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Rain/Heavy Winds Halt Play In Florida/Vandy Game…

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The Dugout has all the hats, t-shirts, and special CWS memorabilia as well as the same game caps worn by the top college baseball teams.

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Game 5: North Carolina 3-9-0 def. Texas 0-4-1
Final Stats | TX Recap | UNC Recap

UNC head coach Mike Fox (right) hits grounders during batting practice on Monday.

North Carolina catcher Jacob Stallings got the scoring started against Texas with his 2-out, 2-run single in the 3rd inning and Ben Bunting drove in UNC’s other run with an RBI double in the top of the 9th.

Stallings is the son of Vanderbilt men’s basketball coach Kevin Stallings. Coincidentally, the elder Stallings once worked for current Tar Heels basketball coach Roy Williams when Stallings was an assistant at Kansas. Williams was in attendance and in the stands for the game.

The game was the first meeting between Texas and North Carolina at the College World Series.

Freshman Kent Emanuel tossed a four-hit shutout for the Tar Heels for the first complete game of the 2011 CWS at TD Ameritrade Park. Emanuel walked only one and struck out five. His shutout is the first at the CWS since former Tar Heel (and current UNC assistant coach) Robert Woodard in 2006. It’s also the first shutout for a freshman in Omaha since LSU’s Brett Laxton beat Wichita State in the 1993 national championship game.

This is the fourth time the Longhorns have gone 0-2 in Omaha. The previous time was in 2000, with losses to Florida State and LSU. Texas had not been shut out at the CWS since a 1992 loss to eventual national champion Pepperdine.

North Carolina centerfielder Ben Bunting hit 4-for-5 in the win. He now is hitting 11-for-22 in six career CWS games.

Texas leadoff man Tant Sheppard had a 10-pitch at-bat before flying out to left field to start the bottom of the 1st against Emanuel. Sheppard later singled on the first pitch with two outs in the 6th inning.

UNC head coach Mike Fox moved shortstop Levi Michael down in the order from the two-hole to seventh. Michael was mired in a 4-for-24 slump. He went 1-for-4 in the game, with a single in his first at-bat.

Texas scored a run in only two of 18 innings during the CWS.

Attendance for the game was 19,630 for a five-game total of 112,566 and an average of 22,513, which is 8,772 ahead of the 2010 total at the same point.

Game 6: Florida 3-5-1 def. Vanderbilt 1-4-2
Final Stats | FL Recap | Vandy Recap

Heavy winds and rain stopped play shortly after 8 p.m. central time in game 6 of the 2011 College World Series, with Florida leading Vanderbilt 3-1 in the bottom of the 6th. The game resumed Tuesday morning at 10:06 a.m.

Before the rains came …

Vanderbilt starter Grayson Garvin cruised through the first three innings, but the Gators took a bite out of the SEC pitcher of the year in the 4th inning. Nolan Fontana started the rally with a walk, followed by an infield single by Mike Zunino. Preston Tucker then connected on his 15th home run of the season, a laser shot over the rightfield bullpen to give Florida a 3-0 lead. Garvin had allowed only one baserunner (on an error) through the first three frames, but four straight Gators reached safely (three on hits) in the 4th.

At that point in the game, all four runs Garvin had allowed to the Gators this year were via home runs.The only run he allowed in a May 14 meeting with Florida was a solo home run by Bryson Smith.

Florida starter Karsten Whitsen left the game with one out in the 5th, after giving up an RBI single to Anthony Gomez. With two on base, Gator lefty Steven Rodriguez came out of the bullpen to strike out first baseman Aaron Westlake to end the inning with Florida leading 3-1.

Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin and Florida skipper Kevin O’Sullivan were assistant coached together at Clemson prior to their current positions. They were on staff together on Jack Leggett‘s 2000 and 2002 CWS teams.

During the rain delay, the stadium grounds crew danced on the warning track to the Village People’s “Y-M-C-A” and then simulated a baseball game on the infield tarp.

CLICK HERE to read more about the conclusion of this game in the Day-4 Notebook.

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On The Ground In Omaha The Day Before The Series

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!

Groundskeepers prepare Rosenblatt Stadium for the College World Series. (AP photo)

6:45 am – I live in the Eastern Time zone and I usually get up at around 7:30, so it’s no surprise that my internal clock is still set even though my body now a time zone to the west.  I’m wide awake even though I had no intention to be.  Time to make the coffee…good thing I brought my own coffee maker (the perks of driving rather than flying), even though my wife gave me that look when I packed it!

