Eye On The College World Series

The National Championship Series is an All-Southeastern Conference affair pitting #3 National Seed Florida against #4 National Seed LSU for the title.

This much is known for sure…

• An SEC team will reclaim the National Title for college baseball’s power conference
• Whatever happens the SEC will have claimed 5 of the past 9 CWS Championships
• It’s the SEC East Champions vs SEC West Champions. A score these two teams did not get to settle in the SEC Tournament (Arkansas intervened, eliminating the Gators) will be decided on a much larger stage. Conference pride and program supremacy is on the line in Omaha.

Here’s the key info…

The Teams:

• #3 National Seed Florida Gators (50-19)
• #4 National Seed LSU Tigers (52-18)

• The Schedule:
  • Game One – Monday June 26th – 7PM ET – ESPN
  • Game Two – Tuesday June 27th – 8PM ET – ESPN
  • Game Three – Wednesday June 28th – 8PM ET  (if necessary)
• The Coaches:
  • Paul Mainari –
    • 11th Season at LSU (35th Overall)
    • 3 Time National Coach of the Year
    • 2009 National Champion
  • Kevin O’Sullivan
    • 10th Season at Florida
    • 2011 National Coach of the Year
    • Played for National Title in 2011
• The Previous Meeting:
  • The teams last met in late March for an SEC weekend series in Gainesville, FL
    • March 24 – Florida 1 LSU 0
    • March 25 – Florida 8 LSU 1
    • March 26 – LSU 10 Florida 6
  • Florida claimed the series at home 2 games to 1
  • The clubs did not cross paths in the 2017 SEC Tournament

•  The Similarities:
  • Both programs made their first CWS appearance in the late 1980’s
  • Both teams have made it a habit of getting to Omaha in recent years
  • Both teams won their respective SEC Divisions during the regular season
  • Both teams are National Seeds-both won home regionals and super regionals
  • Both teams have now eclipsed the 50 win mark on the season
  • Both clubs have lost a game during College World Series play, both punched their ticket to the Championship Series on a busy Saturday of action
  • Both clubs will deal with pitching challenges based upon their CWS path
  • Both clubs have played for the title previously under the current “National Championship Series” format, which was adopted in 2003.
    • LSU defeated Texas 2 games to 1 in 2009
    • Florida lost to Texas 2 games to none in 2005,
    • Florida lost to South Carolina 2 games to none in 2011.

• The Differences:
  • LSU has six National Titles, Florida is seeking its first crown
  • The Tigers own championships from: 1991 / 1993 / 1996 / 1997 / 2000 / 2009
  • The Tigers have never lost a title matchup. LSU is looking to stand alone in second place all-time related to number of titles by going for a perfect 7-for-7 in the Championship round. Florida on the other hand, has never won a Championship series contest. The Gators played Texas for the title in 2005 and appeared again in 2011, losing to SEC East rival South Carolina.
  • Florida has played for the championship since the CWS moved to its new downtown location, facing South Carolina in the inaugural TD Ameritrade Park title tilt. LSU’s last title came at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in 2009.

• The Format:
  • By virtue of a coin flip, LSU will be the designated home team in Game One on Monday, while Florida will be the away club. They will reverse roles on Tuesday,
  • Another coin flip would be required to determine the designated home team for Game Three (if necessary).
• The Pitching Matchups:
  • Monday: FLA- Brady Singer vs LSU-Russell Reynolds
  • Tuesday: LSU- Jared Poche vs FLA-TBD
  • Wednesday: (If Necessary) LSU- Alex Lange vs FLA- TBD
• The CWS Path:
  • Florida – Wins over TCU (twice) & Louisville (Only Loss: TCU)
  • LSU – Wins over Oregon State (twice) & FSU (twice) (Only Loss: Oregon State)

• Profiling the teams as they entered CWS action…

TD Amertirade Park braces for the start of the 2017 National Championship Series. (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)

