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There are but two remaining unbeaten teams with double-digit games played heading into college baseball’s fourth weekend of the 2015 season. Virginia (10-0) is no surprise after going all the way to the College World Series Finals last June. Texas A&M (13-0) is not all that surprising either, considering the Aggies won seven of their first eight games and advanced to a Regional last year.

Virginia hosts Pittsburgh to open ACC play this weekend, while A&M plays Nebraska, Houston and Baylor at the Astros College Classic. Here’s a By the Numbers look at the Aggies and Cavaliers:

Pavin Smith leads Virginia with a .500 batting average.

.280…Virginia team batting average. The Cavs have still averaged 5.9 runs-per-game.

7…Players who have started all 10 Virginia games to date. Six other players each have at least one start.

.371…Combined batting average of Virginia’s top four bats in the line-up. The team is led by first baseman Pavin Smith’s .500 (21-for-42) clip. He also leads the Cavs with seven doubles and an .810 slugging percentage.

.162…Combined batting average of the next three players who have started all 10 games. Second baseman Justin Novak has just one hit in 34 at-bats – a .029 average – to start the year.

1.27…Staff ERA posted by Virginia. The team’s 111 strikeouts and just 31 walks issued have held teams to just 2.1 runs-per-game.

0.84…ERA of UVA closer Josh Sborz – a weekend starter in 2014. Sborz has three of his team’s six saves.

6…Virginia pitchers who have more strikeouts than innings pitched. The group is led by Friday starter Nathan Kirby (3-0). The lefty has fanned 24 opposing batters in 18 1/3 innings while posting a 0.49 ERA in three starts.

0.56…ERA of Saturday starter Connor Jones. The sophomore has allowed just one earned run in his three starts, but he has the second-best ERA on the team.

0…Home games Virginia has played so far. Three midweek games have been canceled and three other games were moved to Myrtle Beach, SC last weekend.

167…Virginia’s current Warren Nolan strength of schedule – a full 103 spots ahead of Texas A&M’s 270 SOS.

.342…Texas A&M’s team batting average. The Aggies have mashed the ball to the tune of 8.9 runs-per-game in their 13-0 start.

4…Times the Aggies have scored at least 10 runs this season. The high-water mark came in a 19-2 thumping of Holy Cross to open the season.

Logan Taylor leads Texas A&M with five home runs.

7…Aggie players with at least 10 RBIs. The group is led by Nick Banks (14), who has played in 12 of 13 games.

5…Team-leading home runs by Logan Taylor. The left fielder is hitting .405 with a team-best .892 slugging percentage.

.450…Team-leading batting average of Mitchell Nau. Nick Banks is on his heels at .444.

7…Relievers who are yet to allow an earned run. The group has combined for five saves, 26 1/3 IP, 29 strikeouts and just one walk while helping the Aggies to a 1.85 ERA.

0.56…ERA sported by starting pitcher A.J. Minter (2-0). The lefty has 23 strikeouts and eight walks in 16 IP.

13…Home games TAMU has played. The three games in Houston this weekend will be the first away from College Station in 2015.

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Some Shots From Omaha In 2012…

The Road To Omaha leads to TD Ameritrade Park and The Dugout – located right across the street from TDA’s home plate entrance. The Dugouthas a ton of authentic college baseball caps – just like the ones the players wear on the field.

If you’re going to Omaha for the College World Series make sure to make your first stop The Dugout for all officially licensed CWS apparel, including a new shipment of Adidas Climalite shirts. If you can’t make it to Omaha just follow our red links to The Dugout!

Unless otherwise noted, pictures are courtesy and property of Kirk Markus. To see more photos from the 2012 (and 2011) College World Series CLICK HERE.

Kent State players and coaches during their elimination game win over Florida.

Winning pitcher Ryne Stanek helped Arkansas end South Carolina's record 22-game NCAA Tournament winning streak.

Kent State head coach Scott Stricklin goes to the mound to talk to pitcher Brian Clark and catcher David Lyon.

Arkansas players meet after Monday's win over South Carolina.

Arkansas rightfielder Brian Anderson connects during Monday's 2-1 win over South Carolina.

Kent State rightfielder T.J. Sutton celebrates after recording the final out in Monday's upset of No.1 Florida.

Arizona's Seth Mejias-Brean reacts to a fly ball.

The Road To Omaha leads to TD Ameritrade Park and The Dugout – located right across the street from TDA’s home plate entrance. The Dugouthas a ton of authentic college baseball caps – just like the ones the players wear on the field.

If you’re going to Omaha for the College World Series make sure to make your first stop The Dugout for all officially licensed CWS apparel, including a new shipment of Adidas Climalite shirts. If you can’t make it to Omaha just follow our red links to The Dugout!

Arizona pitcher Kurt Heyer.

Arizona shortstop Alex Mejia.

South Carolina closer Matt Price.

South Carolina's Evan Marzilla makes a diving catch in centerfield.

Stony Brook head coach Matt Senk (LaFleur)

South Carolina pitcher Colby Holmes (Stires)

The Road To Omaha leads to TD Ameritrade Park and The Dugout – located right across the street from TDA’s home plate entrance. The Dugouthas a ton of authentic college baseball caps – just like the ones the players wear on the field.

If you’re going to Omaha for the College World Series make sure to make your first stop The Dugout for all officially licensed CWS apparel, including a new shipment of Adidas Climalite shirts. If you can’t make it to Omaha just follow our red links to The Dugout!

Thoughts On Stony Brook & More…

Stony Brook players celebrate their historic win over LSU for a College World Series berth.

Are you down with Stony Brook yet? It’s time to get to know “The Brook”, or “Stony”…whichever moniker you want to give them.

Matt Senk’s Seawolves (cool actual nickname) are ready to take Omaha by storm after taking two of three games from No. 7 national seed LSU in Baton Rouge over the weekend. Those are wins number 51 and 52 if you’re counting.

If you watched any of those games on TV over the weekend this will all sound redundant, but that Stony Brook lineup really does just grind at-bats. The ‘Wolves made LSU game one starter Austin Nola throw 109 pitches in just 6.0 innings in the Friday/Saturday 12-inning opener (their lone loss of the Super Regional) and the next four relievers (yes, including ace Kevin Gausman) needed 91 more pitches over the next six frames.

Gausman also needed 98 pitches to get through 7.0 innings on the mound in Saturday’s game two (which started roughly 45 minutes after the conclusion of game one, which was halted by rain after 11 dramatic innings Friday), and his 8.0 total innings and 110 total pitches drew the ire of ESPN studio analyst Keith Law and sparked a mini controversy in the process…but that’s a Wolve’s tale for another day.

Six LSU pitchers then combined to fire 180 pitches in Sunday’s 7-2 Stony Brook Super Regional clinching victory. All told, LSU pitchers needed 484 pitches to work 29 innings for an average of just over 161 pitches a game.

That’s grinding.

At least as impressive, if not more so, than what Stony Brook batters did was what Senk’s own pitching staff was able to do against the LSU line-up.

CB360 co-editor Pete LaFleur cranked out some quick numbers on the ol’ Twitter machine Sunday night and Stony’s starting pitching machine of Brandon McNitt, Tyler Johnson and Frankie Vanderka looked like this in their three games against the Tigers:

25.0 innings pitched, 0.72 ERA, .113 opponent batting average (9-for-80), and just 10 BB, 2 HB, and nine strikeouts.

Forget about grinding and pitch counts and ERA though. What it all comes down to is in a span of two weekends Stony Brook picked-up three wins over two teams – Miami and LSU – who have combined for 38 trips to the College World Series and 10 national championships and they did it on the home fields of the two powers.

