2025 CWS BRACKET
LSU TIGERS 2025 NATIONAL CHAMPS!!!!
The 78th College World Series
June 13th – 23rd, 2024
Omaha, Nebraska
Recaps and scheduling updates from the 2024 CWS
Follow The College World Series LIVE
National Championship Series
Game 1 * Saturday June 21 * 7:00 ET
Coastal vs LSU
Tigers 1 Chanticleers 0 * LSU leads series 1-0
Game 2 * Sunday June 22 * 2:30 ET
LSU vs Coastal
Tigers 5 Chanticleers 3 * LSU wins series 2-0
Today’s CWS Schedule
COLLEGE BASEBALL’S FINAL FOUR
Game 11: Louisville vs Coastal Carolina, 2 PM ET
Coastal Carolina advances to the CWS Finals with a win
Game 12: Arkansas vs LSU, 7 PM ET
LSU advances to the CWS Finals with a win
CWS Game Recaps
Game 12
Arkansas vs LSU
Tigers 6 Razorbacks 5
*LSU walk-off winner in an instant classic*
—Arkansas Eliminated—
In about as wild a contest as the CWS could provide, the 75th edition in Omaha delivered yet another game worth remembering for a lifetime. Ultimately, LSU walked-off Arkansas to advance to the Championship Series for the second time in three years. There is, however, so much more to the story of this most recent showdown between the SEC rivals.
It was a game of epic proportions. After rocking along through the first two-thirds or so, the second meeting between the Tigers and Razorbacks found an entirely new gear on the back side of the 7th inning stretch.
Seemingly a one-run game throughout, the score stood 1-0 Arkansas into the bottom of the 6th on the strength of Ryder Helfrick’s 4th inning homerun. LSU claimed its first lead on a pinch-hit 2 RBI single from Jake Brown, carrying a 2-1 lead into the 7th.
The Hogs plated a pair in the 8th to forge out front 3-2. Jared Jones homered in the bottom half to equalize. When the Razorbacks broke the 3–3 tie with two more in the top of the 9th inning, a much anticipated and somewhat expected winner-take-all showdown on Thursday evening in Omaha appeared almost certain.
The bottom of the 9th began innocently enough, when Josh Pearson struck out swinging. After Curiel reached second base on an infield single followed by the first defensive miscue of the frame, Frey walked. With first and second one out, the ball found SEC player of the year and Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy, who opted to field Milam’s roller and toss it to third for a force play. The Omahogs were one out away from avenging their opening contest loss and surviving to fight another day.
With two-outs in the bottom of the 9th LSU catcher Luis Hernandez stroked one into left field. Whatever happened on Charles Davalan’s hurried approach to the sinking liner, the baseball worked by him, all the way to the wall, tying the game 5-5. Jared Jones was next. He lined a 2-1 pitch off Omaha native second baseman Cam Kozeal’s glove and into center field, sealing the Heartbreak Hogs 2025 College World Series fate and propelling LSU, by virtue of its latest CWS magic, into the Finals.
An absolute classic of a baseball game set the 2025 CWS Finals in stone. Coastal Carolina and LSU will meet Saturday night to open the National Championship Series.
Game 11
Louisville vs Coastal
Chanticleers 11 Cardinals 3
—Louisville Eliminated—
Eleven runs in Game Eleven left no doubt as to who owned Bracket 1 in Omaha. Coastal Carolina exploded for six runs in their opening at bat, cruising to the CWS Finals.
The beach party in the Palmetto state continues to the tune of a twenty-six game wining streak which dates back to April 22. Coastal rolled through Arizona, Oregon State and Louisville in succession, outscoring its opponents 24-9 to claim the first spot in the title round.
A strong start from Riley Eikhoff and a multi-hit day with 5 RBI’s from Colby Thorndyke served as the latest catalysts for the strutting Chanticleers. The score was 8-0 before Louisville plated a run. Coastal’s 11 runs on 11 hits proved more than enough to propel the club to a 2nd National Championship Series appearance in just that many tries.
The only question for the Chanticleers, which of the remaining SEC teams will the SunBelt crew face in the Finals. LSU and Arkansas meet for the second time this tournament in the nightcap and perhaps a third time on Thursday evening, if necessary, to provide the answer.
Game 10
UCLA vs Arkansas
Razorbacks 7 Bruins 3
—UCLA Eliminated—
With 17 consecutive scoreless innings posted by the Hogs pitching staff at the CWS, Arkansas gave its offense time to build a commanding lead and once more extended their stay in Omaha.
UCLA showed no real signs of life offensively until the 9th, by that time Arkansas fans were thinking ahead to the forthcoming rivalry rematch. The Bruins experience the unusual and unfortunate fate of waking up on the winners side of the bracket only to be forced to pack their bags before the day ended. A pair of losses to the only two SEC representatives dispatched UCLA as the final West Coast club eliminated from the field.
Arkansas’ victory sets up a rematch with SEC rival LSU. The Hogs will be required to defeat the Tigers on back to back evenings in order to keep the dream of the elusive National Championship alive.
Game 9
Oregon State vs Louisville
Cardinals 7 Beavers 6
—Oregon State Eliminated—
Louisville withstood the best punch Oregon State could provide, then stood tall as a walk-off winner. Dan McDonnell’s club continues to provide the compelling drama in Omaha, winning with their backs against the wall for a second consecutive day.
The Beavers plated three runs in the top of the ninth to pull even, only to see Louisville load the bases in the home half ahead of an Eddie King Jr fly ball into the outfield, which ended the Beavs season. It was somewhat ironic that the home-away designation proved consequential to OSU’s undoing, considering the designated independent’s season long battle for home opportunities.
A former College World Series participant as a player with the Citadel, Dan McDonnell and crew used their latest late game heroics to sets up a semi-final showdown with a Palmetto State flavor. He and the Cardinals are set to face the familiar colors of Coastal Carolina for the right to play in the National Championship Series.
Game 8
LSU vs UCLA
Tigers 9 Bruins 5
It required a portion of two days to complete Game 8, as the Midwest weather became a storyline for the first time at this year’s edition of the College World Series. LSU carried a 2-run lead through three full innings into the Monday night suspension, then built upon it one day later en route to a 4-run victory.
The game stood 5-3 when placed on pause, only to see LSU add further offense Tuesday morning. Jared Jones three run homerun in the first inning proved the tone-setter and it was ultimately the biggest blow of the two-part contest. Jay Johnson’s club looked driven and methodical in both the evening and morning hours, placing on the shoulders of UCLA the unenviable task of playing a portion of two games in the same day for the right to stick around.
LSU now awaits the winner of a UCLA-Arkansas tilt later in the day.
Game 7
Arkansas vs Murray State
Razorbacks 3 Racers 0
**GAGE WOOD NO-HITTER**
—Murray State Eliminated—
Gage Wood made headlines with the third No-Hitter in College World Series history. It stands as the first in 65 years. The Arkansas kid was a hit batsman shy of the perfect game.
The Arkansas native also set a new CWS strikeout record for a 9 inning game, punching out 19 Murray State batters en route to eliminating the darlings of this year’s tournament. His record clinching strikeout came with the type of added storyline only the College World Series can provide, with Wood facing his offseason workout comrade who also attended his high school in the small but impactful Arkansas town of Batesville.
For those wondering, Gage Wood joins Jim Wixon (Oklahoma State, vs UNC, 1960) and Jim Ehrler (Texas, vs Tufts, 1950) as the three pitchers to accomplish the no-hit feat at the CWS.
The latest to secure legendary status in Omaha provided perhaps his most classic moments postgame, Wood flipped the baseball to his family on the way up the tunnel, visited with his opposing friend for a brief moment immediately following the outing, and shared candidly with the press that the only thing he truly saw as special along the way today was, “he didn’t want his team to go home.”
His Razorbacks will not go home, at least for now. Arkansas awaits the loser of LSU/UCLA in its next step of the journey. An elimination contest is scheduled for 7PM ET Tuesday evening.
Game 6
Coastal vs Oregon State
Chants 6 Beavers 2
Three runs in the first proved sufficient to run Coastal Carolina’s winning streak to 25 in ‘25. The longest winning streak all-time for a team cruising into Omaha for just the second time in school history continues to grow. The Chanticleers find themselves one step closer to making it 2-for-2 in terms of successful trips from the Carolina coast to College Baseball’s Midwest home.
Oregon State could not solve Jacob Morrison, who improved to a perfect 12-0 on the season with his latest more than quality outing for Coastal.
Beavers will line up against Louisville once more in an elimination contest on Tuesday afternoon.
Game 5
Arizona vs Louisville
Cards 8 Cats 3
—Arizona Wildcats eliminated—
Louisville came to life late against Arizona, eliminating the Wildcats with a 6-run 8th frame. The Cards final at bat explosion proved more than enough this time around. It was in keeping with Louisville’s season narrative, which featured 17 come from behind victories prior to arriving in Omaha.
The 8th inning proved Arizona’s undoing in both its 2025 CWS games. The Wildcats became the first team to depart after going 0-2 at the hands of Coastal and Louisville. If history provides hope, Coach Chip Hale and company can look to his playing days when one year removed from an 0-2 Omaha trip in 1985, the Cats claimed the ‘86 title.
After punching back effectively, Dan McDonnell’s Cards now await the Coastal-Oregon State outcome later today. Louisville will be back in action Tuesday afternoon.
Game 4
LSU vs Arkansas
Tigers 4 Razorbacks 1
LSU’s Kade Anderson limited Arkansas to a solo HR in the middle frames, making 4 LSU runs stand up for the victory in a Saturday Night SEC Showdown at the College World Series.
The fourth game of the tournament featured the top two remaining national seeds in #3 Arkansas and #6 LSU, as well as, the only two clubs representing the mighty SEC. LSU put itself in the best spot to run the premier college baseball conference’s streak of consecutive National Championships to six in a row.
LSU will face UCLA on Monday night for control of their side of the bracket.
Game 3
Murray State vs UCLA
Bruins 6 Racers 4
UCLA marked its return to Omaha by building a six run lead early, then hanging on for a victory over the tournament darlings from the Bluegrass State.
In their most recent trip, the Bruins rolled through the College World Series in unbeaten fashion to claim the 2013 title. UCLA remains among the few unbeatens in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
UCLA now has a Monday night meeting with the SEC. They will face whoever emerges unscathed from the Arkansas-LSU showdown.
Game 2
Louisville vs Oregon State
Beavers 4 Cardinals 3
Oregon State withstood a late push from Louisville and eventually walked-off the Cardinals to open their time in Omaha with a one run win.
