National Championship Series
Ole Miss Rebels win National Championship 2 Games To 0!!!
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS SET
CWS Finals matchup is set between the Oklahoma Sooners (45-22) and Ole Miss Rebels (40-23).
The “best of three” National Championship Series begins Saturday evening in Omaha.
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Game One – Saturday June 25th – 7PM ET
Game Two – Sunday June 26th – 3PM ET
Game Three – Monday June 27th – 7PM ET (If Necessary)
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Baseball’s Crown Jewel, Back In Full
It has become our yearly practice to begin this journey with the best news of all, college baseball is “back home in Omaha” with the long-awaited championship moment on the horizon. Things will be noticeably different this go round. Not only has the ballpark been renamed, the yard formerly known as TD Ameritrade Park now newly christened Charles Schwab Field. The format has been adjusted slightly to eliminate off days and create a weekend focused championship series. Fans will be back in full force, particularly when you consider the strength of the programs in this year’s field. The usual surrounding activities have been reinstated. All CWS events are expected to be at full capacity for the first time since 2019. Here’s to the annual return of the “greatest show on dirt.”
Continue reading “2022 CWS”
Tim Corbin and Eric Bakich will take the same field wearing different uniforms for the first time in the National Championship Series.Series features old friends turned national championship competitors
Tim Corbin is quick to tell anyone willing to listen that “Vanderbilt is not Vanderbilt without Eric Bakich.” Eric Bakich does not hesitate in confirming that the blue print for his success at Michigan came directly from their time together in Nashville.
Bakich was on Corbin’s Vandy coaching staff for nearly a decade prior to becoming a head coach and eventually accepting his current post in Ann Arbor. He has used the things he learned there so effectively, the two will meet in Omaha for the National Championship this week. Their mentor-protégée relationship goes much deeper than baseball and extends even further than the time together in the Music City.
From the moment an even more youthful Bakich pulled into a parking lot on the campus of Clemson University in 2002 to join Jack Leggett’s high profile staff alongside the likes of Corbin and Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan; they both knew the relationship would last a lifetime. Bakich opened his trunk full of agility equipment in pursuit of a meaningful role as either a coach or trainer. In reality, he was opening a window into his passion and work ethic for Tim Corbin, a passion which the veteran head coach rates as second to none.
One year later, the duo left for Vanderbilt together. Bakich would remain with Corbin from 2003-2009, when he departed for the head coaching job at Maryland. They have remained in direct contact all along the way. Their entire families remains extremely close.
Bakich speaks of Corbin as much like a father figure as a coaching mentor. “I’ve learned so much from him about what it means to be a father and a husband,” he stated earlier this week. Extending the compliment, “Vanderbilt was always destined to be the skyscraper it is today because of the commitment level of Tim and his wife Maggie.”
The two coaches share an uncommon depth of mutual respect and admiration. When Michigan picked up its first win at this year’s College World Series, Tim Corbin slipped quietly into the back of the press room and caught Bakich’s eye with a simple smile and a raised fist of support.
It was clear they were rooting for each other, as pleased with the other’s success as their own, until now. The line is now drawn clearly in the sand and they will both be attempt to bring the 2019 CWS trophy home for their respective programs.
Yes, high stakes baseball is at play in the National Championship Series. The two professionals will treat it as such. For these two old friends, however, it is as much about lasting memories and realized dreams. They are making sure to soak it all in.
The young Michigan coach didn’t mind opening up on this scenario being a dream come true, “we’ve talked about it and we always said if we are going to meet, we wanted it to be here.” Now that it has happened, Tim Corbin provide perspective on their shared sentiments this way, “we’re just happy our teams have played well enough to allow our families the opportunity to spend this extended time together.”
Coach Corbin called being at the “pinnacle” together, “special.” The journey here for these two head coaches has certainly been that.
The two programs are in many ways mirror images of one another. Their game management approaches are completely intertwined. With styles so similar, minds so in tune, with teams so stout, this once in a lifetime meeting between coaching comrades should be extremely fun to watch.
The redemptive qualities of baseball are well documented. They are among the most attractive elements of the sport. The potential for these qualities to be on display prominently at this year’s College World Series? Strong. Perhaps even far greater than usual.
Think of Arkansas. The Hogs are back in Omaha nearly a year to the day after a heartbreaking national runner-up finish. Razorback Nation had their hands all but wrapped around the trophy in the most recent edition of the grueling pursuit of glory that is the NCAA Baseball Tournament. But for the apparent final out landing foul in Game Two of the National Championship Series, the “OmaHogs” would be returning to college baseball’s pinnacle as defenders of the title.