It’s down to College Baseball’s Final Four…

All four remaining teams were selected to the tournament as national seeds– Oregon State #1 / Florida #3 / LSU #4 / TCU #6

In fact, heading into Friday’s semi-finals the higher seed (favorite) has won EVERY game in this year’s College World Series. Four further observations…

• Oregon State and Florida are in the driver’s seat of their respective brackets. LSU must hand the Beavers half as many losses as the club has experienced all season in order to reach the finals, while TCU will also need to beat Florida on back to back days in order to punch a ticket to the National Championship Series.
• Both semi-final contests are rematches of earlier games in the tournament. Florida shutout TCU in both clubs’ College World Series opener, while Oregon State handled LSU to the tune of a 13-1 thrashing on Monday night.
• The home run ball is king this season. Much of this year’s offense at the College World Series has come via the long ball. By now fans are well aware that new high water marks have been set in home runs (in the new bat era) for both the tournament as a whole and the activities at Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park. The 2017 edition of the College World Series has also seen the park’s first Grand Slam and back to back home runs. Not to mention memorable home runs by National Player of the Year Brendan McKay and hometown product Ryan Merrill have also dotted the landscape. What milestone is next?
• Attendance and ratings are up in a major way, with ESPN perhaps on pace to set new records for viewership. A great deal of credit belongs to the makeup of the field, easily the largest collection of blue bloods the tournament has seen in some time. The college game is in an amazing place.

A handful of notes about the symmetry of the semi-final matchups…

-One side of the bracket boasts former champions, LSU (6) vs Oregon State (2); the other side has a pair of title hungry programs (Florida, TCU). Fans are guaranteed an engaging “have” versus “have not” finals battle.
-The Beavers remain the favorite. Oregon State last won the title ten years ago. They are looking to celebrate the tenth anniversary of back to back championship with a return to the title series.
-Though six-time champions, LSU, like Oregon State, is in search of its initial title in this ballpark. The Tigers last won the championship in 2009, two seasons before the move downtown.
-TCU has reached Omaha four straight years (longest active streak) and the semi-finals for a second straight season. It’s a bit of role reversal for the Frogs. They were beaten twice by Coastal Carolina on the way to the Chanticleers crown last year. They now need to accomplish the same feat this time around versus the Gators.
-Florida and TCU have experienced more success than anyone in the country since Omaha’s new ballpark opened in 2011 in terms of getting here and staying here, but both are still in search of their respective program’s first national titles.
-TCU has never played in the National Championship Series. Florida last did so in 2011, losing to SEC rival South Carolina.
-Speaking of the SEC, there exists the potential for another All-SEC Championship Series showdown. The Southeastern Conference is the only conference with two clubs still alive (Florida and LSU).
-If two games are played on Saturday they will begin at 3PM & 8PM ET. If only one game is required it will start at 8PM. Oregon State and Florida will be the designated home teams for Friday with those roles reversing on Saturday if necessary.

17 Nuggets and storylines from the first four contest of 2017

• For the first time ever, a pair of one run victories opened the College World Series
• Both Saturday games featured comeback wins and first inning home runs to CF
• The designated home clubs (higher seeds), won all four games (first time since ’01)
• Only 3 teams in past 36 years bounced back to win CWS after dropping first game
• In fact, 23 of past 27 National Champs won each of their first two games in Omaha
• 4 of the 5 National Seeds are unbeaten to open CWS play (after 5-0 Supers mark)
• The nation’s longest winning streaks (OSU, 22 / LSU, 17) will be on the line Monday
• Further heartbreak experienced by FSU, in yet another opening round Omaha loss
• Run scored from 1st on dropped third strike a key moment and a very unique play
• Florida’s shutout- 115th in CWS history. Last year’s 4 shutouts were most since ’72
• Gators riding 18 inning scoreless streak (shutout Wake Forest in Super clincher)
• TCU-Florida battle was 1st ever meeting, though both teams in Omaha last 3 years
• Oregon State is attempting to match Miami as only #1 National Seed to win title
• With Louisville’s total, teams scoring 5 or more runs at TD Ameritrade now 47-5
• Clubs trailing after eight innings of action are 2-101 at the College World Series
• The Lone Star State is poised for an elimination showdown between A&M and TCU
• Monday’s game between FSU and Fullerton will be the 1,000th CWS game all time

