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Michael Roth Pitches South Carolina Gamecocks To 2011 College World Series Title
The College World Series will be played at the brand new TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska starting Saturday, June 18th and running through Wednesday, June 29th.
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- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series Champs, South Carolina Deserves Big-Time Recognition
It's hard enough for any one team to fight through a bracket of 64 teams to win a national championship one year. Especially in baseball. Sure, every year someone has to win, but so many different guys have to pitch well in order for a team to last through the College World Series and come out victorious. South Carolina's achievement solidifies this teams' place in not just college baseball history, or even baseball history, but in championship history.
These players and coaches join the likes of Stanford ('87-'88), LSU ('96,'97) and Oregon State ('06-'07) as the only teams in the last 25 years that have repeated as CWS champions in back-to-back years. This team had a bulls-eye on its back for the entire 2011 season and wore it like a shield only to defend its rightfulness as the best team in college baseball. If there was ever any doubt, it is over now.
Head Coach Ray Tanner will be the first person to give the credit to everyone else in the program from his assistant coaches to his training staff. But he deserves loads of credit for keeping these players tuned in to their goals for the 2011 season after winning it all in 2010. It would have been very easy for this team to come out and be complacent this season and think that it would just come easy the second time around. By no means was this an easy road for South Carolina.
It took a walk-off hit from tournament MVP Scott Wingo to defeat Texas A&M early in the CWS. It took a 13-inning slugfest against Virginia in which they showed the poise that a champion must possess. A constant back and forth in trading blows in the extra inning game that had each teams' closer throw 95+ pitches. They showed that same poise in the game one victory against Florida. When the pressure rose for this championship team, they rose with it. There was never a situation that was too big or a circumstance too difficult they could not overcome.
You can't win a championship without having everyone on the team help in the process. They found enough guys that made big plays at the right times that led them to this title. As Michael Roth said, who was the starting pitcher in last years deciding game against UCLA and started in the deciding game two against Florida on Tuesday night. via ESPN.com
"We're not the most talented team, and we don't have the best players position for position," Roth said, "but we go out and stick together as a team. We battle. I can't describe it. We're a bunch of average Joes and love each other and come out and battle."
It seems as if we're always hearing this from teams right after they win a championship. Finding the right formula of players and coaches and getting those coaches to get the most out of their players is the constant battle for coaches at any level. The South Carolina Gamecocks have figured out that formula. And now because of it, they will be remembered forever for what millions witnessed Tuesday night.
- almost 2 years ago
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Michael Roth Pitches South Carolina Gamecocks To 2011 College World Series Title
Ray Tanner has now established himself as a living legend. The head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks won his second College World Series title in a row with tonight’s 5-2 victory over the Florida Gators, and the team set records for winning in the process — making Tanner’s run at South Carolina one of the greatest of all-time.
WIth tonight’s win, the Gamecocks now hold the longest winning streak in College World Series history with 11. Previously, USC and LSU both had been tied with the current South Carolina team at 10. Thanks to starting pitching Michael Roth, those names have been erased and the Gamecocks stand alone in their achievements.
Tonight’s game wasn’t ever that close given Roth’s dominant pitching performance, allowing only 5 hits and 1 run in 7.2 innings. South Carolina’s hitters came up big enough to give Roth the cushion he needed. Gator’s catcher Mike Zunino was the only UF player able to do anything at the plate, going 3 for 3 with a double and solo HR. South Carolina, meanwhile, enjoyed two hit nights from Christian Walker, Brady Thomas and Peter Mooney, who also hit a solo home run.
For Roth, this was simply an extension of what he’s been doing on the mound all season. For the year, he’s 13-3 with a 0.98 ERA. He struck out 106 in 137 innings and only allowed 2 home runs all season.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: South Carolina Gamecocks On Record-Setting Streak
If the South Carolina Gamecocks and head coach Ray Tanner win tonight against the Florida Gators in what would become the final game of the championship series, they’ll accomplish far more than just taking the 2011 College World Series title. They will have established new NCAA baseball records in the process.
Tanner and his squad have already had a memorable season. For players lucky enough to have been on the 2010 roster, they could earn two national championships back-to-back. But what they might not realize is that they will have established a new record for consecutive wins in the College World Series with 11, dating back to the opening round against Oklahoma in last year’s bracket play.
Louisiana State and USC are the only other teams to accomplish the feat in NCAA history and the streak could certainly continue next year as the Gamecocks return several great players for another season. This is Tanner’s fifth year with 50 or more wins in 15 seasons at South Carolina, a sign that the SEC team will continue to dominate as long as Tanner is at the helm. Florida can only hope that all records are made to be broken and that tonight is one of those nights. Otherwise, it’s a successful defense of the national championship for the South Carolina Gamecocks.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Extra Innings Needed As South Carolina Wins Nailbiter Against Florida
It was the dramatic extra innings win you’d expect from two teams realizing how much is at stake at the 2011 College World Series. In Game 1 of the three-game championship series at TD Ameritrade Stadium in Omaha, the defending champion South Carolina Gamecocks took the early series edge with a 2-1 win in 11 innings over the Florida Gators. The series returns tomorrow night with Florida’s back against the wall.
The pitching in tonight’s game was outstanding with both starters and bullpens getting the job done for well over 300 pitches combined on the night. The frustrating part, then, is that it was throwing errors that ultimately cost Florida the game after Christian Walker stole second base. It almost felt like a repeat of Virginia’s undoing in Bracket Play.
Forrest Koumas and Hudson Randall were both strong in their starts for the Gamecocks and Gators respectively, and the bullpens carried it through. Both pens will be a bit taxed heading into today’s game, putting the pressure on line-ups to take advantage and try to oust today’s starters that much earlier.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Five Reasons Florida Will Win Championship
These are the five reasons that Florida will win the national championship.
1. Hudson Randall
The game one starter for the Florida Gators has already proved that he can beat the Gamecocks all by himself. Well, at least a complete-game 5-hitter while allowing no earned runs on March 26th in Gainesville.
Florida coach Kevin O' Sullivan has already announced that he's going with his ace in game one. Over the course of the season Randall has a WHIP of under 1. That's walks + hits per inning pitched. Basically meaning that he doesn't allow many base-runners and he's generally in control of the game when he's pitching. And he's pitched a lot for Florida. He threw 116.2 innings so far this season and Florida is hoping that he can throw around 125. If Florida is going to pull this thing out then Randall has to be a big part of it.
2. The Long ball
Florida finished in the top 5 in the country in home runs during the season. They hit 68 long balls as a team. Led by SEC Player of the Year-Mike Zunino's 18 homers, followed by Preston Tucker's 15, the Gators like to score in bunches and it generally comes from the ball leaving the yard.
It's hard to single a team to death in a championship situation because coaches won't hesitate to bring out the next pitcher. It's generally hard for teams to sustain long innings without walks or errors and when teams are on the top of their game like Florida and South Carolina are right now. It could come down to a fastball tailing back across the middle of the plate or a hung-curve ball that is sent flying into the crowd. Florida has done pretty well with this over the course of the season.
3. Mike Zunino
Catchers touch the ball more than any other player on the field throughout the course of the game. They know what's going on out there and they are the "field general" that controls what the defense is doing. It helps when your team has a pretty good one and suffice it to say, Florida has a pretty good one.
In the series back in March between these two teams, South Carolina may have won two of three, but it had nothing to do with their catchers production at the plate. Zunino finished the series 7-12 after 3-4 performances in games one and three. With an offensive-dominated lineup that has been carried by the long-ball this season, you have to count their best hitter and leading home run hitter as a key component in their quest for a national championship.
4. Bryson Smith
The Florida Gators have been led offensively this NCAA tournament by their center fielder, Bryson Smith. Smith has led all players in the NCAA tournament with 17 hits. In nine games he's batted .472 along with a 13-game hitting streak.
This coming from a player that hit just .325 for the season. Smith's hot bat will need to continue and getting Smith in the 1/2-hole on-base sets the stage nicely for their big hitters in the heart of the order to do some damage.
5. Karsten Whitson
Whitson has already been named as the starter for game two on Tuesday. Obviously his performance is either for a championship-clincher, or a season-extender. Either way he could very well be looking at pitching a game that sets up Florida to either face, or not face South Carolina ace-Michael Roth.
Whitson has had success in his limited outing back in March. In just 5 innings pitched he gave up just two hits and one run, while striking out five. It's an advantage for Whitson to know in advance that he is going to be the starter. His preparation in the days leading up to his start will be normal in terms of bullpen work and throwing schedule. He'll be watching very intently on Monday night to see what tendencies, if any, he can try and take advantage of from South Carolina hitters. Randall and Whitson take the ball in the most important two-games of their lives so far. It should be fun to watch.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Five Reasons South Carolina Will Win Championship
These are five reasons that South Carolina will win back-to-back national championships.
1. Leadership and experience.
The following players played in the deciding game against Virginia last Friday, and last year in the deciding game against UCLA that won South Carolina the national championship. Evan Marzilli, Jackie Bradley Jr, Adrian Morales, Scott Wingo, Christian Walker, Brady Thomas, Robert Beary, Adam Matthews, Michael Roth, John Taylor and Matt Price.
That's 11 players that stepped on the field the day that the Gamecocks dog-piled on the field as national champions that return to Omaha to try and start off the new home of the CWS the same way they closed out the hallowed ground at Rosenblatt. That kind of experience shouldn't be overlooked or discounted.
2. Michael Roth
As one of the 11 that plated against UCLA last year in the deciding game, Michael Roth, was the starting pitcher in that game. He went 5 innings, giving up just one run on six hits. Back in March Roth threw 8.1 innings against the Florida team he will face in the next few days and went 8.1 innings, giving up just two runs while striking out six and walking two.
Head Coach Ray Tanner has been non-committal when it comes to when Roth will start in this series. If South Carolina wins game one, we will probably see Roth in game three, if necessary. He'd be coming off three days rest to pitch on Tuesday in game two and coach Tanner is hoping to win the first one so he can have his ace get another days' rest and able to throw in the final.
3. Scott Wingo
Normally you wouldn't think of your 9-hole hitter as a key to winning the championship over your 3-4-5 hitters in the lineup. But it always seems to come down to the guy you wouldn't think of when championships are won. Sure it's nice to have your Dirk Nowitzki (Michael Roth), but who is the JJ Barea or Jason Terry? It's gotta be Wingo. A middle infielder that already has one walk-off hit in this College World Series.His defense may be as important, if not more important, than what he does at the plate.
The better Wingo is at the plate during this series the faster the lineup can change over and allow runners on base for the top of the South Carolina order.
4. Pressure
Been there, done that. It's not that South Carolina won't have pressure. But the feeling of playing in the most important games of your life is a feeling that have already dealt with, and been successful with. South Carolina has the edge in a close game, which most likely these will be, and the further the games go into the later innings the better-off the Gamecocks are in dealing with the nerves and feelings the Florida players are feeling for the first time. Although, South Carolina had those first-time feelings last year and they won. So there are two sides to this story.
Bottom line is that South Carolina has a lot of players who've already proved they can do this. Florida has yet to prove they can and both teams know that.
5. Ray Tanner
The South Carolina players can look at their leader and trust that he knows what it takes to win a national championship. It's not as if they didn't already know he was one of the best coaches in the country, it's probably one of the reasons that these players chose to go to South Carolina in the first place. But they can trust the plan and preparation that it has put them in the best possible position to succeed.
Coach Tanner has some pretty tough decisions to make in this series. When do you start Michael Roth and when is Matt Price ready to pitch? They both threw extensively in their win against Virginia on Friday and bringing them back for a game one on Monday would be a tough call. His trust in his other relievers may show its' self in a close game on Monday night if that's the case.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: South Carolina Wins Instant Classic Against Virginia, Heads to Championship Series
The Friday night game between South Carolina and Virginia will be viewed as a classic ten years from now. Nobody who was fortunate enough to watch this game is going to forget what they saw between these two teams in a game that has sent Virginia home and South Carolina to another championship series.