The Seawolves have now won 28 of their last 31 games to become just the second No. 4 Regional seed to ever make it to the CWS. The only other was Fresno State in 2008. Those Bulldogs are the last non SEC team to win the national championship.

So, here’s how Omaha is shaping up. One side of the bracket is set with Stony Brook to play UCLA in the first round and Florida State and Arizona going head-to-head in that same pool of four.

The other bracket is all but completely up in the air, with four Super Regionals to be decided Monday.

Number one national seed Florida has advanced and will play the winner of the South Carolina/Oklahoma Super Regional (a potential rematch of last year’s CWS finals if the two-time champion Gamecocks advance).

The other first round match-up in Omaha will pit the Baylor/Arkansas winner against the Oregon/Kent State winner, meaning if Kent State pulls out its own first Super Regional win (in its own first ever Super Regional) there will be a Cinderella in each of the four-team CWS brackets.

2012 CWS shirts & more are now at The Dugout!

They’re HERE!!  The Dugout in Omaha has official College World Series gear for each of the eight teams, including those Stony Brook Seawolves. If you want to be the first kid (no matter what age) on your block to have this year’s official CWS shirts, hats and more (both for individual teams or generic) click the red link and get to The Dugout’s web site!

If you’re going to Omaha for the CWS you can also visit The Dugout. It’s right across the street from the home plate entrance to TD Ameritrade Park.

Today’s Super Regional schedule goes like this (All times ET):

4 PM – South Carolina hosts Oklahoma in the resumption of game two of their series with the score tied 0-0 in the bottom of the 6^th. The Gamecocks would advance to Omaha for the third straight year with a win.

7 PM – Oregon hosts Kent State in game three of their Super Regional. The Golden Flashes are the designated home team.

7 PM – Baylor hosts Arkansas in game three of their series. Baylor is the home team.

Final Thoughts, Video & Notes From Stanford…

Mark Appel was named MOP of the Palo Alto Regional. He could go number one tonight when the MLB Draft begins.

Palo Alto, CA—The Stanford Cardinal advanced to the Super Regionals with an 8-7 victory over the Pepperdine Waves Sunday night in Game 6 of the Stanford Regional.

For the second night in a row Stanford (41-16) fell behind 4-0 only to rally and score eight unanswered runs to take an 8-4 lead after the fourth. Pepperdine would pull with in a run at 8-7 by scoring three times in the seventh but would be unable to get across a tying run.

The Waves (36-23) were unable to pull off their second late inning comeback of the day and were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. Pepperdine rallied with a six-run ninth to beat Fresno St Sunday afternoon (more on that game below).

Stanford advanced to the Super Regional’s for a second consecutive year. The Cardinal will travel to Tallahassee next weekend to take on #3 national seed Florida St.

“Obviously, in back-to-back nights, these were two fantastic college baseball games. Both teams played fantastic. For Coach (Steve) Rodriguez and Pepperdine, those are two tough games to lose,” said Stanford Head Coach Mark Marquess. “I’m just real proud of the effort we put forward. We earned it and deserved it.”

Pepperdine Head Coach Steve Rodriguez summed up the loss with his entire opening statement in the postgame press conference. “Great baseball game. I really don’t have much to say,” said the head coach.

After the Waves went up 4-0 in the opening frame of the game Stanford scored a run in the bottom of the first and two in the third to cut the deficit to 4-3.

“We could hit…If they wanted a slugfest, we were willing to go for that,” said Stanford first basemen Brian Ragira. “We were confident we could come back.”

In the fourth the Cardinal had the bases loaded with two out when reliever Aaron Brown came out of the pen to replace Mat Snider. The first batter Brown faced, right fielder Austin Wilson, singled home two runs to give the Cardinal a 5-4 lead.

Next batter, true freshman third basemen, Eric Blandino made up for an error that continued the bottom of the first when Pepperdine scored four runs by blasting a 3-run homer to left field giving the Cardinal a 8-4 lead.

“Obviously dropping that foul ball in the first cost Stephen (Piscotty) a couple of runs. I knew it was a big spot. I think the key was to not get caught up in the moment and get a good pitch to hit,” said Blandino.

“The guy crushes fastballs. He (Blandino) got one right down the middle and that’s what he does with them,” said Rodriguez.

Pepperdine would rally in the seventh off Cardinal starter Stephen Piscotty (5-2). The Waves had done nothing vs. the Stanford pitcher since the first, but second basemen Joe Sever doubled home the first run followed by an 2-RBI single by right fielder Tony Cooper cutting Stanford’s lead to 8-7.

Reliever Sahil Bloom came in after the Cooper single and pitched the final 2.2 to pick up his first save of the season.

Pepperdine but a scare into the home crowd when Waves shortstop Zach Vincej just missed a potential game tying homer that was foul down the left field line leading off the ninth.

“I was scared because the ball started to go foul and started to come back. It was close, but it was foul,” Marquess said.

“It wouldn’t have surprised me if it was fair, just because of how things were going for this team and the fight and tenacity that they’ve shown this whole week,” said Rodriguez.

The scoring started with Pepperdine picking up where they left off after their ninth inning rally a few hours earlier by scoring four in the top of the first off Piscotty. The Waves were up 1-0 when Blandino dro

pped a foul popup off the bat of left fielder Floyd Given that would have ended the inning. A couple of pitches later Given ripped a 2-RBI double making it 3-0. The Waves added another run with an RBI single by Game 1 hero DH Matt Forgatch.

“I got knocked down, but I wasn’t going to give up,” said Piscotty who allowed no runs and two hits from the second through the sixth.

“After giving up four runs in the first inning, I thought it was going to be a long night. I thought the key for us was Piscotty, obviously settling down,” said Marquess.

Stanford scored their first run in the bottom of the first with a RBI single by Piscotty. In the third the Cardinal scored on a double and sacrifice fly and pulled within 4-3.

Notes from Stanford’s win over Pepperdine…

-Stanford also rallied from a 4-0 deficit Saturday against Pepperdine to win 5-4.

-Piscotty, also one of Stanford’s top hitters, went 6.1 innings allowing seven runs, four earned on 11 hits. He was 2-for-3 at plate with an RBI and a run.

-Piscotty was the only Stanford hitter to have a multi hit game. Wilson was 1-for-5 with 2 RBI and Blandino was 1-for-3 with 4 RBI and a home run.

-For Pepperdine Cooper was 2-for-5 with 3 RBI and Given was 1-for-4 with 2 RBI. Vincej, third basemen Austin Davidson, first basemen Sam Meyer had two hit games.

-Waves starter Matt Mauer pitched 3 innings allowing three runs on three hits with five walks.

-Pepperdine used three relievers in the game, after using just three total in their first three games of the regional.

-For the regional the Cardinal were led by Ragira who went 4-for-8 with two doubles, a home run, three RBIs and four walks. Second basemen Danny Diekroeger went 5-for-12 (.416).

-Cardinal hit .300 (30-for-100) as a team during the weekend with a team ERA of 2.67.

-In their four games this weekend Pepperdine was led on offense by Cooper who was 6-for-17 (.352). Forgatch, Given, Meyer, and catcher Miles Silverstein each hit .333.

-WCC Player of the year and the Waves leading hitter second basemen Joe Sever hit .313 5-for-16 after entering the tournament batting .370. The Waves second leading hitter in the regular season Vincej hit just .200 (3-for-15) after entering the tournament with a .348 average.

-Pepperdine finished with a .289 average in their four games (40-for-138) and had a team ERA of 3.60.

-Pepperdine made the tournament for the first time since 2008 by winning the WCC Regular Season Championship and automatic bid their first conference title since 2006.

-Pepperdine made the tournament a year after going 22-34

-Since winning the National Championship in 1992 the Waves have failed to advance in the tournament. The Waves have made the NCAAs ten times since ’92.

