College Baseball 360 » St. john’s

Mojo Risin’ For New Mexico, Missouri Baseball Teams

Sean Stires — Fri, 27 May 2011 14:12:52 +0000

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Bubble Teams Not Fans Of Lobos, Tigers…

Heading into this week’s Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament there was no reason to be thinking highly of No. 6 seed New Mexico. Someone forgot to tell head coach Ray Birmingham.

Ray Birmingham

The Lobos had lost seven straight games heading into the MWC Tourney, but the first four of those losses came at Oklahoma and the last three setbacks were to conference rival TCU. Both of those teams have already eclipsed 40 wins this season as they shoot to get back to Omaha after trips there last year.

Birmingham’s Lobos have been seemingly unfazed by their late season misfortunes since arriving in San Diego, and now find themselves one win away from a return trip to the NCAA tournament. New Mexico (19-39) has beaten #3 seed BYU, #1 seed TCU and #2 seed Utah in succession to advance to Friday’s MWC Championship game against either TCU or Utah.

“This team has been through a lot,” Birmingham said after Thursday’s win over the Utes. ” There is a method to my madness and we’re getting there.”

That “madness” has included a brutal schedule this season after Birmingham guided New Mexico to its first NCAA bid in nearly five decades in 2010. The Lobos started the season by dropping three games at Arizona State (a fourth game was rained-out). Their non-conference slate also included games against Oklahoma State, Arizona, Texas Tech, Gonzaga and Oklahoma, finishing just 1-17 against those teams which are all in the NCAA conversation this weekend.

The Lobos also faced TCU, which was a preseason #1 team in some polls, six times (going 1-5) in conference play during the regular season.

“A lot of blogs said we had the hardest schedule in the nation and I believe we did,” Birmingham said after his team’s tournament win over TCU. “We’re not afraid to face the best now. We know how to face the best.”

New Mexico, a team with an RPI of 158 entering the week, is just the second No. 6 seed to advance to the championship game of the MWC Tournament. The only other team to do it was Utah in 2009. The Utes claimed the title that year.

TCU and Utah play at 6 p.m. ET Friday. New Mexico faces the winner at 10 p.m. A Lobo win would give them the tournament title and automatic NCAA bid. If the TCU/Utah winner beats UNM they would play an “if necessary” winner take all game on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. All games are televised by the Mtn. Network and CBS College Sports (channels 616 and 613, respectively on DirecTV).

Missouri players celebrate after Thursday's win (courtesy Big 12).

Missouri is another team that is causing migraines for NCAA bubble teams this week. The Tigers brought just a 24-30 record into this week’s Big 12 Tournament, but they won four of their last five conference series to close the regular season. Those wins all came against teams with higher seeds in this week’s tournament: Texas A&M (2), Baylor (5), Kansas State (6), and Texas Tech (7).

Two teams Missouri did not beat during the regular season were No. 1 seed Texas and No. 4 seed Oklahoma State. The Tigers dropped all six match-ups to the Longhorns and Cowboys in back-to-back weekends at the start of April, but their fortunes changed in rematches this week in Oklahoma City.

Missouri knocked-off top-seeded Texas 6-4 on Wednesday and then held-off OSU 6-5 on Thursday to advance to the tournament semifinals. Missouri led Oklahoma State 5-0, only to see the Cowboys score five runs over the last two innings to tie the game before Eric Garcia‘s walk-off hit with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning.

“I’m really proud of these guys, not just this weekend, but the last five or six weeks,” Mizzou head coach Tim Jamieson said after his team’s fifth walk-off win of the season. “These guys read the blogs and read the websites much more than I do. They know we have to finish above .500 or win the tournament. We can’t finish above .500, so it’s pretty simple math.”

The Tigers now have Friday off and wait until Saturday morning at 10 ET to face the winner of Friday’s Texas-Oklahoma State elimination game. The eight-team Big 12 Tourney is formatted similarly to the College World Series, so if Mizzou wins Saturday it moves on to Sunday’s championship game (Texas A&M is 2-0 in the other four-team pool). If the Texas/OSU winner beats Missouri Saturday morning there will be a rematch that afternoon.

The Big 12 Championship game is Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET on Fox Sports Regional Networks.

Elsewhere…

Auburn and Georgia were both teams with work to do to heading into the SEC Tournament, but the bubble has already burst for one of those teams. Georgia (29-29) eliminated Auburn (29-29) in more ways than one with Thursday’s 3-2 victory.

Since a team must finish above .500 to receive an NCAA at-large bid, Auburn’s season is now done. With that in mind, Georgia must not only beat South Carolina on Friday, but they would also have to beat Florida Saturday afternoon to meet the above .500 requirement. South Carolina fell 7-2 to Vanderbilt Thursday night, while Florida is 2-0 with wins over Mississippi State and Alabama.

The fact that Georgia and Auburn could both finish below .500 after qualifying for the SEC field could indirectly help the at-large cases of two teams that didn’t make it to Hoover. Three-time defending SEC champion LSU (36-20 overall) is home this week with an RPI of 23, while Ole Miss (30-25) awaits selection Monday with an RPI of 40.
The only realistic shot the Big East had to get two teams in the NCAA Tournament was for someone other than Connecticut to win its conference tourney. That’s closer to happening after defending champion St. John’s (34-18 and this year’s #2 seed) downed Pittsburgh 6-4 Thursday to improve to 2-0, while UConn (40-16-1) was upset 4-3 by #4 seed Seton Hall (31-23) to fall into the elimination bracket.

The Huskies (38 RPI) are still in good shape for an at-large bid, but anything other than a conference tournament title would all but kill any chances of hosting a regional for a second straight year.
Houston pulled-off its second straight upset at the Conference USA Tournament Thursday. The No. 6 seed Cougars downed No. 2 Southern Mississippi 7-6 a day after downing No. 3 East Carolina 8-5. As we reported earlier this week, Southern Miss. is without two of its top three starting pitchers, Geoffrey Thomas and Jonathon Thompson, who are suspended for academic reasons. Houston (27-30) now faces No. 7 Tulane (30-26).
It didn’t quite match Wednesday’s 20-inning marathon between Western Carolina and Elon in the SoCon Tournament, but Georgia Tech outlasted North Carolina State 6-5 in 15 innings Thursday at the ACC Tourney. Yellow Jacket Matt Hyde stole home in the top of the 15th to give his team the win in the longest game in ACC Tournament history. Georgia Tech, NC State, Clemson and Florida State all are 1-1 in Pool B.

No. 8 seed Arkansas-Little Rock has clinched spot in Sunday’s Sun Belt Championship game. UALR (22-32) has wins over No. 1 Troy and No. 4 Western Kentucky.