7:30 am – I’ve been watching Mike and Mike on TV.  All the talk is, of course, about Kobe and the Lakers.  Puke.  Local TV had some CWS driving tips last night, like avoiding the 13th street exit off I-80 as much as possible.  I found that out the hard way last year.  It gets backed-up pretty quickly.

7:45 am – I was just going to head outside the hotel to stretch the legs with a stroll for a bit, but then I heard this rush of wind.  I hadn’t pulled back the blackout curtains yet.  When I did I saw big black storm clouds…not good for practice day for the eight teams at Rosenblatt.  Most of last year’s practice day was scrapped by rain, although teams still signed autographs inside the packed stadium walkways.  Storms never shock in Omaha during the CWS, but there were more than 30 tornadoes a couple states north of here in Minnesota last night.  Hopefully this doesn’t get too serious.  TCU has the first scheduled practice of the day in a little bit more than an hour.

8:05 am - One of the local TV stations just showed some shots from Rosenblatt from about an hour ago.  They said it went from a beautiful sunny morning to black in just a matter of minutes.  The satellite TV here at the hotel keeps cutting in and out.  Bad looking stuff on the radar.  Not looking good at all for practices, autographs and Fan Fest…at least for the next few hours.

8:40 am – Great news!  It’s clearing-up outside and the local weather guys are saying most of the storms are heading south of Omaha.  Supposed to be…wait for it…hot and humid this afternoon with a chance for some showers this evening during opening ceremonies and fireworks.  Getting ready to venture out soon.

10:30 am – After picking-up my media credential downtown I’m at the stadium and caught the end of Florida State’s batting practice.  Didn’t see anyone hit any out, but there was a bit of a breeze blowing in.  It’s a beautiful morning right now after what was looking like the start of a nasty day.  Nomar Garciaparra, who’ll be working the CWS for ESPN, was chatting-up FSU head coach Mike Martin behind the batting cage.

11 am – At the first press conference of the day, featuring Tim Esmay of Arizona

Tim Esmay

State, Jack Leggett of Clemson, Sunny Golloway of Oklahoma, and South Carolina’s Ray Tanner.  This is the group of coaches from teams that will play Sunday’s first round games.

Some of the highlights…

Leggett talked about playing at the CWS against an Arizona State team that included future Major Leaguers like Hubie Brooks, Bob Horner, Floyd Bannister, and Bob Welch.  He says yellow school buses picked-up players at their hotels to take them to Rosenblatt Stadium.

Esmay talked about his ASU team playing against Robin Ventura and Oklahoma State in 1987 when Ventura was in the midst of what would end-up his NCAA record 58-game hitting streak.

Leggett/Esmay Video

Tanner/Golloway Video

Tanner talked about something that happened at last week’s Super Regionals.  South Carolina ace Blake Cooper had just finished his start against Coastal Carolina and was icing his shoulder in the dugout.  A hard hit foul ball was headed right at Cooper’s head, so he instinctively put his hand up to protect his head.  It was his pitching hand, and it was sore and swollen for a few days, but after some ice Tanner says it’s now better.  He will start Sunday vs. Oklahoma.

The other three coaches announced their starters as well:  South Carolina-Blake Cooper (12-1, 2.81) vs. Oklahoma- Michael Rocha (7-2, 3.57), Clemson-Casey Harman (7-3, 3.73) vs. Arizona State-Seth Blair (12-0, 3.35).

12:05 – I caught part of UCLA’s on-field practice.  Tyler Rahmatulla, who broke his right wrist in the Bruin’s Super Regional dog pile celebration, has a cast on his wrist.  No surprise, he wasn’t looking very happy.

I talked to UCLA SID Alex Timiraos and he filled me in on the story of Bruin pitcher Trevor Bauer’s hat, which is as faded looking as an old worn-out pair of denim jeans.  Bauer is a sophomore who enrolled at UCLA in what would have been his senior year in high school.  He got the hat right after getting to Westwood and it’s the only game cap he’s worn since he started playing.  Bauer (10-3, 3.02) will start Saturday vs. Florida.  It’s his first game one start of the season.  Gerrit Cole (10-3, 3.25) has been UCLA’s game one guy to this point so far.

1 pm – Writing in the Rosenblatt press box right now while Oklahoma is on the field taking batting practice.

2 pm – At the press conference with Florida’s Kevin O’Sullivan, Florida State’s

Mike Martin

Mike Martin, TCU’s Jim Schlossnagle, and UCLA’s John Savage.  It’s always interesting and fun to see how different coaches react and interact when they’re around each other.  I was right behind Savage when we were walking into the press conference room and O’Sullivan was talking to someone in the entryway.  They shook hands and after Savage moved along O’Sullivan had a youth-like nervous kind of innocent look as if to say “That’s the guy we’re going up against.”

