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Some Thoughts/Notes After A Super Day 3…

Five Alive: Five More teams clinched spots in the College World Series by clinching Super Regional series on Sunday.  Florida State beat Vanderbilt, UCLA downed Cal State Fullerton, TCU toppled Texas, South Carolina erased Coastal Carolina, and #1 national seed Arizona State outlasted Arkansas to join Florida in Omaha.  The Gators had clinched their spot with Saturday’s win over Miami.

Game two Super Regional hero Drew Maggi.

24 = 2: It goes down as a sweep, but what a series between Arizona State and Arkansas.  The Sun Devils won a pair of 12 inning games to advance to the CWS for the 22ndt time.  ASU won 7-5 Sunday night thanks to Drew Maggi’s home run in the top of the 9th, but the game only got that far because of Brett Eibner’s two-strike, two-out home run for the Hogs in the bottom of the 9th inning.  Great clutch hitting all the way around.  it’s just a shame the series didn’t go to what was sure to have been an epic third game.

Austin Shocker: TCU beat #2 national seed Texas 4-1 Sunday to clinch the first CWS appearance in Horned Frogs history.  Texas outscored TCU 16-8, but lost the series 2-1.  Unearned runs led to Saturday’s 14-1 laugher, which was the Longhorn’s only win in the series, but it turns out TCU has a pretty good pitching staff of its own.  Games one and three starters Matt Purke and Kyle Winkler combined for 15 1/3 IP with 17 Ks while allowing just one run.

Bruins On The Brink: UCLA was down to its last out against Cal State Fullerton Saturday night before Tyler Rahmatulla’s home run put the Bruins in front in a game they would eventually win in extra innings.  UCLA #3 starter Rob Rasmussen then fired his first career complete game to help UCLA win 8-1 in Sunday’s finale.

Rob Rasmussen tossed his first complete game to send UCLA to Omaha. (UCLA photo)

Good Point: UCLA is in just its third College World Series, while Fullerton was biding for its 17th trip to Omaha.  As Robin Ventura pointed out during Sunday’s broadcast, the Bruins lack Omaha appearances in part because the Titans have owned them over the years, including in NCAA play.  Fullerton had won 19 of 22 games vs. UCLA over the last six years prior to losing Saturday and Sunday.  They’ve also still won 39 of the last 50 meetings between the two teams.

Match (up) Points: There was a lot of talk about the unfairness of some of the Super Regional match-ups, which are largely made due to geography.  To many TCU vs. Texas didn’t seem fair, neither did South Carlina vs. Coastal, UCLA-Fullerton, or ASU-Arkansas, which pitted two teams from last year’s CWS field.   Fans, players, coaches, and analysts looking at those match-ups argued that any of those teams were Omaha worthy, and they were right.  However, Arkansas vs. UCLA, Arizona State vs. Cal State Fullerton, TCU vs. South Carolina, or Coastal Carolina vs. Texas would have been brutal match-ups as well.  It’s not a great system, but with so many very good teams somebody’s gotta go home…

On A Mission: That said, if the NCAA really “Puts its money where its mission is” (you know, like all those commercials during the games say) shouldn’t they just seed the #1 seeds 1-16 (to match the Regional sites) rather than just the top eight national seeds?  Should saving a few bucks on air fares trump at the least the perception of fairness in seeding the field?

Lack Of Legacies: Texas, Miami, USC, and LSU have combined to make 91 College World Series appearances, but none of them will be in Omaha for Rosenblatt Stadium’s swan song.  How rare is that?  Since the CWS moved to Rosenblatt in 1950 this season marks just the eighth time that at least one of those four teams has not been a part of the eight team College World Series field.

I’m Mobile: I’m still getting used to my new tricked-out cell phone, but it came in handy again on Sunday.  I was able to watch part of the Virginia-Oklahoma game on my phone while I was at my daughter’s game.  I’m still not giving-up the name of my provider, but it’s definitely a cool perk.

Omaha Bound: The eight CWS teams will be heading to Omaha this week and so will we.  I’ll be in Omaha Friday for open practice and pre-series press conference day.  We will post several videos with player and coach interviews that day, and we will have extensive coverage from Omaha during the entire series.  Among our coverage:  Daily video & audio, daily CWS scoreboard pages and a daily Notebook/blog.  Collegebaseball360.com will have someone in Omaha from start to finish for the 2010 College World Series!

