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The continued game between Clemson and Oklahoma was an appropriate 3-inning appetizer on Wednesday for the main course thriller that was TCU’s dramatic 11-7 win over Florida State.

Our coverage of the 2010 College World Series is brought to you by The Dugout in Omaha, with everything you’re looking for when it comes to officially licensed CWS hats and shirts. If you can’t make it to Rosenblatt make sure to follow the link for all of your CWS gear!

Click For Great College World Series Specials This Week!

FINAL: Continuation of Clemson 6,  Oklahoma 4

FINAL: TCU  11, Florida State 7 (Elimination Game)

The rain was blowing sideways by the time we left the stadium after midnight on Wednesday evening. It was Sean Stires’ last memory of his favorite stadium.

(Blog entry by Chase Titleman)

What a difference a day makes here in Omaha … or does it?

For the third consecutive day here in Omaha, wewere awakened by an earsplitting thunderstorm that rocked the windows of our hotel. I wasn’t sure if it was a freight train, tornado or just another of my wild and willy dreams, but when the lightning flashed and the thunder instantly cracked at 5:25 a.m. this morning it was quite a way to wake up.

Oklahoma looks to benefit most from Wednesday evening’s sudden thunderstorm that cropped up with the high humidity and the stifling temperatures, spawning a tornado alert that never materialized. As of 10:00 this morning, a tornado watch box was up on the weather channel for the eastern half of Iowa, but sunny skies are predicted for today at the “Blatt.”

The heat index was 102 when I was sitting in the photo box along the first-base line. ESPN analyst Kyle Peterson (an Omaha native) looked like a camel jockey with towels draped all over his body trying to shade himself from the scorching sun.

With Clemson leading Oklahoma 6-1 going into the top of the 6th, the Sooners will need to get on it in a hurry if they expect to get back into the ballgame and avoid the losers bracket. At the start of yesterday’s game, the wind was howling out to left-center, but today the wind has switched directions and is blowing quite briskly to right-center – so look for some home runs coming in that direction.

If you are coming to the ballpark and have general-admission tickets, that would be the place to sit!

Yesterday’s first game between Arizona State and South Carolina was an example of what a team can accomplish when it plays the wind properly, for it is no secret that the ball will sail out of the “Blatt” with ease if aided by a driving wind (especially when the heat index is cranking as well).

Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a monster, wind-aided bomb to left-center yesterday to kick start an eight-run 2nd inning that sent the Sun Devils packing.

Rosenblatt Surprises: The weather hasn’t been the only surprise here in Omaha …

Coming into the CWS, Arizona State looked to be the premier team, leading the KSI Index that I have put together here over at Road2Rosenblatt.com!

Florida State and Clemson were 7th and 8th in the KSI Index and I boldly predicted that “if I were a betting man (which I am not), I wouldn’t bet that Clemson student-athletes would be roaming around in Omaha towards the end of the week. I ran into some Clemson players, parents and alumni over at The Union Pizzeria and Bar over near where the new TD Ameritrade Ball Park is going up in the old downtown area near Quest Arena, and boy did they let me hear about it!

Humbled but unfeathered, I promptly told them that the Tigers in my opinion are the most impressive team in Omaha thus far. I really like the way Jack Leggett has this team playing at present. They are peaking at the right time, playing fast and loose while brimming with confidence – all things needed to quiet the nerves of playing in front of 22,000 on a nightly basis.

Clemson won its game despite its 1-2-3 batters (Chris Epps, Mike Freeman and Jeff Schaus) combining to go 0-for-11.

The two teams that have been eliminated, Florida and Arizona State, both had that “deer in the headlights” look and used the same excuse of not playing like the team that got them to Omaha.

How about TCU? Or, more appropriately, how about Matt Curry’s grand slam! Curry had the biggest blast of the series so far with his 8th-inning slam to help the Horned Frogs to a stunning 8-run inning in their 11-7 win over Florida State. Just as clutch was TCU catcher Bryan Holaday’s double, which also came with two outs (two batters before Curry). I’d take eight guys like Holaday on my team any day.