Martin/Schlossnagle Video

O’Sullivan/Savage Video

The four coaches officially announced Saturday’s starting pitchers:  UCLA-Trevor Bauer (10-3, 3.02) vs. Florida- Alex Panteliodis (11-2, 3.26), Florida State-Sean Gilmartin (9-7, 4.89) vs. TCU-Matt Purke (14-0, 3.23)

Noteable quotes…

Martin on FSU outfielder Tyler Holt “He’s a dirt bag, fireball redneck…take your pick”.  And on TCU being in its first College World Series “They belong here.  To do what they did in Austin (beating Texas in the Super Regionals) is an unbelievable accomplishment”.

“I fell off my chair.” – Savage on his reaction when he learned that sophomore pitcher Gerrit Cole would attend UCLA instead of signing pro after being drafted in the first round of the 2008 MLB draft by the New York Yankees.

“We’ll find a spot.” – Schlossnagle on what he said to Matt Purke last fall when he asked him if he had a spot on the roster for him at TCU.  The freshman was drafted in the first round out of high school a year ago by the Texas Rangers.

“He’s the coach of all coaches.” – Savage talking about the late great former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, who died earlier this month.

2:45 pm – Eating lunch in the press box while watching South Carolina finish its batting practice.  A cheeseburger from Omaha Steaks…that’s a pretty solid lunch!

3:30 pm – Arizona State has been taking batting practice while I’ve been writing and editing video.  It’s strange to look down at the field and not see Pat Murphy with the Sun Devils.

4:30 pm - Stepped outside the stadium to get an ice cream cone at Zestos.  It’s a College World Series tradition, but like a lot of other traditions it doesn’t sound like it’s one that will continue once things move downtown next year.  Let’s hope they at least have a Zestos tent or stand next to the new stadium next year.

After grabbing my cone I headed across the street to check out the shirts and hats and everything else at the tents, including The Dugout on the corner right across from Zestos.  A lot of great stuff!  I don’t know which ones to choose…and I have a lot of people to bring stuff home for!

7:15 pm – I’m back at my hotel after leaving the Rosenblatt neighborhood for the day.  I’ve been posting video from earlier today as well as updating this blog.  I’ve also been watching The Long Home Run on one of the local stations.  It’s the documentary about the College World Series and Rosenblatt.  It’s definitely worth a watch.

Day Two Super Regional Notes And Thoughts

Florida head coach Kevin O'Sullivan

Miami hasn’t won a postseason game in Gainesville since 2002.

The Big “E”s: Miami committed seven, that’s right seven errors in Saturday’s loss to Florida.  Only one of the four runs scored by the Gators was earned.  In fact, just two of Florida’s 11 runs in the two games was earned thanks to nine Hurricane miscues.  Miami hasn’t won a postseason game in Gainesville since 2002.

Mighty Mo: It didn’t take long for Texas to take back the momentum in it’s series with TCU.  After losing 3-1 in Friday’s opener the Longhorns drubbed the Horned Frogs 14-1 on Saturday to send the game to a deciding third game.  The rout was due in part to the dominant pitching of Taylor Jungmann, who struck out 9 in 8 1/3 IP, but also largely to three Horned Frog errors that led to six unearned runs scored by the Longhorns.  All five runs allowed in 3 2/3 IP by TCU starter Steven Maxwell (11-2) were unearned.

Crowded House: The first two games of the Texas-TCU Super Regional have drawn more than 7,300 fans each to Disch-Falk Field.  That makes 21 games this season in which the Longhorns have played in front of a crowd of more than 7,000.

Livin’ On The Edge: Vanderbilt downed Florida State 6-2 Saturday to force Sunday’s winner take all game.  The win makes the Commodores 4-0 in NCAA elimination games this year.  Saturday’s win halted Florida State’s seven game winning streak.

Not So Super: This is Florida State’s 10th Super Regional since 1999, but the Seminoles have won just one of their last seven Super Regional series since advancing to Omaha in the first two years of the format in 1999 and 2000.  Three of those Super Regional losses came on their home field.  Including their 1-1 mark this year, the Seminoles are 9-14 all-time in Super Regional games.

Great Garvin: Commodore reliever Grayson Garvin tossed three shutout innings to finish Saturday’s win.  Garvin has now given-up just two runs with 12 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings in three postseason appearances this year.

Son Of A Yaz: Vanderbilt freshman Mike Yastrzemski is the grandson of Red Sox Hall of Famer Carl

Vanderbilt freshman Mike Yastrzemski

Yastrzemski, but he has a Seminole connection as well.  Mike’s dad, Michael, played at Florida State from 1980-’83.  Mike is 4-for-7 in the Super Regional with a double, a home run and two RBIs.