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College Baseball Twitter Pics

Sean Stires — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 19:04:15 +0000

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Last week we took a quick spin around the college baseball world with some Twitter comments from players and coaches. With the season now less than two weeks away, we thought we would go with a few college baseball pictures that caught our eye on our Twitter feed.

Don’t forget, you can follow us @CB360updates. Feel free to Tweet us comments, pictures and Youtube videos throughout the 2011 season!

The spoils of a title! A pretty sweet ride for the national champion South Carolina Gamecocks from @JackieBradleyJr

Going through some indoor practice in the other Columbia...Missouri from @MUTigerBaseball

Yes, there's snow on the ground in the Steel City, but there's good news for Pitt. Look in the background at that grandstand and press box, it's all new! From @PITTBASEBALL

The Louisville Cardinals going through workouts at Patterson Stadium from @xanbarksdale

A new scoreboard for Ole Miss at Oxford University Stadium/Swayze Field from @CoachMikeBianco

The defending Big East champs, St. John's, with some new hats from @STJ_Baseball

And how about a National Championship ring from @JackieBradleyJr...

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Big East Baseball 2011 Preseason Poll

Sean Stires — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:24:01 +0000

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UConn Tabbed As Coaches’ Favorite…

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – After winning a school-record 48 games and advancing to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 1994, Connecticut has been chosen as the favorite to win the 2011 BIG EAST college baseball championship by the league’s 12 head coaches.

Matt Barnes

The Huskies received nine of a possible 11 first-place votes in the preseason poll. The coaches also chose Connecticut outfielder George Springer as the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year and named righthanded pitcher Matt Barnes the BIG EAST Preseason Pitcher of the Year.

Connecticut returns seven starting position players and its top two pitchers from last year’s team, which went 48-16 overall and 20-6 in the BIG EAST Conference, finishing a half-game behind Louisville in the regular-season standings. The Huskies advanced to the BIG EAST Championship final for the third time in the last four years and hosted the Norwich Regional of the NCAA Championship.

George Springer

Connecticut’s returning starters include Springer, who hit .337 with 18 home runs, 62 runs batted in and 33 stolen bases last season, and Barnes, the Huskies’ Friday starter who went 8-3 with a 3.92 ERA in 2010. First baseman Mike Nemeth (.386, 15 HR, 84 RBI) joined Springer and Barnes as unanimous Preseason All-BIG EAST selections, while designated hitter Kevin Vance (.322, 7 HR, 36 RBI) was named to the team as well.

St. John’s, which went 43-20 overall and 16-11 in BIG EAST play, was picked second in the preseason poll, edging Louisville with 107 points. The Red Storm won a record sixth BIG EAST Championship last season and were selected for the NCAA Regionals for the third time in the last four years. Outfielder Jeremy Baltz (.396, 24 HR, 85 RBI), a Baseball America All-America First Team pick and the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year last season, was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, along with righthanded pitcher Kyle Hansen (8-3, 3.71 ERA), who was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2010 BIG EAST Championship.

Louisville was picked third with 105 points following a 2010 season in which the Cardinals went 50-14 overall, won the BIG EAST regular-season title at 21-6 in the conference, and earned the No. 7 national seed in the NCAA Championship. Louisville set a school record for wins and finished the year ranked as high as No. 16 nationally. Second baseman Ryan Wright (.366, 16 HR, 80 RBI) was unanimously chosen to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, joining outfielder Stewart Ijames (.324, 14 HR, 63 RBI).

USF (26-32, 16-11 BIG EAST) was picked fourth in the preseason poll with 87 points on the strength of two of the top pitchers in the BIG EAST. Southpaw Andrew Barbosa went 8-2 with a BIG EAST-leading 2.40 ERA, while righthander Randy Fontanez went 5-7 with a 3.59 ERA and led the conference in innings (110.1) and strikeouts (105) last season. Both pitchers were chosen to the Preseason All-BIG EAST team.

Pittsburgh was tabbed fifth by the BIG EAST coaches with 82 points. The Panthers went 38-18 overall and 18-8 in the BIG EAST last year, finishing third in the regular-season standings, but will have to replace the production of 2010 BIG EAST Player of the Year Joe Leonard. Catcher Kevan Smith (.361, 5 HR, 46 RBI) and lefthanded pitcher Matt Iannazzo (11-2, 3.76 ERA) were the Panthers’ Preseason All-BIG EAST picks.

Rutgers was chosen sixth in the preseason poll with 75 points. The Scarlet Knights played a challenging schedule to a 30-26 overall record and a 15-12 mark in BIG EAST play last year, finishing sixth in the conference. Steve Nyisztor was the Preseason All-BIG EAST choice at shortstop after he hit .410 with four home runs and 51 RBI last year, while Ryan Kapp (.318, 9 HR, 39 RBI) was chosen as a designated hitter.

Cincinnati (29-29, 13-14 BIG EAST ) and Notre Dame (22-32, 10-17 BIG EAST) tied for seventh in the preseason poll with 56 points. The Bearcats will have 15 new players and 16 returning letterwinners in 2011, including righthanded pitcher Andrew Strenge, who set a BIG EAST record with a 0.62 ERA in BIG EAST games as a freshman. Overall, Strenge went 7-1 with a 1.93 ERA to lead a strong Bearcat staff. Notre Dame and new head coach Mik Aoki are led by second baseman Frank DeSico (.333, 1 HR, 25 RBI) as the Irish look to return to the BIG EAST Championship in 2011.

West Virginia was picked ninth in the preseason poll with 38 points. The Mountaineers were 27-30 overall and 10-17 in BIG EAST play last season, qualifying for the BIG EAST Championship on the last day of the regular season. Third baseman Grant Buckner (.363, 8 HR, 50 RBI) was the Mountaineers’ lone representative on the Preseason All-BIG EAST team.

Villanova was 10th in the preseason poll with 31 points, followed by Seton Hall (25 points ) and Georgetown (13 points). The Hoyas placed catcher Erick Fernandez (.315, 5 HR, 29 RBI) on the Preseason All-BIG EAST team.

The 2011 baseball season begins Feb. 18 with the early season highlighted by the third annual BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge taking place in Florida. The first weekend of league play is March 25-27 with all 12 schools in action. The 2011 BIG EAST Baseball Championship will return to Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla., May 25-29, with the championship game to be televised on ESPNU.