It took 13 innings to find a winner but South Carolina finally got that elusive third run in the bottom of the 13th inning. Two throwing errors by Virginia reliever, Cody Winiarski gave South Carolina the victory in an ending that was anything but representative of this game.
Matt Price and Branden Kline were absolute studs for their respective teams. Both closers went above and beyond what anyone would, or should expect from guys that aren't set up to throw 90+ pitches. But that's exactly what they both did. Price went 5.2 innings for South Carolina, giving up seven hits and no runs by throwing 95 pitches. Kline threw 107 pitches in 5 innings and giving up no runs for Virginia.
By the end of the game everyone watching had forgot the outstanding display of pitching that Danny Hultzen gave the fans at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, and the millions watching around the world. He took himself out of the game with an illness after throwing just three innings for Virginia. But in those three innings, he struck out eight Gamecocks. Anyone wondering what the Seattle Mariners saw in the kid to take him No. 2 overall in the past draft had their questions answered. But right after Hultzen came out, South Carolina threw up two runs off Kyle Crockett on a two RBI-double by Brady Thomas.
Each team had their opportunities to win this game. Brady Thomas was the only starter from either team that did not leave anyone on base. In a game that had dozens of momentum swings for both teams, especially from great defensive plays by Virginia outfielders John Barr and David Coleman. The biggest momentum swing was in the top of the 13th inning when Virginia had the bases-loaded with nobody out. Price got Chris Taylor to strike out swinging for the first out, and then John Barr lined into a double-play as the second baseman caught the liner and flipped it to 2nd base to double-off Colin Harrington. That seemed to make the difference as Virginia could not overcome another opportunity missed.
Brady Thomas led off the bottom of the 13th inning with a single to centerfield on a full-count 9-pitch at bat. This is where the wheels fell off for Virginia. An attempted sacrifice bunt from South Carolina was fielded by the pitcher, Cody Winiarski, who threw an errant ball to second base in an attempt to get the lead runner. The very next batter also laid down a sac bunt and Winiarski threw a low-fastball to the 3rd baseman in another attempt to get the lead runner, the ball got away and the winning run came into score for South Carolina. In all honesty, the runner at third was most likely going to be safe regardless of whether or not it was a good throw. It was a terrible way to end a fantastic baseball game.
The only people who are more excited about this game other than South Carolina, is Florida. The Gamecocks are going to need a few ice-baths to get over this game. They have a couple of days rest before they start up against Florida in the championship series starting on Monday. The best-of-three series will determine the 2011 national champion.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Florida Jumps On Vanderbilt, Sonny Gray To Advance To Championship
Pulling out some late inning heroics, the Florida Gators have officially advanced to the championship series in the 2011 College World Series with a 6-4 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores. It gives Florida the win in Bracket 1 and they will await the winner of the Virgina-South Carolina match-up held later tonight on ESPN.
Vanderbilt put their best foot forward with recent first-round draft choice Sonny Gray on the mound, but he eventually crumbled, allowing 6 runs in 7 innings to take the loss. Gray’s performance is worse than it looks, since he also allowed 12 hits and 5 walks and faced an astounding 37 total batters. Simply put, it’s amazing that he was allowed to stay in so long.
Then again, it’s not surprising that Florida won in the first place since they were 4-1 against their SEC opponents this season. Still it’s a great season for Vandy who advanced to their first CWS, and finished close enough to the finals. Florida now heads to a best-of-three series against tonight’s winner. The championship series begins on Monday.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Friday Bracket Play, TV Schedule
The Florida Gators (52-17) find themselves in the drivers seat alongside the defending-champion South Carolina Gamecocks (52-14), as they each just need a win on Friday to advance to the championship series. They each hope to take care of business in their first opportunity. The championship series begins on Monday and consists of a best-of-three series between the two bracket winners.
Florida takes on Vanderbilt for the sixth time this season Friday at 2pm ET on ESPN, and streamed online at espn3.com. The Gators have walked away with four wins in the five games they have played this season. Junior left-hander Alex Panteliodis (6-2, 3.95 ERA) will be making his second start against Vanderbilt this season. He beat Vanderbilt in the SEC final by throwing 5.1 scoreless innings, giving up five hits and no walks while striking out five.
All-American Sonny Gray (12-3 2.12 ERA) will be taking the mound for Vanderbilt as they hope to live to fight another day. They'll have to beat Florida Friday afternoon to force another game on Saturday in a winner-take-all match-up for a spot in the championship series. Gray will need to pitch better than he did in his first start in Omaha against North Carolina where the All-American went just 4.2 innings allowing eight hits, three runs and five walks. That was 13 base-runners allowed in under five innings. Vanderbilt will need the regular season Sonny Gray to show up if they want to force a second game against Florida.
Florida has yet to give up a run in Omaha after the 7th inning and are 45-0 this season when leading after seven innings. Florida's bullpen has thrown 6.2 innings in Omaha and has yet to give up a hit, but they have 11 strikeouts and one walk. Florida pitchers have done fantastic against opponents' 3-5 hitters as they've hit just (.087, 2-23) against Gator pitching. Info used from gatorzone.com
Florida has had the upper-hand in this series so far this season and they are in a position of strength here in the College World Series.
The Virginia Cavaliers (56-11) came into this tournament as the No.1 overall seed, but find themselves looking up at the defending national champion South Carolina Gamecocks (52-14). They square-off in a must-win for Virginia if they want to keep their title hopes alive at 7pm ET on ESPN, and streamed online at espn3.com. One win for South Carolina and they're playing a best-of-three for a national title, again.
The experience that South Carolina brings with them from winning it all last season is beyond any statistic or box score. They know what it takes and they have shown to be able to handle the situation and thrive under that pressure. Not to say that Virginia can't do that, but in a game of momentum it's the team that handles the ups-and-downs of the game the best that will come out ahead.
It will be imperative that Virginia gets on top early if they want to win this game, or the pressure will continue to build each and every inning of knowing their chance at a title could be falling just short. Falling behind will allow South Carolina to feel that championship-door getting closer and make it tougher and tougher for Virginia to catch-up.
Virginia is most likely going to start their ace, left-hander Danny Hultzen, in their game Friday night. South Carolina has not yet named a starter but they're leaning towards their ace, Michael Roth to start on Friday. Hultzen last threw against California on Sunday as he showed then why the Mariners decided to take him with the No. 2 overall pick in this past MLB draft. He went 6.1 scoreless innings giving up just three hits and striking out six. Roth also last threw on Sunday against Texas A&M. He went seven innings, giving up four unearned runs on four hits with eight strikeouts.
The most logical conclusion is that Florida will meet South Carolina to determine the 2011 national champion. But they have to earn it first and Virginia and Vanderbilt are there to make that very difficult for them. We could have the championship series set after Friday's games, or we could have a showdown set for Saturday. Either way, Friday should be a fantastic day of baseball with some of the best in the country putting their talents on display for the entire country to appreciate.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Virginia Takes Out California For Second Time; Earns Rematch With South Carolina
While the wild ride of the California Golden Bears earned more press during the 2011 College World Series, the phrase “it was fun while it lasted” must be employed at this point since the Virginia Cavaliers took out the surprise upstarts 8-1 in tonight’s victory at Omaha. Cal simply couldn’t handle anything Virginia’s Tyler Wilson literally threw at them and the Cavaliers bats took care of the rest.
Wilson went to 10-0 on the season with a stellar outing, going 7.2 innings while allowing only five hits and walking none, surrendering one lone run in the process. He also struck out five. Cal’s pitching simply fell apart as both Dixon Anderson and Kevin Miller performed poorly.
California was knocked out of the tournament in the process, leaving Virginia to face South Carolina for the chance to advance to Monday’s championship series. South Carolina already knocked off Virginia earlier in the CWS, which means the Cavaliers are up against the wall. In fact, their first contest wasn’t even close as the Gamecocks won 7-1. Friday night will provide the ultimate drama as the two teams face off for the second time in the CWS. Game time is 7pm ET and will be played on ESPN.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Thursday Bracket Play, TV Schedule
The Virginia Cavaliers (55-11) take on the California Golden Bears (38-22) Thursday night at 7pm ET on ESPN2 and streamed online at ESPN3.com. They are fighting for the right to play South Carolina on Friday night and grab that last remaining spot in the final four in this years tournament.
The winner of the game on Thursday night will have the difficult task of beating the defending national champion South Carolina Gamecocks, who will be coming off two days rest, twice in order to advance to the championship series. The championship series will include the winner's of the two brackets playing a best-of-three series to determine the 2011 national champion.
Bracket #1 is already set with Florida and Vanderbilt, as one of those two teams will be playing for a national championship starting on Monday. Vanderbilt will have to beat Florida twice to advance, starting with their first game on Friday at 2pm ET.
Bracket #2 is going to be a lot more clear after Thursday's game. The match-up really is a David vs Goliath type of feel going into it. Virginia came in as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and California came in as the underdog from day one. The winner will have to beat South Carolina twice in order to advance to the championship series.
Virginia already beat Cal in game one of this tournament by a score of 4-1. Danny Hultzen, the No. 2 pick in this past MLB draft to the Seattle Mariners was fantastic in the first game to give the Cavaliers the victory. He threw 6.1 scoreless innings while giving up just three hits.
Everyone expects to see a Virginia-South Carolina match-up on Friday so it will be California that has the opportunity to play spoiler and put an exclamation point on an already-successful season.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Florida Holds Dominant Edge Against Vanderbilt
It feels almost blasphemous to say that the Vanderbilt Commodores have no chance against the Florida Gators in the final contest of Bracket 1 in the 2011 College World Series. After all, the level of talent on all sides of Vandy’s roster is ridiculous, and the Commodores showed their grit with their backs against the wall in tonight’s victory over North Carolina. But given the head-to-head match-ups this year between the two, it seems the Gators simply have the Commodores number no matter what they try.
Thus far, Florida is 4-1 against Vanderbilt in SEC regular season play, the SEC tournament and here for one game already in Omaha. Most recently, Florida sent Vanderbilt to their first and only allowable loss in a 3-1 contest just yesterday. And Florida has a bit of margin to play with while also knowing what Vanderbilt is capable of, having seen them up close. In other words, you can expect Florida to simply play like they know how to play while also not letting up against such a fierce opponent.
With a couple days rest, perhaps it will be Taylor Hill who will take the mound again for Vanderbilt, but you’d almost expect it to be Grayson Garvin at this point. Floriday might counter with Karsten Whitson, who actually had some troubles against Vanderbilt earlier this season and has had some trouble getting through the fifth inning in his starts against them. Perhaps that would give Vanderbilt their best chance, given Karsten’s freshman status. Then again, it might be Hudson Randall.
The winner will be determined this weekend, one way or the other. If Florida wins the opening game on Friday afternoon (2pm ET), then they’re headed to the championship series. If Vanderbilt wins, then they force a final game on Saturday afternoon at the same time. The final series starts on Monday.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Vanderbilt Advances, North Carolina Sent Home
The Vanderbilt Commodores have advanced to face Florida on Friday with a 5-1 victory over North Carolina Wednesday night in Omaha.
It was Taylor Hill's day for Vanderbilt as the right-hander put on a clinic with his sinker and was in control for all of but one inning on the day. His day was finished after throwing seven innings, giving up just one run on four hits in the elimination game for both Vanderbilt and North Carolina.
Hill got some help as the Vanderbilt offense gave him some room to work with as they threw up a four-run lead after the first two innings. It was Connor Harrell's three-run blast that changed this game for Vanderbilt. The one-out home run scored Mike Yastrzemski, who had singled to start the inning, and Conrad Gregor who had walked just before the blast. They took a 4-0 lead after the big hit from Harrell.
Hill found trouble in the 5th inning as Ben Bunting had an RBI groundout for North Carolina with the bases loaded that brought the score to 5-1. That left runners at second and third base with two outs for Colin Moran, who had been 0-2 till that point in the game. On deck was the player who had already been 2-2 off Hill during the game in Jacob Stallings, that included a deep-double to lead-off the second inning. So what does Hill do? He pulls his best "I want Parkman" move from Major League, intentionally walks Moran to pitch to Jacob Stallings. Then just like the movie, Hill strikes out Stallings on three pitches to end the threat and lets out a scream that Ray Lewis would be impressed with.
