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A By The Numbers Look At Day 3 NCAA Play…

8…Winner take all Regional championship games that will take place on Monday (CLICK HERE to see our full Regional scoreboard with Monday’s match-ups.

8…Teams that went 3-0 in Regional play over the weekend to advance to Super Regionals: Arizona State, Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, UCLA, TCU, and Texas.

15…Years since Oklahoma had started NCAA play with a 3-0 record before beating North Carolina 3-2 to advance to the second Super Regional in program history (the format switched in 1999).

Oklahoma celebrates after earning the program's second Super Regional appearance. (OU photo)

2005…The last time a North Carolina team failed to get out of the Regional round of the NCAA Tournament.  Mike Fox’s UNC squad had made four straight College World Series trips, but are eliminated in Regional play for the first time since falling to Notre Dame in ’05 at the Gainesville, FL Regional.

1…Super Regional match-up that is set.  TCU and Texas will square-off in a rematch of last year’s Super Regional that sent the Longhorns to Omaha.

3…Runs allowed in three Regional wins by the vaunted Texas pitching staff.

32…Strikeouts in its three Regional victories by the TCU pitching staff.

1…#4 seed, Minnesota, that started this year’s Regional action 2-0.  The Golden Gophers join the 2004 Pepperdine team and the 2008 eventual National Champion Fresno State squad as the only #4 seeds to start 2-0 since 2003.  Minnesota lost 7-2 to Cal State Fullerton Sunday night and will play for the Regional title Monday night.

8…First inning runs scored by St. John’s en-route to a 22-16 elimination game win over Ole Miss in Charlottesville.

7…Runs given-up in just 2/3 of an inning by Ole Miss starter David Goforth in that game.

Jereymy Baltz (SJU photo)

24…Home runs this season by St. John’s freshman Jeremy Baltz after he hit a pair in Sunday 6-5 upset of #5 national seed Virginia.  The win forced Monday’s Regional Championship game.

10…Runs scored in the first inning by Coastal Carolina in its 25-7 elimination game win over Stony Brook.

23-0…Dartmouth’s record this season when leading after 6 innings prior to Sunday’s 4-3 loss to Texas A&M.  The Big Green lost after Joe Patterson homered in the 8th to tie the game, followed by a long ball by Kevin Gonzalez to lead-off the 9th for the final margin.

10…Home runs hit so far in Regional play by the Aggies after they hit two more in Sunday night’s 11-7 win over Miami to force Monday’s title game.

36 2/3…Innings pitched without allowing an earned run by A&M closer John Stilson.  The sophomore (9-1, 10 saves) tossed 3 scoreless innings in the Dartmouth win, and then fired the final 3 2/3 innings of the win over Miami.

116…Strikeouts by Stilson in 82 2/3 IP this season.

6…Runs in just 2/3 of an inning by Oregon State starter Tyler Waldron in Sunday’s 11-7 elimination game loss to Florida Atlantic.

25-7…Final score of Coastal Carolina’s elimination game win over Stony Brook.  The Chanticleers broke the game open with 10 runs in the top of the 3rd inning.  They scored at least one run in each of the last seven innings of the game.

3…Straight at-bats with a home run by Virginia Tech’s Buddy Sosnoskie, who homered in his first AB of Sunday’s 4-3 win over The Citadel.  He also went deep in his last two trips to the plate in Saturday’s win over Bucknell.

Tyler Thompson and Florida celebrate a home run. (UF photo)

3…Home runs by Florida 9-home batter Tyler Thompson in Sunday’s 15-0 win over Florida Atlantic.  Thompson had hit just two HR all season, but had a power surge to help send the Gators to the Super Regionals for a second straight year.

3…Run home run in the 8th inning by Creede Simpson to propel Auburn to an 11-10 win over Clemson.  The teams rematch for the Regional championship Monday night.

5 1/3…Scoreless innings pitched by St. John’s reliever Kevin Kilpatrick to help the Red Storm shock #5 national seed Virginia 6-5 to force a Monday Regional final game in Charlottesville.