2011 Preseason BIG EAST Baseball Coaches’ Poll

1. Connecticut (9) 117

2. St. John’s (2) 107

3. Louisville (1) 105

4. USF 87

5. Pittsburgh 82

6. Rutgers 75

7. Cincinnati 56

7. Notre Dame 56

9. West Virginia 38

10. Villanova 31

11. Seton Hall 25

12. Georgetown 13

Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year:

George Springer, OF, Connecticut

Preseason BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year:

Matt Barnes, RHP, Connecticut

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team

Pos. Name, Class, School Key 2010 Stats

P Matt Barnes, Sr., Connecticut * 8-3, 3.92 ERA, 82.2 IP, 75K, 25 BB, .257 OBA

P Matt Iannazzo, Jr., Pittsburgh 11-2, 3.76 ERA, 93.1 IP, 58 K, 22 BB, .289 OBA

P Kyle Hansen, So., St. John’s 8-3, 3.71 ERA, 94.2 IP, 85 K, 38 BB, .227 OBA

P Randy Fontanez, Sr., USF 5-7, 3.59 ERA, 110.1 IP, 105 K, 28 BB, .241 OBA

P Andrew Barbosa, Sr., USF 8-2, 2.40 ERA, 86.1 IP, 95 K, 22 BB, .228 OBA

C Erick Fernandez, Sr., Georgetown .315, 5 HR, 29 RBI

C Kevan Smith, Sr., Pittsburgh .361, 5 HR, 46 RBI

1B Mike Nemeth, Sr., Connecticut * .386, 15 HR, 84 RBI

2B Ryan Wright, Jr., Louisville * .366, 16 HR, 80 RBI, 10 SB

SS Steve Nyisztor, So., Rutgers .410, 4 HR, 51 RBI, 11 SB

3B Grant Buckner, Sr., West Virginia .363, 8 HR, 50 RBI

OF George Springer, Jr., Connecticut * .337, 18 HR, 62 RBI, 33 SB

OF Stewart Ijames, Jr., Louisville .324, 14 HR, 63 RBI

OF Jeremy Baltz, So., St. John’s * .396, 24 HR, 85 RBI

DH Kevin Vance, Jr., Connecticut .322, 7 HR, 36 RBI

DH Ryan Kapp, Jr., Rutgers .318, 9 HR, 39 RBI

* – unanimous selection

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Sunday Regional Baseball Notebook

Sean Stires — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:07:01 +0000

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A By The Numbers Look At Day 3 NCAA Play…

8…Winner take all Regional championship games that will take place on Monday (CLICK HERE to see our full Regional scoreboard with Monday’s match-ups.

8…Teams that went 3-0 in Regional play over the weekend to advance to Super Regionals: Arizona State, Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, UCLA, TCU, and Texas.

15…Years since Oklahoma had started NCAA play with a 3-0 record before beating North Carolina 3-2 to advance to the second Super Regional in program history (the format switched in 1999).

Oklahoma celebrates after earning the program's second Super Regional appearance. (OU photo)

2005…The last time a North Carolina team failed to get out of the Regional round of the NCAA Tournament. Mike Fox’s UNC squad had made four straight College World Series trips, but are eliminated in Regional play for the first time since falling to Notre Dame in ’05 at the Gainesville, FL Regional.

1…Super Regional match-up that is set. TCU and Texas will square-off in a rematch of last year’s Super Regional that sent the Longhorns to Omaha.

3…Runs allowed in three Regional wins by the vaunted Texas pitching staff.

32…Strikeouts in its three Regional victories by the TCU pitching staff.

1…#4 seed, Minnesota, that started this year’s Regional action 2-0. The Golden Gophers join the 2004 Pepperdine team and the 2008 eventual National Champion Fresno State squad as the only #4 seeds to start 2-0 since 2003. Minnesota lost 7-2 to Cal State Fullerton Sunday night and will play for the Regional title Monday night.

8…First inning runs scored by St. John’s en-route to a 22-16 elimination game win over Ole Miss in Charlottesville.

7…Runs given-up in just 2/3 of an inning by Ole Miss starter David Goforth in that game.

Jereymy Baltz (SJU photo)

24…Home runs this season by St. John’s freshman Jeremy Baltz after he hit a pair in Sunday 6-5 upset of #5 national seed Virginia. The win forced Monday’s Regional Championship game.

10…Runs scored in the first inning by Coastal Carolina in its 25-7 elimination game win over Stony Brook.

23-0…Dartmouth’s record this season when leading after 6 innings prior to Sunday’s 4-3 loss to Texas A&M. The Big Green lost after Joe Patterson homered in the 8th to tie the game, followed by a long ball by Kevin Gonzalez to lead-off the 9th for the final margin.

10…Home runs hit so far in Regional play by the Aggies after they hit two more in Sunday night’s 11-7 win over Miami to force Monday’s title game.

36 2/3…Innings pitched without allowing an earned run by A&M closer John Stilson. The sophomore (9-1, 10 saves) tossed 3 scoreless innings in the Dartmouth win, and then fired the final 3 2/3 innings of the win over Miami.

116…Strikeouts by Stilson in 82 2/3 IP this season.

6…Runs in just 2/3 of an inning by Oregon State starter Tyler Waldron in Sunday’s 11-7 elimination game loss to Florida Atlantic.

25-7…Final score of Coastal Carolina’s elimination game win over Stony Brook. The Chanticleers broke the game open with 10 runs in the top of the 3rd inning. They scored at least one run in each of the last seven innings of the game.

3…Straight at-bats with a home run by Virginia Tech’s Buddy Sosnoskie, who homered in his first AB of Sunday’s 4-3 win over The Citadel. He also went deep in his last two trips to the plate in Saturday’s win over Bucknell.

Tyler Thompson and Florida celebrate a home run. (UF photo)

3…Home runs by Florida 9-home batter Tyler Thompson in Sunday’s 15-0 win over Florida Atlantic. Thompson had hit just two HR all season, but had a power surge to help send the Gators to the Super Regionals for a second straight year.

3…Run home run in the 8th inning by Creede Simpson to propel Auburn to an 11-10 win over Clemson. The teams rematch for the Regional championship Monday night.

5 1/3…Scoreless innings pitched by St. John’s reliever Kevin Kilpatrick to help the Red Storm shock #5 national seed Virginia 6-5 to force a Monday Regional final game in Charlottesville.

2…Outs in the bottom of the 8th inning when Red Storm freshman Jeremy Baltz homered to provide the eventual winning runs in the St. John’s win. It was Baltz’s second homer of the game and his24th this season. He already ranks fourth in the St. John’s all-time home run record book (career home runs, not single season).

5…RBIs by Baltz’s teammate, Matt Wessinger, earlier in the day in a 20-16 elimination game win over Ole Miss. Wessinger finished a home run shy of the cycle.

8…Runs scored by the Red Storm in the first inning of that game, which sent the Rebels home and St. John’s to the Regional championship round.

Richie Goodnow is congratulated after his first career complete game. (Vandy photo)

0…Runs allowed by Vanderbilt pitcher Ritchie Goodenow in his first career complete game-a 7-0 upset of #7 national seed Louisville on Sunday to force Monday’s Regional final game.

68…Career appearances Goodenow has made. The win over the Cardinals was just the lefty’s second career start.

5…Runs scored in the 9th inning by Vandy to beat Illinois State 10-4 in an elimination game earlier in the day just to advance for the right to play Louisville.