Gregor finished the game 2-2 with a run scored from the 7-hole, while Harrell finished the game 2-3 with a run scored and three big RBI's from the 8-hole.
Vanderbilt will now face Florida Friday afternoon at 2pm ET. Florida needs just one win to advance to the championship series while Vanderbilt will need to beat Florida twice to advance.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: South Carolina, Florida Emerge As Favorites
It can't be stressed enough how much better position the South Carolina Gamecocks and Florida Gators find themselves in after winning their first two games in the College World Series. The two days off and the fact that they've both only played two games so far in this tournament makes for a nice rest for their starting pitchers.
For Florida it's Hudson Randall that started the first game for the Gators against Texas last Saturday. He could be available to start on Friday against the winner of the North Carolina-Vanderbilt game being played on Wednesday if they choose to go that way. They'll also have Karsten Whitson available for the game on Saturday (if necessary) coming back on four days rest.
This is a far better situation then what North Carolina or Vanderbilt will have to deal with should they advance in this tournament. The extra days off and the one-less game sets up the staff for Florida to be rested and ready to compete in the best-of-three championship series.
South Carolina is in the same situation and they also have something else going for them, besides the 13-consecutive CWS victories streak. They've been here before and they've been successful here before. It's one thing to go to the College World Series every year but if you haven't won a title, then you haven't shown to have the perfect formula for success in Omaha. Every decision that you make affects the outcome and a team that has shown to make the right decisions before has the advantage.
That's not to mention the amount of talent the guys from Columbia have brought with them to Omaha this year. Michael Roth started the first game of the series for the Gamecocks against Texas A&M, and he should be ready to bring his sub-1.00 ERA (.97) with him to start on Friday as well. The Gamecocks will face the winner of the Virgina-California game. John Taylor and Colby Holmes each threw 4.1 innings in their second game against Virginia.
So we're going to jump right ahead and look at the three games that South Carolina and Florida played this year. South Carolina wouldn't be so upset if the three-game series during the season is how a best-of-three championship series could possibly play out next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
South Carolina won game one by a score of 9-2 as Michael Roth went 8.1 innings for South Carolina, giving up just two runs on ten hits to pick up the win. Florida won game two 2-1 on a dominating performance by Hudson Randall, who threw a complete game giving up just five hits and no walks, while striking out four and giving up one unearned run. South Carolina won game three 4-3 behind a pitching-by-committee approach that we might see again here in the College World Series. The Gamecocks scored that 4th run in the 8th inning to break a 3-3 tie on a bases-loaded walk to Adrian Morales.
These two teams look to be on a collision course to meet in the championship series to determine the 2011 national champion. If their series earlier this year in Gainesville is any kind of preview to what we could see next week in Omaha, fans of college baseball are in for a great few days of baseball. Vanderbilt, California, North Carolina and Virginia have something to say about their spot in this series as well. Their roads are much more difficult, but nothing worth-while was ever won without a struggle.
Vanderbilt sends North Carolina home with win Wednesday night.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Wednesday Bracket Play, TV Schedule
In the lone game at the College World Series on Wednesday North Carolina (51-15) takes on Vanderbilt (53-11) at 7pm ET on ESPN2 and streamed online at espn3.com
The Tar Heels and Commodores play this elimination game for the right to play Florida on Friday afternoon if they should win. North Carolina has already survived one elimination game by beating Texas 3-0 on Monday night. Vanderbilt lost to Florida 3-1 in a weather-delayed game Monday-into-Tuesday to find themselves in this game.
North Carolina and Vanderbilt have already squared-off once in this College World Series as it was Vanderbilt who beat North Carolina 7-3 in the first game of this 2011 World Series.
Either of these teams will have to beat Florida twice to win Bracket #1 and advance to the championship series, which consists of a best-of-three series to determine the 2011 national champion.
If you base your views around statistics then Vanderbilt would have the edge in this game. They excel both on the mound and at the plate, where they rank in the top 5 in the country in both categories. But you never know how a team will react when their season is on the line. North Carolina and Vanderbilt are both trying to keep their seasons going and holding out hope for a shot at the 2011 national championship.
North Carolina is sending Greg Holt to the mound on Wednesday. Holt has has 32 appearances on the season but is making just his second start of the season. His first came against Miami in the first game of the ACC tournament where he went 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on six hits. The senior right-hander was an eighth round pick by the Washington Nationals this year.
Vanderbilt is going with Taylor Hill as their starter. He has a 5-2 record this year on 16 starts and a 2.84 ERA. Hill had an impressive 88-22 strikeout to walk ratio this year in his 92 innings of work.
Vanderbilt has been led offensively in the College World Series by leadoff-hitter Tony Kemp, who has gone 4-7 in the tournament so far, including a 3-4 effort in the first game against North Carolina that included a run scored and a RBI. Ben Bunting has led North Carolina going 6-9 in the CWS with two runs scored and a RBI.
The game will be played at 7pm ET and broadcasted on ESPN2 at the brand-new TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: South Carolina Rolls On With 7-1 Victory Over Top-Seeded Virginia
The South Carolina Gamecocks just know how to get it done in the College World Series. Their 7-1 victory over the No. 1 overall seed Virginia Cavaliers Wednesday night was the 13th consecutive win in Omaha for the defending national champions.
The Gamecocks have put themselves in fantastic position to play in the championship series that begins on Monday. They'll need just one more win to get there and Virginia now has the difficult task of winning three elimination games in a row to get to that same series. That would include beating South Carolina twice. It's not impossible but looks very improbable right now.
South Carolina got off to a hot start by scoring three runs in the top of the first inning off Virginia starter, Will Roberts, all with two outs. Roberts was a fifth round pick by the Cleveland Indians in this past draft. He came into the game with a 11-2 record, but 3.1 innings, eight hits, six runs (three earned) later, he found himself with an 11-3 record.
Jackie Bradley Jr. got the Gamecocks on the board first with a RBI-double that scored Christian Walker, who had reached on an error by the Virginia third baseman Steve Proscia. Adrian Morales and Brady Thomas then had RBI hits to get the Gamecocks the 3-0 lead after one inning.
Colby Holmes had a good start for the Gamecocks as he went just 4.1 innings but allowed only one run on four hits, while striking out seven. John Taylor threw the next 4.1 innings for South Carolina and allowed only one hit and one walk.
This game was all about the offense for South Carolina. It was also a complete team effort as the 3-4-5-6 hitters for South Carolina, Christian Walker (2-5 2RBI 1R), Jackie Bradley Jr. (2-5 1RBI, 1R), Adrian Morales (3-5 1RBI 2R), and Brady Thomas (3-4 1RBI) combined to go 10-19 with 5 RBI's and 4 runs.
When you get the middle of your order hitting .526 you will find your team being pretty successful. That's exactly what South Carolina has been so far and if they keep this up they're going to be tough to beat.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: California Bats Eventually Get To Texas A&M In 7-3 Victory
When the Golden Bears started hitting, there was nothing the Aggies pitching staff could do to stop the bleeding in Cal’s 7-3 defeat of Texas A&M in today’s second game of the 2011 College World Series bracket play. It also cemented the recent National Coach of the Year Award given to Cal’s David Esquer with yet another unexpected win.
After being shut out the first few innings, Cal broke through against the Aggies Michael Wacha for three runs in the fifth and sixth and added another run in the seventh, eventually chasing Wacha out. Freshman shortstop Derek Campbell did the most damage, going 2-4 and driving in 2 runs. Third baseman Mitch Delfino added an RBI double for Cal’s only extra base hit.
On the pitching side, Cal’s Kyle Porter was making only his fourth start on the season, but he went to 6-0 on the season and did a decent job shutting down A&M’s bats with 3 runs allowed over 6 innings. Matt Flemer took over after that with a stunning three shutout inning performance to close out the game.
The game ended a successful season for the Aggies as they finish 47-22 on the season. California advances to face the winner of tonight’s Virginia-North Carolina winner.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Florida Hangs On To Beat Vanderbilt 3-1
In a weather-delayed game that continued on Tuesday morning the Florida Gators (52-17) had no trouble sleeping as they defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores (53-11) by a score of 3-1 Tuesday morning on Omaha.
The Gators have put themselves in fantastic position to play as the Bracket #1 representative in the best-of-three championship series that begins next Monday. They need just one more win to advance to this series.
The road just became much more difficult for Vanderbilt after this loss, who came in as one of the sleepers with all of the buzz surrounding Virginia and just-eliminated Texas. Vandy now takes on North Carolina in an elimination game Wednesday night at 7pm ET, and the winner of that game will face Florida on Friday. They will have to beat the Gators twice to advance to the championship series.
Florida's Karsten Whitson and Steven Rodriguez were brilliant as they combined to throw all 9 innings for the Gators while allowing just one run on 4 hits with 12 strikeouts. Rodriguez was especially brilliant as he didn't allow but one base-runner in his 4.1 innings while striking out seven Commodore hitters. This wasn't like pitching to a cupcake either. Vanderbilt came into this game in the top five in the country in team batting average. That's just how good Whitson and Rodriguez threw for Florida.
Preston Tucker was the offensive MVP of the game for Florida as he finished the game 2-4 with all three Florida RBI's and a run scored. All three Florida runs were scored in the top of the 4th inning. Nolan Fontana started the rally with a walk, before SEC Player of the Year Mike Zunino singled to set the stage for Tucker. Tucker blasted a three-run home run to right field to give Whitson and Rodriguez all the run support they would need.
Florida can sit back and relax now because they have two days off before facing either Vanderbilt again, or North Carolina on Friday at 2pm ET.
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Tuesday Bracket Play, TV Schedule
The game on Monday night between Vanderbilt (53-10) and Florida (51-17) was postponed due to weather in the 6th inning with Florida leading 3-1. The game will be picked back up from this same point on Tuesday morning at 11am ET, and will be broadcasted on ESPN 2 and streamed online at espn3.com The winner won’t play again until Friday at 2pm ET and be one win away from the championship series. The loser will go on to play North Carolina (51-15) in an elimination game Wednesday at 7pm ET.
No. 1 overall seed Virginia (55-10) takes on defending national champion South Carolina (51-14) Tuesday night at 7pm ET. The game will be on ESPN and streamed online at espn3.com. These two teams were on a collision course when these brackets were announced. With all due respect to California and Texas A&M, but either Virginia or South Carolina will be playing in the championship best-of-three series starting next Monday. The loser of this Tuesday night game will most likely have to beat the other twice to make it to the series. The winner is sitting pretty along with the winner of the Vanderbilt-Florida game.
California (37-22) takes on Texas A&M (47-21) in an elimination game on Tuesday at 2pm ET on ESPN and streamed at espn3.com. Texas A&M sends Michael Wacha (9-3) to the hill against the Golden Bears and if he throws anything like he has so far in this NCAA tournament, there is a good chance the Aggies will live to see another day. Cal sends Kyle Porter (5-0) to the mound to try and extend the season for the Omaha-underdog.
2011 College World Series displays last pure men's championship
- almost 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Monday Bracket Play, TV Schedule
The North Carolina Tarheels (50-15) take on the Texas Longhorns (49-18) on Monday afternoon in the first elimination game of the 2011 College World Series. The two teams face-off at 2pm ET with the game being broadcasted on ESPN and streamed-online on ESPN3.com.
Texas found their way into this elimination game by falling 8-4 to the Florda Gators on Saturday. North Carolina lost to Vanderbilt by a score of 7-3 Saturday night. The winner of this game will face the loser of the Vanderbilt-Florida game scheduled for Monday night.
The winner still needs to win their next four games in order to win Bracket #1 and advance to the best-of-three championship series. Texas has already played five elimination games in the 2011 NCAA tournament while this will be North Carolina's first elimination game this season. Texas faced elimination in their regional against Texas St, and then twice against Kent St. They also lost their first game in the super regional against Arizona State before having to win two in a row to advance to Omaha.