-Their second place finish marks the fifth time in a row the Waves have finished runners-up in a regional (2004, 05, 06, 08 and 2012)

-In 2008 Pepperdine was also eliminated by Stanford in Palo Alto.

-Stanford makes back-to-back Super Regionals for the first time since making five straight from 99-03. The Cardinal were swept at North Carolina last year.

-The Cardinal is seeking their first CWS appearance since 2008 and 17^th overall.

Stanford Head Coach Mark Marquess, Pitcher Stephen Piscotty, 3B Eric Blandino and 1B Brian Ragira speak after the Cardinal 8-7 win over Pepperdine to win the Stanford Regional and advance to the Super Regionals.

Pepperdine Head Coach Steve Rodriguez and DH Matt Forgatch speak after the Waves season ending 8-7 loss to Stanford. The Waves discuss the Stanford loss and their 8-5 win over Fresno St earlier in the day.

Game 1: #2 Pepperdine 8 #4 Fresno St 5

Palo Alto, CA—Pepperdine won Sunday’s first game with a dramatic come from behind 8-5 victory over Fresno St in an elimination game in the Stanford Regional. The Waves (36-22) scored six runs in the top of the ninth, including the go-ahead runs on a grand slam by DH Matt Forgatch. Fresno St (31-28) lead 5-0 after six and 5-2 going into the top of the ninth.

The first six base runners for the Waves all scored in the ninth. Fresno starting pitcher Cody Kendall began the ninth going for a complete game. Kendall allowed one run to score after Pepperdine got the first four runners on via three singles and a bases loaded walk.

Fresno St Head Coach Mike Batesole, who earlier in the ninth decided to stay with Kendall after a mound conference, pulled his starter for closer Taylor Garrison.

Garrison allowed a RBI single to LF Floyd Given cutting the Bulldogs lead to 5-2.

Forgatch became the hero of the game with his go ahead grand slam to left field. It was just his second home run of the year. The pitch before the game winner Forgatch just missed a grand slam that was foul down the left field line.

“As soon as he hit it, I yelled out “That one’s not going foul.” It brought great elation to our team,” said Waves Head Coach Steve Rodriguez.

“It was going to take something big and dramatic and it was going to take something late to beat them (Fresno) the way they’ve (Fresno) been playing,” said Batesole. “And that’s exactly how it went down.”

The Bulldogs got on the board first going up 2-0 in the bottom of the 2^nd benefitting from two Pepperdine errors.

In the fifth the Bulldogs scored three more to go up 5-0 on a 3 RBI double by DH Kenneth Wise.

Pepperdine scored in the top of the seventh on back-to-back RBI singles cutting the Bulldogs lead to 5-2. The Waves rally was cut short when Kendall induced his third inning ending double play of the game.

Other notes from the Pepperdine-Fresno St game…

-Kendall (4-4) was very strong for FSU through eight innings allowing just six hits and two runs. He retired 14 straight from the second to the seventh innings.

-Kendall’s final line was eight innings, nine hits and six earned runs.

-Batesole decided to stick with his starter in the ninth even after the Waves started to rally. Kendall was below 100 pitches in the ninth (ended with 92) and the coach said Kendall had gotten ground balls all afternoon and just needed one more to stop the comeback.

-“He was doing exactly what we wanted him to do: get ground balls. We just needed one of those four-hoppers to go at somebody instead of squeaking through the infield,” said Batesole.

-Pepperdine starter Corey Miller went 5.1 innings allowing seven hits and five runs, but because of four errors (two by Miller) none of the runs were earned.

-Two Waves’ relievers pitched the final 3.2 and allowed no runs and just four hits. Michael Swanner (3-3) pitched the last 1.1 and got the win.

-Other than Forgatch Pepperdine was led at the plate by and 3B Tony Cooper who were both 3-for-4. 2B Joe Sever was 2-for-4.

-Forgatch’s grand slam was first home run by Pepperdine in the NCAAs and just the second between the four teams here this weekend.

-For Fresno St Wise was 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and a double and 3B Jake Alvarez was 3-for-5.

-In their three games this weekend Alvarez lead the team in hitting going 7-for-14. Outfielder Jordan Brink, hitting just .214 entering NCAAs, was 4-for-11 (.364) this weekend.

-Fresno hit .288 and had an ERA of 6.23 in their three games.

-Fresno St made the NCAAs after winning the WAC Tournament last weekend as the five seed. The Bulldogs went 12-4 in May to reach their second straight NCAA Tournament and their sixth in the last seven years.

-Even with the tough ending the season Fresno was proud of their run.

-“I’m very proud of this team. Amazing where they are now compared to where they were in August and compared to where they were in March. They’ve come a long long ways,” said Batesole. “We left a lot on the field in Arizona (WAC Tournament). To get here…these guys did probably more than what they should have done.”

2012 Palo Alto Regional All Tournament Team

C-Eric Smith, Stanford. 1B-Brian Ragira, Stanford. 2B Danny Diekroeger, Stanford. SS Kenny Diekroeger, Stanford. 3B-Jake Alvarez, Fresno St. OF-Anthony Checky, Michigan St. DH-Matt Forgatch, Pepperdine. Pitchers-Mark Appel, Stanford, AJ Vanegas, Stanford, and Jon Moscot, Pepperdine.

MOP: Stanford Pitcher Mark Appel

Notes, Video & More…

The Road To Omaha leads to TD Ameritrade Park and The Dugout – located right across the street from TDA’s home plate entrance. The Dugouthas a ton of authentic college baseball caps – just like the ones the players wear on the field.

If you’re going to Omaha for the College World Series make sure to make your first stop The Dugout for all officially licensed CWS apparel. If you can’t make it to Omaha just follow our red links to The Dugout!

Big League players shake teammate's hands after a game, but in college they still shake the other team's hands.

#2 Kentucky – 8 … # 4 Valparaiso – 1

(Video Interviews Below)

The best news for head coach Gary Henderson was after using five pitchers Friday night Kentucky used just two arms in Satuday’s win. Starter Jerad Grundy allowed just a run in 6.0 innings, while Chandler Shepherd worked the final 3.0 innings to earn his first save of the season.

“I don’t know the right word, but it was huge,” Henderson said of only needing two pitchers to get through the game. “We were set to throw anybody and everybody to win the game. We made that decision early this morning. This gives us a chance now to win a couple ball games tomorrow.”

The Wildcats now play Purdue in Sunday’s 4 p.m. ET elimination game and if they win that game they move into the championship round for a rematch with the Golden Flashes.

Kentucky’s Mike Williams caught all 21 innings of Friday’s 7-6 loss to Kent State. The senior was behind the plate for all nine innings of Saturday’s game. “He’s Superman,” is how Henderson referred to Williams after Saturday’s game.

In addition to going 21 innings, Friday’s game also lasted six hours and 38 minutes. In stark contrast, Saturday’s Kentucky-Valpo game was over in a tidy two hours and 24 minutes.

The final score is not as close as it actually was for almost two third of the game. The score was tied 1-1 until Kentucky erupted for five runs in the top of the 6^th. They added two more runs in the 8^th and 9^th.

The Wildcats have scored runs in nine of the 30 innings they have played in the regional. Their pitchers have posted goose eggs in 24 of the 30 innings they have pitched.

Kentucky players & head coach Gary Henderson discuss Saturday’s 8-1 elimination game win over Valparaiso at the Gary Regional.

Valparaiso head coach Tracy Woodson discusses his team’s loss to Kentucky in the Gary, IN Regional as well as the bright future of his program.

Purdue basketball great Robbie Hummel (talking to a fan) was at Saturday's baseball game.

