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Final Thoughts, Video & Notes From Stanford…

By CB360 Contributor Kevin Kennedy

Game 2: #1 Stanford 8 #2 Pepperdine 7

Mark Appel was named MOP of the Palo Alto Regional. He could go number one tonight when the MLB Draft begins.

Palo Alto, CA—The Stanford Cardinal advanced to the Super Regionals with an 8-7 victory over the Pepperdine Waves Sunday night in Game 6 of the Stanford Regional.

For the second night in a row Stanford (41-16) fell behind 4-0 only to rally and score eight unanswered runs to take an 8-4 lead after the fourth. Pepperdine would pull with in a run at 8-7 by scoring three times in the seventh but would be unable to get across a tying run.

The Waves (36-23) were unable to pull off their second late inning comeback of the day and were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. Pepperdine rallied with a six-run ninth to beat Fresno St Sunday afternoon (more on that game below).

Stanford advanced to the Super Regional’s for a second consecutive year. The Cardinal will travel to Tallahassee next weekend to take on #3 national seed Florida St.

“Obviously, in back-to-back nights, these were two fantastic college baseball games. Both teams played fantastic. For Coach (Steve) Rodriguez and Pepperdine, those are two tough games to lose,” said Stanford Head Coach Mark Marquess. “I’m just real proud of the effort we put forward. We earned it and deserved it.”

Pepperdine Head Coach Steve Rodriguez summed up the loss with his entire opening statement in the postgame press conference. “Great baseball game. I really don’t have much to say,” said the head coach.

After the Waves went up 4-0 in the opening frame of the game Stanford scored a run in the bottom of the first and two in the third to cut the deficit to 4-3.

“We could hit…If they wanted a slugfest, we were willing to go for that,” said Stanford first basemen Brian Ragira. “We were confident we could come back.”

In the fourth the Cardinal had the bases loaded with two out when reliever Aaron Brown came out of the pen to replace Mat Snider. The first batter Brown faced, right fielder Austin Wilson, singled home two runs to give the Cardinal a 5-4 lead.

Next batter, true freshman third basemen, Eric Blandino made up for an error that continued the bottom of the first when Pepperdine scored four runs by blasting a 3-run homer to left field giving the Cardinal a 8-4 lead.

“Obviously dropping that foul ball in the first cost Stephen (Piscotty) a couple of runs. I knew it was a big spot. I think the key was to not get caught up in the moment and get a good pitch to hit,” said Blandino.

“The guy crushes fastballs. He (Blandino) got one right down the middle and that’s what he does with them,” said Rodriguez.

Pepperdine would rally in the seventh off Cardinal starter Stephen Piscotty (5-2). The Waves had done nothing vs. the Stanford pitcher since the first, but second basemen Joe Sever doubled home the first run followed by an 2-RBI single by right fielder Tony Cooper cutting Stanford’s lead to 8-7.

Reliever Sahil Bloom came in after the Cooper single and pitched the final 2.2 to pick up his first save of the season.

Pepperdine but a scare into the home crowd when Waves shortstop Zach Vincej just missed a potential game tying homer that was foul down the left field line leading off the ninth.

“I was scared because the ball started to go foul and started to come back. It was close, but it was foul,” Marquess said.

“It wouldn’t have surprised me if it was fair, just because of how things were going for this team and the fight and tenacity that they’ve shown this whole week,” said Rodriguez.

The scoring started with Pepperdine picking up where they left off after their ninth inning rally a few hours earlier by scoring four in the top of the first off Piscotty. The Waves were up 1-0 when Blandino dro

pped a foul popup off the bat of left fielder Floyd Given that would have ended the inning. A couple of pitches later Given ripped a 2-RBI double making it 3-0. The Waves added another run with an RBI single by Game 1 hero DH Matt Forgatch.

“I got knocked down, but I wasn’t going to give up,” said Piscotty who allowed no runs and two hits from the second through the sixth.

“After giving up four runs in the first inning, I thought it was going to be a long night. I thought the key for us was Piscotty, obviously settling down,” said Marquess.

Stanford scored their first run in the bottom of the first with a RBI single by Piscotty. In the third the Cardinal scored on a double and sacrifice fly and pulled within 4-3.

Notes from Stanford’s win over Pepperdine…

-Stanford also rallied from a 4-0 deficit Saturday against Pepperdine to win 5-4.

-Piscotty, also one of Stanford’s top hitters, went 6.1 innings allowing seven runs, four earned on 11 hits. He was 2-for-3 at plate with an RBI and a run.

-Piscotty was the only Stanford hitter to have a multi hit game. Wilson was 1-for-5 with 2 RBI and Blandino was 1-for-3 with 4 RBI and a home run.

-For Pepperdine Cooper was 2-for-5 with 3 RBI and Given was 1-for-4 with 2 RBI. Vincej, third basemen Austin Davidson, first basemen Sam Meyer had two hit games.

-Waves starter Matt Mauer pitched 3 innings allowing three runs on three hits with five walks.

-Pepperdine used three relievers in the game, after using just three total in their first three games of the regional.

-For the regional the Cardinal were led by Ragira who went 4-for-8 with two doubles, a home run, three RBIs and four walks. Second basemen Danny Diekroeger went 5-for-12 (.416).

-Cardinal hit .300 (30-for-100) as a team during the weekend with a team ERA of 2.67.

-In their four games this weekend Pepperdine was led on offense by Cooper who was 6-for-17 (.352). Forgatch, Given, Meyer, and catcher Miles Silverstein each hit .333.

-WCC Player of the year and the Waves leading hitter second basemen Joe Sever hit .313 5-for-16 after entering the tournament batting .370. The Waves second leading hitter in the regular season Vincej hit just .200 (3-for-15) after entering the tournament with a .348 average.

-Pepperdine finished with a .289 average in their four games (40-for-138) and had a team ERA of 3.60.

-Pepperdine made the tournament for the first time since 2008 by winning the WCC Regular Season Championship and automatic bid their first conference title since 2006.

-Pepperdine made the tournament a year after going 22-34

-Since winning the National Championship in 1992 the Waves have failed to advance in the tournament. The Waves have made the NCAAs ten times since ’92.

-Their second place finish marks the fifth time in a row the Waves have finished runners-up in a regional (2004, 05, 06, 08 and 2012)

-In 2008 Pepperdine was also eliminated by Stanford in Palo Alto.

-Stanford makes back-to-back Super Regionals for the first time since making five straight from 99-03. The Cardinal were swept at North Carolina last year.

-The Cardinal is seeking their first CWS appearance since 2008 and 17^th overall.

Stanford Head Coach Mark Marquess, Pitcher Stephen Piscotty, 3B Eric Blandino and 1B Brian Ragira speak after the Cardinal 8-7 win over Pepperdine to win the Stanford Regional and advance to the Super Regionals.

Pepperdine Head Coach Steve Rodriguez and DH Matt Forgatch speak after the Waves season ending 8-7 loss to Stanford. The Waves discuss the Stanford loss and their 8-5 win over Fresno St earlier in the day.

 

Game 1: #2 Pepperdine 8 #4 Fresno St 5

Palo Alto, CA—Pepperdine won Sunday’s first game with a dramatic come from behind 8-5 victory over Fresno St in an elimination game in the Stanford Regional. The Waves (36-22) scored six runs in the top of the ninth, including the go-ahead runs on a grand slam by DH Matt Forgatch. Fresno St (31-28) lead 5-0 after six and 5-2 going into the top of the ninth.

The first six base runners for the Waves all scored in the ninth. Fresno starting pitcher Cody Kendall began the ninth going for a complete game. Kendall allowed one run to score after Pepperdine got the first four runners on via three singles and a bases loaded walk.

Fresno St Head Coach Mike Batesole, who earlier in the ninth decided to stay with Kendall after a mound conference, pulled his starter for closer Taylor Garrison.

Garrison allowed a RBI single to LF Floyd Given cutting the Bulldogs lead to 5-2.

Forgatch became the hero of the game with his go ahead grand slam to left field. It was just his second home run of the year. The pitch before the game winner Forgatch just missed a grand slam that was foul down the left field line.

“As soon as he hit it, I yelled out “That one’s not going foul.” It brought great elation to our team,” said Waves Head Coach Steve Rodriguez.

“It was going to take something big and dramatic and it was going to take something late to beat them (Fresno) the way they’ve (Fresno) been playing,” said Batesole. “And that’s exactly how it went down.”

The Bulldogs got on the board first going up 2-0 in the bottom of the 2^nd benefitting from two Pepperdine errors.

In the fifth the Bulldogs scored three more to go up 5-0 on a 3 RBI double by DH Kenneth Wise.

Pepperdine scored in the top of the seventh on back-to-back RBI singles cutting the Bulldogs lead to 5-2. The Waves rally was cut short when Kendall induced his third inning ending double play of the game.

