• So much for Cinderella this year. LSU beats Arkansas 14-5 while Texas edges Arizona State 4-3 to each advance to this year’s CWS Chamionship Series.  That means teams with five and six national championships, respectively, will play for the title.

• LSU’s thumping of the Razorbacks not only keeps it as the only team not to lose during the NCAA Tournament (8-0), but the Tigers have also outscored opponents 72-31 in those games.  They’ve won their three CWS games by a combined 32-11 margin.

• Back to the jungle…the days of “Gorilla Ball” aren’t done for LSU. Seven different Tigers have hit nine home runs in their three College World Series games in the last week.

• The Road to Omaha less traveled…Arkansas pitcher T.J. Forrest actually started his college career at LSU, but transferred to Bossier Parish Community College.  He’s now a junior and pitched for the Razorbacks against LSU Friday.  There’s no mention of his time at LSU in his bio on the Arkanas web site.

• Good career choice…LSU pitching coach Dave “Red” Grewe left his head coaching position at Michigan State after last season to rejoin Paul Mainieri’s staff.  Grewe led the Spartans for three seasons after working for Mainieri for three years at Notre Dame from 2003-2005.

• LSU pitchers did not allow a run in their first 15 innings vs. Arkansas in two College World Series games prior to Brett Eibner’s seventh inning home run Friday.

• Mainieri has a handful of former players and assistants who are now head coaches, including UCF skipper, Terry Rooney, who was his pitching coach last year in Omaha.  Don’t be surprised if LSU assistant Javi Sanchez leads a team to Omaha himself one day.  Sanchez is a natural leader who takes leadership seriously, but at the same time he has an easy way about him that draws players to him.  He also knows the game and teaches it well.

• Ever heard the saying “he’s talking about how the sausage is made”? Orel Hersheiser did a bit of that during the LSU-Arkansas game when he bored viewers with the “difficulty” of his job, because of all the producers and directors talking into his earpiece during a game.  Some of it was tongue and cheek, but Orel should stick to the game, because when he talks it he shows he talks it well.

• A tip of the hat to the Hogs…Arkansas had 17 comeback wins this season, including Wednesday’s dramatic elimination game victory over Virginia.  The Razorback’s magic ran out though with Friday’s loss to LSU. You gotta give it up though for a team that brought a .272 team batting average and 4.50 ERA to Omaha.  Like Virginia, Arkansas had to first win a Regional on the road against a top eight national seed and then go on the road again to win a Super Regional just to get to Omaha.

• Murph’s Milestone…I forgot to mention this in yesterday’s blog. Arizona State head coach Pat Murphy picked-up his 1,000th career win when the Sun Devils beat North Carolina in Thursday’s elimination game.  North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams was there to see it.

• Great to hear Sean McDonough has his voice back.  The ESPN play-by-play man labored earlier this week when his normally dulcet tones were strained by what he said were allergies, but he had the cords back for Friday’s ASU-Texas game.  McDonough kind of gets lost in the shuffle in the myriad of TV sportscasters these days, but I’ve heard he’s one of the nicest guys in the business.  I’ll always remember him for his “Bream to the plate” call as Sid Bream chugged home when Altanta beat Pittsburgh in game seven of the 1992 NLCS. My college roomate, Randy Rosetta, and I were watching that game together in a Lawrence, KS sports bar.  Last week Randy and I sat together covering the College World Series (he covers LSU for the Baton Rouge Advocate) while McDonough sat about 60 feet away in the Rosenblatt press box calling the action for viewers on ESPN.

• Arizona State pitcher Mike Leake gave-up two home runs in 132 IP during the regular season, but the Pac 10 Pitcher of the Year surrendered two long balls in two starts vs. Texas this week in Omaha.

• Rudy, really…Have you heard!?! Arizona State freshman Johnny Ruettiger is the nephew of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger. Oh, of course you have, because ESPN only mentioned the connection every time he stepped to the plate in Omaha.  So, here are a few things they could have mentioned, but didn’t so they could mention “Rudy” one more time, during any of his 17 trips to the plate during his first CWS: Johnny was Joliet Catholic Acadamey’s starting quarterback on the team’s 2007 Illinois State Championship team, he was the captain of both his baseball and football teams during his junior and senior seasons, as a senior in high school Johnny hit .450 and went 11-2 on the mound, he was picked by the Texas Rangers in the 35th round of last year’s MLB draft and his father, John, was a pretty good athlete himself-he wrestled at Nebraska in 1977-’78.