2011 College World Series displays last pure Men's championship
Vanderbilt (53-10) takes on Florida (51-17) at 7pm ET Monday night in the winner's side of Bracket #1. The games will be shown on ESPN2 and streamed-online on ESPN3.com. The winner will be in prime position to play in the best-of-three championship series starting next Monday. The next game for the winner wouldn't be until Friday and they'd just need one more win to reach this championship series.
Vanderbilt comes into this game as the most balanced team in the country. No. 1 seed Virginia and defending national champion-South Carolina are deservingly getting a lot of credit and notoriety in Omaha right now. But it's Vanderbilt that is currently ranked in the top 5 in the country in both batting average (.319 - 5th), and ERA (2.38 3rd). Vanderbilt's 7-3 victory against North Carolina was the closest game they've played in this entire NCAA tournament thus far. They won their regional by a combined 26-3 and their super regional against Oregon State by a combined 20-4.
Florida comes into this game after putting up five runs in four innings off Texas starter, and No. 12 overall pick in the recent MLB draft of the Milwaukee Brewers, Taylor Jungmann. It was the eight and nine spots in the batting order that sparked the Gators offense against the Longhorns with Daniel Pigott and Cody Dent leading the way.
Vanderbilt and Florida played four times this past season and Florida walked away with three victories. Florida seemed to have Vanderbilt's number so far this season and they're hoping that continues at the College World Series.
- about 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: South Carolina, Scott Wingo Walk-Off Against Texas A&M
The defending national champion South Carolina Gamecocks pick up their first win in the 2011 College World Series in dramatic fashion. Scott Wingo blasted a bases-loaded, 1-2 fastball to deep right field against Texas A&M to give the Gamecocks the 5-4 walk-off victory Sunday night in Omaha.
The Aggies (47-21) grabbed a 4-0 lead early as they got to South Carolina (51-14) starter Michael Roth in the top of the first inning. It was the bases-loaded triple from Brandon Wood that broke the game open for Texas A&M that took that four-run lead to the bottom of the 4th inning. But they would not finish the first inning with that lead.
South Carolina responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the 1st inning off of Texas A&M starter, Ross Stripling. An error by Texas A&M second baseman Andrew Collazo scored two runs for the Gamecocks and was key in the four-run first inning for South Carolina.
Both starters settled down after the first inning and another run wasn't scored until Wingo's game-ending blast in the 9th inning. Stripling went 8 solid innings for Texas A&M giving up just two earned runs on seven hits, while striking out six. Roth went 7.1 innings for South Carolina without surrendering an earned run, while scattering four hits. Of the 9 runs scored on the day between both teams, only three of them were earned. That's with only one error from each team, both of which came in the first inning.
Both of these teams took advantage early of the opportunities that presented themselves. Scott Wingo had a tremendous game for the Gamecocks as he finished 4-4 with a run scored and one very important RBI. South Carolina won the 2010 College World Series on a walk-off hit in the 11th inning against UCLA in the last game at Rosenblatt stadium. Now they've opened up the brand new TD Ameritrade Park with its' first walk-off win.
South Carolina now plays Virginia on Tuesday night at 7pm ET in the winner's game of Bracket 2. Texas A&M plays California Tuesday afternoon at 2pm ET in an elimination game.
- about 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Virginia, Danny Hultzen Get Past California
The No. 1 overall seed Virginia Cavaliers beat the California Golden Bears 4-1 Sunday afternoon in Omaha in the first round of the 2011 College World Series.
The second overall pick in the 2011 MLB draft, Danny Hutzen, went 6.1 scoreless innings for Virginia giving up just three hits while striking out six. But the game wasn't decided until after Hultzen left the game. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the 7th inning when Keith Werman scored on a John Hicks RBI single for the Cavaliers. Steven Proscia later added a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 2-0.
The Cavaliers added another couple of runs in the 8th inning starting with a Jared King RBI triple. Werman then singled in King to make the score 4-0. Werman led the Cavaliers offensively on the day going 2-4 with a RBI and run scored from the nine-hole.
Tyler Wilson picked up the win in relief of Hultzen to improve to 9-0 on the season. He gave up three hits and one run in 2.1 innings out of the bullpen.
Virginia will now play the winner of the South Carolina vs Texas A&M game that is scheduled for Sunday night at 7pm ET. The loser of the game will play California at 2pm ET on Tuesday. The winner will play Virginia at 7pm ET Tuesday night.
- about 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Sunday's Schedule, TV Times
Day two of the 2011 College World Series gets underway today with the first two games of Bracket Two in the double elimination section of the CWS. Four talented teams are ready to go today, including the biggest underdog of the final eight: California Golden Bears. Cal comes in with the least amount of wins by far (37), but they've played as well as anyone heading in, so they're not a team to be overlooked.
Then again, Cal is facing one of the most powerful teams here in Virginia who feature one of the best pitching staffs left in competition anchored by recent top MLB draft choice Danny Hultzen. The Cavaliers went 54-10 and on paper, the game is a total mismatch with Virginia ranking higher in nearly every hitting and pitching category. Yet it's that tough, scrappy nature that has Cal here in the first place, so you can believe that Virginia will not rest on their laurels.
In the second game of the day, South Carolina and ace Michael Roth take on Texas A&M, led by Ross Starling, to see who can advance from probably the most even match-up in the first round. South Carolina is the repeating champion, so many might believe them the team to beat, but Texas A&M's stepped up since John Stilson's injury and you should expect that momentum to continue.
Sunday's Games (All Times Eastern):
California v. Virginia - 2pm - ESPN
South Carolina v. Texas A&M - 7pm - ESPN2
- about 2 years ago
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College World Series: Texas, Taylor Jungmann Take Unexpected Beating From Florida
It’s not that it’s that surprising that Florida won over Texas in the second game of the 2011 College World Series. It’s the fact that the Longhorns ace, Taylor Jungmann was the culprit behind the 8-4 loss. Not that the other Longhorn pitchers did much better, but Jungmann was rung up for five runs and four walks in four-plus innings of work — not what you’d expect from the No. 12 overall selection in the recent MLB Draft.
Four Gators hit doubles and Brian Johnson and Bryson Smith each drove in two to lead a formidable hitting attack that seemed to have Texas pitchers in the hole all evening long. Florida scored in five different innings and Texas could never seem to find a real groove for any consecutive innings in a row. Now, the Longhorns are forced against the ropes for the rest of the tourney in the current format of Bracket Play, which uses a double elimination structure.
Texas now advances to play North Carolina on Monday at 2pm in a must-win scenario, while Florida advances to face Vanderbilt on Monday night at 7pm to see who will enjoy the most cushion for a while.
- about 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Vanderbilt's Hitting Overcomes Sonny Gray's Poor Pitching To Win Against UNC
The 2011 College World Series was supposed to be dominated by low scoring games marked by pitching gems and solid defense. Instead, it was timely hitting and subpar pitching performances in Vanderbilt’s 7-3 win over North Carolina that marked the opening of TD Ameritrade Park in a match-up that most predicted to be as close as any in the opening rounds of action.
Saturday opened up Bracket Play for final eight teams vying for the CWS title, and while it’s Vanderbilt’s first time, they’re a loaded team on all fronts. Specifically, recent Athletics first round draft choice Sonny Gray was expected to lead the Commodores into battle, but he was chased after four forgettable innings allowing 13 baserunners and three earned runs. North Carolina’s ace, Patrick Johnson, wasn’t much better, going six innings and allowing five runs to take the loss — only his second on the season.
Some of the hitters, however, performed as advertised. North Carolina’s super freshman Colin Moran drove in two runs and went 3-4. Vandy centerfielder Connor Harrell hit the first homerun of the CWS. For the most part, it was a matter of timely hitting and poor pitching in the form of walks and wild pitches that drove the offense.
If anything, I’d expect this game to be the anomaly as all of these pitchers will undoubtedly redeem themselves next time around. They’ve been too good all season to not do so. Then again, it’s clutch time where the pressure is up and anything can happen.
- about 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: North Carolina, Vanderbilt Scheduled To Lead Off In Omaha
It’s finally time for the 2011 College World Series to kick off, and it’s a high octane match-up that opens things up in Omaha and the brand new stadium known as TD Ameritrade Park. This spring has been a remarkable one for both Vanderbilt (52-10) and North Carolina (50-14), and now they stand on the edge of greatness for their respective programs.
For Vanderbilt, this is their first time in the CWS, but led by pitcher Sonny Gray — recently drafted at No. 18 in the recent MLB Draft by the Oakland A’s — and some outstanding hitting — notably Aaron Westlake’s power — the Tigers should not be counted out despite their lack of experience at this stage.
For North Carolina, they’ve yet to lose throughout this post-season and they continue to dispose of opponents behind the stellar pitching of Patrick Johnson, who continues to pitch gem after gem for his team in the clutch. Colin Moran is the power hitter in the middle with 28 extra base hits and the freshman has a solid pro future ahead of him (his brother is a prospect for the Mariners and his uncle is longtime MLB catcher B.J. Surhoff).
Both teams have mowed over their opponents all season long and have the starting pitching and defense to win close games in the tight conditions that bracket play demands. No matter who wins, the loser will probably fight their way right back to the top.
- about 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Saturday Bracket Play, TV Schedule
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College World Series 2011: Texas, Texas A&M Try And Keep State Of Texas Celebrating
Fresh off the Dallas Mavericks' victory in game six of the NBA finals over the Miami Heat for the NBA championship. The state of Texas will try and muster up enough energy to ride out the week-long College World Series tournament to hope for another reason to skip work and head to an over-the-top-parade.
The Longhorns and Aggies head into this weeks' tournament as legitimate contenders for a national title. Texas is a perennial contender while Texas A&M has shown flashes of the ability to play with anyone in the country this year. If the right Texas A&M team shows up in Omaha, they have a shot at making some noise. They need to show some consistency on the mound if they are going to contend for the title. It's not going to be easy for either of these teams as Virginia, South Carolina and Vanderbilt are all playing like teams ready to dog pile next week.
The Texas Rangers loss in the World Series to the San Francisco Giants last year and the Dallas Cowboys dismal showing last fall has the fans in this state ready for more than just one championship.
Texas takes on Florida Saturday night at 7pm ET on ESPN while Texas A&M takes on South Carolina Sunday night at 7pm ET on ESPN2.
Texas vs Florida is a battle of the dominant pitchers for Texas against the dominant hitters for Florida. Texas is currently ranked second in the country with a team ERA of 2.27, while Florida currently ranks fifth in the country with 67 home runs this season.
Texas A&M is ranked 13th in the country in ERA at 2.88 while South Carolina sits at fifth at 2.60. Texas A&M needs Michael Wacha to pitch like he did in the regional and super regional to have a chance at beating the powerhouse that is South Carolina. The defending national champions are being overshadowed by Virginia for some reason in this tournament. But with as much talent as there is in Omaha this year, nobody should be overlooked.
This is going to be an exciting couple of weeks of college baseball and the state of Texas has two reason to be excited.
- about 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Bracket Play Revealed, Saturday Schedule, TV Times
As the week winds down, several college baseball teams — eight, to be specific — are gearing up to make their dreams come true of taking home the College World Series trophy in Omaha over the next couple of weeks. From Saturday, June 18 through Wednesday, June 29, the best of college baseball will be played out and the greatest eight teams have staked their claim in the 2011 CWS. Here’s all the details you’ll need to know.
Bracket Play begins tomorrow and pares down the competition to the final two teams with a double elimination format. Those games are played throughout the next week at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha and can be found on ESPN and ESPN2 all week. By next weekend, the final two teams will be christened and the championship series begins on that following Monday with a best-of-three series beginning at that point.
We will keep you posted with results and updated schedules as the series progresses, but here’s the opening weekend slate of games and TV times:
Saturday’s Games (All Times Eastern):
North Carolina v. Vanderbilt – 2pm – ESPN
Texas v. Florida – 7pm – ESPN
Sunday’s Games:
California v. Virginia – 2pm – ESPN
South Carolina v. Texas A&M – 7pm – ESPN2
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Texas A&M Makes It A Lone Star Two-Step in College World Series
The championship field for the 2011 College World Series in Omaha, Neb., includes teams from both Carolinas, the states of Florida, California, Tennessee and Virginia, but only Texas is coming to town with a two-fer.
