Matt Brown caught George Horton and Rick Vanderhook in a brotherly embrace after 'Hooks Cal State Fullerton Titans were eliminated by Austin Peay on Sunday.

Ten teams have already moved on to the Super Regionals with wins today. We’ll fill six more pair of magical cleats on Monday, many of which could be mid-major upset artists. Let’s see what transpires. In the mean time, here’s what we’ve got from Sunday:

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THE HOT LIST

1- We’ve got three teams and fans scrambling on all the travel websites.

Kent State will have to find the cheapest flights possible to Portland and then charter a bus to Eugene after taking down mighty SEC monster Kentucky in Gary. Stanford will have to prove it’s road warrior mentality as the Cardinal will next face off with Florida State in Tallahassee in what could be the most high-profile Super Regional. And St. John’s will leave the graffiti’d burroughs of the Big Apple and find a desert oasis of Tucson, Arizona.

We’ll have five more teams join them on Travelocity.com with the Monday results.

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2- No. 1s not so 1derful, part 1.

It was another tough day for the top dogs as Texas A&M got dumped by TCU, Rice was aced out by nearby rival Sam Houston State, Purdue was given a mallet to their hopes by Kentucky, Virginia was beaten by Oklahoma on its home field for the second time in three years and North Carolina got zapped by  a bunch of Johnnies. The Super Regional round will certainly have a much different look than we anticipated.

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3- No. 1s not so 1derful, part 2.

The “P” word – parity – is thrown around way too much in college baseball. Some years, it really isn’t any way to explain an upset or two. But this year, it’s very different. With Virginia’s loss to Appalachian State in today’s Charlottesville winner’s bracket game (the Regional is a day behind everyone else due to rain on Friday), the No. 1 seeds in this year’s tournament went just 8-8 in reaching 2-0 in the Regionals. A .500 record in this case is truly surprising. P-word or no p-word.

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4- Cinderella is a freakin’ hottie.

Dallas Baptist could be making its triumphant return to the Supers. Other mid-majors will have their chances just like DBU in teams like Appalachian State and Stony Brook. All three of those teams have a chance to win Regionals in their “if necessary” games coming up. Also, teams like Kent State, TCU, Samford, Louisville and St. John’s eliminated teams from big-money, BCS conferences today, sending them to their golf clubs.

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5- Monday… great day? Or greatest day ever?

Four Regionals will take an extra day to decide things, and one more Regional – the Charlottesville Regional – might need two games to decide a champion. The only down side to all this intrigue? Neither of the ESPNU series is included in this scenario and the only game slated for ESPN3 will be the TCU-Ole Miss game from College Station.

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WHO’S SITTING PRETTY

- Arizona.

Have you guys stayed up late enough to watch these guys on ESPNU? Hell, to be fair, all you really have to do is look at the box scores. These guys are downright offensive. Tonight they disposed of Louisville by a 16-3 count. That means, in their three wins, the Desert Cats combined to outscore their opponents 47-10. And now, with opposite National Seed North Carolina defeated, will host another Big East team in St. John’s for next week’s best-of-three. Can you imagine the phone conversation between SJU head man Ed Blankmeyer and Louisville’s Dan McDonnell? “So Dan, got any advice for us before we go play at Arizona?”… “Ummm… pack a copy of your dental records, just so the forensics can identify you when they’re done with you.”

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WHO’S BEHIND THE 8-BALL

- Oklahoma.

Because of the weather delays and their losing in the first round to Appalachian State on Saturday, the Sooners are the only team in the tournament who will have to win two games on Monday against the Mountaineers. And of course, the other bad news? If the Sooners DO manage to get past ASU, they’ll merely have to go to South Carolina and win twice.

On another note, it IS interesting to note the last time OU played at Davenport Field, they won a Super Regional on their way to the 2010 College World Series. Ironically, that was the year they beat South Carolina in the opening round, the Gamecocks’ last post-season loss.

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MOST INTERESTING MONDAY MATCHUP:

- All of them.

If you’re a college baseball fan, you’ve got to be geeked over matchups like Ole Miss vs. TCU, N.C. State vs. Vanderbilt, along with the three David vs. Goliath matchups of Appy State-Oklahoma, Stony Brook-UCF and Dallas Baptist-Baylor. Good stuff Maynard.

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TOUR DE FORCE:

- Derek Odell, TCU.

The Frog 2nd baseman went just 4-for-9 with 3RBI, but it was the timeliness of his hits that gave him the Tour de Force and Ice Water in his Veins awards. Against Ole Miss, the precocious frosh hit a 2-run homer which put the Frogs up for good in the 4th inning. In game two on the day, Odell went 2-for-5 with a 3rd inning solo shot to the train tracks beyond Olsen Field, again putting the purple crew ahead for good in that win as well. Clutch freaking’ City man.

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LAID AN EGG:

- The ACC.

While Florida State cruised and North Carolina State forced a second deciding game vs. Vanderbilt, the rest of the powers-that-be in the ACC went swirling down the drain. Virginia got eliminated by Okahoma, North Carolina lost out to St. John’s and Clemson never could figure out South Carolina.

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BEST CONFERENCE PERFORMANCE

- The Pac 12.

For the second time this weekend, the West coasters get the crown by going 4-1 and sending four of their five teams on to the Super Regional round. Only Oregon State came up snake-eyes today, dropping a heart-wrenching 6-5 decision in 10 innings at LSU. But Arizona, Stanford, UCLA and Oregon won their Regional-deciding games by a combined 45-16.

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WORST CONFERENCE PERFORMANCE

- Conference USA.

CUSA had a spree from 2001 to 2009 where one of its teams made it to Omaha in eight of those nine season. This year the conference still has one last flicker of hope with UCF. But on Sunday, the Knights lost to Stony Brook and also had two of their conference mates get eliminated as Rice lost a stunner to Sam Houston 4-1 and East Carolina lost at North Carolina 5-3. Along with UAB’s elimination yesterday, none of those teams even made it to their Regional title round. The Knights remain the final hope.

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LONGEST GAME:

- LSU-Oregon State, 3-hours, 38-minutes

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SHORTEST GAME:

- Kent State-Kentucky, 2-hours, 15-minutes

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HOTTEST:

- I didn’t check today, just assume it was the Tucson Regional during sometime in the day game. Probably near 100 degrees. Maybe even a few degrees over the century mark.

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COOLEST

- Ditto as above. But I know I got a little cold in my long sleeve t-shirt.

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FIRST PITCH

- 8:01am, Pacific Time for the Oklahoma-Army game in Charlottesville.

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LAST PITCH

- 2:19am Eastern Time for the Louisville-Arizona game in Tucson.

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WHAT I SAW AT JACKIE ROBINSON STADIUM.

UCLA wins its second home Regional in the last three years by dominating on the mound and heating up with a more-than-capable offense that is getting hot at the right time. After Creighton continued its Cinderella run here in Westwood with an efficient 7-2 win over New Mexico, the Bruins made quick work of the upstart Jays in the nightcap, rolling to a 13-5 win.

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GAME FIVE:

Call ‘em the late-bloomers. Creighton’s baseball season has totally done a 180 in the last two weeks. That continued again in Game Five at Jackie Robinson Stadium as the Omaha-based Bluejays jumped on the Lobo pitching early on and never gave them a bit of breathing room on the way to a 7-2 win in an elimination game. A pair of 1st inning singles by Nick Judkins and Chance Ross set the stage for a screaming line-shot off the Jack and Rhodine Gifford Hitting Facility sign in right field by CU cleanup man Anthony Bemboom.

Ben-Boom!

That was all the scoring the Jays would need as they built off that 3-0 lead with a pair of two-run frames in the 4th and 5th inning, including a 2-run double by Chance Ross which poured cement on this one. Starting pitcher Erik Mattingly was steady as she goes, tossing 6.0 innings of 3-hit ball with three walks. The most important thing he did was just keep UMN from getting the big hit. Reese McGraw came on to throw the final three innings, keeping the Lobos hitless. D.J. Peterson never got that huge multi-base knock that you almost expected of him.

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LINESCORE:

UNM – 000 110 000 – 2   3  0

C.U. – 300 220 00x – 7  11  2

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PITCHING.

WP: Erik Mattingly, 3-4

LP: Josh Walker, 8-3

None: Reese McGraw, 5

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TOP HITTERS:

UNM

- Ben Woodchick, 1-for-2, RBI, walk.

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CU

- Anthony Bemboom, 1-for-4, HR, 3RBI

- Chance Ross, 2-for-5, 2RBI

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COACH SPEAK:

Creighton coach Ed Servais

- His overall feeling of the game.

We got off to good start, that’s what you have to do in a tournament like this. We relaxed a little bit in the middle of the game, but Erik gave us a chance by pitching six solid innings. But getting that three-run home run to start things was really big.

- CU starterErik Mattingly, on his effort.

I was fortunate enough that No. 5 (Ben Woodchick) hit the ball hard four or five times, but it happened to be at somebody. That big start we got relaxes you and gives you confidence. I just had to find some rhythm in my pitching and I didn’t have that at first, but I started to get it as the game went along.

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New Mexico head coach Ray Birmingham

- Opening remarks

I lose a group of seniors that have been to three regionals and two conference championships. They’ve made a big impact. Because of them, this program is going fast and getting after it. Creighton’s a great ballclub. They always are this time of year, especially pitching. They’re a good team and you saw that today.

- On his players mindset going into today.

To get to the top of the mountain, you’ve got to pitch and you’ve got to have hunger. And your hunger is going to get challenged here. I broke my promise of winning today. I apologize. But we’re gonna win some more in the future. I think we were just trying too hard. Trying to hit the three-run homer.

- Lobo OF Ben Woodchick on what the program has accomplished in his time on campus.

We’ve accomplished a lot. To be able to move this program forward has been special. Hopefully the underclassmen can keep it going.

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PICS

A few images from today’s game.

New Mexico's Alex Allbritton narrowly misses a Creighton pop-up. And yes, that blob with the bald head you see beyond the outfield fence is me.

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UNM coach Ray Birmingham admitted that sinewy Josh Walker wasn't quite his usual self today, which explains a lot of why the Lobos got caught in an early hole vs. Creighton.

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Head honcho Ray Birmingham (left) and his staff have to be proud of the strides the Lobos program has made in their short tenure.

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Erik Mattingly (#6) had a helluva day in L.A., going 6.0 innings on the mound to get the win over New Mexico, then going 1-for-3 at the plate vs. UCLA in the nightcap.

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The Bluejay bench shakes their rally caps in the win over New Mexico. Guess it worked.

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Creighton outfielders do that "fun bunch" type of thing after getting the win over UNM, vaulting them into the Regional title round vs. UCLA.

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GAME TWO.

Just about all the Bruins needed was the arms of Zach Weiss and David Berg, and then the sweet swings off the bat of Jeff Gelalich, who parked a pair of home runs and also added an RBI single in the door-slamming 6th inning. The Bluejays were able to keep their hot starts going by jumping on Weiss early with a pair of 1st inning runs off a leadoff double from Brad McKewon, an RBI double from Anthony Bemboom and then an RBI groundout from Scott Thornburg. But the Bruins responded quick-like, getting a two-run yard call from Gelalich in the bottom of the inning, then opened up the floodgates with a five-run 3rd inning, highlighted by a 2-run single from Trevor Brown. From there UCLA cruised as both teams substituted pitchers and players, but the doubt was never in question.

Any last flicker of Bluejay light was doused with a 4-run 6th inning, making an impossible deficit, downright ugly at 13-3 at that point. CU added a few late runs just to prove the Jays never give up. After getting a complete game from Adam Plutko on Friday and an 8.0 inning effort from Nick Vander Tuig yesterday, the Bruins finally emptied out some of their bullpen, allowing closer extraordinaire David Berg to make his 19th appearance in the last 20 games, going 2.0 innings and giving up just one hit, and also getting contributions from Ryan Deeter and Scott Griggs.

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LINESCORE

Cre’ton – 200 010 002 – 5   12  2

UCLA – 205 024 00x – 13  11 0

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PITCHING:

WP: Zach Weiss, 3-2

LP: Nick Musec, 3-4

Save: None

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TOP HITTERS

CU:

- Anthony Bemboom, 5-for-5, 2RBI.

- Scott Thornburg, 2-for-5, 2RBI.

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UCLA:

- Jeff Gelalich, 3-for-3, 2HRs, 4RBI.

- Pat Valaika, 1-for-3, 2RBI

- Trevor Brown, 1-for-4, 2RBI

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COACH SPEAK:

- Creighton head coach Ed Servais

“Let me start out by congratulating UCLA. We knew we had to play a near-perfect game to come away from this with a win. We let a few early opportunities slip away and we needed to get five or six runs in those opportunities, but we didn’t get them. Our team responded early, but we didn’t have enough pitching to keep responding.”

- On UCLA being strong in all aspects of the game:

“Don’t forget about how good they played defensively. They’ll need that next week in the Super Regionals. But we saw a much more offensive team tonight. And their pitchers pitch up in the zone, not many teams can get away with that but they do. They pitch extremely well.”

- On the maturation of his team as the season went on:

“The last couple weeks, they got it. They can’t be disappointed by today. When they look back, they’re gonna realize that they really got it. They accomplished what very few people thought they could accomplish. Even how they finished the game tonight, they got two runs against that power arm.”

- On why he seemed to be angry at his team in the post-game huddle:

“I didn’t like the way one of our players handled striking out there at the end, and I wanted to be sure to let our team know about that. I didn’t care that it was the last game or not, I wanted to address that because there’s a certain way that Creighton baseball is going to conduct itself. I’m very concerned with how we carry ourselves and I wanted to bring that point home to my team.”

- On if this was a satisfying season:

“As you look back. when you start the season, what are your goals? Our goal is to get to the Regionals. The next goal is to find a way to win a Regional. The next step is to figure out a way to get to the Super Regionals. As the season when on, our players got it and they figured it out. and that makes it worthwhile. If they would’ve never figured it out, then it would’ve been a frustrating season. But they did, and I’m glad they did.”

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UCLA head coach John Savage

- Opening statement:

“First off , I’d like to congratulate Creighton. I watched them all week. They were a completely first class operation. Guys doing things right before games, between innings, between pitches, everything. From where they were early in the season and where they ended up, is a testament to the class of this program. I was going to say this win or lose tonight.”

- Continuing on about the Bluejays:

“I can’t say enough about Creighton and what a first class program they are. I see a lot of programs from around the country and how they go about things. I’m not making this up. This is a first class coaching staff. To play through the Missouri Valley Conference to the conference tournament to the NCAA tournament. They made a huge impression on our program and they made our program better this weekend.”

- On comparing this team with his 2010 national runners-up team:

“Well, that team had Cole and Bauer, of course. But we’re basically the same players but are two years older. Those experienced guys have brought our young pitching along with them. There are some comparisons you can draw, but they’re finding a different way to get it done. And that’s okay.”

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- Jeff Gelalich, on his improved power as he displayed tonight.

“I worked out a lot in the off-season.”

- On if this was the best game of his career?