Other notes from the Pepperdine-Fresno St game…

-Kendall (4-4) was very strong for FSU through eight innings allowing just six hits and two runs. He retired 14 straight from the second to the seventh innings.

-Kendall’s final line was eight innings, nine hits and six earned runs.

-Batesole decided to stick with his starter in the ninth even after the Waves started to rally. Kendall was below 100 pitches in the ninth (ended with 92) and the coach said Kendall had gotten ground balls all afternoon and just needed one more to stop the comeback.

-“He was doing exactly what we wanted him to do: get ground balls. We just needed one of those four-hoppers to go at somebody instead of squeaking through the infield,” said Batesole.

-Pepperdine starter Corey Miller went 5.1 innings allowing seven hits and five runs, but because of four errors (two by Miller) none of the runs were earned.

-Two Waves’ relievers pitched the final 3.2 and allowed no runs and just four hits. Michael Swanner (3-3) pitched the last 1.1 and got the win.

-Other than Forgatch Pepperdine was led at the plate by and 3B Tony Cooper who were both 3-for-4. 2B Joe Sever was 2-for-4.

-Forgatch’s grand slam was first home run by Pepperdine in the NCAAs and just the second between the four teams here this weekend.

-For Fresno St Wise was 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and a double and 3B Jake Alvarez was 3-for-5.

-In their three games this weekend Alvarez lead the team in hitting going 7-for-14. Outfielder Jordan Brink, hitting just .214 entering NCAAs, was 4-for-11 (.364) this weekend.

-Fresno hit .288 and had an ERA of 6.23 in their three games.

-Fresno St made the NCAAs after winning the WAC Tournament last weekend as the five seed. The Bulldogs went 12-4 in May to reach their second straight NCAA Tournament and their sixth in the last seven years.

-Even with the tough ending the season Fresno was proud of their run.

-“I’m very proud of this team. Amazing where they are now compared to where they were in August and compared to where they were in March. They’ve come a long long ways,” said Batesole. “We left a lot on the field in Arizona (WAC Tournament). To get here…these guys did probably more than what they should have done.”

2012 Palo Alto Regional All Tournament Team

C-Eric Smith, Stanford. 1B-Brian Ragira, Stanford. 2B Danny Diekroeger, Stanford. SS Kenny Diekroeger, Stanford. 3B-Jake Alvarez, Fresno St. OF-Anthony Checky, Michigan St. DH-Matt Forgatch, Pepperdine. Pitchers-Mark Appel, Stanford, AJ Vanegas, Stanford, and Jon Moscot, Pepperdine.

MOP: Stanford Pitcher Mark Appel

 

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Notes, Quotes, Observations & Video From Stanford Regional…

Stanford's Stephen Piscotty helped his team beat Pepperdine on Saturday to help his team go to 2-0 in the Palo Alto Regional.

#1 Stanford 5 #2 Pepperdine 4

(Postgame Video Interviews Below)

The nightcap of Day 2 in the Stanford Regional featured the most exciting game of the regional so far with the host Cardinal pulling out a 5-4 win over Pepperdine in a tense game Saturday night.

The Cardinal (who were the designated road team) scored the winning run in the top of eighth on junior shortstop Kenny Diekroeger’s RBI double down the left field line to give Stanford (40-16) a 5-4 lead.

-“This is why we came to Stanford honestly, to play in front of a packed house. There was a lot of electricity tonight, and it was a really exciting game,” said Diekroeger.

-Stanford trailed 4-0 after three innings and 4-1 going into the sixth when Pepperdine starter sophomore Scott Frazier uncorked a wild pitch with the bases loaded to score one run. That’s where things got interesting Waves catcher senior Miles Silverstein lost the handle of the ball allowing another run to score on the error. The craziness continued when the ball appeared to hit the Stanford runner who scored the first run. The umpires ruled interfererence allowing a third run to score.

-The easiest way to say it is Stanford scored three runs on a wild pitch and tied the game 4-4.

-Stanford Sophomore first basemen Brian Ragira, who appeared to be the player the ball touched, said, “I didn’t see too much of it, ball in the dirt to the back stop, I’m busting to try and get home.” “Next thing I know the ball is rolling around and the pitch is around me and we ended up with three runs.”

-“I think it’s really hard on our guys when (Stanford scores) three runs on a wild pitch and a fluke play,” said Pepperdine Head Coach Steve Rodriguez.

-Rodriguez continued to talk about the play saying, “I think the call was correct in regards to the logistics of the rules. My only problem was the crowd control around the dugout (Stanford players). When their whole team is out there and the pitcher goes out for the ball-that was probably the only thing I could say was an issue, but the call in regards to officiating was correct.”

-Ragira said in the postgame press conference he was unsure if the ball touched him.

-Pepperdine scored first in the bottom of the third with a four run inning. The Waves scored their first two runs on an RBI single and a fielder’s choice and two batters later after Stanford pulled starter junior Brett Mooneyham after 2.1 IP the first batter Cardinal reliever junior Dean McArdle faced, freshman left fielder Bryan Langlois, doubled home the last two runs of the inning making it 4-0 Waves.

-Stanford made it 4-1 in the top of the fourth with a solo homerun from Ragira. His drive to dead center field was the first homer in any of the four games of the regional.

-After Pepperdine scored its four runs two Stanford relievers held them to two hits from the fifth inning on. The Waves did have chances, leaving two on in the seventh and eighth.

-In the sixth Langlois was thrown out at home on a ground ball to second that would have given the Waves the lead.

-Waves left 10 men on base

-Langlois lead the Waves offensively for the night going 3-for-4 with two RBI.

-WCC Player of the Year junior second basemen Joe Sever (.370 avg. entering NCAAs) went 2-for-5, a day after going 0-for-3 vs. Michigan St. He did strikeout in his final two at-bats in the seventh and ninth innings.

-“You got good stuff if you strike him out twice. He is a fantastic hitter,” said Stanford Head Coach Mark Marquess.

-Stanford sophomore reliever AJ Vanegas (4-0) got the win pitching 3.2 innings of relief allowing one hit, no runs, three walks and eight strikeouts. Vanegas struck out the 3-4-5 hitters for Pepperdine to end the game.

-“It was an unbelievable job by AJ. Obviously he was just fantastic, won some big spots, great stuff,” Marquess said.

-Vanegas and McArdle combined to pitch 6.2 innings of relief allowing no runs, three hits, three walks and 10 Ks.

-Waves starter sophomore Scott Frazier (7-5) took the loss going 7.2 innings, allowing five runs, four earned on nine hits with one walk and five strikeouts. When Frazier was replaced in the eighth it was the first time Pepperdine went to its bullpen during the regional.

-“That’s why I think he’s going to be a high draft pick next year,” said Rodriguez. “He’s a big ol’ donkey who wants to get out there and wants to compete and get after it.”

-Offensively for Stanford they were lead by Ragira who went 2-for-3 with a homerun, two runs and an RBI. Sophomore second basemen Danny Diekroeger and freshman third basemen Alex Blandino also had multi-hit games.

-Danny Diekroeger is 4-for-9 in the two games this weekend. Ragira and junior catcher Eric Smith are each 3-for-6.

-Pepperdine committed three errors, two by freshman third basemen Austin Davidson.

-Stanford is one win away from advancing to the Super Regional’s for a second straight year. Last time the Cardinal did that was when they made five straight from 1999-03.

-Pepperdine will have to win three straight games to move on to the Super Regional. Since winning the National Championship in 1992 the Waves have been eliminated in the regional’s the last nine times they have made the tournament.

-“It’s a hard pill to swallow…but what’s great is this is probably one of the best teams for us in regards to pitching depth and in regards to our own team, so I feel very comfortable with where we are right now,” said Rodriguez.

-“To be honest, it was an outstanding college baseball game. If people paid money to come and see this, they got to watch a really good game, and that’s my opinion. But I just told them they need to erase it because they have nothing to be ashamed of. And if they keep that same competitive nature, I like our chances, I really do,” said Rodriguez.

Stanford Head Coach Mark Marquess, 2B Kenny Diekroeger, 1B Brian Ragira and RP AJ Vanegas discuss their 5-4 win over Pepperdine in the winners bracket game of the Stanford Regional.

Pepperdine Head Coach Steve Rodriguez and LF Bryan Langlois speak after the Waves 5-4 winners bracket game loss to Stanford in the Stanford Regional.

Fresno State head coach Mike Batesole got his first NCAA Tournament win on Saturday since winning the 2008 national championship.

Game 1: #4 Fresno St 8 #3 Michigan St 2

(Postgame Video Interviews Below)

-In Saturday’s first game #4 seed Fresno St eliminated #3 Michigan St with an 8-2 win.

