Friday CWS Thoughts And Notes

Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires shares some thoughts from another day at the College World Series...

• Does Arizona State's Kole Calhoun remind anyone else of the character 'Ham" Porter from the movie Sandlot? Calhoun (pictured right) and his teammate, Carlos Ramirez, are built more like beer league softball players than college baseball players, but they play the part well. Neither strikes out a lot for power guys, and they both know how to work a count. Calhoun's OPS is .981, while Ramirez's is 1.126. After Thursday's win over North Carolina, Calhoun now has 3 home runs and 10 RBIs in Omaha, including a grand slam vs. the Tar Heels. Meanwhile, Ramirez has caught all 64 of the Sun Devils' games this season. Like Oakland's Billy Beane has said "We're not selling blue jeans".
  

• Speaking of movie characters...ASU's Pat Murphy reminds me of Mickey Rourke's "Marv" in Sin City. Murph was born in New York, and he brings that east coast toughness to the desert & the Pac 10. The confidence his players exhude often borders on, if not crosses into, cockiness, but given the results (3 CWS in the last five years) that's not a bad thing.

• The ebb and the flow...Arizona State jumped-out to a 6-0 lead in Tuesday's game vs. Texas, only to see the Longhorns score the last ten runs of the game. North Carolina opened Thursday's game with the first four runs of the game, to bring ASU's total to 14 straight combined unanswered runs. The Sun Devils then used an 8-run seventh inning en-route to 12 unanswered runs of their own before UNC finally got a run in the 9th in ASU's 12-5 win.

• North Carolina's Garrett Gore played in the 21st and final College World Series game of his career Thursday night. He's played in more CWS games than anyone in the history of the event.

• Gore's teammate, Dustin Ackley, collected a ninth inning double Thursday to extend his record NCAA Tournament hitting streak to 21 games. It was his 28th career CWS base hit, a CWS record.

• Robin Ventura is just a dude who knows baseball. When he talks baseball during a game as an ESPN analyst he makes me listen intently to what he has to say. Ventura speaks and explains the mechanics of the game, both pitching and hitting, in a manner that's easily understood. His breakdown of Ackley's swing during Thursday night was eye opening.

• Is it just a coincidence? Since 2000 the winner of bracket 2 has gone on to win the College World Series. Texas and Arizona State are the remaining teams from bracket 2 this year, while LSU and Arkansas reside in bracket 1.
  

Thursday Thoughts & Notes On The CWS

Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires with his thoughts from Wednesday's CWS action...

• Arkansas' Mr. Clutch is at it again...Andrew Darr's 12th inning RBI double ended-up being the game-winner in the Razorbacks' 4-3 win over Virginia in Wednesday's CWS elimination game. Darr entered the game in the 9th inning as a defensive replacement after Virginia loaded the bases. Darr's walk-off double vs. Florida State ended the Super Regional nearly two weeks ago & sent Arkansas to the College World Series. (Podcast with Darr is available by clicking HERE.)
  

• Brett Eibner more than atoned for his short start on the mound vs. LSU Monday when his 2-out 9th inning home run tied the game 3-3 to send it to extra innings.

• ESPN's Mike Patrick was half correct when he talked about the importance of Zach Cox's 2-out, 2-strike single that came just before Eibner's HR. However, Patrick said it was important, because if Cox hadn't singled Eibner's HR would have just been a solo shot. It was more important than that though, because if Cox hadn't reached base the game would have been over, and Eibner wouldn't have even come to the plate again until 2010.

• Speaking of TV...wouldn't it be nice to make as much money as ESPN analyst Orel Hersheiser makes to butcher players' names? In his time in Omaha he has incorrectly pronounced: Arkansas pitchers Dallas Keuchel and Brett Eibner, Virginia pitcher/DH Danny Hultzen, Arizona State SS Drew Maggi, and MLB's #1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg. His analysis is usually spot-on, but c'mon Orel is it too hard to just write the names pho-net-i-cal-ly? Is it a wonder Howard Cosell used to opine about the "jockocrasy" in TV sports?
  