“I don’t know. Not sure.” Coach Savage then interrupted, “Let me say it, yes it is”

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PICS:

More images from the day.

Things started well for the Bluejays, as even the umpires seemed in sync with the Jays' cause here in Smogtown today.

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3rd base coach T.J. Bruce slaps fives with Jeff Gelalich (#20) on one of his two home run trots tonight.

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Bruin backstop Tyler Heineman reacts to home plate umpire David Savage's ring-up call on this unsuspecting Bluejay who is left slackjawed.

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Jeff Gelalich is given a hands-in-the-air welcome by the Bruin bench after one of his two circuit clouts on the day.

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Pat Valaika and the Bruins put more and more pressure on the Bluejay defense as the night went on.

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Yep, like Creighton a few hours earlier, the Bruin outfielders prove they could get some hangtime as well.

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After going 3-for-3 with 4RBI and 3runs scored, I'm sure the Jays are glad to never see the likes of Jeff Gelalich (#20) again.

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WHAT I GOT FROM THE DOCTOR OF COLLEGE BASEBALL AT THE CHAPEL HILL REGIONAL.

A stunning upset saw St. John’s pull out an unlikely Regional win over the homesteading Tar Heels. Here’s what the good doctor had for me:

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CHAPEL HILL REGIONAL DAY 3

Championship Game

St. John’s 9- North Carolina 5

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Score by Innings

St. Johns – 013 001 202 – 9 14 1

Carolina – 030 001 100 – 5  8 3

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Pitching

WP- Matt Carasiti (7-5) 5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

LP- Shane Taylor (5-1) 2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

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Top Offensive Performers

St. John’s

- Frank Schwindel 5-5 , 3 runs

- Matt Wessinger 2-5, 1 R

- Robert Case 1-1, double, 2 RBI

- Sean O’ Hare 1-4, 2 RBI

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North Carolina

- Parks Jordan 2-4, 2 runs, 1 RBI

- Chaz Frank 1-2, 2 RBI

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St. John’s pounded out 14 hits and eliminated host North Carolina with a 9-5 win in Chapel Hill to advance to the Super Regionals against the winner of the Tucson Regional. The Tar Heels seemed a bit flat after last night’s deflating 5-4 loss to the Red Storm, but St. John’s came out swinging and never stopped.

First baseman Frank Schwindel was 5-for-5 with three runs scored to lead the way offensively, but the Red Storm also got offensive help from some unlikely contributors.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the 2nd inning, UNC came up with 3 runs on an RBI single by Parks Jordan and a 2-run single by Chaz Franks. St. John’s came right back in the top of the 3rd with three runs of their own, with the key play being a 2-run single by Sean O’ Hare.

St. John’s added a run in the 6th after UNC reliever Luis Paula issued a 2-out walk to .155 hitter Anthony Iacomini, who eventually scored on a Jimmy Brennan single. After UNC pulled to within one run on a Shell McCain single, the Red Storm came right back with two runs in the seventh when pinch hitter Robert Case, batting .235 with only three RBI on the season, drove a 1-2 pitch from Chris McCue into left center for a 2-run double. Things might have been even worse for North Carolina were it not for St. John’s getting greedy on the play and sending Danny Bethea, who got gunned down at the plate to end the inning.

North Carolina wasted a huge opportunity in the bottom of the 8th when they loaded the bases with 1 out but could manage only 1 run on a walk to Jacob Stallings. SJU reliever James Lomangino induced a poput by Cody Stubbs and then struck out Shell McCain to leave 3 Tar Heels stranded trailing 7-5.

The final insults came in the ninth when UNC closer Michael Morin hit Sean O’ Hare and issued a bases loaded walk to Kyle Lombardo, who was hitting .111 with only 18 at bats on the season. Morin also dropped an infield popup along the first base line with two out, allowing St. John’s to score it’s final run. Steven Rivera struck out Jacob Stallings with one runner on base to end the game and set off the St. John’s dog pile.

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QUOTES

St. John’s Head Coach Ed Blankmeyer

“Mike [Fox]‘s club, they played their guts out. We had that storybook ending yesterday and maybe took the wind out of their sails. Sometimes it’s destiny. I thought we brought our `A’ game, I thought we were playing our best baseball coming into this. Mike’s club wasn’t at their best, but I thought we played very, very well.”

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North Carolina Head Coach Mike Fox

“You have to give [St. John's] all the credit. They came down here and just played terrific and certainly outplayed us in every facet of the game tonight. Congratulations to them and my hats off to them. No matter how many times I do this, it’s always the worst. This game can be pretty cruel to you at times and to think that way you learn so much from playing it.”

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PICS.

A few added images he sent to me from the game.

St. John's Jeremy Baltz didn't have a hit on the day, but walked twice and scored thrice in the win.

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The Red Storm blew some early chances, like here when Sean O'Hare was tagged out at home.

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... and here when Danny Bethea met the same fate at the plate.

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But things started to turn in the Johnnies' favor as the game went on. Like here when Colin Moran was rung up looking.

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Jacob Stallings was a whiff victim for the last out of the game, securing an unlikely 9-5 win for the Redmen.

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... that led to a Red Storm of the field.

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A great dogpile pic from the Good Doctor here as St. John's reacts to taking down the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill.

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WHAT I GOT FROM JERRY PALM AT THE GARY REGIONAL

The BCS/RPI guru of college football and basketball for CBS seemed to enjoy his time at the Gary Regional, even if his alma mater got eliminated a game too early. Here’s what JP had for me:

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GAME ONE

Kentucky – 6

Purdue – 3

The best season in the history of Purdue baseball came to an end with a 6-3 loss to Kentucky. The Boilers got off to a good start, getting two runs in the first when Big Ten Player of the Year Kevin Plawecki tripled home Cam Perkins, then scored on a double by Barrett Serrato.

Meanwhile, Robert Ramer was on cruise control on the mound until the fourth, when things began to unravel.  Tyler Spillner spilled a routine fly ball onto the turf, putting Thomas McCarthy on second base.

Then, for the second time in the regional, there was a base hit that failed to advance a runner.  Luke Maile singled through the left side, but McCarthy spun his wheels and fell down, so he had to retreat back to second base.

After a sacrifice, Cameron Flynn singled home two runs, and then Zac Zellers doubled him home to give the Wildcats the lead for good.  Mike Reida knocked in Zellers to finish off the scoring in the fourth.

It was 5-2 in the eighth when Purdue made it’s last gasp.  The Boilers had runners at the corners with one out and Perkins at the plate.  He singled home the third run, bringing up Plawecki as the potential go ahead run.  He hit the ball a mile…straight up, and was called out on the infield fly rule.  Serrato then hit into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.

Purdue’s big bats were kept quiet all weekend long.  Even in the 7-2 win over Valpo in the first game, six of those runs were unearned due to five Crusader errors.  The Boilers’ potent offense could only manage three runs in each of their losses.

Their usually reliable starting pitching let them down as well.  Ace Joe Haase was fine against Valpo, but Lance Breedlove and Ramer combined for only 5 innings and gave up 10 runs in the two losses.

Still, it was a special season for Purdue.  The Boilers won the Big Ten for the first time since 1909 and won the conference tournament title for the first time ever.  The win over Valpo was the program’s first ever NCAA tournament victory.  The dream died short of the goal, but it was still a historic season.

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GAME TWO

Kent State – 3

Kentucky – 2

Kent State defeated Kentucky 3-2 to win the regional, but the win was not without controversy. Both starters, the Flashes’ Tyler Skulina and Chandler Shepherd of Kentucky, were sharp.  Shepherd, who pitched three innings in relief against Valparaiso yesterday, took a perfect game into the sixth inning, and neither team was able to push a run across through seven.

I started the eighth inning standing in the outfield concourse near the right field fair pole.  I should have stayed there.

After the Flashes put runners on first and second with one out, I moved over behind their dugout in the hopes of catching them celebrating a run finally scoring.  After Shepherd was removed for Alex Phillips, Evan Campbell stepped to the plate and appeared to do something nobody had done all weekend – clear the fence for a home run, although the ball bounced back onto the field.

I say “appeared” because it looked to me like it hit off the two-foot chain link fence that sits on top of the outfield wall.  The yellow line the ball has to hit or clear to be a home run is at the top of that fence.  The ump signaled home run immediately, but Flynn, the Wildcats RF complained.  I went out to talk to the two guys sitting in the front row by the fence where the ball hit, and they said it hit about six inches below the yellow line.  The homer stood though, and the Flashes had a three-run lead.

After the game, Flynn, Campbell and both coaches said they couldn’t tell for sure if the ball cleared the fence or not.  I’m 85% sure it didn’t.  The ump is 100% sure it did, and his opinion is all that matters.

In the bottom of the eighth, Kentucky rallied against Skulina and reliever Casey Wilson.  JT Riddle singled, and Jeff Boehm, from nearby Lansing, IL, pinch hit and made the home folks proud with a double driving in Riddle.  Boehm eventually scored on a sac fly by McCarthy, but the threat ended there.

Wilson closed out the title with a 1-2-3 ninth inning and Kent St did what it couldn’t do a year ago – finish the job.

Last year, the Flashes were in the same spot at Texas, but lost twice to the Longhorns and went home disappointed.  This year, they will go to Oregon to face the Ducks in the Super Regional.

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POSTGAME:

After the game, coach Scott Stricklin talked about how he felt his team’s experience from last season helped this year.  “Not one player on any of those other teams has been in a regional before.  I think our experience paid off.  Our kids knew what to expect.  No one got tight.”

On the home run, Strcklin said, “I told Evan before the at-bat to look for something over the plate to drive to the left side.  I’m glad he didn’t listen to me.  After the game, I told him that was the biggest hit in Kent State baseball history.”

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PICS.

A few images Jerry sent me from his camera in Gary.

In the early game, the Steel Yard was about half-filled as Purdue tried to fight its way from the loser's bracket.

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The Flashes become a giant yellow blob of humans. This is the Golden Flashes team dogpile after taking down Kentucky 3-2 in the nightcap.

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It's on to Eugene for KSU. Not sure anyone wants to bet against these guys the rest of the way with the freakish odds and bizarre happenings they've had to overcome this weekend.

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WHAT BEN JOHNSON SAW AT PK PARK IN THE EUGENE REGIONAL:

The Oregon baseball program has nearly come full circle under George Horton, the penultimate man behind the curtain. Today, his fledgling Ducks program moved beyond the Regional round for the first time, with an 8-1 win over Austin Peay. Can’t wait to see what else lies ahead. Here’s what Ben sent me from the day:

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What We Saw At PK Park in Eugene On Benchmark Sunday In College Baseball:

The sun setting on a tough gritty Austin Peay program that capitalized on a late night Cal State Fullerton hangover to end the honeymoon season of head coach Rick Vanderhook in the first game (3-0), but fell to the relentless pressure of the Oregon short game in the second, 8-1.

The Oregon Ducks will host Kent State, the surprising dark horse, which won the Gary Regional hosted by Purdue University, defeating the Kentucky Wildcats of the SEC, 3-2. It was the second time in three days that Kent State defeated Kentucky by a single run, winning the 21-inning marathon game 7-6 on Friday, and again today, 3-2 in nine innings.

It will be Oregon versus Kent State next weekend in the Super Regionals hosted by the University of Oregon. Local fans had hoped for a dream match-up with Kentucky coach Gary Henderson, who attended Sheldon High School here in Eugene, but Kent State presents a quality opponent for the Ducks.

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Game #5: Cal State Fullerton (#2 Seed) vs Austin Peay (#4 Seed):

RHP Casey Delgado threw a complete game gem, shutting out the mighty Titans who looked a bit hungover and shell shocked after last nights tough 7-5 loss to the hometown Ducks. A little over 18 hours after losing on Separation Saturday, the honeymoon season of head coach Rick Vanderhook has come to a startling end on Benchmark Sunday.

Like all of their previous games thus far in the Eugene Regional, the Governors flashed some outstanding leather on defense, especially at second and third base where Jordan Hankins made several diving stops at second to eliminate scoring threats throughout the regional and again on Sunday, and Greg Bachman was equally silky-smooth at third base as well.

Delgado pitched to contact all game long, loving the spacious outfield gaps at PK Park as his outfield trio of Cody Hudson (LF), Michael Blanchard (CF) and Rolando Gautier were either well positioned defensively, or flat out ran down the few deep gappers that the Titans mustered on the day.

Working his down angle fastball in the 87-89mph range most of the afternoon, Delgado only faced two significant scoring threats, once in the fourth and again in the seventh.

In the fourth inning, ubiquitous Titan spark plug Richy Pedroza banged a double to start off the inning and a sac bunt by RF Ivory Thomas moved him to third, but he was thrown out at the plate by a heads up Jordan Hankins, who threw a dart to catcher P.J. Torres to nab the speedy Pedroza.

In the seventh, the Titan rally started innocently enough after pinch hitter Austin Kingsolver led off the inning grounding out to second and lead off hitter Pedroza lined a laser right at the left-fielder Hudson, who was perfectly positioned defensively.

After two quick outs, the insanely fast Thomas was hit by a pitch and promptly stole second base and two pitches later, third. Carlos Lopez was walked intentionally to create the force at second, but pitcher J.D. Davis failed to help his own cause on the mound, striking out to end the threat. Fullerton would not get another runner into scoring position the rest of the game, and left 4 runners on base for the game.

The offensively challenged Governors, who scored 10 runs in four games throughout the course of the Eugene regional, finally sensed the wounded Titans had little fight left in them and woke up in the eighth inning, plating three runs on three hits, but it was an ugly inning for Fullerton.

The Governors scored the first run on a wild pitch, and the third run of the inning scored when Tyler Childress skied a big league pop-up directly over the mound with two outs, and with all four infielders and the catcher converging on the ball, third baseman Matt Chapman called for the ball, but tripped over the mound and the ball fell on the PK Park Field Turf, plating Gautier, who was running on the play and previously drove in the only truly earned run of the inning.

Overall, Delgado threw his second complete game of the year, tossing a three hitter with 3 walks (one intentional) and four K’s. The Titans were 3 for 27 on the day (.111). It was that kind of a day for Fullerton.

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The Honeymoon Is Over:

It is always difficult for a coach to take over in his first season, but it can be equally difficult taking over after a couple of coaching legends have graced the program. George Horton, who replaced Augie Garrido when he left for Texas after winning the 2004 national title, left Fullerton himself five years ago to rekindle the Duck program.

Horton has not disappointed in Eugene.

Dave Serrano, who replaced Horton after leading UC Irvine to the College World Series, left last summer to return to his alma matter, Tennessee.

What was once unthinkable is now becoming a trend for the Titans as their steady stable of quality coaches are now leaving for BCS Conference schools who can offer more income for the ultra successful Titan fraternity of coaches.

The Fullerton tradition is rich and the local recruiting grounds are fertile, however, for a program that defines its success by playing regularly late in the post-season (the Titans played in the Super Regionals in eight of the ten seasons between 2000-2010, and made it to Omaha six times in the same time span, ultimately winning the 2004 national title), the program has now failed to reach the Supers two years in a row. They call it a trend in sports when the tally hits three successive seasons.