Closing Comments:

In the postgame press conference yesterday after being eliminated, ASU Coach Tim Esmay had this to say:

“Well, obviously very disappointed in the outcome today. You can’t have a start like we did against a quality team of South Carolina. I thought they did a heck of a job of putting us on our heels, and I think you have to do that in a game like this where you lose and you go home.

“And I think the team that kind of takes control of that and is the aggressor and puts you on your heels, it really makes it tough for you to battle up climb.

“I’ll say this. I haven’t been any prouder in my years of being a Sun Devil than this team right here. It’s an amazing team. They were fighting until the end. They didn’t give up. They played hard and that’s what they did all year long.

“And I’m just very proud and very blessed that they gave me this opportunity to coach them this year, because this is a heck of a team. And having to deal with expectations, and expectations of Arizona State is to play deep in this tournament. And they know that. They battled that day-in, day-out, and they answered the bell all year long.

“Obviously we did not want to end this tournament the way it ended, but I’ll tell you this, there’s nobody that feels as bad or as upset than those 35 guys in that clubhouse, and I’m extremely proud of this ball club.”

Q: Could you talk a little bit about Sam Dyson and how he pitched today?
COACH ESMAY: “Man, boy, talk about grinding one out. I felt like we had opportunities every inning. I didn’t feel like he really breezed through any inning. But you look up and 100‑and‑some pitches later and he’s battling and making pitches when he needed to, and that’s a performance that I’m sure they’re proud of, because he was a warrior out there today.:

Q: You guys came in as the No. 1 seed. … I talked to a lot of Arizona State media that says it doesn’t even look like it’s the same team, like it’s imposters in the uniforms. Could you address what went wrong here over the last two games?

COACH ESMAY: “You’re playing good talent. I wouldn’t necessarily call them imposters. They are 18‑, 19‑, 20‑year‑old kids, that had a heck of a year and were playing very good baseball. But being in the College World Series enough to see that sometimes when balls aren’t hit or situations don’t come your way, it just happens.

“I’m not going to say that this is not the Sun Devil team that I saw all year long because it was. It was a team that showed up to play, they were ready to play, and they were confident enough to play. But when you have eight teams at the end, everybody’s had a sense of how to win and how to play and take advantage of things, and that’s what I saw happen. The other teams took advantage.

“We did a great job all year of not letting the crack, the door open, and these last couple of games, a crack opened and the other teams took advantage of it. And that’s what happens in a national championship type tournament.

* * * * *

First of all, that question that was posed to coach Esmay is a solid question, although I cringed myself when I heard the word imposters. Arizona State does have a recent history and questions to answer for – they typically are the top-ranked program every year that they have come to the CWS since the turn of the century, yet they have come up empty handed.

It was their tournament to lose. There are questions to answer, especially since they came off perhaps the toughest Super Regional as Arkansas took them to task in back-to-back, 12-inning grinders that smelled of national championship destiny.

But like coach Kevin O’Sullivan over at Florida, this was the first time in Omaha for the Esmay staff, and you could sense a little apprehension in the body language of the assistants and the players.

Esmay had made six trips to Omaha, as both a player and coach for the Sun Devils, but pitching coach Ken Knutson (former head coach at Washington) and Travis Jewett (former assistant at Washington State) were making their first visits. Although 15 members of the Sun Devil squad were returning to Omaha, led by Raoul Torrez who made his third appearance in the CWS, there also were 11 members of the squad that were first-timers and played as if they may have been a little overwhelmed by the environment (a fate that hits many CWS participants).

The other aspect that is important to consider in the Sun Devils’ demise is the fact that they played only 21 games away from Steven Packard Stadium in Tempe. Playing most of their career at home, as well as both the Regional and Super Regional, certainly doesn’t get a team battle-tested for a hostile environment on the road.

In my opinion, it is something to point a finger at, for the key to beating ASU this year was jumping out of the gate early with big innings. The old axiom in baseball is that the majority of the time, the winning team has scored more in one inning than the opposing team has scored the entire game.

In the elite field of Omaha, it is hard to overcome an 8-spot in the second inning. Although the Devils battled hard, they just didn’t peak at the right time. It reminds me of a conversation that Sean Stires and I had when I first arrived in Omaha near midnight on Friday evening. The Sun Devils were the only team that hadn’t really had any type of hiccup the entire year, as they hadn’t lost back-to-back games in 2010 … that is until they got to Omaha.