• Speaking of TV II...it was pretty touching to see and hear business owners from the Rosenblatt area getting choked-up while trying to talk about the CWS moving to downtown Omaha after next year.

• Speaking of TV III...Pretty cool North Carolina's Garrett Gore got to man one of ESPN's TV cameras for a spell during the game. Gore said afterward "That was it, took control, my show". I'm sure Cosell would have been appalled though!

• Good job by the umpires in the Arkansas-UVA game to make sure they got John Hicks' fifth inning home run call correct. They conferred after it was originally not called a home run, but Hicks got credit for the round-tripper after they correctly decided the ball hit a fan's hat and then another fan's glove and not Arkansas left fielder Chase Leavitt's glove before it caromed back onto the field.

• Great piece of bunting by Virginia's Keith Werman. The pinch-hitter entered the game in a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 9th with runners at first and second and no outs. Werman bunted the first two pitches of the at-bat foul and then took two balls from fellow lefty Dallas Keuchel before he finally dropped down a two-strike bunt to move the runners to second and third.

• How about Keuchel's relief appearance just two days after starting against Cal State Fullerton? The southpaw tossed four shutout innings, while fanning five and giving-up just three hits to improve to 9-3 this season. It was the junior's first relief outing this season.

• Speaking of pitching...a tip of the hat to starters Drew Smyly of Arkanas and fellow freshman left Danny Hultzen of Virginia. The two combined to pitch 11.0 innings with 14 strikeouts and no walks on 13 hits. Smyly's string of 19 straight shutout innings in the NCAA Tournament ended on the previously mentioned fifth inning HR by Hicks. He was starting for the first time since losing a no-hitter in the ninth inning of the Razorbacks' Regional Championship game vs. Oklahoma. (Podast with Smyly is available by clicking HERE.)
  

• It's been great having Green Day's musice playing into breaks during Super Regional and now College World Series games on ESPN>
  

Wednesday CWS Note And Thoughts

A few notes and thoughts from Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires while waiting for the Virginia-Arkansas game to start...

• Tonight's game between Arkansas and Virginia is the first ever on the baseball diamond between the two schools.

• Last night's game between Texas and Arizona State marked the 44th time those two teams have played. Texas owns a 26-18 series advantage.

• Virginia has broken ten school records this year. They are: wins (49), runs (504), doubles (134), at-bats (2,295), hits (571), runs (504), triples (28), RBIs (465), total bases (1,112), and innings pitched (571.0).

• The Texas-Arizona State game marked the first time that three sons of three former College World Series players were on the field at the same time. The current players are Chance Ruffin (Bruce 1985) and Brandon Loy (Darren 1983-'84) of Texas, and Matt Newman (Randy 1981).
  

• Speaking of that game. Did you see ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews' interview with ASU freshman Johnny Ruettiger's parents during Tuesday's game? Ok, so Johnny is the nephew of Notre Dame's "Rudy", but do his parents really want to answer questions like "Where's Rudy", "When will Rudy be here", and "Johnny talks to Rudy all the time, what are those conversations like"? You know, because they've never heard a question about Rudy since the movie came out 16 years ago. That's what they want to talk about while their son is playing at his first College World Series.

• ASU's loss to Texas last night snapped their 7-game winning streak, and it leaves LSU as the only team without a loss in this year's NCAA Tournament (7-0).

• Arkansas starting pitcher Brett Eibner had a tough time in his last start Monday vs. LSU when he allowed four runs in just 1 1/3 IP. That's nothing compared to what happened to an Omaha motorist at Tuesday's Arkansas practice when Eibner hit a home run during batting practice that smashed the window of a van parked on the street outside the park.

Tuesday CWS Thoughts

Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires shares some College World Series thoughts...

• How important is it to win your first round game in Omaha? Since the CWS began in 1947 just ten teams have lost their first game and gone on to capture the national championship.
  