-Fresno St (31-27) started ace pitcher senior Thomas Harlan after he was scratched from Friday night’s game with an injury. Harlan struggled in the first allowing two runs and two hits. Harlan then allowed just two base runners until he was pulled after 4.1 innings.

-Bulldogs Head Coach Mike Batesole did not want to risk overusing his starter and risk injury. Harlan was pulled after 64 pitches allowing two runs, three hits, two walks and two strikeouts. He retired seven of the last eight hitters he faced.

-“Tommy gave us everything he had,” Batesole said.

-Batesole’s plan was to use Harlan and senior relievers Gene Escat and Taylor Garrison in that order for the game and the plan worked to perfection.

-“That almost never happens the way you plan that out,” said Batesole.

-Escat (4-0) got the win and closer Garrison picked up his 11^th save. The two relievers combined to pitch 4.2 innings allowing four hits, no runs or walks with two strikeouts.

-“I wasn’t too disappointed to see the lefty (Harlan) leave the game.” Michigan St Head Coach Jake Boss said. “The right-hander they brought in threw just as well.”

-The Dogs scored in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead, but from the second to the fifth Fresno had one hit against Michigan St junior starter Andrew Waszak

-Batesole called scoring first, “the best thing we did today.”

-Offensively Fresno was lead by Garrison was 3-for-4 with three RBI’s. Junior catcher Austin Wynns, senior second basemen Patrick Hutcheson and freshman left fielder Jordan Brink also had multi-hit games.

-Brink, 2-for-4, was hitting just .210 coming into Saturday.

-Garrison is 5-for-8 with four RBI’s in the first two games of the regional.

-One of two Fresno hitters that did not have a hit was freshman right fielder Jordan Luplow who was the only Bulldog hitter who had two hits against Stanford ace Mark Appel on Friday.

-Fresno St did not commit an error Saturday after having four in the loss to Stanford.

-Batesole’s club is now 16-3 in NCAA/WAC Tournament elimination games since 2008. Fresno is 4-0 in do-or-die games in 2012.

-Batesole on elimination games, “That’s the sign of an experienced team that’s been through these kind of wars.”

-“It’s a lot of fun playing in these elimination games. Coming in today, we played the game we always play. We stuck to our plan of getting clutch hits, and luckily everything worked out together,” said Garrison.

-The Bulldogs win was their first NCAA victory since winning the National Title in 2008.

-This was the first time Fresno and Michigan St played in baseball.

-On the losing side the biggest positive for Michigan St (37-23) was pulling the likely play of the regional with a triple play in the top of the eighth. With runners at 1^st and 2^nd Spartan center fielder freshman Andrew Cheky made a diving catch. The runners were well on their way to scoring and the Spartans turned a F-8-3-6-3 triple play.

-Michigan St left six runners on base. Spartans left a total of 15 in their two regional games.

-After scoring two runs in the bottom of the first to tie the game 2-2 the Spartans only had one hit until the seventh inning.

-Michigan St had three singles in the seventh but did not score. Fresno had a 1-6-4-3 double play

-“There were a few (good at-bats) and they made a couple plays on us, said Head Coach Jake Boss. “Again, when we got in the positive counts, we took some tentative swings and you’re not going to win that way.”

-Cheky was the only Spartan hitter with two hits, going 2-for-3. Freshman DH Blaise Salter had MSU’s 2-RBI’s.

-Junior left fielder Jordan Keur, who came in leading the Spartans with a .359 average, went 1-for-7 in MSU’s two games.

-On the mound Waszak (4-4) took the loss throwing 7 innings allowing four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts.

-After allowing two runs in the first Waszak set down 11 of the next 12 Fresno hitters. He allowed two runs and four hits in his last two frames.

-MSU’s two relievers senior Bryce Jenney and junior closer Tony Wieber combined to allow four runs on seven hits in their two innings of relief.

-Michigan St scored just four runs and hit .265 as team in their two games. They entered the tournament hitting .298.

-“Very disappointing as far as today is concerned, I thought we were capable of playing better, which is probably the most disappointing thing,” Boss said.

-Michigan St made the tournament for the first time since 1979 and just the fifth time in school history.

-The Spartans have had three consecutive winning seasons for the first time since they had four straight from 1990-94.

-Boss on his team’s historic season. “Obviously losing today hurts right now, but in a week or two when we really step back and take a look at things. A lot of credit goes to our senior class. Really, all the credit goes to our senior class. All those guys came in our first year and they bought in and changed the culture of the program.”

Sunday’s schedule will have Pepperdine facing Fresno St in an elimination game at 1 p.m. PST. Pepperdine will start sophomore Corey Miller (8-3 3.56 ERA). Fresno did not announce a starter.

The winner will play Stanford at 6 p.m. The Cardinal will start junior Stephen Piscotty (5-2 2.57 ERA). If Stanford wins they advance to the Super Regional’s. If Stanford loses than the final two teams will play again Monday night.

Fresno St Head Coach Mike Batesole, Pitcher Thomas Harland and 1B Trent Garrison speak after the Bulldogs 8-2 elimination game victory over Michigan State.

Michigan St Head Coach Jake Boss and SS Justin Scanlon speak after the Spartans season ending 8-2 loss in the Stanford Regional.

Postgame Videos With Stanford, Pepperdine & More…

The Road To Omaha leads to TD Ameritrade Park and The Dugout – located right across the street from TDA’s home plate entrance. The Dugout has 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. If you can’t make it to Omaha just follow our red links to The Dugout!

Game 2: #1 Stanford vs. #4 Fresno St (Postgame Video Below)

Palo Alto, CA— After a year of scouting, the process that leads up to the Major League Baseball Draft is almost complete. With the 2012 draft coming up on Monday the evaluation process is all but finished and now it is time for teams to make their final decisions.

Now it’s the waiting that players will have to deal with leading up to the draft.

Stanford ace junior Mark Appel (10-1) will go into Monday knowing his name will be called very early in the 1^st Round but Friday night in the NCAA Regional in Palo Alto Appel had one more start to show why he is so highly rated.

Easy to say he only improved his stock with his complete game 11 strikeout performance in #1 seed Stanford’s 9-1 win over #4 seed Fresno St in the second game of the Stanford Regional.

The Cardinal (39-16) ace also got some revenge on the only team that beat him during the season. Fresno St beat Appel and Stanford 7-4 on March 2 in Fresno. It was the first loss of the season for the Cardinal and Appel allowed a season high seven runs.

Friday was a much different outing.

“I thought it was a great performance by Mark. He was tough and had good command with his stuff,” said Stanford Head Coach Mark Marquess.

Appel cruised through the first six innings allowing just one Bulldog (30-27) hit. He retired the first six batters he faced and following a single to lead off the third he set down the next twelve hitters.

Appel accounted for 10 of his 11 punch-outs in the first six innings.

Fresno St got to Appel in the last three innings of the game, but only scored in the seventh. By the time the Bulldogs cracked the scoreboard Stanford was up 5-1.

Appel finished the game allowing one run, two walks along with the 11 strikeouts on 122 pitches.

Fresno St Head Coach Mike Batesole said this may have been the best game Appel pitched all year.

“I’m pretty sure he could have won a big league game today,” said Batesole.

It was Appel’s fifth complete game of the season and second in his last three starts. It was the eight time this year Appel struck out at least 10 hitters.

Fresno St head coach Mike Batesole said last time they faced Appel they were able to take his fastball away. Three months later Batesole said Appel made adjustments and threw two breaking pitches he did not throw back in March.

“Last time out we took his fastball away early and we were pretty sure he was going to come out and make an adjustment this week and he surely did,” Batesole said.

Appel said “They are a fastball hitting team, so we knew the off-speed would be effective against them. We learned from the mistakes we made against them the first time.”

The game was 0-0 through four innings, but while Appel cruised Fresno St starter junior Justin Haley (7-4) faced trouble nearly every inning early.

Stanford left six men on base in the first four frames, including leaving a runner at third each inning from the second through the fourth.

In the fifth Appel finally got support from his offense.

After Haley retired the first two hitters of the inning, for the first time all game, a double by junior left fielder Stephen Piscotty and a walk to first basemen sophomore Brian Ragira kept the inning alive. Sophomore right fielder Austin Wilson singled up the middle to give the Cardinal a 2-0 lead.

The wheels came off for Haley in the sixth. Stanford sent nine batters to the plate while scoring three runs to increase their lead to 5-0.

Second basemen sophomore Danny Diekroeger had an RBI infield single. Stanford scored it’s other two runs with the bases loaded when Haley hit Ragria with a pitch followed by a walk to Wilson.

Haley was pulled after the walk going 5.2 innings allowing eight hits, five runs, six walks and five strikeouts. It was the third straight outing Haley pitched on short rest.