Ponder the career of Mike Martin. For all its highs, and there have been four decades worth of historic highs, the one missing piece is the National Championship. The long-time Florida State head coach doesn’t need it for his role in the history and growth of the sport to be set in stone, but that doesn’t make him want it any less.
Success in Omaha is so often elusive, even for the game’s all-time winningest skipper. Imagine the celebration at TD Ameritrade Park and all across the landscape of baseball if the seventeenth trip is in fact the charm for “Eleven” and a College World Series title becomes the final chapter in his one-of-a-kind journey.
Mississippi State is a team on the unfinished business tour. Remember the rally banana fever this team brought to the Midwest a season ago? The club was firmly in the driver’s seat on their side of the bracket before eventual champion Oregon State knocked them from that perch en route to the title.
The adversity that comes with navigating constant change brought about by playing for four different coaches in their college careers has not stalled the progress of this talented and resilient bunch. The Starkville crew believes they still have much to prove. Their eyes are squarely on the prize in an effort to close the deal this time around.
Louisville and Texas Tech are suddenly making standing hotel reservations here each June, reaching Omaha as often as not in recent years. Yet, both have found it difficult to get over the hump in CWS play. Each time these new baseball powers have arrived here in pursuit of the title someone else has pitched just a little better or secured the timely hit that has eluded both programs to this point.
It’s a game of failure. The best of the best fail seven times out of ten and are successful at the plate somewhere around three. It prepares one for the challenges of life itself.
Auburn traveled the path of redemption just to get here. War Eagle nation looked on in pain as a walk-off home run, in and out of right-fielder Steven Willams’ glove before clearing the fence, prevented a trip to Omaha in ‘18. Their Tigers ended up being the final team eliminated in the Super Regional round a year ago when the ball simply bounced the wrong way late on a fateful Monday night in Gainesville.
Now consider that none other than that very same outfielder, Steven Williams secured his own walk-off home run to complete the miracle comeback which eventually propelled Auburn to the championship of the Atlanta Regional. Taking it one step further, the pitcher who gave up that unusual home run last season, Cody Greenhill, was the “on the hill” for the Super Regional clinching moment in Chapel Hill.
The spiritual connotations are clear. Moments like these often leave baseball fans speechless, with much to contemplate. It becomes nearly impossible not to ponder the deeper questions which transcend sport.
The Tigers have handled an entirely different brand of off-the-field adversity. Just prior to the start of their post-season run, long-time radio broadcaster Rod Bramblett and his wife were taken from the Auburn family as result of a tragic car accident. He had provided the Auburn fan base a consistent voice for such triumphant moments since 1993.
The heavy-hearted student-athletes on the Auburn roster have been instructed admirably by their coaching staff to honor the memory of an Auburn hero and never exploit it. Incredibly wise counsel for everyone involved, this solid advice should be heeded in all such circumstances.
War Eagle nation had to look no further than a familiar rival from their own conference for inspiration and insight. The Vanderbilt family knows such pain all too well. Nashville’s own have stepped off the bus in college baseball’s promised land for the first time since similar tragedy also struck the VandyBoys.
Three short years ago, just as the Road To Omaha was about to be embarked upon with the highest of hopes as a defending champion, news began to trickle in of freshman pitcher Donny Everett’s untimely passing. Again, it is worth a reminder that the focus must be to celebrate the life, to honor the memory, and most importantly to never exploit the circumstances.
It is hard though, not to believe something extra special has been a part of guiding such teams successfully, often even somewhat miraculously down the Road To Omaha. Consider the nature of their journey.
With elimination on the horizon, Vandy saw a young pitcher provide the spark, delivering the school’s first individual no-hitter since the early 1970’s to battle back and punch its ticket here. With the flip of the home run script, Auburn ultimately found its way back home to the College World Series for the first time in twenty-two years.
Ah, the “Road To Omaha,” the path to a championship, it is a long and winding one. Inherent in that path are pitfalls and pain. However, for those willing to step up to the plate, the rewards are priceless.
In a year marked by the running theme of redemption, should fans be surprised if this final NCAA championship of the 2018-2019 athletic season follows one more redemptive tune?