One thing is for certain, the 2012 Titan team did not play with the same fierceness, moxie, relentless- aggressiveness and pristine execution that we have been accustomed to witnessing from the program.

In addition to Sunday’s meltdown in the top of the 8th versus Austin Peay, Fullerton ran themselves out of an inning last night versus Oregon when Vanderhook held a runner at third while the runner at second kept running (the bases were loaded at the time), in addition to butchering a routine bunt play which was thrown into right field a few innings later. Both transgressions ignited the Ducks.

In the 7th inning today versus the Governors with the score knotted at zero, OF Anthony Hutting was picked off of first base after leading off the inning with a single. In the last 24 hours of their season, it was a comedy of errors that we are just not used to seeing in Titanville as the program used to own the last nine outs of the ballgame, a time which is ultimately known as winning time to baseball enthusiasts across the country.

The honeymoon is over for the new coaching staff, and it will be interesting to see if the Titans return to form in 2013. The Big West Conference champions (19-5 in conference play) finished the season with an overall record of 36-21. Fullerton’s 36 wins are its fewest since 1993. It is denied a trip to the College World Series in Omaha for the third consecutive year, matching the longest drought in the program’s 38- year Division I history.

The program is certainly at a cross-roads.

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Linescore:

A.P.U. – 000 000 030 – 3 9 0

CSUF – 000 000 000 – 0 3 0

Pitching:

WP: Casey Delgado – Austin Peay (9-4).

LP: Willie Kuhl – Fullerton (2-4).

Hitters:

Austin Peay:

Jordan Hankins (2B), 2 for 4, 1 Run Scored.

Greg Bachman (3B), 2 for 5.

Rolando Gautier (RF), 2 for 4, 1 Run Scored, 1 RBI.

Doubles: Hankins (16), Gautier (9). Fullerton: None with two hits, Pedroza, Hutting and Chapman with one. Doubles: Pedroza (10).

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What We Witnessed In Game Six:

Oregon versus Austin Peay.

Last weekend I watched the Beavers out-compete the Ducks in just about every phase of the game. I had my doubts about Oregon’s offense and their chances of reaching Omaha, the promise land in college baseball. This weekend, those doubts were officially erased as the Ducks looked every bit the powerhouse that won 13 series on the year, including sweeps of Vanderbilt, Long Beach State, Arizona State, California, USC and Gonzaga.

Well, you can add another sweep to the list as the Ducks defeated Austin Peay and Fullerton over the course of three days this weekend.

The pitching was stellar, the hitting phenomenal and the overall execution of the speedy short game a sterling exhibition of perfection.

Before the game, I spoke with Arizona Diamondback scout Donny Reynolds, a former assistant coach of mine when I attended Oregon State – playing for head coach Jack Riley. Reynolds, it should be noted, is also a former Oregon running back and baseball alum who played 9 years in the big leagues for the Padres.

You may have seen his brother Harold Reynolds on the MLB Network recently.

I asked Donny what he thought of the Oregon offense and from his viewpoint, the viewpoint of professional baseball, he doesn’t like all the bunting as it limits a players professional growth down the road.

Case in point was the first inning for the Ducks in tonights game versus Austin Peay when Aaron Payne led off the game with a walk and Aaron Jones was hit by a pitch, bringing up the three hitter with two on and no one out in the first.

In professional baseball, your swinging for the big inning. The coach who takes the bat out of the hands of Albert Pujols or Carlos Beltran with two on and no one out in the first is likely to be handed his walking papers. For Ryon Healy at Oregon, it’s what he expected never doubting for a moment that he would be given the chance to swing for the fences.

At Oregon you are sacrificing and playing for a two-run inning instead of a five run inning. The Ducks settled for one run in the first and by the time the fourth inning had ended, the Ducks led 6-0, tallying only four hits in the process.

Like defending the spread option in college football where a defense is stretched vertically and horizontally, the Horton short game will force a defense to defend all the options in the game (bunt, hit and run, run and hit, double steal, push, drag and squeeze), which drives up percentage of mistakes in an opposing defense.

I can see Donny’s point, but this is Oregon’s identity and given the success of the Garrido-Horton coaching tree, it works for college baseball given the fact that the players are still learning the game and lack the years of experience needed to play the game in a relaxed yet aggressive state when defending all the options.

When you mix the variety of situations that Horton and crew will throw at any defense there simply isn’t enough practice time available for an opposing coaching staff to cover all the situations and there in lies the challenge in college baseball compared to the professional game. The Devil is in the details, the chaos created reigns supreme.

The Duck program is built on speed, pitching and defense, and few programs across the country will execute the short game as well as a Horton led program, which is finally beginning to ripen here in Eugene with the fruit of his labor on display for all to view in this 2012 post-season.

The Ducks scored 8 runs on seven hits tonight, eliminating upstart Austin Peay, with the only extra base hit being a two run home run by catcher Brett Hambright (his first on the year), who launched a moon shot over the left-field wall in the 7th, which pushed the lead to 8-0.

They scored one in the 1st, two in the 3rd, three in the 4th and two in the 7th. The point is, they don’t need to play big like the professional game demands. With their team speed, plethora of pitching depth, 980 fielding percentage and spacious ballpark, it smells like Omaha to me.

The only thing standing in their way is Kent State, just one more weekend to go!

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Linescore:

U.of O. – 102 300 200 -8 7 2

A.P.U. – 000 000 001 – 1 3 0

Pitching:

WP: Jake Reed – (7-4) 7.0 IP, 2H, 8K’s. LP: Kacy Kemmer – (2-1) 2.0 IP, 1H, 1R, 1BB

Hitting:

Oregon:

Brett Thomas: 2 for 4, 3RBI. Brett Hambright: 1 for 3, 2 RBI, 1HR

Austin Peay:

Greg Bachman: 2 for 3, 1R, 1 Double.

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PICS.

Once again, Matt Brown was on the scene for the Fullerton finale for 2012. Here are a few of his pics he sent me tonight. (And yes, go ahead and check out Matt’s homepage at MattBrownPhoto.com.)

Rolando Gautier went 2-for-4 in the win over Fullerton, including a double.

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Governor's catcher P.J. Torres tags out Richie Pedroza at the dish.

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Michael Lorenzen sees his season end a few games too early for his liking.

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The end is here. And it's not where Fullerton expected to see their season end.

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Okay, it’s nearly five bells. I’m gonna go take a nap in the dark now. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow… er, today, has in store.

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G’night.

Getting invited to the White House to help fill out the NCAA baseball bracket is quite an honor.

Yes, I know I’ve used this image in past years. Sorry, I ran out of ideas.

Twas the Night Before Christmas… and here are 13 things to keep an eye on the night before the Regionals.

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1- A HEAD’S UP ON THINGS.

I’m still not sure exactly what is going to be involved in my ESPN.com coverage. In fact, I still don’t know what they want from me yet. No worries though. Just want you to know that it might not be the usual Regionals coverage that you’re used to getting from me on my site, regardless of assignments.

Whatever it is, I’ll be sure to provide a link to the ESPN stuff. And I’ll try to get to some of the UCLA Regional, which I’ll be at. Especially when Creighton pulls off the biggest stunning upset in college baseball history on their way to the national title.

Also, it looks like I’ll have a scant few contributions from a couple of buds doing some coverage from other Regionals.

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2- BEST CHANCES FOR UPSETS.

Okay, I’m going out on the limb, here are my top five upset scenarios for this weekend:

- Kent State over Kentucky in Game one.

With all the focus on whether UK should’ve hosted or not or been a 1-seed, the Cats better not overlook the Flashes, a veteran of these post-season wars.

- An SEC 2-seed will win a Regional. Maybe two.

While I see Kentucky going down this weekend, keep an eye on Vanderbilt (in Raleigh), Arkansas (in Houston) and most certainly Mississippi State (in Tallahassee). In fact, I’m leaning most on the Bulldogs to come through amongst the three.

- Dallas Baptist will pull a Dallas Baptist.

The Patriots are in a tough locale (Waco, home of top-seed Baylor) but they’ve got an even deeper pitching staff than last year’s team. And the Bears have cooled since their big run.

- Fresno State over Stanford in opening round.

The Bulldogs won’t be intimidated at taking on the Cardinal. In fact, they handed Mark Appel his only loss this season.

- The Coral Gables Regional.

Mark it down now, I could see either 3-seed Missouri State or 4-seed Stony Brook winning this four-teamer. Miami has been a pretty average team down the stretch and 2-seed UCF is stout, but their pitching staff has shown some vulnerability the last few weeks.

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3- BEST CHANCES FOR 2-SEED TO ADVANCE

In addition to the aforementioned Mississippi State, Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Dallas Baptist, here are a couple others I like:

- Cal State Fullerton.

Titans are post-season vets and the top-seeded Oregon Ducks are coming off a terrible sweep at the hands of Oregon State last week.

- TCU.

The Frogs aren’t the hottest team in the field (saw them lose in Vegas to New Mexico and San Diego State) but the home-based Aggies can go hot-and-cold at a moment’s notice and the Frogs know all about Ole Miss, having played them on opening weekend.

- Oregon State.

As I pointed out on Monday, the Beavers actually have a better ISR ranking than LSU, but they could be the biggest Jekyl & Hyde team in the country and wouldn’t shock me to see them win the Baton Rouge Regional or go belly-up in two games.

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4- BEST CHANCES FOR A 3-SEED TO ADVANCE

There are actually six or seven with an argument here, but this is my top three.

- Missouri State.

Just as much effective pitching on this Bears team as anyone else in their Regional.  Question is, will they hit?

- New Mexico.

Sure, I’m a little biased, after seeing them last week in Las Vegas. But the one thing coach Ray Birmingham said to me was that the big difference is this year’s team can pitch. We’ll see how that deep staff handles the Los Angeles Regional

- Sam Houston State

The big key will be getting by Arkansas in round one. If they do that, the Bearkats are deep and skilled on the mound and they’ve already beaten Rice at Reckling Park this year.

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5- MOST DANGEROUS 4-SEEDS

Biggest burrs in the saddle.

- Stony Brook.

As mentioned, it wouldn’t shock me to see the Seawolves move on. If only MoState wasn’t the 3-seed in Coral Gables.

- Army.

41 wins is unreal for a Patriot League team. And the disciplined and mentally tough Black Knights will have a shot vs. Virginia too.

- Missouri.

The Tigers have put it together here in the late stretches of the season, completing a Big 12 title run last weekend. Beware Arizona.

- Austin Peay.

The Governors won four straight in the OVC tourney and could be catching Oregon looking ahead to a possible matchup with Fullerton.

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6- SAFEST BETS TO ADVANCE.

Here are the teams that should cruise this weekend, maybe not even bother wearing gloves.

- North Carolina.

Got the easiest draw of the Regionals, including a 2-seed that was on the bubble for even making the tournament.

- Florida.

Georgia Tech as the 2-seed? Pshaw! Gators are moving on.

- South Carolina.

A lot of hay has been made about Clemson and Coastal Carolina being in that same Regional, but face it, this is where the Gamecocks start to hit their stride.

- Arizona.

Caveat to the Cats moving on: If they get past Missouri in Round One. Then they should have no probs. And yes, that’s a big if.

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7- COOLEST “GEEK” GIG IN THE WORLD?

Wanna feel really stupid? Just watch about five minutes of the brainiac kids on the National Spelling Bee. I could only WISH to be as smart as these kids. Really, I spell decently, but not standing up in front of millions of people with nothing to write on. So it’s a real slap in the face of reality to see these precocious punks spelling words like “tirthankara” (which is a term used in the religion Jainism.)

But one of the coolest things about the yearly contest is that Fresno State radio play by play man Paul Loeffler is once again the color man for the national competition, held in D.C. The finals were tonight on ESPN2 and my man Paul was there to cover it with ESPN’s Sport Center anchor Sage Steele.

Sage Steele only has eyes for him: The dapper Paul Loeffler was actually a contestant in the 1990 National Spelling Bee and now has been the analyst for the event seven straight years on ESPN.

Paul reassured me he’d be able to catch a flight in time to make it to Palo Alto for Fresno’s game with Stanford on Friday night.

And if you’re wondering, the final word that the spelling bee was decided upon tonight was “guetapens”, a word describing an ambush or a trap.

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8- DIARY OF A TRAVEL DAY

The inimitable Matt Brown has posted a really cool video log of Fullerton’s trek to Eugene for their Regional matchup. It’s pretty interesting, especially cool to see George Horton and his former assistant Rick Vanderhook catching up with each other during the Titan practice. Here’s the video he shot:

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/43166637[/vimeo]

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9- THE 9TH QUESTION.

What one thing would you like to see in the coverage of college baseball for next year?

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10- THE MIRACLE WORKERS.

Forget Anne Sullivan. I’ve never seen her write 64 lengthy capsules in three days before the NCAA tournament. That’s what Sean Ryan and Phil Stanton of College Baseball Insider have done once again for this year’s Big Dance. Yep, extensive previews of each of the teams in the field. You know, these guys do this every year and every year I’m continually amazed by it. So if you want to see the best NCAA Tournament preview anywhere, click on this link and prepare to be amazed.

Under each Regional heading you’ll find the complete write-up and stats for each team. Remarkable work.

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11- WEATHER TROUBLES ALREADY?

This is getting off on the wrong foot. It looks like we’re going to have some Mother Nature issues tomorrow, maybe even through the weekend. There are rain possibilities for  Charlottesville Regional has already pushed start times to 11am Eastern time in anticipation of some big thunderbumpers that should hang around most of the day. Elsewhere, eight of the 16 Regionals are forecast to have rain and thunderstorms at some point of the day. And above all that, Tucson is supposed to be baking at a high temperature of 106 in the afternoon. No clouds.

The Friday hour-by-hour forecast for the Virginia Regional don't look so good.

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12- INJURIES… PRESUMABLY NOT FROM CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT DOGPILES.

Two injury situations to keep an eye on. South Carolina catcher Grayson Greiner has already been ruled out for the weekend after suffering a meniscus tear to his left knee. Keep in mind, their first game will be against Manhattan, a team which stole 81 bases on the season (32 of them from Anthony Vega). Also, Miami stud catcher Peter O’Brien, who has been the lynch pin for the Hurricanes offense this year, is battling through a sore wrist which has hampered his swing in practice this week. That’s a pretty significant development, considering the Canes will play hungry-like-the-Seawolves Stony Brook in game one.

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13- IT’S NICE TO BE LOVED, BUT THAT WASN’T NECESSARILY THE POINT.

Got a nice Email this week from Utah Valley SID Clint Burgi who said that, “As usual, we were all glued to your latest column and it was great. Our players, coaches and myself would like to send a thank you.”

That’s cool and all, but as you guys all know, I’m not trying to curry favor with what I write as opinion. I know I don’t have to say it again but I hate everybody on the same level. But at the same time my stance doesn’t change on UVU not getting a bid. I think the committee knows the RPI is flawed and could’ve solidified that point by extending a bid to the Wolverines.