The resident road warriors and lone independent in the tournament showed its propensity to win neutral site nailbiters.
Oregon State is now set to face Coastal Carolina in a Sunday evening showdown.
Game 1
Arizona vs Coastal Carolina
Chanticleers 7 Wildcats 4
Coastal Carolina opened the College World Series with pleasant memories and a familiar foe in the opposing dugout. The Chanticleers also enjoyed a familiar result, upending Arizona to extend their national best winning streak to twenty-four consecutive games to open the 2025 edition of college baseball’s crown jewel.
A genius pitching move backed up with a stellar pitching performance translated into a three run victory to set the tone for a full week of baseball in Omaha.
Coastal Carolina awaits the Oregon State-Louisville winner in a Sunday evening showdown.
2024 CWS
2024 CWS BRACKET
The 77th College World Series
June 14th – 24th, 2024
Omaha, Nebraska
Recaps and scheduling updates from the 2024 CWS
Follow The College World Series LIVE!
**National Championship Series**
CWS FINALS
#1 Tennessee Volunteers (SEC) vs #3 Texas A&M Aggies (SEC)
College baseball is assured a new first time champion. Tennessee and Texas A&M battle to become the 32nd program to hoist the trophy as winners of the 77th College World Series.
The Vols and Aggies met just once this season, a 7-4 Tennessee victory at the SEC Tournament. Regardless of the outcome, the winner will secure a 5th straight title for the Southeastern Conference.
Tennessee is seeking to become the first top seeded team to win the title this century. A&M is working on a perfect post-season as the lone remaining unbeaten in NCAA Tournament play. The winner becomes the 10th SEC based champion in the past 16 seasons.
The 77th College World Series continues this weekend from Omaha, Nebraska (Photo courtesy: Leah Carmen)
CWS Finals
Game 1 * Saturday, 7:30 PM ET * ESPN
Texas A&M 9 Tennessee 5
Game 2 * Sunday 2:00 PM ET * ABC
Tennessee 4 Texas A&M 1
Game 3 * Monday 7:00 PM ET * ESPN
Tennessee 6 Texas A&M 5
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS CLAIM 2024 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
The 77th College World Series continues this weekend from Omaha, Nebraska (Photo courtesy: Leah Carmen)
CWS GAME RECAPS
Game 12
Texas A&M vs Florida
Semi-Final Round
Aggies 6 Gators 0
Florida Gators Eliminated
Texas A&M and Florida capped a three game day in Omaha, the first since June 21, 2012. A shutout victory for the Aggies dropped the curtain on a busy Wednesday at the College World Series. With the 6-0 win, A&M secured its spot in the National Championship Series for the first time.
A Gators team that had just exploded for 15 runs earlier in the day, was shutout in the night cap. For all the low scoring affairs, Game 12 stands as the lone shutout of the 2024 College World Series.
Two runs in the opening frame proved more than enough for the Aggies staff. Four A&M pitchers, Justin Lamkin, Chris Cortez, Josh Stewart and Evan Aschenbeck combined for a 4 hit shutout. Lamkin faced 19 batters in working through the first 5 innings. By the time the bullpen took over, the Aggies had already built a 5-0 lead.
A bases loaded walk and a sac fly cashed in the first inning opportunity. A ground-rule double by Gavin Grahovac in the 5th plated Kaeden Kent, who later drove home the Aggies final run with a 9th inning RBI single of his own. It was Kent who set the outcome at 6-0.
The other offense came in the 6th frame, provided on a two-run homer by Caden Sorrell. Meanwhile, the Aggies pitching staff combined to strike out 14 Gators on the night.
The Lone Star crew remained perfect in the 2024 edition of the NCAA Tournament. Despite countless injuries and setbacks, the Aggies have now swept through regionals, supers and their side of the bracket at the CWS.
In an interesting twist, today’s result makes sure Texas A&M will only face teams from its own conference during this year’s extended stay in Omaha. As the 12th Man readies itself to converge on the Midwest, Aggieland celebrates its first appearance in the Finals.
The Aggies victory sets in stone an all SEC championship matchup with Tennessee. It also assures college baseball a brand new and first time champion in 2024.
Game 11
Tennessee vs Florida State
Semi-Final Round
Vols 7 Noles 2
Florida State Seminoles Eliminated
Tennessee advance to the National Finals with a second CWS victory over FSU. A three run first inning set the tone for a Volunteers squad that ultimately pounded out ten hits en route to a 7-2 victory.
The Vols led 4-0 after two frames, building a 6-0 lead at stretch time. Pitching trio Zander Sechrist, Kirby Connell and Nate Snead never allowed the Seminoles to pull within striking distance.
Blake Burke’s 20th home run of the season proved the exclamation point in the 9th. His swing also made Tennessee the first team in NCAA history with 5 hitters boasting 20 or more round trippers in a single campaign.
Sechrist held the FSU offense down with six scoreless frames to begin his outing. The southpaw worked into the 7th, allowing only back to back home runs to Daniel Cantu and Alex Lodise before departing. The back to back bombs ended up being FSU’s only runs of the contest.
With the elimination of Florida State, a head to head SEC final is guaranteed for the second consecutive season. All three remaining teams hail from the Southeastern Conference.
2024 marks the 6th time SEC foes will settle it amongst themselves. The same occurred in 1997, 2011, 2017, 2021, 2023. The conference has enjoyed at least one representative in the finals 15 of the past 16 seasons. It is now certain, the SEC will claim a 5th straight CWS Title.
The Vols will be appearing in the National Championship round for just the second time in program history, the school’s first since 1951, back when Rosenblatt and the CWS were both in their infancy.
Game 10
Kentucky vs Florida
Elimination Game
Gators 15 Wildcats 4
Kentucky Wildcats Eliminated
Kentucky’s memorable and historic run came to an end in the early afternoon hours on Wednesday at the hands of one of the consistent powers in their own conference. Florida avenged the regular season series loss to the Wildcats with a 15-4 rout.
Florida’s 7 run 1st inning stands as the most productive inning of the ‘24 CWS thus far. The Gators also posted the overall high water mark in scoring while boasting the largest margin of victory to this point in the ‘24 edition of the “Greatest Show On Dirt.”
Jac Caglianone became the program’s all-time leader in HR’s, blasting the 75th of his storied Florida career. His was one of four homers for the Gators. Half that total belonged to designated hitter Brody Donay. The multi-homer day included his first inning Grand Slam, which served as the tone-setter for the morning turned afternoon.
Florida scored 12 of its 15 runs in a pair of big innings. A five-run 5th followed up the seven run explosion in the game’s opening frame. Two runs in the 3rd and a single run in the 6th to cap the scoring eventually set the tally.
This game was postponed from Tuesday evening’s 6PM local time slot. The morning contest had the distinction of being both the coldest and earliest game since the series moved downtown. Its 10:07 AM first pitch was 8 minutes earlier than Mississippi State/North Carolina in 2018. The game-time temperature of 66 was one degree cooler than the June 11th game played during the inaugural season at TD Ameritrade Park, eventual champion South Carolina’s win over Virginia.
Kentucky became the 118th different team to play in the CWS and the final SEC team to reach Omaha, their appearance meaning all 14 have appeared in the College World Series at least once. This will remain true when the league expands next season with perennial college baseball powers Texas and Oklahoma, making it 16 of 16.
With Kentucky’s elimination, Coastal Carolina (‘16) remains the only team to win the event in their 1st trip. The Cats ended the most successful season in school history 46-16.
Four teams remain in Omaha. A pair of Florida flagships will be looking to upend SEC powers Tennessee and Texas A&M. It will need to happen twice each if there is to be a Sunshine State showdown for the title.
Florida will have to accomplish the rare feat under the current format of winning multiple games in a single day. The Gators are scheduled to face Texas A&M in the semi-final round later tonight.
Game 9
Florida State vs North Carolina
Elimination Game
Seminoles 9 Tarheels 5
North Carolina Tarheels Eliminated
Florida State defeated UNC 9-5 Tuesday afternoon in an all ACC Elimination Game. The Seminoles are set to face Tennessee in the Semi-Finals. FSU will need a pair of wins to reach the CWS Finals.
FSU had built a 7-1 lead by the midway point. UNC answered with a 4-run bottom of the 5th. It remained 7-5 into the 9th.
Back to back home runs from the nine hole and leadoff spots in the order allowed Florida State to create further separation and set the final. Jaxon West and Max Williams deposited UNC deliveries into the left and right field bullpens respectively to provide the exclamation points in the Noles final at bat.
Hometown product Jaxon West’s 4-hit effort out of the 9 hole was the first for a Seminole player at the CWS since eventual three-time Giants World Champion Buster Posey last accomplished that feat. Posey did the same in 2008.
Vance Honeycutt doubled and hit his 28th home run of the season as part of an impressive 3-for-5 effort in his final game for UNC. His slow reflective walk from the Tarheel dugout to the Charles Schwab Field locker room put the finishing touches on a stellar college career in the place he helped make known this post-season as Chapel Thrill.
This elimination game became the only game played on Tuesday at the College World Series. Anticipated weather in the evening hours forced postponement of the night cap, setting up a three game marathon on Wednesday. Contests are expected to resume at 10 AM local time in Omaha.
Game 8
Texas A&M vs Kentucky
Aggies 5 Wildcats 1
Texas A&M claimed the winner’s bracket contest against Kentucky 5-1, to earn control of their side of the CWS bracket. A strong start from Ryan Prager was the headliner for the Aggies.
The A&M starter carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning. Prager ended up working 6 2/3 scoreless frames. His final line: 6 2/3, 2 hits, 4K, BB, 95 pitches thrown. Josh Stewart worked the final inning and two-thirds for the Aggies.
Kentucky first baseman Ryan Nicholson broke up both the no-hitter and the shutout. Kentucky finally put something on the board with his 7th inning single to left. He homered in the 9th to spoil the shutout. It was his 2nd of the CWS and 23rd of the season, marking a new single season record for the emerging Kentucky program.
The Wildcats entered the CWS as one of only five teams in the Super Regional era to have never trailed in the NCAA Tournament prior to Omaha. They never led on Monday night.
All 5 of Texas A&M’s runs came in the visiting half of the 6th inning. Hayden Schott, Ali Camarillo and Kaeden Kent all pieced together RBI knocks.
With the win over Kentucky, Texas A&M is the lone remaining unbeaten in this year’s NCAA Tournament. The Aggies await the winner of Kentucky and Florida to settle the now all-SEC side of the bracket.
Game 7
Florida vs NC State
Elimination Game
Gators 5 Wolfpack 4
NC State Wolfpack Eliminated
Florida and NC State faced off Monday afternoon for the right to stick around. Florida parlayed a 4-run 2nd inning into a 5-4 victory.
