Okay Stitch-Heads, here’s the latest from Mike Rooney and I on the coolest Baldcast in the country… Nay, the coolest baldcast in the entire world.

Best Line: Roons on Virginia coach Brian O’Connor, “It’s been a huge advantage at Virginia to keep his staff together. It says a lot about Brian O’Connor, who deserves great credit because you have to allow your coaches to coach to keep them around for that long.”

Oh by the way, Auburn and Florida were eliminated today after playing one game in the SEC tournament, doing great harm to their NCAA Tournament resumes, especially the Plainsmen, who played a bunch of sisters of the poor in the non-conference portion of their schedule. And the Gators are now a rather unsexy 29-28 on the season.

Meanwhile UCLA improved their home Regional chances with a 2-1 win over UC Santa Barbara, while UC Irvine may have crapped the bed for the last time with a 6-4 home loss to USC.

June 20th, 2011: The view of the black cloud that took over the skies of Omaha, looking like a retractable roof.

As you know, most of our nation’s attention turns to the numerous victims in Oklahoma City and the surrounding areas that were ravaged by an incredibly powerful F4 twister that flattened everything it its considerable path.

Growing up in Omaha, I still have PTSD from hearing the tornado sirens go off in the spring and scurrying down to the basement and huddling under our industrial-sized work bench.

We had many tornado warnings in our day but one really bad tornado blew through The O when I was a young ruffian. Just like the tornado in OKC today, it also flattened a nearby elementary school and plenty of neighborhoods. Though not as big and obliterating as today’s twister, it too was a monster.

And it was scary as hell. Vincent Price movies. The boogieman. Helter Skelter. They all pale in comparison to those damn tornado sirens.

That’s why, at the 2011 College World Series when that freak storm overtook the skies above Omaha, I was so shocked to find how casual the officials and administrators at the stadium were being that day.

If you recall, in the middle of the Florida-Vanderbilt game, the sky darkened in a freakishly quick manner, winds whipped madly and those tornado sirens I remember as a kid started going off. I’ll never forget about how, amidst all the debris flying around and the booming sirens, the umpires kept calling the next batter up to the plate and all the people in the glass-encased press box stayed in their seats and cooed at the sky getting darker.

Not me. The second those sirens started, I packed up all my computer and camera gear and hauled ass down into the bowels of The Big Tiddy. Lady Stitch-Head, who was in the 1st base photo well, met me downstairs and we rode out in the media room.

All the Omaha natives in the stadium started streaming into the corridors and running into the Qwest Center (which is what my bud, the Doctor of College Baseball did). You could tell who the visitors were, they stayed put and kept looking at how awesome the sky looked.

I remember I was still nearly hyperventilating for quite a while after the sirens had finally stopped. Tornados aren’t to be futz’d with. Those sumbitches are a freakin’ panic. And as you saw from the accounts today, they come out of nowhere and are completely unpredictable.

Luckily that June 20th, 2011 day at the CWS was not as bad as was feared, since there were no funnel clouds and very little problems, other than a little bit of wind damage. But my heart goes out to the people in OKC. That sucks. Going through a tornado will forever be one of the worst things I’ve experienced… and I wasn’t even one of those who suffered damage from them.

Unless you consider the psychological damage it still has on me.

-  THE LUCKY SEVEN

If you’re a team that is sitting on the bubble for making the NCAA tournament, then there are seven teams that you are definitely pulling for in their respective conference tournaments this week. If these seven teams win out, those teams on the soft side of the bubble will slide off and into the NCAA field of 64. Here are the seven teams to keep an eye on this week.

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- Sam Houston State in the Southland Conference.

The Bearkats bolted up the ranks in the last few weeks of the season, while conference mates Lamar and Central Arkansas started to plummet. SHSU is 14-1 of late and is now at No. 40 in the RPI.

Spoiler Alert: Lamar. 

The Cardinals were up in the 40s of the RPI a month ago but they’ve been in a spiral of late, going 3-7 down the stretch. But they did beat The Sam in a weekend series early on.

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- Mercer in the Atlantic Sun

At 42-14 and No. 27 in the RPI, the Bears have put together a remarkable season. Since losing a weekend series at North Florida, the Bears have gone 13-2 vs. A-Sun opponents. So bubble teams can take comfort in knowing this team has tamed their conference mates of late.

Spoiler Alert: North Florida and Florida Gulf Coast.

With a push to the title round, win or lose these two could actually play their way into the field as their RPIs are Nos. 56 and 58 respectively.

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- Rice in Conference USA

It’s been a strangely weak season in CUSA. Even the Owls aren’t altogether safe, sitting down at No. 45 (don’t go 0-and-2 guys). Their knack of inconsistency doesn’t sit well with the bubble teams out there. Stay tuned.

Spoiler Alert: Memphis. 

Just two weeks ago the Tigers took two of three at Reckling Park, where the CUSA tourney will be played, so coach Schoenrock and the boys will be primed for a big run here again.

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- Coastal Carolina in the Big South.

The good news for the bubble teams is that the Chanticleers have completely dominated the BSC tourney, winning the last six and losing only two games in all those years. This year, CCU won the Big South by three-and-a-half games.

Spoiler Alert: Campbell.

The Camels won 40+ games for the second straight year and are itching to show legitimacy. Their No. 42 RPI is pretty good anyway.

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- Austin Peay in the Ohio Valley

Second place APU has an RPI in the upper 20s right now, so they’re certainly safe for an at-large bid. The good news is that the Governors have heated back up, winning 12 straight coming into this week.

Spoiler Alert: Tennessee Tech

The regular season champs of the Ohio Valley beat APU two of three, scoring 22 runs in the two wins.

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- Creighton in the Missouri Valley.

The 3rd-place Bluejays have the best RPI of the MoValley contenders at No. 46, so they’re the ones bubble teams will need to come out with a title here. Regular season champ Illinois State (No. 70 RPI) could join them with a deep run, but nothing is assured.

Spoiler Alert: Everybody. 

As Creighton proved last year when they won the Valley as the last place team, the MVC Tournament has a history of being an upset-special. But watch out for regular season champion Illinois State, who is 22-3 since early April.

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- New Mexico in the Mountain West.

As hot and as dominant as the Lobos have been, is there much to worry about here? Probably not, but the RPI is still a tad shaky (No. 50) and

Spoiler Alert: Fresno State.

FSU will be hosting the MWC tourney on their home field and has also gone 13-7 down the stretch. So look out for the Bulldog bite.

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STOLEN BIDS

For a little historical perspective, SEBaseball.com’s Mark Etheridge went back to study the occurrences of “stolen bids” for the past decade. By definition, they are the upset teams that won their conference tournaments, taking a slot away from an at-large team that was on the bubble. Here’s what he found:

2012: (6) Missouri, UAB, Creighton, New Mexico, UT-Arlington, Fresno State.

2011: (3) Seton Hall, New Mexico, Arkansas-Little Rock

2010: (3) Southern Miss, St. John’s, Florida International

2009: (4) Utah, Indiana, Sam Houston State, Georgia State

2008: (2) Western Kentucky, James Madison

2007: (4) Ohio State, Wofford, New Orleans, Jacksonville

2006: (4) UNC-Asheville, UT-Arlington, Evansville, Stetson

2005: (3) Furman, UT-San Antonio, Notre Dame

2004: (2) The Citadel, Western Kentucky

2003: (5) Jacksonville, Middle Tennessee State, Wichita State, McNeese State, San Diego

2002: (5) Ohio State, Georgia Southern, New Mexico State, VCU, George Washington

To sum up, that’s 41 stolen bids in the last 11 years for an average of nearly four per season. So look for the bubble to burst for four teams if this turns out to be an average year for the conference tournaments.

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THE UPS AND DOWNS

Who had the best week and the worst week according to the RPI.

- BIGGEST WINNER: Alabama, No. 28

A week after being named the “Biggest Loser” in the RPI sweepstakes, the Tide gets the biggest winner designation after rising 11 slots from Thursday to Monday. That was after Bama went 1-2 at No. 1 Vanderbilt. As you know, in the SEC, getting an RPI of 40 usually isn’t going to get it done, so the Tide has to be happy now.

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- BIGGEST LOSER: Nebraska, No. 43

Just like Alabama above, the Huskers flip positions a week after being named the “Biggest Winner”. Getting roughed up by Michigan in two of three didn’t help, because now NU sits at 25-28 overall and don’t look like they’ll end up above .500 unless they win the Big 10 Tournament.

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UP:

- Florida Atlantic, No. 34

Bounding up from No. 46 on Thursday, the Blue Waves are now in the safe zone, giving the Sun Belt a near-certain four teams, maybe even five if there are upsets in the conference tournament.

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- Sam Houston State, No. 40

Damn! Look what sweeping the Railsplitters will do. The Bearkats jumped up 12 spots by beating our beloved Bears, but to put a happy face on it, it has allowed The Sam to be a prime at-large team if they should falter in the Southland Tourney.

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- Louisville, No. 15

Three wins over Pitt helped vault the Cards from out of Regional hosting range (at No. 19) and into home, home on the range. Not sure if a couple wins in the Big East Tournament is necessary.

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DOWN:

- Maryland, No. 35. 

I’m still convinced the committee isn’t going to give these guys the benefit of the doubt, but moving from No. 26 to 35 gives them more reason to deny them.

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- Arkansas, No. 49

Hmmm, the Hogs drop from No. 41 on Thursday down to 49th. Not sure why people aren’t talking about UofA being out of the NCAAs. Losing two of three at Auburn shows some major cracks. Do we give these guys a pass just ‘coz they get a bye in the first round of the SEC Tournament? This is interesting.

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- Notre Dame, No. 47

The Irish didn’t fall too far in the RPI, just five spots, but they tumbled metaphorically with their losing two of three at last place Cincinnati. The Golden Domers finish Big East play at 10-14 and short of winning the conference tournament, look like they’re through.

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THE POWER RANKINGS

The no-frills, no-mercy rankings that just don’t care.

1- VANDERBILT, 48-7

Of Note: *Only* taking two of three from visiting Alabama can probably be written off as the Commodores just going through the motions and not quite feeling any type of desperation. Eh, Vandy knew its fate going into the weekend.

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2- OREGON STATE, 43-9

Of Note: Impressive bounce-back series win over the rival Ducks. Got blanked on Friday night, but then bludgeoned that poor ball the remainder of the weekend, getting 29 hits in the 9-0 and 12-2 wins. Michael Conforto homered in both.

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3- CAL STATE FULLERTON, 45-8

Of Note: The Titans’ 45-8 record is the best mark after 53 games in their D1 history (since 1975). Yes, that includes that 1995 team which went 57-9 and had Mark Kotsay, Brian Lloyd and Ted Silva on it.

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4- LSU, 48-8

Of Note: Hard to really fault the Tigers for anything they did this weekend vs. Ole Miss. They didn’t even bother to use their ace Aaron Nola and used a mishmash of reserves throughout. Question is, should they do the same for the SEC Tournament?

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5- LOUISVILLE, 46-10

Of Note: That was one impressive three-game sweep of Pitt to win the Big East regular season title. By the way, during their 16-game win streak, the Cards have given up just 36 runs.

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6- UCLA, 37-15

Of Note: The Bruins have quietly gone 13-2 in their last five Pac 12 weekends, including nine in a row. John Savage, who my Baldcast partner Mike Rooney says has changed the landscape in SoCal college baseball, won game No. 400 on Sunday vs. USC.

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7- VIRGINIA, 45-9

Of Note: Wow. Knock me over with a feather. Impressive 2-to-1 series win at UNC, maybe shouldn’t be as shocking as we though since the Cavs are now 10-2 vs. the Top 5 teams in the ACC.

8- NORTH CAROLINA, 48-8

Of Note: Aye. Carolina is hurting. On April 21st they had just pounded Duke 10-1 and improved to 39-2. Since then, we’re talking about a team that has gone just 8-6 including this weekend’s 1-and-2 performance vs. Virginia.

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9- OKLAHOMA STATE, 39-14

Of Note: Another hot team, the Cowboys have gone 15-4 since Tax Day and three of the four losses have been by a single run. Just a small reminder that these guys are going to fight you tooth and nail. (What IS “tooth and nail” anyway?)

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10- FLORIDA STATE, 44-12

Of Note: Good pitching is the usual story for the Seminoles, especially for Billy Strode’s first save, going the final four innings in game three’s 6-1 over Clemson. But keep in mind, FSU is just 3-6 in their last nine ACC opening games.

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11- OREGON, 43-13

Of Note: The Ducks had an impressive 3-0 blanking of OSU on Friday, then got de-feathered the rest of the weekend. The RPI is at No. 8, so their National Seed hopes are still intact.

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12- NORTH CAROLINA STATE, 42-13

Of Note: Pack hits the 42-win mark, one short of school record for regular season Ws. And speaking of being one short, Friday’s 7-6, 10-inning win vs. Duke included Carlos Rodon getting 15 strikeouts, one below his career high.

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13- INDIANA, 40-13

Of Note: The Hoosiers won just their fifth conference title, but its their first since 1949 and first outright title since 1932. The 40-win Hoosiers will be the top-seeded team in the Big 10 tournament for the first time ever.

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14- KANSAS STATE, 39-16

Of Note: Just like IU above, the Wildcats have been wandering the desert for a thousand years. But the series win vs. Oklahoma secured their first conference title since 1933. This comes after they were 27-31 last year and being picked No. 164 in my preseason Top 298.

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15- NEW MEXICO, 35-18

Of Note: As noted earlier this weekend, the Lobos were a perfect 10, going 10-for-10 in Mountain West series. Now, about that No. 50 RPI?… let’s just hope the committee uses common sense, should you falter in the MWC tourney.

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16- ARIZONA STATE, 34-17-1

Of Note: Crushing pair of losses in the Territorial Cup series vs. Arizona very likely put a huge dent in ASU’s hopes for hosting a home Regional in Tempe. Of course, the worst part may be having to hear your rival crow about in on message boards.

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17- SETON HALL, 36-17

Of Note: The Pirates had their 13-game win streak snapped in the Thursday 4-3 loss to St. John’s. But to big picture this thing, The Hall has now gone 25-4 since April Fool’s Day. Interesting opening round game vs. desperate Notre Dame in Big East tourney.

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18- CAL POLY, 37-16

Of Note: Coach Larry Lee told me earlier this year he knew his team “needs to get to the 36-win mark to get into the NCAA Tournament.” Well, here you go coach. After the sweep of Cal State Northridge the ‘Stangs sit at 37 wins.

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19- MISSISSIPPI STATE, 40-16

Of Note: How about THAT weekend for the Dogs? Taking two of three from South Carolina has to gloss the Regional hosting profile to the selection committee. C.T. Bradford, Demarcus Henderson and Nick Ammirati combined to go 15-for-22 in the two wins.

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20- SOUTH CAROLINA, 39-16

Of Note: Sure, the Gamecocks lost twice to MSU, but from last Tuesday to this morning, their RPI stayed at No. 11. Also, SoCar also gets one of the four first round byes in the SEC tourney, so no muss, no fuss.

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Five on the Edge:

Austin Peay, Mercer, Rice, Pittsburgh, Clemson

Lopez Redux. Somewhere in this mosh-pit of Titans is Carlos Lopez, who hit his second straight game-deciding home run in two days vs. UC Irvine. Did I already use that “There Goes My Hero” reference from the Foo Fighters?

Another day, another quadrant of NCAA tournament bids were handed out. The SWAC, MEAC, Patriot and Big West were all settled on this afternoon.

Here’s a quick recap of the highs and lows of this limited action Sunday…

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THREE UP

Best of the day in college baseball.