#3 Kent State – 7…#1 Purdue – 3

(Video Interviews Below)

Like Kentucky, Kent State went through five pitchers in Friday’s 21-inning game. But while the Wildcats used two pitchers to eliminate Valparaiso, the Golden Flashes needed just Ryan Bores to get the job done against Purdue.

Bores tossed Kent State’s first complete game of the season to improve to 9-2 in the victory.

Meanwhile, Purdue starter Lance Breedlove lasted just 1 2/3 innings, while surrendering six earned runs in the loss.

“He wasn’t getting ahead of hitters like he usually can,” Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber said of Breedlove’s short outing. “He was down, so they weren’t even some challenge pitches I thought. They were getting barrel on the ball…it was just one of those days for Lance.”

Breedlove was knocked-out of the game in a five-run Kent State outburst in the bottom of the second inning that began with two outs.

The uncharacteristic short outing means Schreiber may bring Breedlove back this weekend.

“Possibly tomorrow,” Schreiber said when asked if he would send Breedlove to the mound again before the regional concludes. “If we get this thing going and rolling we haven’t seen the last of him this weekend.”

Joe Haase, who pitched 7.0 innings in Friday’s late night/early morning win over Valpo is the only pitcher Schreiber ruled out for Sunday.

Kent State players relax before Saturday's game.

Kent State’s game lasted just two hours and 20 minutes, meaning the combined total of Saturday’s two games was 4:44 and 18 innings, compared to the 6:38 and 21 innings it took to play the first game of the regional.

Kent State has won 19 straight games after the win over Purdue.

The Golden Flashes are one of three No. 3 seeds in the NCAA Tournament to start 2-0. St. John’s, which upset North Carolina Saturday in Chapel Hill, and Ole Miss, with a Saturday win over Texas A&M, are the others.

This is the fourth straight regional appearance for Kent State. The Golden Flashes also started 2-0 at the Austin Regional last year before dropping their last two games to host Texas.

“We’ve got good baseball players,” head coach Scott Stricklin said of his feisty squad. “Guys play hard and believe in what we’re doing. They’re experienced.”

While they might be experienced, they are far from intimidating looking in their uniforms.

“Jimmy Rider (a 5’10, 170 pound senior) looks like Opie Taylor,” Stricklin joked when asked about the unimposing look of his players compared to the more robust looking Purdue and Kentucky teams they’ve beaten so far. “He’s the all-time hit leader in our conference. He’s the best shortstop I’ve seen all year and I know there are good shortstops here, but I wouldn’t trade him for anybody in the country.”

Rider was 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs while hitting his team-leading 27^th double of the season in the victory.  George Roberts, a 6’0 195 pound first baseman, collected five RBIs to give him five in two games and a team-best 62 in 2012.

With a win over either Purdue or Kentucky Sunday night Kent State would become the first MAC team to advance to a Super Regional.

Purdue’s Angelo Cianfrocco is the son of former Major Leaguer Archie Cianfrocco. The younger Cianfrocco is a junior first baseman/outfielder/LHP for the Boilermakers. The elder Cianfrocco also played at Purdue before going on to a career with the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres. Angelo was 2-for-4 with a double Saturday.

Eric Charles was suspended from Purdue’s first NCAA Tournament game since 1987 Friday night for his part in a fight at last weekend’s B1G Tournament. The red shirt second baseman was back in the lineup Saturday though. He was 1-for-4 at the plate in the loss.

Former Purdue basketball player Robbie Hummel was in attendance watching Saturday’s game at the Steel Yard in Gary. Hummel is a Valparaiso, Ind native. He finished his career as the 9^th leading scorer in Boilermaker history with 1,772 career points.

Sunday’s Schedule

Elimination Game: No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 2 Kentucky 4 pm ET

Championship Round: No. 3 Kent State vs. Elmination Game winner – a Kent State win would send the Golden Flashes to a Super Regional to face the Eugene Regional winner. A loss would force a Monday winner take all game with the same team.

Kent state head coach Scott Stricklin discusses his win over Purdue as well as the state of his program on Saturday at the Gary, IN Regional.

Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber discusses his team’s loss to Kent State on Saturday at the Gary, IN NCAA Regional.

Notes, Quotes, Observations & Video From Stanford Regional…

Stanford's Stephen Piscotty helped his team beat Pepperdine on Saturday to help his team go to 2-0 in the Palo Alto Regional.

#1 Stanford 5 #2 Pepperdine 4

(Postgame Video Interviews Below)

The nightcap of Day 2 in the Stanford Regional featured the most exciting game of the regional so far with the host Cardinal pulling out a 5-4 win over Pepperdine in a tense game Saturday night.

The Cardinal (who were the designated road team) scored the winning run in the top of eighth on junior shortstop Kenny Diekroeger’s RBI double down the left field line to give Stanford (40-16) a 5-4 lead.

-“This is why we came to Stanford honestly, to play in front of a packed house. There was a lot of electricity tonight, and it was a really exciting game,” said Diekroeger.

-Stanford trailed 4-0 after three innings and 4-1 going into the sixth when Pepperdine starter sophomore Scott Frazier uncorked a wild pitch with the bases loaded to score one run. That’s where things got interesting Waves catcher senior Miles Silverstein lost the handle of the ball allowing another run to score on the error. The craziness continued when the ball appeared to hit the Stanford runner who scored the first run. The umpires ruled interfererence allowing a third run to score.

-The easiest way to say it is Stanford scored three runs on a wild pitch and tied the game 4-4.

-Stanford Sophomore first basemen Brian Ragira, who appeared to be the player the ball touched, said, “I didn’t see too much of it, ball in the dirt to the back stop, I’m busting to try and get home.” “Next thing I know the ball is rolling around and the pitch is around me and we ended up with three runs.”

-“I think it’s really hard on our guys when (Stanford scores) three runs on a wild pitch and a fluke play,” said Pepperdine Head Coach Steve Rodriguez.

-Rodriguez continued to talk about the play saying, “I think the call was correct in regards to the logistics of the rules. My only problem was the crowd control around the dugout (Stanford players). When their whole team is out there and the pitcher goes out for the ball-that was probably the only thing I could say was an issue, but the call in regards to officiating was correct.”

-Ragira said in the postgame press conference he was unsure if the ball touched him.

-Pepperdine scored first in the bottom of the third with a four run inning. The Waves scored their first two runs on an RBI single and a fielder’s choice and two batters later after Stanford pulled starter junior Brett Mooneyham after 2.1 IP the first batter Cardinal reliever junior Dean McArdle faced, freshman left fielder Bryan Langlois, doubled home the last two runs of the inning making it 4-0 Waves.

-Stanford made it 4-1 in the top of the fourth with a solo homerun from Ragira. His drive to dead center field was the first homer in any of the four games of the regional.

-After Pepperdine scored its four runs two Stanford relievers held them to two hits from the fifth inning on. The Waves did have chances, leaving two on in the seventh and eighth.

-In the sixth Langlois was thrown out at home on a ground ball to second that would have given the Waves the lead.

-Waves left 10 men on base

-Langlois lead the Waves offensively for the night going 3-for-4 with two RBI.

-WCC Player of the Year junior second basemen Joe Sever (.370 avg. entering NCAAs) went 2-for-5, a day after going 0-for-3 vs. Michigan St. He did strikeout in his final two at-bats in the seventh and ninth innings.

-“You got good stuff if you strike him out twice. He is a fantastic hitter,” said Stanford Head Coach Mark Marquess.

-Stanford sophomore reliever AJ Vanegas (4-0) got the win pitching 3.2 innings of relief allowing one hit, no runs, three walks and eight strikeouts. Vanegas struck out the 3-4-5 hitters for Pepperdine to end the game.

