Low Three Quarter Media

By Josh Bookbinder

In 2023, I led the NCAA, both D1 and all divisions combined, in K/BB ratio and BB/9. I got a nice graphic from my school’s Twitter account and a shoutout from the BaseballCube. And… that’s it.

For some reason, in my head, I had always built it up more in my head. You lead the country in something, you’re the best in the entire nation at something, you get the praise heaped on. And yet, because I didn’t lead a “sexy” stat, it went largely unheralded. That stuck with me.

With the conclusion of conference tournaments, statistics are final for the 2024 season in college baseball. Let’s take a quick look at some of the fun standouts, with a focus on the ones who likely aren’t going to get the love they deserve.

Plenty of people are going to talk about Chase Burns’ 184 strikeouts, Charlie Condon’s 35 homers, and Hagen Smith’s 1.48 ERA in 79 IP. But I’m more interested in the seasons you won’t hear mentioned on day one of the 2024 draft.

Chase Hennessey, Utah Valley, P – 28 Games Started

Well, was.

Chase Hennessey started 28 games for the Utah Valley Wolverines, seemingly breaking that record and setting a new mark. Now, it is a little different, as Hennessey was an opener, and rarely threw more than an inning; however, he was effective. If you remove one absolute nightmare appearance, Hennessey had a 3.53 ERA on the year. But even cooler, the California native will seemingly have an all-time NCAA record to take with him, too.

Jacob Riordan, San Diego State, P – 26 HBP, 60 BB, 70 IP

Riordan bounced around, from Pensacola State, to Western Oklahoma State, to Georgia State, to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and finally to SDSU, but one thing was consistent: Riordan walked people. He finished his college career with 124 walks in 138 innings. However, he also has one of the coolest highlights a pitcher can have: he threw the 9th no-hitter in SDSU history on March 29th against New Mexico, joining college baseball legends like Stephen Strasburg. Quite the highlight to end off a college career!

Kyle Roche, Richmond – 4 BB, 72 K, 86 IP, 0.42 BB/9, 18.0 K/BB

However, his completely stingy walk numbers were possibly the most impressive piece of his puzzle. The NE-10 Pitcher of the Year walked only 4 in 86 innings while striking out 72. These are impressive numbers that put his rate stats at 0.42 BB/9 and 18.0 K/BB. A heck of a season for the command specialist, taking the lead in two statistical categories that are very close to my heart!

Hunter Holmes, Wichita State – 38 appearances, 33.2 IP

Hunter Holmes, the Wichita lefty, threw in 38 of the Shockers’ 63 games. There was more than a That’s what I call availability!

Camden Janik, Illinois – 10 SO, 212 AB; Ricky Teel, Winthrop – 7 SO, 100 AB’s

I grouped Janik and Teel together as the kings of avoiding K’s this season, another fun throwback stat in a game now full of a lot of swing and miss.

Both fascinating examples of a style of baseball that is less and less appreciated in the pro game, but lives on at the college level.

J.T. Landwehr – 39 HBP, 57 G

They should just call him “Target Practice”.

J.T. Landwehr, the two-way P/IF from Mount St. Mary’s, got smoked at a record pace, as he found a way to get hit by a pitch 39 times in 57 games this season. This included 8 multi-HBP games, with a duo of those being 3 times in a single game. This set the new all-time best mark, which was 37, set by three players, most recently Rhett Rosevear in 2022. Landwehr beat out not only that, but also the HBP total of seven teams in 2024.

Josh Bookbinder is a writer for and co-founder of LowThreeQuarter. See more of his work and others’ work on the site through the links at the top of the page, or explore another recent article linked below.