But it was still nice to see the boys up in Orem read my stuff… cuss words and all. Thanks guys.

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* Just an FYI, please withhold any political themed comments because of the picture at the beginning of this column. I don’t care what direction your political compass is pointed, but every president for the last 40 years has been a complete failure, so zip it. I won’t read your political comments and they will get thrown in the trash quicker than a bolt of lightning anyway.

Howlin' Wolves. The Lobos celebrate after pounding San Diego State into submission to add a tournament title to their regular season title.

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WHAT I SAW AT EARL WILSON STADIUM
Three, three-run home runs leads New Mexico to its third straight NCAA tournament bid. Los Lobos didn’t mess around today. Taking advantage of a San Diego State team which seemed exhausted from their semifinal donnybrook with TCU, the Cherry & Silver jumped on the Aztecs from the starting gun, scoring six in the 1st inning, four in the 2nd and four in the 3rd. That early landslide included the aforementioned three, three-run homers from three different sluggers. After not making the Big Dance for nearly 40 years, UNM coach Ray Birmingham has now led his pack of Wolves to three straight. Yowzah.

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GAME ONE.
The Aztecs and Horned Frogs put on a hell of a show in today’s first game. TCU is eliminated in a wild back-and-forth game. SDSU scored three run in the top of the 9th, with the help of a catcher’s interference call and a lost-in-the-sun bounce shot to first base and a throwing error. But TCU had to make things interesting, loading the bases and getting a pair of runs to cross the plate. But pinch hitter Davy Wright meekly hit a soft bouncer to pitcher Justin Hepner, who ran over to 1st base himself for the final out of the game. Spencer Thornton, Jake Romanski and Jomel Torres all finished with three hits, Romanski accounting for 4RBI.

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LINESCORE:
SDSU – 112 401 003 – 12 16 2
T.C.U. – 110 311 022 – 11 15 3

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PITCHING.
WP: Justin Hepner, 5-3
LP: Kevin Allen, 5-3
Save: None

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TOP HITTERS.
SDSU:
- Jake Romanski, 3-for-5, 4RBI, double
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TCU:
- Derek Odell, 3-for-6, 2RBI, HR, double
- Kevin Cron, 3-for-3, 2RBI, double

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RECORDS.
- SDSU, 26-33
- TCU, 36-19

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COACH SPEAK.
Talked to TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle briefly after the game. He was matter of fact about everything that happened today, lamenting the pitching for both sides, citing fatigue and conditions. But I did want to ask him about coming back to the place where he once coached. To that, he said:

“I miss the people and friends I made at UNLV, a lot. It’s a great place. But I don’t miss the ballpark, because this is ‘airport baseball’, that’s what it’s like here.”

He was referring to the airplanes roaring overhead, since Wilson Stadium is in the landing pathway of McCarran Field.

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PICS

This is what Coach Schlossnagle was talking about as you see a jet fly just over the stadium at near pop-up level.

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TCU's Jerrick Suiter evades the tag attempt of catcher Jake Romanski. He didn't make it by much though.

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Freakish sidearmer Justin Scharf came in trying to clamp things down for the Frogs.

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In San Diego State's 9th inning, two-out rally, Josh Elander was called for catcher's interference by home plate umpire Jason Rogers.

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A batter later, with the bases loaded, Frog 1st baseman Davy Wright tried to field a high Baltimore Chop while battling the sun.

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... but the ball tipped off his glove for an RBI infield hit. giving the Aztecs the lead. (And yes, you can see I was shooting through the netting behind home plate.)

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The ensuing errant throw allowed two runs to score, including Chris Wilson who had walked his way on base.

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In the bottom of the frame, reliever Justin Hepner corralled a comebacker and never threw to first base, choosing to play it safe and run over and tag 1st base himself. Game over.

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GAME TWO.
San Diego State ran out of pitching. UNM never stopped hitting. It was over with early. UNM wins the MWC title. ‘Nuff said.

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LINESCORE:
SDSU – 020 100 000 – 3 9 2
U.N.M – 644 170 00x – 22 26 1

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PITCHING.

WP: Josh Walker, 8-2
LP: Ethan Miller, 3-2
Save: None.

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TOP HITTERS.
SDSU:
- Jomel Torres, 1-for-4, HR
- Jake Romanski, 2-for-4
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UNM:
- Everyone.

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RECORDS.
- SDSU, 26-34
- UNM, 26-22

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IN A NUTSHELL
As mentioned above, it was the first three, three-run home runs hit by D.J. Peterson, Alex Real and Ryan Padilla which deep-sixed the Aztecs in quick order. Just looking at the linescore, you immediately see that this one got out of hand from the get-go and was never competitive. The Aztecs looked spent from that draining semifinal game and their pitching just wasn’t built to stay strong this long to withstand four games in three days.

Alex Real was a triple away from hitting for the cycle and D.J. Peterson hit a home run and an RBI double, to go along with his two walks.

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COACH SPEAK.
Here’s what Ray Birmingham had to say after the game.

- On how his teams always have such a potent offense.
“This team can hit. I’m ruthless on the hitters. The big key is I tell them ‘Don’t take a pitch off.’ I have them stay focused and disciplined. That man over there (he points to Tony Gwynn) is the greatest hitter in the game. I learned a lot from him because he never took a pitch off. Never.”

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– On the big difference on this year’s team.
“This team can pitch better than the previous teams. And there’s more of them that can pitch. We can hit, but the big thing is now we can also pitch.”

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– On his feelings going forward to next week.
“I think this team deserves to be in it. I think this team can win a Regional. That’s what we’re shooting for. I’ve been saying we’re trying to get to Omaha, everybody says ‘That crazy guy over there in Albuquerque thinks he can get to Omaha.’ But you know what, if you don’t believe it you’re not going to achieve it. I’m old school and I live by that. You notice we’ve won a championship and going to a Regional and there’s no dogpile. It’s business as usual for us.”

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– On his feelings about his team.
“This team is just like all my teams. Everybody chips in, everyone cares about each other and we push chemistry all the time. You know what, I think this team has a chance to do more. Go farther.”

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- When I told him that during his interview on The Mtn., two of his players went to look for a Gatorade cooler to dump on him, only to find that the coolers had already been picked up by stadium staff:

“See, God looks out for us older folks.”

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PICS

I didn’t take many in this game, just ‘coz it was over so quickly, but here are a couple I did snap before closing up the shutter.

The Lobo bench explodes as D.J. Peterson begins to round the bases on his 1st inning 3-run yard call.

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An inning later Alex Real (#3) sent a 3-run salvo of his own over the left field fence, putting the game out of reach at 10-2.

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Winning pitcher Josh Walker in mid-coil. He turns nearly his entire body toward centerfield in his windup.

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OTHER STUFF.
Some extra things from around the country.

I had a few things forwarded to me during the day that were interesting. First, here’s a near-brawl that took place between Hoosier State rivals Purdue and Indiana late in the game.

Click on this link to see the melee in Columbus.

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Also, Oregon State SID Hank Hager forwarded me a series of pictures on the scintillating final play of the today’s 3-2 win over rival Oregon. Superman Frosh Michael Conforto caught a line drive from Duck hitter Ryon Healy, then threw a strike from the outfield to catcher Ryan Gorton to nab UO’s Aaron Payne at the plate. (And by the way, photog Dave Nishitani did a wicked-good job of getting these images)

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Okay, I would write more, but I’m gonna go lose some money at the Black Jack tables. Wish me luck… unless you hate me, then wish me the Devils’ luck.

Still trying to decide if I should drive to Mesa for the WAC final tomorrow, or head back to Smogland for either the San Diego-Pepperdine game to decide the WCC or to the Fullerton-Long Beach game to decide the Big West. (Ain’t that the way it’s s’posed to be in those two conferences?)

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G’night.

In two games at the Mountain West Conference Tournament, there were 44 runs on 51 hits with 18 walks and three hit batsmen. Sin City lived up to its name tonight.

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WHY THE MOUNTAIN WEST TOURNAMENT?
Top Five reasons it’s good to take in the MWC Tournament. Here ya’ go…

1- The unpredictability is predictable.
The MWC rarely goes according to plan, as witnessed by last year’s improbable run by New Mexico (… and of course by today’s action as exhibit B in that example).

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2- A comfortably late start.
I still have post-traumatic stress disorder from the 2010 Sun Belt tournament in Murpheesboro, Tenn. where I had to be at the stadium each day for the 9am game because that’s the time slot FIU was given each day and Panther SS Garrett Wittels had his 50+ game hit streak going at the time. Nine-freakin-AM! Adding to the misery was the fact that my father’s summer house in the mountains of Tennessee was about 40 minutes from Murpheesboro, where the tournament was held.

No such trauma here. There are only two games a day and the first one doesn’t start ’til 3pm. Ahhhh, I can sleep in.

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3- Short, sharp, to the point.
Piggybacking off point No. 2 above, this ain’t one of those ass-tastic six-day grinders with four games a day. This is four teams and could be as simple as three-days of action, then we crown a champion. No muss, no fuss. It even fits in well with my three-day work release program at prison. They won’t have to wonder where I am all those extra days.

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4- C’mon, it’s Vegas.
When I’m not at the games, I can chill out by a hotel pool, lose my ass in black jack, take in one of those entertaining “adult shows” or go to downtown Vegas and see where the U2 video to “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” was filmed. Either way, the best part is, no matter how man shots of penicillin I require, the old adage of ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ will come in handy.

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5- And, here’s the last reason:

When used in moderation, beer at a ballgame can be both refreshing and as American as apple pie.

On to the games now.

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WHAT I SAW AT EARL WILSON STADIUM
Good swings, poor defense and some gale-force winds helped set the tone for the 2012 Mountain West Conference tournament today in the deserts of southern Nevada. TCU and San Diego State played arena-baseball and New Mexico ran up the score like a team trying to impress BCS pollsters in football.

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GAME ONE:
Never, ever leave a game early. Not college baseball. Not with aluminum bats and certainly not with the wildly windy conditions that plagued Earl E. Wilson Stadium. Just when this one looked like a hideous rout that TCU was going to cruise through, the freak show started. SDSU, who the last few innings looked like a defeated team, suddenly pulled a Lazurus act, scoring 11 runs in the top of the 9th to take an unimaginable 15-14 lead. But sure enough, just to prove that this IS the wild wild West, the Horned Frogs turned around and scored two runs in the bottom of the 9th to pull out a 16-15 win.
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LINESCORE:
SDSU – 100 300 00 (11) – 15 13 2
T.C.U. – 030 033 50 2 – 16 17 2

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PITCHING.
WP: Stefan Crichton, 8-2
LP: Justin Hepner, 4-3
Save: None

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TOP HITTERS.
SDSU:
- Jomel Torres, 2-for-4, 5RBI, 3RBI triple
- Chris Wilson, 1-for-5, 3RBI
- Jake Romanski, 2-for-4, RBI
- Ryan Muno, 2-for-6, RBI
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TCU:
- Kevin Cron, 2-for-5, 3RBI HR, 2RBI double
- Derrick O’Dell, 4-for-5, 2RBI, RBI triple, double
- Jerrick Suiter, 2-for-2, 3runs scored
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RECORDS.
- SDSU, 24-33
- TCU, 36-17

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IN A NUTSHELL.
It started out as a back-and-forth affair, then turned into a TCU rout, then turned into a freak show. What seemed like a harmless 14-4 lead for the purple gang going into the 9th inning, suddenly became an Alice Cooper concert. But Alice’s boa constrictors, vomit monsters and guillotines weren’t anything compared to this one. There’s no way to surmise the final inning for this game “in a nutshell” but the Aztecs could do no wrong in the top of the 9th, getting 11 runs on eight hits with one TCU error to pull out to a 15-14 lead. They even left the bases loaded at the end of the frame. But almost as if it was scripted for dramatic effect, TCU got its act together and answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the 9th to crush the Aztecs soul.

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IT WAS OVER WHEN…
– the final out was recorded. And not a minute earlier.
I don’t think the baseball gods can ever plan for a game like this. Not even the Mayan Calendar can foresee something this epic. And I’m certain these fan bases wouldn’t ever want a game like this. I mean, do they want to be THIS cruel to their blood pressure? Check the EKGs man. After SDSU scored its double-hockey sticks in the top of the 9th, Kyle Von Tungeln smashed a game-tying homer to right field. Then, with the crowd almost anticipating something for the ages, they got it. Pinch hitters Davy White (single) and Josh Gonzales (double) came through with hits to put men on 2nd and 3rd. Jantzen Witte was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. Then Brett Johnson, who was 0-fer on the day, blooped the game winning hit over the drawn-in infield, sending the Frogs onto the field in celebration and their fans to their oxygen tanks to breathe again.

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KEY STAT.
– 17 batters
That’s how many hitters went to the plate for the Aztecs in the 9th inning which completely changed the complexion of this wild affair. The Horned Frogs used four pitchers in the inning and threw two wild pitches, which both produced runs, two hit batsmen, who both came around to score, and also were forced to intentionally walk two batters. Talk about UH-GLY. In fact, it could’ve been much worse as the Aztecs had the bases loaded but then had Ryan Muno strike out looking and Spencer Thornton flied out to center to end the inning with the bases still juiced.

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GAME BALL GOES TO:
– The TCU greenhornes
Freshmen Kevin Cron and Derek Odell led the Frog offense with six hits and seven RBI combined in what normally would be enough for this TCU pitching staff to hold. Cron blasted a 3-run yard call to put the Frogs ahead at 6-4 and later chimed in with a two-run double. Odell hit for the short-cycle on the day (missing only a home run) including a pair of RBI. Cron got pulled for a pinch runner after his double in the 7th… though in hindsight, I wonder if coach Schlossnagle could’ve taken that decision back, considering all the runs SDSU scored.

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A COUPLE OF NOTES:
- TCU pitcher Brandon Finnegan’s 25.2 scoreless inning streak finally came to an end after he gave up a run in the 1st inning.
- Reliever Trey Teakell also saw a scoreless streak end when his 21.1 inning streak was ended with SDSU’s 3-run 4th inning.
- TCU allowed more than seven runs in a game for the first time since April 1st against UNLV and the total of 15 is the highest allowed this season.
- San Diego State saw Tony Gwynn attend his first full game of the season, after he’s taken off the 2012 campaign prior to today to recover from surgery for cancer.
- At the beginning of the game the winders were mostly calm with an occasional breeze, but by the end of the game, gusts were hitting 30+ mph and blowing straight out to centerfield.

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COACH SPEAK.
- Coach Jim Schlossnagle on the wild ending.
“Baseball is a crazy game. If you’re in it long enough you’ll see stuff like that. And for us to win that game… I’m sure there are a lot of people upset back home that we gave up 11 runs, but they need to be excited that we won the game.”

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PICS

A few images from today’s first game.

TCU's iron-jawed Josh Elander nabs San Diego State's Jomel Torres at home.

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All hail King Cron. Frog frosh Kevin Cron is congratulated after his three-run home run gave TCU back the lead.

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TCU's Kyle Von Tungeln just misses Jomel Torres' shot to the wall. Torres would end up getting a three-run triple on the play.