Goaaaalllll: Soccer, seriously?  When there’s college baseball on?

More Coverage

Friday Super Regional Notebook

Saturday Super Regional Notebook

Super Regional Central

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Competition Will Commemorate Last Series At Rosenblatt Stadium

OMAHA, NE—A competition for original artwork that celebrates the heritage of the NCAA^® Men’s College World Series^® at Rosenblatt Stadium has been announced by the NCAA and the College World Series of Omaha, Inc. (CWS, Inc.).  A $4,000 scholarship will be awarded to the winner of the competition, which is open to full-time graphic arts and fine arts students enrolled in the spring of 2010 at a Nebraska NCAA-member institution. The winning original artwork will appear on the cover of the 2010 College World Series official game program, which will be sold throughout the Series beginning on June 19, and concluding June 29 or 30.

“The NCAA and CWS, Inc., are excited about the opportunity for college art students to submit their ideas for the cover artwork of the 2010 College World Series official game program,” said Dennis Poppe, NCAA vice president of baseball and football. “The chance to integrate intercollegiate athletics and higher education in this way was an easy decision to make.”

“We are looking for original, two-dimensional artwork that captures the unique history, atmosphere and spirit of the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium,” announced Jack Diesing, Jr., president of CWS, Inc. “The creative possibilities are unlimited, ranging from depictions of Rosenblatt Stadium, to scenes of student-athletes competing in the Series or fans of all ages enjoying a day at the ballpark. The opportunities for artistic expression are endless.”

Entry forms and competition rules are available from the graphic arts and fine arts departments of the eligible schools, which include: Creighton University, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, University of Nebraska at Omaha, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Chadron State College, Nebraska Wesleyan University and Wayne State College. Forms may also be requested by sending an e-mail to katie@cwsomaha.com or calling College World Series of Omaha, Inc., at (402) 554-4404. Entry forms can also be found on the CWS website at www.NCAA.com/cws. There is no entry fee for the competition, although each participant is responsible for any costs or expenses incurred in creating and submitting their artwork.

Judging will be conducted by officials from the NCAA, CWS, Inc., the game program’s publisher, as well as John Lajba, sculptor of the Road to Omaha statue; Anne Maguire, manager of Graphic Design at Mutual of Omaha; and Jill Rizzo, design director, Bozell. Entries will be evaluated based on creativity, messaging and content. Under rules of the competition:

• Participants are limited to no more than two individual artistic entries and group submission by more than one participant will not be considered.
• Artwork must be provided in a vertical format so it can be reproduced on an 8.5” by 11” program cover. Note: Artists should be aware that as much as 1/4” around the edges of the artwork may be trimmed in the reproduction process.
• Using the Road to Omaha image as the primary feature, element or focus of the original artwork is prohibited. It is permissible, however, to use the Road to Omaha image if it is not the primary feature, element or focus of the piece. Rights to reproduction of Road to Omaha are held exclusively by CWS, Inc.
• Using a recognizable image of a current or past student-athlete is prohibited, even with that person’s permission.
• Receipt of a high-resolution JPG digital file or disc of the original artwork is due no later than March 4, 2010, at the office of College World Series of Omaha, Inc. Note: the digital file must be a JPG format, 8.5” x 11” with a resolution of 300 dpi. The file name must consist of the artist’s three initials, for example, KFM.jpg.
• Entries that contain inappropriate language or content, as determined by the judges, will be disqualified.

“This 2010 CWS official game program art competition is the first of several Rosenblatt Stadium tributes being planned for the Series,” Diesing added. “Other tributes will be announced in coming weeks as plans are finalized to commemorate Rosenblatt Stadium while celebrating the great moments of CWS history.”

About CWS, Inc. ®

College World Series of Omaha Inc. is a non-profit organization and the local organizing committee for the annual NCAA Division I Men’s College World Series. The 2010 Men’s College World Series will start on Saturday, June 19, with the first game of the Series Finals beginning on Monday, June 28. The Series Finals will conclude on Tuesday, June 29, or Wednesday, June 30.