Contact us
Follow us on Twitter
 
What we do
 
RSS feed

About Us

Kent Bonham and Jeff Sackmann founded College Splits in 2006. We've been collecting, analyzing, and distributing cutting-edge college baseball data ever since.

Draft Toolbox

Division One Daily Recap
College Splits Power Rankings
 

Site Mascot


Danny Ray Herrera

 

Sticky-fingered Longhorns

May 10, 2010

With only a few weeks to go before the NCAA regionals begin, it seems like a good time to check back in on the Division One leaders in defensive efficiency. Basically, these are the teams that are most efficiently turning batted balls into outs.

As you'll see, there's a strong correlation between "good team defense" and "good team" at the college level. Here's the current top 20:

  Texas                0.732  
  Connecticut          0.716  
  South Carolina       0.716  
  Virginia             0.712  
  UCLA                 0.711  
  Coastal Carolina     0.710  
  Rice                 0.710  
  Jackson State        0.708  
  Stanford             0.705  
  Louisiana Lafayette  0.705  
  Miami (Florida)      0.704  
  Toledo               0.700  
  Arizona State        0.699  
  Florida State        0.698  
  Long Beach State     0.698  
  Texas Christian      0.698  
  Indiana State        0.697  
  Stephen F. Austin    0.697  
  Cal State Fullerton  0.697  
  Creighton            0.696
 

That's just otherworldly defense from UT. Defensive efficiency is approximately the difference between BABIP and 1, meaning that Texas hurlers get the benefit of a BABIP below .270.

The Longhorns defense is led by the sophomore double-play combo of 2B Jordan Etier and SS Brandon Loy. We have each of their (regressed) defense numbers at several runs above average--Etier ranks in the top five in all of D-1.

Also notable is right fielder Kevin Keyes, at about +4. Connor Rowe and Cameron Rupp are the Texas defenders who are getting attention from scouts this season, and both are solidly above average.

Of course, for every positive list, there's a negative one. Chicago State has vaulted themselves out of the bottom spot in the last month, moving up to a .583 mark, good for third from last. Worse up to this point are Air Force (.567) and Fairfield (.564).