The opening weekend of the CWS is in the books. (Photo courtesy: Leah Carmen)

Happy Father’s Day From Omaha

Fathers and Sons enjoying college baseball’s biggest stage. The images alone tell the story.

Thanks are in order to all the Dads who’ve placed us on their shoulders and led the way!

2017 CWS Observations

Success is simply making it here. It serves college baseball fans well to first remember that each club in the College World Series has already won a great deal. In many cases, multiple championships have been secured en route to Omaha. With the passion and pride inherent in college athletics, it is easy to let the disappointment of an unfavorable outcome in Omaha reign if anything less than the National Championship Trophy is attained. Whatever happens across the next two weeks, only one team will walk away with that trophy. Seven clubs will load the buses just short of this particular goal. Time will ease the pain, however, with the realization that each of these clubs will go down in history among the very few who were able to live the college game’s biggest dream, simply by surviving to play on this, its biggest stage.

Power Matchups. If Cinderellas are your thing, hopefully you enjoyed the Regionals and the 2016 edition of the tournament. None remain this time around. Five of the eight national seeds and seven clubs from power conferences (SEC-3, ACC-2, Big12-1, Pac12-1) punched tickets to the 2017 College World Series. A total of 12 national titles belong to the combo of LSU (6), Cal State Fullerton (4), and Oregon State (2), while the full field owns a combined 90 College World Series appearances. Matchups like LSU vs FSU, Florida vs TCU, Louisville vs Texas A&M and a battle of former champs Cal State Fullerton and Oregon St are the type marquee battles generally reserved for later in the bracket, yet all of these will occur across the opening weekend. Baseball fans are assured of a power packed Championship Series no matter who remains when the dust settles.

Power Surge. More home runs have been hit in this season’s NCAA Tournament than at any time during the “new bat era.” Credit may very well go to the “flat seamed” baseball, which has provided an uptick in home runs, as well as, strikeouts across the last couple of seasons. For this reason, power surge could easily refer to both pitching and hitting. The major question, will it translate to TD Ameritrade Park ? In its seven years of existence, Omaha’s new downtown yard has trended as a pitcher’s paradise. The park has produced 16 shutouts and 31 one-run contests in that small sample size. With the 2017 tournament field boasting the lowest combined team E.R.A. (2.42) in CWS history, the emerging offensive numbers will be put to the test. Just think back to the 2016 edition’s record setting seventeen total games and how low scoring each of them were. Power hitting meets power arms once teams make it this deep into the tournament. What gives?

The Elusive Title. Mike Martin is an Omaha legend, though he—like the Seminoles he has once again led here—is still in search of a first College World Series title. Florida state now owns the longest active streak of tournament appearances, making the NCAA field 40 consecutive seasons. The Seminoles twenty-two trips to the midwest are also more than anyone else in Division 1 baseball without a title. The skipper first brought a team here in 1980 and is making trip number sixteen of his own. The ‘Noles bitter rival is on the other side of the bracket and in the midst of a run which includes 6 appearances in the last ten seasons, yet Florida has experienced as much disappointment as anyone in recent CWS memory. While the Gators have more than once been considered the favorite to win the crown, heartbreak has reigned to the tune of five consecutive one-run losses in Omaha. TCU may be a newer arrival on the national scene, but the Horned Frogs are the only club in the field with four straight championship tournament appearances. Jim Scholossnagle’s senior class is facing one final shot at that elusive title.