2…Outs in the bottom of the 8th inning when Red Storm freshman Jeremy Baltz homered to provide the eventual winning runs in the St. John’s win.  It was Baltz’s second homer of the game and his24th this season.  He already ranks fourth in the St. John’s all-time home run record book (career home runs, not single season).

5…RBIs by Baltz’s teammate, Matt Wessinger, earlier in the day in a 20-16 elimination game win over Ole Miss.  Wessinger finished a home run shy of the cycle.

8…Runs scored by the Red Storm in the first inning of that game, which sent the Rebels home and St. John’s to the Regional championship round.

Richie Goodnow is congratulated after his first career complete game. (Vandy photo)

0…Runs allowed by Vanderbilt pitcher Ritchie Goodenow in his first career complete game-a 7-0 upset of #7 national seed Louisville on Sunday to force Monday’s Regional final game.

68…Career appearances Goodenow has made.  The win over the Cardinals was just the lefty’s second career start.

5…Runs scored in the 9th inning by Vandy to beat Illinois State 10-4 in an elimination game earlier in the day just to advance for the right to play Louisville.

2…Years in a row Vanderbilt has beaten the Cardinals in an elimination game in Louisville to force a winner take all Regional final.  Louisville won last year to advance to the Fullerton Super Regional.  The winner this year faces Florida State.

1…Career complete game by Rice’s Mike Ojala, who went the distance in his 34th career start to help the Owls beat Louisiana-Lafayette in a Sunday elimination game (they would lose 4-1 to Texas in their next game to see their season end).  Ojala (6-2) had ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery last June.

2…Starts made on Sunday by Washington State junior James Wise.  The junior gave-up six runs in just 2 1/3 innings in an eventual 9-6 elimination game win over Kansas State.  He then started and gave-up just a run in 3 IP to help WSU beat Arkansas 10-7, forcing a Monday Regional final.

James Wise

19…Wins this season by the Washington State bullpen with 6 1/3 shutout innings in the win over K-State.  Richie Ochoa (2-2)  tossed 4 1/3 scoreless frames to help the Cougar pen tie a school record that was originally set in 1987.

33….Years since Washington State last played in a Regional Championship game prior to Monday’s showdown with Arkansas in Fayetteville.

46…Wins this season by UCLA (46-13) to set a new single-season record after Sunday’s 6-2 Regional Championship win over UC-Irvine.  The Bruins are headed to the Super Regionals for the second time in the last four years.

18…50 win seasons by Arizona State (50-8) after beating Hawaii 8-4 to advance to the Super Regionals.

19…Combined College World Series appearances by Florida State head coach Mike Martin (13) and Oregon skipper George Horton (6 with Cal State Fullerton), whose teams met in the championship game of the Norwich Regional.  Martin’s Seminoles won 5-3 to advance to a third straight Super Regional.

1…Out and one runner on in the bottom of the 9th inning when  Rico Noel homered to give Coastal Carolina an 8-7 win over the College of Charleston to force a deciding game Monday in the Myrtle Beach Regional.  Charleston had beaten Coastal a day earlier.

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A Look Around The Country At Saturday’s NCAA Action

• The hitting streak continues, but the season is over.  Garrett Wittels extended his hitting streak to 56 games in Florida International’s 15-9 loss to Dartmouth.  The loss eliminated FIU from the Coral Gables Regional.  That means Wittels will begin the 2011 season needing hits in his first two games to tie Robin Ventura for the all-time Division One record hit streak.
  

  Garrett Wittels (FIU photo)