The Gators came from behind early to build a 4-1 lead, then held on for the ‘24 CWS’ latest one run decision. Down 1-0 after NC State plated the game’s first run in the opening frame, Florida’s big inning was marked by Jac Caglianone’s 34th HR. Caglianone’s 3 run shot changed the narrative of his day, after the Florida starter lasted just a single inning atop the mound.
NC State scored two more runs in the 3rd to inch closer. Both teams scored single runs in the 5th to set the final. The highlight for the Wolfpack, Alec Makarewicz 24th home run of the season.
Brandon Neely shined out of the Gators pen, working the final three innings. His effort included a 1-2-3 9th.
NC State’s season ends with 38 wins. Elliott Avent’s team closed out its time at the CWS with a pair of 5-4 losses.
The first six games of the 2024 CWS had all been won by the designated home team. The Gators broke this string on Monday. Florida advances to take on either Texas A&M or Kentucky on the elimination side of the bracket.
Game 6
North Carolina vs Tennessee
Volunteers 6 Tarheels 1
Tennessee started the CWS 2-0 with a commanding victory over North Carolina. The Vols took control of the top side of the bracket with the 6-1 win on Sunday evening.
Drew Beam, Kirby Connell and Nate Snead combined to limit UNC to a single run on five total hits. North Carolina’s lone run scored on Vance Honeycutt’s 27th home run of the season. Parks Harber also made his presence known, with the only multi-hit game for the Tarheels.
The game was delayed 16 minutes for an umpire swap. Scott Kline needed to take over for Kellen Levy behind the plate. Linus Baker had been shaken up earlier in the day but continued as the home plate umpire in Game 5.
Tennessee began the scoring with a 3-run home run from Kaveres Tears in the 4th inning. It was part of a mult-hit game for Tears, who ended the day with a double alongside his 20th long ball of the season. He drove home four of the Vols six runs in the win.
Tennessee awaits it semi-final round opponent, now one step away from the CWS Finals.
Game 5
Virginia vs Florida State
Elimination Game
Seminoles 7 Cavaliers 3
Virginia Cavaliers Eliminated
Happy Father’s Day from Omaha
Virginia and Florida State faced off in the first elimination game of the 2024 College World Series. Link Jarrett and the Noles bounced back nicely, building a 7-0 lead and hanging on for a 7-3 victory. Virginia becomes the first team eliminated from the 2024 CWS.
Jaime Ferrer drilled a pair of home runs as apart of a 4 RBI performance to lead FSU. The Noles used just two pitchers, Carson Dorsey and Brennan Oxford, to hold down Virginia’s highly regarded veteran lineup.
The Hoos scored two in the 7th and a single run in the 8th to set the final. Securing 10 hits, Virginia would leave 9 men stranded. Highly touted mult-sport athlete Jay Woolfolk was the losing pitcher for UVA.
It marked the second consecutive two-and-out trip to the CWS for Virginia. The Cavaliers became the first team to depart Omaha for the second straight year.
Florida State remains alive to face either North Carolina or Tennessee on Tuesday, depending upon the June 16th evening outcome.
Game 4
Florida vs Texas A&M
Aggies 3 Gators 2
Texas A&M defeated Florida 4-3 in the early Sunday morning hours. A late night affair, pushed back by weather and marked by a 10:16 local time first pitch ultimately ended after 2AM Eastern. Though it became the first contest of the 2024 CWS not to end in a walk-off, it continued the trend of one-run ballgames.
With most locals, yea even some broadcasters, already tucked away in bed; the Aggies and Gators went to work in an effort to complete the first full slate of games while keeping the tournament schedule on track. It was mission accomplished, certainly for Jim Schlossnagle’s club.
Texas A&M took a 3-0 lead early and held on for the win late. The Aggies plated 2 in the 2nd and 1 in the 3rd to build the advantage. Chris Cortez picked up the win, his 10th of the season, despite surrendering the Gators only two runs.
Both of Florida’s runs came in the 7th. The Gators outhit A&M 8 to 6 and notched 4 of the contest’s 5 extra base hits, yet could not find a way to pull even late. UF left 10 runners on base along the way.
Texas A&M will face Kentucky Monday for control of the SEC heavy side of the ‘24 CWS bracket.
Game 3
NC State vs Kentucky
Wildcats 5 Wolfpack 4 (10)
Kentucky walked-off NC State in extra-innings with a 5-4 victory in the Wildcats first ever College World Series contest. The Cats became just the third school all-time to walk-off its CWS opener.
The Wildcats scored in their initial Omaha inning for a 1-0 lead. NC State tied the game in the 3rd. Kentucky scored 2 in the 4th and the Wolfpack plated a pair in the 7th, making the tally 3-3 at stretch time.
Both clubs scored a single run in the 9th, with Ryan Nicholson homering in the bottom of the frame for Kentucky, setting the stage for Mitchell Daly’s walk-off homer in the 10th.
There have now been 3 walk-off homers in the downtown era of the CWS. Tommy White of LSU walked-off Wake Forest in the Semi-Final round last season and Vanderbilt’s Jeren Kendall accomplished this against Cal State Fullerton in 2015.
Kentucky’s Trey Pooser and NC State’s Sam Highfill set the tone atop the mound, both starters working into the 7th. The Wolfpack left 12 runners on base in the contest.
The Kentucky homers in the 9th and 10th from Nicholson and Daly provided the dramatics for a team showing signs of complete comfort in its first ever trip to Omaha. Kentucky awaits the Texas A&M-Florida winner on Monday evening.
Game 2
Florida State vs Tennessee
Volunteers 12 Florida State 11
Tennessee surged back to upend FSU 12-11 in a Friday night slugfest at the College World Series. Two games have been played, both ending in walk-offs to open the 2024 edition of the tournament.
A four run bottom of the 9th propelled the Vols to victory. The NCAA tournament’s top seed snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a never-say-die approach to their final scheduled at bat.
Florida State carried an 11-8 lead into the bottom of the final frame. The Noles appeared ready to jump the railing for baseball’s trademark congratulatory handshakes, however, a check swing that appeared to end it was deemed a no-go, extending the contest. Tennessee capitalized with a Blake Burke single up the middle to tie the game, followed by Billy Amick’s game-winner into left.
After FSU took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning, Tennessee surged ahead for a 4-1 lead early. The Seminoles utilized a six run top of the 3rd to take command, 7-4. The teams continued to trade runs through the middle frames, building toward FSU’s 11-8 9th inning advantage.
Christian Moore grabbed further headlines, hitting for the first CWS cycle since the 1950’s. With his cycle, Moore joined Minnesota’s Jerry Kindall who accomplished the feat against Ole Miss in 1956. Moore and Kindall are the only two players in CWS history to notch all four legs of the cycle. The highly regarded MLB prospect ended the day 5-for-6 with 4 runs scored.
The flip-the-script outcome completely changed the top side of the bracket, placing Tennessee in the driver’s seat. Should these two powerful clubs meet again on down the line, it will now be the Vols with margin for error, having to be upended twice should a highly anticipated second meeting occur in the CWS semi-finals.
Game 1
Virginia vs North Carolina
Tarheels 3 Cavaliers 2
The 2024 College World Series began in style. North Carolina walked-off Virginia in the opener. Tarheel standout center-fielder Vance Honeycutt provided the decisive knock to set the 3-2 final.
UNC notched a run in the tournament’s opening inning. UVA plated its first run in the 3rd, claiming the lead with another in the 6th. The Tarheels answered back to tie the game 2-2 in the 7th, before walking it off in the 9th.
The decisive single into left field was Honeycutt’s only hit of the game. Virginia opted to pitch to the slugger instead of Casey Cook who had already put together a 3-for-4 day with an RBI and run scored.
Dalton Pence provided 3 1/3 innings of hitless relief for the Heels. Virginia left 10 on base in the contest.
Virginia’s two runs provided a snapshot into the program’s history and future. Freshman record-holder and Charlottesville native Henry Ford drove in Virginia’s first run of the CWS as a window into the future. Veteran Shortstop and team leader Griff O’Ferrall, a direct link to the past, was responsible for the only other run when his Sacrifice Fly to put the Hoos ahead for a moment in time.
North Carolina awaits the Tennessee-Florida State winner for a Sunday showdown.
2023 CWS
2023 CWS BRACKET
The 76th College World Series
June 16th – 26th, 2023
Omaha, Nebraska
LSU TIGERS CLAIM ’23 NATIONAL TITLE!!!!!!!
Recaps and scheduling updates from the 2023 CWS
Follow The College World Series LIVE!
CWS FINAL
#2 Seed Florida Gators (SEC) vs #5 Seed LSU Tigers (SEC)
Conference rivals LSU and Florida are set for an an all-SEC showdown for the 2023 National Championship.
It marks the 5th time the SEC will have settled the title within the family. The familiar foes begin the best-of-three series on Saturday evening in Omaha.
Florida is seeking its 2nd title in program history. LSU will be pursuing number 7.
CWS DAILY RECAPS
DAY TEN
Monday June 26th
CWS FINALS * GAME THREE
LSU Tigers 18 Florida Gators 4
LSU Claims National Championship Series 2-1
LSU began the 2023 season as the consensus #1 college baseball team in the land, they ended the post-season that very same way. The Tigers claimed their 7th National Title in program history with a lopsided win in Game Three of the CWS Finals. The night served as a bold exclamation point on a 54 win championship campaign.
It was somewhat befitting this LSU club, which had battled back through the elimination side of its bracket in Omaha, that they once more came from behind. Florida led 2-0 after an inning of play, thanks to Wyatt Langford’s two-run blast. By the time the Gators pushed another run across, LSU had all but put the game away.
A six spot in the 2nd inning proved the catalyst for the program’s seventh title. Four more in the 4th built a 10-2 advantage, which the Tigers enjoyed through the middle frames. Both teams would score in the 7th and 8th innings, before LSU put up another crooked number in the 9th, eventually setting the final at 18-4.
Ty Evans homered late for the Gators, becoming the first player in CWS history to leave the yard five times during a single edition of the tournament. Unfortunately for the SEC regular season champs, it was one of only five hits on the night for the Gainesville crew.
LSU pounded out a CWS record 24 hits, one more than Florida’s tally from the day before. Though they did not eclipse the freshly minted record for runs record, the Tigers won handily to claim the winner-take-all third game versus their conference rivals. It culminated in the trademark dogpile at Charles Schwab Field.