1- JACKSON STATE, SAVANNAH STATE and ARMY

All three programs got their tux fitting today for winning their way to the NCAA Tournament by taking their respective post-season playoffs/tournaments.

The Tigers lived up to their bands’ “Sonic Boom of the South” moniker as Stephen Curtis and Bryce Taylor sent a pair of screaming RBI doubles to the wall and Jose Cruz added a two-run single as J-State grabbed an early lead and were never threatened in the 6-2 win over Prairie View A&M in the SWAC Tournament title game. Also give a shout out to pitcher Alexander Juday who rolled a trio of 9′s: 9.0 innings pitched, 9-scattered hits and 9Ks in improving to 7-3 on the season. This was Juday’s sixth complete game of the season.

Meanwhile, Savannah will finally play in the NCAA tournament after winning its first-ever MEAC crown with today’s 1-0, 10-inning win over Bethune-Cookman. A deep sac fly RBI by Peter Poole scored Darien Campbell with the lone run of the game to provide for the winning play. On the mound, Kyle McGowin was the big stud, going the entire 10 innings, striking out 11 batters and moved to 12-1 on the season.

Army is getting used to the NCAA Tournament thing. Last year, the Black Knights dominated the Patriot League like nobody had before, winning 41 games, the most ever for a team in the PL. This year, they weren’t as dominant, going *only* 29-21, but winning two straight games at Fitton Field in Worcester, 9-4 and 5-4, means the Cadets will be going back to the NCAAs for the fifth time in the last 10 years. Chris Rowley improved to 9-3 by tossing a complete-game 11-hitter in the game one win, on his way to earning PL Playoff MVP designation.

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2- CARLOS LOPEZ, CAL STATE FULLERTON’s COLD-BLOODED KILLER

For the second day in a row the Titan 1st baseman launched a missile over the right field wall and right through the hearts of the UC Irvine Anteaters. His 9th-inning three-run kaboom! polished off a big Titan comeback and allowed Fullerton to sweep the series from the ‘Eaters. And beyond that, Lopez actually got the game-winning hit in all three wins over the Anteaters. Holy Magillicudy! Fully also earned their 27th conference title in the last 39 years, proving they are still THE bully on the block despite all the coaching changes over the years. The 2013 season will be CSUF’s 22nd straight NCAA Tournament appearance and their 35th overall.

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3- OREGON STATE.

These guys are bad ass. Simple as that. Today the Beavs took down the Oregon Ducks by another blowout amount, 12-to-2. Yesterday it was a 9-0 skunking of their rivals. If I’m doing my math correctly – which is always a tentative situation – the Beavers out-scored their Civil War nemesis by a 21-2 count. My Gawd! On Saturday it was Andrew Moore’s complete game two-hitter. Today it was Michael Conforto’s 6-RBI day which included a double and a home run to pace the offense. The Beavers surely solidified their status as a National Seed with this weekend’s performance and also put them in the driver’s seat of the Pac 12 at 22-5, two games ahead of the Ducks and UCLA’s Bruins at 20-7.

Today’s dominance of Oregon reminded me of earlier this season when I visited Corvallis and saw this National Champions display in the OSU clubhouse. You think they’ll add to this display in 2013? Today proved once again that it’s not out of the question.

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THREE DOWN

Worst of the day in college baseball

1- DAVE PERNO GETTING FIRED. 

Oh great. Now SEC baseball is getting closer and closer to SEC football.

Late word tonight had it that the 12-year Georgia head coach was gonna get his walking papers sometime on Monday. What’s the matter Georgia fans, three trips to the College World Series and coming within a whisker of a national title weren’t enough for you? Perno had some bad seasons, sure. Most of them being recent ones. But he also had some major injury factors to work with, including losing three big talents in pitcher Pete Nagle, catcher Brandon Stephens and OF Connor Welton before a single pitch was thrown this season. And he also wasn’t going to stay sub-.500 for long.

Perno is not only a good guy, he’s a great coach. Before I exit this entry, lemme ask you SEC fan, how many other SEC coaches had led their teams to three College World Series’?

This sucks.

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2- BETHUNE-COOKMAN

Since Mervyl Melendez left the Wildcat program, BCU has gone 0-for-2 winning the MEAC regular season title. That’s pretty amazing considering their eight-year run of Big Dance bids they put together before 2012. This year, the Wildcats finished in a dead heat in the Southern Division with the Tigers at 17-7, and each winning three games vs. the other. But in the game that mattered today, SSU got the drop in the 10th inning to leave BCU out of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in recent memory.

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3- UC IRVINE. 

I think the Anteaters will retain the title of America’s Most Painful team. Think of all the heartbreak these guys have gone through the last few years (at LSU in 2008, at UVa in 2011, all the injuries in every other season). Today, it was more pain, having befallen the hot bat of CSUF’s Carlos Lopez, as mentioned above. The Anteaters entered the weekend with an RPI at No. 66 and playing Cal State Fullerton was their opportunity to capitalize on their chance for the NCAAs, but going 0-3 probably cemented their shoes for playing into June.

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4- CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD.

Ugh! I’m an unabashed fan of the RoadRunners, but I have to admit they may have shit the rug here. Today’s 8-5 loss at San Jose State was their second L of the weekend to the Spartans, who came in ranked down at No. 270 in the RPI. The Runners came into the weekend at No. 80 in the RPI, so you know their margin of error was slim if they wanted any hope for an at-large bid to the NCAAs. But losing two of three has dashed that. In fact, since I saw them beat Fresno State in person back on April 23rd, they’ve gone just 7-7. (The Sorenson Curse strikes again). But unlike the two teams above in the “Three Down” category, all is not lost for Bakersfield as they finished in a 1st-place tie in the WAC standings with UT-Arlington and since they took two of three from the Mavs, they’ll hold the No. 1 seed in the WAC tournament in Grand Prairie, Texas this coming week. Buck up boys.

Folk singer Skylar Grey at her abs-tastic best.

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SKYLAR.

As I write this late on Sunday night I was flipping through channels and stumbled upon the Guitar Center Sessions with Nic Harcourt. On tonight’s show he was interviewing Skylar Grey, who I had never heard of before. But her song “Coming Home” I had heard as the music bed from the Discovery Channel’s promos for “North America”, an upcoming documentary series.

So I  sat back and wrote baseball stuff while Skylar was being interviewed and performing on the Guitar Center Sessions show. She’s a Wisconsin native who relocated to Los Angeles and plays a lot of sappy songs, but they’re not the “I’m about to cry” sappy like a lot of country or juvey pop songs you hear one too many times on any radio dial out there. It’s just heartfelt and poignant stuff. Unfortunately, I found that she had collaborated with such music magnates as Marshall Mathers and Sean Combs, but her solo stuff seemed really good. And as always, Nic Harcourt’s interviewing skills were something I should take notes from.

First, here’s the Discovery Channel promo, which I believe included Sean Combs talking over… unfortunately:

And here’s a video for the song “Coming Home” which includes a little bit of pre-song interview as well. See if you like it:

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Okay, I know this column is a little on the short side, but I’ll have more for you Stitch-Heads tomorrow night. Promise.

Would I lie to you?

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Wait, don’t answer that.

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G’night

Let the dogpiles begin. Louisville actually did the dogpiling thing after beating Pitt for the third straight day and winning the Big East title. (Remember now, no injuries)

As the Foo Fighters would say, there goes my hero. On the last Saturday of the regular season for most conferences, today was full of heroes as games went down to the wire and regular season titles were up for grabs.

For example: Senior 1st baseman Carlos Lopez launched a gorilla-swing solo shot home run to the arboretum beyond the right field fence at Goodwin field, giving Cal State Fullerton an epic 3-2 win in the bottom of the 9th for the Titans. The solo salvo gives Fullerton a 2-0 lead on UC Irvine in their Big West rivalry weekend showdown.

Carlos Lopez gets hugged and mugged after slapping the game-winning home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to defeat UC Irvine tonight at Goodwin Field.

Not that they needed it to secure a National Seed, but with the win tonight Cal State Fullerton secured a share of the Big West title and a slot in the NCAA tournament, due to 2nd place Cal State Northridge losing up at Cal Poly tonight. This marks the fourth straight season that the Titans have won the Big West Conference crown and 11th in the last 15 years.

An oddity: All American Michael Lorenzen came in from centerfield to the mound, but suffered his third blown save of the season. But in each of those blown saves, he and his cohorts have rallied to give him the win on the mound. Some guys have all the luck.

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THREE UP

The best of the best.

1- VIRGINIA

Wahoo Wah! The Cavaliers pull out the series win at No. 4 North Carolina with a wild 8-7 win in 11 innings. But it wasn’t without a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Here’s the first-hand account that the Doctor of College Baseball relayed to me tonight:

Low scoring affair initially, tied 1-1 after seven innings.  UVA scores three runs in the top of the 8th to seemingly put the game away at 4-1. But UNC comes back with two runs in the bottom of the 8th and gets an RBI single by Colin Moran in the bottom of the 9th to tie it.

After a scoreless 10th, UVA again erupts with four runs in the top of the 11th.

UNC started the bottom of the 11th down 8-4 and had a single, single, fielder’s choice and error before Moran again singled to make it 8-6 with one out and runners on the corners.  Mike Fox pinch ran for Moran since he was the tying run, and Skye Bolt came up and hit a shot to LF that looked off the bat like it would be a 3-run homer to win the game. However, the ball kind of died and UVA LF Michael Papi went up and made a leaping catch at the top of the wall.  The pinch runner had come all the way around to 3rd not expecting the catch to be made, and he was doubled up at 1st to end the game, 8-7.

Unreal.

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2- KANSAS STATE. 

As Bill Snyder would say, “Every man a Wildcat.” The Purple Crew took down Oklahoma for the second day in a row and posted a 5-2 win, clinching their Big 12 regular season championship and making a major push to be a Regional host at Tointon Family Stadium. The Bat Cats live up to their name earning their 39th win and 37th game where they had double-digits in hit totals. They also set the program-record with 16 Big 12 conference wins. Senior starter Joe Flattery, making his first start on the mound since April 19th, retired the first 12 batters he faced, eventually working 5.1 innings of scoreless, three-hit, no-walk ball on the mound.

K-State’s Shane Conlon (#15) slides into home, adding to the Wildcat lead vs. Oklahoma on Fox Sports tonight.

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3- ANDREW MOORE, OREGON STATE PITCHER

The Civil War is heating up. And in the meantime, I’m checking out flights to see if there’s a way to get up there in time for first pitch on Sunday. But in the meantime, all hail the Beaver deliverer, Andrew Moore. Today he tossed a complete-game two hitter with one walk and facing three over the minimum as the Beavs tied the series in Eugene with a 9-0 win. Michael Conforto and Ryan Barnes added solo yard calls to provide enough offense for the Orange and Black. But Moore was THE story, tossing his second complete game shutout of the season – the 10th shutout for the Beavers this year. Moore now leads the pitching-heavy Pac 12 with 11 wins on the season.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

The best of the rest.

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- Cincinnati head coach Brian Cleary. 

Having been “relieved of his duties” back on Thursday, coach Cleary finished up his coaching job today at Schott Stadium, won his final game as head coach of the Bearcats with an impressive 11-5 rout of Notre Dame, giving UC the weekend series win.

Coach Cleary’s twitter feed said, “Thanks to all who have been so supportive of me at UC. I will truly miss my time as your coach. Thank you is all I know to say.”

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- Michigan 

It will forever be known as the “Lincoln Assassination.” How big was THIS one? The Maize and Blue totally dismantled the Nebraska pitching staff to the tune of 23 hits and 19 runs in a much-needed 19-9 win. Why much-needed? Because had they not won today, hated rival Michigan State would’ve surpassed the Wolverines and kept them out of the Big 10 tournament field. But now, UMich will head to Minneapolis as the 6th-seed and will take on the Huskers in Game One on Wednesday.

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- Billy Strode, Florida State reliever

Strode relieved Brandon Leibrandt and strode to the mound with the bases loaded of Clemson Tigers in the 6th inning and no outs to the ledger. But with the Noles clinging to a 3-1 lead, Strode got a strikeout of Tyler Slaton, a shallow flyout to right from Jay Baum and a sharp liner to 2nd base by Steve Wilkerson. Strode ended up going the final 4.0 innings, giving up four hits but not a single run to earn his first-ever save as a Seminole. FSU clinched the Atlantic Division with the win.

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- Utah’s Mitch Watrous. 

The Ute sophomore pitcher threw a complete-game two-hitter in UU’s 1-0 non-conference win over Kansas. Watrous raised his record to 4-3 on the season and also had five strikeouts and three walks.

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- David Berg, UCLA relief ace. 

The Bruin sidewinder came on top pitch the final 2.1 innings of today’s 7-6 win at rival USC, picking up his 15th save of the season, which ties the UCLA single season saves record. Berg also increased his scoreless innings streak to 33.1 innings. The Bruins have now won the seventh straight game vs. the Trojans and 22 of the last 27.

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- Bryant, NEC champions.

Today’s 10-6 win at Wagner completed the four-game sweep of the Seahawks and made for the Bulldog’s 40th win of the season, against 15 losses and one tie. It’s the first time since Central Connecticut State for a Northeast Conference team to hit the 40-win plateau. The impressive part is that after the ‘Dogs opened the season going 0-6-1 on a spring break trip, they’ve gone 40-9 since then. BU now aims for the school record of 43-wins, accomplished by the 2008 team, which was the final season of Division II play for the program.

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- Rider, MAAC Champions

With today’s doubleheader split with Marist, the Broncos earn the MAAC championship and No. 1 seed for the conference tournament starting on Thursday. This marks Rider’s first-ever MAAC title since joining the conference in 1988. In the 4-0 second game victory, starting pitcher Kurt Sowa went four of the seven innings on the hill, giving up just a single hit to improve his record to 11-1, tying the program’s high-water mark for wins in a season.

Bronco head coach Barry Davis said, “It’s a great accomplishment for the program. Winning the tournament is the most important thing, but every year you set out to be number one.”

Rider is now 34-19 on the season, making this the highest win total of any Bronco team in program history. In case you’re wondering, yes, this year’s team has already accrued more wins than Rider’s 1967 College World Series team which went 31-10.

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- Stony Brook. 

Facing a winner-take-all game with Hartford, the CWS alums came through in big time fashion, bashing the Hawks by a 10-2 clubbing and earning the fourth and final spot in the America East tournament next week. Not that I’m playing favorites here or anything, but it’d been a real shame if the defending AmEast champs didn’t even make the four-team field in Lowell, Mass. this week. Just sayin’.

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- Fresno State’s Kevin Viers. 

He musta been imitating teammate Aaron Judge, because the precocious frosh launched two solo home runs at Beiden Field today, allowing the Bulldogs to sweep Nevada with a 6-4 win. Fresno has gone just 21-31 this year, but enters the Mountain West tournament on its home field having won 11 of its last 13 home games. As the No. 4 seed, the Bulldogs will play the Wolf Pack on Wednesday in a first round matchup.

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- Illinois State’s first outright Missouri Valley title.

In 2010 they shared it, in 2013 it’s all theirs. Time to gorge Redbirds. With today’s nail-biting 9-8, 10-inning win over Southern Illinois, ISU wins the MoValley with a 16-5 conference mark and first outright title in program history. And the even better news?… they were already slated to host the MVC tournament in Normal, so bully for the Birds. By the way, the 36 wins ties the school record for wins in the regular season with 2011′s squad.

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THREE DOWN

The worst of the worst.

1- COPPIN STATE.