• ““Teams are gonna know what to anticipate.  He likes to drive the ball away.  Look for some teams to try to different things next season.  Try busting him hard inside.  Nobody tried to do that.  We know he can push the ball into right center field, but can he turn on the ball?  I think that’s gonna be the test.”  That’s what ESPNU studio analyst Jay Walker had to say about Wittels and how other teams might approach him next year.  So let me get this straight…Wittels batted .409 this season, hit safely in 56 games, smacked 20 doubles, and came to the plate 237 times, but nobody ever challenged him inside once and he never once turned on the ball?  Great analysis Jay (I hope the sarcasm is detected)!  Anyone who hits in 56 straight and bats .400 over the course of the season is going to do it by going to all fields.  More great analysis by someone we’ve never heard of who probably saw all of eight of Wittels’ at-bats this season.
• Dartmouth clean-up batter Jason Brooks was 2-for-5 in the win over FIU with a grand slam and a total of 6 RBIs.  The win was the first for Dartmouth in the NCAA Tournament since 1987 and the first for the Ivy League since Princeton won a game in 2004.
• Not to be outdone, Illinois State got its first NCAA win in 34 years by downing St. Louis 8-3 in the Louisville Regional elimination game.  Kevin Tokarski homered and drove-in four.
  

  Anthony Rendon (Rice photo)

• Anthony Rendon jacked 3 HR and totaled 7 RBIs to lead Rice to a resounding 19-1 elimination game win over Rider at the Austin Regional.  With the Owls leading 11-0 Wayne Graham lifted starter Taylor Wall after 3 2/3 hitless innings.
• Southern Mississippi’s Taylor Walker was 4-for-4 with a home runs, 4 runs and 4 RBIs in an Auburn Regional elimination win over Jacksonville State.
• Matt Weisinger hit two of St. John’s‘ four home runs in Charlottesville to help the Red Storm eliminate VCU 8-6.
• Baylor beat Lamar 6-5 in Ft. Worth.  Logan Vick had his 29th extra base hit to set a freshman school record.
• Florida Atlantic had a season-high 18 hits to eliminate Bethune-Cookman with a 12-6 win in Gainesville.
• Buddy Sosnoskie belted two HR with 6 RBIs to help Virginia Tech beat Bucknell 16-7.
• Stony Brook eliminated North Carolina State with a 6-2 win in Myrtle Beach.  Sophomore Tyler Johnson (10-3) set a new Seawolves single-season record for wins.  Johnson notched 10 Ks in 8 IP.
• Tyler Garwal hit a walk-off home run to keep Oral Roberts‘ season going with a 9-8 win over Cal in Norman.  The Golden Eagles hit 4 HR and won despite walking 9 batters.
• Francis Larson hit his 25th career home run to help UC Irvine beat Kent State 19-9 in the L.A. elimination game.  Larson has now hit the most home runs in Anteater history.
  

  Neil Holland (UofL photo)

• Louisville’s 7-1 win over Vanderbilt set a program record with the 50th win of the season for the Cardinals.  Neil Holland got his 17th save with 3 shutout innings of one hit ball.
• How confident was Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell that his team could start Regional play 2-0?  Cardinal ace Thomas Royse (9-1, 2.91 ERA) did not start either of his team’s first two games.  He’ll start Sunday, which is the final game of McDonnell’s 3-game suspension.
• Mike Olt is UConn’s all-time home run (44) and RBI (177) leader after belting two long balls with a career-best 8 RBIs as the Huskies routed Central Connecticut State 25-5.  UConn now faces Oregon, which lost 6-4  to Florida State.
• Rain and lightening caused two hours and 28 minutes of delay, but Miami cruised to a 14-1 win over Texas A&M.  Hurricane 1B Scott Lawson was 4-for-6 with 3 HR and 6 RBIs.
• Danny Hultzen gave-up 6 earned runs in 6 IP, but still improved to 10-1 as Virginia beat Ole Miss. 13-7.  The Cavaliers tied a school record with their 49th win.
• Mike Ferraro was 4-for-6 with a home run, two doubles and 6 RBIs to lead San Diego to a resounding 22-1 elimination game win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Tempe.
• Here’s a lesson to the kids at home: ALWAYS RUN IT OUT.  Stanford’s Colin Walsh hit a fairly routine fly ball to left field, but Cal State Fullerton’s Casey Watkins dropped it.  Walsh motored all the way to third on the play and scored on a single by Stephen Piscotty.  The Titans still won 6-5 thanks to a pair of 2-run home runs by Christian Colon.
• Stanford goes 0-2 at the Fullerton Regional.  It’s just the second time Stanford has gone two and out in Regional play.  The last time it happened was in 1994 in Austin, TX.
• There were a total of seven upsets on Saturday.  Five #4 seeds won, with three of those wins vs. #2 seeds.  Two #1 seeds lost to #2 seeds.
• Minnesota is the Cinderella of the Regionals so far.  The fourth-seeded Golden Gophers downed #3 New Mexico 6-4 in 10 innings the Fullerton winner’s bracket game to go to 2-0.
• Scott Matyas struckout 8 in three scoreless, hitless innings of relief to improve to 5-1.
• Eight of Saturday’s Regional games were decided by double digits.
• Citadel’s 1-3 batters combined to go just 2-for-12 in their 9-4 loss to South Carolina.  The Gamecocks used a 5-run 7th inning to take the win.
• Starting pitchers Blake Cooper (11-1) of South Carolina and Asher Wojciechowski (12-3) of The Citadel combined for 23 strikeouts and just 4 walks.
  