A run to the title which began with high drama, ended with a forceful display of power. A series which began with low scoring one run affairs, ended with the all-time runs and hits records by an individual team in a single CWS game both surpassed by the opposing sides in back to back contests. In a nod to just how dominant LSU’s final performance became, the Tigers still somehow left as many stranded as they scored. Yes, eighteen runners were left aboard alongside the eighteen runs of production which filled the line score. Six different players notched multi-hit efforts in the clincher. Nearly every member of the purple and gold was involved in one way or another.
Coach Jay Johnson called the 2023 championship campaign “the ride of a lifetime.” Johnson became the fourth Coach to lead LSU to a National Championship, joining Skip Bertman, Smoke Laval and Paul Mainieri. Just the latest chapter in the school’s storied baseball history, these Tigers will carry lucky #7 back to the Bayou.
DAY NINE
Sunday June 25th
CWS FINALS * GAME TWO
Florida 24 LSU 4
National Championship Series tied 1-1
Florida set a new record for runs scored in a CWS game, forcing a winner take all Game Three in the National Championship Series. On a rare offense friendly afternoon at Charles Schwab Field, with the wind blowing out steadily, the Gators exploded for 24 runs on 23 hits to post the new all-time mark. Twenty-eight total runs were scored on the day, setting the final at 24-4.
Ty Evans provided a pair of early home runs, in back to back innings, when the game was still in doubt. His grand slam in the 3rd highlighted a six run frame which built the Gator lead to 7-3.
LSU loaded the bases in the next half inning, only to see Tommy White ground into a double play. It was after tacking on a run to extend the tally to 8-3 one inning later that the Gators seemed to have the game in hand. The score settled in there through the midway point.
The Gators would add 5 more in the 6th, 2 in the 7th, 4 in the 8th, then post a 5-spot for good measure in the 9th. After trailing 3-1 into the 3rd, 23 unanswered Florida runs came around to score before LSU took its last licks. A single run for the Tigers in their final at bat placed the eventual tally in stone.
Evans was not the only Gator with a multi-homer effort. He was eventually joined by Jac Caglianone, who set a new high water mark for home runs in the “BBCOR” era with his 32nd and 33rd blasts of the year. Wyatt Langford also posted a big day, ending up just a triple short of the cycle. In all, ten different Gators notched hits and eleven members of Florida’s roster touched home plate along the way.
Plagued by missed opportunities to take the reins early, again, LSU left 13 base runners stranded in the contest. The Tigers utilized six pitchers, compared to half that total for the Gators. If there was good news for both teams, the lopsided nature of the contest right out of the gate meant none of the key arms were expended.
This sets up a winner-take-all showdown for the National Championship Monday evening. Starting pitchers are to be determined, as roles and responsibilities will be fleshed out on game day. The expectation would be Jac Caglianone puts his skills as a two-way player on display for Florida and Tiger Ace Paul Skenes contributes in some capacity for LSU. Beyond this, the CWS heroes are also to be determined, in the story as yet unwritten.
DAY EIGHT
Saturday June 24th
CWS FINALS * GAME ONE
LSU 4 Florida 3 (11 Innings)
Tigers lead National Championship Series 1-0
LSU starter Ty Floyd struck out 17 batters and Cade Beloso homered in the 11th inning to give the Bayou Bengals a 1-0 advantage in the National Championship Series. Though the Tigers left 17 baserunners stranded across the course of the contest, Floyd kept opposing bats quiet long enough for LSU to break through for a second consecutive extra inning victory. Beloso’s blast set the final at 4-3.
A New Orleans native, five year letterman and suddenly well known happy-go-lucky slugger, Cade Beloso, has left his mark on the ‘23 edition of the College World Series seemingly every time LSU has taken the field. He bookended this night by driving in the first and final runs for LSU.
Gavin Dugas homered to left field in the third inning, staking the Tigers to a 2-0 lead. Florida would score the next three, powering ahead for the first time. Single runs in the 3rd, 5th and 6th, capped by a BT Riopelle blast gave the Gainesville crew a short-lived 3-2 advantage. LSU Slugger Tommy White’s second timely home run in as many games, evened the score at 3-3 in the 8th.
Had the game been settled in the scheduled frames, Floyd would have matched Arizona State’s Ed Bane’s CWS high-water mark for strikeouts in a single nine inning CWS game, set in 1972. His punch out total was strong enough to tie Bane for second all-time in CWS history (Ohio State’s Steve Arlin struck out 20 Washington State Cougars in a 15 inning affair back in June of 1965). Ty Floyd’s line: 3 Runs on 5 hits, with a single walk and 17 K’s across 8 innings. His final pitch count, 122.
Riley Cooper handled the balance of the work for LSU on the mound, ultimately notching the win. While the Tigers used only the two pitchers, Florida utilized both standout bullpen performer Cade Fisher and closer Brandon Neely in support of front-line starter Brandon Sproat. The highly regarded pitching prospect lasted only 4 innings due to a rapidly rising pitch count as he worked out of jam after jam early.
The Gators turn to Hurston Waldrep, arguably the most effective starter of the ‘23 post-season, in an effort to force Game Three and keep Florida’s championship hopes alive. LSU is now one win away from the 7th CWS title in the program’s storied Omaha history.
DAY SEVEN
Thursday June 22nd
Game 13
Wake Forest vs LSU
LSU 2 Wake Forest 0 (11 Innings)
Wake Forest Eliminated
LSU wins a College World Series classic, advancing to the Finals in walk-off fashion to face the Florida Gators in an all-SEC showdown for the 2023 National Championship. The Bayou Bengals punched their ticket with a 2-0 victory in a memorable third Omaha meeting with the Deacs. Eleven innings were required, 2-0 proved the final.
Rarely does a power matchup of this caliber on this stage live up to the billing. Paul Skenes vs Rhett Lowder was as advertised. The game remained scoreless into extras, the only runs plated arriving home on Tommy White’s walk-off winner.
Paul Skenes became the SEC’s all-time single season strikeout leader, surpassing former LSU Tiger and current ESPN broadcaster Ben McDonald with nine K’s across eight strong innings. Skenes regularly touched triple digits against the twenty-eight batters he faced, allowing just two hits and walking only one. Lowder worked seven impressive frames, giving up only three hits while walking two and striking out six. He, too, set a new record in the contest, passing teammate Josh Hartle to attain Wake’s single season strikeout mark. Neither ace factored into the decision.
Thatcher Herd provided the balance of the good work atop the mound for the Tigers, ultimately becoming the winning pitcher. Cole Roland and Michael Massey combined to keep the game even for Wake into extras. After Massey gave up a single to Dylan Crews, leading off the bottom of the 11th, Deacons closer Cam Minacci was called upon out of the pen to face the LSU designated hitter.
The SEC’s RBI leader, White had been relatively quiet in Omaha. One decisive swing helped him reach the century mark in runs driven home. It also added his name to LSU’s Omaha lore. White drove the first pitch of the at bat over the left field wall and into the memorable midwestern night, as well as, into CWS history. A Florida kid, no less, wearing purple and gold, sealing the LSU-Florida matchup for the title.
It was, somewhat ironically, Tommy White, a player with whom the “old gold and black” were uniquely familiar. It was the reigning ACC Freshman of the Year, who had transferred to Baton Rouge from one of Wake’s Tobacco Road rivals, NC ST, ultimately ending both the Deacons and his former conference’s hopes of a national championship for the #1 overall National Seed in ‘23.
Thus it remains, despite the Deacs best efforts, no tournament #1 seed has claimed the title this century. It has not happened since the current format was adopted in ‘99. There will also be no crown for the ACC, a conference seeking its first since Virginia’s magical 1186 mile run in ‘15, the only since Wake’s prior title in 1955.
So much hinged on the 8th inning. The highlight, Tre Morgan’s web gem to keep Wake off the board. It was the unquestionable defensive play of the night. Morgan came crashing on an attempted squeeze play for a scoop and flip, which cut down the potential run and kept the contest scoreless.
Wake Forest dropped its first series of the season, also experiencing a loss for the first time this year in a game started by Lowder. LSU made it three straight elimination game victories to reach the Finals.
As it turns out, it truly does “mean more.” The stage is now set for the 5th all-SEC final in the history of the June Classic. Florida is seeking its 2nd title in program history. LSU will be pursuing number 7. The best of three series begins Saturday evening in Omaha.
DAY SIX
Wednesday June 21st
Game 12
Wake Forest vs LSU
LSU 5 Wake Forest 2
Jay Johnson’s LSU Tigers powered back with five unanswered runs to force a winner-moves-on contest in Bracket 2 at the College World Series. Wake Forest jumped out front for the first time in the event, only to see their 2-0 advantage disappear quickly. Five unanswered proved more than enough for the Tigers to stay alive.
Cade Beloso’s three run blast in the 3rd inning proved the biggest blow. His swing came just after LSU worked its way on the board by scoring via a wild pitch from Wake starter Seth Keener. Beloso, the same player who had put the ball in play on which Brock Wilken cut down Tre Morgan’s bid at the plate to turn aside the Tigers hopes in the first meeting between the clubs, would not be denied his own Omaha heroics this go round. By depositing the ball into the right-field bullpen, the LSU designated hitter completed a four run frame which put the Bayou Bengals out front for good.
LSU pieced it together with five different arms, the best of which may have been Griffin Herring. The freshman handled college baseball’s largest stage with gusto, working four and two-thirds scoreless, scattering three hits and striking out six. The Deacs threatened late, as expected, but failed to come away with the timely hit. Wake Forest did not score after the two run 2nd and would ultimately leave 12 men on base along the way.
The same two teams will complete what has in essence become a three game series for the right to face Florida in the title round. The Deacs will be looking for an opportunity to play for the title for the first time since the school’s lone championship in 1955. In a search for positives, the Wake brain trust reminded everyone in the post-game press conference that this team has not lost a three game series all year. LSU, the only other club besides the Winston-Salem crew to be ranked #1 in the country at any point this season, will need a third straight elimination game win to pursue title number seven.
Game 11
Florida vs TCU
Florida 3 TCU 2
TCU Eliminated
In another one run classic, Florida eliminated TCU from the ‘23 College World Series and advanced to compete for the program’s second national championship. Cade Kurland’s ninth-inning infield single drove in the decisive run. The Gators remained perfect in this year’s event with the 3-2 victory. It marked the 7th contest decided by a single run in this edition of the June classic.
Among the more dramatic moments in CWS history, Brayden Taylor’s bid to tie it in the Frogs final at bat came up just short. At 408 feet straight away with the wind blowing in, Charles Schwab Field was just large enough to hold it. Once Florida center-fielder Michael Robertson collided with the wall in the deepest part of the park, ball in glove, the Gators’ ticket to the championship series had been punched.