Dammit! The Eagles had raced out to a 2-and-0 mark in the MEAC tournament in Newport, Virginia, but today all those dreams of a shock-n-awe finish came crumbling down. CSU lost to both Savannah State and Bethune-Cookman to get eliminated from the tournament and end their season. With the losses Coppin ends the year 18-33, a far cry from 2012′s 1-52 season. So heavy, heavy kudos to coach Sherman Reed and his boys. Just wish it could’ve lasted into June.

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2- FLORIDA.

Have the Gators had their bubble burst? Today’s 9-2 blowout loss was an ugly reminder that this team played some BAD baseball at times this year. Their overall record is now at a precarious 29-27. The Gators will now be the 8th seed at the SEC tournament and play a single elimination game vs. Texas A&M on Tuesday. The Gators have assured themselves of finishing above .500, but would a 29-28 or 30-29 record curry good favor in the NCAA selection committee?

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3- MICHIGAN STATE.

The Spartans beat Penn State 2-1 to wrap up the regular season with a 33-17 record. This marks the fourth straight 30-win seasons for MSU, pretty good for a Big 10 team, considering their restricttions which make being consistent nearly impossible (ask Purdue). But with Michigan and Illinois both winning today, MSU finds itself out of the field of six for the Big 10 tournament. So yes, the reason they’re in the “Three Down” is because the winningest senior class in the history of Spartan baseball might not get a chance to finish in the NCAA tournament.

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DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

Even more worser than the first ones.

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- Arrrrgh! .399

VMI senior Rob Dickinson (no, not the former lead singer for The Catherine Wheel) had a chance to end his final season as a Keydet hitting .400, but in his final at-bat he ground out to second to finish 1-for-4 on the day. Because of that, Dickinson will end the 2013 season with a .399 average. Obvsioudly, I’m being a little facetious here because Dickinson had an outstanding campaign. The last time a Keydet player hit .399 or better was in 1988. The player who did it? Now Old Dominion head coach Chris Finwood.

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- South Alabama. 

My boy Mark Etheridge has been touting the Jaguars as a possible NCAA Regional host site, and with good reason. USA entered the day with a No. 15 RPI and a chance to sew up the Sun Belt regular season title all to themselves. But today, they ran into a red-hot Troy team who gave the Jags a 6-3 thumping and now, the two programs will have to share the title. Worse yet, South Alabama falls to the 2-seed in the Sun Belt tournament and will have to hope their RPI doesn’t plummet out of the Top 16.

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- CBS SPORTS NETWORK.

As you guys have heard me complain for years, the former home of the brilliant CSTV (College Sports Television) was bought out by CBS a couple years ago and has spiraled since then. Today was another example as the now CBS Sports Network cut away from the Notre Dame-Cincinnati game in the 6th inning for an Arena Football game. And earlier, at the conclusion of the LSU-Ole Miss game, the graphic came up and the announcer said “For more scores, highlights and analysis, go to CBSSports.com” So I went there, and for the fifth straight year I didn’t see any college baseball news, highlights or analysis.

For absolutely no scores, highlights or analysis on college baseball, go to CBSsports.com.

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HOW THE BUBBLE TEAMS FARED

Here’s a quick snapshot of the Baker’s Dozen of Bubble Teams I discussed in my weekend preview posted earlier on Thursday and how they did today.

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- PITT

Dammit! These dudes could’ve used a win or two in Cassius Clay-town, but lost 7-4 today to suffer their third straight loss to Louisville on the weekend. Today’s loss was especially tough, as the Panthers out-hit the Cards 10-to-9, but bounced into three double plays and also stranded 11 baserunners. The Panthers entered the day with an RPI at No. 65 and a win would’ve allowed them to tie UofL for the Big East title.

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- MICHIGAN STATE

As mentioned above, this was a dark day for Sparta, despite pulling out a 2-1 win over Penn State. Let’s see if they get favorable treatment from the selection committee like they did last season.

From the Michigan State twitter feed, MSU coach Jake Boss said, “It’s very disappointing. Give our guys credit for battling back today and at least giving ourselves a shot. It’s tough when you can’t control your own destiny. We didn’t take care of business when we needed to. It’s something that we’re going to have to live with. We have to get ready for next fall and make sure it never happens again.”

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- UC SANTA BARBARA

Bad loss. The Gauchos drop game two of the weekend series to Pacific, 3-2. UCSB’s RPI ranking dropped from No. 48 to No. 50 with the Friday WIN, so you have to figure losing to the No. 249th-ranked team.

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- NEBRASKA

A crusher. The Big Red came away big red-faced with an embarrassing 19-9 loss to Michigan. Eight Cornhusker pitchers gave up a combined 23 hits as a 4-4 tie in the 5th inning quickly turned into a laugher… or in this case, a cryer. As you Stitch-Heads know by now, the RPI ain’t exactly the problem – at No. 34 – but the 25-28 record is a huge thorn. Looks like it’s Big 10 tournament title or bust for UNL.

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- MARYLAND

Won 5-4 in 10 innings vs. Boston College. Terps RPI at No. 32 going into today.

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- OKLAHOMA 

The Bad News: The Sooners lost to Kansas State for the second straight day, this time by a 5-2 count. The Good News: The Sooners actually gained two RPI places – up to No. 59 – after Friday night’s loss. So that means, despite the second straight loss on Saturday night, the Sooners could still gain despite their second straight loss.

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- SAN DIEGO.

Again, did not play. But get this, in the last two days of sitting idle, the Toreros have seen their RPI go from No. 50 to 53 to 57. C’mon USD, hurry up and schedule a game. See if Point Loma Nazarene will play you.

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- FLORIDA 

See above, blown out by Georgia 9-2.

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- NOTRE DAME

Wither the Irish? An 11-5 loss to the hands of Cincinnati might’ve been the last straw. They came into today’s game with an RPI of No. 43 and now sit at 31-23 overall, but even worse is the fact that they finish Big East play at just 10-14.

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- AUBURN

Won the series vs. No. 13 Arkansas with an 11-6 plundering of the Hogs. The Tigers finish the regular season 33-22 and 13-17 in the SEC. But the good part is that the Plainsmen have won three straight SEC series down the stretch, two of them against ranked opponents.

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- CREIGHTON

The Bluejays win the series vs. Missouri State with a 6-3 win on Saturday and finish the regular season with a record of 30-16. But the disturbing part is that CU dropped from No. 43 to No. 51 after Friday’s loss to the Bears. Also, quite impressively, the Bluejays finished the weekend with a total of 25,079 fans filed through the TD Ameritrade turnstiles in the three games.

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- NEW MEXICO 

Completed the sweep of San Diego State with today’s 11-7 win. Facing a 7-6 deficit, the Lobos scored five runs in the final two innings with the help of four walks, a wild pitch and four hits.

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- KENTUCKY.

Hey, a win. The Wildcats salvage the series with Mizzou by nabbing a 5-1 win today in Columbia. With their RPI edging down into the 40s now it may be a case of too-little, too-late. But the good news is that UofK has reached the 30-win plateau and will play in next week’s SEC tournament. So the chances for more wins and RPI points does lay ahead.

Ready. Aim. Fire!: Seminole QB/RF Jameis Winston is about to unload that cannon on Clemson’s Garrett Boulware.

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- PLAY OF THE DAY:

Jameis Winston gunning down Garrett Boulware at 3rd base.

Clemente-like, the incumbent Florida State quarterback, took a grounder in the 7th inning and saw Boulware round 2nd and head to 3rd base. In one smooth motion, he threw a strike right to Jose Brizuela at 3rd base and made the tag.

ESPN’s play by play man Clay Matvick said, “Boulware just turned around to make sure that wasn’t Superman out there in right field.”

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- BEST CHEER

Animals of Section B chanting “Ugly bat girl!” to the Clemson players who came out to retrieve the bats. As opposed to the attractive lasses that retrieve the bats for the Seminoles during their home games.

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- BEST LINE:

Paul Byrd, the former LSU pitcher, during the LSU-Ole Miss game where Rebel reliever Brett Huber was obviously showing signs of tiring after a 50-plus pitch outing in the latter stages of their 11-9 win:

“His body language is telling me he’s totally worn out. Here’s the thing… if you’re tired out there, fake it. Because everybody is going to see that. Your infielders behind you, the catcher, the opposing batters. They’re all going to see that.”

As the stat-bug says, 52 pitches in and Ole Miss reliever Brett Huber was sulking around the mound with his head down and shoulders slumped, looking tired as hell in the 9th inning of the Rebels’ game at LSU.

Yep, Scott Sitz (right) was up to his old tricks again. The mustachioed one did a flying, back-handed shaving cream faceplant to FSU starter Luke Weaver, who responded with “It’s not like I threw a perfect game today or something.”

What a panic today was. In the 16 games featuring Top 25 teams, nine of them were either one-run games or went into extra innings.

Yep, it must be getting to crunch time in college baseball.

Let’s take a whip around…

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THREE UP

The best of the day in college baseball

1- ALABAMA

Boy, this was a biggie for the youthful Tide. Going into Nashville and beating No. 1 Vanderbilt to tie up the weekend series at a game apiece with a nail-biting 5-4 win in 10 innings. Georgie Salem’s first hit of the entire weekend couldn’t have been better-timed as his RBI single in the 10th supplied the winning run. Alabama entered the day in the 38th spot of the RPI, but this should catapult them into much safer ground.

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2- KANSAS STATE.

These guys must all be dramatic arts majors, ‘coz they sure enjoyed making tonight’s conference-clinching win over Oklahoma a cliffhanger. Tanner Witt scored on a bases-loaded passed ball (I personally HATE games that end like that, but I digress) as the EMAW’s earn their first conference championship in the sport of baseball since 1933.

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3- NORTH CAROLINA.

As the Doctor of College Baseball wrote to me tonight, “Big Balls win for UNC”. The Tarheels looked to be flatlining again to Virginia, down 5-2 with six outs to work with. But the Blues scored six runs in the bottom of the 8th inning and snapped UVa’s 37-0 record when leading after seven innings. Senior outfielder Chaz Frank supplied the go-ahead run with an RBI single down the 3rd base line, putting UNC up for good at 6-5. The win propelled the Heels to their fifth Coastal Division crown in the last six years. But oddly, this will be Carolina’s first regular season ACC title since 1990. (Is that really true? Geez.)

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

- The Game of the Day.

Stony Brook – 8

Hartford – 9

The Hawks saved their season – for another day at least. Both the Seawolves and the Hawks scored four runs in the 9th inning in this wild panic of a game. The Hawks entered the 9th inning with a 5-4 lead, but gave up a string of singles and a wild pitch to find themselves down 8-5 with three outs to work with. A bases-loaded error by the Seawolves followed by a game-winning three-run triple by Chris DelDebbio (great name) ended up supplying the winning runs. The two teams will play a winner-takes-all game three on Saturday, with the victorious team claiming the fourth and final spot in the AmEast tournament.

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- The *Other* Game of the Day

South Carolina – 5

Mississippi State – 3 (10 inns)

Hey, turnabout is fair play, right? SoCar blew a late leas last night, actually resulting in a loss for ace reliever Tyler Webb. Tonight, the Cocks earned their revenge as Max Schrock scored from 3rd in the 8th inning on a passed ball, sending the game into extras. Then, in the 10th frame, Grayson Greiner sent a screamer into the left field lounge to account for the deciding runs. By the way, Webb picked up save No. 16 tonight.

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- The Play of the Day

Indiana reserve Nick Ramos’ Grand Slam

The 2nd baseman replacement came into the game with Ohio State as a defensive stopper in the 7th inning. Lo and behold, he ended up with 5RBI and the game-sealing grand slam in the 10th inning in Indiana’s 7-2 win at Ohio State. The win preserved at least a share of the Big 10 regular season crown for the Hoosiers, their first conference regular season title since 1949. Ramos hit the game-tying sac fly RBI in the 8th inning before his heroic smash in the 10th.

Nick Ramos is greeted at home plate after his epic 4RBI Grand Salami which put a seal on the extra-inning win over Ohio State today

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- George Washington. 

Colonials secure their first visit to the A-10 tournament since 2006 with a 3-1 win over 3rd place LaSalle. GW was helped out by losses to St. Joseph’s and Butler.

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- Buffalo. 

The Bulls had to go to extra innings, but were able to finally subdue Bowling Green 4-3 on a sac fly RBI from Mike Scarcelo, who scored Jon Mestas from 3rd base. The win is UB’s 32nd of the season, tying the school record set back in 1980.

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- Tyler Nurdin, Oklahoma State. 

The Pokes soft-spoken lefty was at it again tonight. In the 5-0 win over West Virginia, the sophomore went the distance again, giving up just four hits, one walk and striking out seven Mountaineers. In his last four starts, Nurdin has posted these numbers: 4-0, 0.90ERA, 28Ks, 9BBs. On another noted, OSU has now won 14 of their last 17 games.

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- Chase Compton, Louisiana

The Ragin’ Cajun senior busted open a 4-4 deadlock with UL-Monroe with an epic grand slam in the 8th inning, starting a scoring onslaught which ended in a 13-4 whitewashing of the Warhawks. The Cajuns came into the day at No. 26 in the RPI and will finish no worse than No. 3 in the Sun Belt Conference.

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- Shane Carle, Long Beach State. 

For the second Friday in a row, the Dirtbag hurler had a stellar effort in helping The Beach knock off UC Riverside 5-0. The soph slinger K’d a career-high 13 batters, including striking out the side in the 9th to secure the win. Last week, Carle tossed a complete seven-hitter vs. Hawaii. Tonight, Carle surrendered just six hits and two walks.

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- The Perfect 10. 

New Mexico baseball SID Terry Kelly started his write up of the Lobos’ 3-1 win over San Diego State like this: “In baseball, going 3-for-10 is considered good and 4-for-10 is phenomenal. Well in 2013, the 16th-ranked University of New Mexico baseball team did even better than that: going a perfect 10-for-10 n Mountain West series this year.

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- LSU’s slugger Raph Rhymes.

For the second day in a row the nation’s returning No. 1 hitter hit a home run vs. Ole Miss. This one today was a bit different than last night’s though, as he actually hit it over the fence this time and it also accounted for the game-winning hit in the 8th inning as the Tigers eked out a 5-4 win.

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- St. Louis right-hander Clay Smith

The senior hurler kept the Billikens hopes alive in their pursuit of the Atlantic 10 title by throwing a complete-game 1-hitter in their 2-1 win vs. league-leading Charlotte. Smith relied on his defense, getting only five strikeouts and two walks along the way. Tomorrow’s rubber match between these two will determine who gets the top seed in the A-10 tournament.

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- The Perpetual Champions of the Great West. 

In the final season of the existence of the Great West Conference, let it be known herewith that the Northern Colorado Bears will go down as the final championship team in the conference. UNC took a pair of games from New York Tech at MCU Park on Coney Island – the stadium where I saw the College of Staten Island play last week along the Long Island shore. The Bears beat NY Tech 15-3 and 10-1 in a doubleheader sweep. In the two games, the Bear bats cranked out 32 hits and 25 runs, led by Nick Miller, who went 4-for-6 with 8RBI at the plate and also earned the win on the mound in game two, giving up just one run on six hits in 6.0 innings of work.

“It was a great day,” said UNC head coach Carl Iwasaki. “It was a great experience for the team to play at MCU Park and we had good, sound pitching and solid defense all day.”

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- Max Gordon’s catch. 

Oregon State may have lost to Oregon, but Max Gorton made a “Say Hey” type of play in centerfield, robbing Ryon Healy of a sure double or triple with this catch:

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THREE DOWN

The worst of the day in college baseball

1- GEORGIA TECH.

Fool’s Gold. We might’ve been all geeked on the Ramblin’ Wreck after they took the series from No. 1 North Carolina last week, but this week re-assured we shouldn’t have been so hasty. Tonight’s 11-7 loss to Miami was their second in a row to the Hurricanes. But more than that, let’s Big-Picture this whole Yellow Jackets thing here; Tech is now 5-13 in their last 18 games.