That will be hard to reflect on during the offseason.

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Regional Capsules For the 64 Team Field

Top 8 National Seeds

CLICK HERE for a podcast with comments from selection committee chairman Tim Weiser.

Following are capsules for each Regional (we’ll continue to add them as we complete them).  Regionals with one of the top eight national seeds are followed by the regional it would be paired with for the Super Regional Round.  EG-Arizona State is the #1 national seed and the winner of its Regional will face the winner of the Fayetteville, AR Regional.

By clicking-on the “2010 College Baseball Tournament Field Of 64″ heading above this page will expand to fully support the Regional capsules.

Want even more in-depth statistical analysis?  Chase Titleman from our partner site, Road2rosenblatt.com, has his Key Stats Indicator breakdowns for the #1 Seeds, #2 Seeds and #3 Seeds for this weekend’s Regionals.  Click any of the links to see them.

Tempe (Arizona St.) #1 National Seed

Fayetteville (Arkansas) Regional

Austin (Texas) #2 National Seed

Ft. Worth (TCU) Regional

Gainesville (Florida) Regional #3 National Seed

Coral Gables (Miami) Regional

Myrtle Beach (Coastal Carolina) Regional #4 National Seed

Columbia (South Carolina) Regional

Charlottesville (Virginia) Regional #5 National Seed

Norman (Oklahoma) Regional

Los Angeles (UCLA) #6 National Seed

Fullerton (Cal St. Fullerton) Regional - Televised By ESPNU

Louisville (Louisville) Regional #7 National Seed

Norwich (Connecticut) Regional

Atlanta (Georgia Tech) #8 National Seed

Auburn, AL (Auburn) Regional

By Conference Breakdown of NCAA Bids

ACC- 8

Pac 10 – 8 (Most bids in conference history)

SEC – 8

Big 12 – 5

Big East  – 3

Southern – 3

Sun Belt – 3

Big West – 2

C-USA – 2

Mountain West – 2

OSU’s Peavey Wins Duel With UCLA’s Cole

#24 Greg Peavey is congratulated after OSU's win (Chase Titleman photo)

Many of the baseball experts around the country have voiced their opinion that the Beavers, with a struggling hitting line-up and a pitching staff frantically trying to stay healthy, would stand very little chance against the hot-hitting bats and powerful arms of the Bruins.

Think again folks, the experts were wrong.

RHP Greg Peavey pitched a complete game 2 hitter, with 7 strike-outs as Oregon State once again used its uncanny formula of outstanding pitching, phenomenal defense and timely hitting to shock the Bruins, 4-1 in the first game of a key PAC-10 series that could have regional and super-regional implications on the road to Omaha.

UCLA’s counter-part, RHP Gerrit Cole (2.49 ERA, 6-0) added to his league leading 61 strike-outs, garnering 9 more on the night, but after a 30 pitch first inning by Cole energized the Beaver dugout and the 2,500 rabid fans in attendance, the first inning momentum swing was an ominous sign of more misfortune to come for UCLA.

Cole started the game strong by striking out Oregon State lead off hitter Adalberto Santos on five pitches, but then proceeded to throw 9 straight balls out of the strike zone, culminating in three walks, sandwiched around a hit batter, and Gerrit forced in the first run of the game without a ball touching a Beaver bat.

Although Cole struggled in doing so, he proceeded to strike out the next two batters to end the threat, but he never really got control of his secondary pitches on the night, the slider in particular.

UCLA, the hot-hitting offensive team of the two entering the game, never had a chance to get started as Adalberto Santos ran down two deep fly balls hit by (SS) Niko Gallego and (3B) Cody Regis that were caught as he banged into the outfield wall in right-center field.

UCLA suffered its third loss of the season and the last week Friday.

Santos, together with middle infielders Carter Bell (SS) and Keith Jennette (2B) were busy on the night recording 12 of Peavey’s 27 outs.  Overall, including the 7 strikeouts, only 6 balls left the infield all night, a rather uncharacteristic effort by what has been a fantastic Bruin offense this season.