Florida awaits the winner of top seed Wake Forest and conference rival LSU. The 2023 College World Series will be settled by either an all-SEC showdown or a battle of the NCAA Tournament’s top 2 national seeds. If the latter occurs it would be the first time under the current format, adopted in 1999, that the top two seeds will have squared off for the title. If the ‘23 edition provides the former, it will mark the fourth time in the last decade and a half Southeastern Conference programs will have settled it among themselves.
DAY FIVE
Tuesday June 20th
GAME 10
LSU vs Tennessee
LSU 5 Tennessee 0
Vols Eliminated
Nate Ackenhausen made his first career start for LSU, becoming the first Tiger ever to do so in the College World Series. It was a gem. While Ackenhausen had started games before, both in high school and during the junior college phase of his career, it was a new role for him as part of the Tigers staff. He rose to the occasion in a must-win contest at “the trading grounds” in Omaha. The result a 5-0 shutout of conference rival Tennessee.
The Tigers broke through offensively in the game’s opening inning. The single run came off an RBI base knock from Cade Beloso, scoring Dylan Crews. It remained 1-0 into the middle frames. The Bayou Bengals added runs in the 6th and 8th innings to set the tally at 3-0. Crews would become a factor again in the 9th, launching a two-run homer which put the finishing touches on LSU’s victory.
LSU handled Tennessee for the fourth time in five meetings this season, ending the Vols 2023 campaign in the process. Achenhausen improved to (3-0) on the year with six strong innings of four-hit ball, striking out seven along the way. Riley Cooper worked the final three frames to complete the combined shutout. This sets up a highly-anticipated rematch with #1 overall seed Wake Forest in the semi-finals.
Game 9
TCU vs Oral Roberts
TCU 6 ORU 1
Golden Eagles Eliminated
The memorable ride for 4-seed ORU came to a close in a wild rhythmless game which produced the largest margin of victory thus far in the ‘23 edition of the CWS. A four run 5th inning created the separation for TCU, as the Horned Frogs survived and advanced to face Florida in the semi-finals.
For the second straight contest the Golden Eagles found their trademark timely hit elusive. Oral Roberts left 12 in this contest, one game after stranding 13 in the one run loss to the Gators. More importantly, in the grand scheme, they left their mark on this edition of the CWS and departed Omaha as an emerging program with a ton of respect around the sport.
The day was won for TCU behind multi-hit efforts from Elijah Nunez, Cole Fontenelle and Curtis Byrne. Fontenelle has now driven home a run in all three of the Frogs CWS contests, leading the tournament in the category with six total. The Fort Worth crew used four different pitchers to limit ORU’s offensive production, including closer Luke Savage, who bounced back from Friday’s result versus the same club to notch the win.
Florida awaits TCU with a spot in the National Championship Series on the line. It will be the first meeting between the teams in this edition of the tournament. The Frogs will have to upend the NCAA Tournament’s #2 overall seed on back to back days in order to play for the schools first CWS Title.
DAY FOUR
Monday June 19th
GAME 8
LSU vs Wake Forest
Wake Forest 3 LSU 2
This was the battle for which many around the game of college baseball had been waiting. Yes, the #1 and #2 seeds in the tournament are now 2-0 and in control of their respective brackets for the first time under the current format adopted in 1999; but this one was the focal point. It had been building, seemingly all season. It was certainly circled when the bracket was released on Memorial Day.
Perhaps it was the fact that Wake Forest and LSU were the only two programs in the country to ascend to the top spot in national rankings at any point this season. Perhaps it was that the Deacs and Tigers were the only remaining unbeaten programs in the ‘23 edition of the NCAA Tournament at this point. Perhaps it was as a simple as the age old high stakes meeting of power arms vs power hitters and a desire to see what gives. Whatever the case, it lived up to the billing.
When the dust settled, another 8th inning rally from Wake Forest proved the difference. Trailing 2-0 after three and unable to solve the mystery of LSU’s starting pitcher until the 6th, the Deacs surged late, again. Ty Floyd looked strong early, racking up a season best ten strikeouts through five innings. Things unraveled in the sixth with a walk to Hawke followed by a throwing error and a pair of walks to Bennett and Kurts. Wilken singled up the middle to cut the lead in half. Pierce Bennett then scored on a double play ball which served to pull the Deacons even.
The game hinged on the eighth inning, in more ways that one. Brock Wilken, known for his power bat as the recently christened all time HR leader in the Atlantic Coast Conference set the stage with perhaps the defensive contribution of the CWS. With a runner at 3rd and no outs, the game tied 2-2 in the top of the frame, Wilken fielded a hot shot to third and cut down the potential go-ahead run at the plate. So many things had to go right on the play. Wilken fielded the ball on the foul side of the bag, double clutched with the ball “still spinning” in his glove, eluded Tre Morgan—the sliding LSU runner at home—with his throw, and provided a true hop for catcher Bennett Lee to pick out of the dirt and apply the tag just in time.
Defense translated to impact at the plate a half inning later when Lee provided the go ahead single to secure the win. The Deacons catcher had also singled earlier in the contest, turning this into his 5th multi-hit game in the post-season. His final contribution of the night cashed in Danny Corona’s one out double for the 3-2 victory.
The Demon Deacons have led for a total of one full inning in Omaha, yet find themselves 2-0 after snatching away a pair of one run victories in the bottom of the 8th against Stanford and LSU. This gives Wake control of Bracket 1. The number one team in the country now stands the only unbeaten squad in the ‘23 Tourney.
GAME 7
Tennessee vs Stanford
Tennessee 6 Stanford 4
Cardinal Eliminated
A timely double play ball ended a major Tennessee threat in the game’s opening inning. This prepared the way for Stanford to build the early advantage. Trailing 4-0 in the top of the 5th, the Volunteers plated the first four of what would become six unanswered runs the rest of the way. It was the third time this season Tennessee powered back to win after trailing by four or more runs.
Stanford appeared poised to stick around in Omaha with two runs in the first and two more in the third. The Cardinal would not score again. Primarily responsible for this, Vols newfound bullpen stalwart Chase Burns. Originally a starter in the Tennessee arsenal, Burns has come to life, and the team with him, since his mid-season move to the pen. With everything on the line for the Vols, the right-hander quieted Stanford’s bats across the final six innings. Burns allowed just two hits and struck out nine, handing out no free passes. In the NCAA Tournament Chase Burns has made four appearances, boasting a 0.56 ERA with 22 K’s in 16 innings.
The Volunteers four-run really in the fifth not only tied the game, it chased Stanford Ace and PAC 12 pitcher of the year Quinn MAtthews from the contest. Christian Moore provided the consequential base hit. Tennessee claimed the lead in the 7th on Zane Denton’s RBI groundout, then capped the decisive inning when Blake Burke scored on a wild pitch. With Chase Burns already in the game, finishing what Chase Dollander started, those two runs proved more than enough for the crew from Rocky Top.
Tennessee snapped its six game Omaha losing streak with the two run victory. The Vols await tonight’s result to find out who they will face in an elimination bracket contest tomorrow evening. Rocky Top is 3-0 in elimination games thus far in the tournament.
DAY THREE
Sunday June 18th
Happy Fathers Day!
GAME 6
Florida vs Oral Roberts
Florida 5 Oral Roberts 4
Oral Roberts loaded the bases in both the 8th and 9th innings, following up Matt Hogan’s historic at bat in the 7th, only to come up just short against a Florida squad which used the long ball early then found a way to hang on late for the ‘23 CWS’s latest one run victory. A line out into center-field in that ninth inning bases loaded scenario sealed the Gator’s 5-4 win.
Florida used a trio of home runs to establish a 5-1 advantage mid third. Ty Evans, Josh Rivera and Luke Heyman all went deep in support of starter Hurston Waldrep. Once Cade Fisher came on to close things down, even if under unusual circumstances, the starter had picked up his 10th win of the season.
Fans coming on board during the NCAA tourney would be tempted to believe Waldrep is the Gator ace. In three post-season starts he has struck out 37 across 21 innings and allowed just two runs. This included a compete game shutout of South Carolina in the Supers to send the Gators to Omaha. On this night in the Midwest, the junior right-hander pitched six innings, striking out twelve and allowing just a single run.
The highlight of the night was provided by Golden Eagle standout Matt Hogan, his was a home run of a different kind. Hogan brought Charles Schwab field to life with the first inside the parker in CWS play since the downtown era began. The most recent inside the park home fun in College World Series play belonged to Tennessee’s Chris Burke, who just happened to be on the microphone for ESPN. It was among the more memorable moments from another classic, in this case historic, Father’s Day in Omaha.
GAME 5
Virginia vs TCU
TCU 4 Virginia 3
Cavaliers Eliminated
A second one-run loss in Omaha brought the University of Virginia’s 50 win season to a close. Three TCU pitchers held the Hoos to just five hits and Cole Fontenelle drove in two more CWS runs to once again lead the way offensively for the Frogs. The formula shook out to single runs in the 1st, 3rd, 6th and 8th innings. Those four runs on twelve TCU hits resulted in a Father’s Day victory to extend TCU’s stay in Omaha.
With starters Sam Stoutenborough and Connelly Early dueling across the first handful of frames, Fontanelle’s third inning RBI put the Frogs out front 2-1. His final RBI of the day ran his series total to 5 RBI’s in TCU’s first two games of the tournament. The Fort Worth crew would stay out front from there.
Virginia plated single runs in the 7th and 8th innings to pull within one. Reliever Ben Abeldt secured the final five outs for his second save of the year. Abeldt turned aside one final rally from the Hoos in the 9th, securing the save by retiring Anthony Stephan with the tying run in scoring position.
The Cavaliers season came to a close with an even 50 wins against 15 losses. The victory was a 43rd on the season for TCU. The Frogs are now 20-3 in games since April 30th. TCU will await the result of the night cap to discover its next opponent on the elimination side of the bracket.
DAY TWO
Saturday June 17th
GAME 4
Tennessee vs LSU
LSU 6 Tennessee 3
The story of this primetime SEC showdown was LSU ace Paul Skenes. A rare talent, the pitcher poised to break the premier conference’s single season strikeout record was as advertised. Skenes picked up his 200th K in the ballgame, now two shy of the standard, set by Tiger alum and current ESPN broadcaster Ben McDonald back in 1989. If LSU’s offense continues to provide the timely hits witnessed by 25,000 plus fans in Omaha on this first Saturday night of the CWS, he’ll pitch again with a chance to break the record.