“I think he emptied his tank on short rest,” said Batesole. “What I really like is he pitched with a lot of heart.”

The Cardinal put the game away with a four run bottom of the eighth increasing their lead to 9-1. The Cardinal scored on the second bases loaded hit batter of the game, a 2-RBI single by junior shortstop Kenny Diekroeger and a throwing error on the Diekroeger single giving Stanford a 9-1 lead going into the ninth.

Stanford was lead offensively by Kenny Diekroeger who finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBI’s, junior catcher Eric Smith was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Austin Wilson who had three RBIs. Danny Diekroeger and Piscotty also had multi-hit games.

It was a tough night for Fresno St all around. Along with being shut down by Appel the Bulldogs committed four errors.

Freshman right fielder Jordan Luplow was the only Fresno player with multiple hits going 2-for-3. He also had a nice diving catch to end the bottom of the first inning.

The Bulldogs went 12-4 in the month of May and won the WAC Tournament last weekend in Arizona as the #5 seed in a six-team tournament.

Fresno St will look to avoid going 0-2 in regional play for the third consecutive tournament appearance. The Bulldogs have not won a tournament game since winning the National Championship in 2008.

Stanford is seeking a second straight Super Regional appearance and their first CWS trip since 2008.

Fresno State head coach Mike Batesole and outfielder Jordan Luplow after the Bulldogs 9-1 loss to Stanford…

Game 1: #2 Pepperdine vs. #3 Michigan St (Postgame Video Below)

Palo Alto, CA— In the first game of the day at Stanford #2 seed Pepperdine defeated #3 seed Michigan State 6-2 behind Waves (35-21) junior ace Jon Moscot’s sixth complete game of the season.

It was Moscot’s second consecutive complete game after he tossed one last weekend against San Diego in the first game of a de-facto WCC Championship Series against the Toreros last Friday.

Though he went the distance the junior had to battle all afternoon against the Spartans (37-22).

Michigan St. collected 10 hits, but left nine men on base.

After retiring Michigan St. in order in two of the first three innings Moscot allowed base runners every inning for the rest of the game.

Moscot worked out of jams in the second, fourth, sixth and eighth innings with out allowing any runners to score.

“Today was kind of the same it’s been all year. When there were guys on base, I seem to bare down,” Moscot said.

Moscot (7-5) finished the game allowing 10 hits, two earned runs, four strikeouts and two walks throwing 126 pitches.

“He’s got a good arm, there’s no doubt,” said Michigan State Head Coach Jake Boss. “We’re close, I thought we hit some balls hard that just had been hit right at some guys. It’s a cruel game sometimes.”

The game started off as a pitchers duel between Moscot and Michigan St. senior ace Tony Bucciferro (6-4).

After facing the minimum through two innings, Bucciferro got into trouble in the third.

Number seven-hitter senior designated hitter Matt Forgatch started the inning with a double followed by a bunt single by senior catcher Miles Silverstein. Ninth place hitter freshman center fielder Matt Gelalich than brought home the first run with a safety squeeze scoring Forgatch. Two batters later freshman third basemen Austin Davison hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Silverstein making it 2-0 Waves.

The Spartans answered in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by left fielder junior Jordan Keur cutting the Waves lead to 2-1.

Pepperdine broke open the pitcher’s duel with a four run sixth inning. After Bucciferro retired the first hitter of the inning the Waves put the next seven men on base with four singles, a double, an error and hit batter.

After Forgatch and Silverstein singled home the first two runs of the inning Gelalich hit a two RBI double to right making it a 6-1.

Gelalich, who came into the tournament hitting just .202, finished the game with three RBI’s.

“In order to win championships, you have to have guys step. It can’t be the same guy everyday,” said Pepperdine Head Coach Steve Rodriguez.

The bottom of the order was huge for the Waves. Forgatch went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI while Silverstein was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run.

The bottom three hitters for the Waves (Forgatch, Silverstein and Gelalich) combined to go 6-for-11 with five of the team’s six RBI’s.

Bucciferro was pulled after 5.1 innings allowing ten hits, five earned runs and four strikeouts. It was his shortest outing of the season.

Michigan St cut the deficit to 6-2 with a run in the top of the seventh but could not get anything across in the eighth when three runners reached base.

It was a frustrating day for the Spartans who along with leaving nine men on base equaled the Waves with 10 hits.

“We made a lot of the same mistakes we made a lot of the year, to be honest with you,” said Boss. “We left nine guys on base, so it’s more of the same for us.”

Seven of the nine Michigan St starters recorded a hit with junior second basemen Ryan Jones, freshman first basemen Ryan Krill and right fielder freshman Jimmy Pickens each collecting two hits apiece.

Michigan St, which received one of the last at-large bids in the tournament, was playing in the NCAA’s for the first time since 1979, but Head Coach Jake Boss said his team was not satisfied by just making the tournament.

“I think we came out with a purpose and a focus,” said Boss. “Nobody likes to lose. So to say we’re just happy to be here, I think, is incorrect.

Pepperdine is in the NCAA’s for the first time since 2008. Four years ago they also played in Palo Alto starting the regional 2-0 before being eliminated by host Stanford.

Saturday’s schedule will have Fresno St going up against Michigan St in an elimination game at 1 p.m. PST, followed by the winners bracket game between Stanford and Pepperdine at 6 p.m. PST.

Pepperdine Head Coach Steve Rodriguez and pitcher Jon Moscot after the Waves 6-2 win over Michigan St in Opening Round of Stanford Regional

Michigan St Head Coach Jake Boss and Starting Pitcher Tony Bucciferro speak after the Spartans 6-2 loss to Pepperdine

A Look At Stanford’s Regional…

Stanford's Stephen Piscotty drove-in seven runs in a game twice in 2012 (Stanford photo)

#1 Seed: Stanford Cardinal

Record: 38-16 (18-12 Pac-12, Tied for 4^th, 2 games back of first)

How they qualified: At-large

Ranking: (All rankings): #10 CB360 Composite/#10 NCBWA/#12 Collegiate Baseball/#13 USA Today/#19 Baseball America

Tournament History: 31^st NCAA Appearance/(3^rd straight/Lost in Super Regional in 2011)/16 CWS Appearances (Last 2008)/Two National Championships (1987, 1988)

Head Coach: Mark Marquess (36^th year at Stanford)

Top Hitters: Junior UTL Stephen Piscotty, All Pac-12 (.319 avg., 54 RBIs, 72 hits)

Sophomore UTL Brian Ragira, Pac-12 Honorable Mention (.318 avg., 47 RBIs, 75 hits)

Sophomore OF Austin Wilson, Pac-12 Honorable Mention (.290 avg., 46 RBIs, 9 HRs)

Top Pitchers: Junior Mark Appel, All Pac-12 (9-1, 14 starts, 2.37 ERA 116 Ks)

Junior Brett Mooneyham (7-5, 13 starts, 4.05 ERA, 88 Ks)

Sophomore A.J. Vanegas (3-0, 19 appearances, 2.38 ERA, 5 Saves)

Notable Wins: Three-game sweeps of Vanderbilt, Texas, and Arizona State

Series victories vs. Rice, and at UCLA

2012 Results vs. Palo Alto Regional Opponents: Won two out of three at Fresno State

All-time records: Pepperdine: 22-5, Michigan St: Never played, Fresno St: 79-45

Season Recap: Stanford started the season 8-0, and 16-3 with series sweeps of Vanderbilt and Texas in Palo Alto. Following a series sweep at Arizona in late March the team won four of their next five games to improve to 20-7. In April the Cardinal lost a series at Oregon, but picked up a sweep of Arizona State and a road series win at UCLA to enter May 27-11. The Cardinal started the month losing four of five, including a series loss at Oregon St. Stanford then rattled off seven straight wins to enter the final week of the season with a chance to win the Pac-12, but the team lost two of three at home to rival Cal last weekend.

CLICK HERE to listen to an exclusive preseason podcast interview with Stanford head coach Mark Marquess by CB360’s Sean Stires.

CLICK HERE to listen to an exclusive interview with Stanford pitcher Mark Appel with Sean Stires.

