More competitive than ever

In 2021, college baseball as a whole will be older and more talented than it has ever been.

Blanket eligibility relief for all players who took part in the 2020 season means that there are hundreds of seniors back in the sport who would normally have started careers, in baseball or otherwise.

At the same time, Major League Baseball’s decision to scale back last year’s draft to five rounds also pushed players to campus, because scores of current college players and high school recruits went undrafted.

Around college baseball, there’s a sense of excitement for what that confluence could mean this spring.

“Between getting a lot of guys back and getting freshmen who don’t usually come to campus, I think, obviously, it’s going to be huge for college baseball,” Central Florida coach Greg Lovelady said. “I think the parity and the level of talented kids and the