2…Years in a row Vanderbilt has beaten the Cardinals in an elimination game in Louisville to force a winner take all Regional final. Louisville won last year to advance to the Fullerton Super Regional. The winner this year faces Florida State.

1…Career complete game by Rice’s Mike Ojala, who went the distance in his 34th career start to help the Owls beat Louisiana-Lafayette in a Sunday elimination game (they would lose 4-1 to Texas in their next game to see their season end). Ojala (6-2) had ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery last June.

2…Starts made on Sunday by Washington State junior James Wise. The junior gave-up six runs in just 2 1/3 innings in an eventual 9-6 elimination game win over Kansas State. He then started and gave-up just a run in 3 IP to help WSU beat Arkansas 10-7, forcing a Monday Regional final.

James Wise

19…Wins this season by the Washington State bullpen with 6 1/3 shutout innings in the win over K-State. Richie Ochoa (2-2) tossed 4 1/3 scoreless frames to help the Cougar pen tie a school record that was originally set in 1987.

33….Years since Washington State last played in a Regional Championship game prior to Monday’s showdown with Arkansas in Fayetteville.

46…Wins this season by UCLA (46-13) to set a new single-season record after Sunday’s 6-2 Regional Championship win over UC-Irvine. The Bruins are headed to the Super Regionals for the second time in the last four years.

18…50 win seasons by Arizona State (50-8) after beating Hawaii 8-4 to advance to the Super Regionals.

19…Combined College World Series appearances by Florida State head coach Mike Martin (13) and Oregon skipper George Horton (6 with Cal State Fullerton), whose teams met in the championship game of the Norwich Regional. Martin’s Seminoles won 5-3 to advance to a third straight Super Regional.

1…Out and one runner on in the bottom of the 9th inning when Rico Noel homered to give Coastal Carolina an 8-7 win over the College of Charleston to force a deciding game Monday in the Myrtle Beach Regional. Charleston had beaten Coastal a day earlier.

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Saturday Regional Baseball Notebook

Sean Stires — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 10:01:40 +0000

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A Look Around The Country At Saturday’s NCAA Action

The hitting streak continues, but the season is over. Garrett Wittels extended his hitting streak to 56 games in Florida International’s 15-9 loss to Dartmouth. The loss eliminated FIU from the Coral Gables Regional. That means Wittels will begin the 2011 season needing hits in his first two games to tie Robin Ventura for the all-time Division One record hit streak.
Garrett Wittels (FIU photo)
““Teams are gonna know what to anticipate. He likes to drive the ball away. Look for some teams to try to different things next season. Try busting him hard inside. Nobody tried to do that. We know he can push the ball into right center field, but can he turn on the ball? I think that’s gonna be the test.” That’s what ESPNU studio analyst Jay Walker had to say about Wittels and how other teams might approach him next year. So let me get this straight…Wittels batted .409 this season, hit safely in 56 games, smacked 20 doubles, and came to the plate 237 times, but nobody ever challenged him inside once and he never once turned on the ball? Great analysis Jay (I hope the sarcasm is detected)! Anyone who hits in 56 straight and bats .400 over the course of the season is going to do it by going to all fields. More great analysis by someone we’ve never heard of who probably saw all of eight of Wittels’ at-bats this season.
Dartmouth clean-up batter Jason Brooks was 2-for-5 in the win over FIU with a grand slam and a total of 6 RBIs. The win was the first for Dartmouth in the NCAA Tournament since 1987 and the first for the Ivy League since Princeton won a game in 2004.
Not to be outdone, Illinois State got its first NCAA win in 34 years by downing St. Louis 8-3 in the Louisville Regional elimination game. Kevin Tokarski homered and drove-in four.
Anthony Rendon (Rice photo)
Anthony Rendon jacked 3 HR and totaled 7 RBIs to lead Rice to a resounding 19-1 elimination game win over Rider at the Austin Regional. With the Owls leading 11-0 Wayne Graham lifted starter Taylor Wall after 3 2/3 hitless innings.
Southern Mississippi’s Taylor Walker was 4-for-4 with a home runs, 4 runs and 4 RBIs in an Auburn Regional elimination win over Jacksonville State.
Matt Weisinger hit two of St. John’s‘ four home runs in Charlottesville to help the Red Storm eliminate VCU 8-6.
Baylor beat Lamar 6-5 in Ft. Worth. Logan Vick had his 29th extra base hit to set a freshman school record.
Florida Atlantic had a season-high 18 hits to eliminate Bethune-Cookman with a 12-6 win in Gainesville.
Buddy Sosnoskie belted two HR with 6 RBIs to help Virginia Tech beat Bucknell 16-7.
Stony Brook eliminated North Carolina State with a 6-2 win in Myrtle Beach. Sophomore Tyler Johnson (10-3) set a new Seawolves single-season record for wins. Johnson notched 10 Ks in 8 IP.
Tyler Garwal hit a walk-off home run to keep Oral Roberts‘ season going with a 9-8 win over Cal in Norman. The Golden Eagles hit 4 HR and won despite walking 9 batters.
Francis Larson hit his 25th career home run to help UC Irvine beat Kent State 19-9 in the L.A. elimination game. Larson has now hit the most home runs in Anteater history.
Neil Holland (UofL photo)
Louisville’s 7-1 win over Vanderbilt set a program record with the 50th win of the season for the Cardinals. Neil Holland got his 17th save with 3 shutout innings of one hit ball.
How confident was Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell that his team could start Regional play 2-0? Cardinal ace Thomas Royse (9-1, 2.91 ERA) did not start either of his team’s first two games. He’ll start Sunday, which is the final game of McDonnell’s 3-game suspension.
Mike Olt is UConn’s all-time home run (44) and RBI (177) leader after belting two long balls with a career-best 8 RBIs as the Huskies routed Central Connecticut State 25-5. UConn now faces Oregon, which lost 6-4 to Florida State.
Rain and lightening caused two hours and 28 minutes of delay, but Miami cruised to a 14-1 win over Texas A&M. Hurricane 1B Scott Lawson was 4-for-6 with 3 HR and 6 RBIs.
Danny Hultzen gave-up 6 earned runs in 6 IP, but still improved to 10-1 as Virginia beat Ole Miss. 13-7. The Cavaliers tied a school record with their 49th win.
Mike Ferraro was 4-for-6 with a home run, two doubles and 6 RBIs to lead San Diego to a resounding 22-1 elimination game win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Tempe.
Here’s a lesson to the kids at home: ALWAYS RUN IT OUT. Stanford’s Colin Walsh hit a fairly routine fly ball to left field, but Cal State Fullerton’s Casey Watkins dropped it. Walsh motored all the way to third on the play and scored on a single by Stephen Piscotty. The Titans still won 6-5 thanks to a pair of 2-run home runs by Christian Colon.
Stanford goes 0-2 at the Fullerton Regional. It’s just the second time Stanford has gone two and out in Regional play. The last time it happened was in 1994 in Austin, TX.
There were a total of seven upsets on Saturday. Five #4 seeds won, with three of those wins vs. #2 seeds. Two #1 seeds lost to #2 seeds.
Minnesota is the Cinderella of the Regionals so far. The fourth-seeded Golden Gophers downed #3 New Mexico 6-4 in 10 innings the Fullerton winner’s bracket game to go to 2-0.
Scott Matyas struckout 8 in three scoreless, hitless innings of relief to improve to 5-1.
Eight of Saturday’s Regional games were decided by double digits.
Citadel’s 1-3 batters combined to go just 2-for-12 in their 9-4 loss to South Carolina. The Gamecocks used a 5-run 7th inning to take the win.
Starting pitchers Blake Cooper (11-1) of South Carolina and Asher Wojciechowski (12-3) of The Citadel combined for 23 strikeouts and just 4 walks.
Trevor Bauer (UCLA photo)
Trevor Bauer had 11 strikeouts to lead UCLA to a 6-3 win over defending national champion LSU in the L.A. winner’s bracket game. Anthony Ranaudo had 10 Ks in the loss.
The Bruins (45-13) tied a program record for most wins in one season. It equals the win total from the Bruins’ 1997 team (45-19-1), which was the last UCLA program to go to the College World Series.
Junior Casey Harman tossed the first complete game of his career to help #2 seed Clemson topple #1 Auburn 5-2 in Auburn. Harman scattered five hits with 8 strikeouts.
Arizona State’s Seth Blair is 12-0 after giving-up just a run in 7 IP as the overall #1 seeded Sun Devils rolled Hawaii 12-1.
Joe Weik smacked two home runs and had a career-high 6 RBIs to help TCU down Arizona 11-5. The Horned Frogs improve to 48-11 to tie the school record for wins in a season.
TCU pitchers Matt Purke (13-0) and Tyler Lockwood combined for 10 strikeouts, making TCU 21-0 when its pitchers have at least 10 Ks in a game.