Pepperdine's Joe Sever is the 2012 WCC Player of the Year

#2 Seed Pepperdine Waves

Record: 34-21 (16-8 WCC, 1^st in WCC. Finished 1 game ahead of San Diego)

How they qualified: Won WCC Automatic Bid by winning regular season title. (WCC does not have a conference tournament)

Rankings: #24 Baseball America/#26 CB360 Composite

Tournament History: 26th NCAA Appearance (Last 2008)/Two CWS Appearances (Last 1992)/One National Championship (1992)

Head Coach: Steve Rodriguez (9^th year at Pepperdine)

Top Hitters: Junior INF Joe Sever, WCC Player of the Year (.370 avg., 52 RBIs, 6 HRs)

Junior INF Zach Vincej, All-WCC and Conference Defensive Player of the Year (.348 avg., 23 RBIs, 18 2Bs)

Senior INF Tony Cooper, WCC Honorable Mention (.309 avg., 25 RBIs, 50 hits)

Top Pitchers: Junior Jon Moscot, All-WCC (6-5, 14 starts, 2.97 ERA, 91 Ks)

Sophomore Corey Miller, WCC Honorable Mention (8-3, 15 starts, 3.56 ERA, 65 Ks)

Sophomore Eric Karch (3-3, 24 appearances, 2.83 ERA, 28 Ks)

Notable Wins: Two out of three vs. Oklahoma and San Diego

2012 Results vs. Palo Alto Regional Opponents: Two out of three vs. Fresno State

All-time records: Stanford: 5-22, Michigan St: 1-0 (1979 NCAA Tournament), Fresno St: 26-40

Season Recap: Pepperdine began the season 7-2 with home series victories over Oklahoma and Fresno State. After a series loss at Louisville the Waves won eight of their next nine entering late March at 16-5. From March 23 to April 6 the team went 2-8, including being swept at home by Texas A&M. After an up and down stretch the Waves entered the last three weeks of the season at 26-19. In those three weeks Pepperdine caught fire winning six of seven. The Waves went into the final week of the season tied for first in the WCC with San Diego. In what was essentially a conference championship series the Waves won two out of three at home vs. the Toreros to take the WCC championship, their first conference title since 2006. Pepperdine won the championship with a 5-1 win over USD last Sunday in the regular season finale.

2012 Palo Alto Regional

All-B1G player Jordan Keur leads Michigan St. with a .359 batting average.

#3 Michigan State Spartans

Record: 37-21 (13-11, 5^th in the Big Ten, four games back of first)

How they qualified: At-large

Ranking: Not ranked

Tournament History: 5^th NCAA Appearance (Last 1979)/One CWS Appearance (1954)/0 National Championships

Head Coach: Jake Boss Jr. (4^th year at Michigan State)

Top Hitters: Junior OF Jordan Keur, 1^st team All Big Ten (.359 avg., 33 RBIs, 14 2Bs)

Junior INF Ryan Jones, 2^nd team All Big Ten (.356 avg., 38 RBIs, 16 2Bs)

Junior INF Torsten Boss, 3^rd team All Big Ten (.306 avg., 43 RBIs, 5 HRs)

Top Pitchers: Senior Tony Bucciferro, 3^rd team All Big Ten (6-3, 15 starts, 2.80 ERA, 90 Ks)

Junior Andrew Waszak (4-3, 15 starts, 2.81 ERA, 75 Ks)

Junior Tony Wieber (2-2, 1.37 ERA, 9 Saves)

Notable Wins: at Baylor, vs. St. John’s and at Purdue

2012 Results vs. Palo Alto Regional Opponents: Did not play any of the Stanford Regional Participants

All-time records: Stanford: Never Played, Pepperdine: 0-1 (1979 NCAA Tournament), Fresno St: Never Played

Season Recap: Michigan State opened the season going 1-2 in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge. After going 3-1 in the First Pitch Invitational in Greenville, SC the Spartans traveled to Texas where they were swept at Texas A&M and picked up a win at Baylor. After the win in Waco Michigan State won 13 of 15 from March 9 to April 4. The streak included an eight game win streak. The team went into early April 18-8. The Spartans finished April by going 9-7 and entered the final month of the season 27-15. They finished the month losing two of three at conference champion Purdue. After starting the month by winning seven of nine the squad finished the regular season losing a series at Penn State. The Spartans then went 2-2 last weekend in the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan State was able to grab one of the last at-large tournament bids. The Spartans are the first Big Ten team to receive an at-large bid since 2009.

CLICK HERE to listen to an exclusive interview with Michigan State pitcher Tony Bucciferro.

Fresno State's Kenneth Wise earned 1st team All-WAC honors

#4 Fresno State Bulldogs

Record: 30-26 (8-10, 5^th in WAC, three games back of first)

How they qualified: Automatic Bid – Won WAC Tournament

Ranking: Not ranked

Tournament History: 34^th NCAA Appearance (2^nd straight/Last Year 0-2 in UCLA Regional)/Four CWS Appearances (Last 2008)/One National Championship (2008)

Head Coach: Mike Batesole (10^th year at Fresno State)

Top Hitters: Junior C/INF Trent Garrison, 2^nd team All WAC (.333 avg., 35 RBIs, 10 2Bs)

Senior OF Kenneth Wise, 1^st team All WAC (.323 avg., 36 RBIs, 4 HRs)

Sophomore OF Aaron Judge (.312 avg., 25 RBIs, 13 2Bs)

Top Pitchers: Senior Thomas Harlan, 2^nd team All WAC (7-7, 15 starts, 2.73 ERA, 83 Ks)

Senior Justin Haley, 2^nd team All WAC (7-3, 2.98 ERA, 89 Ks)

Senior Taylor Garrison (1-2, 26 appearances, 2.77 ERA, 10 Saves)

Notable Wins: Two out of three at New Mexico State and wins vs. Pepperdine, Stanford and New Mexico

2012 Results vs. Regional Opponents: 1-2 vs. Pepperdine, 1-2 vs. Stanford

All-time records: Stanfords: 45-79, Pepperdine: 40-26, Michigan St: Never Played

Season Recap: The Bulldogs started the season by winning three of four vs. Butler, but followed that by losing six of their next eight with series loses at Pepperdine and vs. Stanford.. The win vs. #1 Stanford on March 2 the Bulldogs handed Stanford ace Mark Appel his only loss of the season. Fresno entered mid-March at just 7-9 before winning five straight. From late March to the end of April the Bulldogs went 6-13 to enter May 18-22. Fresno lost each of its first three conference series. The team turned their season around by going 7-3 in May to finish the regular season. During those ten games FSU won series vs. WAC Regular Season Co-Champions Sacramento State and New Mexico State. The Bulldogs started last weekends WAC Tournament 2-0 before losing to Sacramento St. The Bulldogs then won three straight elimination games to win the tournament title. In the final game the Bulldogs defeated Sacramento St 4-3 in 13-innings on a walk-off single.

The Palo Alto Regional gets underway Friday with #2 Pepperdine taking on #3 Michigan State at 1 p.m. PST/4 EST followed by #1 Stanford going up against #4 Fresno State at 6 p.m. PST/9 EST. Saturday’s and Sunday’s games are scheduled for 1 and 6 p.m. local time as well. If a Monday game is necessary it will be played at 6 p.m. PST.

The winner of the regional takes on the winner of the Tallahassee Regional, which features #3 National seed Florida State, Mississippi State, Samford and UAB.

Marquee Opponents Await Waves In ’12…

Pepperdine has unveiled its 2012 college baseball schedule. The Waves open the new season with a nine game home stand that begins February 17-19 with a three game series against Oklahoma.

After a pair of midweek games with Virginia Commonwealth, Pepperdine hosts a three game set vs. Fresno State and then closes the home stand with a game against USC. The Trojans also host the Waves in April.

The Waves hit the road for the first time when they play three games at Louisville March 2-4 and then return to Malibu, CA for three games against Rhode Island and a single game at UCLA. The Bruins also visit Pepperdine later in the season.

Head coach Steve Rodriguez‘s team welcomes 2011 NCAA Regional team Kent State for a March 16-18 series. 2011 College Word Series team Texas A&M visits with three games the following weekend.

Pepperdine opens West Coast Conference play with three game at Gonzaga March 30-April 1. Other conference road series are at St. Mary’s, Santa Clara and Loyola Marymount. The Waves host WCC series with Portland, San Francisco, San Diego, and WCC newcomer BYU.

Pepperdine plays a home and home series with Cal State Fullerton.

The Dugout is located right across the street from the Road To Omaha statue outside TD Ameritrade Stadium, but if you left Omaha without that College World Series hat, shirt or memorabilia you were thinking about you can still get it at Dugouthats.com!  The Dugout also has fitted college and minor league caps – just like the ones the players where on the field.

The best part is, when you click on one of the red links to Dugouthats.com you will save 20% on your order when you enter the coupon code CB360!

Baseball Among Three Sports Self-Reported By School…

A Look At Who’s Hot & Who’s Not In College Baseball

Jason Coats led TCU with 6 RBIs vs. Cal State Fullerton

Stock-Up

TCU:  The Horned Frogs went to Cal State Fullerton and took two of three games from the Titans to improve to 5-1.  They did it by out-scoring Fullerton 13-3 in their two wins.  Those wins were against All-Americans Daniel Renken and Tyler Pill.  TCU is batting .341 with a .943 team OPS, while the pitching staff has a 2.82 ERA with 47 Ks in 51 IP.

