By Sean Stires

After spending good chunks of the month of June in Omaha for five straight years, I’ve spent the better part of the past two years on a personal and professional odyssey.  Pete LaFleur and I founded CB360 with college baseball in our blood and I’ll be jumping back into the game again with this post.

No Leaving The Yard – It has been a fantastically competitive College World Series so far. Heading into Tuesday’s elimination game between Texas Tech and Ole Miss, three runs have been the biggest margin of victory through the first six games in Omaha.

Pitching has been stellar to date, but the fourth playing of the CWS at TD Ameritrade Park has also made something else more than obvious – it’s time to move the fences in.TD Ameritrade is the place where anything in the air goes to die. Nary has a home run been hit in Omaha this year, and overall extra base hits have been virtually non-existent since the series moved to TDA

Wind helped push balls out on top of the hill at Rosenblatt Stadium, but those same big currents don’t carry in downtown Omaha. It’s 408 to dead center and 335 down the lines. The dimensions are meant to be an equalizer of sorts for college baseball’s top eight teams, but it has also made for some tediously boring games at times for casual fans trying to follow along.

Bottom line – move the fences in 10 feet and add some excitement to an exciting event.

Playing Small – Just because long balls have been lacking doesn’t mean small ball isn’t any fun. The first inning of Monday’s 6-4 win by Vanderbilt over UC Irvine was small ball and college ball at its best. The Commodores used a pair of sacrifice bunts, including a squeeze, to take an early 2-0 lead over the Anteaters.

Not to be outdone, Irvine used a squeeze of its own by Adam Alcantara in the bottom of the second en route to a four-run inning of its own.

It’s not a coincidence that Irvine (No. 2), Texas (No. 1) and Virginia (No. 9) are among the nation’s leaders in Sac bunts this season and are also among the final eight teams still playing college baseball. They know how to manufacture runs when they need to.

Last year’s national champion, UCLA, finished seventh in the nation with 76 sacrifices. They used the formula of dominant pitching and just enough runs to claim the title.

Team Game – The grind it out formula is maddening to some, but it’s a college baseball trademark that increased even more since the implementation of BBCOR bats. It’s really what good college baseball is all about though – doing what it takes to win.

Texas Tech alum and former MLB pitcher Dallas Braden had a great line on Baseball Tonight last week when he said current athletes are playing in an era that hands out 12th-place participation ribbons. Little League games where no score is kept have bred high school players whose main goal is to say they were on the team rather than compete to win.

There is no question what a college baseball player is on the field to do though. Major League players jog or walk down the line after drawing a walk, but you won’t see many college players jogging anywhere.

Pro guys, by definition, play for their pay checks. Winning isn’t really important until September, October and early November.  However, college guys, especially the ones in Omaha, play for those Ws and for their teammates. It’s no more apparent than watching a UC Irvine celebration or a Vanderbilt stretch routine.

Anyone watching the World Cup instead of the CWS (ok, except for maybe when the USA plays) should get in line for their participation ribbon.

Pro Jaw – The decision ESPN made a couple years ago to move Kyle Peterson from the field to the booth could be the best decision the network has made for its coverage of the College World Series. Peterson did a nice job when he was working as a sideline reporter, but his knowledge was completely wasted in that capacity.

Orel Hershiser and Nomar Garciaparra are among the former college baseball/MLB players ESPN used in the booth prior to Peterson’s promotion. Both did a good job offering their analysis in Omaha and both know the game extremely well, but Peterson knows the college game and the players who play it.

The Stanford alum doesn’t have the same household name recognition as Hershiser or Garciaparra or even Aaron “Bleeping” Boone, but he follows the college game throughout the year and his expertise is on display now that he is finally providing game color analysis. It was on display immediately when he mentioned Vanderbilt reliever Walker Buehler was the midweek starter for the Commodore’s for a good chunk of the season. Even the term “midweek” is foreign to most casual fans.

Peterson is always clear, concise and fairly no-nonsense (the polar opposite of Eric Byrnes, whom ESPN once paired with Peterson) and he just knows the college game. He’s hands down the best color analyst to work a CWS game.