The Texas Longhorns eliminated Arizona State from a CWS invitation in coming out on top 4-2 in the deciding game on Sunday, and Monday night Texas A&M punched its World Series ticket by jumping on host Florida State for six big tallies in the opening inning of their Super Regional final and cruising to an 11-2 pounding of the higher-seeded Seminoles.
While the Big 12 has two teams in the field at this year’s College World Series, being played for the first time at new TD Ameritrade Park after many years at Rosenblatt Stadium, the Southeastern Conference placed three schools in the brackets to lead all conferences. Two teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference also are among the final eight.
The 2011 College World Series gets under way on Saturday with two games scheduled: North Carolina vs. Vanderbilt in the opening game, followed by Texas taking on Florida. Sunday’s schedule in the double-elimination tournament has California going against top-seeded Virgina and Texas A&M paired against defending college national champion South Carolina.
Texas will be making its 34th appearance in the College World Series and has won six national championships. For Texas A&M, it will be the Aggies first World Series appearance since 1999.
- about 2 years ago
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College World Series 2011: Schedule For Games Saturday And Sunday, TV Schedule
The eight teams are set and we are ready to get the 2011 College World Series started. Six of the top eight national seeds made it to Omaha, No. 5 Florida State fell to Texas A&M in the super regional and No. 8 Rice lost in the regional to California. That's a pretty fair body of work for the selection committee.
There are two games set for Saturday and two games set for Sunday. This is a double-elimination tournament that has two brackets with four teams in each bracket. The two winners of their respective brackets will play a best-of-three to determine the national champion.
Bracket #1 has North Carolina (50-14) taking on Vanderbilt (52-10) Saturday at 2pm ET, with the game being televised on ESPN, and streamed on ESPN3.com. The other Bracket #1 game is the most interesting match-up of this first round of games with Texas (49-17) taking on Florida (50-17) at 7pm ET on Saturday also on ESPN and streamed on ESPN3.com
North Carolina and Vanderbilt are both unbeaten so far in this NCAA tournament as they both went 3-0 in their regionals and then won both super regional games to earn this spot in Omaha. Vandy has been stellar so far as they have won their games by scores of 10-0, 10-2, 6-1, 11-1 and 9-3. They face a North Carolina team that has been clicking on all cylinders, both from an offensive standpoint from top to bottom in the order, and on the mound with Patrick Johnson and Kent Emanuel leading the charge. They combined for 13.2 innings giving up just 10 hits, two runs with 12 strikeouts and 2 walks in their two starts in the super regional against Stanford.
Texas rolls out with one of the best pitchers in the country in Taylor Jungmann, the No. 12 overall pick to the Milwaukee Brewers, who lowered his ERA to 1.38 in the super regionals which is good for 5th in the nation right now. Jungmann faces a Florida offense that blasted nine home runs in three games during the super regional against Mississippi State. Led by the SEC Player of the Year, catcher Mike Zunino, who went 6-13 with five runs, four RBI's and two home runs in their super regional games it's going to be an excellent match-up with two powerhouses squaring off on the biggest stage in the world for College baseball.
Bracket #2 has California (37-21) taking on top-seeded Virginia (54-10) at 2pm ET on Sunday and will be televised on ESPN and streamed live online at ESPN3.com The fourth and final game will be South Carolina (50-14) taking on Texas A&M (47-20) on Sunday night at 7pm ET on ESPN2 and streamed on ESPN3.com.
California comes into this tournament as the underdog as they were the No. 3 seed in the Rice regional only to come out of that and beat Dallas Baptist in the super regional for their shot at a title. They have a tough road as they take on the No. 1 overall seed in Virginia, who is relieved to have made it here after a two-out two-RBI walkoff hit from Chris Taylor to beat UC Irvine and send them to Omaha.
South Carolina has gone 5-0 in this NCAA tournament thus far and has played pretty consistent baseball throughout the course of the regionals and super regionals. They won their super regional games by a combined score of 13-3, and their regionals by a combined score of 21-8. Texas A&M will rely on starter Michael Wacha, who is having himself a fantastic postseason going 20.1 innings, giving up just two runs total for a NCAA tournament ERA of 0.88, he's gone 3-0, including two wins in elimination games for the Aggies.
Pitching seems to be the name of the game in Omaha this year as five of the top six teams in the nation in ERA are represented in this years' College World Series. #1 Virginia (2.27) leads the country followed by #2 Texas (2.33), #3 Vanderbilt (2.41), #5 Texas A&M (2.64) and #6 South Carolina (2.65).
Only Vanderbilt finds themselves in the top 10 in both ERA and batting average, where they rank 6th in the country while hitting .319 as a team.
The best of three for the two bracket winners will start on Monday, June 27th and they will play game two on Tuesday and game three (if necessary) on Wednesday. All of these games are set for 8pm ET and will be televised on ESPN and streamed on ESPN3.com All games will be played at the brand new TD Ameritrade Park for the first time since leaving historical Rosenblatt Stadium, where the College World Series had been played since 1950.
2011 College World Series Displays Last Pure Men's Championship
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: Texas A&M Beats Florida State 11-2, Advances To College World Series
Texas A&M grabs the final spot in the College World Series next week in Omaha with a convincing 11-2 victory over Florida State Monday night in Tallahassee.
It was a tale of two games with Florida State and Texas A&M. In Sunday's game it was Texas A&M that struggled to throw strikes as they allowed 12 walks to Seminole hitters. On Monday it was the Florida State pitching staff that struggled to find the zone as they allowed 9 walks and five of those runners came around to score.
The Aggies threw up a six-spot in the first inning as Kevin Gonzalez blasted the big two-RBI double to break the game open to 4-0 at that point. But it was Jacob House and Adam Smith that led the Aggies offensively on the day as the 4-5 hitters combined to go 4-5 with four runs scored, four RBI's, three walks and a home run. The Aggies added two more runs in the 2nd inning with Smith's two-run blast to extend the lead to 8-0 for the Aggies.
Michael Wacha was fantastic on the mound for Texas A&M as he went 7.1 innings, allowing only two runs on three hits, while striking out eight to pick up the decisive game three victory for Texas A&M.
Texas A&M joins Texas as the two representatives of the Big 12 in the College World Series this year. They are joined by Vanderbilt, Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and California. One of these teams is going to be the 2011 National Champion.
- about 2 years ago
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: No 1. Seed Virginia Advances To College World Series With Walkoff Victory
The Virginia Cavaliers (54-10) win in dramatic fashion Monday afternoon with a 3-2 victory over UC Irvine (43-18), propelling the Cavaliers to the College World Series in Omaha later this week.
The No. 1 overall seed was one pitch away from being knocked out of this tournament but a two-out bases-loaded single by Chris Taylor in the bottom of the 9th inning scored pinch-runners Corey Hunt and Mitchell Shifflett to give Virginia the walkoff victory in one of the most exciting games of the tournament thus far.
David Coleman started the two-out rally in the 9th with a single before Jared King reached base on an infield single to the pitcher. With runners at first and second with two outs, pinch-hitter Reed Gragnani walked to load the bases for Taylor. The rest was up to Taylor, and he delivered the most important hit of the Cavaliers season to this point.
It was a heart-breaking loss for a UC Irvine team that came into this game as the underdog and came very close to knocking off the No. 1 team in the tournament. Jimmy Litchfield and his change-up threw fantastic in relief for the Anteaters as he went 4.1 innings, giving up just one run on three hits.
Will Roberts was also fanstastic as the Virginia starter went 7.1 innings in the most important start of the year for the Cavaliers. He gave up just one run on five hits with only one walk.
Virginia joins Florida, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and California as the seven teams so far that have earned their spots in the College World Series next week. Texas A&M and Florida State are scheduled for 7pm ET with the winner filling the 8th and final spot in the CWS next week.
- about 2 years ago
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: South Carolina Headed To College World Series
The South Carolina Gamecocks (49-14) will compete for a National Championship in the College World Series after their 8-2 victory Sunday night in Columbia over the Connecticut Huskies (45-19-1).
South Carolina got major production from their 5-8 hitters as they combined to go 8-16 with six RBI's, three runs scored and three walks. Adrian Morales, Jake Williams, Peter Mooney and Robert Beary will look to lead this team to same way next week when they're in Omaha.
The Gamecocks got 4.2 innings of scoreless relief from Jose Mata (1), Tyler Webb, John Taylor (1.2) and Matt Price (2) to give their offense a chance to come back after trailing this game until the top of the 6th inning, when they scored a single run to tie the game at 2-2.
A single run in the top of the 8th inning gave South Carolina the lead at 3-2, but the five-spot they threw up on UConn in the top of the 9th proved the be too much for UConn to handle. It was five runs on two hits in the 9th on three walks, a hit batter and a clutch two-RBI double from Mooney sealed the deal for South Carolina.
South Carolina joins North Carolina, Texas, Vanderbilt and Florida as five of the eight teams that will compete at the 2011 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska next week.
- about 2 years ago
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: Texas Longhorns Headed To College World Series With 4-2 Victory
The Texas Longhorns will find themselves in familiar territory at the College World Series next week after their 4-2 victory over Arizona State Sunday night in Austin.
The Longhorns trailed this game for a good portion of the day until the bottom of the 5th inning when a balk by Arizona State pitcher, Mitchell Lambson, scored Brandon Loy and tied the game at 2-2. Loy finished the day 3-4 with a run scored and an RBI to lead the Longhorns.
It was the two runs in the bottom of the 6th inning that led the Longhorns to victory, and ultimately the College World Series appearance. The entire rally began with two outs when leadoff hitter Tant Shepherd blasted a double to deep left field. The next batter Mark Payton, singled him in to give the Longhorns the 3-2 lead. Brandon Loy then doubled to score Payton to extend the lead to 4-2.
It was the top of the order for Texas that did all the damage in this game. Shepherd, Payton, and Loy combined to go 6-11 with all four runs scored and two RBI's to lead the Longhorns.
Texas got five innings of two-hit relief from Nathan Thornhill (1.2), Hoby Milner (2.1) and Corey Knebel (1) to slam the door on any Sun Devil attempt at a rally.
Texas joins Vanderbilt, North Carolina, Florida and South Carolina as teams who have punched their tickets to Omaha to compete for a National Championship.
- about 2 years ago
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: Florida State Pounds Texas A&M In Game Two 23-9
Florida State (46-18) was not going to make it easy on Texas A&M (46-20) in this series and they proved it by beating the Aggies 23-9 Sunday afternoon in Tallahassee, forcing a game three on Monday.
Texas A&M used five different pitchers on Sunday, none of them went at least three innings, and they all gave up at least three earned runs. As a staff they walked 12 Seminole hitters in total on the day.
Florida State scored more than one run in six of the nine innings on the day, including a five-spot in the first and a seven-spot in the eighth inning. Ten different Seminoles scored runs in this game, led by Stuart Tapley who went 3-4 on the day with two home runs and six RBI's and two runs scored. Justin Gonzalez also had a fine day at the plate going 2-3 with a home run, three runs scored, six RBI's and two walks for Florida State.
Florida State pitcher Mack Waugh was the only pitcher of the eight used in the game by both teams combined that didn't give up a run. He went three innings, giving up three hits and had four strikeouts, but most importantly no walks.
These two teams square off in game three on Monday with the winner heading to Omaha for the College World Series and a shot at a National Championship.
- about 2 years ago
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: UC Irvine Shocks No. 1 Virginia 6-4
The Anteaters of UC Irvine (43-17) shock the No. 1 overall seed Virginia Cavaliers (53-10) by winning game two of the best-of-three series Sunday afternoon 6-4 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
UC Irvine was held scoreless for the first five innings of this game as they trailed 3-0 headed to the bottom of the 6th inning. It was a two-out solo home run by Drew Hillman that got the Anteaters on the board in the 6th. They added two runs in the bottom of the 7th inning as Ronnie Shaeffer's RBI-single tied the game, scoring Tommy Reyes, who had also singled in a run and advanced on an error by the centerfielder earlier in the inning.