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Friday Regional Baseball Notebook

Sean Stires — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 10:01:23 +0000

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Notes & Thoughts From Day 1 NCAA Action (updated)

(note – this page now has a couple additional notes added around 9:45 a.m. eastern on Saturday – PL) …

CLICK HERE for DAY-1 NCAA SCOREBOARD

Minnesota was the only #4 seed that won on Friday (3-1 at Cal State Fullerton, see notes below), while the collective #3 seeds went 9-7 vs. the #2s. The #3 seeds that posted the “minor upsets” (some may have been considered the favorites?) included: Louisiana-Lafayette 1, Rice 0 (in Austin) … The Citadel 7, Virginia Tech 2 (in Columbia) … Washington State 8, Kansas State 6 (in Fayetteville) … Arizona 10, Baylor 9 (in Ft. Worth) … New Mexico 9, Stanford 5 (in Fullerton, which also had the 4-vs.-1 upset) … Oregon State 6, Florida Atlantic 4 (in Gainesville) … North Carolina 12, California 3 (in Norman) … Oregon 5, Connecticut 3 (in Norwich) … and Hawaii 4, San Diego 2 (in Tempe). See bullet notes below for some highlights from Friday’s nine “upsets” (along with info. from the other games).

Regional host teams have the option to take the first or second game on Day-1 of NCAA Regional play. The hosts traditionally take the second or “Prime Time” game, and this year was no different with 12 of 16 Regional hosts opting for game two. Coastal Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, and Oklahoma were the only Regional hosts to opt for the early game rather than the night cap (some coaches prefer to get the game out of the way, avoid risk of rain delays, get their team a few hours more rest, etc.). All four of those teams won.
11 year MLB veteran turned college baseball analyst Eric Byrnes
Disclaimer: I (Sean Stires … Pete LaFleur ditto) like Eric Byrnes. That said, Byrnes was considered by many to be more style than substance in his playing days, so it’s only fitting that ESPNU has continued its tradition of going with style over substance by using the newly-retired Byrnes in the broadcast booth during the Coral Gables Regional. Case in point: Texas A&M was trailing FIU 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning. After Aggie leadoff man Jaoquin Hinojosa reached base safely, 2-hole batter Tyler Naquin tried (unsuccessfully) to bunt him over. This prompted Byrnes to question why A&M was playing for only onw run so early in the game…. An inning later, with #9 batter Andrew Collazo at the plate in the same situation, Byrnes said, “We’re not bunting again are we?” Uh, yes Eric they were, and after Collazo executed his 8th sac-bunt of the season a graphic popped-up on the screen that showed that A&M had just tied a school record with its 59th sac-bunt of the season. The Aggies entered the day tied for 14th nationally in that department. Apparently game preparation was not high on Byrnes’ list of things to do prior to his college baseball broadcasting debut.
Byrnes, who played at the 1997 College World Series for UCLA, again showed his lack of knowledge of the current college game later in the broadcast when the subject of NCAA bids came up. Minnesota was mentioned as the only Big Ten representative in the tournament, while the Pac-10 was one of three conferences to get eight bids. “How does that happen, though,” Byrnes asked. “We’re talking one team from the Big Ten and eight from the Pac.” Um…do I really need to say more? Thankfully, Kyle Peterson was there to keep Byrnes pointed in the right direction.
In fairness to Byrnes, he did provide some needed entertainment when the game turned into a blowout in the middle innings.
When Florida International pitcher Daniel DeSimone hit Caleb Shofner with a pitch in the bottom of the 5th inning, it marked the 100th HBP by the Golden Panther pitching staff this season. The dubious mark sets an NCAA single-season record.
Garrett Wittels extended hit hitting streak to 55 games in FIU’s loss to Texas A&M. He doubled to right-center field by swinging at a 3-0 pitch to lead off the top of the 6th inning. A smattering of boos were directed at A&M pitcher Barret Loux when the count reached 3-0 and it looked like Wittels might not have a chance to swing in his third at-bat of the day.
The hit by Wittels marked the 16th time he extended the streak with a hit between the 4th and 6th innings this season. He’s kept the streak going 25 times in the first three innings of a game, 13 times from the 7th through 9th innings, and once (March 26 vs. Arkansas-Little Rock) in the 12th inning.
Five different Texas A&M players hit home runs in the 17-3 win, while Aggie winning pitcher Loux (11-2) struck out 10 in 8 IP. He’s now fanned 136 in 104 innings this season.
The Aggies have won seven straight, 13 of their past 14 and 19 of 22 games dating back to April 27.
Southern Mississippi’s got some work to do if they’re going to make a return trip to the College World Series (and possibly extend Brett Favre’s NFL career … although something tells us he’s coming back anyway!). The Golden Eagles fell 10-1 to Clemson in their Regional opener. USM ace Scott Copeland dropped to 11-1 with his first loss of the season, after winning as a starter and deep reliever at the C-USA Tournament (to earn CB360 national Primetime Pitcher of the Week honors).
Brett Eibner hit 3 HR in Arkansas' Friday win over Grambling St. (Arkansas photo)
Brett Eibner smacked 3 HR to help Arkansas rout Grambling State 19-7. Eibner was 4-for-5 with 7 RBIs and 5 runs. Look for the two-way talent on the mound this weekend as well. Collin Kuhn and Andy Wilkins each homered twice for the Hogs.
The Citadel pulled-off a minor upset as the #3-seeded Bulldogs beat #2 Virginia Tech, 7-2. The win is the 13th straight for The Citadel, but the best news is they didn’t even use ace Asher Wojciechowski (3.25 ERA, 12-2. 144 Ks in 119 IP). Lefty Matt Talley (8-3) tossed 7.0 innings and won, while 3B David Greene had a 2-run HR from the 7-hole. The jr. RHP “Wojo” is slated to be opposed on Saturday by South Carolina’s ace, sr. RHP Blake Cooper (2.94, 10-1, 88 Ks in 104 IP). Justin Wright was the losing pitcher on Friday vs. Citadel (5.1IP-6R-10H-BB-5K), as VT’s #1-3 hitters combined to hit only 2-for-14 (CF/leadoff Sean Ryan has a 2-run HR in the 7th).
Zach Osborne registered Louisiana-Lafayette’s first NCAA Tournament shutout since 2002 by blanking Rice, 1-0. Catcher/cleanup hitter Chad Keefer’s 2-out single in the 8th inning plated the game’s lone run.