-“It was an unbelievable job by AJ. Obviously he was just fantastic, won some big spots, great stuff,” Marquess said.

-Vanegas and McArdle combined to pitch 6.2 innings of relief allowing no runs, three hits, three walks and 10 Ks.

-Waves starter sophomore Scott Frazier (7-5) took the loss going 7.2 innings, allowing five runs, four earned on nine hits with one walk and five strikeouts. When Frazier was replaced in the eighth it was the first time Pepperdine went to its bullpen during the regional.

-“That’s why I think he’s going to be a high draft pick next year,” said Rodriguez. “He’s a big ol’ donkey who wants to get out there and wants to compete and get after it.”

-Offensively for Stanford they were lead by Ragira who went 2-for-3 with a homerun, two runs and an RBI. Sophomore second basemen Danny Diekroeger and freshman third basemen Alex Blandino also had multi-hit games.

-Danny Diekroeger is 4-for-9 in the two games this weekend. Ragira and junior catcher Eric Smith are each 3-for-6.

-Pepperdine committed three errors, two by freshman third basemen Austin Davidson.

-Stanford is one win away from advancing to the Super Regional’s for a second straight year. Last time the Cardinal did that was when they made five straight from 1999-03.

-Pepperdine will have to win three straight games to move on to the Super Regional. Since winning the National Championship in 1992 the Waves have been eliminated in the regional’s the last nine times they have made the tournament.

-“It’s a hard pill to swallow…but what’s great is this is probably one of the best teams for us in regards to pitching depth and in regards to our own team, so I feel very comfortable with where we are right now,” said Rodriguez.

-“To be honest, it was an outstanding college baseball game. If people paid money to come and see this, they got to watch a really good game, and that’s my opinion. But I just told them they need to erase it because they have nothing to be ashamed of. And if they keep that same competitive nature, I like our chances, I really do,” said Rodriguez.

Stanford Head Coach Mark Marquess, 2B Kenny Diekroeger, 1B Brian Ragira and RP AJ Vanegas discuss their 5-4 win over Pepperdine in the winners bracket game of the Stanford Regional.

Pepperdine Head Coach Steve Rodriguez and LF Bryan Langlois speak after the Waves 5-4 winners bracket game loss to Stanford in the Stanford Regional.

Fresno State head coach Mike Batesole got his first NCAA Tournament win on Saturday since winning the 2008 national championship.

Game 1: #4 Fresno St 8 #3 Michigan St 2

(Postgame Video Interviews Below)

-In Saturday’s first game #4 seed Fresno St eliminated #3 Michigan St with an 8-2 win.

-Fresno St (31-27) started ace pitcher senior Thomas Harlan after he was scratched from Friday night’s game with an injury. Harlan struggled in the first allowing two runs and two hits. Harlan then allowed just two base runners until he was pulled after 4.1 innings.

-Bulldogs Head Coach Mike Batesole did not want to risk overusing his starter and risk injury. Harlan was pulled after 64 pitches allowing two runs, three hits, two walks and two strikeouts. He retired seven of the last eight hitters he faced.

-“Tommy gave us everything he had,” Batesole said.

-Batesole’s plan was to use Harlan and senior relievers Gene Escat and Taylor Garrison in that order for the game and the plan worked to perfection.

-“That almost never happens the way you plan that out,” said Batesole.

-Escat (4-0) got the win and closer Garrison picked up his 11^th save. The two relievers combined to pitch 4.2 innings allowing four hits, no runs or walks with two strikeouts.

-“I wasn’t too disappointed to see the lefty (Harlan) leave the game.” Michigan St Head Coach Jake Boss said. “The right-hander they brought in threw just as well.”

-The Dogs scored in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead, but from the second to the fifth Fresno had one hit against Michigan St junior starter Andrew Waszak

-Batesole called scoring first, “the best thing we did today.”

-Offensively Fresno was lead by Garrison was 3-for-4 with three RBI’s. Junior catcher Austin Wynns, senior second basemen Patrick Hutcheson and freshman left fielder Jordan Brink also had multi-hit games.

-Brink, 2-for-4, was hitting just .210 coming into Saturday.

-Garrison is 5-for-8 with four RBI’s in the first two games of the regional.

-One of two Fresno hitters that did not have a hit was freshman right fielder Jordan Luplow who was the only Bulldog hitter who had two hits against Stanford ace Mark Appel on Friday.

-Fresno St did not commit an error Saturday after having four in the loss to Stanford.

-Batesole’s club is now 16-3 in NCAA/WAC Tournament elimination games since 2008. Fresno is 4-0 in do-or-die games in 2012.

-Batesole on elimination games, “That’s the sign of an experienced team that’s been through these kind of wars.”

-“It’s a lot of fun playing in these elimination games. Coming in today, we played the game we always play. We stuck to our plan of getting clutch hits, and luckily everything worked out together,” said Garrison.

-The Bulldogs win was their first NCAA victory since winning the National Title in 2008.

-This was the first time Fresno and Michigan St played in baseball.

-On the losing side the biggest positive for Michigan St (37-23) was pulling the likely play of the regional with a triple play in the top of the eighth. With runners at 1^st and 2^nd Spartan center fielder freshman Andrew Cheky made a diving catch. The runners were well on their way to scoring and the Spartans turned a F-8-3-6-3 triple play.

-Michigan St left six runners on base. Spartans left a total of 15 in their two regional games.

-After scoring two runs in the bottom of the first to tie the game 2-2 the Spartans only had one hit until the seventh inning.

-Michigan St had three singles in the seventh but did not score. Fresno had a 1-6-4-3 double play

-“There were a few (good at-bats) and they made a couple plays on us, said Head Coach Jake Boss. “Again, when we got in the positive counts, we took some tentative swings and you’re not going to win that way.”

-Cheky was the only Spartan hitter with two hits, going 2-for-3. Freshman DH Blaise Salter had MSU’s 2-RBI’s.

-Junior left fielder Jordan Keur, who came in leading the Spartans with a .359 average, went 1-for-7 in MSU’s two games.

-On the mound Waszak (4-4) took the loss throwing 7 innings allowing four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts.

-After allowing two runs in the first Waszak set down 11 of the next 12 Fresno hitters. He allowed two runs and four hits in his last two frames.

-MSU’s two relievers senior Bryce Jenney and junior closer Tony Wieber combined to allow four runs on seven hits in their two innings of relief.

-Michigan St scored just four runs and hit .265 as team in their two games. They entered the tournament hitting .298.

-“Very disappointing as far as today is concerned, I thought we were capable of playing better, which is probably the most disappointing thing,” Boss said.

-Michigan St made the tournament for the first time since 1979 and just the fifth time in school history.

-The Spartans have had three consecutive winning seasons for the first time since they had four straight from 1990-94.

-Boss on his team’s historic season. “Obviously losing today hurts right now, but in a week or two when we really step back and take a look at things. A lot of credit goes to our senior class. Really, all the credit goes to our senior class. All those guys came in our first year and they bought in and changed the culture of the program.”

Sunday’s schedule will have Pepperdine facing Fresno St in an elimination game at 1 p.m. PST. Pepperdine will start sophomore Corey Miller (8-3 3.56 ERA). Fresno did not announce a starter.

The winner will play Stanford at 6 p.m. The Cardinal will start junior Stephen Piscotty (5-2 2.57 ERA). If Stanford wins they advance to the Super Regional’s. If Stanford loses than the final two teams will play again Monday night.

Fresno St Head Coach Mike Batesole, Pitcher Thomas Harland and 1B Trent Garrison speak after the Bulldogs 8-2 elimination game victory over Michigan State.

Michigan St Head Coach Jake Boss and SS Justin Scanlon speak after the Spartans season ending 8-2 loss in the Stanford Regional.