A Season for the Ages. That is what Oregon State is chasing. If the Beavers turn this year’s trip into a third College World Series title, they will go down in history with the top single season winning percentage in College Baseball’s modern era (eclipsing the .934 mark set by the Texas Longhorns in 1982). Pat Casey’s club has lost just four times all season and is perfect in NCAA tourney action (entering play Saturday with a winning pct of .931). Easily the favorite to win in this year’s tournament, Oregon State has been a consensus number one the majority of the season and is riding a twenty-one game winning streak coming into the 2017 College World Series.

Those Pesky Distractions. Blocking them out is the key to success in Omaha according to the eight coaches which led teams to baseball’s promised land this year. Distractions were a major topic of conversation in both pre-series press conferences. By now fans are familiar with the plight of both Oregon State’s program and Louisville’s athletic department heading into this weekend’s games. Unfortunately, off the field issues such as these can end up hanging like a bit of a dark cloud over the on-field accomplishments of these championship caliber teams. The challenge comes with blocking out the noise and focusing on the fundamentals of winning baseball. It’s not just items with the potential for scandal, however, that scream for attention. Signing autographs, buying souvenirs, securing tickets for family and friends, even making sure to hit the proper Omaha restaurants and midwestern sight seeing spots while in town can become focal points which take attention away from the main task to be handled at TD Ameritrade Park. There may not be many things on which each coach who has ever brought a team to this city would unanimously agree, but at least one is the absolute necessity of blocking out all these distractions. The team most capable of doing so consistently across the next two weeks will likely hoist the trophy.

Enjoy The Moment. Yes, there will be other tournaments. Of course, there will be other champions, yet the 2017 edition of the College World Series happens just this once. It is a once in a lifetime experience for these players and coaches. It can be a once in a lifetime experience for many of the fans. Most importantly, as baseball often does, it will likely provide a moment or two like no other…perhaps one which will stand for all of time.

Play Ball. At the end of the day, despite all its pageantry, in all its simplicity, it’s still just baseball. The stage may be bigger, the lights may be brighter, the stakes may be higher; but it remains the game of our childhood. It remains the game we love. Reduced to the basics, it’s still about seeing the ball, hitting the ball and catching the ball. It’s still just baseball. That’s what makes it great. In fact, here in Omaha, it’s known as the “Greatest Show On Dirt.”

2017 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

Game 1 * Saturday 3PM ET

Cal State Fullerton Titans    vs    Oregon State Beavers

Game 2 * Saturday 8PM ET

LSU Tigers       vs       FSU Seminoles

Game 3 * Sunday 1PM ET

Louisville Cardinals       vs       Texas A&M Aggies

Game 4 * Sunday 7PM ET

TCU Horned Frogs          vs          Florida Gators

2017 College World Series Teams…

• Oregon State Beavers – (54-4) – Pac12 – #1 National Seed
• Florida Gators – (47-18) – SEC – #3 National Seed
• LSU Tigers – (48-17) – SEC – #4 National Seed
• TCU Horned Frogs – (47-16) – Big12 – #6 National Seed
• Louisville Cardinals – (52-10) – ACC – #7 National Seed
• Florida State Seminoles – (45-21) – ACC – Regional Host
• Cal St Fullerton Titans – (39-22) – Big West – Regional #2 Seed
• Texas A&M Aggies – (41-21) – SEC – Regional #3 Seed

Breakdown of this season’s CWS field…

•  By Conference: SEC (3) / ACC (2) / Pac 12 / Big 12/ Big West
•  By Seeding: (5) National Seeds / Regional Host (1) / 2 Seed (1) / 3 Seed (1)
•  By History of Success: (3) Prior Winners / (5) Seeking first National Title
•  Familiar Faces. Longest Omaha drought for this year’s clubs–just (6) short years.
•  No First Timers. All eight programs have made at least (4) or more appearances.
•  Win Streaks: Oregon St (21) / LSU (16) / Louisville (5). Each a perfect 5-0 in tourney.
•  Omaha streaks:  TCU making 4th straight trip / Florida reaches 3rd straight CWS.
•  12 National Titles won by the combo of LSU (6) / Cal St Fullerton (4) / Oregon St (2).