Is That A Girl, What’s She Know About College Baseball? Those were my wife’s words, not mine, when she heard Pam Ward doing the play-by-play of Virginia’s 3-2 win over Oklahoma in game one of their series.  I’ll admit I was skeptical of Ward doing the game, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone.  I have to say though that Ward did a solid job.  She’s got a lot of experience doing softball games, and she even used that to provide some baseball insight.  Ward talked about the current moratorium on composite bats in college baseball and how college softball may consider the same thing with all of the home runs hit at this year’s Women’s College World Series.

Hoos Boom: Virginia scored all three of its runs in that game on home runs.  Phil Gosselin led-off the bottom of the 1st inning with his 10th HR of the year and then Dan Grovatt hit the deciding two-run blast in the 6th.

Nice Lid: Did you see the hat UCLA pitcher Trevor Bauer wore during the Fullerton game at Jackie Robinson Stadium?  It’s so faded and worn looking that it looks like Jackie Robinson could have worn it during his playing days with the Bruins.

That’s A Bold Statement: “Of all the guys I’ve seen hit Harold Martinez is my favorite hitter.  Manny Ramirez is my guy in Major League baseball.  When I walk into a room and a Manny Ramirez at-bat is on I’m not walking out.   That’s how I felt about Harold Martinez.”  That’s what Eric Byrnes said about injured Miami third baseman Harold Martinez, who was hospitalized in Gainesville with an infected shin.  Byrnes got to see first hand last week just how explosive Martinez’s bat is when the sophomore had 9 RBIs and two HR in the Coral Cables Regional.

Jake Smith hit a home run and earned a save in Alabama's win.

Tide Rolling: Alabama beat Clemson 5-4 in Saturday’s series opener.  The Crimson Tide, which barely made the SEC Tournament field,  has won 13 of its last 15 games to move to within one win from Omaha.  One more win would make Mitch Gaspard just the second rookie coach in the last 30 years to take a team to the College World Series.  Dan McDonnell did it at Louisville in 2007.

The Two Jakes: How about Alabama’s Jake Smith?  The senior started at third base and hit his 14th home run of the season to help the Tide win Saturday’s game.  He then gave-up just a hit over the final two scoreless innings of the game to earn his sixth save.

It’s On Where? With all eight Super Regionals in action on Saturday it was a little hard to actually find where some of them were (or weren’t) being televised.  I was never actually able to watch the Alabama-Clemson game on TV.  I did watch parts of it on ESPN3.com.  That’s where I found most of the UCLA-Fullerton game, and then the video froze.  Turned out they moved it to ESPN2 after the Florida-Miami game was over. It’s just a shame that unless you were on the west coast most of the UCLA-Fullerton series was either on TV after 11pm ET Friday night (it ended after 2am) or was not on TV at all.

Bopping Bruins: UCLA hit four home runs in Saturday’s 11-7 10-inning win over the Titans.  Tyler Rahmatulla had the biggest of the blasts.  With UCLA down to its last two strikes of the season the sophomore’s 2-run shot gave the Bruins a 7-6 lead in the top of the 9th.  Fullerton tied the score 7-7 in the bottom of the inning, and then UCLA plated four in the 10th for the win.

Golden Gallego: Bruin shortstop Niko Gallego made two great plays in the bottom of the 10th to help force Sunday’s deciding game.  Niko is the son of 13-year MLB vetern Mike Gallego.

White Between The Eyes: When Arizona State reliever Mitchell Lambson went to the mound in the top of the 8th inning umpires apparently told him he had too much rosin on his hat.  The reasoning would be that the white from the rosin could be deceptive to Arkansas batters.  Sounds fairly reasonable, and the rationale would be in line with the fact that pitchers cannot have white on their gloves.  What I’ve never understood is how a few white stitches on a pitcher’s glove (or in this case rosin on a hat that’s also covered in white salt stains) aids in hiding the ball than a full home white uniform (like ASU was wearing Saturday night)…or even white lettering on a dark uniform (like Arkansas had).

Lights Out Lambson: Rosin or no rosin, Lambson had 2 Ks in a 1-2-3 inning, and he wasn’t done there.  In a game ASU eventually won 7-6 in 12 innings, Lambson (8-2) fired five shutout innings of relief with six strikeouts to earn the win.

Uggghh: I really want to watch the Arkansas-Arizona State series, just not with Justin “I continually second guess head coaches who have been to the College World Series four times” Kutcher calling the action.  Ok, so Dave Van Horn didn’t bring in Brett Eibner to pitch leading 6-5 in the 9th inning…we get it.  Now go back to criticizing umpires.

