Mark Etheridge, also known as the Nerdmaster General to listeners of our Nerdcast, has wrapped up the 2023 D1Baseball staff pick’em contest as we head into Omaha. Etheridge tied Patrick Ebert for the staff lead with seven correct picks out of eight super regional matchups, giving Mark 118 correct picks on the season — five ahead of second-place Joe Healy, his SEC Extra partner.
But the rest of the D1 staff is still jockeying for the final position. In the all-important race to avoid last place, Eric Sorenson (102 points) is one point ahead of Kendall Rogers (101).
The top two national seeds, No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 2 Florida, are the most popular picks with our panel to win the CWS, garnering four picks apiece. Eric Sorenson is continuing his contrarian gambit (which netted him just two correct picks out of eight in the super-regional round) — he’s going with Stanford over TCU in the Finals. Shotgun Spratling is taking LSU to win it all, and Stephen Schoch is taking his beloved Virginia Cavaliers. Four D1 staffers picked UVa to reach the Finals, second to Florida (five picks). On the other side, Wake Forest drew seven picks to make the Finals, and LSU was second with two picks.
