washington State hasn’t been shy in using top reliever Chase Grillo — he has a team-high 11 appearances this year — and he was sharp last week. The redshirt senior had six saves last year and logged half of that this week alone. All three came against Arizona State in a big Pac-12 series sweep. He protected a two-run lead in his first save, stranding the tying run on third base, then logged a 1-2-3 ninth inning with a one-run lead in the second. In the series finale, Grillo returned to face Nick McClain — the tying run at the plate — and struck him out on five pitches.

    Top Relievers

    1. LP Langevin, Louisiana — 2 G, 2-0, 7 IP, 2 BB, 17 K
    2. Hunter Draper, Arkansas St. — 3 G, 1-0, 10 IP, BB, 9 K
    3. Jackson Wentworth, Kansas St. — 3 G, 2 SV, 8 IP, 1 R, 9 K
    4. Hunter Omlid, Arizona St. — 3 G, 1-0, 7.1 IP, 2 BB, 13 K
    5. Kyson Witherspoon, Oklahoma — 1 G, 7.2 IP, R, BB, 11 K
    6. Carson Byers, Miami (OH) — 2 G, 1-0, 7.2 IP, R, 4 BB, 13 K

    After a tough third start against Arkansas State, Louisiana moved LP Langevin to the bullpen and he was absolutely dominant. The righthander cruised in midweek action against Southern, striking out seven of the eight batters he faced to log a win. Then, over the weekend against Old Dominion, Langevin entered in the fifth inning of a scoreless game and went four-plus innings without allowing a hit. He struck out 10 and walked two.

    Featured Image via Clemson Athletics