After all, Tony Bennett’s Virginia Cavaliers hoisted the trophy at the 2019 Final Four just one year removed from being on the undesirable side of history. The two schools Virginia faced in Minneapolis (Texas Tech, Auburn), have made the trip to Omaha as well. Perhaps a bit of Foreshadowing?
This tournament, with its magical moments and Cinderella stories, with its heart-stopping turns and improbable finishes, can be likened to March Madness in so many ways. It might be worth expecting, or at least considering, a fitting follow up.
The message from this season’s unique group of College World Series coaches has been clear and consistent. Do not be defined by the past. This is your new day, your fresh chance. The challenge has been laid out there plainly. Write your own story. Across the next two weeks someone will.
Photo courtesy Leah Carmen / Eye On CWS
While countless big league players cut their teeth and made their names in Omaha, no big league club had ever participated in a regular season contest from the city synonymous with baseball dreams. All that changed on a beautiful June evening downtown.
Fans and players across multiple generations have long transformed this midwestern city into the premier college baseball destination for a couple of weeks each summer. It is where dreams of diamond glory are so often realized. Now Major League Baseball has made it the newest stop along its yearly journey.
The city and its showcase event have helped cultivate the growth of the game in countless ways. It has certainly served to strengthen the primary pool from which much of professional baseball draws its talent. Now many of those players will have the chance to return and pay homage.
Who could’ve imagined that Johnny Rosenblatt’s decades old vision for creating a college baseball home in America’s heartland would ultimately bring Major League Baseball to Nebraska. That is exactly what happened on Thursday night.
In a first of its kind partnership between the NCAA and Major League Baseball, College World Series fans were treated to an MLB showcase game on the eve of the annual opening ceremonies for the national championship tournament.
Over 25,000 baseball fans poured into TD Ameritrade Park for the inaugural edition. A sellout crowd looked on as two American League Central foes battled in a regular championship season contest. By all accounts, it was a huge success.
In the end, Kansas City defeated Detroit 7-3, though the storylines ran deeper. It was about so much more than a win or loss in the overall record of the Royals and Tigers.
The competitors themselves served as a fitting selection. Seven players on the Tigers active roster played in the College World Series. Kansas City’s Triple-A team, the Storm Chasers, is based in Omaha and the big league club’s own twenty-five man roster features both an Omaha hero and a former Creighton BlueJay.
A surface examination of the three players made available to the media following the event provides a window into what the game is truly all about. The trio sat atop the podium as living and breathing reminders of all the things worth loving about America’s national pastime.
Whit Merrifield had departed Omaha nearly a decade earlier as a College World Series hero. Merrifield lifted South Carolina’s program to new heights with a walk-off single to win the 2010 edition of the tournament. It was the final at bat from historic Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium and the first of back to back championships for the Gamecocks.
Now the lead off hitter and right-fielder for Kansas City, he secured both the first and final outs of the ballgame, mixing in a two-RBI double during the middle frames. Merrifield was reflective during the post-game media session, peering down at his college coach Ray Tanner as he spoke. He recounted that summer night at the old yard known to locals as “The Blatt,” ranking it among the greatest moments of his life.
Veteran Homer Bailey never played in Omaha. His impressive velocity during a storied prep career in La Grange, Texas allowed him to forego the collegiate route and sign right out of high school. What a career is has been for a pitcher named Homer. For all of his accomplishments as a professional, and they include a pair of no-hitters, he experienced the thrill of pitching in front of the passionate college baseball fan base in Omaha for the very first time. He has a new memory stashed alongside his fifth win of the season. Five wins, a very important number in Omaha, often means time to dog pile.
If baseball is all about returning home safely and memorably, the story of the night was definitely Nicky Lopez. The youthful Royals shortstop was all smiles during the post-game interviews. That smile may have been even bigger in the second inning. That’s when Lopez put Kansas City on the board with his first career big league home run. He goes down in history as the first to homer in the state of Nebraska. It was not, however, his first piece of Nebraska history.
Lopez stands as another fitting element of the night, considering he played at Creighton and was thus back in his collegiate home ball park. In fact, his first college home run came against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, in the same ballpark, landing at nearly the exact same spot as his initial big league blast.
Exactly. A young man with a lone collegiate home run, which came in his final game as a BlueJay at the annual home of the College World Series, secures his first big league home run during his first trip back as a Royal. Factor in that it happened during the Inaugural “MLB in Omaha” game, with a guy named Homer on the mound for his team no less, it suddenly seems storybook.