Here is the 64-team for the 2013 NCAA Baseball Championship. Teams are listed below showing the 16 four-team regionals, paired opposite the regional to indicate the Super-Regional matchups (i.s. the winner at the UNC regional will face the winner of the SC regional). First-team entrants include Bryant, Canisius, Central Arkansas, Savannah State and South Dakota State, while teams generally considered to be the final at-large qualifiers include Texas A&M, UC Santa Barbara, William & Mary and San Francisco.  front-page photo courtesy of UC Santa Barbara

NCAA Brackets: Interactive  |  PDF (printable)

All Times Eastern

Baton Rouge Regional hosted by LSU

#1 LSU (52-9) vs. #4 Jackson St. (34-20), 3 p.m., ESPN3

#2 La.-Lafayette (41-18) vs. #3 Sam Houston St. (37-20), 8 p.m., ESPN3

Blacksburg Regional hosted by Virginia Tech

#1 Virginia Tech (38-20) vs. #4 Connecticut (34-26), 5:30 p.m., ESPN3

#2 Oklahoma (40-19) vs. Coastal Caro. (37-21), 1 p.m., ESPN3

Bloomington Regional hosted by Indiana

#1 Indiana (43-14) vs. #4 Valparaiso (31-26), 7 p.m., ESPN3

#2 Austin Peay (45-13) vs. #3 Florida (29-28), 1 p.m., ESPN3

Chapel Hill Regional hosted by North Carolina

#1 North Carolina (52-8) vs. #4 Canisius (42-15), 6 p.m., ESPN3

#2 Fla. Atlantic (39-20) vs. #3 Towson (29-28), 1 p.m., ESPN3

Charlottesville Regional hosted by Virginia

#1 Virginia (47-10) vs. #4 Army (29-21), 1 p.m., ESPN3

#2 UNC Wilmington (37-21) vs. #3 Elon (32-28), 6 p.m., ESPN3

Corvallis Regional hosted by Oregon State

#1 Oregon St. (45-10) vs. #4 UTSA (35-23), 8 p.m., ESPN3

#2 Texas A&M (32-27) vs. #3 UC Santa Barbara (34-23), 3 p.m., ESPN3

Columbia Regional hosted by South Carolina

#1 South Carolina (39-18) vs. #4 Saint Louis (41-19), 7 p.m., ESPN3

#2 Clemson (39-20) vs. #3 Liberty (34-27), 1 p.m., ESPN3

Eugene Regional hosted by Oregon

#1 Oregon (45-15) vs. #4 South Dakota St. (35-22), 9 p.m., ESPN3

#2 Rice (41-17) vs. #3 San Francisco (34-22), 5 p.m., ESPN3

Fullerton Regional hosted by Cal State Fullerton

#1 Cal St. Fullerton (48-8) vs. #4 Columbia (27-19), 11 p.m., ESPNU/ ESPN3

#2 Arizona St. (35-20-1) vs. #3 New Mexico (37-20), 7 p.m., ESPN3

Los Angeles Regional hosted by UCLA

#1 UCLA (39-17) vs. #4 San Diego St. (31-29), 9 p.m., ESPN3

#2 Cal Poly (39-17) vs. #3 San Diego (35-23), 5 p.m., ESPN3

Louisville Regional hosted by Louisville

#1 Louisville (46-12) vs. #4 Bowling Green (24-29), 6 p.m., ESPN3

#2 Miami (FL) (36-23) vs. #3 Oklahoma St. (39-17), 2 p.m., ESPN3

Manhattan Regional hosted by Kansas State

#1 Kansas St. (41-17) vs. #4 Wichita St. (39-26), 3 p.m., ESPNU/ ESPN3

#2 Arkansas (37-20) vs. #3 Bryant (44-16-1), 8 p.m., ESPN3

Nashville Regional hosted by Vanderbilt

#1 Vanderbilt (51-9) vs. #4 East Tenn. St. (36-22), 7 p.m., ESPNU/ESPN3

#2 Georgia Tech (34-25) vs. #3 Illinois (34-18), 2 p.m., ESPN3

Raleigh Regional hosted by North Carolina St.