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The Aztec fans appreciated the big comeback almost as much as the players did.

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It seemed no matter who coach Jim Schlossnagle put on the mound today, they ended up struggling.

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It was good to see coach Tony Gwynn back in the Aztec dugout for the first time this season. He's pictured here next to my good bud Eric Valenzuela, the SDSU pitching coach.

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GAME TWO
UNM continued the hit parade from the late innings of game one with a 9-run 2nd inning to race past the homesteading Rebels of UNLV, turning this one into a boat race from the get-go. Although, with the way the Mountain West has gone this year – or in the first game particularly – nothing was for certain until the last out.

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LINESCORE:
UNLV – 000 000 000 – 0 5 0
UNM – 190 000 20 x – 12 16 2

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PITCHING.
WP: Austin House, 7-5
LP: Erick Fedde, 6-5
Save: None

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TOP HITTERS.
UNLV:
- Joey Swanner, 1-for-3, walk
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UNM:
- D.J. Peterson 1-for-5, 5RBI, GrandSlam
- Alex Allbritton, 2-for-4, 3RBI
- Josh Melendez, 3-for-4, RBI
- Trey Porras, 2-for-5, 2RBI
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RECORDS.
- UNLV, 26-30
- UNM, 34-22

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IN A NUTSHELL.
The Lobos brought their big boy bats early. All American D.J. Peterson, who came in hitting .422, had the back-breaker with a 2nd inning grand slam which was part of a 2nd inning onslaught which helped the Lobos race out to a 10-0 lead and cruise from there. Starting pitcher Austin House kept the homesteading Rebels in check the entire game, relinquishing just six hits to keep the Rebs hopeless most of the night.

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IT WAS OVER WHEN…
– the Go D.J. chant began.
Yep, Mr. Peterson, D.J. Peterson, laid down a wicked track by clubbing a 2nd inning grand slam, turning this one into a moot point at 8-0. From there, the Rebels seemed a little listless, never mounting a serious threat and hitting into ill-timed double plays whenever something promising had begun to brew up.

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KEY STAT.
– Five double plays.
It wasn’t just the offense that was spot-on for the Lobos, it was also the handy glovework. The New Mexico defense turned five twin-killings on the night, erasing any small glimmers of hope for a Rebel rally on the game. The defense did commit two errors, but neither of them proved to be too vital or leading to a run, obviously.

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GAME BALL GOES TO:
– UNM starting pitcher Austin House.
This one’s a no-brainer. He only gave up six hits, including a couple of infield hits off of defenders gloves, and also three walks. He was in command of four pitches the entire game, hit the low 90s on the gun and threw 70 strikes in his 112 pitches. His ERA has now dipped to a stellar 2.92 on the season. He also got some good defense behind him to help lock down the Rebels.

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COACH SPEAK.
Caught up with New Mexico coach Ray Birmingham after the win in game two.

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- On his pitcher Austin House and how well he performed in these blustery conditions where everything was flying out.
“Austin’s a guy that can pitch backwards and forward, and he pitched forward a lot tonight. And it’s hard for other teams to make adjustments to him because one inning he’s fastballs in, the next inning he’s all about his slider, the next inning he’s mainly change-ups and sliders or change-ups and fastballs. It really depends on how he feels, but on a night like tonight, when he throws strikes, regardless of the conditions, he’s really good.”

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- On whether he calls pitches from the dugout or does catcher Mitchell Garver call the games.
“No, those two guys, Garver and House, they’ve known each other since they were nine-years old. They’ve been on the same team all those years, I’m not telling them what to throw.”

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- On whether his team is as loose as it seems, especially with the RPI in the low 60s and if they need to win this tournament to get into the NCAAs, etc.
“Well, I’ve got a lot to say about that. I think a lot of coaches in the country have a lot to say about that. But there’s no pressure now. My pressure is in practice and in the early part of the season. I just let ‘em play. We talk to them like men and like they’re professionals. That’s what they all eventually want to be anyway, professionals. So I’m not one of those tight-ass, rah-rah guys.”

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- On his offense and how effective they were.
“You know, this team ended up third in the country in hitting, I believe. We were No.2 two years ago. So we can hit. No problem. We played a No. 40 strength of schedule, so we’re used to hitting against good teams. We want to go to Omaha. That’s what we want. Last year, we were one pitch away from beating Arizona State in the Regionals. Nothing’s gonna faze our guys.”

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- On when things turned around for his team this year.
“When we started the season we lost five guys to injury. We still have some injury issues now. So we were doing a lot of mixing and matching to try to figure things out. Then Gonzaga came in as one of the hottest teams in the country, and we swept them. That’s when we just took off. We won 10 of our last 11 series, we went something like 33-11 or so down the stretch. We played like a totally different team.”

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- On what he’d like to see happen in June.
“You know, this is the 100th anniversary for the statehood of New Mexico. Wouldn’t it be cool if both New Mexico and New Mexico State made it to the NCAA tournament? How fun would that be?”

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THE BIRMINGHAM PLAN.
Anytime I’ve talked to coach Ray Birmingham, he’s always had an awful lot to say. More than I bargained for, which is great. So when I asked him about their chances for the NCAA tournament without winning the Mountain West tournament, he had an interesting response:
“Here’s something to think about. What it we looked at every conference and said, ‘Okay, we’ll take the top four teams from this conference because they’re really good, and then the top three teams from that conference ‘coz they’re pretty good and then some of the other conferences we get two from them and then some of the weaker conferences get one bid. That’s how we run the NCAA tournament. No more of this RPI bullshit. We make the NCAA tournament 64 teams with eight, eight-team Regionals.

But do you know who DOESN’T want that? The protectionists. Those in protectionism are afraid of it. And I’m always one to say, ‘if you’re afraid, admit it.’ Because I’ll go play you, any weekend. Hell, meet me in a bar in West Texas, I’ll play ya’.

I’m tired of people hiding. You know what that plan would do? It would make baseball more visible, more exciting, more people in it. The protectionist attitude is driving me nuts. Quit hiding. I’m sick of the big dogs, the corporate teams. Isn’t the underdog what America is all about anyway?”

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ZUNIGA EJECTION.
In the 5th inning of tonight’s game, UNM’s Kyle Stiner stole 2nd base, despite the Lobos having that 10-0 lead. So then, UNLV pitcher Brady Zuniga tried to bean Alex Real with the next pitch, even going as far as throwing behind him. Well, home plate umpire Dale Luker would have none of that business and tossed Zuniga for throwing at (or behind) Real. Because of that ejection, he automatically has to sit out the next four games, per NCAA rules. And for Zuniga, that four-game penalty carries over to next year if they happen to get eliminated tomorrow.

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PICS

A few images from the night game.

Lanky Austin House looked like the old advertising logo for the FTD Florist, unleashing another mind-bending monstro-confusion ball at UNLV.

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UNLV pitcher Brady Zuniga is given the old heave-ho by home plate ump Dale Luker after trying to bean Alex Real in the back.

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D.J. Peterson on-deck, "Dear Mr. Fence, I'm going to be sending an associate of mine your way soon. Sincerely, D.J."

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D.J. Peterson lobs the ball back to fellow star-of-the-game Austin House.

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UNM Coach Ray Birmingham getting mic'd up for a post-game interview on The Mtn.

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Three bells. Gotta go gamble for a few hours. See you tomorrow.

G’night.

The Dallas Baptist Patriots are fired-up to convert you to their flock.

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WHAT I SAW AT PATRIOT STADIUM TONIGHT.

Okay, I have to admit, I was Chavez Ravine dreaming today. See, I had to fly from LAX to Dallas this morning and that meant I would miss the double-header at Dodger Stadium with Pepperdine-UC Irvine and USC-UCLA facing off with each other. Instead, I hauled ass off my Virgin America plane once I reached DFW airport and decided to go to the Oklahoma-Dallas Baptist game instead.

… and you know what? Boy, am I glad I did that.

I got to see DBU make a valiant 9th-inning comeback, overcoming a 6-3 deficit and improving its resume to 10-6 on the season. Oklahoma drops to 11-6. Here are some of the particulars…

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LINESCORE:

Okla 001 020 102 – 6  11  0

DBU 003 000 004 – 7  13  2

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WP: Aaron Gilbreath, 1-1

LP: Jordan John, 3-2.

Save: None.

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IN A NUTSHELL.

Well, to tell you the truth, I didn’t have time to really do a write-up on this game. But here’s what I will do: Here’s the write-up on tonight’s game from one of the better Sports Information Directors in our sport, Oklahoma’s Craig Moran. Enjoy…

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DALLAS, Texas — Jordan John suffered his second loss of the season as the No. 17 Sooners gave up four runs in the bottom of the ninth in a 7-6 decision at Dallas Baptist Tuesday night.

The loss dropped OU to 11-6 overall while Dallas Baptist won its third straight win over the Sooners and improved to 10-6 on the season.

“We are not finishing games,” said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway. “The message to the team afterwards was we have to execute. We are not playing well right now and we have to start getting things fixed as fast as we can.”

John (3-2) entered the game in the eighth inning with two outs and ended a Patriot threat with a fly ball to right that was caught by a diving Cody Reine to preserve a 4-3 lead. In the Sooners at bat in the ninth, Max White drove in his team-leading 17th RBI of the season and OU added another insurance run off DBU’s second error of the game for a 6-3 lead.

However, John gave up four singles and three walks (one intentional) as DBU rallied for the 7-6 win. Aaron Gilbreath (1-2) was credited with the win after a spotless 2/3 of an inning.

The Sooners struck first on Jack Mayfield’s first home run of the season (second of career) on a blast over the 15-foot wall in left field.

The 1-0 lead in the top of the third was quickly extinguished as DBU countered with a three-run homer to left off the bat of Boomer Collins. OU starter Jacob Rhame would face one more batter before being pulled in favor of Steven Bruce after 2 1/3 innings.

The Sooners also chased DBU’s starter early as Andrew Elkins tossed 4 1/3 innings and tacked on two runs in the fifth to tie the game at three apiece. Max White brought in the first run on a sacrifice fly and an additional run scored on a Dallas Baptist error allowing Erik Ross to score from second.

White extended his hitting streak to 10 games earlier in the third inning off a double and later added a single in the seventh inning when OU regained a one-run lead off Evan Mistich’s two-out RBI double to right field.

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PICS:

A few images from tonight’s game.

With a high leg kick and an unorthodox left-handed delivery, DBU starter Andrew Elkins went 4.1 innings giving up just three hits

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It took all of five pitches of tonight's game for OU leadoff hitter Eric Ross to have the entire front of his uniform full of dirt.

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Eric Ross and Cody Reine get a hero's welcome after scoring a pair of go-ahead runs early on.

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Knockout! DBU catcher Duncan McAllister lays a hard tag to the face of OU's Cody Reine.

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A couple of plays later McAlpine flipped an errant pitch back to Michael Smith who tagged out Max White for another Sooner out at the dish.

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Yep, it came down to a full count with two out and OU leading by a run for Patriot five-hole hitter Landon Anderson.

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With R.J. Talamantes (far right) running toward home, Landon Anderson lays off of a ball four pitch in the dirt to walk in the tying run of the night.

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One batter later, with the bases still loaded, Joel Hutter came on to provide for the game-winning RBI stroke which sent Dallas Baptist to a huge win over OU.

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I know it was just your average Tuesday night game, but the Patriots celebrated with a mini-dog pile and a lot of jumping around after Joel Hutter's game-winning hit.

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I can just imagine the piss and vinegar that was spewing out of Sunny Golliway's mouth after this blown lead vs. DBU.

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MY Q&A WITH DBU HEAD COACH DAN HEEFNER.

No offense Patriot fans, but I still can’t believe you guys held on to your uber-successful baseball coach after last season.I mean, really. Think about it. A small little private school in the boonies of Dallas, Texas gets his team within a game or two of Omaha? That’s pretty improbable. Well in my travels to Texas this week I got a chance to talk to coach Heefner before his game with national power Oklahoma. It was a conversation which bordered on awesomeness. Here’s how it went down.

Dallas Baptist head coach Dan Heefner shakes hands with Oklahoma's Sunny Golloway before Tuesday's epic bottom-of-the-9th legend-maker of a game.

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Me:

Talk about the off-season. What was it like after having all that post-season success last year? Did it change your team in any way? Were they motivated?

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Coach Heefner:

The biggest thing to me was their confidence. It raised expectations. In the past it was always that case of “we’re the underdogs, we’ve gotta show people what we’ve got”. We always had that chip on our shoulders, ya’ know? But now, we actually have that disappointment. Like when we go to Texas and we lose, our guys are ticked off that we lost. Our guys are mad we lost the game, not that we’re glad we played them close or went extra innings. I thought that whole mind-set started in the off-season where our guys were like, “Okay, we’ve gotten a taste of the post-season, now we want more.

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Me:

Speaking of the work ethic part of it, has that changed any since last year’s success?

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Coach Heefner:

Work ethic is something we’ve always prided ourselves on, even before last year’s post-season run. It’s part of our culture. I don’t know if last year’s success changed it, but it certainly solidified it. Hard work is the only way we got to that level. To see some of the guys who have been so successful in the past, the returning guys know that the reason they were so successful was because of their solid work ethic and not just from showing up on campus and being overly talented.

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Me:

If you guys win tonight, you’ll be at the exact same won-loss record you were at last year at this time, 10-6. Do you see the potential to make another great run like last year?

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Coach Heefner:

It’s tough to peg. Every team is different. And to be honest, I see this team as having a better pitching staff than last year. I really do. We’ve got better arms, top to bottom this year, and we’ve got a couple of guys who can really pitch. Offensively we’re a lot more aggressive, we can run a lot more than we did last year. But what we don’t have is that middle-of-the-order couple of guys who would say “if nothing is happening then I’m gonna make us go” kind of guys. It’s early. I really like our team and I think there’s a lot of potential. But the big difference in this team and last year’s team is, even if we win tonight and have the same record as last year, we beat teams like Oklahoma State, TCU and Washington State. This year, we lost by one run to Texas. We lost a close game to Oklahoma State, ya’ know we’ve been on the wrong side of some close games with good teams this time around.

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Me:

One of the players I loved last year was Chris Haney, your enigmatic closer. Anybody like him on this year’s team? Anybody that can replace his energy?

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Coach Heefner:

Oh yeah. We’ve got Michael Smith. He was our set-up guy last year and he’s got that exact same mentality as Haney had. He’s real out-going, he’s real emotional. He’s one of those guys who will come out of the bullpen and sprint to the mound. Ya’ know, we don’t do what we do last year without Haney and Michael Smith is the exact same kind of guy. He’s got a fire about him.

Michael Smith was a ball of energy on the mound for the Patriots again tonight.

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Me:

What do you like most about your team this year?

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Coach Heefner:

I really like their character and their work ethic. Those are two things that are very similar to last year’s team too. But the difference is that they’ve got a looseness about them. There’s that confidence and that expectation to win but there’s no pressure. We enjoy playing good teams. To these guys, they say, “this is what they want. Oklahoma’s coming in here, alright, let’s get after it.” There’s just zero intimidation to these guys.