Marathon Sees Plenty Of Unique Marks…

Kentucky's Mike Williams (seated center) and head coach Gary Henderson (right) before the 21-inning game.

Friday’s Kentucky-Kent State 21-inning game at the Gary Regional marked the first extra inning game of this year’s NCAA Tournament, but the fact that it was the first extra inning game didn’t even begin  to scratch the surface of its significance.

The game, won 7-6 by the No. 3 seed Kent State, is the second longest in NCAA Tournament history. The only game to go longer was the 2009 25-inning game at the Austin Regional that saw Texas defeat Boston College 3-2. Texas would go on to a national runner-up finish at that year’s College World Series.

The game began at 3:01 pm Central Time and ended at 9:38 pm for a total time of six hours and 37 minutes.

An NCAA official said afterward that about 12 dozen baseballs were used during the game. He said the NCAA only shipped 30 dozen balls to use for the entire weekend.

Each team sent five pitchers to the mound in Friday’s game. Kentucky’s A.J. Reed, a freshman from Terre Haute, Ind making his return to his home state, had the longest outing of any of the 10 hurlers with his team’s last 9.0 innings on the mound. Kent State starter David Starn had his team’s longest stint on the mound with 6.0 IP.

A total of 678 pitches were thrown in the game. Reed and Starn led the way with 108 pitches each.

The two teams combined to strikeout 47 times. The Golden Flashes fanned 26 times but still won the game. Fittingly, the game ended when Thomas McCarthy struckout while trying to check his swing.

Six different pitchers, Starn and KSU teammate Brian Clark, and Reed, Taylor Rogers, Alex Phillips, and Trevor Gott for Kentucky, fanned at least six batters in their time on the hill. Reed had a game-high eight Ks.

Three different batters finished with “Golden Sombreros” – with 4 Ks each. They were DH Nick Hamilton and 2B Derek Toadvine for Kent State and Reed for Kentucky. That gives Reed the distinction of having the game-high with eight strikeouts as a pitcher and tying for the game-high with four Ks at the plate.

_____________________________

The Road To Omaha leads to TD Ameritrade Park and The Dugout – located right across the street from TDA’s home plate entrance. The Dugout has a ton of authentic college baseball caps – just like the ones the players wear on the field.

If you’re going to Omaha for the College World Series make sure to make your first stop The Dugout for all officially licensed CWS apparel. If you can’t make it to Omaha just follow our red links to The Dugout!

Kent State starters George Roberts and Toadvine each had 10 at-bats in the game. Roberts started the game by going 5-for-5 in the first nine innings, but was 0-for-5 the rest of the way. Toadvine was 2-for-10.

Kentucky catcher Mike Williams had 28 put outs. Kent State first baseman Roberts had 23.

The Wildcats are now 1-17 this season when trailing after the eighth inning.

Kentucky’s Steven Hoagland entered the game 1-for-3 at the plate for the season. He entered the game as a pinch-hitter and went 0-for-5.

Wildcat closer Trevor Gott pitched a season-high 4.0 innings. His previous long was a 2 1/3 inning stretch against Indiana on May 8. Gott was also 0-for-1 at the plate. He hit in Luke Maile’s spot in the order when the slugger was lifted for a pinch runner in the 9^th inning after injuring his leg.

Kent State brought centerfielder Evan Campbell in as a fifth infielder when Kentucky had the winning run at 3^rd base and one out in the bottom of the 10^th. Hoagland dropped down a squeeze bunt when he pinch-hit for Matt Reida and the runner at third was out when the bunt went right back to the mound.

Purdue and Valparaiso fans, who had packed the stadium waiting for the second game of the night, booed loudly at the end of the 19^th inning after Kentucky squandered a scoring opportunity.

The initial announced attendance for the game was less than 800, but it ended-up being 5,016 with those extra northwestern Indiana fans in attendance while the game continued into the night.

There were plenty of squandered scoring opportunities for both teams. Kent State left 20 runners on base, while Kentucky stranded 23.

Williams nearly ended the game, but instead only tied it, with an RBI double in the 18^th inning. Williams crushed a ball that would have been out of most parks in the country to plate one run, but Reed, who was on at first base and does not run well, was thrown out at the plate on a 9-6-2 relay. Kent State had scored a run in the top of the inning, so the game continued tied 6-6. The last run to score prior to that was by Kentucky in the bottom of the 9^th to send the game to extra frames.

The Kent State victory extends the nation’s longest D1 winning streak to 18 games. The Golden Flashes haven’t lost since April 25 at Penn State.

It was a very well played game with just two errors, one for each team, all night.

“It’s been a weird game.” – Kentucky radio PBP man Neil Price. He said it on the air in the top of the 13^th. The longest game of the year for Kentucky.

Images From The 2012 ACC Tourney…

The Road To Omaha leads to TD Ameritrade Park and The Dugout – located right across the street from TDA’s home plate entrance. The Dugouthas a ton of authentic college baseball caps – just like the ones the players wear on the field.

If you’re going to Omaha for the College World Series make sure to make your first stop The Dugout for all officially licensed CWS apparel. If you can’t make it to Omaha just follow our red links to The Dugout!

The Road To Omaha leads to TD Ameritrade Park and The Dugout – located right across the street from TDA’s home plate entrance. The Dugouthas a ton of authentic college baseball caps – just like the ones the players wear on the field.

If you’re going to Omaha for the College World Series make sure to make your first stop The Dugout for all officially licensed CWS apparel. If you can’t make it to Omaha just follow our red links to The Dugout!

Number Crunching Down To The Wire…

David Lee was named the MEAC Tournament Most Outstanding Performer (BC photo).

3…More NCAA Tournament tickets punched over the weekend. Bethune-Cookman (MEAC), Prairie View A&M (SWAC) and Sacred Heart (Northeast) each claimed conference tournament titles to join Cornell of the Ivy League as the three teams with tickets punched to the dance so far. That leaves 26 automatic bids to be claimed in the next week before selections come out a week from today (5/29). The next bid will go to the winner of today’s Patriot League final between Army and Holy Cross. Bethune-Cookman’s title was its seventh straight.

3…Conference regular season championships to be decided this week that will determine automatic NCAA bids. The Big West, Pac-12 and West Coast Conference races have all come down to the final weekend of their regular season and none of the three leagues sponsor postseason tournaments. Cal State Fullerton (33-18, 15-6 Big West)is secure for an at-large bid when it visits Long Beach State (27-25, 14-7). San Diego (39-13) and Pepperdine (32-20) share 14-7 marks in the WCC heading into their showdown in Malibu. The Pac-12 is more complicated with Oregon (41-14, 19-8) holding a one game lead over Arizona (36-16, 18-9) and a two game lead over UCLA (38-14, 17-10), Stanford (36-14, 17-10) and Arizona State (35-18, 17-10). The Ducks are at Oregon State, Arizona hosts ASU, UCLA hosts USC, and Stanford hosts Cal this weekend. Long Beach State has the least solid footing to receive an at-large bid of any of the above mentioned teams. (Arizona State is ineligible for this year’s NCAA Tournament.)

10…Wins with no losses by UCLA in midweek games this season. The latest such win for the Bruins came with Tuesday’s 6-3 decision over Cal State Fullerton. Such wins over the likes of Pepperdine and UC Irvine (along with their Pac-12 success) have put UCLA in position for a top eight national seed next week. They put their perfect midweek record on the line when they visit UC Irvine Tuesday night.

6…SEC teams that tasted midweek defeats on the same day last week. Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Auburn, and Tennessee each lost on Tuesday to Samford, Murray State, Arkansas State, Central Arkansas, Jacksonville State, and Middle Tennessee State, respectively.