  Trevor Bauer (UCLA photo)

• Trevor Bauer had 11 strikeouts to lead UCLA to a 6-3 win over defending national champion LSU in the L.A. winner’s bracket game.  Anthony Ranaudo had 10 Ks in the loss.
• The Bruins (45-13) tied a program record for most wins in one season.  It equals the win total from the Bruins’ 1997 team (45-19-1), which was the last UCLA program to go to the College World Series.
• Junior Casey Harman tossed the first complete game of his career to help #2 seed Clemson topple #1 Auburn 5-2  in Auburn.  Harman scattered five hits with 8 strikeouts.
• Arizona State’s Seth Blair is 12-0 after giving-up just a run in 7 IP as the overall #1 seeded Sun Devils rolled Hawaii 12-1.
• Joe Weik smacked two home runs and had a career-high 6 RBIs to help TCU down Arizona 11-5.  The Horned Frogs improve to 48-11 to tie the school record for wins in a season.
• TCU pitchers Matt Purke (13-0) and Tyler Lockwood combined for 10 strikeouts, making TCU 21-0 when its pitchers have at least 10 Ks in a game.

Big Pitching Performances Headline The Week

Justin Jones

the first to do it Friday afternoon.  He was followed by: Alex Wimmers-Ohio St., Cole Green-Texas, Justin Jones-Cal, D.D. Hanks-South Alabama, Merrill Kelly-Arizona St., and Asher Wojciechowski-The Citadel.

1…Freshman among that group of eight game winners-Cal LHP Justin Jones (8-2, 2.62 ERA), who has both of his team’s complete games this season.

12…Strikeouts by Wojciechowski in his Friday complete game 4-2 win over Furman.

4…ACC series lost by North Carolina this season after being swept in Miami over the weekend.

4…ACC series lost by the Tar Heels over the previous three seasons combined.  UNC lost three conference series last year, none in 2008 and one in 2007.  They also lost just two in 2006 for a total of six ACC series defeats from ’06-’09 en-route to four trips to the College World Series.

David Guetierrez (Miami photo)

7…RBIs by Hurricane catcher Yasmani Grandal, who homered to help his team to the weekend sweep of the Tar Heels.

7…Perfect innings pitched by Miami’s David Guetierrez in Wednesday’s 9-0 win over Florida Gulf Coast.  The senior struck out seven and retired all 21 batters he faced in just his second start of the season before leaving the game after throwing 84 pitches.  Hurricane reliever Eric Whaley lost the perfect game and no-hitter when he hit a batter and gave-up a single in the 8th inning.

3…Wins by #6 Georgia Tech over visiting #16 Clemson.  The sweep was sparked by Friday’s 10th inning walk-off home run by Yellow Jacket right fielder Chase Burnett.

15…Consecutive games in which a Georgia Tech player has homered after second baseman Jacob Esch went deep in Sunday’s 11-3 series finale, which gave Clemson its fifth straight loss.

9…Of Clemson’s 13 losses this season (including three in its five-game slide) which have been decided by one or two runs.