Which begs the question: How the hell did these guys beat North Carolina twice?

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2- SOUTHERN MISS

For the second straight day, the former leaders of Conference USA dropped a game at Houston, this time by a 7-5 count. The Eagles blew a 3-0 lead in the early stages and rallied late, but couldn’t scratch across the needed runs. The really bad part is the USM now falls into a 1st place tie with Rice at 14-9. As long as the Owls take down Marshall in game three on Saturday, there’s nothing the Eagles can do, since Rice owns the tie-breaker.

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3- UNC WILMINGTON

Talk about backing your way into a title. The Seahawks crapped the rug bad, losing a pair of games to Hofstra, 1-0 and 5-1. UNCW earned just one run on six hits in the two games combined. Ugh! Oh, but that’s not all, because of William & Mary getting beat in game one of a doubleheader with Georgia State, the Seahawks clinch the Colonial regular season title anyway. With an RPI of No. 25 coming in, my guess is these two losses won’t affect their ranking too dastardly.

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HOW THE BUBBLE TEAMS FARED

Here’s a quick snapshot of the Baker’s Dozen of Bubble Teams I discussed in my weekend preview posted earlier on Thursday and how they did today.

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- PITT

Lost for the second straight day at Louisville, this time 12-4. UofL’s Jeff Gardner smashed two home runs in the game to pace the Cardinals. The Panthers can now do no better than just tie the Cards for the Big East crown. Louisville’s win today clinched the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament next week down in Clearwater, Florida.

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- MICHIGAN STATE

- Lost 9-0 at Penn State.

This was a bad loss. Bad. MSU jumped on the Lions with eight runs in the first two innings. Today, it was just the opposite as PSU logged six runs in the first three innings and never looked back. With the loss of Michigan to Nebraska, the Spartans move into 6th place in the Big 10 standings, which is the final spot to make the Big 10 tournament field.

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- UC SANTA BARBARA

Bombed Pacific 12-1 behind Woody Woodward’s 5RBI day and Austin Pettibone’s five-hit, 8.0 inning effort on the mound. The Gauchos have moved up to No. 47 in the RPI.

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- NEBRASKA

The Big Red kept its Big 10 regular season title hopes alive with a 9-6 win over Michigan, moving them to 15-8 in conference play. They are still a game behind Indiana, who is 16-7. Looks to me that NU really needs to close out the series with a win tomorrow, making them 26-27. That’d still require them to at least make the championship round of the tournament to get into the Big Dance.

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- MARYLAND

Beat Boston College 4-1 to even the series. Interesting to note that last night’s loss to the Eagles dropped UMd’s RPI from No. 26 down to No. 32 in Boyd Nation’s rankings. It will be interesting to see what a win over BC will do to the RPI of the Terps.

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- OKLAHOMA 

As mentioned above, the Sooners dropped game one of the weekend to Kansas State 6-5 in extra innings. You have to figure the final two games of this series is still vital to the post-season hopes of the Sooners, who have slipped down to No. 61.

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- SAN DIEGO.

Did not play, but saw its RPI drop from No. 50 to No. 53 in the RPI in the past 24 hours.

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- FLORIDA 

Lost to Georgia 3-1. The Gators went cold again, culling just four hits and three walks in the loss to the last place team in the SEC. UofF drops to 29-26 overall and oddly must now avoid a game three loss to the Dogs, just so there’s no chance of finishing the SEC tournament with a .500 record.

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- NOTRE DAME

Bounced back to beat Cincinnati 9-1. By the way, Thursday’s loss to the Bearcats *only* cost the Fighting Irish two spots in Boyd Nation’s RPI, dropping from 42 to 44. UND still needs a win on Saturday or they could be too far gone to get back in the selection committee’s good graces.

I think the real reason Cincinnati lost is because their stadium was wrongly built with one of those huge Great Wall of China-like brick walls behind home plate… a no-no for any discerning Stitch-Head and their stadium designs.

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- AUBURN

The Tigers were able to get six hits and four walks off of Arkansas ace Ryne Stanek, but they never crossed the plate in their 1-0 loss to the Hogs in game two of their weekend series. But keep in mind that the Tigers could be sliding off the bubble and into safe ground as they gained five spots up to No. 30 after the game one win here on the Plains.

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- CREIGHTON

Lost 3-2 vs. Missouri State.

After winning Thursday’s first game, the Bluejays moved from No. 48 in the RPI up to No. 43. It will be interesting to see what happens here after dropping game two to the Bears. And by the way, isn’t it weird that the Bears – a team I had ranked in my Power Rankings earlier this year – are 30-20 and still in the 140s of the RPI?

One thing you gotta love, of all the games in college baseball today, this showdown of Missouri Valley rivals had the most fans in attendance; 12,581. Sorry LSU, Mississippi State, Oregon, Arizona State, Florida State, every-freakin-body… you’re piddly crowd doesn’t measure up.

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- NEW MEXICO 

As mentioned above, the Lobos won 3-1 at SDSU, giving them their 10th straight MWC weekend win.

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- KENTUCKY.

Today might’ve been the death knell for the Wildcats. A second straight loss at lowly Missouri – by a 4-3 count – has to be a killer to the Cats. This loss moves them to 10-19 in the SEC, even Steven with the Tigers in the SEC East. That’s a major league “yuck!”

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UNIFORM WATCH

Here’s a little bit of good:

Somewhere out there Brad Beanblossom is smiling. OSU wore its Stanford-style pullovers for today’s game with West Virginia. Donnie Walton (No. 5) drove in two of the Pokes’ runs in the win.

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… and a whole lotta bad:

… and then there’s West Virginia, who decided to go with the “This is what Big Bird’s vomit looks like” unis.

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THE GOOD DOCTOR’s VISIT TO BUIES CREEK

The Doctor of College Baseball sent me a few pics from his visit to see No. 29-ranked Campbell beat New Orleans 5-0 today. Here’s the best of them…

Give ‘Em The Finger!: Starting pitcher Heath Bowers gave up just two hits in 7.0 innings while striking out nine Privateer batters in the win.

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Senior OF Ben McQuown, a native of Waianae, Hawaii, scored two runs and went 2-for-3 from his leadoff spot.

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As my High & Inside Baldcast colleague Mike Rooney likes to say, “Roll Humps”

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Campbell plays its home games in the all-new Jim Perry Stadium… Vaseline on the hat and all.

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Enough. Hittin’ the hay now.

G’night

Beyond the highly-informative and always-entertaining Baldcast, here’s what else went on in college baseball today… read on.

The biggest story of the day was Texas getting eliminated from the post-season – be it the Big 12 tournament or the Big Dance – after the Longhorns got soundly whipped by TCU.

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THREE UP

Best of the day from what I saw.

1- COPPIN STATE

Beat North Carolina A&T, 7-3.

Yesterday the Eagles beat perennial tormentor Bethune-Cookman 10-8, then moved to 2-0 in the MEAC tournament with today’s win. And as college baseball legend Rick Rollins pointed out to me today, keep in mind this is a CSU team which went 1-52 last year and 24-249 over the last six years. But here they are a couple of upsets away from making it to the NCAA tournament. Unbelievable.

Let’s keep a close eye on things for Coppin the rest of the weekend.

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2- THE ACC ROADIES

No. 7 Virginia goes to No. 4 North Carolina and wins 10-4.

No. 19 Clemson goes to No. 8 Florida State and wins 8-2.

The Cavs and Clems officially just improved their stock in the RPI, which means you have to like UVa’s chances at a National Seed now. And Clemson is putting forth a good argument for getting a home Regional as well, unless they win one of the two remaining games on the weekend, then they’ll be making a good case for a National Seed… even though they are way over-exposed in that ACC love-fest by the RPI. But I digress.

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3- NEBRASKA-OMAHA.

Beat South Dakota State, 6-0 to win the Summit League

Before you read any more here, just let it be known that the Movin’ Mavs were picked last in the pre-season coaches poll.  first year in the Summit League and they ended up taking the regular season title by storm… or, well, at least they now have a share of the regular season title. Today’s 6-0 win over the 2nd place Jackrabbits out at Boys Town was a combined 4-hitter between starter Tyler Fox (3hits in 7.0 innings) and Cory Buckley (1hit in 2.0 innings). This marks the UNO athletic department’s first-ever title of any sport in their short history of Division 1.

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HONORABLE MENTION:

- The Parr Brothers, Illinois.

Justin and Jordan Parr scored three of the Ilini’s six runs in their 6-2 win over Minnesota. With the win, UI pulled into 4th place in the Big 10, keeping them in the mix for a spot in the Big 10 Tournament. Of course, the bigger news is that they’ll improve their No. 39 RPI ranking and helping their at-large odds improve.

Justin and Jordan Parr… or is it Jordan and Justin Parr… either way, the identical twins from Chillicothe, Illinois helped the Illini get past Minnesota on Friday afternoon.

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THREE DOWN

The worst of the day from what I saw.

1- TEXAS.

The Longhorns 4-0 loss at TCU, coupled with Texas Tech’s blowout of Baylor officially ends the Burnt Orange’s season after this weekend and no post-season. How bad was UT’s offense against Frog starter Preston Morrison? The announcers for the Baylor-TTU game reported the score in Ft. Worth at 4-0 TCU in the 7th and were saying, “With Texas, that’s like a 10-0 lead.” Morrison only relented a pair of infield hits to Mark Payton, one of them a bunt single. With the loss, Texas officially will end the Big 12 season in last place.  Hard to believe.

Texas media guide:

- 6 national championships

- 8 members of College Baseball Hall of Fame

- 11 Conference Players of the Year

- 11 Newcomers of the Year

- 34 CWS appearances

- 53 NCAA Tournament appearances.

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2- THE AT-LARGE HOPEFULS OF THE BIG EAST. 

Pitt lost to Louisville 5-2. (No big shame there)

Notre Dame lost at Cincinnati 9-5. (That’s 10th place Cincinnati)

Seton Hall lost at home to rival St. John’s 4-3. (The Hall’s 13-game win streak snapped)

The Golden Domers are the biggest losers of the three having seen their RPI drop into the 40s (knowing it will plunge even further by the time we all wake up Friday morning) and now having gone 11-13 since April 7th. Ack! What’s gone wrong with these guys? They were one of the best defensive teams I’d seen all year and had a great rotation and bullpen.

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3- KENT EMANUEL, NORTH CAROLINA ACE

Gah! Now is not the time to get on a cold streak. But it looks like the Heels and their big horse are both doing so. Today, Emanuel gave up 10 hits, two walks and six runs in UNC’s 10-4 home loss to Virginia. This was Emanuel’s second straight start of giving up double-digit hit totals to opposing batting orders. If you want to hear more of what Mike Rooney and I think of the Tar Heels and their latest foibles, listen to the Baldcast we’re posting with this column.

It’s not too late for UNC – obviously – but there are some issues we need to discuss here before  we move on.

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HOW THE BUBBLE TEAMS DID

Here’s a quick snapshot of the Baker’s Dozen of Bubble Teams I discussed in my weekend preview posted earlier on Thursday.

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- PITT

Lost 5-2 at Louisville.

Panthers actually got to starter Chad Green pretty well today, notching eight hits in 5.0 innings and also out-hit the Cardinals 13-9. But the UofL had too much in the long run and made more key plays. There’s still two games left here, but UP needs a win desperately.

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- MICHIGAN STATE

Drowned Penn State in a sea of runs 16-1

Talk about a team that was on a mission. The Spartans jumped on JoePa U. and never let up, knowing they’ll need to sweep to get into the Big 10 tournament and to save their RPI from plummeting. Jimmy Pickens had easy pickins today, going 2-for-4 with a home run, two walks and 4RBI. Leadoff man extraordinaire Cam Gibson was 2-for-3 with 3ribs.

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- UC SANTA BARBARA

Did not play. Will take on Pacific in three games starting on Friday.

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- NEBRASKA

Blew a late lead, lost 7-5 at home against Michigan.

The light is fading fast for the Cornhuskers. They allowed the Big Blue to score four runs in the 7th inning a blow past them for a huge series-opening loss. At 24-27 overall, the Mendoza Line is getting heavier and heavier for the Big Red.

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- MARYLAND

Lost 2-1 at home to bottom-feeding Boston College.

Okay, this has to be the last straw. Done. End. Finis. Losing to a team which had won just three ACC games entering the weekend has to be the final straw. I don’t care if their No. 24 RPI is a shining beacon or not.

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- OKLAHOMA 

Did not play. At K-State starting on Friday.

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- SAN DIEGO.

Did not play. Won’t play again until the West Coast Conference tournament in Stockton next week.

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- FLORIDA 

Won at Georgia 4-2.

Harrison Bader was the hero, stroking an RBI single in the top of the 9th inning to break a 2-2 tie.

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- NOTRE DAME

Lost to 10th place Cincinnati.

As described above, this is a crusher. Like, worse-than-Manti-Te’o's-girlfriend kind of crusher.

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- AUBURN

Beat No. 11-ranked Arkansas 3-0.

Conner Kendrick and Terrance Dedrick combined on a five-hitter against the punchless Hogs.

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- CREIGHTON

beat Missouri State, 4-3.

This could very well have been the game of the day in college baseball. A crowd of 9,537 watched at TD Ameritrade Park as the Bluejays fell behind 3-2 in the top of the 9th inning, but did get out of a bases-loaded jam without further damage. The Jays rallied as pinch hitter Tommy Clouthier knocked in Reagan Fowler with a sac fly to center field and a batter later Kevin Lamb singled in Michael Blatchford. The big part was that the Jays were able to beat MoState with All American starter Nick Petree on the hill.

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- NEW MEXICO 

Bomboarded San Diego State 14-6.

The Lobos stalked Montezuma Meas and came away with a huge win. D.J. Peterson and Luke Campbell combined for five RBI and the Lobos knocked 100mph-fireballer Michael Cederoth around enough to get a series-opening win.

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- KENTUCKY.

Lost at SEC weak-sister Missouri, 4-2.

Hard-luck hurler A.J. Reed fell to 2-8 on the mound and Tiger pitching held the Bat Cats to just five hits as they dealt a huge blow to UK’s at-large hopes.

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PLAY OF THE DAY:

- Raph Rhymes inside-the-park home run.

LSU went all mid-90s Gorilla Ball on Ole Miss, smashing three home runs in their 7-1 win over the visiting Rebels. But one of them was Raph Rhymes scintillating four-bagger that never went over the wall. Rebel center-fielder Auston Bousfield tried to make a diving catch of a Rhymes pop-up but missed and the ball ended up going to the warning track. Rhymes never stopped running and eventually collided with Rebs catcher Stuart Turner as the relay throw went awry.

Raph Rhymes goes head-over-tea-kettle in the collision with Rebel catcher Stuart Turner as he scores the four-bagger home run.

The late, great Hawaiian legend Don Ho would like to sing Tiny Bubbles into your ears.

It’s Don Ho time. “Tiny bubbles” are floating around everywhere in college baseball at this time of year. It almost seems like with this new RPI formula and the rewarding of road wins, the teams “on the bubble” are more numerous (and more diversified) than ever.

In case you don’t know anything about Don Ho, here’s a clip of him singing his legendary “tiny” ditty at the Hollywood Palace in 1967:

On Wednesday night, I got the chance to see a pair of teams squarely on that proverbial bubble as San Diego went into UC Irvine and picked up a sizable win by a 7-3 count. But history was made during the game as San Diego slugger Kris Bryant blasted home run No. 30 on the year, becoming just the second player since the BBCOR bat era to reach the 30-dinger club, joining Georgia Southern’s Victor Roache, who turned the trick in 2011.

