It’s that time again and we have a great 9-innings of work by our friends at Prospect Nation.  Not only are they some really cool people and love USA baseball like us, but they really go the extra mile to give you the information you need.

This is the WEEK #7 installment of the USA Collegiate Updates, featuring some constant performers and some new names to the mix.  Be sure you always check out their site and their supplemental blog when you’re done.  You can also support them (and make some money at draft time!) by buying their first web-only promotion for 2010 Topps USA Retail Box Sets.

Welcome, to the 9 glorious innings of NCAA baseball….

1^st: LSU junior OF Mikie Mahtook has gotten ink on our 9-Innings most every week for his offensive prowess; this past week, Mahtook outperformed all of those previous week’s accomplishments; even his 4-homerun season-opening series couldn’t match his 9-for-14 (0.643) 2 triple, 2 HR, 7 RBI and 3 stolen-base weekend; along the way he extended his hitting streak to 14 games and counting; Mahtook now ranks 2^nd among all NCAA Division-I players in homeruns (10) and tied for 9^th in RBI’s (32);  for his efforts, he was named the SEC Player of the Week…

[LINK: Mahtook named SEC Player of the Week]

2^nd: TCU junior RHP Kyle Winkler is another name that just keeps popping up on this weekly list; not to say it hasn’t been deserved as one glance at his cumulative 1.05 ERA, 5-1 record and 0.74 WHIP will certainly say otherwise; this week, Winkler outdid even himself as he faced 26 batters over 7-innings and fanned 15 of them while allowing just one run on four hits and walking one;  his 15 K’s are the most a TCU player has posted since Matt Purke set the club record with 14 in last year’s playoffs; barring one anomalous start, Winkler is one of only a handful of pitchers to be so consistently good most every time out; here are his weekly numbers since the start of the season to prove the point:

ERA	W	L	APP	GS	CG	SHO	CBO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	2B	3B	HR	AB	B/AVG
0.00	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	7.0	1	1	0	0	8	0	0	0	22	0.045
0.00	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	7.1	6	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	25	0.240
0.00	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	8.0	4	0	0	0	9	0	0	0	27	0.148
0.00	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	6.0	3	1	0	1	7	1	0	0	22	0.136
4.50	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	8.0	8	5	4	1	11	2	0	2	31	0.258
1.13	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	8.0	5	1	1	3	9	0	0	0	28	0.179
1.29	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	7.0	4	1	1	1	15	2	0	0	26	0.154

Said head coach Jim Schlossnagle, “”He’s an elite Division I pitcher. He’s as good as we’ve put out there, including [Matt] Purke, [Jake] Arietta, [Lance] Broadway, Clayton Jerome. He’s going to play baseball for a long time, I think.”

[LINK: Winkler named MWC Pitcher of the Week… again]

3^rd: Clemson sophomore 2b Richie Shaffer went 7-for-15 (.467) with a double, triple, grand slam and five RBIs in four games; he scored seven runs and recorded three walks while posting an .867 slugging percentage and .556 on-base percentage and wa s also perfect in the field, committing no errors in 12 chances at third base and first base; in the final two games at No.6 North Carolina, Shaffer went 5-for-7 with two walks, reaching base in seven of his nine plate appearances; in Shaffer’s biggest play of the week, he broke open a close game with a grand slam in the sixth inning to propel the Tigers to an 11-5 win over Georgia; for his accomplishments, Shaffer was named the ACC Co-Player of the Week…

[LINK: Shaffer’s slam propels Clemson to win]

4^th: UCLA junior RHP Trevor Bauer gave up 2 of 3 total runs in the first inning against Washington before settling down; once Bauer found his groove, he was a lock to nail down his 5^th win of the year; along the way he gave up 1 additional run but fanned 10 and walked 2 in 8-innings; his 10 K’s marks the 6^th time in 7 starts that Bauer has fanned 10+ batters in a game and it’s no surprise that he continues to lead the NCAA in strikeouts…

One night earlier, fellow junior RHP Gerrit Cole tossed a complete game for the Bruins to earn his 3^rd win on the year; it was the second time this year Cole went the distance as he allowed just 1 run on 5 hits, fanning 10 and walking 2… *NOTE: the article below on Cole is highly recommended