Tough Night: Eibner was called out not once, but twice for batter’s interference.  The second one ended the top of the 12th inning.  The two-way star (21 HR, 69 RBIs) then gave-up the game-winning hit to Deven Marrero in the bottom of the 12th.

Gator Soph. Prepares For Super Regionals

Florida 9-hole batter Tyler Thompson had a career day in last week’s Regional championship game.  Thompson smacked three home runs with 6 RBIs to help the Gators beat Florida Atlantic 15-0 to advance to the Super Regionals for a second straight year.  He went into the day with just two HRs all season.  In this interview with Collegebaseball360.com editor Sean Stires, Thompson talks about his home run barrage, last year’s Super Regional disappointment vs. Southern Mississippi and facing Miami this year for the right to go to Omaha.

Thompson

6’1 – 190 – So. – Tequesta, FL                                  Head Coach:  Kevin O’Sullivan

FLORIDA SWEEPS MIAMI

Alex Panteliodis had 12 Ks in Friday's 7-2 Gator win.

The Florida Gators became the first team to clinch a spot in the 2010 College World Series with their 2-0 Super Regional sweep of Miami in Gainesville, FL.  Click the links below for more details on the two series wins.

Florida next faces either UCLA or Cal State Fullerton in its first CWS appearance since 2005.

By clicking the “Gainesville Super Regional” link above this page will expand to fully support the table below.

CLICK HERE for our Super Regional Central page where you will find links to other Super Regionals.

Best two of three series (all times Eastern)

Friday - FINAL: Florida 7, Miami 2 | Final Stats
UF Recap | MIA Recap *Florida leads series 1-0
* Highlight: Alex Panteliodis has 12 K in 9 IP for first career CG

Saturday – FINAL: Florida 4, Miami 3 |  Final Stats
FLA Recap | MIA Recap

* Florida wins series (2-0)

Podcast with Florida’s Tyler Thompson

The Skinny

Florida: (#3 National Seed) Now in his third season as head coach, Kevin O’Sullivan’s Gators are hosting a Super Regional for the second straight season.  Last year’s is one Florida would just as soon forget.  Southern Mississippi swept two games from the Gators at McKethan Stadium to advance to Omaha.  All four of the program’s Super Regional appearances have come in the last seven years.

Freshman Brian Johnson is one of the top two-way players in the country, and his play in the Gainesville Regional showed it.  Johnson is 6-4 with a 3.67 ERA on the mound to go with a .411 average, 4 HR and 16 RBIs in 24 starts as a DH this season.  The Gator’s don’t have any eye-popping offensive numbers, but they do everything very well.  Matt den Dekker leads the team with a .361 average and 23 stolen bases to go along with 13 HR, Austin Maddox has team highs with 17 HR and 68 RBIs and Preston Tucker plucks along with .345/11 HR/48 RBI numbers.

Florida is one of three Super Regional teams whose pitching staff has no complete games this season.  Alex Panteliodis (10-2, 3.39 ERA) is the front man in the rotation, while Kevin Chapman (3-0, 1.28 ERA, 11 SVs) leads a group of five relievers who have at least one save (including a handful of the 3 inning variety) in 2010.

Miami: The Hurricanes are making their NCAA record 38th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.  They have made it to Omaha in 11 of Jim Morris’ 16 seasons as head coach, including most recently in 2008.  Their season ended last year in Gainesville when they lost to Florida in the Regional championship game.

Catcher Yasmani Grandal (.411/14/58) is the team’s top overall hitter.  He sports a 1.267 OPS.  Harold Martinez’s 21 HR leads the team, while Stephen Perez and Zeke DeVoss each have 24 stolen bases.  With 104 home runs and 103 stolen bases he Hurricanes are one of two teams in the Super Regional field (along with Coastal Carolina) that have topped the century mark in both categories.

Chris Hernandez (10-3, 2.77 ERA) is Miami’s top starter.  Seven other pitchers have combined to make the other 44 starts, including David Gutierrez (5-2, 5.12 ERA) who has five saves and has also made eight starts.  Daniel Miranda (5-2, 3.35 ERA, 5 SVs) leads the team with 33 relief appearances.

Gainesville Super Regional

Collegebaseball360.com contributor Chase Titleman from Road2rosenblatt.com checks-in with a look at where coaches could be headed (and where some already are headed) during the off season.

Bob Todd retired after 23 seasons at Ohio State.