#1 North Carolina St. (44-14) vs. #4 Binghamton (30-23), 7 p.m., ESPN3

#2 Ole Miss (37-22) vs. #3 William & Mary (37-22), 2 p.m., ESPN3

Starkville Regional hosted by Mississippi State

#1 Mississippi St. (43-17) vs. #4 Central Ark. (39-20), 8 p.m., ESPN3

#2 South Ala. (42-18) vs. #3 Mercer (43-16), 3 p.m., ESPN3

Tallahassee Regional hosted by Florida St.

#1 Florida St. (44-15) vs. #4 Savannah St. (33-21), 5 p.m., ESPN3

#2 Alabama (34-26) vs. #3 Troy (40-18), 12 noon, ESPNU/ ESPN3

Wildcats Dethrone South Carolina…

Arizona celebrates the program's first national title since 1986 (Photo Pete LaFleur)

OMAHA, Neb. (6/25/12) – For the first time during its 13-day stay in Omaha, the Arizona baseball team started a pitcher other than Kurt Heyer or Konner Wade … but the result was the same: another dominating performance on the mound and another win, for a Wildcats team that breezed through the 2012 NCAAs without a loss (10-0). Sophomore righthander James Farris – making his first appearance in 22 days – logged 7.2 strong innings while his teammates rallied to score three times in the top of the 9th, as Arizona beat two-time defending champion South Carolina, 4-1, to claim the school’s fourth NCAA baseball title on Monday night at TD Ameritrade Park.  front-page photo by CB360’s Pete LaFleur

CLICK HERE for CB360’s postgame video page from Monday’s final game at the 2012 College World Series.

2012 CWS All-Tournament Team

Catcher – Riley Moore, Arizona

1B – Christian Walker, South Carolina

2B – Devon Travis, Florida State

3B – Sherman Johnson, Florida State

SS – Alex Mejia, Arizona

OF – Evan Marzilli, South Carolina

OF – Joey Rickard, Arizona

OF – Robert Refsnyder, Arizona

DH – Bobby Brown, Arizona

P – Michael Roth, South Carolina

P – Konner Wade, Arzona

Most Outstanding Player

Robert Refsnyder, Arizona

Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  Postgame Notes 
AP Recap  |  AZ Recap  |  SC Recap (w/ video)
Press Conference Transcripts – AZ … SC
Video Highlights  |  Photos (AP/AZ)  |  Photos (AP/SC)
CWS Stats (teams & top individuals)
Final 2012 Season Stats: AZ  |  SC
Arizona 2012 Postseason Stats: CWS  |  NCAAs
NCAA.com Features: Andy Lopez  |  Finals Gm-2 Preview

(check back to this page later for complete recap, along with CB360’s assortment of postgame video for both teams, game photos, etc.)

As in the past few days, CollegeBaseball360 provides extensive video postgame interviews – links being added below from Sunday night’s Arizona win over South Carolina (in the opener of the CWS best-of-3 title series). front-page photo of Konner Wade & Andy Lopez by CB360’s Pete LaFleur

CLICK HERE for the CB360 game recap from Arizona’s 5-1win over South Carolina.

Arizona formal postgame press conference

Arizona so. RHP Konner Wade

Arizona jr. RF Robert Refsnyder

Arizona jr. SS Alex Mejia

South Carolina formal postgame press conference

South Carolina catcher Grayson Greiner

South Carolina CF Evan Marzilli

South Carolina coach Ray Tanner

Konner Wade (photo by CB360's Pete LaFleur)

OMAHA, Neb. (6/24/12) – Sophomore righthander Konner Wade went the distance yet again while junior rightfielder Robert Refsnyder showcased his skill-set all over the field, as the University of Arizona baseball team crept closer to the NCAA championship with Sunday night’s 5-1 win over two-time defending national champion South Carolina. Arizona (47-17) – riding a 10-game winning streak that includes a 92-34 scoring margin in nine NCAA Tournament games – now can win the title with another victory over the Gamecocks, either Monday night (7 CT) back at TD Ameritrade Park or on Tuesday if South Carolina  (49-19) extends the best-of-3 series.