Baylor scored five runs in the bottom of the 9th inning, but they came up short in a 10-9 loss to Arizona at the Ft. Worth Regional. The Bears left runners at first and third to end the game. They committed three errors to give the Wildcats five unearned runs in the 6th inning. Steve Selsky & DH/6-hole Josh Garcia (2RBI-2R-HBP) homered for the Wildcats, while SS Alex Mejia was 3-for-4 with 4 RBI, a double & run scored from the bottom of the order.
Baylor’s Logan Vick walked twice to set a single-season school record with 56 BBs this year. The Bears left 12 men on base (including the two in the 9th), with Gregg Glime‘s home run and 3 RBI pacing the Baylor offense. Logan Verrett had no-decision (3.1IP-3R-5H-BB-2K) and Shawn Tolleson (2-7) was let down by his defense in the hard-luck loss (3.2IP-6R/1ER-5H-BB-2K).
Closing in on 200: … Friday’s win by Coastal Carolina (6-0 vs. Stony Brook) is the 199th victory for the Chanticleers over past four seasons (199-50-0, from 2007-10).
Oklahoma's Chris Ellison
Chris Ellison drove in Cody Reine in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Oklahoma a 7-6 win over Oral Roberts. Reine had homered two innings earlier to tie the game (6-6) and ultimately force extra innings.
One-time Little League World series participant Michael Broad hit one of Miami’s two 1st-inning, 3-run home runs to help the Hurricanes beat Dartmouth, 12-8. The ‘Canes held on after leading 11-0 thru five innings. Joe Sclafani homered twice for the Big Green.
Oregon State beat Florida Atlantic, 6-4, in Gainesville, Fla. The start of the game was delayed a total of 3:15 by rain. Tyler Smith hit his first home run in nearly two months in the win.
“Lobos fight scratch and claw baby, we’ll play anybody, anywhere anytime and we’re trying to spend a lot of our effort trying to prove that we can play with anybody in the country.” – Those were New Mexico third-year head coach Ray Birmingham’s comments during his in-game interview on ESPNU while his team was playing Stanford. Is it any wonder UNM is making its first NCAA appearance since 1962?
New Mexico won that game, 9-5, for the second NCAA Tournament win in school history. Willy Kesler had no-decision (5.2IP-4R-11H-BB-5K) and Jason Oatman (1-2) picked up the relief win (3.1IP-R-3H-2K). RF Chris Juarez went 3-for-4 (3RBI-2B) from the 5-hole, while the 2-hole-batting catcher Rafael Neda homered and scored 4 times (1B/2-hole Justin Howard had 3R).
Don’t know how to say his name, but Pi’ikea Kitamura was hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded in the top of the 9th inning to give Hawaii a 4-3 win over San Diego in Tempe, Ariz. San Diego ace Kyle Blair had another solid outing but did not figure into the decisions (8IP-3R/1ER-7H-8K). USD’s Mike Ferraro homered from the 7-hole and had 2 RBI, but USD’s #1-5 hitters combined for only 4 hits.
LSU's Trey Watkins
In his only at-bat of the night, LSU’s Trey Watkins smacked a 2-strike, 2-out double in the bottom of the 11th to lift LSU to an 11-10 over UC-Irvine. LSU’s Austin Nola forced extra innings when his blooper to right with 2 outs in the 9th scored Johnny Dishon, who motored all the way aroundfrom first base.
Jack Armstrong’s pinch-hit single scored Andrew Giobbi to give Vanderbilt an 8-7 win over Illinois State at the Louisville Regional opener. If the name of the offensive hero sounds familiar, it’s because Armstrong has been one of Vandy’s top starting pitchers this season and we’re sure to see him make a start over the weekend.
Oregon beat Connecticut, 5-3, in Norwich, Conn., thanks to three runs in the top of the 9th inning.
TCU didn’t use freshman ace Matt Purke (12-0), but the Horned Frogs still cruised to a 16-3 win over Lamar. Kyle Winkler and Greg Holle combined for 11 strikeouts to improve TCU to 20-0 this year when its pitchers have at least 10 K in a game. Purke will go Saturday vs. Arizona.
Louisville also sat its ace, Thomas Royse (9-1), in its 11-2 win over Saint Louis. Head coach Dan McDonnell was not in the dugout, as he served the first game of his three-game suspension for last week’s dustup with an umpire at the Big East Tournament.
Minnesota pulled-off the biggest Day-1 upset, as the #4 seed Golden Gophers downed #1 seed andnd host Cal State Fullerton, 3-1 in Fullerton. Jr. RHP Seth Rosin (9-4) faced only 26 batters and struck out 7 with no walks in 8.0 innings to move his season totals to 95 Ks and only 12 BB. All the Gophers runs came in the opening frame, with RBI singles from Kyle Knudson and Matt Puhl scoring AJ Pettersen & AndyHenkmeryer (other run scores on error/unearned).
Washington State registered its 19th come-from-behind win of the season, an 8-6 victory over Kansas State in Fayetteville, Ark. Adam Conley postedhis 19th save, while the Cougar bullpen notched its 18th win of the year (one away from tyingthe school record set in 1987). Cody Barlett’s 2-run HR in the 8th inning proved to be the game-winner.
It took a 5-run 8th inning for South Carolina to rally to a 9-5 home win over Bucknell. It’s the Gamecock’s 12th straight postseason home win.
Texas scored all 11 of its runs with 2-outs in an 11-0 win over Rider in Austin. Brandon Workman (12-1) tossed a complete game.
Ole Miss held off St. John’s, 10-5, in Charlottesville, Va. The Red Storm scored all five of their runs in the last two innings.
Tony Plagman was 5-for-5 in Georgia Tech’s 10-0 win over Mercer in Atlanta.
Florida freshman Hudson Randall notched a career-best 10 strikeouts in 7.1 innings to help the Gators beat Bethune-Cookman, 7-3. Randall didn’t allow a hit until the 5th inning.
UCLA routed Kent State, 15-1 in L.A., for the Bruins 25th home win of the season. Their 44 total wins are one away from tying the program’s single-season record set in 1997.
North Carolina validated its NCAA berth with a 12-3 win over Cal in Norman, Okla. The Tar Heels have scored eight or more runs in 16 of their past 24 first- or second0round NCAA Tournament games.
5,684 fans saw Oregon beat UConn, 5-3 at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Conn. The Ducks rallied for three runs in the top of the 9th. Reliever Madison Boer has notched a save in Oregon’s past four wins. An attendance of 1,948 was on hand earlier in the day to see Florida State beat Central Connecticut, 11-3.
Kole Calhoun hit his team-leading 14th HR to help overall #1 seed Arizona State beat Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 6-2 in Tempe.