This Torero win became even more important to the Torero cause since they blew an 11-3 lead the night before in a painful 12-11, 10-inning loss at UC Riverside. I got the chance to catch up with Torero honcho Rich Hill to discuss that whole RPI thing with him before the game. As usual with coach Hill, I pretty much just turned on the recorder and let him go. Here are a few snippets I pulled out of it.

- His response when I asked him if he thought his team was on the bubble:

“We are as “bubble” as you can possibly get, we are the definition of bubble.”

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- On his general feelings of where things are with the common start date and the RPI:

“I was okay with a common start date, but I never liked moving it back to mid-February. One of the things we struggle with as a private school is depth. We just don’t have the depth a lot of the teams in the big conferences have. So before the common start date, which rewarded kids in California, Florida and Texas who wanted to play in a warmer environment, it allowed us play Texas on January 21st, and then we could eliminate those mid-week games later in the season and concentrate our money into the pitching. And that has impacted the RPI for us a lot, along with the rewarding of road games in the formula.”

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- On his view of the change in the RPI formula and it’s effects:

“I Emailed Boyd Nation the other day. I asked him what our RPI would be this year under last year’s RPI formula. And he said we’d be at No. 38. Today, we’re at No. 50. So we’d be in, no problem. And I consider myself an RPI expert. I put so much time into scheduling for it, that’s why we played Kent State, Oregon State, Seton Hall, St. Louis… we’re playing all these league champions from across the country and our RPI is still in the 50s. So it’s very difficult from the WCC to build a really good RPI. It’s like that for just about everybody on the West Coast. Everything we do in scheduling is built toward Selection Monday.”

Kris Bryant’s leadership has been a difference-maker for coach Hill and the staff this season.

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- On his feelings about his team this year:

“I’ve never had a team that plays through mistakes so well as these guys do. I haven’t had a team as tough as this one, as resilient as these guys. Last night’s loss (to UC Riverside) was as tough of a loss as you can imagine. And today, you’d never know it. You’d think our guys were the ones who had a great walk-off win last night. That’s our biggest strength is that this is a real team. We’re mentally tough.”

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- On Kris Bryant:

“Like the old saying, as he goes, we go. The physical side of our team is obviously Kris Bryant. We’ve got to get a couple of guys on base in front of him, we’ve got to get a couple of guys behind him to protect him. We’ve put up some good offensive numbers in a really good WCC this year.”

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- On his freshman ace P.J. Conlon (9-0, 1.54):

“He’s definitely gonna be on your All-Sorenson Team. He’s like 5’9″ and touches 90, mostly 86-to-88, throws his slider anywhere in the count, works quick. He was the teammate of USC’s Kyle Twomey (3rd round draft pick last June), and Frank Cruz told me, ‘I know our guy was a 3rd-round draft pick, but your guy (Conlon) may be more effective in college.’ Born in Belfast, Ireland, he’s tough as nails. His father was a soccer player for Fullerton. He’s one of those players who you really fall in love with.”

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- If he had to take back one loss this year, which game would it be:

“It’s a double-edge sword really. Coz there was a game against San Francisco we lost on a Saturday night (April 27th) in extra innings. We made a big comeback to send it into extra innings, then we made a few mistakes… it was an excruciating loss. One that you’d definitely LOVE to have back. But after the game, the players closed the doors on the locker room and told us coaches to leave the room. An hour and a half later, after midnight, they came out and since that night, we’ve been a completely different team. A totally different energy. Leadership emerged. Bryant was at the forefront of that meeting, which he needed to be. So even though it was the worst night of our season, it ended up being the best night. Now we’re on a roll in the WCC, we’ve won six of seven, and we’re on the bubble.”

The energy of his team has been on an uptick ever since that painful Saturday night loss to San Francisco three weeks ago.

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- On the West Coast Conference having a post-season tournament:

“Philosophically I’m apposed to it. We play 24 games, you deal with injuries and hot streaks, cold streaks, all that. You know who the best team is. But on the other hand, I’ve never seen such energy to the conference either. Seven of the nine teams still have a chance to extend their season on the last weekend. There’s something to play for. It’s also the best way for the WCC to get multiple bids, which we feel we’ve deserved most years but haven’t gotten them often. So again, it’s good with the bad.”

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LIVING ON THE EDGE. 

Here are a baker’s dozen of teams I consider to be on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. Sure, your bubble teams might differ from mine, but here’s what I’m looking at for the toughest decisions the selection committee must come to grips with. (The rankings used are from Boyd Nation’s Thursday morning RPI release)

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- PITTSBURGH, 40-11, RPI No. 70

Pluses: 

First off, the Panthers are No. 1 in the Big East, ahead of RPI darlings like Louisville and Seton Hall, so if they win the regular season title, that has to have major pull for them. Their 15-5 road record is pretty good, but they are also one of only 11 teams with 40+ wins currently. Also, keep in mind how the committee rewarded regular season champs last year, even when their RPIs were in the 50s.

Minuses: 

An RPI of No. 70? Damn! It’s hard to escape that sore thumb. The strength of schedule is in the 240 range and a full 19 of their wins – nearly half, if I’m doing my math right – came at the expense of teams ranked No. 200 or higher.  Of those 15 road wins, the only really impressive ones were the season opening weekend at Wichita State.

What They Need To Do:

First off, try to come out with at least a co-championship in the Big East regular season. They’ll take on Louisville this weekend and, for God’s sake, just don’t get swept. If you win one, fine. If you win two?… You’re in. Other than that, be sure to make a deep run in the Big East tournament too. (Don’t worry Stitch-Heads, you’ll read that mantra a lot in this column, so get used to it.)

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- MICHIGAN STATE, 29-16, RPI No. 36

Pluses: 

The Spartans have some impressive Big 10 weekends, including series wins over Indiana (a sweep), Illinois and Ohio State. Early season road wins at Kentucky, Austin Peay and league-leaders Western Carolina and Tennessee Tech will help too. You guys made the NCAA tournament last year as the 5th place team in the Big 10, so you have a history of getting love from the committee.

Minuses: 

Getting swept vs. Michigan and losing the series to Iowa this past weekend really hurt their profile. If the season ended today, they’d finish 7th in the Big 10, meaning they’d miss the conference tournament. Win or lose, the final Big 10 weekend vs. last-place Penn State could pull the drapes down a little bit as well.

What They Need To Do:

Without a doubt, win the Penn State series, maybe even sweeping is a must. That will help make the Big 10 tournament, which is also a must. Now that I think of it, missing your conference tournament and still going to the NCAAs is sooooo SEC-like, and not so much a Big 10 thing.

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- UC SANTA BARBARA, 29-21, RPI No. 47 

Pluses: 

The RPI is getting nearer and nearer to the “good” range. Winning four of their last five Big West weekends – including series wins over Cal Poly and UC Irvine – has the Gauchos tagged as one of the hotter teams in the country.  Strength of schedule is 50th – albeit, 20th in Boyd Nation’s ISR – and they’ve proven that they’re willing to hit the road against good programs in non-conference play.

Minuses: 

Your knee-jerk reaction is probably, “Why isn’t UC Irvine on this list instead, since they’re behind the Anteaters in Big West play?” Losses to Hawaii (two) and even getting swept at Texas look really bad now. Six games vs. Pacific and UC Davis in the next two weekends won’t help their quality wins ledger either.

What They Need To Do:

It’s a must that the Gauchos finish the regular season ahead of UCI in the Big West standings, just to give them another leg to stand on. They also gotta hope like hell that they can sweep UP and UCD… or at least go 5-1. Oh, and go ahead and win that mid-weeker at UCLA on Tuesday too.

The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos hope to be dancing on Selection Monday.

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- NEBRASKA, 23-26, RPI No. 30

Pluses: 

With an RPI of No. 30, these guys could just waltz into the Big Dance if they pick up a few more wins. For a Big 10 team with a losing mark to have an RPI this high, just goes to show how good this conference is this year. Of course, the committee loves how tough of a non-conference slate they played too. Major props Mr. Erstad and Co.

Minuses: 

Losing record. Losing record. Losing record.

What They Need To Do:

C’mon guys, just get above the Mendoza Line. Simple as that. Just to make sure of everything, go ahead and sweep Michigan this weekend and then win two or three games in the Big 10 tournament. Otherwise, you’ll just have to take that sexy RPI and gloat about it on the golf course.

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- MARYLAND, 28-24, RPI No. 26

Pluses:

All talk about the bubble begins with “How many does the ACC get in?” The ACC is the top-rated conference in the country and has a ridiculous eight teams in the RPI Top 20. The Terrapins own wins over Virginia, Florida State, N.C. State, Miami, Virginia Tech and Clemson – all Top 20 RPI teams. With an RPI in the mid-20s, if the Terps were in any other conference, their inclusion would be a no-brainer, right?

Minuses: 

C’mon, their ACC record is 9-18 and their ONLY series win came at Duke. Other than that, they’ve lost every series. How can they be rewarded for this? A bad team in the ACC doesn’t mean they should be a bad team in the NCAAs.

What They Need To Do:

Hope to God that the selection committee leans heavily on the retarded RPI more so than most seasons. Otherwise, even a sweep of last place Boston College this weekend won’t help enough.

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- OKLAHOMA, 35-17, RPI No. 60 

Pluses: 

The Sooners spent a good portion of the season in the Top 20 of the RPI and beat teams like UCLA, New Mexico, Pepperdine, Kansas and TCU as part of their 25-5 start. Not bad, right? They’re tied for 2nd place in the Big 12, the No. 4-ranked conference in the country.

Minuses: 

The RPI has shockingly rocketed out-of-range in the at-large discussion in the last few weeks, after playing New Orleans and then losing weekends vs. West Virginia and Oklahoma State. The strength of schedule is 109th in the country and opening up with Hofstra and Arkansas-Pine Bluff didn’t help things.

What They Need To Do:

I s’pose the Sooners can make this all go away with a winning weekend at Kansas State, since that’d mean they’d win the regular season title and all. But short of that, just stay ahead of OSU in the Big 12 standings and win your way to the Big 12 tournament title game, just in case.

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- SAN DIEGO, 32-22, RPI No. 50 

Pluses: 

When the Toreros have played good teams, they’ve cashed in: having gone 7-2 vs. the Top 50 RPI teams they’ve played. They are the only team in the country to have a winning series vs. Oregon State. Being a mid-major and playing the No. 39-ranked strength of schedule is a good reflection on their attempt to schedule up. Also, don’t you think the NCAA selection committee will want to see Player of the Year Kris Bryant take his season into June?

Will Kris Bryant’s star power have any bearing on the selection committee’s awarding of an at-large to the Toreros, if they don’t win the WCC Tourney?

Minuses: 

When they’ve played the best teams in their conference, they’ve gone just 2-4 vs. Gonzaga and San Francisco. Inconsistent play in the non-WCC portion of the slate has killed them as well, as witnessed by the loss to UC Riverside, followed by the win at UC Irvine.

What They Need To Do:

With the new West Coast Conference tournament kicking in this year, short of winning the whole shebang in Stockton, go ahead and at least win a few games, preferably the ones against Gonzaga and USF for sure.

- FLORIDA, 28-25, RPI No. 23

Pluses: 

They play in THE monster conference and if they win the upcoming Georgia series, they’ll have a .500 or better record in that monster conference. That’s first and foremost. But also, they swept South Carolina and own series wins vs. Miami and Ole Miss. They’ve gone 14-7 since early April and they’ve played the No. 1 schedule in the country.

Minuses: 

They’ve rehashed their crappy play and gone just 3-6 in their last nine games. The Georgia series may help their win total, but how much will it drag their RPI down? And remember when fellow SEC mates LSU finished at No. 24 in the RPI in 2011 but didn’t go to the Big Dance? Eeeee.

What They Need To Do:

Get that sweep at Georgia this weekend and just make sure to go at last .500 in the SEC tournament. An 0-2 mark won’t be shined upon by the selection committee, especially with their cold play of late.

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- NOTRE DAME, 30-21, RPI No. 42

Pluses: 

The Irish have been in the Top 25 polls and in the 20s of the RPI nearly the entire season. Lots of good early wins (all of them away from South Bend, obviously) proved their mettle, like vs. Cal Poly, Oklahoma, Florida Gulf Coast, Ohio State, Tulane. They even started Big East play by taking two of three from Seton Hall.

Minuses: 

Since that Seton Hall weekend, the Irish have played .500 ball, going just 16-15. Losing two of three in their past two weekends has been a killer (vs. USF, at St. John’s). And this weekend’s series at Cincinnati will continue their RPI anchor effect, win or lose. They’ve also got a rather un-sexy 9-7 record vs. teams ranked 100-to-200, suffering some curious losses.

What They Need To Do:

Get their early-season MoJo back again. They’ve gone just 3-5 in their last eight, and you know how the selection committee doesn’t cotton to placing a cold team in their Field of 64. Plus, if they don’t sweep Cincy, they’ll end the Big East with a sub-.500 mark, which will be a huge strike against them.

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- AUBURN, 31-21, RPI No. 35 

Pluses: 

Like Florida, how can the committee deny an SEC team that has won 30+? And not only that, but the Tigers have beaten Ole Miss and Florida 2-of-3 in the last two weeks to boot. They’ve definitely become a different team in the last two months of the season. Home field vs. Arkansas is usually a good omen.

Minuses: 

They’re 11-16 and in last place in the SEC West. That means that 85% of the country says “Pffft! They don’t deserve a piece of wrapped crap.” When you play 12 non-conference home games against Maine, Middle Tennessee, Eastern Illinois and Brown, you deserve some ridicule from the committee.

What They Need To Do:

Stay hot in SEC play. Winning the series vs. Arkansas will be a great start and the usual advice – go far in the post-season tournament. But also hope this committee is one of those SEC-sympathizers, as they’ve been from time to time in the past.

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- CREIGHTON, 28-15, RPI No. 48

Pluses: 

The Bluejays are the top-rated team from the usually-strong Missouri Valley Conference. They can boast of wins over Nebraska, BYU, Kansas and a Dallas Baptist sweep to open the season. Hey, they’ve hosted the College World Series since the dawn of time… doesn’t the NCAA owe them a favor once in a while? Time to call one in.

Minuses: 

Unfortunately, the rest of the MVC hasn’t performed better than expected like CU has. Win or lose, the three-gamer with No. 146 Missouri State and the MVC tournament will drag down that RPI. Twenty-two of their 28 wins have come against 100+ ranked teams, leading to their 1-4 mark vs. Top 50. While the Jays sit at No. 48 in Boyd Nation’s RPI, they’re No. 55 in Warren Nolan’s. Pick one.

What They Need To Do:

In past years the committee has given benefit-of-the-doubt points for teams who have had multiple rain games – CU has had 16 games effected by rain, nine cancelled altogether. So they’ll have to hope the committee has a heart. Also, with their not winning the regular season title, a deep run in the MVC tourney is a must. Title game or bust guys.

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- NEW MEXICO, 32-18, RPI No. 59  

Pluses: 

You know how the committee loves a hot finish? Well after a 10-12 start the Lobos have gone 22-6 since. They’ve also lapped the field in the Mountain West this year, taking a 22-5 conference record into the final weekend. Wins against teams like Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Missouri State and Texas Tech ain’t too shabby, especially for a team that is geographically challenged like the Cherry & Silver.

Minuses: 

A non-conference record of 10-12 won’t win a lot of smiles from the committee. Plus, the RPI will probably dip a bit if they don’t sweep San Diego State this weekend. The post-TCU hangover effect; MWC has been terrible this year, being the 17th-ranked conference in the nation right now.