For all the memories Rosenblatt provided, and there were many, it appears there may be a little magic in the new place after all.
The small world of college baseball coaching connections
Baseball is a game of relationships, thus it always lends itself to talk of coaching connections. This goes well beyond the obvious storylines that link FSU’s Mike Martin to every head coach in the field. Remember, he has family right there on his staff, with Mike Martin Jr, who at one point played for his father, now coaching third base.
The game itself is like a family, with only a few degrees of separation at programs all across the country. It’s nearly everywhere you look. Eleven called it a “coaching fraternity.”
This year these ties are perhaps even stronger. Look no further than Auburn’s Butch Thompson. Here for the first time as a head coach, Thompson was born in Aberdeen, Mississippi, a short drive from Dudy Noble Stadium in Starkville.
Prior to taking the Auburn job, he was one of the most respected pitching coaches in the country while on John Cohen’s staff at State. What he has done in a very short time on the plains is remarkable.
There are nearly 300 college baseball teams, but wouldn’t you know it, his Tigers are facing Mississippi State in the tournament opener for both schools. He pointed out the irony of this in the pre-series press conferences on Friday.
Dave Van Horn and Tim Tadlock have battled it out for some time, both were junior college coaches in the state of Texas. These two men share a commonality that comes with understnanding just what it means to make the climb through all levels of the coaching ranks.
Michigan’s Eric Bakich also has personal connections. The youngest of this year’s CWS skippers was once an assistant for Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin in Nashville. He’s just the latest to have made the traditional phone call to Tallahassee in search of a little wisdom from the dean of college baseball coaches.
Corbin and Louisville skipper Dan McDonnell catch up yearly during summer vacation, meeting up on the cape to wind down and debrief following long grinding seasons. It is a tradition that has built a special bond between their wives and entire families. The trip will have to take place a little later this go round. Don’t think they mind.
In perhaps the strongest Omaha related connection, McDonnell and first year Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis were teammates on The Citadel’s 1990 College World Series squad. Being back here together keeps those memories fresh. They are still representing the small military academy from the Palmetto State extremely well.
The sentiments of all these coaches became clear in multiple conversations prior to the start of the tournament: If you are going to see a revered colleague and a trusted friend in the other dugout, you want it to be here.
In the preliminary rounds you run the risk of keeping a respected comrade from realizing the dream of Omaha. If you are going to meet, make it on college baseball’s biggest stage.
Thirty years ago an ageless Shoeless Joe Jackson hit the big screen to pose the question, “Is this Heaven?” The ballplayer’s inquiry came in reference to a magical baseball diamond in the heart of America’s midwestern cornfields.
Turned out it was Iowa, which happens to sit just across the river. Considering what happens in Omaha with the return of summer, these sacred grounds at the center of our country and in the forefront of our national consciousness for two weeks each June surely provide at least a window into heaven.
If heaven is, as the motion picture’s climactic moment submits, “the place where dreams come true,” then perhaps we are blessed with a rare glimpse each time we gather here. Maybe such opportunities exist in countless places on numerous occasions for those willing to simply open their eyes.
On the anniversary of the feature film which explores the relationship between fathers and sons in connection with our national pastime, it seems appropriate that College Baseball’s “Field of Dreams” is open for business and filled beyond capacity with dreamers once more.
Take a look inside the Florida State dugout. Four decades into his tenure, Mike Martin still dreams of a championship. Having devoted so much of his life to this game, the coaching legend has saddled up for one final ride as the sun begins to set on his record breaking career.
It is clear that he still cherishes every moment and still values every opportunity. The grandfatherly figure is not shy about admitting how much he has relished the chance to glance out at third base where his son journeys alongside him in the family’s chosen profession.
Having originally played for his dad in Tallahassee, Mike Martin Jr has since enjoyed 22 years on his staff. The triumphant moment they shared just this past weekend in Baton Rouge was only the latest in a travel chest full of lifetime memories.
Mike Martin has been wearing a college baseball uniform from the time John F. Kennedy was in the White House. With well over 2,000 wins between there and here, ‘Ol Number Eleven is in the process of putting the finishing touches on his legendary career with an eye still trained squarely upon what really matters.
“It’s okay to get a little emotional,” he reminded everyone on Friday, indicating that Father’s Day is once again upon us as an occasion worth doing so. Omaha is a special place, on Father’s Day even more so.