Coastal Carolina:  The Chanticleers were already ranked, and then they went and swept two games from UC Irvine last Saturday.  It wasn’t like they were facing the Anteaters’ 3rd & 4th starters either.  Coastal beat Daniel Bibona and Eric Pettis on the same day.  Bibona was 12-1 last year with a 2.63 ERA, while Pettis was 5-2 with 17 saves as Irvine’s closer.

Texas:  After losing two of three games at home to New Mexico to open the season the Longhorns swept a Stanford team that had swept Rice on opening weekend.  The vaunted Longhorn pitching staff showed why it’s considered the best in the nation in the process.  Taylor Jungmann, Cole Green, Chance Ruffin, and  Brandon Workman combined to give-up just two runs with 26 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings during the series.

East Carolina:  Typically a 4-3 team wouldn’t be considered one whose stock is rising, but the Pirates have essentially played two Super Regionals to open the season.  They lost two of three vs. a loaded Virginia team and then then took two of three from a very good South Carolina squad.   ECU will rack-up a lot of wins by season’s end.

St. John’s:  The Red Storm is off to a 6-0 start with wins over New Orleans (3), Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois.  They won their three games at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge by a total of four runs.  The biggest long-term question Ed Blankmeyer’s team would appear to have is pitching.   Bruce Kern and Nick Cenatiempo have both been good so far, but while it’s still early, neither has gone deep into a game yet.  In their combined four starts neither has pitched more than five innings.

Washington State:  The Cougars’ 6-0 start is their best since 1988.  They have a staff ERA of 3.74 and a batting average of .363 in those six games.   Wins over the likes of Seattle, Bethune-Cookman and Texas Tech haven’t been the stiffest of tests, but it’s been more than 20 years since they started as well against similar schedules as well.

Southeastern Louisiana:  A 3-game sweep at Mississippi State last week has earned the Lions (8-0) the program’s first ever national ranking (#29 in this week’s Collegiate Baseball Poll).   They’ve done it with good pitching and a well-rounded offense.  Tyler Watkins and Brandon Efferson have each made two starts and have totaled 14.0 and 12.0 innings, respectively.  Three relievers have also combined to post four saves for a staff with a 2.70 ERA.  Meanwhile, the team is hitting .304 and 11 different batters have at least 3 RBIs.

Tim Esmay:  One of the questions we raised coming into the season was whether Esmay could continue what Pat Murphy had done for the last 15 years.  ASU is 7-0 in Esmay’s first seven games as head coach at his alma mater.  Northern Illinois and Towson haven’t provided high-octane competition, but games vs. Cal Poly, Oregon State and Florida International this week should test the Sun Devils more.

Stock Down

UC Irvine:  In addition to the previously mentioned losses to Coastal Carolina the Anteaters also lost to North Carolina State last weekend at the Baseball By The Beach Tournament in Myrtle Beach.  They also lost 6-0 Tuesday

All-American Daniel Renken is 0-2 in his first two starts in 2010.

night at Pepperdine to fall to 4-4.  Irvine is built on pitching, but it must improve its 6.75 staff ERA.

Cal State Fullerton:  First the Titans lost to Oregon and Pepperdine on opening weekend, then they suffered two more home losses to TCU last weekend.  The four losses at Goodwin Field are half as many as they had all of last year.   Stud pitchers Daniel Renken, Tyler Pill and Noe Ramirez are a combined 1-4, while the offense has hit just .236 during the 3-4 start.

Minnesota:  The Golden Gophers’ 0-3 performance at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge was probably the shocker of the event.  They did face arguably the toughest slate of anyone in the field with losses to St. John’s (5-4), UConn (8-2) and Louisville (5-4).  Those could be the top three teams in the Big East by season’s end.  Minnesota has a solid 2.89 staff ERA, but like St. John’s their starters have not gone deep into games yet.  The offense is hitting just .273 during a 2-4 start, but the Gophers should still be alright once Big Ten play starts.

Oregon:  Yes, I did have the Ducks on the “Stock-Up” list last week after wins over Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount, but I also warned not to get too excited too quickly.  Sure enough, Oregon went to Hawaii and lost 3 of 4 games to the Warriors.  It’s likely to be a roller coaster ride again for the Ducks in George Horton’s second season.

Southern Mississippi:  The curse of a Cinderella going to the College World Series is the expectation(and bulls eye on the back) it brings the following year.  That appears to be what happened to the Golden Eagles after they dropped 2 of 3 home games last weekend to LeMoyne.  They also lost at home to Northwestern State on opening weekend.  USM is hitting and pitching solidly, but they’re going to get the best effort of every team they play all season.

Top Performers Shine During Opening Weekend

Max Willett (NewMexico/CF)

CollegeBaseball360.com has recognized a group of players from throughout the nation for their “primetime performances” during the season’s opening weekend (Feb. 19-21). Leading the way are three top honorees – as New Mexico senior centerfielder Max Willett (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Oregon sophomore second baseman Danny Pulfer (Cypress, Calif.) share the inaugural honor as Co-Primetime Players of the Week while Ball State senior righthander Morgan Coombs (West Terre Haute, Ind.) is the first Primetime Pitcher of the Week. These three players headline the first Primetime Performers Weekly Honor Roll (listed below).

Willette batted 7-for-11 (RBI, 3R, 2B) in leading New Mexico to a series win at top-ranked Texas, while Pulfer hit .412 (7-for-17) and had a hand in nearly 40% of Oregon’s 32 runs (6 RBI, 6 R) during the Ducks’ breakout southern-California roadswing (highlighted by wins over #3 Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State). Coombs delivered in a pressure-packed situation at #15 Arkansas, closing Ball State’s 5-2 win with 5.0 strong innings (UER, 4H, 8K) despite 8,000-plus spirited Razorbacks fans cheering against him.

Danny Pulfer (Oregon/2B)

Similar to the weekly awards presented on sister site CollegeSoccer360.com, the CB360 Primetime Performer honors various players based on any/all of the following “primetime” criteria…not solely based on raw stats.

Primetime Performer Award Criteria

• Must have been playing for or against a CB360 top-50 team (in the Composite National Rankings)  or performed a high level in a game that could be key to a team’s conference/NCAA postseason qualification.

Morgan Coombs (Ball St./RHP)

• Involved in clutch performances, such as late game-winning hits, noteworthy comebacks, game-changing plays, team leadership, etc.

• Performing at a top level against a team rated highly nationally (or within its conference), with bonus consideration given for key performances away from home field.

• Overcoming adversity or extreme circumstances (for the team and/or individual).

Additional information and bio. data on the Primetime Performers, along with headshots and action photos, is being added to this release.

The other 17 members of the CB360 Primetime Performer Weekly Honor Roll include New Mexico senior 1B Justin Howard, two sophomores (LHP/1B Danny Hultzen and 3B Steven Proscia) from the Virginia team that took 2-of-3 at East Carolina en route to the #1 national ranking, and two players (so. RHP Jordan Pries, jr. SS Jake Schlander) from the Stanford team that swept Rice, along with the following clutch performers: Northwestern State so. OF/1B Colin Bear … Hawaii so. RF Collin Bennett … Georgia Tech so. LHP Jed Bradley … East Carolina so. LHP Kevin Brandt … Louisiana-Monroe jr. RHP Wil Browning … Pepperdine jr. LHP Matt Bywater … Florida sr. CF Matt den Dekker … TCU fr. RF/C Josh Elander … Gonzaga sr. CF Drew Heid … Kentucky so. RHP/1B Braden Kapteyn … Baylor sr. RHP Willie Kempf … and Fresno State jr. 1B Jordan Ribera.

The 20 honorees include nine pitchers (pair of 2-way players; 5 RHP/4 LHP), five first baseman (including both 2-way players, plus one who also played OF), three centerfielders, three corner outfielders (one also played 1B, one C), one second baseman, one shortstop, one third baseman and one catcher (also played OF). TCU’s Elander is the only freshman among the Primetime players, which also include a fifth-year senior, six seniors, three juniors and a big sophomore-class representation of nine honorees.

The group includes four Texas natives – Bear, Elander, Howard and Kempf – and four more from California (Bywater, Pries, Pulfer and Ribera), along with two Primetime players from Washington and one each from Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York and North Carolina.

(from left) Oregon second baseman Danny Pulfer, Ball State closer Morgan Coombs and New Mexico centerfielder Max Willett headline CB360’s first group of Primetime Performers (photos courtesy of each school).