CLICK HERE for CB360’s assortment of postgame video for both teams

Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  Postgame Notes
Press Conference Transcripts – AZ … SC
Video Highlights  |  Photos (AP)

Wade followed up his shutout of Pac-12 rival UCLA one week earlier by fashioning another strong complete-game effort, at one point seeing his College World Series shutout streak extend to 14.2 innings before South Carolina pushed across its lone run, in the top of the 6th. The surging sophomore faced only 33 batters over the full nine innings, allowing six hits and a walk to go along with three strikeouts in the 110-pitch outing.

Wade’s regular season was nothing to write home about (4.88 ERA, 7-3 record, 34 walks and .246 opponent batting) – but the Wildcats #2 starter has flipped the switch during the NCAA Tournament. After rattling off postseason victories over Louisville, St. John’s, UCLA and now South Carolina, Wade has compiled a 1.29 ERA during those four NCAA Tournament starts. He has eight more innings pitched (35) than hits allowed (27) during the NCAAs and has issued only three walks over the past month, for a nine-inning average of 0.77 walks per 9 innings during the NCAAs (compared to 3.02 BB/9 IP during the regular season). Opponents are batting only .209 vs. Wade in the NCAAs, nearly 40 points below his regular-season opp. batting avg.

In his two CWS starts, Wade owns a 0.50 ERA and equally-low 6.00 “WHIP” (1 BB + 11 H / 18 IP), with seven strikeouts, a .175 opp. batting avg. and 201 total pitches spanning the 18 innings. He is the first pitcher since 2005 to throw complete games in consecutive CWS starts (dating back to Fullerton’s Jason Windsor in ’05). Wade’s 6th-inning walk on Sunday ended his streak of 30.2 innings without allowing a base-on-balls. Through three innings on Sunday, Wade had located 76% of his pitches (28-of-37) for strikes and finished at 66% strikes (73-of-110).

If Arizona does go on to win the NCAA title, the tournament MVP likely could be Wade … but Refsnyder’s all-around, high-level contributions also may merit him MVP consideration (should the Wildcats win on Mon. or Tues.). The Arizona cleanup batter is not a “five-tool” player in terms of pro potential, but he certainly brought his tool chest to the ballpark on Sundau while helping his team claim the series-opening win.

Refsnyder already was one of the top hitters for average during this CWS and he took it up another notch on Tuesday, batting 2-for-3 with a pair of walks for a .444 CWS batting avg. (8-for-18) that trails only Florida State’s Devon Travis (.563; 9-16) and teammate Riley Moore (.500; 7-14) among the event’s hitting leaders. Hitting for power? Refsnyder became the first player with multiple home runs at the 2012 CWS in the earlygoing Sunday night, after working ahead vs. righthander Forest Koumas, fouling off the next two pitches and parking the next 2-2 offering into the South Carolina bullpen beyond the rightfield wall for a 2-0 lead (Johnny Field earlier had reached on a 1-out, 1st-pitch single through the left side).

Did we mention that Refsnyder is a righthanded hitter? The momentum-grabbing, opposite-field blast drew high praise in the postgame press conference.

South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner, before answering a different question about Refsnyder, instead diverted his answer to the earlier home run. “How about an opposite-field home run in this park?” Tanner said, in part-question/part-statement. “When he touched that ball off, I said ‘that ball’s been hit hard.’ But I expected it to be maybe off the warning track, one-hop to the fence. But that was impressive.”

“That’s why he’s one of the better players in the country. He’s able to do things like that.”