What They Need To Do:

Just don’t lose the series at SDSU and stay in the 50s, hoping the committee sees your dominance of the MWC as too strong of a factor to overlook. Avoiding an 0-and-2 MWC tournament would help too.

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- KENTUCKY, 29-22, RPI No. 28  

Pluses: 

Any team that can boast series wins over Florida and Mississippi State is probably worth their salt, right? Some non-conference wins to hang their hat on ain’t bad either with victims like Coastal Carolina, Indiana and Louisville. And again, this is a team from the SEC East… possibly the best division in college baseball.

Minuses: 

Well, that 10-17 SEC mark is pretty wart-on-a-witch ugly. Getting swept vs. LSU, South Carolina and Vanderbilt is not a total shame, but the committee might beg to differ. Missouri’s 141-RPI is gonna be an anchor this weekend as well.

What They Need To Do:

Losing a single game to Mizzou will be a killer, so go ahead and sweep here boys. Of course, beating anybody with Vanderbilt, LSU, South Carolina, Mississippi State or Ole Miss across their unis in the SEC tourney will really help.

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MOST IMPORTANT SERIES OF THE WEEKEND.

With the conference tournaments starting up next week, most of the nation has gone to a Thursday-Friday-Saturday weekend series look this week. But all across the country there are big conference-deciding showdowns to help determine the *real* champions of leagues across the country. In other words, this is a REALLY good time to have the Lear Jet all gassed up and your team of pilots, stewardesses and a few bottles of your favorite traveling liquid ready to go. Here are some of the best of the best.

10- No. 12 SOUTH CAROLINA at No. 17 MISSISSIPPI STATE.

The Gamecocks:

- 38-14, 16-10 SEC

RPI: No. 11

Offense: .286 ave., SEC-best 43 HRs

Pitching: 2.95 ERA

Defense: .973 fielding

Them Dogs:

- 38-15, 14-13 SEC

RPI: No. 10

Offense: .293 ave., SEC-best 238 BBs

Pitching: 2.68 ERA, SEC-best 438 Ks

Defense: .974 fielding

What’s at Stake:

This one’s not higher on the list simply because neither team is going to miss out on the NCAA tournament or anything. I s’pose the biggest deal is that both of these teams are playing for a chance to have a home Regional. A series win here and a couple of wins in the SEC tournament and a slot as one of the National Seeds isn’t out of the question.

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9- No. 19 CLEMSON at No. 8 FLORIDA STATE

The Tigers:

- 38-15, 17-10 ACC

RPI: No. 12

Offense: .282 ave.

Pitching: 2.94 ERA

Defense: .971 fielding

The Seminoles:

- 42-10, 18-9 ACC

RPI: No. 4

Offense: .291 ave.

Pitching: 2.66 ERA

Defense: .965 fielding

What’s at Stake:

A single game separates these two teams in the battle for the Atlantic Division title. Clemson still has hopes of pulling a home Regional assignment and could go a long way in solidifying that with a series win here. Considering their RPI, the Seminoles are in line for a National Seed… but you know how the ACC anti-wave is growing in size and fervor every time the retread RPI is released and has eight or nine ACC teams crowding the Top 20. This could still only be a Regional host assignment for both.

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8- No. 24 UC IRVINE at No. 5 CAL STATE FULLERTON

The Anteaters:

- 31-17, 13-8 Big West

RPI: No.  66

Offense: .286 ave.

Pitching: 3.37 ERA

Defense: .980 fielding

The Titans:

- 42-8, 17-4 Big West

RPI: No. 8

Offense: .287 ave., Big West-best 222 BBs

Pitching: 2.53 ERA, Big West-best 76 BBs issued

Defense: .976 fielding

What’s at Stake:

This could mean everything to the Anteaters. Sort of a win-or-go-home? Ummmm, maybe. More like, get-swept-and-go-home, because if the Eaters fall down the Big West rung too far, it’s Taps City – to use an Al McGuire saying. I’m thinking they may have to even win two games here to make their case for an at-large spot. Beyond a full-scale collapse, Fully is pretty much assured of a National Seed and playing at home all the way ’til Omaha.

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7- TROY at No. 25 SOUTH ALABAMA

The Trojans:

- 37-15, 18-9 Sun Belt

RPI: No. 43

Offense: .299 ave., SBC-best 132 doubles

Pitching: 4.09 ERA

Defense: .979 fielding

The Jags:

- 39-14, 19-8 Sun Belt

RPI: No. 14

Offense: .303 ave.

Pitching: 4.06 ERA

Defense: .969 fielding

What’s at Stake:

The Sun Belt regular season crown will be handed out at Stanky Field this weekend. But even more than that, the Jaguars are still bucking for a home Regional with their workable RPI and whatnot. The Trojans should be in good shape, at-large-wise and all, but you never know what can happen to a mid-major team, especially if they get swept. There’s not much mercy given to a mid-major who slips badly late in the season. So they can’t afford a total flat-line here.

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6- No. 15 INDIANA at OHIO STATE

The Hoosiers:

- 38-12, 15-6 Big 10

RPI: No.  15

Offense: .306 ave., Big 10-best 42HRs

Pitching: 2.58 ERA

Defense: .964 fielding

The Buckeyes:

- 33-19, 14-7 Big 10

RPI: No. 61

Offense: .263 ave.

Pitching: 3.12 ERA, Big 12-best 357 Ks

Defense: .975 fielding

What’s at Stake:

The Big 10 regular season title… and so much more. For instance, even though the Buckeyes enter this weekend in 2nd place, a game behind Indiana for the Big 10 title, the Scarlett and Gray are far from out of the woods. For instance, if they should lose all three games here, there’s a chance they could tumble down to 7th place by the end of the weekend. And yes, in case you didn’t know there are only six teams allowed in the Big 10 tournament. So you do the math.

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5- No. 21 OKLAHOMA at No. 22 KANSAS STATE

The Sooners:

- 35-17, 12-9 Big 12

RPI: No.  60

Offense: .287 ave.

Pitching: 3.01 ERA, Big 12-best 456 Ks

Defense: .970 fielding

The Wildcats:

- 37-15, 14-7 Big 12

RPI: No. 21

Offense: .321 ave.

Pitching: 3.77 ERA

Defense: .974 fielding

What’s at Stake:

These two are at the top of the Big 12 standings and will fight it out for the regular season crown in Manhattan this weekend. Though a regular season title is huge one way or another, this series could be of more importance for the Sooners, who have back-slid all the way down to the 60s of the RPI (?). Hard to believe this team was ranked in the Top 10 just a matter of weeks ago.

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4- No. 23 PITTSBURGH at No. 10 LOUISVILLE

The Panthers:

- 40-12, 18-3 Big East

RPI: No. 70

Offense: .308 ave., Big East-best 256 BBs

Pitching: 3.43 ERA

Defense: .965 fielding, Big East-best 57 double plays

The Cardinals:

- 43-10, 17-4 Big East

RPI: No. 19

Offense: .295, Big East-best 135 SBs

Pitching: 2.40 ERA, Big East-best 520Ks

Defense: .970 fielding

What’s at Stake:

For Pitt, it could mean a do-or-die time for getting in the NCAA tournament, as spelled out above. For Louisville, getting a Regional at Patterson Stadium will be a lot easier if they can put the words “Big East Champion” at the top of their resume.

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3- No. 7 VIRGINIA at No. 4 NORTH CAROLINA

The Cavaliers and Wahoos:

- 43-8, 20-7 ACC

RPI: No. 3

Offense: .317 ave.

Pitching: 2.99 ERA, ACC-low 118BBs

Defense: .969 fielding

The Tarheels:

- 46-6, 20-5 ACC

RPI: No. 2

Offense: .310 ave.

Pitching: 2.39 ERA

Defense: .975 fielding

What’s at Stake:

Carolina leads the Cavs by a single game in the Coastal Division and this series will also decide who earns the No. 1 overall seed for the ACC Tournament. Although both teams are pretty well cemented as National Seeds, you never know what a total collapse could do for either team here. Keep the tips up boys.

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2- No. 3 OREGON STATE at No. 6 OREGON

The Beavers:

- 41-8, 20-4 Pac 12

RPI: No. 6

Offense: .286 ave.

Pitching: 2.06 ERA, Pac 12-low 131BBs

Defense: .972 fielding, Pac 12-high 51 double plays

The Ducks:

- 41-11, 19-5 Pac 12

RPI: No. 7

Offense: .264 ave.

Pitching: 2.61 ERA, Pac 12-best 368Ks

Defense: .972 fielding

What’s at Stake:

The Pac 12 title is the big kahuna here for one of these. Going in, the Beavers hold a one-game lead. But this is the Civil War… all hell could break loose at any time this weekend. But either way, the guess here is a tightly-contested weekend that comes down to the last out on a couple of games. The loser here runs the risk of missing out on a National Seed.

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1- THE PATRIOT LEAGUE PLAYOFFS. 

- Army vs. Holy Cross.

These two teams won their first round best-of-threes last week with the Knights beating their rivals Navy and the Crusaders eliminating Bucknell in two straight.

The Black Knights of the Hudson:

- 27-21, 11-9 Patriot League

RPI: No.  225

Offense: .267 ave.

Pitching: 4.00 ERA

Defense: .967 fielding

The Crusaders:

- 28-23, 15-5 Patriot League

RPI: No. 186

Offense: .290 ave.

Pitching: 5.68 ERA

Defense: .967 fielding

What’s at Stake:

The best-of-three winners will earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Holy Cross being the regular season champion will get to host the series at Fitton Field in Worcester. In the four-game weekend these two played against each other, the Knights won game one 10-6, then Holy Cross went all Holy Cow on the boys from West Point, winning the next three, scoring 23 runs in the process. Look for more fireworks this weekend.

The one time I went to Fitton Field, I was stunned at how nice and big of a facility it was. This is a shot of where the Patriot League Playoffs will be held this weekend in Worcester. (No, this isn’t a picture I took)

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OTHER TOP SERIES

- Charlotte (33-19, 16-5) at St. Louis (34-17, 15-6)

The 49ers are in 1st place in the Atlantic 10, a game ahead of the Billikens and LaSalle, who are tied at 15-6. The Explorers will travel to 7th-place George Washington.

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- Belmont (36-16, 21-6) at Tennessee Tech (37-14, 22-5)

Tech takes a one-game lead into this series to decide the Ohio Valley Conference. Third place Jacksonville State is at 20-7 and will host 9th-place Morehead State.

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- South Dakota State (30-18, 15-7) at Nebraska-Omaha (24-21, 17-5)

New member UNO has taken the Summit by storm, leading the Jackrabbits by two games going into the final weekend of the season. These two will play a four-game series in Omaha to decided the title.

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BAD SERIES.

Considering their status in the RPI, I bet these teams wish they could reschedule their final regular season weekend. These teams will feel a bad anchor effect this weekend:

- Campbell. 

43-9 overall and No. 33 in the RPI

This Weekend: Hosting No. 273 New Orleans (7-41)

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- Mercer.

39-14 overall and No. 24 in the RPI

This Weekend: Will finish Atlantic Sun play at No. 285 Northern Kentucky (8-44)

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- Michigan State.

31-16 overall and at No. 36 in the RPI

This Weekend: Playing at No. 237-ranked Penn State (13-34)

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Kentucky reliever Trevor Gott gets some fives after securing the win over No. 15 Indiana tonight.

I couldn’t help but notice all the good relief stints that occurred in college baseball tonight, several of which were on the tube. And also several of which had big NCAA Tournament implications. So I hope you don’t mind that I did a little write-up and running commentary below.

I’m never one to put more emphasis on a mid-week game than a weekend game, but there were some biggies tonight. And besides, we ARE getting to that down-to-the-wire time of year after all.

Let’s dive into a few…

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BEST WIN. 

Indiana – 3

Kentucky – 5

A day after posting that I wasn’t sure UK deserved an at-large bid, they go out and beat the No. 15 team in the country. A much-needed win indeed. The Cats came from a 3-2 deficit with a pair of runs, keyed by the go-ahead RBI from A.J. Reed in the bottom of the 7th. Fireballing righty Trevor Gott came on to get the save with a perfect 9th inning, his program-record 23rd career save. Also, this marked the 86th straight game where Kentucky has had an 8th-inning lead and went on to win the game.

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WORST LOSS.

Kent State – 6

Pittsburgh – 5

The Panthers may have the one-game lead on Louisville in the Big East but even at 40-12 as their overall record, they still sit way down at No. 65 in the RPI. So you have to figure, even with a series win at Louisville, they may be hard-pressed to get into the Top 45 range of the RPI. That’s why every bit of lost traction, like tonight’s loss to the Flashes, is a pain to their hopes.

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TY’S WEB.

Presbyterian – 2

South Carolina – 4

The Gamecocks’ big lefty, Tyler Web,  tied the school record by making his 102nd appearance in tonight’s 4-2 win vs. Presbyterian. But it came with the help of a real web gem. With a man on 2nd and no outs in the 9th inning, Webb’s first pitch was greeted by PC’s Cam McRae with a rocket shot to right field. Just before the ball could hit terra firma, right fielder Sean Sullivan made a diving stab and caught the ball about two feet off the ground. Turns out, that would be a much-needed out as the Blue Hose (cool name) would plate a run a batter later. But Webb picked up his 15th save of the season to get the W.

Ty Webb, right, made his 102nd appearance in a South Carolina uniform tonight, earning the save in the win over pesky Presby.

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COCO BEWARE.

Louisville – 6

Ohio State – 3

Louisville’s Coco Johnson went kuckoo for cocoa puffs, hitting a pair of yard calls, including a tone-setter of a 3-run shot in the first inning to pace the Cardinals to a 6-3 win at Ohio State. Nick Burdi kept the big-relief theme going by picking up his 12th save, getting out of a 2-men-on jam he inherited in the 8th inning before closing things down in the 9th. This was L’ville’s eighth straight win over Ohio State and extends their current overall win streak to 13 games as they welcome Big East-leading Pitt to Patterson Stadium this weekend.

Coco Johnson had a 5-ribbie night vs. Ohio State, which included two bombs to left field.

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STAY CALM AND GIVE UP JUST ONE HIT.

Appalachian State – 0

North Carolina – 2

You do know that North Carolina can pitch its ass off, right? I mean, big time. Well that goes for mid-week games too as the Heels used three pitchers in their win over the Mountaineers – Riley Hovis, Chris McCue and Chris Munnelly – and they combined for 10Ks and just a weak single – a Will Callaway dink into right field in the 1st inning. Yes, this displays their well-heeled depth on the mound, once again.

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BIG CROWD, BIG ROUT.

Ole Miss – 3

Southern Miss – 10

The Eagles haven’t had many big out-of-conference wins this season, but tonight they took down No. 18 Ole Miss for the second time this season, and this time by a large margin with a large amount of Eagles fans looking on. A crowd of 4,526 saw the Eagles plate four runs in the 4th and four more in the 6th as they breezed to an easy win. Blake Brown went 3-for-4 with a two-run bomb in that 4th inning and Austin Roussel chimed in with a 4-for-4 day. Too bad USM’s RPI is sitting way down at No. 117, despite their 1st place standing in Conference USA. This also pushes the Rebels’ hopes of hosting a Regional to the back-burner a tad, since they came in with a No. 20 ranking.

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ANOTHER BIG CROWD, ANOTHER BIG WIN

Nebraska – 12

Creighton – 9

Some 10,418 fans streamed into the Big Tiddy tonight to see the Cornhuskers keep their post-season hopes alive. The Huskers raced out to a 9-1 lead after four and a half innings before holding on for dear life. Catcher Tanner Lubach did the most damage from his 8-hole spot in the order, going 3-for-4 with a home run and 4RBI. Federico Castagnini led the Bluejays with two hits, two RBI and a home run – presumably not to center field. The Huskers improve to 24-26 as they try to forge their way to a .500+ record so they can ride their No. 32 RPI into the Big Dance.