WILLETT – batting from the #6 spot – combined with Howard to lead a Lobos offense that hit .284 with 10 extra-base hits in a three-game road series versus #1-ranked Texas and its vaunted pitching staff. UNM shocked the college baseball world by taking the series in Austin (2-6/6-5/3-1), with Willett batting 7-for-11 (.636, RBI, 3 R, 3B, 2B, HBP, SF) and playing error-free in center field.

After a solid showing in the opener (2-for-4, 2B), Willett went 3-for-4 in UNM’s game-2 upset. He led off the 6th by placing and opposite-field triple into the right-center gap and scored moments later for a 5-4 deficit. Three innings later, moments after Howard’s game-tying home run, Willett delivered in a situational plate appearance – flying out the left field for a sacrifice fly that plated Devon Conley as the eventual winning run.

Willett’s game-3 effort (2-for-3, 2R, 2B) helped produce another win over the Longhorns. He hit a 1-out single up the middle and scored the game’s first run in the 4th, later adding the game’s final run in the 8th (after a 2-out double down the leftfield line).

A second team all-Mountain West Conference selection in 2009 (.355, 46 RBI, 4 HR, 15 2B, 12-13 SB, 15 sac. bunts, 0 errors), Willett played sparingly in his first three seasons at UNM – totaling only 59 games played and 31 starts spanning the 2006-08 seasons. He batted only .229 as a sophomore in 2007 before seeing his junior season (12 GS) cut short by a hand injury. He is a product of Colorado’s Thunder Ridge High School, where he played on state-championship teams in both baseball and football.

Primetime Performer Weekly Honor Roll (Feb. 19-21)

“It’s not so much what you do, as it is when you do it.”

Player (Pos.) … School … Yr., Ht./Wt. … Hometown … Stats & Notes

Colin Bear (OF) … Northwestern St. … So., 6-3/210 … Houston, TX

Collin Bennett (RF) … Hawaii … So., 6-1 … Bellevue, WA

Jed Bradley (LHP) … Georgia Tech … So., 6-4/210 … Huntsville, AL

Kevin Brandt (LHP) … East Carolina … So., 6-2/190 … Fuquay Varina, NC

Wil Browning (RHP) … La. Monroe Jr., 6-3/200 … Kosciusko, MS

Matt Bywater (LHP) … Pepperdine … Jr., 6-2/195 … Thousand Oaks, CA

*Morgan Coombs (RHP) … Ball State … Sr., 6-1/190 … West Terre Haute, IN

Matt den Dekker (CF) … Florida … Sr., 6-1/210 … Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Josh Elander (RF/C) … TCU … Fr., 6-0/205 … Round Rock, TX

Drew Heid (CF) … Gonzaga … Sr., 5-10/175 … Touchet, WA

Justin Howard (1B) … New Mexico … Sr., 6-0/205 … Ennis, TX

Danny Hultzen (LHP/1B) … Virginia … So., 6-3/200 … Bethesda, MD

Braden Kapteyn (RHP/1B) …Kentucky … So., 6-4/220 … Lansing, IL

Willie Kempf (RHP) … Baylor … Sr., 6-0/195 … Castroville, TX

Jordan Pries (RHP) … Stanford … So., 6-0/190 … Alameda, CA

Steven Proscia (3B) … Virginia … So., 6-2/215 … Suffern, NY

*Danny Pulfer (2B) … Oregon … So., … 5-10/190 … Cypress, CA

Jordan Ribera (1B) … Fresno State … Jr., 6-0/220 … Fresno, CA

Jake Schlander (SS) … Stanford … Jr., 6-2/195 … Scottsdale, AZ

*Max Willett (CF) … New Mexico … Sr., 5-10/190 … Highlands Ranch, CO

* – Note: Pulfur and Willett shared the CB360 Primetime Player of the Week award, while Coombs was the inaugural Primetime Pitcher of the Week

San Diego Tabbed As The Team To Beat In 2010

SAN BRUNO, CA - San Diego was picked as the favorite to win this year’s WCC regular season title in the 2010 preseason baseball poll, as voted on by the head coaches in the conference. The Toreros received six first place votes for a total of 48 points and are ranked 24th in Collegiate Baseball’s preseason poll. Pepperdine was picked second with 38 points and is also receiving national recognition, ranked 34th in the Collegiate Baseball’s preseason poll. San Francisco totaled 33 points for third, while 2009 WCC Champion Gonzaga got one first place vote for 29 points to finish fourth, just edging out 2009 runner-up Loyola Marymount, which received 28 points for fifth. Rounding out this year’s preseason poll are Santa Clara, which received the last first place vote with 20 points, Saint Mary’s with 17 points, and Portland with 11 points.

San Diego is coming off a fifth place finish last year and return a number of key players, including 2009 WCC Player of the Year James Meador (SR, OF), and 2009 All-WCC first team members Zach Walters (JR, 3B) and AJ Griffin (SR, RHP), who also made the preseason all-conference team. In addition, Head Coach Rich Hill, who is the league’s all-time leader in WCC victories (246), will bring back Kevin Muno (JR, OF) and Kyle Blair (JR, RHP), who were both named to the preseason all-conference team. In all, San Diego, which led the league in batting average (.319), brings back eight starting position players and four pitchers.

Pepperdine, under Head Coach Steve Rodriguez, finished tied for third last year and led the league in strikeouts (477), opposing batting average (.240), and were tied for the lead in saves (12) and earned runs allowed (237). The Waves’ returners will be highlighted by Matt Bywater (JR, LHP), a 2009 All-WCC first team selection, and Cole Cook (SO, RHP) and Brian Humphries (SO, OF), who were both named to last year’s all-freshman team. Cook was also named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American last year.

San Francisco tied for third last year and will be led by 12th year Head Coach Nino Giarratano, who was named an assistant coach for the 2010 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. The Dons return 23 letterwinners, including 2009 All-WCC first team members Derek Poppert (SR, SS) and Doug Murray (SR, RHP), who led the league in wins going 9-0. In addition, junior infielder Stephen Yarrow was named to the preseason all-conference team.

Gonzaga, fresh off its first ever regular season and WCC Championship Series title, is led by 2009 WCC Coach of the Year, Mark Machtolf. The Zags will field a young team as they return three position starters and three pitchers, highlighted by Drew Heid (SR, OF), who was the 2009 Alaska Summer League MVP, and Cody Martin (JR, RHP), who tied for second in the league with six saves. Loyola Marymount, which finished second last year under first year Head Coach Jason Gill, returns four position starters and three pitchers, led by 2009 All-WCC first team selection Jonathan Johnson (JR, 2B) and all-freshman team members Ryan Hawthorne (SO, OF) and Shon Roe (SO, INF). Santa Clara, under Head Coach Mark O’Brien, returns five starting position players and eight pitchers, led by 2009 All-WCC first team members Geoff Klein (SR, C), who tied for the league lead in batting average (.379), and Nate Garcia (SR, RHP), who led the league in strikeouts (96), as well as Tommy Medica, who was named ot the preseason all-conference team. Saint Mary’s, led by Head Coach Jedd Soto, will be led by the 2009 WCC Freshman of the Year, Troy Channing, who became just the third player in WCC history to win the Triple Crown and was a second-team All-American. Portland returns eight starting position players and two starting pitchers under Head Coach Chris Sperry. Highlighting the returnees are 2009 All-Freshman team selection Kris Kauppila (SO, SS), and Zach Varce (JR, RHP), who tied for the league lead in saves with nine.

2010 WCC Baseball Preseason Poll
1. San Diego – 48 (6)
2. Pepperdine – 38
3. San Francisco – 33
4. Gonzaga – 29 (1)
5. Loyola Marymount – 28
6. Santa Clara – 20 (1)
7. Saint Mary’s – 17
8. Portland – 11
(First place votes)

Preseason All-Conference Teams
Position Players
Troy Channing, SMC
Drew Heid, GON
Riley Henricks, POR
Brian Humphries, PEP
Kris Kauppila, POR
Geoff Klein, SCU
James Meador, USD
Tommy Medica, SCU
Kevin Muno, USD
Zach Walters, USD
Stephen Yarrow, USF

Pitchers
Kyle Blair, USD
Matt Bywater, PEP
Cole Cook, PEP
AJ Griffin, USD
Doug Murray, USF

Gonzaga Looks For WCC Repeat After Winning First Crown

Reigning WCC Player of the Year James Meador of San Diego

Student-Athletes: Four WCC players were named to the ESPN the Magazine/CoSida Academic All-District VIII First Team, the most by any conference in the district.  Evan Wells of Gonzaga, Ryan Wheeler of Loyola Marymount, Bryant Kraus Portland, and Drew Johnson of San Francisco all made the team.

The West Coast Conference looks to rebound from a down year in 2008.  After sending three teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2007 and two in 2008, only Gonzaga made it in 2009.  The Bulldogs go after their second straight WCC crown after capturing their first ever conference title last year.  However, several contenders are ready to make a run this year led by San Diego and Pepperdine.

