UC Irvine and Texas are set for a College World Series rematch game on Wed. night (7 CT; ESPN), with the loser eliminated while the winner then will have to beat Vanderbilt twice to earn a spot in the CWS Championship Series … Irvine opened the 2014 CWS with a late rally to defeat Texas , 3-1 … Texas then stayed alive with a 4-1 win over Louisville while Irvine lost its winner-bracket game vs. Vanderbilt, 6-4.
An assortment of notes, links, etc. are included below to help preview this game that will trim the 2014 CWS field to five teams …
2014 CWS QUICK NOTES:
• The average margin of victory so far in the 2014 CWS (eight games) is only 1.6 runs per game, as all four games in bracket-2 have been decided by one run while bracket-1 has featured three two-run games and the Texas 4-1 win over Louisville.
• 60 straight CWS teams that have taken a lead into the 9th inning have won those games (a five-year streak)
• Teams that have scored five-plus runs have combined for an active 28-game win streak at the CWS.
INNING-by-INNING – Here’s a look at the scoring so far in the 2014 CWS (by inning; eight total games … 33% of runs in 8th or later):
1st – 4
*2nd – 10
3rd – 1
4th – 2
5th – 8
6th– 0
7th – 4
*8th – 9
9th – 4
15th – 1
total: 43
• The 44 one-run games so far in the 2014 NCAA Tournament are the most in the event’s history (besting the 42 one-run games in the 2001 NCAAs).
HOME(grown) BOYS – The Texas roster includes 25 Texas natives among its 27 players (Mark Payton–Chicago; Dillon Peters–Indianapolis) while all 32 UC Irvine players from California.
MOORE OR LESS – UC Irvine jr. RHP Sam Moore leads the nation with 23 saves in 2014, one shy of matching the NCAA record set by another west-coast close (USC’s Jack Krawczyk) back in 1998 … Moore did not pitch in Irvine’s first seven games of the 2014 NCAA Tournament before facing four batters late in the 6-4 loss vs. Vanderbilt (0.2–BB–K) … also of note, the NCAA career saves record is owned by former UC Irvine standout Blair Erickson, who totaled 53 saves from 2004-07 (he was one of the top players on UCI’s 2007 CWS team).
THE SERIES – UC Irvine has won all three of its previous games vs. Texas, the first two coming at the 2007 NCAA Regional in Round Rock, TX (3-1; 9-6) and then the 3-1 win that opened the 2014 CWS.
THE SPARK – UC Irvine junior 3B/leadoff batter Taylor Sparks leads the team with nine triples this season while batting .313 (second-best on the team) … his 31 total bases include five home runs (tied for team lead) and a team-best 17 doubles … Sparks picked up his 19th multiple-hit game of the 2014 season in the CWS opener vs. Texas … he has collected hits in seven of UCI’s eight 2014 NCAA Tournament games.
SACRIFICING FOR THE TEAM – Texas leads the nation with 100 sacrifice bunts during the 2014 season (5th-most in program history and 7th all-time among DI teams) … UC Irvine’s 93 sac. bunts this season rank second among 2014 DI teams
• Texas 2014 Sacrifice Bunts (100)
16 – C.J. Hinojosa
15 – Madison Carter
11 – Collin Shaw
10 – Brooks Marlow & Ben Johnson
8 – Zane Gurwitz & Kacy Clemens
6 – Mark Payton
5 – Jeremy Montalbano & Andy McGuire
4 – Tres Barrera
2 – Jacob Felts
• UC Irvine 2014 Sacrifice Bunts (93)
23 – Chris Rabago
14 – Kris Paulino
10 – Jerry McClanahan
9 – John Brontsema
6 – Jonathan Munoz
5 – Adam Alcantara, Grant Palmer & Mikey Duarte
4 – Evan Cassolato & Justin Castro