Tiger second baseman Gavin Dugas homered to left field in the second inning to put the Bayou Bengals on the board. Tre Morgan added a run in the second with an RBI groundout. Two more runs came across in the sixth, followed by single runs in each of LSU’s final two trips to the plate. More often than not Brayden Jobert was the catalyst. Jobert ended the day with a double, triple and a home run, in that order, across his final three at bats.
Skenes went seven and two-thirds, limiting Tennessee to a couple of runs on just five hits. Not only did the righty regularly hit triple digits with the fastball, he kept Tennessee hitters off balance by effectively “pitching backward” according to Vols Skipper Tony Vitello. Coach Vitello’s club would not break through until the 8th, scoring all three of their runs in that frame. Skenes had four pitches working throughout the night and ultimately threw 123 pitches in his ‘23 CWS debut, notching his 13th win of the season and pitching his Tigers forward on the winner’s side of the bracket in the process.
GAME 3
Stanford vs Wake Forest
Wake Forest 3 Stanford 2
The first inning, yea even the first segment of this game, was a little shaky for the first of college baseball’s two premier pitchers scheduled to throw in succession on a high profile Saturday in Omaha. Rhett Lowder may not have had his “best stuff,” as he indicated following Wake’s first College World Series victory since 1955; but he found a way to keep his team in the game for an eighth inning breakthrough.
The Deacs only led for a few minutes of the contest, time-wise, but found the energy to push out front when it counted. After an extended “lightening delay” halted the game in the latter frames, the Winston-Salem crew turned the tables on Stanford in the game’s “second segment.” A timely intermission marked by “playing cards, listening to music and resetting” to “play loose’ in the resumption propelled the Deacons forward on the winner’s side of the bracket.
A team known for its power, on the mound and at the plate, used a little small ball to manufacture a pair of runs and steal away victory. Down 1-0 early and 2-1 since the 3rd, “Wake” they certainly did in the bottom of the 8th frame. The decisive moment arrived when Danny Corona singled up the middle scoring Brock Wilken and Nick Kurtz. It was all set up by a well executed sacrifice bunt from Justin Johnson. In the blink of an eye, the Deacons were on top.
Birthday boy, Brock Wilken had put the Deacons on the board in the 2nd inning with his 31st home run of the year. The game-tying swing pulled him even with Florida slugger Jac Caglianone atop the NCAA’s HR chart. After adding a recent chapter to its storied baseball history, Wake Forest now waits for an SEC opponent to emerge from the Tennessee-LSU showdown to follow.
DAY ONE
Friday June 16th
GAME 2
Virginia vs Florida
Florida 6 Virginia 5
Florida entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 5-3. A pair of home runs and a sacrifice fly off the Virginia bullpen resulted in a flip-the-script victory. Ty Evans led off the inning with a blast over the left field wall. It was the second straight inning the Gators had used a lead-off HR to pull within one. After Jake Berry struck out the next batter, Wyatt Langford drove a 1-0 pitch deep into the Omaha night. It cleared the left field bleachers to tie the game.
The battle was won on on a sacrifice fly to deep center from Luke Heyman. Jac Caglianone set the stage by following up the Langford’s homer with a one out single into right field. A walk and a hit batsman later, Jay Wolfolk was summoned for Virginia. On a 2-0 pitch, the Gators prevailed.
Virginia trailed 1-0 early, but took command with a four run 7th. Anthony Stephan drove home Ethan Anderson to tied the game 2-2. The Hoos claimed a 4-2 lead on a two-out double from Griff O’Ferrell which plated a pair. Florida’s answer came in the form of single runs in the 7th & 8th frames, followed by the 3-run 9th.
Both starters worked deep into the game. Florida’s talented right-hander Brandon Sproat was chased in the midst of the Hoos seventh inning rally after six solid frames. UVA ace, Nick Parker, who battled back to return to the top spot in the rotation just fifteen days after a facial injury suffered on a comebacker during the FSU series mid-season, made his 56th career start, which placed him in a tie for the top spot among active NCAA pitchers. The Coastal transfer kept his team in the game heading into the latter frames.
A window into college baseball’s unique connections, Florida’s veteran backstop BT Riopelle, who also factored nicely into the contest, was Nick Parker’s roomate and battery mate when both were freshman at Coastal Carolina.
This matchup provided visions of 2015, as the Cavs and Gators met more than once in Virginia’s memorable title run. It featured two of the premier power programs in the sport across the past decade and a half.
Friday marked the first time in College World Series history that opening day featured a pair of comeback wins from clubs trailing entering the 9th. It was also Florida’s first ever walk-off victory in Omaha.
GAME 1
Oral Roberts vs TCU
Oral Roberts 6 TCU 5
This Omaha opening classic was a 2-2 game into the bottom of the 8th as heralded Oral Roberts closer Cade Denton trotted in from the bullpen to try and calm an emerging TCU rally. College baseball’s “stopper of the year” walked off the mound having surrendered three runs. He would be greeted on that same mound one inning later as the winning pitcher after regional 4-seed, and unquestioned ‘23 NCAA Tournament Cinderella, ORU sealed its latest improbable comeback victory.
Blaze Brothers became Omaha’s first college baseball home run hero of 2023 by depositing a three run shot into the left field seats, ultimately giving the Golden Eagles the win. His memorable swing completed a four-run 9th inning surge which resulted in a 6-5 triumph.
TCU had broken the eighth inning tie with three runs on just a single hit. Cole Fontonelle drew a bases loaded walk with one away. Then Baylor transfer and Fayetteville regional MVP, Tre Richardson, was hit by a pitch, extending the Frogs lead to 4-2. The Fort Worth crew completed the frame with a Sac Fly from Kurtis Byrne for a 5-2 lead.
That is when the never-say-die Golden Eagles went to work. Innocently enough, Mac McCroskey led off the inning with a ground ball to third, reaching on infield single and advancing to second on a throwing error. Holden Breeze and Drew Stahl followed with singles of their own, cutting the lead to 5-3. A strikeout followed for the first out of the inning.
Then, with runners on 1st and 2nd, just one away, Brothers stepped in. The Eagles nine hole hitter scalded the first pitch, just foul down the third base side. On the next delivery, he blazed a trail into CWS history. Four runs, on five hits, with an error mixed in against TCU closer Luke Savage proved the recipe for victory.
Though the ultimate outcome was doubtless his focus, Jonah Cox saw his storied hitting streak come to a close at 47 games. It ended as the third longest in NCAA Division I baseball history. It marked just he second game this season that number seven was held without a base hit.
Oral Roberts set up a Sunday evening showdown with either Virginia or Florida on the winner’s side of the bracket. The Eagles have now won 24 of their most recent 25 contests.
The 75th College World Series
June 17-27, 2022
Omaha, Nebraska
2022 CWS CHAMPIONS
National Championship Series
Ole Miss 10 Oklahoma 3
Ole Miss 4 Oklahoma 2
Ole Miss Rebels win National Championship 2 Games To 0!!!
2022 CWS
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.
***
Game One – Saturday June 25th – 7PM ET
Game Two – Sunday June 26th – 3PM ET
Game Three – Monday June 27th – 7PM ET (If Necessary)
***
Game 13
Ole Miss 2 Arkansas 0
*Arkansas Eliminated*
A classic pitcher’s duel unfolded between the Rebels and Razorbacks for the right to advance to the National Championship Series. Ole Miss ace Dylan DeLucia outdueled Arkansas’ Connor Noland in front of over 20,000 fans in a game that lasted just over two hours on Thursday afternoon. With the game time moved up to 4PM ET due to potential weather in the Omaha area Thursday evening, the game cruised along so quickly that the contest ended just minutes shy of its original start time. When the dust settled, the Rebels were moving on, in shutout fashion. DeLucia went the distance, striking out seven and walking no one. Just how good was the Ole Miss ace in this one? Arkansas did not have a lead off base runner aboard at any point. Nearly as masterful on the bump for the Razorbacks, Noland allowed single runs in the fourth and seventh innings respectively. Kevin Graham and Calvin Harris provided the runs for Ole Miss. Graham was 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Harris ended up 1-for-3 with an RBI. Justin Bench also provided a multi hit effort.
Ole Miss advances to the National Championship Series. The Rebels will take on Oklahoma beginning Saturday evening. Arkansas’ season comes to a close at (46-21). The “best of three” National Finals are set to begin at 7PM ET Saturday.
Game 12
Arkansas 3 Ole Miss 2
The Razorbacks held off a ninth inning charge from Ole Miss to force a winner take all bracket final. It marked the first one run game of the ‘22 CWS, in fact Game 12 stands as the first game of this year’s College World Series with an outcome closer than four runs of separation. This one had everything in the closing moments. With Arkansas leading 3-1 entering the bottom of the ninth, Ole Miss loaded the bases with no one out. The Hogs turned to Zack Morris out of the bullpen. Morris was able to work through the jam by striking out the pinch-hitter Hayden Leatherwood, then inducing a shallow fly ball into left field off the bat of TJ McCants for the first two outs of the inning. After Justin Bench singled to cut the deficit to one, Jacob Gonzalez flew out to left field to end the threat. Arkansas had survived to fight another day. The Razorbacks scored single runs in the 2nd, 5th and 8th innings to set the final. Chris Lanzilli and Brady Slavens provided the big blows with their 11th and 16th home runs respectively. Slavens blast, into the batters eye in straightaway center, was the longest homerun in the now decade-plus year history of the downtown ballpark. The highly competitive all-SEC style contest was played in 3 Hrs 5 minutes before an announced crowd of 25,401.
The teams will face off again tomorrow afternoon at 4PM ET. The winner advances to the National Championship Series.
Game 11
Oklahoma 5 Texas A&M 1
*Texas A&M Eliminated*
A three run first inning set the tone for a dominant performance by Oklahoma with the 2022 CWS having dwindled to its final four clubs. The Sooners would build the advantage to 5-0 through the first five frames. Fittingly, a “David” pitched the self proclaimed “group of Davids” forward to the National Championship Series. David Sandlin twirled seven strong innings, scattering five hits and allowing just a single earned run. The Aggie lone run came on Dylan Rock’s solo home run in the top of the 6th, to set the final at 5-1. The win was Sandlin’s ninth of the season. The right-hander struck out twelve batters, allowing just one free pass. He threw an even one hundred pitches in the effort. Battery mate Jimmy Crooks led the way offensively for the Sooners. Crooks drove home three of Oklahoma’s five runs as part of a 2-for-4 showing.
The Sooners are the first team into the National Championship Series. They await the winner of Ole Miss-Arkansas in the Finals. Texas A&M’s season ends at (44-20). The CWS Finals are set to begin Saturday evening at 7PM ET.