Gonzaga

2009 Season: (36-18, 14-7)

Nickname: Bulldogs

Head Coach: Mark Machtolf

Location: Spokane, WA

Vitals: .299 BA, 39 HR, .390 OPB, .971 Fld%…4.44 ERA, 11 SVs, 422 K, 180 BB, .284 Opp. BA

Outfield Strength: CF Drew Heid (.355 BA, 8 triples) and LF Matt Castellitto (.278 BA, team high 9 HR) returns to lead the Bulldog offense.

Tough to Replace: The Bulldogs must fill the holes left by C Tyson Van Winkle, who led the team with a .362 BA, 27 doubles, and a .543 Slg%, and WCC Pitcher of the Year Matt Fields, who posted an 8-1 record with a 3.47 ERA and 74 Ks.

Strong Like Bull(dog): A challenging non-conference schedule awaits Gonzaga.  Included are matchups against Missouri, Kansas, Texas Tech, Notre Dame and UC-Irvine.

Loyola Marymount

2009 Season: (30-29, 13-8)

Nickname: Lions

Head Coach: Jason Gill

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Vitals: .297 BA, 42 HR, .380 OBP, .971 Fld%…5.65 ERA, 9 SVs, 404 K, 198 BB, .304 Opp. BA

Who’s Next: Loyola Marymount has to deal with the loss of their top two offensive threats due to the graduations of OF Angelo Songco and 1B Ryan Wheeler.  Songco (.360 BA, 15 HR, 63 RBI) led the Lions in nine offensive categories and was the only WCC player to be a semifinalist for the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award given annually to nation’s top collegiate baseball player.  Wheeler finished the 2009 season with a .319 BA while pounding out 20 doubles, 9 HR and 48 RBI.

Feast or Famine: 2009 saw its ups and downs for the Lions.  After winning 8 of their first 10 games, LMU lost their next 10 only to win the next 8.  Wins included victories over 5^th-ranked UC-Irvine, 6^th-ranked Cal State Fullerton and a four-game sweep of defending national champion Fresno State.

Jump right in: The Lions open the 2010 season with a three game series against 8^th-ranked UC-Irvine.

Pepperdine

2009 Season: (31-23, 12-9)

Nickname: Waves

Head Coach: Steve Rodriguez

Location: Malibu, CA

Vitals: .284 BA, 43 HR, .361 OBP, .982 Fld %…4.52 ERA, 12 SVs, 477 K, 223 BB, .240 Opp. BA

Pepperdine's Denny Duron

Golden Gloves: Pepperdine led the WCC with a .982 fielding percentage, committing only 36 errors all season, 23 fewer than the second place team, Gonzaga.  INF Denny Duron earned WCC Defensive Player of the Year honors going 42 games while committing only 3 errors.

Big Arms: The Waves top two pitchers, Jr. LHP Matt Bywater (6-1, 3.57 ERA, 66 K, .217 Opp BA) and So. RHP Cole Cook (7-3, 3.69 ERA, 79 K, .195 Opp. BA, 1 SV) return to lead one the top pitching staffs in the WCC.

Nothing But the Best: A challenging non-conference slate features games against Cal State Fullerton, UC-Irvine, LSU, Stanford, and UCLA.

Portland

2009 Season: (25-26, 7-14)

Nickname: Pilots

Head Coach: Chris Sperry

Location: Portland, OR

Vitals: .290 BA, 50 HR, .361 OBP, .969 Fld %…5.32 ERA, 12 SVs, 295 K, 171 BB, .298 Opp. BA

Taking Flight: Portland’s 25 wins a year ago is the highest total in the 12 year tenure of head coach Chris Sperry.

Foundation for the Future: 20 of the 32 players on the 2010 roster are freshman or sophomores.

Key Returners: So. RHP Kyle Kraus (4-6, 4.00 ERA) and Jr. RHP Zach Varce (3-5, 2.69 ERA, 9 SVs) lead the young pitching staff, while Jr. INF Riley Hendricks (.344 BA, 31 RBI) and So. INF Kris Kauppila (.336  BA, 20 doubles, 8 SB) return to lead the Pilot offensive attack.

San Diego

2009 Season: (29-25, 11-10)

Nickname: Toreros

Head Coach: Rich Hill

Location: San Diego, CA

Vitals: .319 BA, 47 HR, .381 OBP, .961 Fld %…5.07 ERA, 12 SVs, 425 K, 190 BB, .274 Opp. BA

Big Hitters: San Diego was the top hitting team in the WCC in 2009 with a .319 team BA.  They were led by Jr. James Meador (.376 BA, 80 H, 45 RBI), who was named the WCC Player of the Year, and So. Zach Walters (.377 BA, 13 doubles, 4 triples).

Mound Marvel: Sr. RHP A.J. Griffin became a starter during conference play last year posting an 8-3 record with a 3.33 ERA and 3 SVs.  His 28 career saves are tied for most in WCC history.

Close to Home: The Toreros leave the state of California only three times this season.  The first is March 26-28 for a three game series against Coastal Carolina.  An early April trip to Tempe to play a pair against Arizona State, and a five game swing to Oregon to face Portland, Oregon and Oregon State in May complete the interstate road trips.

San Francisco

2009 Season: (28-28, 12-9)

Nickname: Dons

Head Coach: Nino Giarratano

Location: San Francisco, CA

Vitals: .296 BA, 41 HR, .375 OBP, .968 Fld. %…5.09 ERA, 9 SVs, 371 K, 194 BB, .278 Opp. BA

Fleet Feet: Sr. OF Zach Kim swiped 42 bases in 2009 breaking the single-season USF record.  For the year, the Dons stole 107 bases in 129 attempts, a staggering 83 % clip.

Strong Arm Returns: 1^st team All-WCC P Doug Murray returns to head the USF staff.  As a junior, Murray went 9-0 in 18 starts posting a 3.77 ERA while striking out 45.  Murray was the only WCC pitcher to finish the season undefeated.

Save the Dates: USF hosts Rikkyo University from Japan in a special exhibition game at Benedetti Stadium March 3^rd.  The Dons also take on St. Mary’s April 16^th at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.

Santa Clara

2009 Season: (19-34, 6-15)

Nickname: Broncos

Head Coach: Mark O’Brien

Location: Santa Clara, CA

Vitals: .286 BA, 24 HR, .356 OBP, .966 Fld. %…6.31 ERA, 7 SVs, 399 K, 170 BB, .312 Opp. BA

Key Returners: Two of the three Santa Clara players that garnered 1^st team All-WCC honors last year return this year’s squad.  Sr. C Geoff Klein (.379 BA, 81 H, 56 RBI) led the WCC in batting average and hits in 2009 and anchors the everyday lineup this year.  Sr. RHP Nate Garcia (7-5, 4.33 ERA, 96 K, 3 CG) will lead one of the younger pitching staffs in the conference.

Youth is Served: The Broncos’ 2010 roster includes 20 first-year players and 14 true freshman.

Welcome back: RS JR. Tommy Medica played in just 9 games last year before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season.  He was leading the team with a .429 BA while scoring 9 runs and collecting 7 doubles at the time of his injury.  For his career, Medica is a .361 hitter, 3^rd best in SCU history, and the WCC batting champ his freshman year in 2007.

St. Mary’s

2009 Season: (28-27, 9-12)

Nickname: Gaels

Head Coach: Jedd Soto

Location: Moraga, CA

Troy Channing

Vitals: .288 BA, 50 HR, .374 OBP, .965 Fld. %…5.35 ERA, 9 SVs, 364 K, 180 BB, .295 Opp. BA

Young Gun: 3B Troy Channing earned WCC Freshman of the Year honors after winning the conference triple crown becoming just the third player in WCC history to accomplish that feat.  For the season, Channing hit .379, crushed 20 HR, and drove in 75.  Channing also was just one of two freshman to be a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy.

Tough Road to Hoe: Trips to UC-Irvine, Tulane, Southern Mississippi, and Stanford highlight a challenging non-conference road schedule.

Need a Staff: Three of the Gaels top pitchers from a season ago are gone.  Brian Justice, Scott Schneider and Nathan Gonzalez combined to earn 15 of the team’s 28 wins in 2009.  Sr. RHP Brandon Berl (2-2, 4.01 ERA, 6 SVs) and So. RHP Kyle Barraclough (4-5, 4.70 ERA) lead the staff.

West Coast Conference Predictions

2010 Champion: Pepperdine, with San Diego fighting with them down to the wire

2010 Player of the Year: James Meador—San Diego

2010 Pitcher of the Year: Matt Bywater—Pepperdine

(By Collegebaseball360.com contributor Shawn Lewallen)