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Me:

On the opposite end, what concerns you the most about these guys?

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Coach Heefner:

I guess like a lot of teams the big key is injuries. We don’t have a lot of depth if a key guy goes down. Typical of a lot of mid-majors we can’t afford to have injuries. We’ve had one key starter go down so far this year and that’s been it.

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Me:

How many guys did you lose last year to injury?

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Coach Heefner:

We stayed healthy the entire season last year. I think in our situation we just don’t have the luxury of a guy going down and a big stud come off the bench and replace him. We just don’t. But I DO think our depth is a little bit better this year. So there is a little bit of difference to this year and last year.

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Me:

Last thing I wanted to ask you about was that whole situation of moving to the Missouri Valley Conference falling through and now you guys are going to the WAC starting next year. What are your feelings about that?

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Coach Heefner:

First off, I really like the Missouri Valley, it’s a really good conference that is sort of making a move on the upswing again lately. I think there were a few years where it kind of dipped but now, they’ve gotten off to a really good start this year and they’re back up again. I was part of the MVC, as an assistant at Creighton and at Northern Iowa, so I was very familiar with the conference. I was pretty excited about going to the MVC. But then the WAC came along and promised us that we were in the conference for sure next year. And to be honest, the WAC, as it turned out, was a better fit for us. Geographically with Texas State and UTA and UT-San Antonio and with Louisiana Tech already a member, we have a lot of natural rivalries set there. And with Cal State Bakersfield coming in with us, they were top 50 last year.

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Me:

Oh yeah, I thought they really deserved a bid to the NCAAs.

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Coach Heefner:

Yeah, absolutely. So I think the WAC could be pretty good. I mean you look at how Texas State has started this season, and UTSA is always a pretty good program. Bakersfield has a solid future. So we’re looking forward to being in the WAC, we think we’ve got a lot of good things coming up and it’ll be a really good conference for us.

Yes! My professional photography portfolio is increasing. Soon, you may be hearing about me spending my summers hiding in the Kalahari brush, taking pictures of the migrating wild gnus for National Geographic.

In the meantime, this week’s Week 2 Weekend Preview is now up on ESPN. Here’s the highlighted words for this week’s click point. I hope you dig it. There’s a nice piece from Sir Walter Villa on the Dallas Baptist program, which I’m a big fan of. So check it out. As usual, I’ll keep ya’ updated on things through the weekend. I’m currently still up in the Bay Area checkin’ stuff out, s feel free to drop me a line in case I miss anything while travelin’ around in my ’64 Dodge Dart.

Change is coming to the WAC in the next 12 months as programs will come and go. You may not recognize the conference in the years to ahead, but just know that the 2012 season will be no different. You mess with fire and you’ll get burned, WAC-style. Same conference. Same underrated teams. Hey RPI, are YOU catching up yet?

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2011 in a Paragraph:

For the longest time, it looked like Fresno State was in line to host a Regional for the first time since 1992, hanging around the top 15 of the RPI through April. But there were two problems: 1- Hawaii was leading the WAC most of the early part of the season. And 2- The Bulldogs ended up peaking too early. Fresno and Hawaii ended up tied for the WAC regular season title, but the Dogs ended up taking the WAC tourney title and advanced to the Los Angeles Regional. But Fresno ended up being the only WAC team in the post-season and had a cold weekend in Westwood, going 0-and-2 in the Big Dance. Still five of the seven WAC teams ended up with 30+ win seasons, proving once again that the WAC should get more credit than its given. Or at least given the chance to prove it.

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Conference ISR: 9

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HOW THEY’LL FINISH IN 2012:

- The Western Athletic Conference.

1- Fresno State

2- Hawaii

3- New Mexico State

4- San Jose State

5- Nevada

6- Louisiana Tech

7- Sacramento State

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2012 in a Paragraph:

The top of the conference will make a dip down and the bottom of the conference will make a jump up. How’s that for a synopsis? Well it’s true. Fresno still has the best collection of talent, but you never know how the new blood will respond under the spotlight. And Hawaii will once again reprise its role as the antagonist, getting both Fresno and New Mexico State out there on the islands. Never underestimate the travel factor in this conference. Also, never underestimate the offensive capacity of the Aggies, who return most of the sticks that paced them to the being the top offensive unit in D1 baseball. And guess what? NMSU might just have some pitching to go along with that. If that ain’t a WAC opponents’ nightmare, I don’t know what is. The bottom of the WAC should all be improved as well. So look for San Jose, Nevada, Louisiana Tech and Sac State to supply some bruises to anyone and everyone, but won’t have enough to be contenders.

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Favorite: Fresno State

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Contenders: Hawaii, New Mexico State

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Darkhorse: San Jose State

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Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Fresno State at Hawaii, April 5-7

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Best Non-Conference Series: All of Hawaii’s weekend series.

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Hot Coach: Mike Trapasso, Hawaii

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Hot Seat Coach: None

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The “You Gotta See” Pitcher: RHP Esteban Guzman, San Jose State

The “You Gotta See” Player: 2B, Parker Hipp, New Mexico State

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Three Non-Conference Series WAC Opponents Better Take Seriously:

1- Stanford at Fresno State.

2- Wichita State at Hawaii

3- New Mexico State at Baylor, April 27-28.

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Three Bold Predictions:

1- What am I s’posed to do here, type down that Fresno State will host a Regional for the fifth straight year? Okay, they will.

2- After having only one sub 4.00 ERA team, the WAC will have five of them this year, proving the pitching will be much improved.

3- With their numerous tough road assignments, New Mexico State’s team batting average will actually take a dip and won’t lead the nation.

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- FRESNO STATE (40-16, 17-7)

2011 ISR: 17

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

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All Conference Candidates:

C Austin Wynns (.326-2-21)

OF Aaron Judge (.358-2-30, 12SBs, Freshman All American)

2B Pat Hutcheson (.314)

LHP Tyler Linehan (5-2, 4.27)

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The Good News:

The energy and passion for Bulldog baseball is still very much intact, as witnessed by the fact that for most of the first two-thirds of the 2011 season ‘Dog fans were talking about possibly being a Regional host spot in June. They’ll still have plenty to cheer about in 2012 as coach Mike Batesole still has some serviceable talent leftover. Pitching is always an emphasis at Fresno and soph Tyler Linehan should blossom in his second year and will team with senior holdover lefty Tom Harlan (5-3, 3.84) for a 1-2 punch on weekends. Also returning from the top staff in the WAC (2.91 team ERA) is RHP Taylor Garrison (2-2, 1.32, 3svs), who had the best ERA on the team and was drafted in the 27th round by the Dodgers last summer but decided to return. One of the reasons he’s back is because he will be able to throw to his twin brother  C Trent Garrison (.339-5-45 in 2010), who sat out the 2011 season and he too came back to campus despite getting drafted in the  50th round by the Angels last June. The Bulldogs will need a lot of new talents to contribute right away, so it’s a good thing the incoming class was ranked No. 19 in the country by Baseball America. Watch for a pair of southpaws on the mound in Jordan Lewis and Aaron Gillis, two JC All Americans with mature mound presence. Power-throwing RHP Matt Fontaine, from Ohlone College, should contribute immediately as well. Also watch for SS Chris Mariscal, who was drafted in the 41st round of last June’s draft

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The Bad News:

Lots of upperclassmen in last year’s charges, including some holdovers from the national championship squad of 2008 have moved on. And I mean lots of them. The ‘Dogs had to say goodbye to talents like Jordan Ribera, Danny Muno, Dusty Robinson, Greg Gonzales, Josh Poytress and Derek Benny. Those are names that will go down in Fresno history. In all, 10 Bulldogs were drafted last June, which is a good indication of the continued quality of the program but will also mean there are many holes to fill. Besides 2B Pat Hutcheson, the infield will need a major overhaul with finding new blood at 3B, SS and 1B being the first order of business going into spring. There will also be a major power outage as talents like Robinson, Ribera, Gowens, Weber and Muno accounted for 38 of last year’s 50 home runs and 68 of the doubles.

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Schedule Note:

As usual, Dogfights everywhere.

It’ll be Bulldog vs. Bulldog on opening weekend as Fresno welcomes in Butler in the lidlifter. But from there things get much more serious as they’ll go to Pepperdine, host Stanford, host San Fran, host Bakersfield and host Kent State in the first month of the campaign. The WAC slate has them tripping out to the islands at Hawaii in early April and then to wind-swept New Mexico State in early May. Last year’s schedule was ranked No. 61 in the country by Boyd Nation’s ISR ratings, expect that to get even better this time around.

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- HAWAI’I (34-25, 17-7)

2011 ISR: 60

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

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All Conference Candidates:

RHP Matt Sisto (5-5, 3.67, .250OBA)

3B/SS Pi’ikea Kitamura (.208)

LHP Jarrett Arakawa (5-4, 4.50)

OF Collin Bennett (.292)

OF Zack Swasey (.320, 11SBs)

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The Good News:

The Warriors actually stayed on top of the WAC standings most of last season, which led to a WAC regular season co-championship with Fresno. If the Warriors can regain that level of confidence again this year, there is still talent around to pull it off again. Hopes for going a step further and playing in the NCAAs will depend on how far the starting pitchers can take them. Matt Sisto and Jarrett Arakawa combined for 163 innings last season. A trio of seniors will support them in mid-week starter RHP Connor Little (4-4, 4.99, .222OBA), who returns after being drafted by the Marlins last June, plus RHP Brent Harrison (2-1, 6.53) and Jesse Moore (0-3, 6.60). The offense is still potent, having curried the second-most walks in the WAC with 282 and also having the most stolen bases with 71. OF Breland Almadova (.298, 16SBs) was a part-time leadoff hitter last season and will have a pair of seniors join him in the assault this year with OFs Zack Swasey and Collin Bennett. Catcher Garrett Champion (.242) is a champion behind the dish and also a fellow senior in the order. The incoming recruiting class is stellar to say the least, featuring LHP Scott Squier, a mid-90s flamethrower who was drafted in the 21st round by the Tigers last June. A pair of catchers should shine for the Rainbows in cannon-armed Cody Clark and Tampa Bay Rays draftee Alan Baldwin, who could also play the outfield.

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The Bad News:

It could be argued that had the Warriors not suffered that flat-tire of a finish (they were 10-8 in the month of May), this team could’ve reached the NCAA tournament once again. The UofH doesn’t lose a lot from last season, but what they DO lose has a lot of star-power. All-World talent Kolten Wong takes his whiz-bang talent to the pros now. Joining him will be longtime mainstay Jeff Van Doornum, a great defender at 1st base, and Lenny Linsky, arguably the best arm in the holster last season, with his 1.30ERA and 14 saves out of the ‘pen. It’s hard to lose difference-makers like that and still maintain a high level of play. The Warriors also need to bear down at the dish, having struck out a stunningly-high 442 times last season. A number of viable alternatives must be cultivated in a revamped bullpen and that means a handful of J.C. transfers will need to assimilate immediately.

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Schedule Note:

As seen on ESPN.

I wrote in one of my fall notebooks on the Worldwide Leaders’ website that the Warriors had one of the tougher schedules in the country this season. They always play a high amount of home games, but this time around they’ll get visits from teams like Oregon, Wichita State, MAC favorite Central Michigan, defending WCC champion San Francisco and a trip to much-improved Gonzaga as well. WAC co-champions Fresno State makes the flight to the islands this season to open conference play in early April. From April 20th onward, the Warriors will play 11 of their final 17 games on the mainland in two large chunks. One where they’ll go to San Jose State, then to Grambling/Louisiana Tech and a second trip where they’ll play at Sac State and UC Davis in a four-day span.

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- LOUISIANA TECH (34-27, 12-12)

2011 ISR: 110

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

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All Conference Candidates:

RHP Jeb Stefan (7-4, 4.52)

RHP Trevor Peterson (6-4, 5.08)

1B Alex Williams (.272-4-53)

SS Ryan Gebhardt (.343)

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The Good News:

Things are slowly starting to turn the corner in Ruston as the Techsters finished in 3rd place in the WAC last season and saw them reach the 30+ win total for the first time since 2007. One of the biggest reasons for the turnaround was the arms corps, who dropped their ERA from 7.33 in 2010 to 4.73 last year. Hoping to keep that trend going will be the Friday-Saturday duo of RHPs Jeb Stefan (.246OBA) and Trevor Peterson (.275OBA), who are great blocks to build around. The bullpen is in need of work, but two huge factors remain in uniform in LHP Sam Alvis (2-1, 2.74, 3svs) and RHP Caleb Dudley (5-2, 3.30, 12svs), who combined for 51 appearances last season. Coming back from injury will be senior RHP  Graham Meyers, who has 32 career appearances and holds opposing hitters to a .265 average. He should be a big welcome back after missing most of 2011. Look for the defense to be a strength this year since 1B Alex Williams and SS Ryan Gebhardt will be joined again by their double-play partner in 2B Austin Hedges (.304), who had just 8Es last season. Incoming frosh C Bre’shon Kimbell could be an immediate star as he possesses a cannon arm and was drafted in the 28th round by the Brewers last June, but chose to come to Ruston.

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The Bad News:

This team was a pretty frail club at times last season, particularly once they were out of their comfy confines of home. The Bulldogs had a 9-19 record in regular season road games last year, then went 2-2 in Mesa at the WAC tournament, in which the two losses were by a combined 31-11 score. Yuck. Some really deeply engrained talents have left Ruston off of last year’s squad, including mainstays like  top hitters Kyle Rollard, Mark Threlkeld, Will Alvis and C Clint Ewing. They represent nearly all the big bat pop the Dogs had last season. Staff ace Mike Jefferson has also flown the coop, taking with him 210 innings of work in the last three years. The bullpen will be a rebuilding project based around Caleb Dudley and Sam Alvis, who are the only two arms back with ERAs below 5.00. And the Bulldogs must be more clutch this year as they knocked into 55 double-plays last year (while turning only 38 themselves).

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Schedule Note:

Repeat of 2011?

Last year, the Techsters played a pretty breezy slate for the first few weeks, then got skunked in seven games at Baylor and Rice combined. The schedule is fairly similar this time too as they’ll face teams like UT-Arlington, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Arkansas-Little Rock, McNeese State, Middle Tennessee, Centenary, Lamar and Texas A&M-Kingsville in the first four weeks. But then they’ll step up significantly with a single game at Creighton, followed by a three-gamer at Nebraska, followed by a weekend visit from Dallas Baptist the following week. And this time, the testing won’t stop there as they’ll also go to Oral Roberts on the final weekend before WAC play kicks in at Sac State. Should be interesting.