I’ve got a feeling those Jaguars are going to beat Visigoth State sometime soon!

• Maybe Southern Mississippi’s Corky Palmer has the key to career success figured out: Announce your retirement.  Palmer made the announcement in April that his 12th season as head coach would be his last.  Instead of a gift certificate for an early bird special, Palmer’s team’s retirement present is a trip to Omaha.

• I’ve always said that in sports (and really life in general) you always get a chance, and then it’s up to you to make the most of it.

Exhibit A-Palmer’s clean-up batter, Corey Stevens (.329, 8 HR, 58 RBIs) was tossed from Sunday’s decisive Super Regional game vs. Florida with his team trailing 6-4.  Stevens’ replacement in the clean-up spot, Adam Doleac (.286, 0HR, 7 RBIs),  lined a ball through the right side to load the bases.  It set-up Joey Archer’s 2-run, 2-out hit to tie the score 6-6.

Exhibit B-Arkansas’ Adrew Darr hadn’t started a game for the Razorbacks since March, but head coach Dave Van Horn had him in the line-up Saturday in the Hogs’ Super Regional clincher vs. Florida State.  Darr responded by going 4-for-5 with a home run, two doubles and 3 RBIs, including a walk-off 2-run double to send the Razorbacks to Omaha for the first time since 2004.

• Not So Super…After losing that game to Arkansas, Florida State is now just 3-3 in Super Regional Series played in Tallahassee.  The Seminoles are now just 3-6 all-time in Super Regionals.

• The Real Rudy…You’re going to hear more about Arizona State freshman Johnny Ruettiger during the College World Series. He’s the nephew of Dan “Rudy” Ruettiger, the former Notre Dame football walk-on that prompts every opposing fan of any ND athletic team (from football to fencing) to derisively chant Rudy at every Irish player.  Like “Rudy”, Johnny is from Joliet, and his intensity reminds me more of another former Irish football player, linebacker Mike Goolsby, who also hailed from Jake and Elwood’s home town.  Johnny is faster than either his uncle or Goolsby, and he’s hitting .356 in 87 at-bats with 12 stolen bases.

• Speaking of Arizona State, do you think head coach Pat Murphy has ever actually called his Australian pitcher, Josh Spence, a “beautiful kid” to his face the way he did multiple times during his mid-game dugout interview during Sunday night’s telecast?

• Speaking of the mid-game dugout interview with a team’s head coach/manager (depending on whether it’s a college or pro game), hasn’t it jumped the shark?  I like the one during the WCWS when the Washington softball coach responded “Score runs, win the game”, when asked what her team needed to do to win.

• Speaking of broadcasts, this gem by Keith Moreland at the end of a North Carolina-East Carolina game on the ESPN family might be my all-time favorite bit of wisdom from a color analyst: “Good pitching always beats good hitting…most of the time.” That’s rates right up there with “Sixty percent of the time it works every time.”-Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana in Anchorman-The Legend of Ron Burgandy.

• Speaking of broadcasts pt. 2…I think Dave Ryan, who’s doing the Texas-TCU game tonight is becoming my favorite college baseball TV play-by-play guy.  Good blend of enthusiasm & facts.  He used to do too much reciting of the media guide & random “nuggets” early on. However, his partner tonight, Eric Young, is not on my short list of favorite analysts.  He has good information, but he’s tough to listen to. Young is far from dulcet, the Rutgers alum and former major leaguer is somewhere closer to Stephen A. Smith (in tone, not content).

• Visigoths…really? Is that the best campaign Capital One can come-up with? Go Jaguars!

That’s it for now. I’ll have more later in the week when I’m in Omaha. My daughter’s been trying to fall asleep next to me for the last 45 minutes, and her elbow keeps jerking and hitting me in the arm while I’m trying to type.