Super Regional Observations

One spot remains. The balance of power is up for grabs alongside the final charter flight to Omaha in today’s Wake Forest-Florida ACC-SEC showdown. The outcome determines which of these two power conferences will have three representatives in the College World Series. Based on Super Regionals already settled both conferences are assured of a pair (SEC- LSU, Texas A&M / ACC – Louisville, FSU), but only one conference will boast a national best trio of clubs.

2017 Super Regional matchups have had it all. Lightning delays, rare blown saves, costly botched infield pop-ups, walk-off winners…even a smooth-as-silk triple play turned by Sam Houston State in a rain drenched Sunshine State. What a weekend of baseball. The weekend was so good, weather extended it until at least Monday in Gainesville. Of the 16 completed games in the Super Regional round, well over half of them featured at least one key moment which turned the contest on a dime at some point later than the 7th inning stretch.

Home teams have performed better than usual. Visiting clubs claiming Super Regionals had been a strong trend in recent years. Not so this time around. For the first time in college baseball history home clubs won the first game of every Super Regional. To this point, Cal State Fullerton is the only club to punch a ticket to Omaha from outside the friendly confines of their own ballpark. In fact, heading into today’s resumption in Gainesville, home clubs have posted an impressive 14-2 record in the Supers. To put that in perspective, no one else besides the powerhouse Titans has even managed to win a single Super Regional contest. Keep in mind, however, the three-time CWS champs were in a very familiar ballpark less than a half hour from home-and that’s with LA traffic.

Overall tourney results have been about par for the course related to the national seeds. Prior to this season there had been 144 top 8 national seeds under the current format, with 81 of them reaching Omaha (that’s a clip of 56%). This year at least half the Omaha field will be made up of national seeds, with the potential for 5 of 8 reaching the promised land. Should the Florida Gators defeat Wake Forest later today and become the fifth to pack up and head for the midwest, it would also mean national seeds would have been a perfect 5 for 5 in the Super Regional round.

College baseball is experiencing a newfound power surge. If you love the long ball, this has been your year. The 2017 edition of the NCAA tournament has already produced over 220 home runs, with the Super Regional round not quite completed. This is easily the most since the new BBCOR bat package was adopted six years ago. For evidence that offense is trending upward, look no further than the powerful season Wake Forest has put together. The Deacons had already hit an even 100 bombs heading into Gainesville for their ACC-SEC showdown with the Gators. This makes the Winston-Salem wrecking crew the first club to reach a triple-digit home run total since the new bat era began in 2011. It’s likely the tournament could see a over 250 total home runs hit before the roughly 137 potential tournament games required for someone to lift the trophy in Omaha are completed. (Here is the breakdown on number of games: If every round of the tournament goes the distance 151 contests are necessary to complete the national championship tournament. This year’s edition is on pace for somewhere between 135-139 total games based upon the four remaining “if necessary” games in the current tournament format). Whatever the final number ends up being, the tournament is looking at somewhere close to two homers per contest this season.

The best teams in the country are streaking into Omaha. Oregon State, LSU and Louisville have not lost a single NCAA tournament game. Each club is a perfect 5-0, having swept through both rounds at home. The Beavers have not lost this month, winning twenty-one consecutive dating back to an April 29th defeat at the hands of USC. Remember, this was one of only three conference losses and just four total setbacks this season for the top seeded club from Corvallis. The ‘Ville reached Omaha for the fourth time in school history on the strength of a series sweep against rival Kentucky in the weekend’s bluegrass showdown, which the ‘Cards made look easy. As for the SEC champs, a string of sixteen straight victories will be on the line at TD Ameritrade Park. This includes a perfect SEC tournament performance in Hoover which set the post-season tone.