The unique relationship between fathers and sons is always on display at the College World Series. They fill the stands, walk the concourse, and enjoy the game. They compare notes, contemplate the outcomes and strengthen their personal bond over a Zesto milkshake.
They have often competed on the field at the highest level. They almost always share an extended embrace at the end of the journey, no matter the outcome. They stand as a reminder that so much of what happens here transcends the game.
Consider the three generations of Wolverines having worn the Maize and Blue right here in Omaha. John, now the grandfather, was part of a championship winning squad in the 60’s. His son and current Michigan first-baseman Jimmy Kerr’s father, Derek, played on the most recent team to reach the CWS in the 1980’s. As for Jimmy, he tripled and drove home a pair on Saturday afternoon before scoring himself, providing the latest in a lifetime of midwestern baseball memories for the Kerr family.
There are countless other dreams out there, still waiting to be fulfilled. Similar stories exist on all eight teams. Young athletes on and off the field will turn their focus here across the next ten days in anticipation of their own Omaha moments yet to come. They will train and prepare in expectation of their own championship caliber stories, yet to be written.
Can an inning change the world? You had better believe it. The movie also reminds us of this truth. Regardless of whether the game works out as planned, it is life-changing. The joy along this journey is often found in waiting to see which innings do in fact change the world and discovering just how much.
Whether at the gem of a ballpark that once stood proudly atop the hill or inside the new downtown centerpiece college baseball fans now savor; it has always been about the spirit of the game played within. It is the spirit of those who have gone before, those who have embraced this game, respected its basic principles and built what we enjoy today.
It remains those foundational values such as teamwork and sacrifice, determination and perseverance, along with the concept of going out to dream and returning home safely again that make these timeless words continue to ring true… If you build it, he will come.
It’s So Tough To Get Here
This always seems the main sentiment echoed by coaches as they step off the team bus onto this hallowed ground. Considering that neither the defending national champion nor the tournament’s top seed were able to navigate the difficult waters of the first two post-season rounds, their assessment appears on the mark. Only a trio of teams are back from the 2018 edition of the College World Series. Also worth noting, the top seed has been turned away without winning the title for two solid decades and Omaha will be crowning a different champion again this year, for the eighth straight season.
Power-Filled Power Field
All eight Programs arrived in Omaha by way of Power 5 conferences. The Southeastern Conference leads the way again, boasting half the field this season. The annual “survival of the fittest” in baseball’s premier power conference provided the the national championship tournament with four SEC representatives. These include regular season and tournament champion Vanderbilt, 2018 national runner up Arkansas, familiar face and return participant Mississippi State, alongside a feisty Auburn team having shown a flair for the dramatic throughout this year’s post-season. The ACC sends a pair of battle-tested squads to the Midwest, regular season champion Louisville and perennial power—suddenly turned sentimental favorite, Florida State. Auburn, Florida and Michigan all entered regional play as three seeds, though they’ve proven to be among the most powerful three seeds the tournament has ever seen. Michigan represents the Big Ten. The Road Warriors from Ann Arbor won a pair of titles in the 50’s and 60’s, but are back for the first time since the now distant 1980’s. The Wolverines are nearly single-handedly responsible for preventing the west coast any involvement this time around. Texas Tech completes the field, carrying the flag for all of the southwest. The Big 12 has performed very well in Omaha across recent editions of the tournament, though the conference is still seeking a first tittle since the series moved to TD Ameritrade Park. The Red Raiders won a hard fought head to head super regional battle between conference regular season and tournament champions in Lubbock to punch their ticket for the fourth time in the past six seasons. Think on this, five of the eight participants in this year’s field were also here in either 2017 or 2018. How powerful is the grip these elite conferences currently have on the game? The College World Series has been won by a “Power Five” program nine of the past ten seasons.
One Last(ing?) Ride
Legendary Florida State head coach Mike Martin is attempting to—borrowing a phrase from broadcasting icon Vin Scully’s performance in the quintessential baseball movie For Love Of The Game— “push the sun back up into the sky one final time in an effort to secure just a little more summer.” Will the seventeenth trip for “Eleven,” as he is affectionately known throughout the game, be the charm? There was some question as to whether his young Seminoles would even be able to run the notable streak of NCAA tournament bids to four solid decades under his baseball leadership. They did, also snagging enough victories to cross the 40 win threshold. Along the way, Florida State secured “upset victories” on the road in the Athens Regional and Baton Rouge Super Regional. That’s right, they’ve already had success against the SEC, preventing an additional Southeastern Conference squad from making the trip. The ‘Noles have met the usual expectations in Tallahassee by keeping these streaks alive. Can they now claim what no one else in Garnet and Gold has ever been able to provide, an elusive national championship for their once in a lifetime brand of skipper?