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- NEVADA (24-31, 12-12)

2011 ISR: 143

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

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All Conference Candidates:

C Carlos Escobar (.290-4-25)

SS Brady Shipley (.287)

RHP Tom Jameson (6-6, 4.84)

RHP Matt Gardner (2-1, 1.71, 6svs, .225OBA)

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The Good News:

The Wolf Pack managed to turn a crappy start into a decent enough finish last season and it would be great to see that carry over to this year. Only four position starters return, but they are key players as C Carlos Escobar (just 2Es), 3B Garrett Yrigoyen (.257-3-33), SS Brady Shipley (11Es) and 2B Joe Kohan (.283-4-34) will be the backbone of a really good defense (.967 fielding last year). Two weekend starters return on the mound, led by staff ace Tom Jameson, and complemented by senior RHP Troy Marks, who didn’t have great numbers – 2-5, 4.21 – but held opposing batters to a .243 average. RHP Tim Culligan (1-3, 7.84) could be primed for a big senior season after a great summer in the West Coast League. The recruiting class brings in a good bit of talent, particularly 1B Kewby Meyer, who was a 48th round pick of the Phillies and could be in the starting lineup on opening day. Also look for big things from RHP Michael York, a JC transfer who is expected to make the weekend rotation.

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The Bad News:

It goes without saying that the Pack can’t afford to limp out to another 5-15 start like they did last season. There’s just too many missing pieces from last season, so every returnee must play up to par or it could be a long season. The offense was a weak link last season, hitting just .275 and will lose the only two hitters that were serious threats in Brock Stassi (who also started eight games on the mound) and Nick Melino, both of whom went above .400 on-base. The pitch staff will need a lot of new arms to come up big time, especially for a staff that was second-to-last in the WAC at 5.38 team ERA.

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Schedule Note:

Travelocity loves them again.

As opposed to last season, the Wolf Pack will go far and wide this season, with trips to New Mexico (on opening weekend), Arkansas, New Mexico State, Seattle and Hawaii. On the other end of the spectrum, UNR and its opponents will be under winter weather advisory as they’ll host Utah Valley in February and UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, LMU and BYU in the month of March. You DO know there is a major ski area within 30 minutes of downtown Reno, right?

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- NEW MEXICO STATE (34-24, 9-15)

2011 ISR: 121

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

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All Conference Candidates:

C Zac Fisher (.398-8-56)

2B Parker Hipp (.396-6-58)

OF Tanner Waite (.389)

SS Tyler Forney (.356)

OF Bryan Karraker (.350-4-33)

LHP Ryan Beck (10-5, 5.95)

RHP Scott Coffman (3-0, 1.88, 9svs, .225OBA)

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The Good News:

You know the Aggies and you know their M.O., they’re going to bludgeon your pitching staff until they either wave a white flag or they put themselves in those white jackets that tie in the back. NMSU once again led the nation in hitting at .337, and the part I love it that’s still 14 percentage points better than the No. 2 hitting team (Wright State at .323). Un-freakin-real. And the ominous news for any pitcher that dares to stare them down from atop the hill, as you can see from the All WAC candidates list above the top five hitters all return and there are seven returnees who hit .312 or better, including 3B Zachary Voight (.327-2-38) and 1B Kurt Snowley (.312). Don’t know how they do it, but this program is a remorseless hitting machine. But get this, one of the most unnoticed gems about Rocky Ward-coached teams is that they regularly are one of the most disciplined teams at the plate in the country. Last season, the Aggies pulled 333 walks, good for 3rd in the country. Two of the more underrated players in the country are C Zac Fisher (just 2Es last season) and, of course, 2B Parker Hipp (if he played at South Carolina, would be a two-time All American). Two of the three weekend starters come back in LHP Ryan Beck and RHP Tyler Mack (6-5, 9.68), and they’ll have 11-game starter LHP Trev Ross (5-4, 8.13) returning as well. Scott Coffman is the best arm on the staff, posting a 1.88ERA with 9svs, and he also has 80 career appearances as an Aggie… and counting.

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The Bad News:

The Thursday before WAC play kicked in, the Aggies were 22-6 and primed for a big season and return to the NCAAs. But they went just 12-18 the rest of the way, including a losing mark in WAC play and a pair of blowout losses in the post-season tournament. Try not to act shocked  when I tell you that their pitching staff had the worst ERA in the WAC at 7.48 and issued a conference-high 293 free passes. And things weren’t much better behind them as the worst defense in the conference had a shoddy .950 fielding percentage. So it’s not always the greatest thing to see that all five infielders come back to their posts. Center fielder Wesley Starkes was the only real pressure threat on the basepaths (13SBs) and he has hit the bricks.

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Schedule Note:

Out of their comfort zone.

It seems like this year, more than any I can recall (which is a questionable thing, for sure), the Aggies will be going out on the road and away from the launching pad that is Presley Askew Field. They’ll play two at Rice in the opening week of play, then go to Minneapolis to play Minnesota, Nebraska and West Virginia in the third weekend, go to Arizona for two games in mid-March and play a pair of games at Baylor in late April. In addition, some interesting home weekends against Wake Forest (season opener) and a great three-gamer with Kent State will help the RPI. Sure, there will be their fair share of guaranteed Ws (when you’re geographically challenged New Mexico State, scheduling can be a bitch) in Sacred Heart, Southeast Missouri and Texas-Pan Am coming in for weekend series. In WAC play, the Ags will host Fresno and travel to Hawaii.

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- SACRAMENTO STATE (19-39, 6-18)

2011 ISR: 196

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

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All Conference Candidates:

OF David Del Grande (.260)

RHP Shea Lukes (1-0, 3.24)

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The Good News:

Year two of the Reggie Christiansen era should go much smoother for the Hornets as Reg and his assistants Tommy Nicholson, Thad Johnson and Jake McKinley all get used to the lay of the land a little bit better in the Golden State’s capitol city. Despite the ups and downs of the 2011 season, the Hornets were a pretty good defensive team, fielding at .969, which was 3rd in the WAC. They’ll have three positions stocked with experience in 1B Derrick Chung (.256), 2B Andrew Ayers (.250) and 3B Will Soto (.254). The pitch staff had a 5.23 team ERA and returns two weekend starters on the hill in RHPs Dallas Chadwick (2-5, 4.97) and Tanner Mendonca (2-6, 5.73). They’ll also return saves leader Brandon Creel (2-2, 5.76, 2svs) and sophomore RHP Shea Lukes (1-0, 3.24) who should have a bigger role in his 2nd season.

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The Bad News:

A 4-10 finish in WAC play last May ruined the chances for Sac State to take part in the post-season tournament. The biggest sore spot was the offense that hit just .244 and doesn’t return a single regular who hit better than .260 (though Brett Hottman, who started 21 games hit .319). To make matters worse, this team wasn’t much on patience either, pulling a WAC-low 179 walks at the dish. Beyond the five names mentioned above, the pitching staff won’t have much else coming back to the arms corps, so you’ll see a lot of youth in that staff, which is always dicey.

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Schedule Note:

A short leash.

After their three-game weekend at Louisiana Tech in early April, the Hornets won’t venture far off campus. From April 11th to the end of the regular season, the Big Green will play 16 home games and just seven road games, those coming at UC Davis, at San Jose State and at Fresno State. Hopefully this will help ameliorate that late season slide like last year’s.

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- SAN JOSE STATE (35-26, 11-13)

2011 ISR: 82

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

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All Conference Candidates:

SS/RHP Zach Jones (.316-3-26/1-3, 3.98, 10svs)

2B Jacob Valdez (.307, 10SBs)

3B Tyler Christian (.233-6-25)

RHP Esteban Guzman (5-4, 3.33, 2nd team All WAC)

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The Good News:

Jose State got off to a rousing start last season – at 19-9 going into the start of WAC play – which included a series win over UCLA in Brentwood. So this is a team that is capable of big things. Speaking of, the best news of all is that Zach Jones is back for one more season as the absolute bellcow and face of this baseball program. He’s a beast in every facet of the game, hitting, defense and during his numerous stints on the mound (22apps in 2011), where he was the go-to guy for closing out wins. He’s part of an impressive infield that fielded at a .975 pace last season (best defense in the WAC) and includes returnees like 2B Jacob Valdez (just 7Es), 3B Tyler Christian and C Michael DiRocco (.248, just 3Es). Also keep an eye on mercurial OF Andrew Rodriguez, who was the designated thief for the offense last season, stealing 12 bases, despite having just 60 at-bats. Two anchors to last year’s staff return for weekend duty in RHP Esteban Guzman (who returned to campus after getting picked in the 17th round of last June’s draft by the Nationals) and RHP Andy Hennessey (3-4, 4.73). Jones isn’t the only viable choice in the bullpen, look for set-up man LHP Johnny Melero (3-3, 4.29) to play a big part as well, especially after holding opposing batters to a .222 average in his 36 innings of work.

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The Bad News:

Things seemed to be in pretty good sorts for the Spartans last season until a 5-10 month of May cast a pall over their post-season chances. The offense didn’t hit with much pop in the bottom of the order last season, dragging the team average down to .274, second-worst in the WAC. To make matters worse, the top two hitters have both hit the bricks in Danny Stienstra (.349) and Craig Hertler (.328). Both were pretty good running threats as well, stealing 29 bases between them. Pitching-wise, Roberto Padilla and long-time mainstay Blake McFarland leave campus after combining for 17 wins and 29 starts last season. One flinger that will be back on the mound this year is RHP Sean Martin, who made only three starts last year in an injury-shortened season. He was 2-3, 5.12 as a weekend starter in 2010, but must stay injury free this year or the Spartans chances will take another hit.

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Schedule Note:

Better than 19-9?

The Spartans look like a good bet to outlast 2011′s 19-9 record before WAC play as they’ll play a lot of winnable games in February and March. The opener is a tough three-gamer with San Francisco, but beyond that there are a lot of rebuilding teams on the docket before their WAC season opener at Fresno State on April 13th. UC Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Lehigh, Columbia, Utah, UC Davis, Seattle U. and Pacific are some of the teams they’ll face in the weeks that follow. RPI builders? Not bloody likely. Confidence builders? Oh yeah.

2012 Preseason NCBWA All-America Teams

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FIRST TEAM

C: Mike Zunino, Florida (Jr.) .371-19-67
1B: Adam Brett Walker, Jacksonville (Jr.) .409-13-75,14. 14SBs
2B: LJ Mazzilli, Connecticut (Jr.) .338-3-32, 11. 21SBs
3B: Stephen Piscotty, Stanford (Jr.) .364-3-40
SS: Bo Cuthbertson, Southern Utah (Sr.) .432-5-47, 15. 18SBs
OF: Victor Roache, Georgia Southern (Jr.) .326-30-84
OF: Daniel Aldrich, Coll. of Charleston (So.) .347-22-73
OF: Tyler Naquin, Texas A&M (Jr.) .381-2-44
DH: Brad Zebedis, Presbyterian (So.) .425-13-57

UTL: Brian Johnson, Florida (Jr.) .307-5-29
Pitching: 8-3/3.62. 72Ks, 15BBs

SP: Michael Roth, South Carolina (Sr.) 14-3, 1.06. 112Ks, 41BBs
SP: Tyler Ray, Troy (Jr.) 12-0, 2.34. 69Ks, 16BBs
SP: Ross Stripling, Texas A&M (Sr.) 14-2, 2.29. 113Ks, 18BBs
RP: Branden Kline, Virginia (So.) 4-1/1.88. 56Ks, 22BBs (18svs)
RP: Matt Price, South Carolina (So.) 7-3/1.83. 75K, 20BBs (20svs)
RP: Tony Bryant, Oregon State (So.) 3-2/1.52. 40Ks, 11BBs (12svs)
RP: Caleb Reed, Mississippi State (Sr.) 1-2/1.55. 66Ks, 23BBs (12svs)
RP: Cory Knebel, Texas (So.) 3-2/1.13 3-2 38. 60Ks, 12BBs (19svs)

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SECOND TEAM

C: Josh Elander, TCU (Jr.) .333-5-38
1B: Christian Walker, South Carolina (Jr.).358-10-62
2B: Tony Renda, California (Jr.) .332-3-44
3B: Colin Moran, North Carolina (So.) .335-9-71
SS: Alex Mejia, Arizona (Jr.) .335-0-42
OF: Kyle Wren, Georgia Tech (So.) .340-1-32. 16SBS
OF: James Ramsey, Florida State (Jr.) .364-10-67. 11SBs
OF: Landon Anderson, Dallas Baptist (Sr.) .356-7-58. 21SBs
DH: Preston Tucker, Florida (Sr.) .308-15-74
UTL: Marco Gonzales, Gonzaga (So.) .291-0-14
Pitching: 11-2/2.57. 90Ks, 21BBs

SP: Sean Tierney, James Madison (Sr.) 10-1/3.43. 47Ks, 25BBs
SP: Ty Blach, Creighton (Jr.) 10-3/2.65. 100Ks, 29BBs
SP: Kyle Kraus, Portland (Jr.) 10-3/3.30. 89Ks, 19BBs
SP: DJ Baxendale, Arkansas (Jr.) 10-2/1.58. 77Ks, 21BBs (3svs)
SP: Buck Farmer, Georgia Tech (Jr.) 11-3/2.82. 106Ks, 31BBs
RP: John Neely, Texas Tech (Sr.) 9-1/2.97. 56Ks, 21BBs (7svs)
RP: Austin Maddox, Florida (Jr.) 3-0/0.67. 21Ks, 3BBs (5svs)
RP: Tyler Smith, Rider (Jr.) 3-3/2.58. 41Ks, 7BBs (15svs)

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THIRD TEAM

C: Jeremy Schaffer, Tulane (Sr.) .338-6-37
1B: Joey DiMichele, Arizona State (Jr.) .368-9-51
2B: Devon Travis, Florida State (Jr.) .329-6-33
3B: Erich Weiss, Texas (So.) .348-4-45. 12SBS
SS: Deven Marrero, Arizona State (Jr.) .313-2-20. 10SBs
SS: Tyler Hannah, Troy (Sr.) .370-7-53
OF: Pablo Bermudez, FIU (Sr.) .373-5-37. 17SBs
OF: Andrew Rash, Virginia Tech (Jr.) .335-18-53
OF: Travis Jankowski, Stony Brook (Jr.) .355-2-38. 30SBs
OF: Thomas Pope, UNC Wilmington (Sr.) .396-5-46. 19SBs
DH: Zac Fisher, New Mexico State (Jr.) .398-8-56
UTL: Josh Dezse, Ohio State (So.) .332-4-42
Pitching: 4-2/5.53. 32Ks, 22BBs

UTL: D.J. Hicks, UCF (Jr.) .351-14-66
Pitching: 2-1/8.03. 14Ks, 2BBs

SP: Brady Rodgers, Arizona State (Jr.) 9-4/2.75. 87Ks, 9BBs
SP: Justin Jones, California (So.) 9-6/2.93. 81Ks, 31BBs
SP: Austin Kubitza, Rice (So.) 6-5/2.34. 102Ks, 24BBs
SP: Andrew Smith, Charlotte (Sr.) 10-4/1.81. 92Ks, 26BBs
SP: Justin Amlung, Louisville (Jr.) 10-2/2.31. 80Ks, 27BBs
SP: Karsten Whitson, Florida (So.) 8-1/2.40. 92Ks, 28BBs
RP: Jake Dyer, Georgia State (Sr.) 3-0/1.67. 23Ks, 7BBs (8svs)
RP: Nitt Wittgren, Purdue (Jr.) 2-3/3.18. 55Ks, 10BBs (12svs)
RP: Chris Overman, NC State (Jr.) 6-3/2.39. 45Ks, 7BBs (7svs)

Then again, these dudes are freakin’ teenagers. They can suck it up and keep hustling, who are we kidding here? I wish I still had the energy of a 17-year old to carry me through the day so fuggedaboutit.