• Since 1980 just Oregon St. in 2006, USC in 1998 and the 1980 Arizona teams lost their first round game in Omaha and then claimed national titles.
• Could Southern Mississippi head coach Corky Palmer have picked a better time to retire? USM can never match what Palmer's team did with its run to Omaha over the last three weeks, and Palmer would only be chasing a golden carrott if he weren't retiring. Just like George Costanza...Corky's leaving on a high note.
• If you don't believe how tough it is for a Cinderella to return to Omaha see: Fresno State which went 0-2 in the Irvine Regional this year after winning last year's title. There are others: Louisville-2007, Arizona-2004, Southwest Mo. State-2003, Notre Dame-2002, San Jose St.-2000. Getting to Omaha raises the expectation level of a program, but those expections are seldom met in most cases.
• Speaking of Southern Mississippi, great shot by ESPN of USM players scooping dirt from behind home plate to take home some Omaha dirt in paper cups and Gatorade bottles after Tuesday's 11-4 loss (and elimination) to North Carolina.
• When the new CWS stadium is built downtown in two years will Zesto's bring its ice cream along?
• Also, when the stadium's downtown will outfield tickets still be sold as general admission seating? If so, where will fans stand in line to get in? Fans currently stand in lone serpentine lines that go down the hill beyond the Rosenblatt outfield area. The new stadium will have just a small parking lot and a sidewalk in those same locations. Will they close off the street beyond right field?
• LSU scored eight of its nine runs in Monday's win over Arkansas with two outs. Coming into the CWS, the Tigers had just ten 2-out RBIs in five previous NCAA Tournament games.
  
• After Monday's win over Arkansas, LSU is now 35-3 this season when a right-hand pitcher starts.
  
• With its 2-0 start, LSU now waits until Friday afternoonto play either Virginia or LSU. I know the steaks in Omaha are good, and the pitching will be rested, but three days in between games at the most important time of the year is just too much.
  

Sunday College World Series Thoughts

Collegebaseball360.com Editor, Sean Stires, shares some thoughts from a day of baseball at Rosenblatt Stadium...

Quite a Sunday afternoon game between North Carolina and Arizona St. UNC’s Alex White: 9 IP-7H-1 ER- 3 BB – 12 K & ASU’s Josh Spence & Mitchell Lambson combine for 10 IP-11H- 2 R – 1 ER – 3 BB – 13 K.

There were still a lot of people outside the stadium today, but it wasn’t nearly the mad house it was all day yesterday before the Arkansas-Cal State Fullerton & LSU-Virginia games. Probably a lot of LSU fans sleeping-off yesterday’s tailgating.

One of the coolest shirts I’ve seen…burnt orange Longhorn Texas logo with simply the word “OMAHA” above it. No other school has a shirt like it in any of the vendor shirts outside Rosenblatt Stadium (and there are dozens of tents and hundreds of shirt styles). The shirt vendor says it’s because Texas considers Omaha their destiny…even though they haven’t been here for four years.

This is the 50th anniversary of ASU baseball. Members of the Sun Devil’s 1969 National Championship team are in Omaha for a reunion.

Don't call it a "Jeter" play, ASU 1B Riccio Torrez with great effort crashing into the wall going for foul ball. Didn’t make the catch, but took a big tumble into the photo pit next to the ASU dugout in the 3rd inning.

Another Sportscenter Web Gem…Texas shortstop Brandon Loy with a lazar beam thrown to first after a diving stop in the hole to throw out Southern Mississippi’s Taylor Walker.

Is there no green paint left in Omaha? The CWS logo on the Astroturf semi-circle behind the plate this year looks as bad as I’ve ever seen it. You can still read “Omaha Royals” underneath the "College World Series 2009" logo that's painted over it.

If the lines for the restrooms inside Rosenblatt are any indication, maybe they DO need a new CWS stadium in Omaha.

Saw this sign by a Southern Mississippi fan today: O-M-A-H-A = Ole Miss At Home Again

Southern Mississippi’s last two coaches have been Corky Palmer and before that Hill Densen. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I have never known a Corky and I have never known a Hill.