[LINK: Bauer roughed-up early, finds groove for 5^th win]

[LINK: UCLA Coach says Cole could be pitching in Majors by September]

5^th: Arizona sophomore OF Robert Refsnyder posted a 10-for-22 (.455), 2B, 2 HR’s, 9 RBI’s and 17 total bases on the week; it was business as usual for the super sophomore who is batting .347 on the year with 3 HR’s and 26 RBI’s…

[LINK: Refsnyder delivers in 9^th inning to ensure win for Wildcats]

6^th: Virginia senior RHP Tyler Wilson was pitching out of the bullpen last year; Wilson was then drafted in June by the Cincinnati Reds in the 35^th round but did not sign and returned for his senior year; he didn’t know it at the time, but almost one year later he would be the Cav’s #2 starter (behind Danny Hultzen) and having the year of his life; it’s safe to say his draft stock has improved considerably; this past week Wilson notched his 4^th win (4-0 overall) with a dominating performance; he tossed 7 shutout innings, giving up 5 hits and fanning 10 while walking 2 of the 26 batters he faced…

[LINK: Wilson having career-year]

7^th: Kansas senior RHP T.J. Walz also returned for his senior year after getting drafted late (50^th round by the Oakland Athletics); and although he hasn’t been as good as Wilson, he’s still the Jayhawk’s ace; this past week, facing #19 Baylor, Walz notched his 3^rd win going 7.2 innings and allowing 3 runs on 3 hits, but fanned 11 and walked 3; it was the fourth time this year Walz reached 10+ K’s…

[LINK: Walz notches win against #19 Baylor]

8^th: Hawaii junior OF Kolten Wong may be the most underrated offensive player in Division-I baseball; naturally quiet and laid-back, Wong hasn’t garnered the same type of publicity as fellow prospects Anthony Rendon and George Springer; but Wong continues to consistently display an offensive prowess that is going to make him a 1^st-round draft pick come March; says Aaron Fitt in today’s weekly Baseball America College Chat, “He’s a great all-around player and a likely top-half of the first-rounder. I think he’s the nation’s best second baseman, and there are a lot of good ones this year.”  Now that’s some serious praise; this past week, Wong  was 8-for-16 with a 3B, HR, 9 RBI’s and 2-of-3 on stolen base attempts…

[LINK: Wong excelling even with minor injury]

9^th: Florida State RHP Sean Gilmartin pitched 6 shutout-innings to earn his 6^th win on the year (6-0 total);  Gilmartin faced 20 batters and allowed 3 hits, walked 3 and fanned 9; on the year, Gilmartin has notched 53 K’s over 48.1 IP with a WHIP of 0.74 (3^rd best among our group of pitchers)…

[LINK: Gilmartin cruises again in ‘Noles victory]

One of the top rated Freshman this preseason is Karsten Whitson, who turned down the Padres to attend University of Florida.  After being the 9th overall pick in the 2010 MLB draft, he instead chose to be a part of the top rated college team in the country, and favorite to win the CWS.  Today was his first start with the Gators and he did his best to show everyone why he declined a pro career…..for now.

From Gator Country:

In his NCAA debut, Florida freshman Karsten Whitson struck out nine University of South Florida Bulls, walked one batter and allowed just one hit in five innings.  Whitson combined with three Gator relievers to shut out USF 5-0 and earn a season-opening series sweep over the Bulls.

“I felt good,” Whitson said.  “I was really excited to just get out there and throw strikes.”

After allowing a first inning single to USF shortstop Sam Mende, Whitson settled down and retired the next 11 batters he faced.

“It was a good piece of hitting by (Mende),” Whitson said.  “I threw a fastball inside and he got his hands through.  It was a good pitch but a better job of hitting.  I just kept making good pitches after that and tried to hit my spots.  I just tried to keep the ball low in the zone, throw strikes and let my team behind me make plays.  I was getting pretty good movement (on my fastball).  I was definitely trying to throw my two-seam inside to get them to hit into ground balls, which they did, and my slider was working pretty good too so I was happy.”