While Cole continued to struggle with his pitch count most of the evening (he threw 120 pitches in 6 complete innings) the Bruins ran themselves out of a potential game changing big-inning in the 4th as (2B) Tyler Rahmatulla walked after (CF) Beau Amaral lined out sharply to left to lead off the inning.

Left-handed hitting (1B) Justin Uribe hit a perfectly executed opposite field hit and run through the six hole as Oregon State (SS) Carter Bell was covering the bag, and with one out in the inning, the Bruins were in business.

Peavey dug himself a bigger hole when he walked the next batter, (LF) Cody Keefer to load the bases.

Then, disaster struck for UCLA, further cementing an ominous tone for the Bruins in the first game of the series.

(3B) Cody Regis hit a fairly deep fly-ball to left-center, which scored Rahmatulla from third base on the sacrifice fly, but for whatever reason, Justin Uribe failed to advance all the way to third base after initially starting out for the bag, and Keefer kept running with his head down from first, assuming Uribe was headed to third.

By the time the two realized they both occupied second base, the ball was already in the infield and Uribe was tagged out by OSU (3B) Stefen Romero.

Inning over and the wave of momentum the Beavers were steadily building through the middle part of the game would soon crest over.

From here on out, the wind went out of the Bruin’s sail as they had just one other runner on the base paths the rest of the evening as Peavey retired 15 of the next sixteen UCLA hitters, getting six of his 7 strike-outs during the span of five scoreless innings through the middle portion of the game.

Although the hard-throwing right-hander from Vancouver (WA) struggled with a 24-pitch first inning and a 20-pitch fourth inning, he never threw more than 11 pitches in innings number 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

This in itself was the story line of the game.

In talking with OSU Associate Head Coach Marty Lees before the game, he mentioned that UCLA’s strength this year was their ability to run the count deep and work a walk, where in years past they were largely an overly aggressive first ball hitting team that could be fished in to hitting pitchers pitches.

The ability to run the count deep has improved the team batting average and on-base percentage as it has forced Bruin opponents into using their bullpen sooner than anticipated, which has helped the Bruin batting averages in the process as they force the starters off the bump and get deep into the pen.

But on this night, the tables were turned.

Oddly enough, the statement by Lee’s proved prophetical, as the Bruins let Peavey off the hook in the middle innings by reverting back to old form, swinging at the first pitch and hitting a rather large number of balls into the “Field Turf,” which plays into Oregon State’s strength.

The Beavers stole the momentum and the game in the process.

The big blow for the Beavers occurred in the seventh as light hitting (RF) Michael Miller, who was hitting a meager .193 entering the game, hit a line drive opposite field double down the right-field line and OSU had a man in scoring position to lead off the inning.

On a 1-2 pitch, (3B) Stefen Romero (.326) was plunked by LHH relief pitcher Mitchell Beacom (3.75, 1-0) on an inside fastball, which prompted Oregon State head coach Pat Casey to pinch-hit bunt specialist Andy Quiring for Danny Hayes, an odd move since Hayes was hitting .353 entering the game, but Casey obviously felt the lefty-lefty match-up with the bunt in order was not in OSU’s best interest.

However, on the first pitch to Quiring, the Beavers caught another break as Beacom drilled the second batter of the inning, this time an inside breaking ball, to load the bases.

This prompted UCLA head coach John Savage to pull Beacom after just 12 pitches, bringing in RHP Eric Goedell (3.15, 2-0)

The Beavers had the right man in the right spot as the rally train sounded its horn coming through the campus area next to the ballpark in Corvallis, and (C) Parker Berberet launched a 2-1 fastball into left center for a double, driving in all three base runners on base.

This had been a tradition at Oregon State for years and it is uncanny how many times the Beavers start a game changing rally after the rally train rolls through town, tooting its horn.

The horn was right on cue for the Beavers tonight and with a win in game two tomorrow, the Beavers can begin to toot their horn around the country in their drive to get back to the Dog pile in Omaha.