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Thursday Recap/Analysis (tournaments & top-50; 5/27)

Pete LaFleur — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:17:16 +0000

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Flies in the Ointment? …

The upsets kept flowing on Thursday, based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings, as more than half of the games (14 of 26) involving CB360 top-50 teams ended up in upsets. Most notably, five of the CNR’s top-10 teams (#2-3-7-8-10) all were knocked off, while several other teams emerged as potential “flies in the ointment” – underdogs that could win a conference automatic bid to the NCAAs (and, in the process, burst the bubble of an NCAA at-large hopeful).

CLICK HERE for CB360’s Conference Tournament Main Page

(Note – Scores for all games involving the CB360 top-50 are listed at the bottom of this page, with the customary links provided for the one non-tournament game … also be sure to access CB360’s conference tournament main page via the link posted above.)

There were 26 games on Thursday involving CB360 top-50 teams, including seven head-to-head match-ups (33 total top-50 teams in action). The only top-50 game outside a conference tournament setting was #1 Arizona State’s 4-2 series-opening win at #32 Stanford.

Here are teams from five leagues (seven teams total) that have the makings for NCAA-bid spoilers (the potential flies in the ointment):

• Mercer (Atlantic Sun) – The #2-seeded Bears were nowhere close to being in the discussion for an NCAA at-large bid, with a #157 official NCAA RPI this week (trailing six other A-Sun teams), but Mercer sits in the catbird seat as the only 2-0 squad at the six-team A-Sun Tournament … should the Bears win this event, the focus then will shift to whether Florida Gulf Coast still would get into the NCAA’s as an at-large (effectively making the A-Sun a two-bid league and taking a spot from some unfortunate budble team) … many tournament projections had FGCU as a solid at-large possibility (the Eagles ran away with the A-Sun regular-season title and entered the week with a #45 NCAA RPI, plus a #36 standing in the CNR top-50) … Thursday’s key results saw #4 seed North Florida knock off FGCU in shockingly easy fashion (13-2), while Mercer beat #3 seed East Tennessee State (10-7) in the day’s only match-up of teams that won on Wed. … next up: FGCU faces ETSU today in a noon elimination game, followed by another elimination game at 4:00 (UNF vs. Jacksonville) and Mercer’s 8:00 game vs. the FGCU-ETSU winner.

• Rutgers ad St. John’s (BIG EAST) – There teams have earned a day off on Friday, as each is 2-0 following their Thursday upsets (#6 seed RU beat #2 seed UConn, 9-6, one day after knocking off #3 seed Pittsburgh in a 9-5 opening-day game … #4 seed SJU knocked off top seed Louisville, 11-4) … if Rutgers or St. John’s win the BIG EAST Tournament, the league likely will have locked up three bids to the NCAAs … Pitt has been hoping to be that third entrant, but that was far from certain following the Panther’s first-day loss to #7 seed Cincinnati (9-6) …Louisville entered the tournament as the #5 team in the official NCAA RPI (#7 in the cb360 CNR) while UConn was the #24 RPI (CNR #18) and Pitt’s tenuous situation included a #47 RPI and #42 CNR … Friday’s games: Pitt and UConn will meet in a 4:00 elimination games, as will Louisville and #5 seed South Florida (7:00).

• Lamar and Texas Arlington – This is a similar situation to the one above, as these teams have started 2-0 in the Southland Conference Tournament … #5 seed UTA benefited from the day-1 upset that saw #8 seed Nicholls State beat regular-season champ Texas State, as the Mavericks then rallied to beat Nicholls (5-4) … on the other side of the bracket, the #7 seed Lamar stopped surging Northwestern (La.) State on Wed. and the earned its day off with a Thursday win over #6 seed McNeese State, 10-7 (McNeese earlier had edged #3 seed Southeastern Louisiana, 8-7) … should Lamar or UTA win the tournament, it’s likely that the Southland still could be a one-bid league for the NCAAs – as each of the top seeds have shaky at-large credentials (Texas State #48 NCAA RPI/#46 CNR … SLU #40 RPI, #50 CNR … NWLA #76 RPI and now eliminated from the Southland Tour.) … Friday’s games include a 10:00 a.m. CT elimination game (SLU-McNeese), followed by another elimination game between Texas St. and Nicholls … Lamar and UTA will be awaiting the winners in the night games (starting at 5:00).

• Arkansas State (Sunbelt) –The #7 seed has joined top seed Florida Atlantic as the 2-0 teams, but a Trojans title at this tournament might simply solidify the end of the season for #2 seed Louisiana (Lafayette) … UL-L entered the Sunbelt Championship with a #33 RPI (matching its spot in the CNR), but the regular-season co-champs already have been bounced back home and have to be considered a bubble team (especially if Arkansas State were to snatch the automatic bid) … the #3 and #4 seeds – Middle Tennessee and Florida International – entered the week as longshots for the NCAAs, with each facing elimination gaames on Friday (FIU plays #5 seed South Alabama in the brutal 9:00 AM game, followed by MTSU and #6 seed Troy) … #8 seed Western Kentucky was a top-25 team on the national scene at the midseason point, but the Hilltoppers wrapped up their second-half swoon by going 0-2 this week) … FAU will be awaiting the FIU-USA winner on Friday afternoon (4 ET), followed by Ark. St. s. the MTSU/Troy winner.