Whitson (1-0) was taken ninth overall by the San Diego Padres in last year’s Major League Baseball Entry Draft, but elected to give up a potentially large sum of money to take a scholarship with the Gators.

“(Sunday) has got to be up there, probably top one or two (in career milestones),” Whitson said.  “This was the reason right here I came to school, just to throw on this Gator uniform and come out here and pitch.  It was definitely a lot of fun.”

If you’re looking for nice cards on the eBay market for Whitson, then good luck finding them.  I’d expect more to hit after a couple more starts, but I’m sure many are holding until he becomes draft eligible in 2013.  He’ll be facing a few others for the Freshman of the Year honors, including Austin Wilson, Kevin Gausman, and Dylan Covey.

2009 Upper Deck USA Patch Auto /35

BGS 9.5 Bowman Chrome Gold Refractor /50 and a BGS 9 Copy

Bowman Chrome Gold Refractor /50

BGS 9 Bowman Chrome Orange Refractor /25 and Another Copy

It only took two days for the rivalry to start again at UCLA, and Trevor Bauer did his best to equal Gerrit Cole‘s opening day effort.  Bauer took the mound in game 2 of the weekend opening series and did so in grand fashion. If 2010 was an indicator of the Nation’s best 1-2 pitching combo, then 2011 should be something for the record books.

From UCLA Baseball news:

Junior right-hander Trevor Bauer struck out 10 batters in 7.2 innings to help the No. 2 UCLA baseball team earn a 4-1 victory at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Jeff Gelalich went 3-for-3 with one double and two runs to pace UCLA’s offense.

Bauer (1-0) allowed two hits against the visiting Dons (0-2), pitching into the eighth inning. The right-hander from Valencia, Calif., surrendered an infield single to the leadoff batter in the first inning before holding San Francisco hitless until the top of the eighth inning.

Game Notes: Trevor Bauer pushed his career strikeout total to 267, moving into sixth place on the school’s career strikeouts list … Bauer improved his career record to 22-6, ascending into a five-way tie for eighth place on UCLA’s career wins list (first pitcher since Casey Janssen in 2004 to log at least 22 wins) …in two games this season, UCLA’s pitching staff has limited San Francisco to one run (unearned) and seven hits in 18.0 innings.

It’s no secret that my favorite player in the country and favorite 2011 draft prospect is Bauer.  The race for the best pitcher in the country has begun and looks to be a great debate for all college baseball fans.  The market is quite thin for Bauer cards, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t good buys when they do show up.  He is another guy for everyone to buy soon, or else you’re going to regret it.

Bowman Chrome Orange Refractor /25 and Another Copy

Bowman Chrome Gold Refractor /50

Upper Deck Patch/Auto /99

From The UCLA Bruins Baseball news page:

Junior right-hander Gerrit Cole threw his second career complete game, recording 11 strikeouts, to lead the No. 2 UCLA baseball team past San Francisco, 1-0, in its season-opening contest on Friday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Cole (1-0) made 107 pitches through a career-high nine innings, scattering just four hits and allowing one walk. The right-hander from Santa Ana, Calif., tallied six of his 11 strikeouts in the game’s final three innings. Friday’s performance marked his first career complete game victory.

This is the start of a long season and it couldn’t have gone better for Cole, who is a top 3 overall projected pick in the 2011 MLB draft.  The CG victory is his first action since coming off the crushing loss vs. South Carolina in the CWS, put UCLA down 0-1 in the series.  They eventually lost the series and many people pointed to his start as a deciding factor.

It’s the college season of the pitcher and this performance is just the beginning.  Stay tuned for more recaps from USA collegiate players like Trevor Bauer (UCLA), Matthew Purke (TCU), and Matt Barnes (UCONN).

Check out some of the great Gerrit Cole sales and listings.  Buy them now before they spike in Strasburg-like fashion!

Upper Deck USA Future Watch Patch/Auto #’d /50

Bowman Chrome Red Refractor #’d /5

Bowman Chrome USA Wrapper Redemption Auto Black /25

Upper Deck USA Red Ink Inscriptions Auto #’d /25

(2) 2010 Topps USA Triple Patch Autos /50 (WOW!  These are drying up)