By the way, the weather in Omaha at first pitch tonight was 95-fuggin-degrees. Yuck!

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CHIP OFF THE BLOCK.

Michigan State – 5  10

Centr. Michigan- 4   0

MSU picked up a pair of wins to race past the 30-win plateau on the season, by a 5-4 count in a game that was a continuation of the April 17th game, and by 10-0. Cam Gibson, the son of former Spartan outfielder/wide receiver Kirk Gibson, led the Big Green in game two by going 4-for-6 from his leadoff spot. Sparty is now 31-16 overall and at No. 41 in the RPI.

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ANOTHER STRIKE FOR THE NATIONAL SEED.

UCLA – 2

Cal State Fullerton – 5

The Titans sit at No. 9 in the RPI but will get a huge bump from this win tonight over their Southland rivals. Anthony Hutting’s 1st inning, 3-run salvo to the arboretum is all the Titans needed tonight as they secure a big win in their hopes for a national seed. They’ll host UC Irvine in a huge Big West battle this weekend.

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MORE NATIONAL SEED TALK. 

Gonzaga – 3

Oregon – 4

Poor Gonzo, they lead the West Coast Conference but the Zags entered tonight’s game with an RPI of 100th. But like Fullerton, the Ducks need all the wins they can get as they look to solidify a National Seeding as well. Tonight, they white-knuckled their way to a 9th-inning jog-off win from Ryan Hambright’s game-winning single. It looks to me like the West will get four home Regionals and three National Seeds in Fullerton, Oregon and Oregon State. That is, unless someone goes 0-for between now and announcement Monday.

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WE GOT SOME DOGS UP IN HERE. 

Oral Roberts – 2

Mississippi State – 3

Tonight’s edging of the Eagles improves MSU’s non-conference record to 24-2, including a perfect 11-0 in mid-week games. The 24 non-conference wins is the most the Dogs have racked up in a season since the 1989 team went 25-5 in non-SEC play. Also in the notes section: Jonathan Holder came on to get his 14th save of the year with 1.1 innings of 4K work and sets the single season saves record for the Maroons in the process. Woof!

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OUCH.

San Diego – 11

UC Riverside – 12  (10 inns)

Man, did the Toreros ever need this one… and they ditched it the late innings. USD got out to a 3-0 lead after they batted in the top of the 3rd inning. But the Highlanders scored in every inning the remainder of the game, including coming back from an 11-6 deficit at the singing of Take Me Out to the Ballgame at the stretch. Kris Bryant added to his nation-leading home run total, adding his 29th dinger of the year in the 5th inning. But that two-run homer wouldn’t be enough as UCR scored three in the 7th, one in the 8th, one in the 9th to send the game to extras and then one more in the 10th to seal the deal. San Diego’s No. 50 RPI is still quite tenuous.

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G’night

Don’t let the zombied faces fool you, these guys will beat the hell out of your team. Gage Smith (in the Rollie Fingers ‘stache), Brandon Leibrandt and Scott Sitz ham it up for the camera in the final inning of the Monday win over N.C. State. Supreme Tomfoolery.

A good bud of mine, Mike Groce, who is a radio host in Phoenix who has me on his show from time to time during the baseball season, sent me a link to an article from the Denver Post regarding this writer’s assertion that Colorado and Colorado State need to bring back baseball to their respective athletic departments.

If you want to check it out, click here.

That got me thinking. Back in the early 2000s I wrote a column on the schools which I thought really needed to field a baseball team – either as they have before, or that they should start a program. And looking back in hindsight now, just think about how successful the Oregon baseball program has become since it’s renewal. Un-freakin-believable!

So just for shits and giggles, I went deep into the archives and found the column. And just for a good laugh, I’m going to re-post it here. Now, keep in mind that this was written in 2003, so if I get a comment from anyone saying, “Dude, Oregon already DID bring back baseball.” I’m going to expose that person as the jack-ass that they are.

Here you go…

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Schools That Should Bring Back Baseball

Perhaps no sport in Division I is more transient than baseball. Baseball programs have been popping up and dropping down constantly over the last 10 to 20 years.

Most recently, the turk visited Drexel and Morris Brown soon after last season was over. Those two programs have been added to a long list of schools who decided cuts were necessary in their athletic budgets, or more specifically, found that to meet Title Nine standards, elimination of baseball was an easy way to balance things out. Most are gone for good. On rare occasions, some programs are resurrected. Like what has happened at Buffalo and at UC Irvine.

But what if the fairy Godmother of baseball reached down with her magic wand and granted the wish of baseball fans by resurrecting the sport at certain schools? Which programs would we like to see more than any? Which resuscitations would seem to make the most sense?

Here are a baker’s half dozen of schools that not only should bring back baseball, but could be lumped into the “no-brainer” category.

1- Oregon

The Pac 10 reunited their north and south divisions back in 1997, and that has been a boon to the three northwest schools, Washington in particular. But Oregon, having dropped baseball in 1981, would seem like a logical addition. Let’s face it, nobody gets more corporate money than this athletic department from famous alum Phil Knight and his Nike empire (Did you SEE the picture of the football locker room in Sports Illustrated? Good God that’s posh!). Surely he can slip a few million into baseball too. And considering what we’ve seen from football, can you imagine how imaginative the baseball uniforms would look? On the practical side Oregon State needs a travel partner anyway.

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2- Tulsa

Let’s face it, Tulsa is located in one of the hotbeds of college baseball. It dropped the sport in 1980, just before Oklahoma State built up it’s winning patterns and before the emergence of nearby Arkansas, Southwest Missouri State and Oral Roberts. So interest in college baseball is at an all-time high in the area. But it’s not like the Golden Hurricane don’t already have some tradition in the sport. They participated in the College World Series in 1969 and 1971 and even have a CWS MVP in former first baseman Jerry Tabb. With Rice soon to be bolting from the WAC, any added members would certainly be welcomed.

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3- Providence

It was a little surprising that the Friars Athletic Department dropped the sport in 1999, for two reasons. One, there is no football program siphoning most of the athletic budget and posing a gender equity problem. And two, Providence had six straight winning seasons prior to having the plug pulled. Plus the way the Friars closed out the ’99 season in nearly fairy tale fashion, showed that the team was competitive. The Friars entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 4 seed in the Tallahassee Regional after winning the Big East. And after eliminating The Citadel and Jacksonville, they finally succumbed in the championship round to the host Seminoles. But only after getting a standing ovation from the FSU faithful and victory lap around the field. C’mon guys, that only leaves us all wanting to see what this program was going to do next.

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4- UTEP

Talk about good geography, good climate and good recruiting base, the Miners have it all. But administrators dropped the program back in 1985 and there are no signs of returning. Like Tulsa, a return to the diamond would help solve the WAC’s problem of finding teams to participate in conference play. It would also help alleviate some of the non-conference scheduling problems that teams like Texas Tech and New Mexico State have on a yearly basis. And you know there are some good little league and high school baseball teams out El Paso way. How am I so sure of that? Because wasn’t that a band of El Paso youngsters that drummed the Bad News Bears so badly in the “Breaking Training” movie as they were traveling toward the Astrodome?

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5- Colorado

When CU dropped baseball in 1980, the athletic department was a complete mess with the perennially losing football team being one of the main problems. Since then the football team has won a national title and a number of conference titles and is a consistent money maker that has turned the athletic budget around. Colorado State and Wyoming dropped baseball in the 90s, leaving the front range of the Rockies with only two remaining D1 baseball program, at Northern Colorado and Air Force. So a return would be helpful to the region. There has been some rumblings of reviving the program, but nothing in cement as of yet. But it would make sense for another reason – could you imagine how nice of a baseball stadium they could build with the Flat Irons as a backdrop?

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6- SMU

With the amount of high school talent that abounds in the Dallas area, it’s amazing to think that there is no Division I baseball program in a city of its size. Houston, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta have two or three at least. With nearby Texas-Arlington and TCU, the Mustangs would have good natural geographic rivals. And Dallas would be a natural stop for northern teams wanting to come down and play some pre-conference games in February and March. Whether it’s arena football or minor league baseball, its noteworthy that people in the north Texas area will support a winner. So you can come back SMU. Just make sure you win.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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THREE BIG THINGS WE LEARNED.

1- First off, I figured out that I can write a hell of a lot more garb every day when I DON’T go to a game.

2- The Bedlam Series is still the best rivalry in college baseball.

3- Some Top Five big dogs suddenly looked very conquerable after all. Preview to the Big Dance?

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TEAM OF THE WEEKEND: 

- KANSAS STATE. 

Lots of ground made up here this weekend for the Wildcats. First and foremost, they shed Oklahoma and West Virginia as their 1st-place mates and moved into sole possession of first place in the Big 12 by two full games with an impressive road sweep at rival Kansas. Then they also continued their steady ascent up the RPI to No. 22. KSU was impressive in doing so as well as Friday’s game was the only close call where they won 4-3 and KU had the tying run on first base when the game ended. Now, the Cats will take on Oklahoma at home to finish up the regular season.

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OFF-THE-RADAR TEAM OF THE WEEKEND:

- WESTERN CAROLINA.

Well, to be fair, a series sweep of last place Wofford is nothing to crow about, but if you big-picture this thing, it was a huge weekend for the Catamounts. With three straight wins they clinched the Southern Conference regular season title for the 12th time and also kept their hot streak going, having won 19 of its last 21 games and nine straight. WCU also now finds its way back into the national rankings for the first time since 2003, now sitting at No. 29 in the latest Collegiate Baseball Top 30.

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NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME PLAYERS: 

- OHIO STATE. 

The Buckeyes did what they needed to earlier in the week by getting a two-game split with then-No. 30 Georgia Tech, but then this weekend they saw their bad luck catch up with them as No. 6 Oregon came to C-bus and won all three games. Granted, they were all in nip-and-tuck fashion, so it wasn’t like the Bucks got blown out of the tub by a superior opponent, but boy howdy, they sure could’ve used some style points with at least one win here. OSU saw their RPI plummet down to No. 57.

But redemption could come very soon as OSU will now play No. 10 Louisville and No. 15 Indiana this coming week. But again, they must get a few Ws out of these matchups.

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WISH I HAD A TICKET TO: 

- Easy, BEDLAM.

Let me re-phrase that: BEDLAM! (And I don’t use exclamation points often.). This was a rumpus room weekend of bloody noses and broken hearts. All three games ended in a one-run panic. Egos were busted. Fingernails were lost. Calls were blown. And coaches were ejected.

OklaState took the first two games by identical 4-3 scores before the Big Red won in a white-knuckler on Sunday, with the help of a huge throwout at the plate in the 8th inning, which led to Josh Holiday getting the heave-ho for arguing the call. But it was an impossible bang-bang play so it’s hard to fault him for arguing, but also hard to say that home plate ump David Wiley got the call wrong.

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HEATING UP: 

- PITTSBURGH

The Panthers have won seven straight and 20-of-23 since early April. But get this… Pitt dropped 19 spots in the RPI (to No. 65) over the weekend after taking three games from Villanova and moving into first place in the Big East. at 18-3. Some reward, huh? Eh, such is life in a Northern town.

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COOLING DOWN:

- THE RAILSPLITTERS. 

Dammit! When I saw Central Arkansas during my trip to the Natural State a few weeks ago, the Railsplitters were 25-8 overall and 5-5 in Southland play. Since then, they’ve gone just 8-8 and have seen the RPI avalanche from No. 40 down to No. 75. Crap! Am I a bad omen? Is it MY fault? Either way, this past weekend UCA went 1-2 vs. Stephen F. Austin, their second series loss in Southland Conference play in a row.

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BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW…

- if the season ended today, Campbell would be a No. 2 seed in a Regional – or so you’d figure. They are currently 43-9 overall and at No. 28 in the RPI. Can you say “No. 2 seed in Chapel Hill”?

Well, before we give them an at-large slot, let’s see how far the Camels plummet when they play 7-40 New Orleans this weekend in a non-conference series that will kill their RPI. So even though there’s a chance you DID know they’d be a 2-seed right now, what you may not know is that they are far from out of the woods.

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THE UPS AND DOWNS

Who had a good weekend and a bad weekend according to that evil RPI

- BIGGEST WINNER: Nebraska, No. 32

The Cornhuskers were rewarded handsomely for taking two of three on the road from fellow 2nd-placer Minnestoa, going from No. 49 in the RPI up to No. 32. Now… if they could finally get over the Mendoza Line in their won-loss record which is currently 23-26.

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- BIGGEST LOSER: Alabama, No. 43

The beach hit low-Tide after Bama plummets 13 spots from No. 30 after they took two of three from SEC-East bottom-feeder Missouri. I still have my doubts about the Tide, I mean they are certainly built for the future with their youthful talent, but this year isn’t their year.

UP:

- Auburn, No. 28

Taking two of three from Florida has put the last place team in the SEC West from No.40 into at-large territory.

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- Creighton, No. 45

Winning two of three at Missouri Valley-leading Wichita State has vaulted the Bluejays from No. 60 in the RPI into the at-large conversation.

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- Seton Hall, No. 34

Coming into the weekend at No. 43, this is the Pirates reward for sweeping former Big East-leading South Florida in three straight.

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- Oklahoma State, No. 35

With the Bedlam Series win over OU, the Pokes jump 10 spots from a fringy No. 45 to a good No. 35. Obviously, I think they’re a cusp-of-Top-10 team though.

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DOWN:

- Ohio State, No. 57

Buckeyes prove that you can play a good schedule, but you still have to win a game or two vs. an Oregon-type team. OSU came in at the fringe at No. 45.

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- Michigan State, No. 41.

The Spartans are still in the discussion for an at-large but a 12-spot fall in the RPI, coupled with their being out of the Big 10 tournament (if the season ended today) won’t curry favor.

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- Notre Dame, No. 42.

I thought the Irish would be safe at No. 31 – where they were on Friday morning – but this 11-slot drop AND a losing record in Big East play won’t be helpful.

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- Kansas, No. 52.

It’s a bad week for the Northern schools here as KU lost all three to Kansas State and dropped 10 spots.

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MY S.I.D. OF THE WEEK:

- Russ Anderson, Conference USA

To say this dude is just the baseball media director for CUSA is like saying Michaelangelo’s “David” is just a hunk of marble. Russ is also the go-to guy for all of the National College Baseball Writers Association activities, like putting out the weekly writer’s poll, gathering info for the All American teams, compiling the weekly D2 and D3 rankings and also putting together the national players of the week. Russ also heads up the voting and compilation for the Stopper of the Year Award. Rumor has it Russ uses three arms to do all his numerous tasks.

It’s not hyperbole to say that Russ might just be the hardest working man in college baseball. Kudos to Mr. Anderson.

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FREAK OF THE WEEK: 

- The people trying to sell you those car cleaner kits at gas stations.

Do you guys have these people where you live? They come up to you while you’re pumping gas at the gas station and try to sell you this magical car cleaner crap. Yes, this happens at just about every gas station in L.A. and it bugs the piss out of me. You’re never more vulnerable than when you’re putting gas in your car. You’re stuck at your car with nowhere to go and these vultures know you’ve got money on you. And yes, Bill Gessler, just like the bums on the New York subways, the problem isn’t poverty-stricken people, this is another perfect example of how I just don’t want to be futz’d with in this world. You just want to be left alone. Simple as that.

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POWER RANKINGS: 

The no-quarter given rankings of who is playing the best baseball right now.