Virginia added a single run in the top of the 8th to give the Cavaliers a 4-3 lead before UC Irvine threw up three runs in the bottom of the 8th inning. It was Jordan Leyland's two-RBI double to left center that gave UC Irvine its first lead of the series at 5-4. Tommy Reyes then singled to score another for the Anteaters to extend their lead to 6-4 headed into the 9th inning.
Andrew Thurman picks up the win for UC Irvine as he threw the final four innings for UC Irvine, allowing just one run on three hits with four strikeouts and no walks. He got Virginia to go 1-2-3 in the 9th to send both of these teams to a decisive game three on Monday.
- about 2 years ago
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals: Florida Bombs Their Way To College World Series
The Florida Gators (50-17) blasted five home runs in a 8-6 game three victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs (38-25) Sunday afternoon in Gainesville to earn their spot in next weeks' College World Series.
In a game that saw 12 pitchers used from both teams, eight from the Bulldogs and four for the Gators, there was just too much power from Florida to keep them away from this deciding game three win.
The SEC Player of the Year Mike Zunino, the Gators catcher, got the home run party started early for Florida with his 1st inning blast to left-center field to put the Gators on top 1-0.
Daniel Pigott blasted two home runs on the day, a two-run shot in the 2nd inning, and a solo shot in the 8th inning. Vikash Ramjit added a solo home run in the 2nd inning as well. But it was Preston Tuckers three-run blast in the 7th inning that brought the Gators back from a 6-4 deficit to give them a 7-6 lead.
Nick Vickerson, the game two hero for Mississippi State blasted a three-run home run in the 4th inning to bring the Bulldogs to within one run at 4-3.
The Gators join North Carolina and Vanderbilt as the only three teams to earn their spot in the College World Series to this point.
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: Big 12 Still Alive For CWS With Texas, Texas A&M
Two of the coveted eight slots are already filled for the 2011 College World Series in Omaha. The chance to be a part of a storied journey is now a reality for the baseball teams of North Carolina and Vanderbilt, and several more hope to join their ranks today in Sunday’s action in the NCAA Baseball Super Regionals round.
Six games are being played today, but Big 12 fans should be watching two of those super regional match-ups very closely. Texas stands even with the powerful Arizona State (whose women just recently took another softball championship) and they play the rubber match today at 7pm ET/6pm CT on ESPN in what should be a stellar third game.
Meanwhile, Texas A&M is up 1-0 against Florida State, a team that’s made it to two of the last three College World Series (missing in 2009). For the Aggies, this would be the first College World Series appearance since 1999 and first under head coach Rob Childress. Expect the Seminoles to realize the pressure and live up to it, creating a great game this afternoon on ESPN (4pm ET/3pm CT).
It’s an uphill battle for the Big 12 overall given the strong ACC and SEC presence in the Super Regionals — not to mention one team apiece already in the CWS — but both Texas teams are in good position heading into Sunday’s games.
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: Sunday's Schedule, TV Coverage
If you have access to ESPN, you’re all covered for the 2011 NCAA Baseball Super Regionals as the journey to Omaha continues all day today. Sunday is going to be a key day for several schools as they look to join North Carolina and Vanderbilt in the College World Series.
Two Big 12 schools remain in the hunt — Texas and Texas A&M — and both schools continue today in their respective series against Arizona State and Florida State. UC Irving is on the ropes against Virginia, while Florida and Mississippi State are evenly matched. South Carolina and California are up one game over UConn and Dallas Baptist respectively.
The full slate of Sunday’s games are below (all times Central):
Mississippi State (1-1) v. Florida (1-1) – 12pm – ESPN
Virginia (1-0) v. UC-Irvine (0-1) – 12pm – ESPNU
Florida St (0-1) v. Texas A&M (1-0) – 3pm – ESPN
Arizona St (1-1) v. Texas (1-1) – 6pm – ESPN
South Carolina (1-0) v. Connecticut (0-1) – 6pm – ESPNU
California (1-0) v. Dallas Baptist (0-1) – 9pm – ESPNU
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: Texas A&M And South Carolina Are So Close To College World Series
Texas A&M (46-19) defeats Florida State (45-18) by a score of 6-2 to put the Aggies one win away from the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Ross Stripling (14-2) gave Texas A&M a great start as he went 7 strong innings, giving up just two runs on seven hits while striking out eight. Kyle Martin and Nick Fleece threw the final two innings for the Aggies to seal the victory Saturday afternoon in Tallahassee.
Trailing 2-1 in the 7th inning, the Aggies put up four runs on four hits to break the game open and give them the 5-2 lead. Brandon Wood's two-RBI single started the scoring in the inning for the Aggies scoring Jacob House and Adam Smith. Kenny Jackson then blasted a double scoring Wood to extend the lead to 4-2 before Tyler Naquin singled in Jackson to give them the 5-2 lead.
Florida State had some chances at rallies as they had at least one hit in each of the final three innings. They are hoping to have better luck with runners on base on Sunday in game two with first pitch set for 4pm ET at Dick Howser stadium in Tallahassee. Texas A&M is looking at an opportunity to play for a National Championship that finds itself just one victory away.
South Carolina (49-14) beats Connecticut (45-19-1) 5-1 Saturday in the first game of the Columbia super regional.
Michael Roth went 8.1 innings for South Carolina giving up just one unearned run on six hits to improve to 13-3 on the season. The lone run came in the top of the first inning after George Springer singled to centerfield, but advanced to second base on an error by the centerfielder for South Carolina. The next batter, Mike Nemeth then singled in Springer to give Connecticut the early 1-0 lead.
That lead held until the 3rd inning when South Carolina got on the board by a two-out RBI-single by Scott Wingo that scored Evan Marzilli, who had just doubled to deep left field. Jake Williams scored the second run for South Carolina in the 4th inning on a wild pitch from Connecticut starter Matt Barnes.
Three consecutive RBI singles by Scott Wingo, Christian Walker and Brady Thomas in the bottom of the 5th inning broke the game open to 5-1 in favor of the Gamecocks.
These two teams play again at 7pm ET in Columbia for game two. South Carolina looks to punch their ticket to Omaha with a victory.
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: Virginia And California Both Win Easily In Game One
Top-seeded Virginia (53-9) beat UC Irvine (42-17) by a score of 6-0 Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville to win game one of the super regional.
Danny Hultzen, the No. 2 overall pick to the Seattle Mariners in this past MLB draft showed why he is one of the best pitchers in the country going 5.1 innings, and giving up just three hits.
Jared King's three-run home run in the 6th inning extended the 2-0 lead from Virginia to 5-0 and put the game out of reach for UC Irvine. King finished the game 3-4 with a run scored, and three RBI's.
Game two between Virginia and UC Irvine is set for 1pm ET in Charlottesville. Virginia is looking to punch their tickets to Omaha with the victory while UC Irvine is just trying to extend their season to a game three on Monday.
California (36-21) got a fantastic start from Justin Jones, who threw a one-hitter in six innings against Dallas Baptist (42-19) to help with the 7-0 victory in game one of the Santa Clara regional.
Cal got two three-run home runs to blast their way to this victory Saturday night in Santa Clara. Chad Bunting's three-run blast in the 2nd inning gave Cal all the runs they would need on the day but Marcus Semien thought another three-run blast in the 8th inning would be just the trick to extend the lead to 7-0 for Cal.
Cal is now just one win away from the College World Series as these two teams play again Sunday at 10pm ET in Santa Clara for game two.
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: Mississippi State And Texas Win, Force Game 3's
Mississippi State (38-24) beats Florida (49-17) 4-3 in a wild game Saturday afternoon to force a game three in a winner-take-all matchup Sunday afternoon at 1pm ET in Gainesville.
Nick Vickerson's two-run walkoff home run gave the Bulldogs the 4-3 thrilling victory to keep their season alive for at least one more day. via espn.com
"I heard it hit that back fence and then I just saw everybody come onto the field, so that's when I knew."
Caleb Reed deserves a lot of credit for this win as well as he pitched well in relief of starter Nick Routt. He threw 5.1 innings, giving up just one run on four hits.
Texas (47-17) defeated Arizona State (43-16) by a score of 5-1 on Saturday in Austin.
Texas used five different pitchers to hold the Arizona State batters to just eight hits and one run. Texas reliever Corey Knebel threw the final two innings for Texas striking out two, while not allowing a base runner.
Texas broke the 0-0 tie with a single run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Mark Payton. Jordan Etier went 3-4 with three RBI's and a run scored from the nine-hole for Texas. His three-run home run in the top of the 9th inning sealed the victory for Texas.
Texas and Arizona State play game three at 7pm in Austin on Sunday night for a spot in Omaha at the College World Series.
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: Vanderbilt And North Carolina Headed To College World Series
Vanderbilt (51-10) and North Carolina (49-14) are the first two teams to punch their tickets to Omaha after winning their best-of-three series over the weekend. Vanderbilt beat Oregon State 11-1 on Friday and then 9-3 on Saturday to win the Nashville super regional. North Carolina beat Stanford 5-2 on Friday night and followed that with a 7-5 victory on Saturday to win the Chapel Hill super regional.
Vanderbilts victory on Saturday was fueled by Anthony Gomez and Aaron Westlake. Aaron Westlake had a game to remember on this particular Saturday. He blasted three two-run home runs to lead his team going 3-4 with six RBI's, three runs scored, and a partridgein a pear tree. Gomez wasn't too bad himself finishing the day 4-6 with three runs scored and two RBI's.
Westlake's first blast came in the 1st inning with one-out that gave Vandy the 2-0 lead. He blasted another in the 6th inning, and his third in the 8th inning. Westlake was batting third in the order for Vandy, the fourth, fifth, and sixth hitters for Vandy went a combined 0-11 on the day.
North Carolina got a solid team effort to pull off the victory Saturday in Chapel Hill. Stanford took an early 1-0 lead on the Tar Heels off of starter Kent Emanuel, who settled down after the first inning and threw five consecutive scoreless innings.
Eight of North Carolina's nine starters had at least one hit on the day. North Carolina's big inning came in the 7th off Stanford reliever Chris Reed, the No. 16 overall pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in this past draft. Reed threw the final three innings for the Cardinals and surrendered three runs (one earned) on four hits, two walks and one strikeout.
Jacob Stallings had the two big hits for North Carolina as his two-RBI single with two outs in the 7th inning broke the game open for the Tar Heels at that point and extended their lead to 6-1. Stanford put up four runs in the top of the 8th inning to get within one run. But Stallings again came through in the 9th inning with a two-out RBI single that gave North Carolina a two-run lead going in to the 9th.
Michael Moran pitched well in relief for North Carolina and got the save as North Carolina joins Vanderbilt as the first two teams to punch their tickets to Omaha.
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: North Carolina Defeats Stanford 5-2
The North Carolina Tar Heels (49-14) defeated the Stanford Cardinals (35-21) 5-2 Friday afternoon in Chapel Hill in the first game of this super regional. Patrick Johnson led the Tar Heels on the mound as he threw 7.2 innings giving up just one run on five hits while striking out seven. Johnson improves to 13-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.28 for the season.
North Carolina spent most of the game protecting a one-run lead as they got the early score in the 2nd inning off of Stanford starter, Mark Appel. With two outs and a runner on third base, Tar Heel centerfielder Ben Bunting hit a RBI-single to shallow right field to give North Carolina the 1-0 lead.
Johnson protected that 1-0 lead until North Carolina's offense gave him a couple of more insurance runs in the 7th inning. Brian Holberton led off the 7th inning with a walk to bring Seth Baldwin to the plate. It would be the last batter that Appel would face on the day as Baldwin blasted a two-run home run to left field and give the Tar Heels a 3-0 lead.
Stanford answered with a couple of runs in the top of the 8th inning but North Carolina responded with two more runs of their own in the bottom of the 8th to seal the 5-2 victory, and put the Tar Heels one victory away from a trip to Omaha for the College World Series.
Seth Baldwin and Ben Bunting combined to go 5-7 with four RBI's with two runs scored from the seven and nine spots in the batting order for North Carolina.