My daughter, Baylee, was in the stands again for tonight’s game. She has a mascot phobia. The USM Mascot had her frozen stiff and crying after Golden Eagle Michael Ewing hit his 5th HR of the season against Texas.

My son, Jesse, wanted to come to the Texas-Southern Miss. Game to see the Longhorns in person, but in the 6th inning he was singing the Golden Eagle’s fight song along with their fans in section “R”.

M & M’s and fresh popcorn are two of the more popular snacks among the media in the Rosenblatt press box. They give us paper boats that are about the size of your hand to put them in. The boats are too small for me to get enough popcorn, but big enough that I always fill them with way more M & M’s than even my sweet tooth needs. (Why do I always eat them ALL though)?

Texas LHP Austin Wood gained fame for his 12 1/3 no-hit innings & 13 total innings two weeks ago in the 3-2 25 inning win over Boston College. However, since his 169 pitch effort his command has been erratic, and his fastball has dropped from the high 80s to the mid to low 80s. Wood threw a wild pitch and issued a bases loaded walk Sunday vs. USM to contribute to the Golden Eagle's 3-run inning.

May 30th, 1981 was the last catcher's interference at the College World Series prior to the 8th inning interference by Texas backstop Cameron Rupp that gave Southern Mississippi's Brian Dozier first base.

Dozier was pinch-hitting in that at-bat. He had missed 29 games since fracturing his collarbone on April 14th.

The total attendance for this weekend’s four games was 96,868 for an average of 24,217 per game. The new CWS stadium that will open in two years will seat 24,000.

Texas-Southern Mississippi Starting Line-Ups

Here are the line-ups for the Texas-So. Miss Game...

Southern Miss

1. CF Bo Davis .371
2. 2B James Ewing .314
3. LF Kameron Brunty .342
4. RF Corey Stevens .330
5. 1B Joey Archer
6. DH Michael Ewing .231
7. SS BA Vollmuth .236
8. C Travis Graves .246
9. 3B Taylor Walker .305

RHP-Todd McInnis (9-4, 3.61 ERA)

Head Coach Corky Palmer

Texas

1. 3B Michael Torres .304
2. 2B Travis Tucker .286
3. 1B Brandon Belt .336
4. DH Russell Moldenhauer .234
5. RF Kevin Keyes .305
6. SS Brandon Loy .294
7. C Cameron Rupp .287
8. LF Preston Clark .264
9. CF Connor Rowe .275

RHP Cole Green (5-3, 3.02)

Head Coach Augie Garrido

Umpires

HP Chuck Lyon
1B Mark Chapman
2B Tony Maners
3B Perry Costello

ASU-UNC Starting Line-Ups

Here are the starting line-ups for today's North Carolina-Arizona State game...

ASU

1. SS Drew Magi .319
2. CF Jason Kipnis .385
3. C Carlos Ramirez .349
4. LF Kole Calhoun .292
5. 1B Riccio Torrez .298
6. RF Matt Newman .315
7. DH Johnny Reuttiger .356
8. 3B Raoul Torrez .250
9. 2B Zack MacPhee .266

LHP Josh Spence (9-1, 2.33 ERA)

Head Coach Pat Murphy decides not to start Pac 10 Pitcher of the Year Mike Leake. I may be sunning myself with Sparky yet! Will Leake pitch in relief today?

North Carolina

1. LF Ben Bunting .333
2. 1B Dustin Ackley
3. 3B Kyle Seager .386
4. SS Ryan Graepel .279
5. 2B Levi Michael .298
6. C Mark Fleury .315
7. RF Garrett Gore .307
8. CF Mike Cavasini .260
9. DH Jacob Stallings .216

RHP-Alex White (8-4, 4.13 ERA)

Head Coach Mike Fox

Umpires

HP Jeff Henrichs
1B Joe Burleson
2B Darrin Sealey
3B Steve Manders