Oregon's Brett Thomas

3…Sacrifice bunts in one game by Oregon clean-up batter Brett Thomas. The sophomore leads the Ducks with a .310 average and 13 doubles, but he dropped three bunts down to help Oregon score single runs in five different innings in a 5-4 win over Seattle en-route to a series sweep.

15…Conference regular season championships for LSU, an SEC record, after taking two of three games from South Carolina to close the regular season. The Tigers (42-14, 19-11) claimed their first outright SEC crown since 2003.

5…Straight wins by Vanderbilt to close the regular season. The Commodores did not have a winning streak of more than three games prior to winning the last two games of the LSU series last week and then sweeping Ole Miss this past weekend. After starting 2012 with a 1-7 record Vanderbilt’s 29-25 overall mark (16-14 SEC) heading into the SEC Tournament guarantees a winning record, which is the minimal requirement for an NCAA at-large berth.

32…Game winning streak by Utah Valley that ended with Tuesday’s 11-10 loss at Utah. The Wolverines (43-12, 28-0) have still won 36 of their last 37 games after closing Great West Conference play with a four game sweep of Northern Colorado. Their 32 game winning streak fell two short of the Division One record shared by Texas (1977) and Florida Atlantic (1999). They have a chance for more wins this week, but with an RPI of 67 last week their NCAA future is tenuous, because the Great West Conference does not receive an automatic bid.

Florida's Preston Tuck

1…Home run hit by Florida’s Preston Tucker for his school record-setting 320^th career hit in Thursday’s 6-0 win over Auburn. Tucker’s blast moved him past Mark Ellis on the Gator’s all-time hit list and also marked the second time this season he used a home run to set a school record. His home run back on Feb. 25 gave him Florida’s all-time RBI mark. Tucker and the Gators took two of three games from the Tigers to close the regular season.

19…ACC wins by North Carolina State – a school record – after Thursday’s 10-5 win over Florida State. Wolfpack freshman Carolos Rodon also improved to 9-0 to tie the school freshman record for wins in the victory, but the Seminoles still took the last two games of the series to clinch the number one seed in the ACC Tournament.

22…Straight home wins for Baylor, the longest active streak in the nation, after Thursday’s 16-5 dismantling of Texas. The 22 straight is a school record for home wins. Baylor also became the first Big 12 team to go unbeaten at home in a season with its 12-0 conference mark. The last two games of the series were played in Austin.

34…Years since the Bears had shutout the Longhorns in Austin prior to Friday’s  4-0 Baylor victory. Trent Blank (10-1) and Crayton Bare combined on the goose egg with 7.0 and 2.0 innings, respectively. Baylor has the top seed heading into the Big 12 Tournament.

27…Years since Indiana State had won a Missouri Valley Confererence championship prior to beating Missouri State 6-3 Thursday to clinch this year’s regular season crown. The Sycamores (41-15, 14-7) won the title outright, something they had never done before. They shared the 1985 championship with Wichita State. Dakota Bacus (7-3) tossed his third complete game of the season in Thursday’s clinching victory.

Missouri State's Nick Petree

72 1/3…Innings without giving-up an earned run that ended for Missouri State’s Nick Petree in that loss to the Sycamores when ISU plated a first inning run en-route to the MVC clinching victory. Petree (10-3) also carried a 38.0 inning scoreless streak into the crucial game. The last earned run he had surrendered came more than two months ago – March 9 against SIU-Edwardsville. Petree did lose once during the streak when two unearned runs led to a 2-1 loss to Bradley in April. Petree missed the 2010 season due to Tommy John surgery. He has a 0.91 ERA with 102 strikeouts in 99 1/3 innings this season.

43…Wins for Stony Brook, a school record, with Saturday’s double header sweep of Maine. The Seawolves (43-11, 21-3) won 19 of their last 20 games to close the regular season to set a new high water mark for program wins for a second straight season. Stony Brook is the number one seed in the America East Tournament. They play No. 4 seed and defending tournament champ Maine in the first round on Wednesday.

17…Consecutive conference championships by Rice, a streak that dates back to 1996, after taking two of three games from Central Florida over the weekend to claim the Conference USA regular season crown. The current streak includes tournament titles. Rice has won seven straight C-USA titles since joining the league in 2006. Rice and UCF split the first two games of their series, which set-up a winner take all regular season finale on Saturday for the first time in C-USA history.

13…Years since Wake Forest swept a regular season series from ACC power Clemson prior to taking all three games from the Tigers to close the regular season. Saturday’s 7-0 win capped the sweep. It snapped a string of 98 straight games Clemson had gone without being blanked. Wake(32-22, 13-17) has an RPI of 32 in the latest Warren Nolen rankings (official NCAA RPI due out later today) and is in good shape to receive at least an at-large NCAA bid.

3…WAC regular season champions after New Mexico State, Sacramento State and Nevada finished the regular season with identical 11-7 marks in league play.  New Mexico State is the No. 1 seed and Sacramento State is the No. 2 seed, with each receiving first round byes in the WAC Tournament.

613…Wins by Pat Casey at the helm of Oregon State after Sunday’s 7-5 win over Washington State. The 613 victories ties Casey with Jack Riley for the most in OSU history. Beaver Michael Conforto used a three-run home run to set the Oregon State single season record with 69 RBIs this year. He currently leads the Pac-12 and could become the first Beaver to do so since 1982.

2…Million-plus college baseball fans (paid attendance) who flocked to games in SEC stadiums in 2012. It’s the first time any conference has surpassed the two million mark in a season. LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Florida drew more than 1.6 million of that total. Conference teams also averaged more than 5,000 per game for the first time ever.

Big And Little Numbers…

Utah Valley has now won 32 straight games (courtesy Utah Valley athletics).

(CB360 co-founder Pete LaFleur contributed to this report.)

We’re not looking at RPIs, ok there are some RPI references, but we are taking a look at more highly noteworthy numbers as teams and players start heading to the finish line of the 2012 college baseball season. From winning streaks to losses, saves, complete games, no-hitters and all points in between … here’s this week’s By The Numbers:

32 … Game winning streak by Utah Valley (39-11, 24-0). The Wolverines were only 7-11 after a 13-3 loss to Sacramento State on March 22, but they haven’t tasted defeat since. Texas (1977) and Florida Atlantic (1999) share the record for the longest D1 winning streak at 34 games. The Wolverines need a win on Tuesday against Utah to tie the 1982 Texas team for the second-longest DI winning streak of all-time. They potentially could push their winning streak to 41 by the time NCAA selections come out.

3 … Stunning losses at Oklahoma over the weekend by Baylor. The Bears started Big 12 play with a record 18-0 mark, but after having conference byes for two straight weekends they suffered their first conference losses of 2012. Saturday’s setbacks were by finals of 1-0 (in 10 innings) and 2-1, but they were thumped 12-6 on Sunday to suffer their second 3-game losing streak of the year.  Baylor (39-11, 18-3) still has locked-up the Big 12 regula- season title and had won nine straight series dating back to the 2011 season.

Kurt Heyer

5 … Complete games pitched this season by Arizona’s Kurt Heyer, after Friday’s 3-1 win over Cal. Heyer fanned nine and allowed onlt an unearned run on five hits against the Bears. His individual complete game total is better than eight of the 10 teams in the Pac-12. With seven staff CGs, Oregon is the only team in the conference to boast more than Heyer.

1 … CG by the LSU pitching staff this season. It came from Kevin Gausman in Friday’s 2-1 win over Vanderbilt.  Gausman struck out 11 and scattered five hits to help the Tigers clinch at least a tie for the SEC Western Division title and a bye in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

2-for-12 … LSU outfielder Raph Rhymes’ hits and at-bats for the week. Rhymes entered the week with a Supermanesque .500 batting average for the season, but the Vanderbilt pitching staff proved to be his Kryptonite over the weekend. Still, Rhymes is batting an amazing .478 for the season.