The projected starters for Saturday are Kent Emanuel (7-1, 2.62 ERA) for North Carolina and Jordan Pries (6-5, 3.24 ERA) from Stanford. They play Saturday at 3pm ET in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels have the opportunity to punch their ticket at an opportunity at a National Championship with a victory.
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Two Big 12 Schools Still In Hunt For Spot In College World Series
A week ago, six Big 12 schools entered postseason play with hopes and dreams of extending their seasons and earning a place in the NCAA Baseball Championship’s elite Round of Eight, better known as the College World Series. Only two of the six teams, however, survived first-round regional action last weekend.
Texas and Texas A&M, the Big 12’s regular-season champion and winner of the conference championship tournament, respectively, are the lone Big 12 schools left standing as the NCAA Championship heads into Super Regional play, beginning today.
Texas, seeded No. 7 among the 64 teams that started in the NCAA tournament, is hosting one of the eight Super Regionals, where the Longhorns will be matched up against Arizona State out of the Pac-12 Conference. The Longhorns (47-16) will need to win two out of three from the Sun Devils (42-16) to punch their ticket to Omaha and the CWS. That series begins in Austin tonight, with games two and three, if necessary, set for Saturday and Sunday night.
The Big 12’s top pitcher, Taylor Jungmann, picked No, 1 by the Milwaukee Brewers and 12th overall in this week’s 2011 MLB draft, will get the call on the hill in Game 1 tonight for the Longhorns. Jungmann is 13-1 with an ERA of 1.39, tied for the fourth best in the country this season, in 16 starts for veteran coach Augie Garrido’s Texas squad.
Both the Longhorns and Sun Devils have been historical juggernauts in the world of college baseball. Texas has won six national championships in baseball and have won more College World Series games than any other school. Arizona State is well familiar with the CWS, as well, and has five national titles of its own.
Texas lost its opening game to Kent State in the first regional round last weekend, and it looked like the Longhorns’ season might be nearing an abrupt end. But the Horns rebounded to win three straight after that loss, including two wins over Kent State, to advance to this weekend’s Super Regional.
Asked about the Longhorns’ quest for a seventh national championship, senior first-baseman Tant Shepherd told the Austin American Statesman, "I’ve been on a team that made it to Omaha and one that didn’t. The 2005 team came out of the loser’s bracket in the regionals and ended up winning it all, so we knew it had been done before. Sometimes it takes a loss to bring out the best in a team. That’s what happened to us."
Texas A&M (45-19) will have to get its business done away from College Station in a weekend matchup in Tallahassee, Fla., where the Florida State Seminoles (45-17), the national fifth seed, await. For A&M, it will be their fifth trip to the Super Regional round of 16. The Aggies previously advanced that far in the NCAA Championship in 1999, 2004, 2007 and 2008.
The series between the Aggies and Seminoles gets under way on Saturday afternoon., with follow-up games scheduled for Sunday afternoon and Monday, if necessary.
The Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference both have four teams still alive in the NCAA Baseball Championship. Arizona State, Sanford, California and Oregon State represent the Pac-12; SEC schools participating in the Super Regionals are South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. In addition, there are three schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference still in the tournament: North Carolina, Virginia and Florida State.
Since the Big 12 was formed in 1996, 23 conference teams have advanced to the Super Regionals in baseball. Texas has made the most appearances (8), followed by Texas A&M (5), Baylor (3), Nebraska (3), Oklahoma and Oklahoma (2 each).
The NCAA baseball Super Regional round features 16 teams in a best two-of-three format. The winners of each Super Regional series move on to play in the College World Series.
2011 NCAA Championship Super Regional Sites & Teams
Austin, Texas – Texas vs. Arizona State
Tallahassee, Fla. – Florida State vs. Texas A&M
Chapel Hill, N.C. – North Carolina vs. Stanford
Charlottesville, Va. – Virginia vs. UC Irvine
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina vs. Connecticut
Gainesville, Fla. – Florida vs. Mississippi State
Nashville, Tenn. – Vanderbilt vs. Oregon State
Santa Clara, Calif – California vs. Dallas Baptist
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: Florida Dominates Mississippi State 11-1
The Florida Gators (48-16) win game one of the super regional by a score of 11-1 against the Mississippi State Bulldogs (37-23) Friday afternoon in Gainesville.
The Gators pounced on the Bulldogs from the onset and never looked back. They scored in each of the first five consecutive innings, including a four-spot in the first inning triggered by a Tyler Thompson two-RBI double off of Bulldog starter, Evan Mitchell. Mitchell was pulled after one batter in the 3rd inning when Mike Zunino homered to start the inning. Mitchell finished the day going just 2+ innings, giving up seven runs on five hits with three walks and surrendered two home runs.
Seven Florida hitters had at least one RBI on the day as Florida scored 11 runs on just 11 hits. Florida blasted three home runs on the day with Nolan Fontana blasting his 5th home run of the season in the 2nd inning, Zunino hitting his team-leading 17th homer of the year in the 3rd, and Daniel Pigott hitting his 3rd of the season in the 7th inning to put the exclamation point on the 11-1 victory.
Florida got a great start from Hudson Randall who improved to 10-3 on the seaon after going 8 innings, and giving up just one run on six hits while striking out eight.
Pitching match ups for Saturday in this best of three series has Karsten Whitson (8-0 2.42 ERA) for Florida facing Nick Routt (3-3 3.78 ERA) for Mississippi State.
You can find more in-depth analysis on this series over at our SB Nation Blog.
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: Virginia Still Favorite To Win College World Series
The Virginia Cavaliers (52-9) came into the 2011 NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. They have backed that up with an impressive showing thus far in the race to the College World Series.
Virginia won their three regional games by an average of 8.6 runs per game. They defeated Navy 6-0 in the opener, then took out St. Johns 10-2, and took the regional championship by beating East Carolina 13-1.
They are led by their three starting pitchers, all of whom were drafted in the top 10 rounds of the Major League draft this past week. Danny Hultzen was drafted No. 2 overall to the Seattle Mariners, Will Roberts was drafted in the 5th round to the Cleveland Indians, and Tyler Wilson was a 10th round pick by the Baltimore Orioles.
Hultzen sits at 11-3 on the season with a 1.57 ERA, Roberts is 11-1 with a 1.61 ERA, and Wilson 8-0 with a 2.34 ERA. They have a combined 349 strikeouts and just 50 walks in 286.2 innings. That's 10.95 k's and 1.57 walks per nine innings. Those are video game numbers and just flat out dominant.
Virginia takes on UC Irvine (42-16) on Saturday at 1pm ET in Charlottesville, VA in the first game of the super regional. The best-of-three series sends the winner to Omaha, NE and the College World Series for a chance at a national championship.
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NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: Texas Holds Big 12 Hopes For Success
As the lone Big 12 representative at the Super Regionals, the Texas Longhorns hold the lone hopes for any level of Big 12 success at the 2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. At this point in the schedule, the Longhorns start Super Regional play this weekend for the chance to enter the College World Series in Omaha beginning June 17.
For now, Texas (47-12) must face Arizona State (42-12) for the chance to get there. They open a three-game set on Friday night at 7:00pm ET on ESPN and play again at the same time and specs on Saturday night. A third game, if necessary, is at 7pm ET on Sunday, which will be played on ESPN2.
As for the series, it’s a classic hitting vs. pitching match-up. Texas holds the pitching advantage with a 2.25 ERA as a team, while ASU is hitting nearly 30 points better with a team-wide .303 batting average. ASU advanced from the Tempe Regional and took out Arkansas, Charlotte and New Mexico in the process. Texas advanced from Austin and defeated Texas State, Kent State and Princeton.
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NCAA Regionals 2011: Texas A&M Beats Arizona 3-0 For Final Super Regional Spot
The Aggies of Texas A&M (44-19) defeated the Arizona Wildcats (39-20) Tuesday afternoon to grab the last remaining spot in the 2011 super regionals.
In what was a pitchers' duel, the Aggies had just enough offense to carry them past Arizona and one-step closer to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska next week. The Aggies got a tremendous starting performance from Michael Wacha, who went seven innings, surrendering just five hits while striking out four and walking none.
The Aggies got all three of their runs in the bottom of the 8th inning with two outs. The two-out rally was started by leadoff hitter, Tyler Naquin, who doubled off Arizona starter Kurt Heyer. Krey Bratsen then singled up the middle for the RBI to score Naquin that ultimately became the winning run for the Aggies. Jacob House blasted the most important shot with the two-RBI double later in the inning that gave the Aggies a comfortable 3-0 lead. The Aggies relievers would do the rest. Nick Fleece and Ross Stripling threw the final two innings for the Aggies and seal the victory.
Texas A&M now takes on Florida State on Saturday in Tallahassee at 4:30 ET in the first game of the super regional. The best of three series will determine who heads to Omaha to compete for a National Championship at the College World Series.
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NCAA College World Series 2011: Super Regionals Schedules Announced
The road to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska is one step closer to complete. Just a few days ago there were 64 teams that dreamed of making that trip to the heartland and now just 16 teams remain. Just two wins stand in their way of making that dream a reality. In eight cities all across the country there are young men that have worked day and night for most of their lives with the hopes of claiming a spot in the College World Series, and to get their chance at a national championship. The super regionals start this weekend in a best-of-three series that has the winner headed to Omaha for the CWS.
Technically there are 17 teams still competing for a spot in the super regional because there is still a regional game yet to be decided between Texas A&M and Arizona that is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. The winner will take on Florida State in the super regional.
Florida (48-16) takes on Mississippi State (37-23) in Gainesville on Friday at 12pm ET, Texas (47-16) takes on Arizona State (42-16) at 7pm ET in Austin, Vanderbilt (50-10) takes on Oregon State (41-17) at 8pm ET in Nashville, and finally on Friday, North Carolina (48-14) takes on Stanford (35-20) at 3pm ET in Chapel Hill.
On Saturday, Virginia (52-9) takes on UC Irvine (42-16) at 1pm ET in Charlottesville, then it's California (35-21) taking on Dallas Baptist (42-18) at 8pm ET. The winner of the Texas A&M (44-19) vs Arizona (39-20) game set for Tuesday afternoon will earn the right to play Florida State (45-17) in Tallahassee on Saturday at 4:30pm ET in the super regional. Finally, South Carolina (48-14) takes on Connecticut (45-18-1) Saturday at 6pm ET in Columbia.
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NCAA Baseball Regionals 2011: Rice Is Only Top 8 National Seed Eliminated So Far
The No. 8 Rice Owls (41-19) fell to the Bears of Baylor and California in the NCAA Houston regionaland are the only one of the top 8 national seeds so far to be eliminated from the tournament. No. 7 overall Texas plays Kent State Monday afternoon and are the last of the national seeds to try and advance to the super regionals that begin this weekend.
Rice went into the Houston regional as the No. 8 overall seed in the tournament but committed seven errors combined in the two games against Baylor and California, and that proved to the be the difference as the Owls have to watch California take on Baylor to see who grabs the Houston regional title. The winner will play either Oral Roberts vs Dallas Baptist in the super regional.
Every national seed with the exception of Texas went 3-0 in their respective regionals to earn spots in the super regionals. They will now play a best-of-three series for the opportunity to play in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska starting on June 18th.
Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida State and Vanderbilt all advanced as national seeds to play this weekend.
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NCAA Baseball Regionals 2011: Kansas State Falls 5-3 To Illinois
The Kansas State Wildcats' (36-25) season came to an end Saturday afternoon in Fullerton, California at the hands of the University of Illinois. The Cats lost to the Fightin' Illini 5-3 in an elimination game of the Cal State Fullerton regional.
Illinois starting pitcher John Anderson was solid on the day going 8 innings, giving up just one earned run on seven hits while striking out three. Anderson surrendered a solo home run to MIke Kindel in the bottom of the 2nd inning that gave the Wildcats the early 1-0 lead. But Illinois immediately responded with two runs in the top of the 3rd off Kansas State starter, Matt Applegate.