These guys look tired to you? The week-long Area Code Games can be a mental challenge too.

Day Four saw the two California-based teams come out with wins and the poor Southeast-based Nationals, they took a bad loss and also had a tie in their second game to stay winless on the week.

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GAME 10:

Brewers… 6

Reds… 0

Milwaukee team had three pitchers combine for a 3-hitter. Cody Poteet (UCLA commit) struck out five in his two innings of relief work. Timothy Lopes (Fullerton commit) went 2-for-2 with 2RBI.

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GAME 11:

Nationals… 0

Royals… 7

Clint Coulter, a catcher from Comas, Washington put on a big show, going 3-for-3, with 2RBI. Stretching singles into doubles. Bases-loaded double to wall, scored two, then two more on bad throw.

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Then the game I took in…

GAME 12

Nationals – 100 000 0 – 1  4  1

WhiteSox – 010 000 0 – 1  6  1

Trey Killian, headed for Arkansas, set the tone with a solid start.

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One thing that has been missing from this week’s Area Code Games, it’s been a lack of the proverbial web gems, the kind that populate ESPN’s Top 10 list every day at this time of year. But this game had its share of beauty glove work, strong-armed throws and smart defense.

In fact, there was probably too much good pitching and defense, as the mid-day game ended in a damn tie… which I hate. But that’s what happens in these showcases, so no big deal.

Each team committed just one error in the game, but for the White Sox, it happened on the opening batter of the game – Kyle Overstreet – who would eventually come around to score their only run.

The Sox would get their only tally when Bralin Jackson started off the frame with a triple over the head of Mitchell Aker in deep center field. Three pitches later Nathan Minkolas knocked him in with a deep fly ball to left.

But don’t worry, that Mitchell Aker dude? Well he would come to make big time amends for his not being able to catch up to that triple by Jackson. He made a Roberto Clemente-like gun out of White Sox 2nd baseman Tyler Krieger as he tried to score from 2nd base off a three-bounce single up the middle by Kevin Ross.

In fact, the throw was so incredible, it got the biggest gasp and shouts of exclamation by the scouts on hand all week. Strong work there Mitch… William & Mary will be praying you don’t go the pro route after high school.

Krieger’s luck wasn’t that great all day today as he was also thrown out at home on a gutsy attempted double steal in the first inning, setting the tone that this would be a defensive struggle. Nats 1st baseman Chris Hale also had a pair of nice defensive plays, catching one foul ball over the railing of his own dugout and also laying out to stab a sharp liner in the 6th inning with a man on 1st.

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MOUND STAR:

- Trey Killian, White Sox (Arkansas commit)

The Mountain Home, Arkansas native got the start and threw the first three innings of the game for the White Sox and got six strikeouts in the nine outs he recorded. H did have the initial error charged to him, but to his defense, it was a sharply hit comebacker that he knocked down, but fumbled when trying to pick it up and Overstreet reached. A 50-50 call if you ask me.

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BAT STAR:

- Kyle Overstreet, Nationals (Alabama commit)

The scrappy 2nd baseman from Boaz, Alabama was covered in dirt from early on in this one, and also reached base in all three at-bats. As described above, he opened the game with a comebacker that resulted in an E1, though it could’ve been ruled a hit. He also got a pair of singles in his next two at-bats, along with a stolen base.

The Nationals got a great effort from leadoff hitter Kyle Overstreet (right), as you can tell by his dirty uniform.

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MORE PICS.
Some additional images from today’s Area Code game between the White Sox and Nationals.

Tennessee commit Vincent Jackson showed a lot of athleticism, going from outfield to the pitcher's mound. He threw some low-90s heat, with solid location.

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Kyle Overstreet (with ball, checking the runner at 3rd) did a great job of handling this attempted double steal, showing his baseball I.Q.

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Tyler Krieger was sent from 3rd on that double steal, but was easily nabbed by catcher Ryan Dowdell.

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Alabama commit Colton Freeman is a hard-throwing lefty that relied primarily on his 89-90 fastball. He seemed to give it his all on every pitch, which makes you wonder if he's suited to become one of those smokin'-90s-out-of-the-'pen kind of guys.

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Ryan Perez, who is headed to Miami and is one of those Pat Veditte-type of ambidextrous pitchers with a six-fingered glove, isn't having much luck here. His White Sox bullpen teammates have a laugh as he gets the crotch of his pants stuck on the fence.

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... meanwhile, back at home plate, Tyler Krieger is getting the bulls-eye on him once again. This time, he's trying to beat out a blistering throw from center field by Mitchell Aker of the Nationals.

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... but once again Krieger is the hard luck victim of another great defensive play.

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Aker's sonic throw from center field earns him a high-five from right-fielder Rock Rucker

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And the William & Mary commit sports a huge smile as he gets back to the dugout and hears it from his teammates.

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"Oh geez, a freakin' truck!" The Nats' 6'5, 250-pound Chris Hale, a highly-recruited defensive end in football, looks like he's zeroing in to put a huge hit on White Sox shortstop Donovan Walton.

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Crafty lefty, and Iowa-bound, Ryan Borucki threw well in his two innings of work, ehibiting great control and getting three strikeouts along the way.

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Coon Rapids, Minnesota native Logan Shore is one of the few 2013 graduates playing in the Area Code Games. He has great command of the strike-zone and seemed to never get behind in the count. He touched 92 on a couple of pitches.

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Of course, no trip down the 405 freeway is complete without catching sight of the Goodyear blimp which is tethered here at a field in Carson, California. (and yes, I'm taking pictures while I drive... not recommended.)

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GAME 13:

Yankees… 1

Athletics… 6

Zach Green (Oregon State commit) got all the runs the A’s would need with a 1st inning, 2RBI double. Braden Bishop (Washington commit) led the A’s by scoring twice. In the loss, Yankees pitcher Quinn Carpenter went 3.1 innings, going one over the minimum.

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OTHER NOTES.

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COACH SPEAK.

A couple of notes on some of the coaches I talked to.

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- JACK DAHM, IOWA.

Ran into the Hawkeye head honcho at Blair Field today as he scouted out his duo of prospects in catcher Blake Hickman and LHP Ryan Borucki, who have given him their verbal commitment, although depending on how high they go in the 2012 MLB draft, coach may have a tough time for getting them to campus. The good news is that Hickman’s mother is a teacher and values her son getting an education more than anything.

It’s almost an oddity to see a Northern mid-major have a few players in this showcase-of-showcases that is mostly chock-full of Southern and Western powers being represented. It’s cool to see, but time will tell if Iowa can hang on to these two difference-makers.

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- DAVE ESQUER, CAL.

Got the chance to talk to Cal coach Dave Esquer about the Area Code Games, the possibility of getting players to eschew their draft status and come to campus and, of course, a whole bunch of off the record stuff that I wish I could talk about. Here are a few of the highlights.

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On the REAL value to the Area Code Games:

“A lot of times its about the guys in the tryouts for these teams that DON’T make it… they’re the ones that are going to make or break your program. Most of these guys aren’t gonna stick around for college.”

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On the hiring of new pitching coach Mike Neu:

“He’s got a reputation of being a real teacher of pitching. The last thing you know about him is that he was a big-leaguer. He looks at himself as a coach who happened to play in the majors. He’s kind of perfect for our makeup, he’s a grinder. We had great coaching chemistry with our staff and that was a big key to us. But coach Neu is working out with the guys in the weight room, he gets to practice early and stays late.

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On status of drafted players coming back:

“Chadd Krist (catcher, 13th round pick of White Sox) has already told me he is coming back and he’s a leader. Looks like we’ll also get Matt Flemer (pitcher, 19th round pick of Royals) back as well. And he probably needs to return for another year.

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On the fact that he’s had a steady stream of players shunning the pros to return to Berkeley:

“The strength of our program is that it’s getting to where the pros are having to drag kids out of our program. And that makes me more proud than anything. Guys aren’t just putting in their three years and getting out of here. Mark Canha last year was a 6th round pick and he sat in my office and told me ‘I want to be that Tim Tebow-type of player, staying all four years and building the program.’ But the White Sox eventually gave him what he was asking for so he had to go, but he didn’t want to.”

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- JOHN SAVAGE, UCLA.

Savage has been a master at getting high-round draftees to come to Westwood despite having all kinds of green flashed in their faces. He has seven prospects playing in this week’s Area Code Games

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On if he has any drafted guys that are coming back to school:

“The only one right now looks like Mitchell Beacom (6’5 LHP, key reliever). He hurt his foot in the last few weeks of the season and not having him for the Regionals just killed us.”

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On how it was to coach Trevor Bauer:

“As a practice guy, he was incredible. You put him in competitive drills and he was great. On the mound, he just wanted to strike guys out and embarrass hitters. Which is good. I mean, if you have a guy strike out over 200 guys in a season, you don’t want to tell him to do something different.”

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On the changing of the BBCOR bats:

“The time of the games and all that, that was completely taken care of by the bats. You can talk about the 90-seconds between innings and pitch clock and all, but the bats are the real reason the game is so much faster now. And the pitching has changed completely too. That 82-to-85 right hander that was completely naked out there before?… You couldn’t even put him out there on the mound, he was getting undressed by those hitters. Now you can use him just like every other pitcher.”

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On his mentor Mike Gillespie at UC Irvine:

“A brilliant offensive mind. He knows how to manipulate, knows how to take risks. You never know what he’s going to do next, totally unpredictable. And his players take on that personality and average-talent guys can play really good for him. These new bats worked right into his hands.”

Augie Garrido's Texas Longhorns made yet another trek to Omaha for the 2011 CWS. Uncharacteristically, this time the Horns went a quick 0-2.

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In case I hadn't shown you already, here's the view from inside the press box. Unfortunately, just like Rosenblatt, there were no windows and very little outside sound, so it was as sterile of an environment as ever. About mid-way through every game, I got the itch to get out of there and go to the photo wells. Other than the air conditioning factor, I don't see how sportswriters can enjoy a game inside a glass-encased box.

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A view of the new stadium from the second deck. As mentioned before, there's a lot to like about the new stadium, but it's circular design reminds me of those old cookie-cutter stadiums like Three Rivers Stadium or Busch Stadium. Yuck.

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... but as a fan, it's hard to argue the increased shaded area to watch the game. Mainly because Rosenblatt had nearly zero heat relief.

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Yep, the "Road to Omaha" statue made it to the new stadium, which was a must. But one of the bigger problems was finding that the shrubs they planted behind the statue were the exact same color of the statue itself, making the statue indecipherable and hard to see when looking at it straight on.

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I also noticed a lot of VIP and corporate hospitality tents near the stadium were pretty scarce of people. I got an Email notice a week or two before the CWS asking if I'd be interested in having use of a VIP tent while at the CWS - which would've been pretty good to hang out in between games - but it cost $60 per day. So I said no thanks. Turns out some of these tents were a big bust.

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I still don't get the whole "Men's" part of the College World Series. Was it really necessary to add the word "Men's" to the CWS a couple years ago? I know there's a Women's CWS, but that's softball. Not baseball. It can have the word "Women's" in it all it wants. But there's no reason to clarify a gender on this event. For nearly 60 years it was the College World Series. Now we have to specify the gender of the players participating in it?

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This year saw the addition of Jenn Brown to the daily workings of the ESPN on-field reporting crew (here, she's about to talk with Virginia's Brian O'Connor). So yes, Erin Andrews is no longer a part of our game, but I thought JB did a sufficient-enough job here. And just like Erin, very easy on the eyes of course.

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Okay, so maybe not as inspiring as Notre Dame's "Play Like a Champion Today", but here's the sign that hangs above the tunnel as the players head to the field.

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One of the aspects of the new stadium was the security's apathetic approach to outfield fans and beach balls. No longer do you see yellow-shirted stadium gestapos going pell-mell for the flying balls as they're knocked around. They seem to be content with just letting it go. And to the outfield fans credit, most of the time, when play began again, they stopped hitting the balls around. (Again, that's "most" of the time)

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As you might expect, this Nebraska fan got a huge ovation when they showed him on the big screen.

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... but it was nothing like the wild cheers this "Journey Dude" got. The night before, this hippy-haired bloke was shown wearing a "Journey" t-shirt as the loudspeakers pumped out "Don't Stop Believing". The next night, here he was again as another Journey song was playing, and the "Journey Dude" was a certified hit. And yes, he's shown here singing along with the song.

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Overall, it wasn't an oppressively hot CWS this year. But there were still patrons that found the conditions quite sweaty.

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Eight year College World Series veteran umpire Jim Garman of Houston, Texas still had the best ring-up of any of the men in black.

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Perhaps a little overlooked because of Roth and Price, SoCar's John Taylor was 2-0, appearing in four games and throwing 7.2 innings, giving up five hits and zero earned runs.

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Until the last game of the CWS title series, it seemed as if Florida's Mike Zunino struggled so much he was hitting with just half a bat up there.

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People scurry as Zunino's bat barrel lands in the stands. Note the barrel right next to the kid in the orange shirt.

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I found it odd that during the most intense moments in the final inning of their elimination game with Florida, the entire Vandy bench was at the top step and locked in. But Tony Kemp (far right) cooly sat well away from the rest of the team.

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I noticed that North Carolina and Texas both wore cleats from Nike that showed an outline of the state of Nebraska on the heel.

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Texas A&M's body language suggests the Aggies were down to their last few outs of an 0-2 visit to the College World Series. p.s.: Don't bite your nails.

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And of course, whenever a team gets eliminated, the photogs aren't shy about getting the emotional shots of them crying in the dugout after the game.

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Kyle Peterson is doing his research and getting his pre-game information from Florida head coach Kevin O'Sullivan.

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... in the other dugout, Jenn Brown is getting the lowdown from Ray Tanner. Both sideline reporters did a bang-em-up job this week and these pics show why.

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College World Series MVP Scott Wingo was a man among boys in the field and at the dish.

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Mike (right) and Petey Mack (middle) of 590am Omaha radio fame were gracious enough to have me be a guest on their show five or six times during the CWS. Cool dudes. They also liked my little Jack Daniels gift I gave them at the end of the week.

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"As your benevolent leader I hereby decree that ALL stitch-heads should be loyal to college baseball and the streets will flow with the blood of the non-believers!"

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The lights of The Big Tiddy go dim for the last time as the 2011 College World Series ended on Tuesday night.

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Maybe the series ended just in time. Here is what my car's temperature gauge read as I drove in Western Nebraska on Wednesday. Yep, 1-0-freakin-4 at 4:51 in the afternoon. (By the way, when I reached the Eisenhower Tunnel west of Denver, the temperature reading was down to 53)