While reaching base four times, Refsnyder sprinkled in some defensive gems during the late innings. His pair of catches in the top of the 6th included an above-average running catch down the line, helping limit South Carolina’s lone scoring inning to the single run. The Gamecocks were poised for more in the 7th, as it looked like the defending champs were about to have runners on the corners and the potential tying run at the plate (Arizona did not stretch to 5-1 until the bottom of the 7th). With Adam Matthews on first, Kyle Martin had pulled a single into right field. Matthews rounded second and was bidding for third, but Refsnyder had other ideas – firing across the field for the 9-5 putout (tag by 3B Seth Mejias-Brean) and yet another huge momentum play.

Moments later, Refsnyder had singled and was on second with two outs before making his own aggressive move on the basepaths after Bobby Brown‘s single through the right side, showing his speed and baserunning skills to score the game’s final run.

Refsnyder’s stat line for the 2012 CWS now includes reaching base on more than half of his plate appearances (11-of-21, or 52.4%; 8-for-18, with 3 BB) to go along with the pair of home runs, 5 RBI, 5 runs scored and a pair of stolen bases over the course of the four wins in Omaha. He has reached base in 38 consecutive games and now has 18 multiple-RBI games this season.

Bullets followed by notes that you may find interesting … 

• Moore, the Arizona freshman catcher, hit 3-for-4 from the 8-spot on Sunday, boosting his CWS average to .500 (7-for-14) … CF/leadoff batter Joey Rickard (2-for-4 Sunday) is hitting .421 in the NCAAs (16-38) … LF/2-hole Johnny Field scored twice on Sunday and now has 13 runs to go with 13 RBI in the 2012 NCAAs.

• Arizona’s 16 complete games include seven from Kurt Heyer and six by Wade … South Carolina’s lone CG came earlier in the CWS, by Michael Roth vs. Kent State.

• Arizona is bidding to become the first team since Fulllerton’s 1995 squad to receive 7-plus innings from its starter in every game of the CWS (Heyer threw 7.2 and 7.1 in his pair of wins over FSU) … The Arizona starters have logged 7.1 innings or more in every game of the 2012 NCAAs (avg. of nearly 8.2 per start).

• Arizona snapped South Carolina’s streak of holding its opponent to 0-4 runs in 19 consecutive CWS games.

• Refsnyder’s 2-run shot ended South Carolina’s streak of not allowing a home run for 77 straight innings.

• South Carolina 1B/3-hole Christian Walker collected his 27th career CWS hit during Sunday’s game (one shy of tying the record, set by former UNC player Dustin Ackley).

Daily Scores, Recaps & More From Omaha…

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!

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES FINALS

Sunday, June 24 – Game 1 – 7 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3)
• Arizona (home team) 5-12-1 … def. South Carolina 1-6-2
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  Postgame Notes
AP Recap  |  AZ Recap  |  SC Recap (w/ video)

CB360 Coverage: Recap | Postgame Video

Press Conference Transcripts – Arizona … SC
Video Highlights  |  Photos (AP)

Monday, June 25 – Game 2 – 7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)
Arizona 4-7-1 def. South Carolina 1-3-1 (home team) 1-3-1 to win NCAA title
Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  Postgame Notes
AP Recap  |  AZ Recap  |  SC Recap (w/ video)

CB360 Coverage: Recap | Postgame video interviews

Press Conference Transcripts – AZ … SC
Video Highlights  |  Photos (AP/AZ)  |  Photos (AP/SC)
2012 CWS All-Tournament Team  |  CWS Stats (teams & top individuals)
Final 2012 Season Stats: AZ  |  SC
Arizona 2012 Postseason Stats: CWS  |  NCAAs
NCAA.com Features: Andy Lopez  |  Finals Gm-2 Preview

_______________________________

2012 College World Series Bracket-Play Results … 

Friday, June 15

Game 1 – 4 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3)   
No. 2 UCLA 9-9-0… def. Stony Brook 1-5-0
…Final Stats | UCLA Recap | SB Recap

Game 2 – 8 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3) 
Arizona 4-10-1… def. No. 3 Florida State 3-8-2
…Final Stats | AZ Recap | FSU Recap

CB360 Day One Coverage – Includes video interviews, notes & quotes from both games.