Davis Hendrickson started off the top of the 3rd inning for Illinois by tripling to left-center before Josh Parr followed up with an RBI double. A sacrifice bunt followed by a sacrifice fly gave the Illini the 2-1 lead headed to the bottom of the 3rd inning. Parr and Hendrickson led Illinois offensively by going a combined 4-7 with four RBI's and two runs scored from the eight and nine spots in the order.
Kansas State was given a chance in this game by relievers Gerardo Esquivel and Evan Marshall. Esquivel came in for Applegate in the 4th inning and threw 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and striking out two. Marshall threw the final three innings for K-State and was lights-out as he struck out five batters and kept the Cats within striking distance.
There just wasn't enough offense for K-State to overcome the three runs scored by Illinois in the 4th inning. A one-out walk issued by Applegate was followed by a single, and then a hit-batter that loaded the bases with one-out for Hendrickson. An 0-2 pitch that caught a little too much of the plate allowed Hendrickson to get the sacrifice fly that brought the score to 3-1 at that point.
The next play ended up being the turning point in the game and the last batter for Applegate. With runners at first and second and two-outs, Josh Parr hit a pop-fly down the left-field line that was just out of the reach of the diving Kent Urban for Kansas State, the ball got past Urban and the two-RBI triple gave the Illini a 5-1 lead.
The Cats trailing 5-3 in the 9th got a leadoff single from Wade Hinkle that brought the tying run to the plate in Mike Kindel, who had already homered for the Cats earlier in the game, but Illinois reliever Chris Pack got Kindel to ground into the double-play and killed any momentum.
Kansas State's 36 wins this season is good for third-best in school history. Head Coach Brad Hill was pleased with the teams performance over the last few weeks, and this season. via kstatesports.com
"We had our backs against the wall for pretty much the last three weeks and competed really hard during that time. We went from not being in the Big 12 Tournament to making it to a regional. We won a lot of games in pressure situations, so I give the kids a lot of credit. Throughout the year, there were a lot of ups and downs. This team battled through a lot of adversity this season."
Kansas State's first appearance in the NCAA tournament in school history was in 2009, they have since made it every year for three consecutive years under coach Hill. The Cats needed just five consecutive wins when they arrived in Fullerton in order to earn a spot in Omaha at the College World Series. The goal for every team around the country has been in reach for the Cats for the last three years, hopefully one of these years they can get over that hump.
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NCAA Baseball Regionals 2011: Florida Dominates Manhattan 17-3
With the strongest offensive showing thus far in the NCAA Division I Baseball Regonals, the Florida Gators absolutely upended the Manhattan Jaspers 17-3 on the strength of three home runs and a five-RBI performance from Preston Tucker.
It was a dominating performance on par with a lopsided match-up even on paper. Florida is a strong No. 1 seed while Manhattan managed a decent 35-17 record against inferior competition. Starting pitcher John Soldinger was torched from the start, going only two innings but allowing 16 hits and 15 runs in the process. Even after the first inning, the game was seemingly over.
Florida SP Karsten Whitson pitched three-plus solid innings and displayed the ability that made him a Top 10 draft pick of the San Diego Padres last year. Tucker’s 2 home runs provided enough offense, although memorable performances were found throughout the line-up, including four hits apiece from Tyler Thompson and Daniel Pigott.
- about 2 years ago
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NCAA Baseball Regionals 2011: Friday's Score Update, James Madison, Stetson, Seton Hall, Kent State, All Win
James Madison (42-17) beats Florida Atlantic (40-18) by a score of 11-7 in both teams' first games of the 2011 NCAA tournament in Chapel Hill at the North Carolina regional Friday afternoon.
James Madison starting pitcher DJ Brown picks up the victory after going 7.1 innings yielding just two earned runs on three hits while striking out five and walking two.
This game was all about offense. Florida Altantic blasted five home runs as a team and managed only seven runs on the day from those home runs. It was the six-run 7th inning for James Madison that led them to victory. James Madison batted completely through the lineup as reliever Jose Velazquez, who had just come in for starter RJ Fondon, gave up four hits and walked one before being pulled in the 7th. Six hits in all and one error led to the 6-run 7th inning that ultimately gave James Madison the victory.
The Stetson Hatters (41-18) get the walk-off win over the North Carolina State Wolfpack (34-25) 8-7 Friday afternoon in Columbia, South Carolina. Stetson's catcher, Nick Rickles hit the game-winner with one out in the 9th inning as Sean Emory scored from second base because of an error by the Wolfpack's left fielder. Emory was pinch running for Ben Carhart, who had singled to start the rally.
Every Stetson starter had at least one hit and they were led offensively by Mark Jones, who went 2-4 with four RBI's and a run scored. It was Jones' three-run blast in the 4th inning that brought the Hatters back into the game as they had trailed 5-0 before the two-out blast.
Seton Hall (33-23) beats Arizona (36-19) 4-0 Friday afternoon in College Station at the Texas A&M regional. Jon Prosinski throws a complete game six-hit shutout against Arizona to get the victory for Seton Hall. Prosinski struck out three and walked just one on the day.
It was the four-run 4th inning that gave Prosinski all the run support he would need in the game. Seton Hall started the 4th inning with three consecutive hits off of Arizona starter, Kurt Heyer. Giuseppe Papaccio drove in the first run of the game with the single to score Sean Gusrang from third base. Papaccio finished the game 2-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Gusrang went 2-4 with a run scored to help Seton Hall get the victory.
Kent State (43-15) wins in 11 innings against Texas State (40-21) by a score of 4-2 in the first extra inning game of the 2011 NCAA regionals.
Kent State got two runs in the top of the 11th as David Lyon drew a leadoff walk from Texas State reliever, Jeff McVaney to start the inning. Lyon advanced to 3rd base on a throwing error by the catcher as Lyon attempted to steal second base. Pinch-hitter Jason Bagoly singled to left-field to score Lyon and give Kent State the 3-2 lead and eventually the victory.
More games are under way all across the country for the 2011 NCAA baseball regionals. This is a double-elimination tournament that runs through Monday. Teams are trying to earn their spots in the 16 super regionals that will determine the 8 teams that head to Omaha for a chance at a National Championship.
- about 2 years ago
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NCAA Baseball Regionals: Friday's Score Update, Top-Seeded Virginia Wins 6-0 over Navy
The Virginia Cavaliers (50-9) enter the 2011 NCAA tournament as the overall No. 1 seed. They start off their campaign to head to Omaha with an impressive 6-0 victory over Navy (33-23-1) Friday afternoon in Charlottesville, VA.
Virginia starter Will Roberts throws a complete game shutout, giving up just four hits and striking out an impressive 14 batters. Roberts came into the game on Friday sporting a 10-1 record and a 1.78 ERA. Friday's game showed why Roberts is one of the best pitchers in the country and one of the reasons that Virginia is the No. 1 overall seed.
Roberts only allowed one runner to reach second base all day. That was Navy's leadoff hitter Brandon Beans who had hit a two-out double in the 3rd inning. Roberts got the next batter to fly out to left field and Navy never saw second base again.
Chris Taylor, John Hicks and Danny Hultzen led the offense for the Cavaliers, each having multi-hit games. Taylor went 2-4 with a walk, one run scored and a stolen base from the leadoff position. Hicks went 2-4 with two runs scored, one RBI and started the first-inning two-out rally that led to the two-run inning the Cavaliers took from the onset. It was Hultzen's two-RBI triple in the first inning that scored Hicks and Steven Proscia, who had walked just after Hicks' double. Hultzen finished the game 3-4 with three RBI's to lead the team to their first victory in this NCAA tournament.
- about 2 years ago
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NCAA Baseball Regionals: Friday's Score Update, Miami Beats Jacksonsville 7-2
The Miami Hurricanes have won their first game in the Gainesville regional by beating Jacksonsville 7-2 Friday afternoon.
The Canes got a tremendous starting performance from Steven Ewing, who went 6 innings giving up just one run on one hit. Ewing was in control for most of the game as it was just two walks in the 3rd inning that gave Jacksonville their only shot at scoring on the Canes starter. A sacrifice fly from Adam Brett Walker gave the Dolphins their one run off Ewing in the 3rd.
The Canes got to scoring early as an error by the Dolphins shortstop in the 1st inning gave the Canes an opportunity to put some runs on the board. Rony Rodriguez blasted a double to drive in the run for the Canes and give them the early 1-0 lead.
The Dolphins were hurt by the three errors committed by their defense and the six walks donated by their pitching staff. Only three of the Canes runs were scored as earned on the day. It was the four-run eighth inning that really sealed the game for the Canes. An error and two RBI's on bases-loaded walks give the Canes the victory by the Dolphins inability to throw strikes.
- about 2 years ago
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NCAA Baseball Regionals 2011: Friday's Scores Update, Alabama Wins 5-3 Against Central Florida
The Alabama Crimson Tide have won the first game of the 2011 NCAA regionals by a score of 5-3 against the University of Central Florida Knights.
Alabama got a great start from Nathan Kilcrease as he went 7 innings giving up just four hits and two runs, he struck out ten and walked four. It was two of these walks that led to UCF's first run of the game. In the 4th inning Kilcrease walked Erik Hempe with a full-count to start the two-out rally, that led to a couple of hits that loaded the bases for UCF before another walk brought in the first run for the Knights that trailed 2-1. Kilcrease got the next batter with a strikeout that proved to be a key moment in the game as UCF stranded three runners.
Five of Alabama's starters had multi-hit games to lead the offensive attack. Austen Smith led the team on the day going 2-5 with two RBI's, and run scored with a stolen base. Smith blasted a home run in the 7th inning to extend the lead to 5-2 at that point and give the Crimson Tide some much needed insurance.
The Knights tried to rally in the 9th inning but Jonathan Smart got the save for Alabama as he got the tying run at the plate in UCF's Beau Taylor to line out to right field to end the game.
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NCAA Baseball Regionals 2011: Friday's Schedule Starts At 12pm ET
There are 64 college baseball teams across the country that can't think of a better destination right now than of Omaha, Nebraska. In 16 cities all across the country, these teams will compete in their respective regionals to try and make the round of 16, and hopefully earn that ticket to college baseballs' hallowed ground.
The action kicks off at 12pm ET with two games both on the East coast. In the Tallahassee regional, #2 UCF (38-21) takes on #3 Alabama (33-26) at Dick Howser stadium there on the campus of Florida State. In the Gainesville regional, the #2 Miami (36-21) takes on #3 Jacksonville (36-22) at McKethan stadium on the campus of the University of Florida. Both games are set for 12pm ET.
The late games Friday night are in the Fullerton and Tempe regionals. #1 Cal State Fullerton (40-15) takes on #4 Illinois (28-25) at 11pm ET at Goodwin field in Fullerton, CA. Then #1 Arizona State (39-16) takes on #4 New Mexico (20-39) at 10pm ET at Packard stadium in Tempe, AZ.
There will be 32 games in all tomorrow as this double-elimination format tournament could run through Monday. The 16 regional winners will be matched up in Super Regionals, which consist of a best of three-game series with the winners going to Omaha to compete for a national championship in the NCAA College World Series.
As the week winds down, several college baseball teams — eight, to be specific — are gearing up to make their dreams come true of taking home the College World Series trophy in Omaha over the next couple of weeks. From today through June 29, the best of college baseball will be played out and the greatest eight teams have staked their claim in the 2011 CWS. Here’s all the details you’ll need to know.
Bracket Play begins today and pares down the competition to the final two teams with a double elimination format. Those games are played throughout the next week at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha and can be found on ESPN and ESPN2 all week. By next weekend, the final two teams will be christened and the championship series begins on that following Monday with a best-of-three series beginning at that point.
We will keep you posted with results and updated schedules as the series progresses, but here’s the opening weekend slate of games and TV times:
Saturday’s Games (All Times Eastern):
North Carolina v. Vanderbilt – 2pm – ESPN
Texas v. Florida – 7pm – ESPN
Sunday’s Games:
California v. Virginia – 2pm – ESPN
South Carolina v. Texas A&M – 7pm – ESPN2
You can check out more coverage of the CWS here.