• Western Carolina (SoCon) – Speaking of teams that had strong starts to the season and then faded, WCU could jump back into the picture following its Thursday rally from a 6-0 deficit to upset CNR #28 College of Charleston (7-6) … #6 seed WCU joins regular-season champ The Citadel as 2-0 starters in the Southern Conference Tournament … #2 seed CofC (#29 RPI) may be secure for NCAA at-large consideration, meaning that a WCU tournament title could ensure three NCAA bids for the SoCon (WCU entered the event 57th in the official NCAA RPI) … #3 seed Elon (#51 RPI/#44 CNR) is another SoCon hopeful for the NCAAs, but the Phoenix likely need to win their Friday elimination game vs. #5 seed Samford (7 ET; winner has to beat Citadel twice on Sat.) … Friday’s 3:00 elimination game will pit C of C vs. #7 seed Appalachian State (winner has to beat WCU twice on Sat.).

In addition to games mentioned above, Thursday’s other top-50 upsets included:

• Texas Tech 4, #2 Texas 1 (Big 12)
• #17 Florida State 11, #3 Virginia 4 (Big 12)
• #25 Virginia Tech 6, #8 Georgia Tech 2
• #14 Auburn 3, #10 South Carolina 1 (Big 12)
• Boston College 12, #12 Miami 10 (Big 12)
• #34 LSU 7, #16 Vanderbilt 5 (Big 12)
• #29 Alabama 6, #23 Mississippi 3 (Big 12)
• Middle Tennessee State 3, #33 Louisiana-Lafayette 0 (Big 12)
• Florida International 7, #47 Western Kentucky 3 (Sunbelt)
• High Point 2, #49 Liberty 1 (Big South)

TOP TEAMS – Texas (0-2) already is out of title contention at the Big 12 Tournament, while Virginia now has a tougher road to repeating as ACC Tournament champion (in order to reach the title game, the Cavs first need BC to beat FSU on Friday, then UVa has to defeat Miami on Sat.). Note that the Big 12 and ACC both use a round-robin format in their tournaments. The losses by Texas and UVa, coupled with Arizona State’s win over Stanford, can only strengthen ASU’s position as the potential #1 national seed.

SEC – One day after all four SEC Tournament games resulted in upsets, Thursday’s slate saw the underdogs (based on the CNR) win three more times – including Auburn’s win that eliminated South Carolina. Two teams that filled the final two SEC spots – #8 seed Alabama and #7 LSU – now find themselves on the inside tracks to the title game.

BUBBLE SEEKERS – Boston College (#46 RPI) and Texas Tech (#48) kept alive their hopes for making the NCAAs. All four teams in BC’s bracket at the ACC Tournament (#1 seed Virginia, #4 Miami, #5 Florida St. and #8 BC) have started 1-1, with one team ultimately advancing to Sunday’s title game. BC will face FSU on Friday at noon, while UVa and Miami will meet on Sat. (also at noon). In order to reach the Big 12 title game, #5 seed Texas Tech need to beat #8 seed Missouri on Saturday while getting help in two others games (Missouri beating #4 seed Texas A&M on Fri. and top seed Texas then beating A&M on Sat.).

MORE BUBBLE WATCH – Liberty’s loss could extinguish the Flames’ hopes for an NCAA at-large spot (#44 official NCAA RPI, but lost on Wed.). Several other NCAA bubble teams also are 1-1 at their conference tournaments, after winning on Thursday:

• #38 New Mexico 7, BYU 6
• #42 Pittsburgh 13, Cincinnati 4
• #46 Texas State 8, Stephen F. Austin 2
• #50 Southeastern Louisiana 10, Northwestern (La.) State 4

THURSDAY’S TOP-50 RESULTS (5/27/10; upsets in italics)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings)

Reminder – follow THIS LINK for CB360’s Conference Tournament Main Page (with links to all of the conference tournament central pages that include complete info., links, etc.)

• #1 Arizona State 4, at #32 Stanford 2 (Pac-10 reg.-season) | Final Stats
ASU Recap | STAN Recap

• Texas Tech 4, #2 Texas 1 (Big 12)

• #17 Florida State 11, #3 Virginia 4 (ACC)

• #4 Coastal Carolina 11, Radford 9 (Big South)

• #5 Florida 5, #13 Arkansas 4 (SEC)

• St. John’s 6, #7 Louisville 5

• #25 Virginia Tech 6, #8 Georgia Tech 2

• #14 Auburn 3, #10 South Carolina 1 (SEC)

• #11 TCU 5, UNLV 2

• Boston College 12, #12 Miami 10 (ACC)

• #34 LSU 7, #16 Vanderbilt 5 (SEC)

• Rutgers 6, #18 Connecticut 5 (BIG EAST)

• #22 Rice 24, Houston 3 (C-USA)

• #29 Alabama 6, #23 Mississippi 3 (SEC)

• #27 Texas A&M 7, Missouri 2 (Big 12)

• Western Carolina 7, #28 College of Charleston 6

• Middle Tennessee State 3, #33 Louisiana-Lafayette 0 (Sunbelt)

• #35 Florida Atlantic 10, South Alabama 9 (Sunbelt)

• North Florida 13, #36 Florida Gulf Coast 2 (Atlantic Sun)

• #38 New Mexico 7, BYU 6 (Mt. West)

• #39 The Citadel 6, #44 Elon 3 (SoCon)

• #42 Pittsburgh 13, Cincinnati 4 (BIG EAST)

• #46 Texas State 8, Stephen F. Austin 2 (Southland)

• Florida International 7, #47 Western Kentucky 3 (Sunbelt)

• High Point 2, #49 Liberty 1 (Big South)

• #50 Southeastern Louisiana 10, Northwestern (La.) State 4 (Southland)

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College Baseball Conference Tournament Central

Sean Stires — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:20:30 +0000

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2010 Conference Tournament Central

Below on this page you will find information on all of this week’s college baseball conference tournaments. Links to brackets (in most cases each conference’s tournament central page) as well as All-Conference Teams are provided.

Only five of 27 #1 seeds won their conference tournaments.

America East Tournament (May 26-28)

Bracket Champion: Stony Brook

College Baseball 360 » St. john’s

Mojo Risin’ For New Mexico, Missouri Baseball Teams

Elsewhere…

College Baseball Twitter Pics

Big East Baseball 2011 Preseason Poll

Sunday Regional Baseball Notebook

Saturday Regional Baseball Notebook

Friday Regional Baseball Notebook

Thursday Recap/Analysis (tournaments & top-50; 5/27)

College Baseball Conference Tournament Central

2010 Conference Tournament Central

College Baseball Notebook-Week 13

FIU’s Wittels Heads This Week’s “By The Numbers”…

2010 NCAA Baseball Tournament Automatic Qualifiers