Saturday, June 16

Game 3 – 4 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)
Arkansas 8-10-1 … def. Kent State 1-4-0
… Final Stats  |  ARK Recap  |  KS Recap

Game 4 – 8 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)
No. 8 South Carolina 7-12-0… def. No. 1 Florida 3-9-3
… Final Stats | SC Recap | FLA Recap

Sunday, June 17

Game 5 – 4 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3)    
Florida State 12-1-1… def. Stony Brook 2-7-1 (Stony Brook eliminated)
… Final Stats | FSU Recap | SB Recap

CB360 Thoughts On Stony Brook’s Season

Game 6 – 8 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3)
Arizona 4-6-0 def. UCLA 0-5-1
… Final Stats | AZ Recap | UCLA Recap

CB360 Sunday videos – Mike Martin, Willie Carmona, Michael Roth, Konner Wade, & Seth Mejias-Brean

Monday, June 18

Game 7 – 4 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3)  
Kent State 5-12-1… def. Florida 4-10-2 (Florida Eliminated)
…Final Stats | KS Recap | FLA Recap

CB360 Coverage- Including postgame video interviews with Ryan Bores, Scott Stricklin & Mike Zunino

Game 8 – 8 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3) 
Arkansas 2-6-1… def. South Carolina 1-4-2
…Final Stats | ARK Recap | SC Recap

CB360 Coverage – Including Postgame Video interviews with Ryne Stanek & Ray Tanner

Tuesday, June 19

Game 9 – 7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)   
Florida State 4-9-0… def. UCLA 1-5-2  (UCLA Eliminated)
… Final Stats | FSU Recap | UCLA Recap | CB360 Recap

Wednesday, June 20

Game 10 – 7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)    
South Carolina vs. Kent State  – Postponed until Thursday due to rain

Thursday, June 21

Game 10 – 11 am CT (ESPN2/ESPN3)
South Carolina 4-7-0 … def. Kent State 1-2-0
… Final Stats  |  SC Recap  |  KS Recap  |  Photos (SC)

CB360 Exclusive: South Carolina’s Michael Roth Adds To CWS Big Game Legacy

CB360 Postgame Video Interviews

Game 11 – 4 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3) 
Arizona 10-15-0 … elim. Florida State 3-11-4
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  AZ Recap  |  FSU Recap  |  AP Recap  |  Quotes (AZ)  |  Notes (FSU)
Photos (AZ)  |  Photos (FSU)  |  Video Highlights

Game 12 – 8 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3) 
South Carolina 2-8-0 … def. Arkansas 0-3-1
… Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  SC Recap (w video)  |  ARK Recap  |  AP Recap
Photos (SC)  |  Photos (ARK)  |  More Photos (SC)  |  Video Highlights

Friday, June 22

Game 13 – 8 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)
South Carolina 3-5-0 … def. Arkansas 2-6-0
… Final StatsL HTML & PDF  |  SC Recap (w/ video)  |  ARK Recap
Video Highlights  |  Photos (SC)  |  Photos (ARK)

CB360 Coverage – With postgame video interviews.

Saturday, June 23

No games scheduled

June 23 Vids Include Both Coaches & ESPN’s Jess Mendoza…

Postgame Interviews From Friday’s Bracket Final …

Game 13 – 8 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)
South Carolina 3-5-0 … def. Arkansas 2-6-0
… Final StatsL HTML & PDF  |  SC Recap (w/ video)  |  ARK Recap
Video Highlights  |  Photos (SC)  |  Photos (ARK)

Saturday, June 23 – No games scheduled

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES FINALS

Sunday, June 24 – Game 1 – 7 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3)
South Carolina vs. Arizona (home team)

Monday, June 25 – Game 2 – 7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)
Arizona vs. South Carolina (home team)

Tuesday, June 26 – Game 3 – 7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN3)  (if necessary)
Arizona vs. South Carolina (home team)

South Carolina Coach Ray Tanner

South Carolina Outfielder Adam Matthews

Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn

Postgame Interviews From Three Thursday Games …