3 – Jonathan Herkins
2 – Ryan Cooper
1 – Connor Spencer, Taylor Sparks & Renae Martinez
HOW THEY ARE BUILT:
redshirt senior – UCI 2
seniors – Texas 7 … UCI 2
redshirt juniors – Texas 1 … UCI 3
juniors – Texas 6 … UCI 8
redshirt sophomores – Texas 1 … UCI 4
sophomores – Texas 6 … UCI 3
freshmen– Texas 6 … UCI 9
redshirt freshmen – UCI 3
• 35 to 18 – CWS trips for Texas compared to rest of 2014 CWS teams:
… 5–Ole Miss
… 3–Virginia & Louisville
… 2–TCU, Vanderbilt & UC Irvine
… 1–Texas Tech
TEXAS BOXSCORE IN 3-1 CWS LOSS vs. UC IRVINE
2b Brooks Marlow 1–4 (BB–K–E)
lf Ben Johnson 1–4 (BB–2K)
cf Mark Payton 0–4 (SAC–K)
c Tres Barrera 0–4 (2K–HBP)
ss C.J. Hinojosa 1–4 (K)
rf Collin Shaw 2–3 (R–BB–2B–K)
DH Madison Carter 1–3 (SAC)
1B Kacy Clemens 0-4 (K)
3B Zane Gurwitz 1–4 (RBI) (end) #cws
Nathan Thornhill loss (8-3) 7.1–2R–6–BB–4K–94p (65 strikes)
John Curtiss (did not convert save) 1.2–R–4H–3K–23p (19 strikes)
UC IRVINE BOXSCORE IN 3-1 CWS WIN OVER TEXAS
3b Taylor Sparks 3–4 (RBI–R–3B–2B–E)
ss Chris Rabago 1–3 (RBI–R–SAC)
1b Connor Spencer 1–4
c Taylor McClanahan 0–3 (BB–2K)
dh Jonathan Munoz 1–3 (RBI–2B–2K)
2b Grant Palmer 2–4 (2B–K)
rf Kris Paulino 0–3 (SAC)
lf Adam Alcantara 2–4 (R–K)
cf Justin Castro 0–3 (K–SAC)
Andrew Morales 6IP–R–6H–3BB–5K–WP–108p (69 strikes)
Evan Manarino 0.2–H–HB–K–16p (9 strikes)
Evan Brock win (9-6) 2.1–3K–7BF–36p (23 strikes)
AVOIDING 0-and-2: The Texas win over Louisville ensured that the Longhorns would not go 0-and-2 at the 2014 CWS … in its 35 all-time CWS appearances, Texas has gone 0-and-2 only four times:
Texas at the CWS (36):
6 title teams
6 runner-up
other seasons listed below:
4 times 3-2
8 times 2-2
one 1-1 (’47)
5 times 1-2
4 times 0-2
(1-1 so far in ’14)
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• 2014 CWS Game-1 – Recap Info. …
UC IRVINE 3–10–1 def. TEXAS 1–7–1 … UCI 41-23, ‘Horns 43-20
Tournament Central Pages: NCAA | UCI | TX
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF | UCI Recap | TX Recap
AP Recap | NCAA Recap (w/ video)
Photos: UCI & NCAA | Video Recap: Texas (also embedded below)
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An assortment of video interviews are included below, in advance of the 2014 College World Series opener between Texas and UC Irvine.
CB360’s Pete LaFleur caught up with Irivine ace Andrew Morales for a brief visit on June 13, after sitting down with veteran Irvine radio announcer Mark Roberts the previous week in advance of the Super Regional at Oklahoma State. Also included below: excerpted comments from UCI coach Mike Gillespie from Friday’s formal press conference (courtesy UCI) and the Longhorn Network’s recent sit-down interview with Texas seniors Mark Payton and Nathan Thornhill (courtesy Texas).
Note that plenty more video interviews (on-field and from formal press conferences) is forthcoming to CB360 …
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• UC Irvine ace Andrew Morales visits with CB360 (6–13–14), below:
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• UC Irvine veteran radio announcer Mark Roberts sits down with CB360 (6–5–14), below:
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• Excerpted press conference comments from Irvine’s Mike Gillespie (6–13–14; courtesy UCI), below:
• The Longhorn Network’s in-studio interview with Texas seniors Mark Payton & Nathan Thornhill (6–12–14; courtesy Texas), below: