http://collegebaseball360.com/college-baseball-360-2012-team-previews/ http://collegebaseball360.com/college-baseball-360-2012-team-previews/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:51:29 +0000 http://collegebaseball360.com/?p=23990

www.simplesharebuttons.com

A Look At Teams 1-10…

Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan with ESPN's Kyle Peterson at the CWS

With the start of the season rapidly approaching, here’s a look at some of the top teams in the country heading into the 2012 college baseball season.

Our rankings are based on a “composite formula” that combines not only the existing weekly preseason national polls, but also other factors like strength of schedule and preseason conference polls. Other criteria will continually be added throughout the season to our composite rankings.

Here is a look at the top 10 teams heading into the season.

( ) Stats in parenthesis are from the 2011 season.

* After a statistic denotes team leader in that statistical category.

Top 10 By Conference: SEC: 4, ACC: 2, Big 12: 2, Pac-12: 1, Conference USA: 1

CLICK HERE to see the entire CB360 2012 Preseason Composite National Rankings

CLICK HERE to see capsules for teams 11-20

CLICK HERE to see capsules for teams 21-30

1. Florida

2011 Record: 53-19

In 2010, Kevin O’Sullivan led Florida to its first College World Series since 2005’s national runner-up appearance, but the Gators were two and ‘que in Rosenblatt Stadium’s swan song. Last year, virtually the same team stormed all the way to the CWS Championship Series, only to fall to SEC Eastern Division rival South Carolina.

The question O’Sullivan has this year is – Can that same core of players take things one step farther?

While the two-time defending champion Gamecocks have considerable losses to deal with (see below), the Gators return almost everyone from last year’s 53 win team.

Starting pitchers Hudson Randall (11-3*, 2.17 ERA, 124 1/3 IP*, 2 CG*), Karsten Whitson (8-1, 2.40 ERA, 97 1/3 IP, 92 K*) and two-way player Brian Johnson (8-1, 2.40 ERA/.307 BA, 5 HR, 29 RBIs) combined to pitch nearly half of the team’s 644 innings last year. A slew of heavy duty arms will back them up in the bullpen.

The line-up is led by catcher Mike Zunino (.371*, 19 HR*, 23 Doubles*, 67 RBIs, 75 Runs*, 1.116 OPS*) and senior Preston Tucker (.308, 15 HR, 74 RBIs*, 23 Doubles*). Daniel Pigott (.331, 5 HR, 40 RBIs, 15 SB*), Nolan Fontana (.289, 5 HR, 49 RBIs), Austin Maddox (.280, 6 HR, 35 RBIs/0.67 ERA, 21 App., 5 SV*), Tyler Thompson (.264, 27 Starts), and Vickash Ramjit (.382, 19 Starts) all fortify the best top to bottom everyday lineup in the country heading into the season. Tucker told us anything short of a national championship this year would be a disappointment and it’s hard to disagree.

The Gators challenge themselves right away when they host a three-game series vs. Cal State Fullerton to open the season.

CLICK HERE to listen to a podcast interview with Gator Preston Tucker.

2. South Carolina

2011 Record:  55-14

Ray Tanner’s Gamecocks won a second straight national title last year after returning a slew of talent from the 2010 championship squad. This year will be different though. South Carolina loses several key players from the back-to-back championship teams – including position players Jackie Bradley, Jr. (.247, 6 HR, 27 RBIs), Scott Wingo (.338, 4 HR, 31 RBIs), Brady Thomas (.316, 4 HR, 43 RBIs), Robert Beary (.289, 3 HR, 35 RBIs), Adrian Morales (.281, 3 HR, 40 RBIs), and relievers John Taylor (8-1, 1.14 ERA, 50 App., *) and Jose Mata (3-0, 1.76 ERA). The two pitchers combined to make 73 appearances (50 by Taylor) en-route to the team’s second crown last year.

While the losses are formidable, South Carolina does return arguably the most important pitcher in the country, Michael Roth (14-3*, 1.06 ERA, CG*, 145 IP*, 112 K*), over the last two seasons. Sophomore closer Matt Price (7-3, 1.83 ERA, 20 SV*, 59 IP, 70 K*), Forrest Koumas (6-1, 2.96 ERA) and Colby Holmes (7-3, 3.69 ERA) fortify a solid pitching staff.

Infield cornerstone Christian Walker (.358*, 10 HR*, 62 RBIs*, 21 Doubles*, 64 Runs*, .992 OPS*) and  Evan Marzilli (.291, 3 HR, 31 RBIs) are also back for a shot at another run at Omaha.

South Carolina is the only SEC team to reach the NCAA Tournament and also record 40 or more wins in each of the last 12 seasons. The Gamecocks have 577 overall wins, including 222 in SEC play (the most of any team in the conference) during that stretch.

3. Stanford

2011 Record: 35-22

You would be hard pressed to find a team that played a tougher schedule than Stanford last year. You would be even harder pressed to find a pitcher who had tougher head-to-head match-ups in 2011 than Cardinal ace Mark Appel (6-7, 3.02 ERA, 2 CG*, 110 1/3 IP*). Stanford opened its season with series at Rice, at Vanderbilt and at Texas, making the likes of Sonny Gray and Taylor Jungmann Appel’s counterparts on those nights. That’s not to mention match-ups with Sam Gaviglio, Gerrit Cole, Brady Rodgers, Kurt Heyer, and Erik Johnson in Pac-10 play.

The long and short of it is, while Appel won just six times for a 35 win Stanford team, both were battle tested when the NCAA Tournament rolled around as the Cardinal won the Fullerton Regional before falling to North Carolina in Super Regional play.

Appel leads a pitching staff that includes Dean McArdle (7-4*, 4.21 ERA), A.J. Vanegas (1-0, 3.35 ERA, 23 App.) and Brett Mooneyham, who missed all of last season due to injury. The lefty made 28 starts in his first two seasons in 2009 & ’10.

The everyday lineup is stocked with the likes of Stephen Piscotty (.364*, 3 HR, 40 RBIs, 13 Doubles), Brian Ragira (.329, 4 HR, 46 RBIs*, 5 Triples*), Tyler Gaffney (.327, 3 HR, 35 RBIs, 5 Triples*, 10 Doubles, 42 Runs*), Austin Wilson (.311, 5 HR*, 30 RBIs), Lonnie Kauppila (.298, 10 Doubles, 25 RBIs), Kenny Diekroeger (.293, 2 HR, 31 RBIs, 31 Runs), and Jake Stewart (.287, 19 RBIs, 15 Doubles*, 8 SB*, 32 Runs).

By the way, Texas, Rice and Vandy all visit Sunken Diamond this year.

4. North Carolina

2011 Record: 51-16

The good news for Mike Fox and his Tar Heels last year was, after being eliminated in the Regional round in 2010 (on the heels of four straight CWS appearances from 2006-2009), they got back to Omaha in 2011. The bad news was, it was one of their shortest CWS trips. North Carolina was just 1-2 at TD Ameritrade Park last year, with a win over Texas sandwiched between losses to Vanderbilt.

The good news for Fox this year is he returns the bulk of last year’s team. Colin Moran (.335*, 9*, 71 RBIs*, 20 Doubles*, .982 OPS*), Tommy Coyle (.311, 2 HR, 36 RBIs, 57 Runs*, 16 Doubles, 18 SB*), Jacob Stallings (.292, 4 HR, 43 RBIs), Chaz Frank (.278, 35 RBIs, 10 SB). Coyle and Stallings were two of just three Tar Heels to start all 67 games last year. The biggest blow to the lineup and infield is the loss of shortstop Levi Michael (.289, 5 HR, 48 RBIs).

The pitching staff loses ace Patrick Johnson (13-2*, 2.47 ERA, 113 IP*, 125 K*), but there are more than enough returning arms to pick-up the slack. Among them Kent Emanuel (9-1, 2.33 ERA*, 104 1/3 IP), Chris Munnelly (6-5, 4.09 ERA, 10 Starts, 1 SV), Tate Parrish (2.20 ERA, 32 App., 16 1/3 IP, 15 K), Andrew Smith (3-1, 2.77 ERA, 24 App., 26 IP, 27 K), Shane Taylor (2-3, 3.00 ERA, 36 IP, 38 K), R.C. Orlan (2-0, 3.79 ERA, 32 App., 19 IP, 24 K), and Michael Morlin (4-2, 4.64 ERA, 32 App., 6 Starts, 10 SV*, 64 IP, 66 K).

5. Texas A&M

2011 Record: 47-22

Like its arch rival, Texas, Texas A&M is coming-off a trip to the College World Series. It was the program’s first appearance under head coach Rob Childress and its first since 1999. Unlike Texas, this will be A&M’s last season in the Big 12, as the Aggies move to the SEC (along with Missouri) next season.

Kind of makes the April 27-29 series (first game in College Station with the second two in Austin) must see college baseball.

Regardless of next year’s conference address, Childress has the cupboard stocked with returning talent this year. Most notably, reigning Big 12 Player of the Year Tyler Naquin (.381*, 68 Runs*, 44 RBIs, 7 triples*, 23 doubles*, .987 OPS*). The Aggie leadoff man is joined by Jacob House (.301, 3 HR, 52 RBIs*), Matt Juengel (.308, 7 HR*, 50 RBIs), and 2011 Freshman All-American Krey Bratsen (.332, 36 RBIs, 19 sac bunts*, 31 SB*).

Childress has plenty of pitching back too, with Michael Wacha (9-4, 2.29 ERA, 2 CG, 129 2/3 IP*, 123 K*) and versatile Ross Stripling (14-2*, 2.29 ERA, 4 CG*, 4 SV, 125 2/3 IP) at the front of the weekend rotation. Those two combine to give the Aggies one of the top Friday-Saturday duos in the country.

6. Rice

2011 Record: 42-21

Time marches on as Ray Graham prepares for his 21^st season at the helm at Rice. The veteran has averaged an amazing 45 wins in his two decades at the helm. If he hits that number this year and next, he will move past 1,000 career victories.

Graham enters 2011 looking to replace, arguably, the best player in Rice history – Anthony Rendon (.327*, 6 HR, 20 Doubles*, 1.043 OPS*). The third baseman’s home runs dropped last year thanks to BBCOR, but he still hit 52 HR in his three seasons in an Owl uniform. He was the sixth overall pick and the first college position player selected in last year’s MLB Draft (Washington Nationals).

As good as Rendon is, the one thing Rice did not do while he was there is go to the College World Series. The Owls were the No. 8 national seed and hosted an NCAA Regional last year, but they went just 1-2 and saw Cinderella Cal advance all the way to the CWS out of their Regional.

Rice has both plenty of offense and pitching returning this year. Michael Ratterree (.327*, 6 HR*, 53 RBIs*, 20 Doubles*), Craig Manuel (.309, 35 RBIs, 26 Runs) and Shane  Hoelscher (.281, 3 HR, 37 RBIs, 13 Doubles, 30 Runs) are among the top position players back.

Austin Kubitza (6-5, 2.34 ERA*, 100 IP*, 102 K*) heads the weekend rotation, while Matthew Reckling (4-1, 3.10 ERA, 78 1/3 IP, 96 K), Tyler Duffey (8-2*, 2.52 ERA, 30 App., 60 2/3 IP, 76 K), and John Simms (3-2, 3.32 ERA, 62 1/3 IP, 63 K, 23 App.) all return as well. Reckling is the grandson of Rice alum T.R. Reckling, for whom Rice’s home stadium, Reckling Park, is named.

7. Texas

2011 Record: 49-19

After failing to advance to the College World Series from 2006-2008, Augie Garrido’s Longhorns have righted the ship with trips to Omaha two of the last three seasons. Last year’s Omaha appearance was historically short though. Texas was two-and-out for just the second time in its 25 CWS appearances since 1966 last year with losses to Florida and North Carolina.

Gone from last year’s team is first round draftee Taylor Jungmann (13-3, 1.60 ERA, 5 CG, 141 IP*, 126 K*), whose only three losses of the season came in consecutive weeks in NCAA play. Cole Green (8-4, 3.14 ERA, 106 IP, 104 K) is gone as well, leaving Garrido with nearly 250 innings pitched to replace. It’s Texas though, so arms won’t be a problem.  National Freshman of the Year Corey Knebel (3-2, 1.13 ERA, 19 SV*, 55 2/3 IP, 61 K), Sam Stafford (6-2, 1.77 ERA) and Hoby Milner (7-4, 2.45 ERA) are back along with a host of other options.

Erich Weiss (.348*, 4 HR, 7 triples*, 12 doubles, 45 RBIs*, 1.003 OPS*) was the Longhorns’ top bat as a freshman last year, but he’ll need others to step-up around him with the losses of veterans Brandon Loy (.342, 30 RBIs) and Tant Shepherd (.303, 5 HR*, 41 RBIs).

8. Arkansas

2011 Record:

If Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn knows nothing else about the 2012 season, he knows this – his Razorbacks will not have to go through Arizona State in Tempe in the NCAA Tournament. After both teams went to the 2009 College World Series, they squared-off in a 2010 Super Regional, with ASU again advancing to Omaha. Arkansas then bowed-out to the Sun Devils in Tempe in the Regional final last year. However, there is no way the two will meet in the postseason this year, because Arizona State is ineligible due to NCAA probation.

Freshman All-American Dominic Ficociello (.335*, 4 HR, 50 RBIs*, 15 Doubles) is back to lead a lineup that returns five position players from a team that won a tight race in the SEC Western Division. Only two games in the loss column separated first place from last place in the division. Bo Bigham (.291, 2 HR, 20 RBIs, 17 SB), Matt Reynolds (.243, 3 HR, 22 RBIs, 16 SB) and Tim Carver (.232, HR, 13 RBIs, 30 Runs, 24 SB*) are among those who will need to step-up to replace the power and production of James McCann (.306, 6 HR, 38 RBIs, 14 Doubles) and Kyle Robinson (.291, 10 HR*, 49 RBIs).

The Razorbacks will rely on a pitching staff whose 3.20 ERA in 2011 was the program’s best since 1982. All-SEC pitcher D.J. Baxendale (10-2*, 1.58 ERA*, CG, 3 SV, 81/3 IP*, 77 K*) is at the front of the weekend rotation and is among 10 returning Hog pitchers. Freshman All-Americans Barrett Astin (5-2, 2.72 ERA, 3 SV, 27 App.*) and Nolan Sanburn (2-4, 3.62 ERA, 8 SV) combined for 92 IP and 92 Ks last year.

9. Georgia Tech

2011 Record:

The Yellow Jackets hosted an NCAA Regional for the ninth time in 12 years in 2011, but failed to advance after being upset in the first round by Austin Peay and ultimately seeing Mississippi State advance to Super Regional play.

Danny Hall enters his 19^th season at Georgia Tech just 13 wins away from 1,000 in his career. He is also looking to take his team back to the College World Series for the first time since 2006.

Hall loses his top overall bat in Matt Skole (.348*, 10 HR, 58 RBIs*, .990 OPS*), but he has more than enough returning offense back in 2011 with Jake Davies (.347, 5 HR, 35 RBIs, 13 Doubles), Freshman All-American Kyle Wren (.340, 32 RBIs, 11 Doubles, 7 Triples*, 57 Runs*, 16 SB), Sam Dove (.310, 18 RBIs, 30 Runs), Brandon Thomas (.307, 3 HR, 29 RBIs, 29 Runs, 12 Doubles, 19 SB*), Daniel Palka (.297, 12 HR*, 52 RBIs, 18 Doubles, 41 Runs), Mott Hyde (.275, 4 HR, 47 RBIs, 39 Runs, 13 Doubles), and Zane Evans (.270, 5 HR, 46 RBIs, 34 Runs, 14 Doubles) all returning.

Mark Pope (11-4*, 1.74 ERA, 5 CG*, 113 2/3 IP*) is the biggest pitching loss, but the ’11 staff is still deep with Buck Farmer (11-3*, 2.91 ERA, 2 CG, 108 1/3 IP, 106 K*), Matthew Grimes (7-4, 4.15 ERA, 73 2/3 IP, 77 K), DeAndre Smelter (2-1, 0.52 ERA), Luke Bard (2-2, 2.72 ERA, 8 SV*, 25 App.*, 49 2/3 IP, 46 K), Dusty Isaacs (1-1, 2.72 ERA, 36 1/3 IP, 40 K, 25 App.*), and Devin Stanton (1-0, 3.38 ERA, 18 App.) all back looking for a deep NCAA run.

10. LSU

2011 Record: 36-20

Since winning the 2009 national championship, LSU was eliminated in NCAA Regional play in 2010 and just missed the NCAA field in 2011. Paul Mainieri’s young squad struggled to find consistency last year, but last year’s youngsters are all SEC-seasoned veterans now for a team that many considered a 2012 CWS favorite as soon as the 2011 season ended.

The biggest place where inexperience showed last year was in the weekend pitching rotation, where freshmen Kevin Gausman (5-6, 3.51 ERA, 89 2/3 IP*, 86 K*) and Kurt McCune (7-3*, 89 2/3 IP*, 3.31 ERA*) ate the bulk of the innings. Fellow Freshman Ryan Eades (4-1, 4.81 ERA, 6 starts, 18 App.) emerged and joined his classmates in the weekend rotation by season’s end, going 3-0 in his last three starts of the season. That included a win over eventual Super Regional team Mississippi State. Eades also went on to earn Cape Cod Pitcher of the Year honors last summer. Those three give Mainieri what he thinks is the best weekend rotation in the nation entering the season.

The Tigers must fill the void left by closer Matty Ott (1-3, 2.60 ERA, 6 SV*). Sophomore Nick Rumbelow (2-0, 4.85 ERA, 10 App.), All-American juco transfer Nick Goody and freshman Aaron Nola (the younger brother of Austin Nola) have been competing for that spot. The two who fall short in that battle will start the season as set-up men.

Mikie Mahtook (.383*, 61 Runs*, 12 doubles, 5 triples*, 14 HR*, 56 RBIs*), who hit 14 of the team’s 34 home runs last year, is gone. JaCoby Jones (.338, 4 HR, 32 RBIs, 11 Doubles, 12 SB) will take over for him in centerfield, while Raph Rhymes (.360, 3 HR, 42 RBIs, 43 Runs, 18 Doubles)), Mason Katz (.337, 4 HR, 53 RBIs, 40 Runs, 21 Doubles*), and Austin Nola (.296, 2 HR, 42 RBIs, 13 Doubles, 40 Runs) are all back in the everyday lineup.

CLICK HERE to listen to a podcast interview with LSU head coach Paul Mainieri.

 

www.simplesharebuttons.com

]]> http://collegebaseball360.com/college-baseball-360-2012-team-previews/feed/ 0

Weekend Series Tops Recent Comings & Goings…

An entry in the raffle is $100. Click Here to enter.

Robinson Renovation…

UCLA recently announced that it will add nearly 600 more chairback seats at Steele Field at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The project is expected to be complete by this December. Once it’s done, the stadium will seat 1,820 fans. 290 seats will be installed above each dugout to accommodate the expansion. 2012 will mark the 32nd season for Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Releasing Schedules…

2012 schedules continue to be released by individual schools on a regular basis. Our Schedule page has links to those (that we know of) that have been released to date. Expect schedules to continue to be released from now through early February.

We will once again publish a list of some of the top non-conference schedules from across the country once they are all releases. Some of the current front-runners include Stanford, Cal State Fullerton, TCU, and Wichita State. Check out the schedule page to check all of the schedules that have been released so far.

Moneyball Mike…

If you have seen the movie Moneyball, you may have been thinking (as I did) “I’ve seen that guy before”, during one of the scenes. UC Irvine head coach, Mike Gillespie, had a cameo in the Brad Pitt film. Gillespie had a non-speaking role playing former Oakland A’s coach, Ken Macha, while the A’s staff was meeting in an office. By the way, Gillespie looks much more like Macha than actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman resembles then A’s manager Art Howe.

The Dugout in Omaha is your one stop for the most officially licensed 2011 College World Series apparel.

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!

Titans, Cardinal Back At It…

Click image to enlarge!

Right now, you can save 20% on everything – even sale items –  in stock at Dugouthats.com when you enter the coupon code CB360.

Save on 2011 College World Series apparel as well as authentic college baseball caps from teams like LSU, Texas, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UCLA, South Carolina, Miami and more at Dugouthats.com!

Cardinal Back On Track…

Tyler Gaffney (courtesey Stanford)

The Stanford offense had an unmemorable weekend overall, but knocking around Gerrit Cole on Thursday night was certainly impressive. The Cardinal hit three home runs, including Zach Jones‘ third three-run homer of the year, and sophomore Tyler Gaffney knocked Cole out of the game after just 6 and 1/3 innings with a two-run shot.

But even though the Cardinal bats woke up against UCLA’s “Ace 1A,” they went silent just a day later against “Ace 1B.”

Trevor Bauer struck out 17 Cardinal hitters in a complete game 4-1 win on Friday night, and his stuff was unbelievable. The junior had 10 strikeouts through just four innings, using a fastball that touched 97 miles an hour, and a dominant curveball that never seemed to miss the strike zone.

After watching his performance on Friday, if someone were to tell me that Bauer is not the best pitcher in college baseball this year, I’d just assume they were crazy. Bauer leads the nation with 127 strikeouts, has an ERA of 1.42 and a WHIP of .802 in just ten starts this season (oh, and four of those starts were complete game wins). Simply put, I don’t think it’s possible for any team to hit Bauer when he’s pitching like this.

And, to make matters worse for other teams, freshman Sunday starter Adam Plutko is also very good – a 1.69 ERA this year – but the UCLA bullpen is a bit of a cause for concern because UCLA will most likely be in a lot of low-scoring games this year.

Trevor Bauer leads the nation with 127 Ks.

This is because UCLA’s bats are not special, but they hit just well enough behind their three-headed monster of a pitching staff to beat anyone on any given day. The Bruins only have three batters that hit over .300, but they did have eight extra-base hits in three games off the Stanford pitching staff, so every batter can make you pay, particularly against righthanded pitchers because UCLA starts five lefties in their lineup.

Looking ahead, both of these teams are going to be threats in the postseason, but both teams do have things to fix. UCLA’s starters give them a chance to go back to Omaha – and maybe to win it all – but their offense and bullpen are concerns. Like I said, I don’t foresee UCLA scoring a ton of runs, so if any team can find a way to get past their starters and dig into the bullpen, the Bruins are vulnerable. However, I’m not sure how a team can get past all three Bruin starters in a double-elimination format, so expect to see UCLA in June.

If Stanford wants to make it deep into the postseason, it needs two players to regain their early-season form – Kenny Diekroeger and Jordan Pries.

Diekroeger has been struggling at the plate lately – his batting average has dropped from .422 to .336 over the last month – but he did have a three-run homer in Stanford’s midweek game against Santa Clara, as well as the walkoff single in Saturday’s game.

Pries has now lost his last three decisions (one against Trevor Bauer and his 17 strikeouts), but his stuff has not looked spectacular lately. After watching Pries dominate Cal and Vanderbilt in his first two starts of the season, I expected him to have a monster year, but he has not been able to dominate the mound like he did early in the year in his last two starts. However, he has not gotten any help from his offense – Stanford has scored only three runs in his last three starts.

Do I expect those two to get right over the last two months of the season? Absolutely. Both are veterans who know what it is like to go through the ups and downs of a long season, and I think the big series win over UCLA will help them regain their form. If that does happen, the Cardinal could be poised for a major late-season surge deep into the postseason.

Every weekend provides every team the opportunity to make a statement in the college baseball world, and this past weekend was no different. However, for the most part it was favorites and not underdogs that made statements from April 15-17.

Friday’s games saw higher ranked teams in the College Baseball 360 Composite National Rankings go 30-8, for a .790 winning percentage. That percentage dipped to .580 (25-18) on Saturday, but the higher ranked teams bounced-back on Sunday by winning at a .700 (26-11) clip.

Two underdogs that broke that trend were #4 South Carolina and #21 Oklahoma State, which each took two of three games in their high profile series against #3 Vanderbilt and #15 Oklahoma, respectively.

Gamecock Statement…

Considering South Carolina is the defending national champion, it’s kind of hard to consider its series win over #3 Vanderbilt an upset. However, the Commodores are the second SEC team that South Carolina has beaten this year (Florida is the other) that was ranked #1 in one of the national polls at the time the Gamecocks beat them in a best two-of-three series. Vandy’s (32-5, 11-4 SEC) series loss is its first since dropping last year’s Super Regional at Florida State, while South Carolina (28-7, 12-3 SEC) has won every series it has played in 2011.

Matt Price

This series was everything it was supposed to be, with great pitching, timely hitting and great defense. There were just two errors committed all weekend. Michael Roth (8-1) out-dueled Sonny Gray (7-2) to give South Carolina a 3-1 game one win. Each ace fired 7 2/3 innings, with Matt Price closing the door with 1 1/3 perfect innings and four strikeouts for his 11th save. The teams combined to use 11 pitchers in Saturday’s 6-4 Vanderbilt victory. Aaron Westlake and Mike Yastrzemski each had two RBIs to help Grayson Garvin improve to 7-1. South Carolina used a 4-run 7th inning to win Sunday’s finale 5-3. Roth was again spectacular out of the bullpen, notching 7 Ks in 3.0 shutout innings to improve to 4-2.

By the way, how would you like to be in the SEC East, where South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Florida all reside? The defending national champs now sit atop the division at 28-7 overall and 12-3 in conference play, followed by Florida (28-9) and Vandy (32-5), which are both 11-4 in the SEC. The Commodores and Gators go head-to-head in Nashville May 13-15.

Beavers Surging, Cardinal Slumping…

Sam Gaviglio

Oregon State swept Stanford in Palo Alto in a match-up of teams who are now heading in completely opposite directions. The Beavers (27-7, 8-1 Pac-10) have won nine straight, with eight of those wins coming against conference foes Arizona, Arizona State and now Stanford. Meanwhile, Stanford (16-12, 3-6 Pac-10) has dropped five of its last six games, including five straight in conference action.

OSU’s Sam Gaviglio (7-1) was masterful in Friday’s 1-0 series-opening win. He mixed enough fastballs in between his devastating curveballs to limit the Cardinal to four hits over 8.0 innings. Gaviglio and his staff mates combined to hold Stanford to five runs on the weekend. It doesn’t get any easier for the Cardinal next week, with UCLA coming to Sunken Diamond.

CLICK HERE for even more in-depth analysis of this series from CB360 contributor Jack Blanchat.

Bedlam Breakthrough…

Oklahoma State took two of three from Oklahoma in the Bedlam Series for its first series win over the arch-rival Sooners since 2008. Both Cowboys wins came in walk-off fashion. Davis Duren gave OSU the win on Sunday with a 10th inning walk-off RBI single for an 11-10 victory in Oklahoma City. Dane Phillips ended Friday’s 8-7 win in Tulsa with a 9th inning lead-off home run.

Break-up The Bruins…

Beau Amaral

The adage that good pitching beats good hitting held-up as UCLA picked-up its biggest series win of the season by taking two of three games from hot hitting Arizona. The Wildcats were averaging 7.5 runs-a-game with a .342 team batting average heading into the series, but the vaunted Bruins pitching staff limited Arizona to 3.3 runs-a-game and a .202 average over the weekend. Trevor Bauer (7-1) fanned 13 and gave-up just four hits in Saturday’s complete game win. Bauer has hit double digit Ks in eight of his nine starts this year. His 110 strikeouts leads the nation. Beau Amaral led the Bruins by hitting 7-for-12 (.583) for the weekend, including six RBIs in Sunday’s 8-5 series clincher.

Wolfpack Attack…

North Carolina was red hot entering its series with arch rival North Carolina State, but the Wolfpack red gave UNC the blues by sweeping the Tar Heels in Raleigh. North Carolina had won 16 of its previous 18 games, including a sweep of Clemson and 2-of-3 vs. Florida State, entering the weekend. Pratt Maynard led NC State by going 6-for-12 with five runs scored in the sweep.

Red Storm Rising…

Joe Panik

Louisville is finding out just how hard it is to maintain dominance over an extended period of time. St. John’s swept the Cardinals (20-15, 6-6 Big East) to hand Louisville its fifth straight loss. Louisville’s 15 losses are one more than it suffered all of last year. St. John’s shortstop Joe Panik was 6-for-14 (.428) with 5 RBIs and a home run in the sweep. Louisville committed 12 errors in the series and has just a .963 fielding percentage this season.

Beavers Lead Pac-10 After Weekend Sweep…

Sam Gaviglio (OSU photo)

Sam Gaviglio, the Friday starter, is a hitters’ worst nightmare. He throws almost exclusively breaking pitches, but the words “hanging curve” are not in his vocabulary. He struck out eight Stanford hitters in Friday’s game using the precise command of his curveball, baiting hitters into sitting back and swinging over pitches that ended up in the dirt and mixing in a surprise fastball every now and then.

With breaking pitches that were so deadly accurate, Gaviglio can go deep into games and keep the base paths clear – he only gave up two walks and four hits in eight innings on Friday, keeping consistent with his 0.779 WHIP this year.

But after Gaviglio beats you on Friday night (he’s 7-1 this year), lefty Josh Osich will most likely beat you on Saturday, too. Osich uses the fastball to his advantage, riding up into the mid-to-high nineties at times, and then mixing his stuff up to keep hitters guessing at the plate. Osich is 5-0 so far this season, and his six-inning, two-hit, six-strikeout, five-walk performance on Saturday was especially good because the Cardinal has a .332 team batting average against lefties this season.

Kavin Keyes had the only RBI in Friday's 1-0 Beaver win (OSU photo).

Freshmen hurlers Scott Schultz and Ben Weztler were also impressive on Sunday, but no matter who takes the hill, the Beavers’ defense gives any pitcher they trot out an advantage over most teams in the nation.

Shortstop Ryan Dunn has a massive range, and he can get to essentially any ball that comes his way, no matter if it’s to his left or right. Similarly, centerfielder Brian Stamps made three great catches in the outfield this weekend – and he came in as a defensive replacement for the last two innings of every game. It’s hard to rally on a team with such a good defense, and that great D can keep the Beavers safe even if their excellent starters get bounced early in a game.

Stanford, on the other hand, leaves this series reeling. The Cardinal has now lost five of its last six games, and the offense was downright dreadful for the entire weekend.

For example, righty Mark Appel dropped to 2-4 this season because Stanford couldn’t muster a single run off Gaviglio on Friday night. Appel went six and two-thirds innings with six strikeouts and just two walks, but he ended up losing a 1-0 decision, the second one-run game that Appel has lost this season ( the other a 2-1 loss to Vanderbilt).

The Cardinal offense appears to be struggling because shortstop Kenny Diekroeger is in the midst of a miserable slump, and in each game this weekend it was apparent that Stanford needs Diekroeger to hit if it expects to win.

Diekroeger went 2-for-12 this weekend with just one RBI, and his batting average has dropped over seventy points in two weeks, plummeting from .422 to .351. As Diekroeger goes, so do the rest of the Cardinal hitters, as the offense has only mustered 11 runs in the last six games.

After this cheerless weekend, the Card cannot afford to let the Beavers beat them again, as any hangover from the Oregon State series might be just the advantage that the visiting UCLA Bruins will exploit in this weekend’s upcoming series at Sunken Diamond. If the Cardinal expects to get back into the race for the Pac-10 title, it needs to rally hard and get wins against the Bruins’ great pitching staff.

A Look At Some Of The Best Non-Conference Slates…

College Baseball 360 has been steadily posting the some 300 Division I baseball schedules since July as schools have released them. We have also made a few new additions to our Schedule Page for this season. You can now access not only 2011 schedules for every DI baseball team, but also 2011 rosters, and team statistics pages for both 2010 and 2011. Links are also provided for every conference’s official baseball web site.

In any case, when it comes to schedules college baseball is obviously different from Major League Baseball. MLB teams basically have the same degree of difficulty in their year-to-year schedules. The biggest variations come with interleague play and whether or not you happen to reside in the AL East.

But it’s different in college. While conferences dictate league games, each college baseball team is free to set its own non-conference slate.

With that in mind, we thought we would take a look at the top 11 schools that set the bar high with their non-conference schedules in 2011. We also have an honorable mention list of teams that didn’t quite make the cut.

The list is obviously subjective. It is not meant to be a strict “strength of schedule” ranking. Factors like “going outside the comfort zone” and a program trying to challenge itself beyond recent or traditional success. IE-If a team hasn’t been a year-to-year NCAA team, but has several traditional NCAA teams on the schedule that carries extra weight, as does a “power” team going on the road for more than one game on another team’s home field.

Cal State Fullerton

Dave Serrano’s Titans made it to Omaha in 2009 and they were a win away from a return trip last year. With that in mind, Fullerton had no reason to ratchet-up the schedule this season, but that’s what they did. The Titans opening weekend includes three “non-conference” games against Big West rival Long Beach State (they play again in conference play) as well as a game against North Carolina. That appetite wetter is followed by a three-game series in Ft. Worth against  pre-season #1 TCU (Collegiate Baseball Poll). After three games against USC, Serrano then takes his team to Baton Rouge for three games against LSU. Just to make sure they get their money’s worth before going home, the Titans stop in College Station to take on Texas A&M on March 15. Want more? Fullerton plays three games at Washington, followed by two home games against Arizona State and then heads to Hawaii for four games against the Warriors. A home game and a Super Regional rematch against UCLA awaits the Titans when they get home from the islands (Fullerton and UCLA will play again in Westwood later in the season). That’s 15 of 25 games to open the season against 2010 NCAA Tournament teams, with six of those contests against 2010 CWS squads.  There’s also a home and home with another ’10 NCAA team, San Diego.   

New Mexico

After ending a 48-year NCAA Tournament drought, head coach Ray Birmingham could have eased off the pedal when it comes to scheduling in 2011, but that’s not his style. The Lobos set the tone for their historic year by taking two of three from #1 Texas to start 2010. They will have the chance to make a statement right off the bat again this year when they play four games at Arizona State. The Lobos also have three games at Oklahoma State, two games at Arizona, three games at Gonzaga (NCAA ’09), a four-game home and home series with Texas Tech, and a four-game series in May at 2010 CWS team Oklahoma. All that plus a pair of three-game series against Mountain West Conference rival TCU. Hopefully it’s all as fun for the Lobos to play as it is for us to watch (and hopefully Birmingham gets some of those teams to Albuquerque in 2010)!

Oklahoma

Before he even thinks about setting his non-conference schedule, OU head coach Sunny Golloway knows one thing: In any given year he could face nine other Big 12 squads that could be NCAA Tournament teams (all 10 Big 12 teams made the NCAA field at least twice in the last decade). Forgive Golloway for the nine season-opening games in Norman against the likes of William & Mary, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Oakland (MI), but trust me, it gets better from there. The 2010 CWS Sooners hit the road for five total games against San Diego, San Diego St. and Cal at the USD Tournament in early March. After three against Arkansas-Little Rock, OU heads to Tempe for two games against Arizona State. There are mid-week home and home series against both TCU and Arkansas on the schedule, and the aforementioned four-game set in May against New Mexico. That’s four games against 2010 CWS teams and a total of 11 non-conference games against 2010 NCAA squads.  

Stanford

After a 31-win season in 2010, Mark Marquess’ Cardinal enters 2011 with a #10 Collegiate Baseball national ranking. With that in mind, Stanford could easily sit at home in Palo Alto and schedule a bunch of home games against the likes of Sacramento State, Nevada and various repeat California foes. That’s not even close to the plan for Marquess and Stanford in 2011. The schedule starts with 10 of 11 non-conference games against 2010 NCAA teams, with nine of those games in different time zones and six of them against 2010 Super Regional squads. Here’s how it goes: Three games at Rice (Regional), a home game vs. rival Cal (Regional), three games at Vanderbilt (Super Regional) in Nashville, a home game vs. Santa Clara, and three games at Texas (Super Regional). All that is followed by a three-game home series against Michigan. Three home games against Long Beach State, another game against Cal (they also close the season and possibly the long rivalry with three games in Berkley), and a sneaky home and home against a rising Pacific team (coached by former Stanford and MLB player Ed Sprague) are among other non-conference games. While Michigan and LBSU have both been down the last couple years, they are both teams that could challenge for their conference crowns in any given year. It all adds up to a schedule that’s great for college baseball and tough for Stanford.

Arizona State

For now, Tim Esmay’s Sun Devils will not be participating in the 2011 NCAA Tournament (ASU is appealing the recent NCAA ban), but Arizona State has plenty of non-conference opponents on its schedule that made it last year and could be back again this year. The schedule starts with that four-game series with New Mexico. It cools a bit over the next couple weeks, but gets hot again March 11-23 with 10 straight non-conference games against 2010 NCAA participants. ASU starts the stretch with three games at Auburn, followed by two home games with Oklahoma, three home games against Oral Roberts, and then finishes the stretch with two games at Cal State Fullerton. The Sun Devils open Pac 10 play against arch rival Arizona after that stretch. They play two more games against the Wildcats in “non-conference” action.

Long Beach State

The Dirt Bags have averaged just 24 wins over the last two seasons, but that won’t stop first-year head coach Troy Buckley’s squad from challenging itself early in 2011. LBSU opens with 18 of its first 23 non-conference games against 2010 NCAA Tourney teams. The campaign begins with the three “non-league” games against Cal State Fullerton (their official Big West series in in May) and continues with games against Arizona (3), Oregon (3), Hawaii, Rice, Cal, Oregon State (3), and Stanford (3). The degree of difficulty of the Dirt Bags’ schedule also bumps-up with a home and home series with UCLA and a three-game set at Arizona State in May.

Georgia

Most SEC teams don’t schedule a high degree of difficulty in their non-conference games since they know they’ll cannibalize each other once conference play begins. A three-game series at Stetson to open the season doesn’t necessarily scream “must-see”, but give Dave Perno credit for starting on the road and outside his comfort zone. Things do get tougher though as the early portion of the season progresses with three-game home series vs. Baylor (Georgia played two games at Baylor last year) and Florida State. A “non-league” game against Alabama at Lawrenceville, GA’s Coolray Field also precedes a trip to L.A. for games against UCLA, USC and St. Mary’s. A mid-week game against Clemson and three games against intrastate rival Georgia Tech also dot the 2011 slate.

Oral Roberts

It’s tough for a smaller program that’s had a lot of success (13 straight conference titles) to get the big boys to play, but Rob Walton has his Golden Eagles playing a slew of tough teams on the 2011 docket. ORU has a three-game series with Baylor, a home and home with perennial midwest power Wichita State, three games at Arizona State, three at San Diego State, and single games at Texas and TCU. There’s also an early three-game home series against a Bethune-Cookman team that includes preseason All-American Pete O’Brien, who belted 20 HR last year.

Rutgers

The Scarlet Knights will not participate in the Big East/Big Ten Challenge this year. Instead, Fred Hill’s team from New Jersey will open the schedule with three games in Coral Gables against Miami. It’s a team Rutgers has traditionally faced over the years. Georgia Tech is another frequent stop for Rutgers, and they’ll visit Atlanta for three games again this year. RU also has three games against Michigan in Port St. Lucie, FL and three games at East Carolina. All four of those teams have been to at least a Super Regional over the last five seasons.

San Diego

The Toreros open their 2011 season with 15 of their first 20 games against 2010 NCAA teams. Three of their first four games are against Vanderbilt. Other NCAA foes in that stretch include UConn (4), Oregon (4), Oklahoma, and Coastal Carolina (2). There are also home and home series with Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine as well as a four-game set at Fresno State.

Wichita State

Just a glance a the Shocker’s 2011 schedule doesn’t make anyone go “wow”, with early three-game home series against Niagara and North Dakota. However, there’s more appreciation after looking a little deeper. WSU follows their home-opening series against the Purple Eagles with a trip to Tulsa to face Oral Roberts. There is also good competition at the Dallas Baptist Tournament against the host Patriots as well as UT-Arlington and New Orleans, as well as another game against Arlington before returning home. Gene Stephenson then goes to Tulane for three games before welcoming Arizona to Wichita for a two-game set. The Shockers then play four games at Oregon, followed by four more at Hawaii. There are also home and home series against Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State, as well as home games against Nebraska and Oral Roberts.

Honorable Mention

Bethune-Cookman: UC-Irvine, @ Auburn (2), @ Oral Roberts (3), @ Oklahoma State (2), Florida International, @ Miami, @ Florida

Cal Poly: Missouri, North Carolina, USC, UCLA (3), @ Oklahoma State (3), Minnesota (3)

Cal State Bakersfield: Washington State (3), Washington (3), Arizona St., Kansas, Fresno St. (3), @ South Carolina (3), Ohio State (3), Minnesota (2), UC-Irvine (3), @ Kansas St. (2), @ UCLA (3), Cal Poly (3)

Coastal Carolina: Virginia Tech, Tennessee Tech, Kansas State, Cal, Western Kentucky, North Carolina State, Kent State, @ San Diego (2), The Citadel (2), @ Clemson, @ North Carolina, @Virginia.