A natural power harbinger for the developing Big-10 Network, but given Todd’s apparent success – or to some – “the lack of success” at the school, is there a serious contender with head coaching experience from outside the great lakes region who would consider the position?

The Todd debate is a convoluted affair as most of his supporters are thrilled with the 837 all-time victories, but the corporate power players are less than enthralled, especially considering the closest he came to Omaha were Super Regional losses in 2003 and 1999.

Todd, who has been a head coach at the Division I level for 37 of the 39 years he has been coaching, is one of the few in coaching who has achieved the much revered 1000-win milestone, and he is a member of the College Coaches Association Hall of Fame, as voted in 2009.

A winner of eight Big-10 regular season titles and eight Conference Tournament championships, as well as 13 trips to the post season tournament, is this – perhaps – as good as Ohio State can expect for a northern program with such a talented coach guiding the ship?

The obvious question to ask is if Todd couldn’t get it done with all of his credentials and accomplishments…who can?

Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell certainly can, but the former assistant at Ole Miss who led Louisville to the College World Series in 2007 has his sight set on a bigger horizon as he is rumored to favor a return to the SEC, where both the climate and fertile recruiting grounds harbor greater hopes of reaching college baseball’s promise land on an annual basis.

Gary Gilmore and Coastal Carolina have won 35 straight Big South Conference games.

With openings rumored at both Tennessee and Georgia by seasons end, McDonnell will have to fend off stiff challenges within the region, especially from Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore, who won his 600th game in a 7-2 win over Radford last week.

Gilmore, who is 600-300 in 21 seasons heading the Chanticleer ship, is currently in the middle of his most successful campaign as Coastal Carolina (47-7, 25-0 Big South) is a major player in the race for the national championship this season.

Not that he is necessarily looking, but if ever there was a season that led Gilmore to the SEC, this would be it as his overall coaching record of 853-402 certainly fits the SEC criteria of success, and he has a trip to a super-regional to tack on his rising resume.

Another rising star within the SEC footprint is Western Kentucky’s Chris Finwood, who had his most successful season last year in guiding the Hilltoppers to their first 40-win season in 21 years.

No stranger himself to the post-seasons of the past, but this season his Topper program has struggled to maintain the high benchmark the program has recently established, falling all the way to 5th in the Sun Belt Conference standings with a little over a week to go in the regular season.

Finwood may no longer be a “Flavor of the Month,” hire the SEC is so duly noted for, and he may in fact need another year or two of seasoning before getting his SEC invitation.

But with McDonnell waiting patiently in the wings for an SEC opening to occur, his decision to return to the SEC could set off a potentially wild off-season of coaching changes across the landscape of college baseball.

Imagine the following scenario:

McDonnell takes the Georgia job, which opens up Louisville.  Gilmore then takes the Tennessee position, which opens up Coastal Carolina.  Would Finwood be interested in the lateral move to Coastal, or would his sights be set upon the beautiful ballpark in Louisville?  Would Louisville even be interested in Finwood considering the program’s latest fall?

Would the assistants under McDonnell or Gimore stay to take over Louisville and Coastal, or would they follow their leader to the SEC schools of Tennessee and Georgia and the land of higher paychecks and greater prestige?

And who knows, given the surreal and unrealistic demands of the SEC, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see Mississippi State or even Kentucky open as well, which would send the carousel into an absolute shark frenzy, and potentially leading college administrators to some stressful and sleepless nights.

Which brings us back to UNLV and the urgency that Jim Livengood is faced with for the various scenario’s must be keeping him up at night wondering how to attack and take advantage of the timing surrounding his baseball opening.

Given the current opportunities at low profile schools, such as Ohio State and the Air Force Academy, coupled with what would now be potentially high profile openings at Louisville and Coastal Carolina, two teams that could end up in Omaha this season, should Livengood wait until the end of the post-season, which could extend the Rebels coaching search into July and risk trying to sell UNLV as a destination job when so many are jockeying for high profile positions, or should he strike while the opportunity is hot in taking the best assistant coaches the country has to offer?

Florida took this option three seasons ago in hiring Clemson assistant coach Kevin O’Sullivan after Florida failed to make the post-season and look where the Gators are now…a solid Top-5 program and a legitimate contender with a solid pitching staff to win the national championship.

Given this scenario, Livengood should narrow his focus to two longtime successful assistant coaches who have major west coast ties and get his program moving in the right direction now while the irons are hot.

In most circumstances, the failure to reach postseason play would be a fatal doom to many assistant coaches looking for head coaching positions as the “Flavor of the Month” factor is a vital key for young coaches looking to capitalize on a masterful season.

However, with both Oklahoma State and Washington in the midst of youthful rebuilding projects, ironically, the timing may be just right for assistant coaches Dave Nakama (Washington) and Billy Jones (Oklahoma State) to capitalize on the marketplace for they are not involved with the daily preparations on the post-season “Road to Omaha.”

Both are no strangers to post-season play as Nakama has been to Omaha with the Stanford Cardinal on more than one occasion, even participating in a national championship game in recent past, while Jones has been as close to Omaha as you can get without actually getting there, losing in game three of the super’s at both NC State and Oklahoma State, programs that were largely built on his recruiting efforts.

Livengood must face the music for UNLV is not a destination job to most, but rather a stepping stone job one can use to reach greater fortunes. He won’t attract names like McDonnell, Gilmore or Finwood for they would simply see a move to UNLV as a lateral move, or worse yet, a step down in stature.

For Jones and Nakama, however, who are no strangers to multiple second place finishes in multiple coaching searches across the country in the last decade, UNLV would in fact be the destination job that Livengood so intends to sell considering both have experienced the trials and tribulations of developing various schools into successful programs and recognize the importance of not only the timing, but the opportunity itself.

Plus their age, with both now over 40, is likely to make both realize the fragility of the opportunity.  Both can neither afford to take any job, for the job they take at their age may certainly be their last chance at the coaching carousel.

The ironic timing of the situation is that UNLV is not just any run of the mill coaching job.  It is a sleeping giant waiting for the right mix of coaching intelligence and fortitude to mold it into success.

With the Mountain West Conference on the verge of a possible automatic BCS invitation in the near future, the conference and its member schools may just be awash in revenue sooner than later.

With outstanding facilities and a state government friendly to the dynamic needs of the corporate world, UNLV could be a major player in the Western region if the right coach is hired, and the right coach is someone who recognizes that you can get to Omaha from Las Vegas if you are willing to develop the foundation and commit the time to see it to fruition.

If Livengood is serious about building a program in “Sin City,” he should focus on hiring a coach who is not intent on building a program for 5 years, padding his resume only to move on to greater exploits, which is exactly why Nakama and Jones make so much sense from the long term viewpoint.

If the small school baseball powers – all within the 500 radial mile footprint of UNLV – schools such as Cal-State-Fullerton, Cal-Irvine, Long Beach State or UC-San Diego can achieve success on the baseball diamond without a cash-cow football program generating substantial revenue for the entire athletic department, the Rebels certainly should have a major advantage over this list of baseball Titans in the west if they can get their act together.

In today’s climate of player motivation and team communication, you need a coach who can garnish the will of the athletes to grind out a championship.

You need a coach who can sell not only his institution, city or state, but himself.  You need a coach who can manage the educational demands of the classroom and the professional baseball aspirations of the family.  You need a coach who can sell the corporate sponsors within his region with excellent speaking and entertaining skill sets, as well as a grounded sense that the program is not about his personal coaching recognition, reputation and fame, but the recognition, reputation and fame of the university and the players who represent it.

For Livengood, he needs a coach who has been through the grind and recognizes that UNLV is not a stepping stone job and who isn’t going to bolt 5 years down the line, which is a rare combination when considering the current recycled head coaching candidates.

It is time for Livengood to give either Billy Jones or David Nakama, two often forgotten names among the coaching fraternity, a chance to develop a program that will one day play on the fertile soil in Omaha on a regular basis.

The Jones File

Jones began his coaching career in 1997 at Green River Community College in Washington State following in the footsteps of his coaching mentor Dan Spencer, who after over a decade of work at Oregon State and two national championship rings later, is now the head coach at Texas Tech.

Oklahoma State assistant Billy Jones

Green River College, under the direction of Jones, won the NWAACC’s Western Region championship in 1998 and a year later Spencer, then the lead assistant coach at Oregon State University under head coach Pat Casey, offered Jones the volunteer assistant position where he earned his degree in Liberal Studies.

Noted as an outstanding hitting coach (he hit .433 as a player at Lower Columbia College), his Green River wood bat program once hit 60 home runs in just 36 games.

The strong hitting trend has followed Billy’s coaching pursuits across the country as the Oklahoma State program led the Big-12 in home runs and batting average in 2005, his first season in Stillwater, and by year three at the school the Cowboys led the conference in batting average, home runs and slugging percentage altogether.

The 2008 team alone had 8 members in the starting line-up who hit .317 or higher!

A noted players coach, Jones developed national recruiting classes at both NC State and Oklahoma State after being mentored by Arizona State coach Pat Murphy, where he was the Director of Baseball Operations for two seasons.

While in Raleigh, North Carolina – Jones helped guide the Wolf Pack to two NCAA Regional appearances in three seasons and was one of five finalists for the Baseball America National Assistant Coach of the Year Award in 2003.

Although he coaches outfielders and hitting at present with the Cowboys, his troops at NC State improved their team fielding percentage every year, from .958 in 2002, to .966 in 2003 to .976 (4th best in the nation) in 2004, the year NC State lost in the super-regional finals.

Former Oklahoma State volunteer assistant coach Trevor Brown, who now works as the Northwest Area Scout for the Minnesota Twins Organization, has nothing but glowing words for his coaching mentor Jones.

Brown, a former NAIA All-American who won a national championship at Lewis and Clarke State College under the direction of Ed Cheff, claims that “Jones is the best coach he has worked for or played under in terms of getting the most talent out of his players.  “He has an innate ability to connect to all players of differing backgrounds as he approaches each player individually, playing to their strengths and masking their weaknesses to improve player performance.”

Brown played for both Cheff (Lewis & Clarke State) and Donny Harrel (the current head coach at Seattle University) at Lane Community College, and although not taking anything away from those other coaches, believes Jones has a special talent in developing players compared to most of the coaches around the country today.

“His players have extreme loyalty and he is somewhat of a master in identifying and recruiting diamond-in-the-rough type players and developing them into All-Americans and professional baseball prospects.  It would be a shame not to see him lead his own program in the near future as he is certainly qualified and well equipped to run a championship level program.”

The Nakama File

After spending 10 plus seasons at Stanford University, Dave Nakama has moved up north in the PAC-10 Conference joining coach Lindsey Meggs initial staff at Washington in 2010.

Washington assistant Dave Nakama

At Stanford, Nakama worked with the infielders and hitters while coaching first base, and was a central figure in recruiting, helping the Cardinal land four top-10 recruiting classes in the last 8 years according to BaseballAmerica.com

During his decade on “The Farm,” Nakama helped the team to four PAC-10 Championships, five NCAA regional titles and four trips to the College World Series.

Among the many he mentored as coach, Boston Red Sox shortstop Jed Lowrie, first-rounder John Mayberry Jr., and Seattle Mariners farmhand Chris Minaker stand out among a crowded and talented athletic baseball crop that populated the Stanford dugout.

Under Nakama’s watchful eye, the Cardinal posted their five best seasons for fielding percentage in school history, including a .977 mark in 2005 where they committed 51 errors in 59 games.  All in all, Nakama led the Cardinal to five top-10 finishes in his last eight years at the school, including another .977 mark in his last season.

According to Husky coach Lindsey Meggs, who worked with Nakama at Chico State and San Francisco State, “having Dave on the staff is like having another head coach in the dugout…he has all the intangibles needed to be a head coach as he can manage the game both offensively and defensively, and more importantly, he knows the PAC-10 Conference inside and out.”

Having personally watched Nakama work with the En Fuego Academy program in Seattle, he has an innate ability to communicate with young athletes and what impresses me the most is his genuine interest in helping players move on in college baseball, even if his school (currently the Huskies) isn’t on the players list of schools as he believes the college decision is one of the five defining choices a young man will make in his lifetime.

Like Jones, who has Junior College and collegiate summer-ball coaching experience, Nakama spent five seasons as the head coach at Mission Junior College (Santa Clara, CA), leading his squad to the California State Tournament in each of his final two seasons, earning conference Coach of the Year honors in 1996.

Although Nakama would be a great hire at UNLV, which is a job he wouldn’t turn down, the natural position for the Hawaiian native and perhaps the job he covets most is the Hawaii job.

A graduate from Kaiser High School in Honolulu and a former head and assistant coach for the collegiate summer-ball Hawaii Island Movers, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Nakama isn’t named the program’s next head coach.

That is if someone like UNLV doesn’t beat Hawaii to the punch.

The question athletic director Livengood should seriously consider is what other coaching candidates have ties to so many successful coaches and championships programs in comparison to Jones or Nakama?

Jones has worked with Pat Casey and Pat Murphy, no strangers themselves to the College World Series.

Since leaving NC State, the Wolf-Pack have not sustained the barometer set by Jones who led them to a super-regional.  Jones has also worked with Frank Anderson, who came to Oklahoma State after winning a national championship on the Texas staff in 2005.

For coach Nakama, is there another assistant coach in the country who has worked for two coaching icons like Mark Marquess at Stanford or Lindsey Meggs at Chico State?

With four trips to the College World Series and team records in fielding percentage, not to mention his recruiting prowess, what exactly is Livengood looking at to eliminate Nakama?

The same can be said of Jones.

The Last Notebook Of The Regular Season…