As the season progress we will be doing more and more podcasts with people around the country who cover college baseball.  Our first one is with a new collaborator with our site, Chase Titleman from Road2rosenblatt.com.  Chase is a former college baseball player who is passionate about the sport.  His latest effort is something he calls the Key Stats Indicators-KSI Rankings Index.

Segment #1 of this podcast goes into detail on the system that combines current stats to rank the teams.  CLICK HERE to see it all broken down.  Chase has also had the chance to see several West Coast teams this year, and in segment two we talk about them.

To receive alerts when this and other exclusive audio is posted, and to access it on your mobile phone click the LEXY icon on the “College Baseball 360″ audio player above out Twitter feed on the right of this page.

Chase

Segment #1

Chase2

Segment #2

CLICK HERE for Chase’s preview of this weekend’s Oregon State-UCLA Pac 10 showdown.

A Team By Team Look At This Weekend’s Games

Collegebaseball360.com has recently teamed-up with Road2rosenblatt.com to help bring you even more great college baseball information.  Chase Titleman has a look at this weekend’s Pac 10 games as well as team capsules.  Following are a few of the capsules.  CLICK HERE to see more.

P.S.-Chase and I will record a Podcast later today to talk about his new Key Stats Indicator ratings index as well as several west coast teams.

Arizona

• After leading Oregon 8-3 with two outs in the Top of the 6th Inning two weeks ago, the Cats have dropped 4 straight, ending what was once a 15 game winning streak.

• Cats lead the PAC in Team Batting Average (.358), Runs Scored (247) and Total Bases (500)…WOW!

• C – Jett Bandy leads conference in batting average (.450) and is tied for 1st in total bases (77), followed by Steve Selsky (.433), Robert Refsnyder (.423) and Seth Mejias-Brean (.396).  Joey Rickard is 2nd in conference in RBI’s with 34.

• Kurt Heyer (2.08 ERA, 4-0) leads the pitching staff with 50 strike-outs and just 7 base on balls.

Arizona State

• Recent 24 game win streak is a program record for a start to the season, but only the 2nd longest overall behind the 1972 record of 32 in a row.

• SS Drew Maggi was named PAC-10 Player of the Week after going 6-13 against Oregon (.462).

• Pitching staff is led by starters Jake Borup (2.43 ERA, 6-0) , Seth Blair (3.12 ERA, 5-0) and Merrill Kelly (3.52 ERA, 6-0), while relievers Mitchell Lambson (1.48 ERA, 41K’s/8BB’s), Jake Barrett (4.50 ERA, 28K’s/5BB’s) & Jordan Swagerty (0.93 ERA, 25K’s/7BB’s) shine in closing roles.

UCLA

• Bruins lead the PAC in ERA (2.32), Strike-outs (293) and Opponent Batting Average (.191).

• So. RHP Gerrit Cole leads conference in opponent batting average (.157) and strike-outs (61), while Sr. RHP Garett Claypool has the best ERA (1.21).

• Tyler Rahmatulla & Dean Espy both lead the Bruins with .422 AVE, followed by Justin Uribe .403, and Blair Dunlap .394!  Every starter in the starting line-up is hitting .300 or better.

• Suffered 2nd loss of the season to Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday after Jordan Pries of Stanford shut down the Bruins on Saturday.  The 23-2 record is the best start in school history.

READ MORE!

(Front page viewer photo courtesy Chase Titleman.)

Passion Buckets Full Of Baseball And Final Four

April is here, and my Passion Bucket is overflowing.  For those who’ve never heard of a Passion Bucket, it’s a term that was coined by UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel and made popular on the Dan Patrick Radio Show.  It’s also a term that was used by Cornell basketball player Ryan Wittman prior to last week’s Sweet 16 basketball match-up with Kentucky.