Connecticut: Minnesota, Oregon State, Cal, @ San Diego (4), @ UC Irvine, College of Charleston, Southern Mississippi

Dallas Baptist: @ Oklahoma State, TCU (home and home), Wichita State, @ Washington State (2), @ Washington (3), @ Rice, @ Texas, @ Oklahoma, @ Texas A&M (3), Baylor

Florida: Miami (3), Florida State (3), Bethune-Cookman

Fresno State: Oregon State (2), @ Nebraska (3), Washington State (3), San Diego (4), Ohio State (2)

Hawaii: Oregon (4), Texas (3), Cal State Fullerton (4), Wichita State (4)

Illinois-Chicago: @ Kentucky (3), @ Missouri (4), @ Vanderbilt (3)

Kent State: @ Georgia Tech (3), @ Louisville (3), @ Coastal Carolina, @ Houston (3)

Louisville: Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota, Kent State (3), @ Pepperdine (3), @ USC (2), Western Kentucky (2), Kentucky, Vanderbilt

Oklahoma State: Cal Poly (3), Washington State, Minnesota, TCU (3), Wichita St. (2), @ Ohio State (2)

Rice: Stanford (3), USC (3), Kentucky, Baylor, Texas, @Arizona (2)

TCU: Kansas (3), Cal State Fullerton (3), @ Texas Tech (3), Oklahoma (2), @ Oklahoma State (3), @ Oral Roberts, @ Texas A&M, plays nearly every DI team from Texas except Texas and Rice

Texas Tech: TCU (3), New Mexico (4-home and home), @ Michigan (2)

Tulane: Southeastern Louisiana (2), @ Ole Miss (3), Wichita State (3), LSU (2), Florida International

UCLA: @ Nebraska (3), @ Cal Poly (3), Cal State Fullerton (2), UC-Irvine (2), Long Beach State (2), Georgia

USC: Missouri, North Carolina, Cal Poly, @ Rice (3), Cal State Fullerton (3), Louisville (2), Pacific (3), Georgia, UC-Irvine (2)

Related

Top 11 Catchers To Watch In 2011

Top 11 Shortstops To Watch In 2011

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.

The stretch drive of the college baseball season is coming, and conference races are heating up.  In this podcast CB 360 Editor Sean Stires talks with our West Coast correspondent, Chase Titleman from Road2rosenblatt.com, about teams like Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona, UCLA and how their NCAA hopes are looking.  Will the Pac 10 get more than five NCAA bids for the first time ever?

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!

Click To Listen!

Thoughts on Tar Heels, Golden Eagles, the Pac 10 and even Toby Gerhart and the NFL Draft with Collegebaseball360.com editor Sean Stires.

Two For Home? North Carolina and Southern Mississippi were two of the “Omaha Eight” last year, but more and more they are looking like teams that could be left entirely out of the field of 64 this season.  UNC (23-16, 6-12 ACC) enters this weekend’s series at Clemson tied with Duke for last place in the ACC Coastal Division.  However,

Mike Fox (UNC photo)

they’re technically not even tied with the Blue Devils, because Duke took two of three games from the Tar Heels last month.  That was the first of four ACC series losses by UNC already this season.  As we pointed out in our Notebook earlier this week, the Tar Heels lost just six ACC series over the last four seasons combined.  They entered the week with a solid 36 in the NCAA RPI, but  have lost seven of their last nine games while continuing to drop in every national poll.  In addition to Clemson, North Carolina’s remaining conference series are Wake Forest, at Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Meanwhile, Southern Mississippi (18-17, 2-7 CUSA) is completely reeling.  With an NCAA RPI of 102, last year’s CWS darlings have lost three straight and seven of their last nine games.   Mid-week losses to LSU and Ole Miss are one thing, but USM has lost its last three Conference USA series to UAB, Central Florida and Marshall to plummet to dead last in the conference standings.

The Pac Is Back: After a down year in 2009 the Pac 10 is looking very good.  Arizona State and UCLA grabbed most of the early season headlines with their long winning streaks to start the season, but the league is deep.  Seven teams, #1 Arizona State, #6 UCLA, #16 Arizona, #18 California, #20 Oregon, #24 Oregon State, and #29 Stanford,  are ranked among the CB 360 Composite National Rankings top 30. Each of those teams is

Toby Gerhart hit 16 HR and ran for 44 TDs in his two-sport career (Stanford photo)

also in the NCAA RPI top 30.  At least six of those teams should receive an NCAA bid this season, making it even tougher for a team like North Carolina to find a bid of its own.

Go Gerhart: As I write this the start of the 2010 NFL Draft is just hours away.  It’s hard to believe, but former Stanford two-sport star Toby Gerhart isn’t expected to be taken until the end of the second round…at the earliest.  This is a guy who set Pac 10 records and led the nation with 28 rushing touchdowns and 1,871 rushing yards in 2009.  He also played in 105 college baseball games, while helping the Cardinal to the 2008 College World Series.  He had good 40 times at the NFL Combine, but he’ll slip in the draft because the last white running back to have any real NFL success was John Riggins.  At least one scout has said “If Toby Gerhart was black, he would be drafted in the first round.”  I’m no scout, but was Gerhart too slow when he ran over and around USC’s Taylor Mays when he ran for 178 yards, while running for 3 TDs and catching another in Stanford’s 55-21 win at USC?  Mays is expected to be a first round pick.   Pete Carroll wanted Gerhart to be a fullback when he recruited him, but he ran over Carroll’s linebackers instead.   Gerhart proved Carroll and a lot of other doubters wrong in college, and let’s hope he does the same again in the NFL.