5…Runs scored by #25 Virginia Tech in the top of the 9th inning in Sunday’s 8-5 win over #3 Virginia, which avoided a 3-game sweep.  The rally was capped by Buddy Sosnoskie’s 2-out bases clearing double.

3…Walks issued in just 1/3 of an inning by Cavalier closer Kevin Arico, who had earned his Division One leading 12th save earlier in the series, in that Hokie rally.

4…Walks issued by Arico (0-1)  in 20 innings pitched prior to Sunday’s outing.

0 & 23…Runs allowed and strikeouts totaled in 25 combined innings by Texas starting pitchers Brandon

Brandon Workman (Texas photo)

Workman, Taylor Jungmann and Cole Green in the Longhorns’ weekend sweep of arch rival Texas A&M.  The trio also surrendered a grand total of seven hits on the weekend.

12 & 6…Consecutive wins by Texas and losses by Texas A&M, respectively, after the Aggies’ fourth sweep at the hands of the Longhorns in the last five seasons.  The sweep keeps Texas 2 1/2 games ahead of Kansas State in the Big 12 Conference standings.

14…Big 12 leading home runs hit by Nebraska’s Adam Bailey this season.

1…Hit by Bailey in 13 at-bats vs. Kansas (not a home run), while the Jayhawks took two of three games in the series from the Cornhuskers.

1996…The last time Kansas won a series in Lincoln prior to the weekend’s wins.

1,000…Career wins by Rutgers head coach Fred Hill after his Scarlet Knights beat South Florida 6-1 Saturday en-route to a 3-game weekend sweep of South Florida.  The wins move RU into a first place tie with Connecticut atop the Big East Conference standing.

1…Home run this season by LSU sophomore Grant Dozer-a walk-off shot that ended Sunday’s 6-5 14-inning win over Alabama to cap a 3-game weekend sweep.

2002…The last time LSU (30-6, 11.4) swept a series from Alabama (22-15, 5-10).

7…Ride or die innings pitched by LSU closer Matty Ott to earn his first win of the season.  The sophomore allowed two runs on four hits in the longest outing of his career.  He gave-up the runs in the 8th inning and then proceeded to toss six scoreless frames.

32…Division One leading wins by Coastal Carolina, which beat Gardner-Webb 13-0 Sunday for its 13th straight win.

4…Third inning home runs hit by UC Riverside in Sunday’s 7-5 win over Long Beach State.

Marcus Stroman

3…Hits by Duke second baseman Marcus Stroman in Saturday’s upset of #8 Florida State.

3…Scoreless innings pitched by Stroman, who moved to the mound and earned his fourth win in relief in that same game.

4…RBIs along with a home run hit by Arkansas’ Brett Eibner in Saturday’s win over Georgia.  He is tied for the team lead with 11 HR this season.

7…Innings pitched in that game by Eibner, who earned his third win in his ninth start of the season.

11…Straight wins by the Razorbacks (31-6, 12-3) after Sunday’s 13-5 win over the Bulldogs.  Arkansas has the most overall wins and conference wins of any team in the SEC.

20…Combined strikeouts by starting pitchers Blake Cooper of South Carolina and Drew Pomeranz of Ole Miss in Friday’s Gamecock win over the Rebels.  Cooper (7-0) scattered four hits with 10 K in the complete game effort to help

Christian Walker (USC photo)

South Carolina win two of three games in the series.

9…Straight South Carolina batters who reached base safely in a seven-run 2nd inning-capped by Christian Walker’s grand slam-in Saturday’s 9-5 win over the Rebels.

4…Runs scored by Arizona in the bottom of the 9th inning to rally to beat Washington State 12-11 Sunday in Tucson.

11…Straight wins by the home team in the series between the Wildcats and Cougars.

14…Strikeouts in 8 2/3 IP by Arizona’s Kurt Heyer in Friday’s 5-3 win over Wazzou.

18…Scoreless inning streak by Pepperdine’s Matt Bywater that ended when Gonzaga scored a 1st inning run en-route to a 16-3 win.

8…Runs scored by Miami (OH) in the bottom of the 9th inning of Tuesday’s 12-11 win over Xavier.