From an educational standpoint, I would love for someone - who is very knowledgeable about college baseball back office specifics - to outline some of the most common D1 scholarship "budgets" the various schools are provided, and thus need to operate within. I assume some have largely "unlimited" budgets are are constrained only the NCAA regulations. Conversely, I assume some have very small dollar budgets and therefore may work to maximize the number of minimum scholarship offers (getting back to the 25% minimum).
I'll start with an example (although only 99% confident I am correct) - Mississippi State - I suspect this school has no real scholarship budget. I believe this school is limited only by the 11.7 total scholarships. If they felt that every scholarship needed to go to an out-of-state player (in order to field the most competitive team), then they would have the necessary "budget". The actual budget differential between in-state and out-of-state would largely be foregone tuition.
Towards the other end of the spectrum for D1 programs, specifically private colleges, the number of scholarships and the dollar amount are identical.
I think a coach laying out scholarship dollars (as opposed to percentages) is done to simplify the process for the parent. If some coach threw out a percentage to me (wishful thinking at this point...), I would immediately convert to dollars anyhow and determine what was left over.
Please note that I have made assumptions, so hoping someone in the know can either confirm or correct as appropriate. Also curious as to whether a school might have budget limits/restrictions as they relate to tuition versus other COA categories.