Game 10
Arkansas 11 Auburn 1
*Auburn Eliminated*
Arkansas pounded out eleven runs on sixteen hits to bounce SEC rival Auburn from the ‘22 CWS. As impressive, the Razorbacks staff limited Auburn’s high-powered offense to a single run on just four hits in the contest. Will McEntire worked the first seven, scattering three hits and giving up the lone run in his final frame of action. The Hogs led 9-0 at the time War Eagle broke through to find its way on the scoreboard. Chris Lanzilli provided the home run pop for Arkansas, delivering his 10th home run of the season. Standout Freshman Peyton Stovall went 5-for-6 with three RBI’s. Catcher Michael Turner and Lanzilli also notched 3-RBI efforts along the way. Zebulon Vermillion and Austin Ledbetter each worked a scoreless inning apiece to close out the game. Auburn’s Bobby Pierce had the home run in the bottom of the 7th inning which spoiled the shutout, also his 10th of the season.
Arkansas advances to face Ole Miss in the bracket finals. Auburn’s season ends at (43-22). The Razorbacks and Rebels will renew their conference rivalry at 7PM ET on Wednesday. The Hogs will be in search of consecutive wins over Ole Miss in back to back days to advance.
Game 9
Texas A&M 5 Notre Dame 1
*Notre Dame Eliminated*
A Three run third inning propelled the Texas Aggies forward in the 9th game of the 2022 CWS. Jim Schlossnagle’s team would add two more in the 5th for good measure, allowing just a single run along the way. The Aggies built the lead to 5-0 across the first five frames, holding the shutout in tact through seven. A&M pounded out ten hits, with the Irish securing half that total. Notre Dame’s lone run came on Brooks Coetzee’s 12th homer of the season in the bottom of the 8th. Dylan Rock and Trevor Werner lead the way for the crew out of College Station. Rock drove home a pair of runs, while Werner delivered his seventh home run of the season. The Aggies also capitalized on a pair of Irish miscues in the field. It was a solid bounce back performance on the mound for starter Nathan Dettmer, who gave the Aggies seven strong innings. Dettmer delivered one pitch shy of the century mark, posting 6 strikeouts and allowing no free passes to pitch A&M forward in the tourney.
Texas A&M Advances to face Oklahoma in the bracket final. The Aggies must upend the Sooners twice to reach the CWS Finals. Notre Dame’s memorable season ends at (41-17). The Aggies and Sooners meet Wednesday afternoon a 2PM ET.
Game 8
Ole Miss 13 Arkansas 5
Ole Miss used victory in this SEC showdown to claim control of their bracket at the ‘22 CWS. The Rebels scored a pair of runs in each of the first three frames to build a 6-3 lead across the opening innings. Tim Elko put his leadership on display once more, homering and driving in three runs. Justin Bench and Calvin Harris pitched in with 4-for-6 and 3-for-4 performances respectively. Harris was the leading RBI man with 4 driven home. He also had the other of Ole Miss’ long balls on the night. Hunter Elliott worked 6 1/3 quality innings to hold the Arkansas offense down, scattering six hits and allowing just one earned run.
Arkansas faces Auburn next in another All-SEC tilt. This one is for the right to stay. Ole Miss is in control of its bracket. Hotty Toddy will enjoy a day off, next playing on Wednesday at 7PM ET.
Game 7
Auburn 6 Stanford 2
*Stanford Eliminated*
A four run sixth proved too much for the Cardinal to overcome, as Stanford was eliminated from the CWS in just two games for the second consecutive season. After taking a 2–0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings, Stanford would push nothing further across. Cole Foster was the hero for Auburn, driving home three runs in the contest; while the trio of Trace Bright, Tommy Sheehan and Blake Burkhalter were stellar atop the mound. The starter, Bright, picked up the win, striking out eight and allowing just five hits. Burkhalter had a remarkable stretch in which he secured thirteen swing-and-misses on his first thirty pitches out of the pen, as he ate up the final 2 1/3 innings for the visitors. Bobby Pierce also drove home a pair of runs for Auburn, including the final one as the Tigers tacked on some insurance in the two-run seventh.
Stanford’s season ends at (47-18). Auburn awaits the outcome of the nightcap between Arkansas-Ole Miss to discover which SEC rival they will face next on the elimination side of the bracket.
.Game 6
Oklahoma 6 Notre Dame 2
Oklahoma chased Notre Dame starter Austin Temple after just an inning and one-third, eventually restoring the trend early decisive offense. While the Sooners did break through with scoring until the third inning, crooked numbers in both the third and fifth helped Oklahoma build a 5-0 in the middle frames. Notre Dame got on the board with David LaManna’s two run home run in the sixth inning. It proved to be all the offense the Irish would muster on the night. Despite a 4-for-4 effort from Carter Putz, Notre Dame was held to just seven total hits. Cade Horton had much to do with this. The Oklahoma starter struck out eleven while scattering five of those hits, including the homer. The result was his fifth win of the season. Horton threw an even 100 pitches in the outing. He enjoyed offensive production from Tanner Tredaway and Wallace Clark, both posting mult-RBI efforts. OU notched twelve hits while also leaving twelve base runners, evidence of the pressure applied throughout.
Oklahoma earned the coveted two days off and control of their side of the bracket. Notre Dame will face Texas A&M, the winner needing to defeat the Sooners twice in order to reach the Finals.
Game 5
Texas A&M 10 Texas 2
*Texas Eliminated*
While the Aggies and Longhorns have journeyed to Omaha together on more than one occasion over the years, the Lone Star rivals had never met in CWS competition. While Texas may have all the baseball history on its side, round one bragging rights goes to the Aggies. A&M sent its rival home with a commanding performance on a scorching hot Midwest Sunday. Texas Tech transfer Micah Dallas held the potent Longhorn offense down with five solid innings of work on the way to his seventh win of the year. The A&M staff pitched Golden Spikes finalist Ivan Melendez particularly well, to the tune of an 0-for-4 performance. After giving up the first two runs of the game as singled scores in the first and second innings, Aggie runs came in bunches. A four run second frame proved enough, though Texas A&M would score in every remaining inning except the sixth, becoming the first designated home team to pick up a win in this years CWS, five games into the tournament. The four run second also provided the ‘22 CWS its first lead change. Five different Aggies had RBI’s in the contest, led to the charge by Trevor Werner and Jordan Thompson with a pair each. Dallas beats Texas and bragging rights for the moment between these once and future rivals will live in College Station, Texas. Texas A&M sawed ‘em off, sending Texas home.
The Longhorns season ends at (47-22). Texas A&M will await its next opponent in a Tuesday afternoon elimination contest scheduled for 2PM.
Game 4
Ole Miss 5 Auburn 1
Dylan DeLucia was dominant in pitching Ole Miss forward on the winners side of the bracket. Two runs in the first, one in the third and two in the 5th proved more than enough for Hotty Toddy. A workmanlike first inning set the tone offensively: Tim Elko Singled, Kevin Graham doubled, Kemp Alderman singled to drive home a pair and it was 2-0 Rebels just that quickly. The run Ole Miss added in the third came on Kevin Graham’s solo shot. By then, DeLucia was beyond locked in, retiring the first 14 in succession and allowed just one hit through six. Brody Moore’s two-out single in the 5th broke up his bid for perfection in Omaha, but DeLucia settled back in, retired the next 4 in order, delivering just 71 pitches through 6 innings of work. Timely hitting backed up his effort, as 4 of the 5 runs for Ole Miss came home with two outs. Auburn threatened for the first time with a lead off double by Garrett Farquhar in the bottom of the 7th inning, bringing Sonny DiChiara to the plate. DiChiara’s liner into center on a 3-2 pitch for his first hit of the CWS placed men on the corners with nobody out. Bobby Pierce lined an RBI single into left field to put Auburn on the board. With further trouble brewing, DeLucia was allowed to work through the trouble en route to his seventh win of the season. Dylan DeLucia’s line: 7 2/3 Innings, 4 Hits, 1 ER, 10 K’s, No Free Passes throwing 114 pitches in the ‘22 CWS Opener for Ole Miss.
This result set up an SEC showdown between Ole Miss and Arkansas for control of the bracket. Auburn is now slated to face Stanford in an elimination game on Tuesday afternoon.
Game 3
Arkansas 17 Stanford 2
The Razorbacks wasted no time getting on the board in what would become the largest margin of victory for an SEC squad in CWS history. Hogs lead off man Braydon Webb lined the game’s first pitch off the top of the right field wall to begin the contest with a triple. He would come home to score on a SAC Fly from Brady Slavens, giving Arkansas a 1-0 lead. Though the Hogs were poised for much more Alex Williams struck out Jalen Battles with the bases loaded to end the inning. Stanford took the initial blow in stride, as Cardinal lead off batter Brock Jones hit 21st homer of the year to tie the game in the bottom of the frame. At this point the starters seemed to settle in, allowing nothing further across the next three innings. The 1-1 tie was broken on a three run home run from Chris Lanzilli in the 5th. Lanzilli landed the blast in the left field seats The Wake Forest transfer and former San Francisco Giants draft pick had proved the decisive blow for Arkansas. It would become a five run frame. The Hogs never looked back. Arkansas scored more than a single run in each of the final three innings. Caden Wallace’s home run in the 9th served as the icing on the cake. His 16th long ball of the year ultimately set the final at 17-2. The 17 runs became the new high water mark in the ‘22 edition of the CWS, eclipsing Oklahoma’s 13 run explosion earlier in the tournament. The Razorbacks set a new College World Series single game hits record in the downtown era, with 21.
Arkansas awaits the Auburn-Ole Miss winner on Monday evening. Stanford will be playing to stick around against the loser of that contest in Monday’s afternoon game.
Game 2
Notre Dame 7 Texas 3
The Fighting Irish upended the Longhorns, 7-3, in front of a packed house of 25,134 fans in downtown Omaha Friday night. The highly anticipated matchup marked the 2022 CWS opener for both clubs. Notre Dame wasted no time getting on the board, taking a 1-0 lead on a solo shot from the second batter of the ball game. Jared Miller’s 5th home run of the year served as the first of eleven Irish hits on the night. The manner in which Notre Dame’s first five runs were scored highlighted the variety of ways in which the South Bend crew can produce runs. The first inning homer was followed up with a run brought home by a fielder’s choice in the third frame. A well executed squeeze play provided a run in the fourth. The first two runs of what would eventually become a three run fifth inning were plated via an RBI single and a balk. Notre Dame had built a 6-1 advantage mid-fifth. The offense proved more than enough behind ace John Michael Bertrand. The Furman transfer notched his tenth win of the season by working effectively into the sixth inning. Bertrand and the Notre Dame bullpen combo of Alex Rao and Jack Findlay, who picked up his fourth save of the year in the process, held the Texas batting order to just three runs on six total hits. Friday night marked the only contest this season, sixty-eight games in, that the Longhorns were held without an extra base hit. Carter Putz homered in the 9th to set the final score at 7-3; the Irish upending the slight favorite in Omaha with an identical score by which Link Jarrett’s club eliminated the tournament’s top overall seed less than a week ago to reach the CWS.