Wittman’s use of the term stirred-up some unwarranted controversy when John Feinstein took it to mean “we’re the smart kids”.   Turned out Wittman’s coach, Steve Donohue,  had just told him to drop the “Passion Bucket” during the presser at Patrick’s request.  Turns out Passion Bucket just stands for how much enthusiasm or excitement you have for something, and mine is overflowing with thoughts of college baseball and the Final Four…and even how they run together…

Brad Stevens

Butler’s in the Final Four.  How cool is that?  Their home floor, Hinkle Fieldhouse, is where the movie Hoosiers was filmed.  The college baseball equal would be Creighton making it to the College World Series.  Wait…that happened in 1991.  Butler’s coach, Brad Stevens, is home grown, just like Brian O’Connor, who pitched at the Series for the Blue Jays in ’91 and who took Virginia to Omaha last year.  Stevens looks so young he gets mistaken for the water boy, but he’s worked his way up the ladder since starting as Butler’s Coordinator of Basketball Operations ten years ago.  By the way, Minnesota Twins reliever Pat Neshek played college ball at Butler.

Tom Izzo is a guy you just have to respect.  He’s taken Michigan State to six Final Fours in 12 years.  His teams grind out possessions and games like a Polish lady with big forearms grinds out Kielbasa.  It got me thinking…what’s Michigan State’s college baseball counterpart?  I’m going with Texas:  Walk, sac bunt, infield hit, 4-3 RBI…Augie Garrido’s great pitching and small ball approach is college baseball’s answer to Izzo’s Spartans.  Augie’s obviously had some success at it too.  And how about Jake Boss, Jr.’s MSU baseball team?  At 16-4,  his Spartans open Big Ten play vs. Iowa this weekend with the best record in the conference.

Speaking of Texas, the Longhorns (18-7) leave their home state for the first time this season when they visit Oklahoma this weekend.  Texas has played road games at Rice and Texas Tech with three neutral site games at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Arizona State (23-0) and UCLA (21-0) are the only two remaining unbeaten Division One teams in college baseball.

Merrill Kelly

The Sun Devils visit Oregon this weekend in their second Pac 10 series, while UCLA hosts Stanford in it conference opener.  The most amazing thing to me about ASU’s unblemished record is the fact they’ve done it without Josh Spence (10-1, 2.37 ERA in ’09) throwing one pitch so far this year.  The Aussie has been out all year with an arm injury, but his teammates have more than picked-up the slack.  Sophomore Jake Borup pitched all of 8.0 innings last year, but he’s 5-0, while juco transfer Merrill Kelly is tied for the national lead at 6-0.  Meanwhile, Gerrit Cole (6-0, 2.63 ERA) and Trevor Bauer (5-0, 2.33 ERA) have lived-up to their expectations at UCLA.  Both teams have off the charts talent and numbers in the line-up.  Too bad they don’t meet until the end of the month.  Oh, if you want to read a good rant on these teams and the national rankings check out what Chase Titleman has to say at Road2rosenblatt.com!

Who’s been impersonating as the three Conference USA teams that went to at least a Super Regional last year?  Last year’s CWS Cinderella, Southern Mississippi (14-9) , has lost five of its last seven games, including losing two of three last week to UAB.  East Carolina (17-9) just bludgeoned North Carolina Central by a combined 65-12 last weekend, but they just lost a 15-13 slug fest to UNC Wilmington and had losses to Monmouth and High Point.  ECU opens C-USA play this weekend vs. Tulane and then heads to Memphis next week.  Speaking of Memphis, the Tigers took two of three from Rice (14-12) last week for their first ever series win over the Owls, which are falling out of the polls with losses in five of their last eight games.  All three C-USA teams have played tough opponents, all three have hit in spots and consistent pitching has eluded all three as well.

Joe Godri

Villanova (17-4) is off to its best start since head coach Joe Godri arrived in 2002.  The Wildcats have a tough task ahead of them this weekend if they want to keep it going.  Godri’s ‘Cats will be “big game hunting” when they travel to Louisville (21-3) for their second Big East series of the season.  Godri has a tradition of plastering the logo of top-caliber teams his team has beaten on his office wall, and just one win at Louisville this weekend would go a long way.  Wildcats Justin Bencsko (.485) and Matt Szczur (.500) have names that are hard to pronounce, but they’re among the nation’s hitting leaders.  Louisville’s Thomas Royse (5-0, 1.42 ERA) and Neil Holland (4-0, 0.42 ERA, 6 SVs) might be the best pitchers they’ll face this season.

That series and many others start on Thursday this weekend due to Easter coming this Sunday.  Here’s hoping your Easter Baskets and Passion Buckets are full!