.500 … Vanderbilt’s season winning percentage after Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Louisville. The Commodores (now 26-25) started the season 1-7 and had not been even in the win-loss column since being 0-0 on opening day, but they went on to move above .500 for the first time this year by taking two of three games at LSU over the weekend.  Tuesday’s win was head coach Tim Corbin’s 400th at Vanderbilt. He missed Sunday’s 5-4 extra-inning win over the Tigers to be home with his sick daughter.

35 … Straight years Florida State has won at least 40 games. The Seminoles reached the mark this season with Tuesday’s 9-1 win over Stetson. FSU remains stuck on 40 after falling 6-5 to the Hatters the next day and then dropping their series-opener at Clemson. The Seminoles and Tigers will complete their series Monday with a doubleheader. The second game (6 p.m. ET) will be televised on ESPNU.

30 … Win plateau reached by Michigan State with Tuesday’s 15-7 victory over Western Michigan. After winning 34 games in 2010 and 36 last year, it marks the first time in program history the Spartans have recorded three straight 30-win seasons. The Spartans (33-17, 12-9) went on to take two of three in their weekend series with Iowa. With an RPI in the mid-40s, they remain hopeful of at least an at-large NCAA berth.

4-0 … The score of Michigan State’s biggest win of the season – a March 7 victory at Baylor. The Spartans are 47th in the current RPI (per WarrenNolan.com) and that number is propped up significantly by that victory over a Baylor team that remains in the running for a top-8 national seed.

20 … Road wins by Purdue this season – the second-highest total of any DI team in the nation this season. Ivy League champion Cornell leads the country with 22 road victories. The Boilermakers, who clinched their first Big Ten title since 1909 by taking two of three games at home from Michigan over the weekend, have played only 16 home games with one more remaining. They close the regular season at Iowa next weekend. Despite the lack of home dates, Purdue (39-9, 16-4) already has set a school record for wins this season.

Joe Rogers

3 … Road losses by Central Florida – tied with UCLA for the fewest of any DI team in the nation this season. UCF’s only road setbacks came on April 13 at Southern Mississippi, Feb. 22 at Florida and at Marshall over the weekend. The Knights (39-13, 14-7) still took two of three from the Thundering Herd to set up next week’s showdown for the C-USA regular season title with Rice (36-14, 15-7).

28 … Career saves by Central Florida’s Joe Rogers after notching one in Friday’s comeback win over Marshall. UCF plated three runs in the top of the 9th and then Rogers struck out the side in the bottom of the inning to shut the door on the 6-5 victory.

35 … Appearances on the mound by UCLA’s David Berg. The freshman leads the Pac-12 and set the Bruin’s program record for appearances in a season with his 34th trip to the mound in Saturday’s 4-2 win over Washington. Berg appeared in all three wins over the Huskies over the weekend, totaling 3.1 innings and allowing only two hits with three strikeouts. Berg is 5-2 with a 1.40 ERA in 51.1 innings while serving as the primary set-up man for close  Scott Griggs (13 Saves, 2.20 ERA).

16 … Saves in 2012 by North Carolina’s Michael Morin after saving 2-1 and 3-0 wins over Duke on Friday and Sunday, respectively. Morin now ranks second on the UNC all-time single season saves list behind Andrew Carignan (2007) and Thad Crisman (1993), who each had 18 saves. Morin’s efforts also helped North Carolina clinch the ACC’s Coastal Division crown. They hold a three-game lead over second-place Virginia and own the tiebreaker with the Cavaliers heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Morin is 5-3 with a 0.94 ERA in 48.0 innings and 31 appearances this season.

1 … Game this season in which Cal State Fullerton has hit multiple home runs. It came in Friday’s 9-7 win over UC Santa Barbara when J.D. Davis, Michael Lorenzen and Matt Chapman all left the yard. The three long balls nearly doubled Fullerton’s home run production in 2012. The Titans entered last week ranked 283rd in the nation with only five home runs all season. Fullerton (32-15, 14-4) swept the series with the Gauchos for their 11th straight series win. They lead Long Beach State by two games atop the Big West standings.

Jeremy Baltz

36 … Career home runs, a St. John’s school record, by Jeremy Baltz. The junior went deep for the 36th time in his career in Saturday’s 6-3 win at Louisville. Baltz hit 24 pre-BBCOR home runs as a freshman in 2010 but dipped to six long balls a year ago. Saturday’s shot was his sixth of 2012. The Red Storm (32-19, 17-7) lost two of three games to the Cardinals (35-17, 16-8), but they still lead the Big East standings by one game over Louisville and South Florida.

16 … Years since Texas A&M’s previous 9-inning no-hitter prior to Ross Stripling’s no-no in Saturday’s 1-0 win over San Diego State. The senior used 106 pitches with seven strikeouts to fire the gem on the day he was scheduled to graduate. A 5th-inning walk was the only blemish on an otherwise perfect day – and that runner was erased on a caught-strealing, as Stripling ultimately faced the minimum 27 batters.

29-5 … Kentucky’s home record this season to set a program high-water mark for home victories after a weekend sweep of Alabama. The Wildcats (41-11, 18-9) also have the second-most total victories in the 107 year history of Kentucky baseball. They remain in the running for the SEC regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament.

73 … Hits this season by UK’s Austin Cousino – a freshman record at Kentucky. Cousino’s ninth home run of the season in Sunday’s 8-1 win over Alabama also gave him the Wildcats freshman for runs scored (54). Cousino is batting a team-best .343 with 18 doubles, 11 stolen bases, a .543 slugging percentage, and .421 on base percentage.

6 1/3 … Innings pitched by Stanford’s Stephen Piscotty in his first career start – an 8-3 win over Washington State on Saturday at Sunken Diamond. Piscotty made 156 previous career combined starts  at third base, first base, left field, and designated hitter for the Cardinal. In addition to earning the win, Piscotty was 3-for-3 at the plate with two walks, while issuing no walks of his own from the mound. The projected first-round pick in next month’s MLB Draft also had made 10 previous relief appearances. He is batting .344 with five home runs and a team-high 50 RBIs this season to go with a 3-2 record and 2.49 ERA.

Trea Turner

50 … Stolen bases by North Carolina State’s Trea Turner. The freshman swiped a pair in Saturday’s 6-2 win at Virginia Tech to join Georgia Tech’s Ty Griffin (50 in 1986) and UNC’s Brian Roberts (63 in 1997) as the only other players in ACC history to steal as many as 50 bases in a season. Turner has been caught only twice all year.

12 … Strikeouts in 7.0 innings by Loyola Marymount’s Trevor Megill in Saturday’s 8-6 win over San Diego. The win gave LMU the series win over the Toreros in the important WCC series. The effort helped the Lions take two of three games from the West Coast Conference-leading Toreros. Loyola has remaining series against second place Pepperdine and Santa Clara, while San Diego’s only WCC games left are vs. Pepperdine in two weeks. With no postseason tournament, the WCC regular-season champion receives the league’s automatic NCAA bid.

40 … Wins for Indiana State – the first 40-win season for the Sycamores in 20 years. ISU swept Southern Illinois over the weekend to reach the mark. The Sycamores (40-12, 13-5 MVC) travel upstate to face Purdue on Tuesday and then will host Missouri State (36-17, 11-6) to close out the regular season this weekend. The winner of that series will take the top seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Touranament.

4 … The number of DI baseball teams that have cracked 40 wins this season … the previously-mentioned Kentucky (41-11), Florida State (40-10), Indiana State (40-12) and UCF (40-12).