Unique Coaching Connections
Baseball is a relatively small world, providing endless talk of coaching connections. This goes well beyond the obvious storylines that link FSU’s Mike Martin to every head coach in the field. Remember, he has family right there on his staff, with Mike Martin Jr, who at one point played for his father, now coaching third base. The game itself is like a family, with only a few degrees of separation at programs all across the country. For more on the unique ties between this year’s coaches visit the profiles section. It’s nearly everywhere you look. Eleven termed it a “coaching fraternity.” This year these ties are perhaps even stronger than usual. For this elite group of skippers, those ties bind them not only to each other, but to Omaha as well.
Ready Made History
Homeruns are back up all across the game, yet the most historic of moments in the super regional round was provided by a pitcher. Facing elimination, Vanderbilt turned to a freshman starter. Kumar Rocker was equal to the task, striking out nineteen batters en route to a season saving no-hitter. As documented above, Mike Martin’s historic career will fittingly end in Omaha, at some point. His final coaching wins mark, which will undoubtedly never be approached, will be set in stone here. One more piece of history occurs in Omaha even before the first pitch of the CWS is thrown. Major League Baseball is holding a gem event, the inaugural MLB in Omaha game featuring the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals. Fittingly, both rosters are loaded with CWS participants and Omaha heroes. While much big league talent has cut its teeth in Omaha over the years, it marks the first big league game ever played in the state of Nebraska.
Seeding and Records
A pair of 50 win clubs made the journey, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt have already reached that threshold in 2019. Vanderbilt needs just a single win to set its all-time school record at 55. Just five of the sixteen national seeds are here. Each of those schools were slated inside the top eight as part of the premier grouping expected to survive the journey through the first two rounds of the post-season tournament. In a nod to the strength of consistent regular season success, conference champions of that variety are here out of the SEC, ACC and Big 12.
They line up as follows: (2) Vanderbilt (5) Arkansas (6) Mississippi St (7) Louisville (8) Texas Tech
Last Four In…Last One Standing
There is the potential for one of two teams designated “last four in” during the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field last month to actually play for the title. What a run it has been for both. See the major Florida State storylines above, but also understand this, Mike Martin’s team knocked off top five national seed Georgia in Athens then forced the LSU faithful to cancel their seemingly annual Omaha reservations with a super regional triumph in Baton Rouge. They accomplished the latter in walk-off fashion to silence on of the greatest environments in all of college baseball. In fact, Eleven called it the best road environment he’s experienced across his four plus decades in the game. Turning attention to Michigan, the road warriors moniker used in this preview may be an understatement. This team has been on the longest of journeys since the start of the Big Ten tournament, right here in Omaha. Their path included victories in a regional hosted by defending champion Oregon State and a super regional against the tournament’s number one overall seed, UCLA, at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles. These two might just be on a collision course, now occupying the same side of the CWS bracket.
Perhaps A Little More History
Among this year’s World Series teams only Vanderbilt and Michigan have reached college baseball’s pinnacle. The Commodores won the CWS in 2014. Michigan fans have to go back a bit further in the memory bank, winning titles in 1953 and 1962. With six teams seeking a first title, the likelihood of crowning a new champion is high. Arkansas was a single out away from joining this exclusive club last season. Florida State has been knocking on the door for decades. Mississippi State and Auburn are hungry to join the SEC winners club. Upstarts Louisville and Texas Tech have been dominant of late and enter as reigning conference champs. If a brand new champion pieces together enough solid baseball to dog pile at TD Ameritrade next week, college baseball would celebrate the 30th different champion in it’s storied history.
Sixteen Remain
The field was sliced from 64 to 16 in dramatic fashion over the weekend. Shocking comebacks and walk-off winners were the mark of the 2019 NCAA Tournament’s opening weekend. The defending champs were bounced in two at home. The top seed was immediately put to the test, in-state Cinderella style. When the dust settled, ten regionals were completed by Sunday without the “if necessary” contests. Only four schools ultimately emerged from the elimination side of their respective brackets to survive and advance. Those programs: UCLA, Louisville, East Carolina and Stanford.