1- VANDERBILT, 45-6

Of Note: Impressive sweep of Kentucky was so complete that the Commodores never had to rely on ace closer Bryan Miller. And for what it’s worth, UK assistant Brian Green said “Vanderbilt’s lineup is much better than LSU’s.”

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2- OREGON STATE, 41-8

Of Note: I know Stanford is not their usual selves, but still, a sweep of the Cardinal? That deserves a ‘Holy Crap’ in my book either way. Ready for Civil War? This’ll be fun.

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3- NORTH CAROLINA, 45-6

Of Note: Question… Should I drop UNC more? Does losing two games to Georgia Tech merit a bigger drop? Well look, everybody has a stinker weekend, so let’s put the Heels down at No. 3, give ‘em a slap on the wrist and say “Don’t do that again.”

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4- CAL STATE FULLERTON, 41-8

Of Note: I keep waiting for the Titan youth to rear its ugly head, but they keep winning and haven’t had a real crap weekend yet. But beware of UCI coming to town next though.

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5- LSU, 45-7

Of Note: Was it just me, or did the Tigers look a little vulnerable this weekend? I know A&M is as tough a place to play in the country, but LSU looked more human than anytime this season. Even Aaron Nola gave up a few hits and runs in the 7-4 win. Hmmm.

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6- OREGON, 40-11

Of Note: Like their rival Beavers, I’ll give the Ducks huge props for flying to the Eastern time zone and taking all three games at Ohio State. Great trip, better results. Jimmie Sherfy now has 18 saves too. Nice.

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7- UCLA, 34-14

Of Note: This was as complete of a weekend as the Boys of Westwood have played all season. The Bruins made ruins of Arizona, routing UofA by a combined 29-8 in three games. Reliever David Berg also increased his scoreless streak to 30 innings. Yowza!

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8- LOUISVILLE, 42-10

Of Note: Pitch. Pitch. Pitch. That’s all these guys do. In three-game sweep at UConn, the Cards relent only 13 hits all weekend, out-scoring the Huskies 17-1 along the way. Coach Dan McDonnell also collected his 300th win on Sunday.

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9- OKLAHOMA STATE, 36-13

Of Note: Yeah, their RPI is crappy (35th) comparatively speaking, but I continue to be impressed with Okie State’s pitching staff, whose ERA has dropped to 2.79 (2nd in the Big 12). It’s also the main reason these guys have gone 12-3 since Tax Day.

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10- VIRGINIA, 42-8

Of Note: The only close encounter was their 6-5 win vs. Duke on Friday where the Cavs weathered a 56 minute rain delay in the 9th inning, before scoring three runs in the final frame for the jog-off win.

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11- ARIZONA STATE, 32-15-1

Of Note: Thinks looked pretty bleak for ASU, having lost game one at Cal and trailing game two 9-6 with six outs left. But home runs by Kasey Coffman and James McDonald turned that game around, then a 9th inning grand slam by Nate Causey on Sunday gave ASU a scintillating 2-to-1 series win.

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12- FLORIDA STATE, 42-10

Of Note: Huge series win ON THE ROAD for the ‘Noles. After going 5-7 in ACC road games this year – and raising my ire – I’ll relent that this was a big-balls weekend win for FSU. Strong work.

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13- NORTH CAROLINA STATE, 39-13

Of Note: I had actually voted the Wolf Pack at No. 8 in my NCBWA ballot that I sent in on Monday morning, but after losing the third game to FSU tonight, I had to make some changes reflected here.

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14- SOUTH CAROLINA, 37-14

Of Note: Solid sweep of Georgia, where the Cocks seemed to get that timely hit they’d been missing. Joey Pankake and Grayson Greiner are heating up – combining to go 12-for-20 this weekend – and that’s going to be a huge factor moving forward.

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15- INDIANA, 38-11

Of Note: Man, the only game I saw the Hoosiers play this weekend was that 12-1 clunker loss to Northwestern. I mean, they looked like CRAAAAP. A week with two wins and a nail-biter vs. Louisville can’t make up for it.

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16- PITTSBURGH, 40-11

Of Note: Panthers sweep Villanova, stay in 1st place in the Big East. The Saturday-Sunday combo of Matt Wotherspoon and Rhys Aldenhoven combined for 14.0 innings of work, giving up nine hits with 16 Ks as they improve to 9-1 and 8-0 respectively.

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17- KANSAS STATE, 37-15

Of Note: The Cats have tied the school record for the second-most wins in program history with 37 and tied the 2009 team’s school record for conference wins at 14. Give Coach Hill and Co. their due, playing their best ball now.

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18- NEW MEXICO, 32-18

Of Note: Josh Walker’s complete-game, three-hitter got the Lobos off on the right foot in the series win at Fresno State. Sunday’s 9-8 loss came with the bases loaded of Lobos and became their fifth one-run loss of the season.

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19- GEORGIA TECH, 32-20

Of Note: Yep, I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Tech beat No. 1 North Carolina twice in jog-off fashion. Right? Tech also split a pair of games at Ohio State this week to jump their RPI to No. 18.

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20- SETON HALL, 33-16

Of Note: If you think you’ve accidentally just seen three Big East teams in here, go ahead and pinch yourself. But don’t fool yourself, these Pirates are legit. SHU has gone 25-4 since early March and has won 12 straight, including this weekend’s sweep of former Big East leader USF..

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Five on the Edge:

South Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, UC Irvine, Arkansas

A Terminator rises from the ashes, goes on relentless hunt for Sarah Conner and the national title. It’s name: Vanderbilt.

Okay, since they don’t like a lot of fanfare or pomp and circumstance, here are the things I like about Vanderbilt, after seeing them complete their sweep of Kentucky with today’s 10-5 runaway win in Lexington.

The Five Things I Like About Vanderbilt

Today, the Commodores secured the overall SEC championship and No. 1 seed for the SEC tournament, which means these guys will get a National Seed no matter what happens over these final two weeks of the season.

1- Vandy leads the SEC in every hitting category imaginable. 

That wicked-pissah of an offense goes along with all the future major leaguers in their pitching staff. Oof! But Conrad Gregor buys the beer round as the only player in the starting nine hitting sub-.300.

See, visual proof that they do smile every so often. Tony Kemp gets interviewed after today’s robust win over UK, 10-5. Kemp leads VU in hitting and leads the SEC in stolen bases.

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2- They’re versatile. 

You think this is a one-dimensional team? Pshaw! Not only do the ‘Dores lead the SEC in every hitting category imaginable, they can also beat you with pop AND speed. VU also leads the power-based SEC with 106 stolen bases (coming into the weekend), led by Tony Kemp’s 25 thefts.

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3- They’re resourceful. 

They just don’t ever freak out. Kentucky kept taking leads and tightening the game, only to find that VU would come back and immediately put up runs the next half inning, slumping the shoulders of their opponents. The Commodores answered every insurgency by the Bat Cats, eventually scoring the final five runs of the game to turn this close game a laugher in the end.

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4- They have all the answers on the mound.

Today, super-frosh T.J. Pecoraro (Vandy’s “worst” starter at 4.56) had a slightly rough start, but this staff is so deep, someone was going to step up behind him. In this case it was reliever Steven Rice, who went the final 4.2 innings, giving up just two hits, one walk and no runs. They have the top two winners in the SEC with Tyler Beede’s 13 Ws and Kevin Ziomek’s 10, but then there are also a host of bullpenners

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5- They’ve got that intangible called “swagger” 

After UK’s A.J. Reed dropped the bomb with what was possibly the longest home run in Bat Cat history – flipping the bat and having words with VU catcher Spencer Nagin as he crossed home plate, the Commodores didn’t freak out. In fact, one batter later, UK DH Greg Fettes hit a sharp liner to right field, where Mike Yastrzemski fielded on a  hop and threw a bullet to 1st baseman Conrad Gregor and turned a sure single into  9-to-3 groundout. Then, VU’s offense merely waited a half-inning for Gregor to come up and slam a two-run home run as an instant answer, giving the ‘Dores a lead they’d never relinquish.

After A.J. Reed homered to pull Kentucky into a tie with Vanderbilt at 5-to-5, they didn’t trip out. They merely waited until Conrad Gregor came up and sent a two-run salvo out of the yard and gave the ‘Dores the lead for good.

Now on to other big happenings from around the country on this Mother’s Day Sunday of college baseball.

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THREE UP

The good stuff from today’s action on the diamond.

1- ZANE EVANS, GEORGIA TECH STUD.

Like the ancient Greek god, Prince Paris, this guy is a Heel-killer. (10 points for that obscure mythology reference). Not only did the dude pitch the final three innings of today’s 9-8 win over No. 2 North Carolina, he also supplied the game-winning hit, a jog-off RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning, giving Tech a monumental 2-to-1 series win. Or maybe I should say, a much-needed 2-fo-1 series win.

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2- ANDREW MORALES, UC IRVINE PITCHER.

If there was an off-the-radar team that really needed a weekend series win over a ranked team it was probably the Anteaters, who needed to bump up that No. 74 RPI they came into the weekend with. After splitting the first two games with No. 22-ranked Cal Poly, Morales tossed a career-high 10 strikeouts and the ‘Eaters were able to race past the Mustangs with a resounding 11-1 win. Morales improved his record to 10-0 for the season after holding Poly to just four hits in 7.0 innings of work.

UCI pitcher Andrew Morales picked up his 10th win in commanding fashion. The right-hander struck out a career-high 10 batters in seven shutout innings as UCI beat Cal Poly 11-1 on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Matt Brown, the Billy Bad-Ass of sports photography. Check his work out at www.MattBrownPhoto.com)

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3- PITT’s BIG FOUR-OH. JORDANO’s BIG SEVEN-FIVE-OH

Watershed day in the Steel City. With their 10-2 skunking of Villanova, coach Joe Jordano’s charges complete the sweep of the Wildcats, while also pulling down their school-record 40th win of the season. Tony Dorsett U. also stays in first place in the Big East with a very stoic 18-3 record. Today also happened to be coach Jordano’s 750th career win.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

- Coach McDonnell reaches 300. 

Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell achieved his 300th career coaching victory with today’s 3-1 win at UConn. As usual, it was a pitching-heavy day for the Black and Red, as starter Dace Kime and reliever Cody Ege combined for 13Ks and no walks. Saves artist Nick Burdi burned his 100+ heat seekers to the final two batters to earn his 11th save of the year.

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- Mississippi State’s comeback. 

The Bulldogs were dangerously close to being punked by Ole Miss for the third straight day, down 6-0 through five innings. But the Maroons would score five runs in the top of the 6th inning and two runs in the 7th inning to turn this game completely around. Adam Frazier (game-high 4RBI) and C.T. Bradford finished with three hits each as MSU moves into a 5th place tie with the Rebels in the SEC overall standings at 14-13. Remember, the top four teams will earn a round-one bye in Hoover.

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- TCU’s comeback.

You have to hand tit to the Frogs, it’s been a crap year for them but they haven’t quit on coach Jim Schlossnagle. Today, in the rubber match between them and West Virginia, the Purple Gang fell behind 4-1 early on, but they never wilted. In fact, the Frogs came back with a vengeance, scoring eight unanswered runs while going on to rout WVU 16-6 and take the series.

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- East Carolina.

Speaking of purple-clad teams who haven’t quit, the Pirates put together their fifth straight series win, downing Marshall 4-3. Today’s escape came thanks to a deep sac fly by Jack Reinheimer, helping ECU move to a still un-ECU-like 28-23 record overall and 12-9 in CUSA play. Again, not the season coach Billy Godwin and Co. had hoped for, but good to see his charges aren’t

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- Arizona State’s Nate Causey.

The Sun Devil DH came into today with a .232 batting average and having not hit a home run all season. But in the 9th inning of today’s rubber match vs. Cal, the sophomore broke up a tie game with a four-run yard call, leading ASU to a vital 10-7 win over the Bears in Berkeley today.

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- Oregon’s pitching.

I’m tellin’ ya’ people, these guys barely need to score. Jake Reed, Christian Jones and Jimmie Sherfy held Ohio State to just three hits – okay, and four walks – as the Ducks completed the three-game sweep of the Buckeyes with a 1-0 constrictor job at Bill Davis Stadium.

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- Brandon Leibrandt, FSU starter. 

The soph lefty went three-up, three-down in six of the eight innings he threw today as the Seminoles routed N.C. State 12-3 to even their series with the No. 9-ranked Wolf Pack. Leibrandt gave up just three hits, no walks and one plunking in his 8.0 innings. He also got some help from D.J. Stewart, Marcus Davis and Stephen McGee, who each chimed in with three rib eyes each and seven hits combined between them. Big win for the Noles, who look for the rare road series win on Monday.

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- Caleb Adams, Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajun

The 5-hole hitter for Louisiana went off the hook with two dingers and a double as part of a 4-for-5 game with 5RBI as the Cajuns salvaged game two of a twin-bill with a 17-7 rout over South Alabama at Tigue Moore Stadium. The Cajuns actually fell behind 6-0 in the game, then scored 10 unanswered runs on their way to a big-time rout.

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THREE DOWN

The bad stuff from action on the diamond today.

1- TROY’s STREAK ENDS.

Get this Stitch-Heads: The Trojans outscored Arkansas State 13-1 over the final five and a half innings, yet still lost (Really?), ending the nation’s longest home win streak at 18. ASU built up a seemingly impossible 14-1 lead after their half of the 4th inning, but a seven-run bottom of the 4th, a three-run bottom of the 5th and a two-run bottom of the 8th brought Troy back to within a run going into the 9th and final frame. But Red Wolves reliever Dan Owen got the Men of Troy to flail away one-two-three to end the game. Troy finishes the week 2-2 and 27-14 overall.

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2- JUSTIN PARR’s STREAK ENDS.

The Illinois senior went 0-for-2 with a pair of walks in a 5-4 win over Penn State today, ending a nation’s best 33-game hit streak. In fact, Parr suffered just his third hitless day of the entire season. But on the positive side, the Illini win means they improve to 31-15 overall and 12-9 in Big 10 play, moving them into a tie for 5th place in the conference. Remember, only the top six teams make the Big 10 tournament next week. UI will finish the regular season at 2nd place Minnesota.

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3- ARIZONA AND STANFORD. 

As I asked on Twitter (What, you don’t follow me on Twitter? Gah!), are these two national powers done for their post-season hopes? The Cardinal lost a 5-4 decision to visiting Oregon State to drop the series sweep and the Wildcats got blown out of the tub for the third straight day, losing to UCLA 12-5 today in Westwood. Keep in mind, the Cardinal entered the weekend at No. 76 in the RPI and the Cats came in at No. 82. Despite the tough tasks asked of both, the last thing these two needed was an 0-for weekend.

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DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

- Gonzaga. 

The Bulldogs didn’t do much for the legitimacy of their West Coast Conference mates, losing their second game to Appalachian State of the Southern Conference by a 13-3 rout. The Mountaineers slammed 19 hits off of Zag pitching, scoring in all but three innings of the game. And by the way, the Southern Conference is ranked No. 13 in the conference RPI and the West Coast Conference is ranked No. 14.

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- Kentucky.

I’m not anti-Kentucky, know that from the start here. In fact, head coach Gary Henderson is one of the nicest dudes I’ve dealt with in all my years of covering college baseball. Hell, I’ve got a “Kentucky baseball” magnet on my refrigerator at home… I ain’t lyin’ to ya’. But after looking at their body of work, including this weekend’s sweep at the hands of Vanderbilt, I can’t see how this team deserves to be in the at-large discussion for an NCAA tournament bid. They’re RPI coming into today was No. 29, but just like Maryland in the ACC at No. 26, there’s no way these dudes should be given much credence despite what that whack-B.S. RPI formula says. A poster child for a lackluster big money conference team getting helped out huge by the overall top-heavy state of their league.

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G’night.