Another POWER-ful championship field
Only one school remains alive from outside Power 5 conferences. That means 15 of the 16 remaining spots are occupied by the usual suspects. East Carolina is the outlier, carrying the flag for the American Athletic Conference and all the little guys throughout the land. The plain truth, however, is that this purple-clad wrecking crew out of Greenville, NC is in reality a somewhat underrated power program themselves. The Pirates entered the post-season as the #10 National Seed and have made more NCAA Tournament appearances than anyone in history without a trip to Omaha. Their hope, the 30th time is the charm. The conference breakdown: SEC (6) / ACC (4) / Big 12 & PAC 12 (2) / American & Big 10 (1).
The tourney provided fans mostly cross-conference battles after all
There was some concern that this year’s bracket was set up to deliver a heavy dose of intra-conference super regionals. As it turned out, only two of the five potential head-to-head conference matchups materialized. The Arkansas-Ole Miss (SEC) and Texas Tech-Oklahoma State (Big 12) supers will be the only weekend series marked by conference familiarity. It is worth noting that the potential for these matchups could become the new normal in NCAA baseball, since such pairings exist as the direct result of the sport’s relatively newly adopted approach to seeding. If you haven’t heard, the selection committee is now required (since ‘18) to seed spots one through sixteen on the sole basis of merit without regard for potential super regional showdowns.
This edition featured a memorable and record breaking opening weekend
The curtain raising round of the 2019 NCAA Baseball Championship proved memorable—and not just for lack of the all too familiar early summer weather issues. Baseball itself was generally the top story this time around as the weekend clicked right along. This year’s crop of #3 seeds put together a record setting 12-3 opening act against the 2’s on the first full day of action. Hitters set a new high-water mark for regionals with over 230 homers across the weekend. A school named Omaha made the tournament for the very first time, while CWS host school Creighton embarked on an impressive run to the regional finals out west. The Gamecocks of Jacksonville State picked up an initial tournament victory by ending Clemson’s season en route to a regional finals trip of their own down in the land of the Rebels. Pleasant surprises came from the likes of Loyola, Illinois State and Campbell. They each woke up on the final day of regional play in control of their respective brackets. One more tip of the cap is in order, it goes to Baylor’s Shea Langeliers who set a new NCAA mark for RBI’s in a single tournament game. His 5-for-6 performance was marked by a trio of homeruns and went down in history thanks to the ELEVEN runs he drove home in the contest.
The last shall be first…shall the last be a first?
Three of the teams listed as a part of the “last four in” grouping on Selection Monday went on to win their regionals this past weekend. Duke, Florida State and Michigan made the best of their bubble fortunes. Speaking of lasts, Mike Martin will not be riding off into the sunset just yet. The legendary FSU skipper saw his team respond in dominant fashion down in Athens to extend his career after making the field for a fortieth time under his leadership— in just that many years. Four decades down the line, ‘Ol Eleven and the ‘Noles remain in search of that elusive first National Title.
12 of 16 National Seeds remain in the hunt
This truth may seem in conflict with the previous point. Yes, a handful of schools pulled off surprises, but things went mostly according to plan in the opening round—though it may be hard to believe if you’re located in the state of Georgia. Six of the top eight national seeds are hosting supers. Historically just 44% of this group arrives in the Midwest come title time. Regardless of what happens with the top eight, it is reasonable to expect a solid crop of nationally seeded squads to duke it out for the crown beginning next weekend.
It’s a great game, yet some things run much deeper than the game
The outstanding baseball witnessed this past weekend served as a reminder of the timeless elements which truly set the game apart. There may have been something much bigger than the game of baseball at play down on the Plains, however. Auburn was without longtime broadcaster Rod Bramblett for the first time since the mid-90’s in the Atlanta Regional. The lives of Bramblett and his wife were celebrated by the Auburn community this past week after a tragic auto accident. It seemed the voice of the Tigers was smiling down as War Eagle upended a border rival and the tourney’s #3 overall national seed with a first among improbable flip the script style walk-off winners.
Familiar faces poised for return to TD Ameritrade Park
Four of last season’s Omaha eight remain alive. National Runner-Up Arkansas, as well as, Mississippi State, UNC and Texas Tech are all in position to make return trips to Omaha. All four schools are seeded nationally and will be hosting their respective super regionals. While the sport is assured of a different champion for the ninth consecutive year, three schools having won titles in the past decade (LSU, UCLA, Vanderbilt) are in position to have their say.
Photo courtesy: Leah Carmen / Patterson Communications