The Irish (1-0) will now face the Oklahoma Sooners (1-0) on Sunday evening at 7PM ET for control of the bracket. This follows a Lone Star elimination showdown between the Longhorns (0-1) and Aggies (0-1) set for 2PM ET. Oklahoma and Texas A&M will be the designated home teams in the contests.
Game 1
Oklahoma 13 Texas A&M 8
Oklahoma rode a seven run second inning followed by just the third grand slam in the downtown era to a 13-8 victory in the opener of the 2022 College World Series. Blake Robertson drove home the first run of the tournament with an RBI groundout in the Sooners opening at bat. It was the first of (3) runs driven home by Robertson on the day. He was joined by Jimmy Crooks (3) and Jackson Nicklaus (4), who provided the grand slam, as Oklahoma’s multi-RBI men in the contest. With Nicklaus’ fourth inning grand slam, the Sooners lead grew to 12-3. Texas A&M answered with a solo shot from Austin Bost the next half inning. The Aggies would add four in the bottom of the 7th to chip away at the lead. Texas A&M had already received a three-run blast in the 2nd inning from Jordan Thompson, one of a combined four home runs hit by the teams in the contest. A&M would pull no closer than 12-8 the rest of the way. Oklahoma tacked on a run in the Top of the 9th to set the final. Starter Jake Bennett picked up his 10th win of the season with six workmanlike innings for the designated visitor. Oklahoma (1-0) awaits the Notre Dame-Texas winner in a Sunday evening showdown; while A&M will face the team which comes up short later tonight in an elimination contests on Sunday afternoon.
2021 CWS
2021 CWS BRACKET
2021 SUPER REGIONALS
2021 REGIONALS
2021 Regional Results
- Austin, TX – #2 ( 1) Texas Longhorns (BIG XII) (3-0)
- Columbia, SC – (3) Virginia Cavaliers (ACC) (4-1)
- Greenville, NC -#13 (1) East Carolina Pirates (American) (3-0)
- Eugene, OR – (3) LSU Tigers (SEC) (4-1)
- Fayetteville, AR – #1 (1) Arkansas Razorbacks (SEC) (3-1)
- Fort Worth, TX – (3) Dallas Baptist Patriots (Missouri Valley) (3-1)
- Gainesville, FL – (4) USF Bulls (American) (3-1)
- Knoxville, TN – #3 (1) Tennessee Volunteers (SEC) (3-0)
- Lubbock, TX – #8 (1) Texas Tech Red Raiders (BIG XII) (3-0)
- Nashville, TN – #4 (1) Vanderbilt Commodores (SEC) (3-0)
- Oxford, MS – #12 (1) Ole Miss Rebels (SEC) (3-1)
- Palo Alto, CA – #9 (1) Stanford Cardinal (PAC 12) (3-1)
- Ruston, LA – (2) NC State Wolfpack (ACC) (3-0)
- South Bend, IN – #10 (1) Notre Dame Fighting Irish (ACC) (3-0)
- Starkville, MS – #7 (1) Mississippi State Bulldogs (SEC) (3-0)
- Tucson, AZ – #5 (1) Arizona Wildcats (PAC 12) (3-0)
Regional Notes – Super 16
- 11 of 16 National Seeds advance to Supers
- By Seeding: (1) = 11 / (2) = 1 / (3) = 3 / (4) = 1
- By Conference: SEC (6) / ACC (3) / Big 12, PAC 12, American (2) / Missouri Valley (1)
- By State: Texas (3) / Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee (2) / 7 Others (1)
- #6 TCU / # 11 Old Dominion / #14 Oregon / #15 Florida / #16 LA Tech / ELIMINATED
2020 CWS – CANCELLED
2019 CWS BRACKET
National Championship Series
Michigan Wolverines vs Vanderbilt Commodores
(2-0) 49-20 BIG 10 (2-0) 57-11 SEC
Last Four In #2 National Seed
VANDERBILT WINS CWS!!
Game One – Monday, June 24 – 7PM ET
Michigan 7 Vandy 4
Game Two – Tuesday, June 25 – 7PM ET
Vandy 4 Michigan 1
Game Three – Wednesday, June 26 – (If Necessary)
Vandy 8 Michigan 2
CWS Finals – Game Three
VANDERBILT 8 MICHIGAN 2
Power hitters and solid pitching made the Commodores champions again. Vanderbilt secured the 2019 title, matching the outcome of their 2014 season and returning hardball supremacy to the southland, specifically the Southeastern Conference.
Six solid innings of work from Mason Hickman set the tone and the Vandy offense did more than enough in the middle frames to secure the school’s second National Championship. The Nashville crew did so by winning the final two games of the series, taking game three 8-2.
Michigan took a 1-0 lead right out of the gate, with the three consecutive base hits in the game’s opening inning. A solo home run from Pat DeMarco tied the game for Vanderbilt in the second. The VandyBoys would go on to score three in the third and two more in the fourth, building a 7-1 advantage.
Vanderbilt set the final tally by plating a run in the bottom of the eighth on a single from Phillip Clarke, answering the Wolverines score in the top of that frame. Stephen Scott, J.J. Bleday, Ethan Paul and Harrison Ray proved the other offensive leaders in the series finale.
Hickman struck out ten while scattering just four hits and allowing the single run during hit time on the hill. Jake Eder took over in the seventh and remained on the mound to close out the championship.
CWS Finals – Game Two
VANDERBILT 4 MICHIGAN 1
Kumar Rocker did it again. Vandy’s Freshman right-hander may not have struck out 19 batters this time, nor did he go the distance to hold Michigan hitless. He was, however, as advertised. Rocker saved the Commodores season, again, helping force a third and decisive championship contest.
Rocker’s overall post-season numbers are nothing short of eye-popping. The youngster is 4-0, with an 0.96 E.R.A. He has struck out 44 across 28 innings. Tuesday night’s effort was just the latest in a a series of sensational performances, when the Vandy Boys needed it most.
The power righty used his trademark slider effectively throughout six and one-third innings, scattering three hits and striking out a double-digit total once more. His night finished one pitch shy of seventy.
In keeping with a key number from this year’s edition of the CWS, Rocker officially sat down “eleven” on strikes. While he was ultimately charged with responsibility for Michigan’s lone run in Game Two, it was of little consequence.
Phillip Clarke provided the contest’s loudest swing. Clarke notched his first home run of the College World Series, the latest for a squad that arrived in Omaha leading the nation in that category. Vanderbilt would also score a pair of runs on near consecutive wild pitches.
The 4-1 final sets up game three on Wednesday evening, a winner-take-all showdown for the 2019 National Championship.
CWS Finals – Game One
MICHIGAN 7 VANDERBILT 4
Michigan was dominant in the series opener behind another strong pitching performance from junior lefty Tommy Henry. Round one of this mentor-protégée battle went to the student over the teacher thanks to explosive early offense alongside Henry’s mastery.
The loose playing and fun loving Wolverines took a 4-0 lead right out of the gate with two runs in the first and two more in the second. They would tack on a trio of runs in the game’s latter third, en route to a 7-4 victory.
Henry came within two outs of going the distance in consecutive starters at the College World Series, a feat last accomplished by Coastal Carolina’s Andrew Beckwith, who was eventually named 2016 CWS Most Outstanding Player. The Michigan southpaw allowed just three earned runs to the potent Vandy offense, striking out eight batters in his final start of the year for the Wolverines.
Jeff Criswell secured the final two outs of the game. Amazingly, four games into the Omaha portion of the tournament, just three pitchers have toed the rubber for Michigan. Henry, Criswell and Karl Kauffman have delivered every pitch in this year’s CWS for Michigan.
The traditional football power in this matchup scored seven runs on fourteen hits. You can’t make this stuff up. Nor could anyone have written the storybook that this College World Series has become for Jimmy Kerr and his entire Maize and Blue clad family.
In case you somehow missed it, his dad was here as a player with the last group of Wolverines to make Omaha in the 80’s. His grandfather also played for Michigan at Rosenblatt Stadium as part of the most recent club to the take the CWS title back to Ann Arbor. That was 1962.
All three generations of Kerr family were present in the stadium Monday night. Their impact on Michigan baseball was again on display as Jimmy became a key contributor once more.
The first baseman matched his jersey number with his 15th homer the year. Jimmy Kerr has hit three home runs at this year’s CWS, mixing in a triple, a double and a single. He is already responsible for driving home eight runs.
Joe Donovan also homered for Michigan, his ninth of the season. Key doubles were provided by Brewer, Bullock and Thomas. Vanderbilt’s JJ Bleday finally came to life a bit with his nation leading twenty-seventh homer of the season, his first in Omaha.
The formula for Michigan’s CWS Finals success was very familiar, get out front and stay there. Eric Bakich’s club has scored first by scoring in their first at bat of every game in which the Maize and Blue have participated.
This time, it all secured a 50th win for the Wolverines this season. One more would mean a championship.
Game 12
Thursday – June 20 – 8:00 PM ET
Vanderbilt Commodores 3 Louisville Cardinals 2
Louisville Eliminated
Vanderbilt has shown time and again just how difficult it is to put them away. The SEC champs dispatched the ACC regular season title holders from the College World Series by a single run Friday evening.
Another 2019 CWS game filled with late drama kept fans on the edge of their seats until the final out was recorded. Last licks proved decisive yet again.
A baseball truism, those who live by the ninth inning rally often die by it. Less than twenty-four hours after Louisville found its own last at bat magic to bounce Mississippi State in shocking fashion, the Vandy Boys returned the favor.
Interestingly, the pair of teams coming up short in the semi-final round (Louisville and Tech) saw both their losses in Omaha come from the same team in their respective brackets. Neither was able to force a winner-take-all Saturday showdown.
Louisville, so strong and effective against the rest of this year’s field, could not solve the Nashville crew. The Cards dropped their first and final games of the championship tournament to Vanderbilt.
Ethan Paul and Pat DeMarco had the big swings. Both notched key doubles to catapult the Commodores forward. The rally came well after, but in strong support of, still unbeaten Mason Hickman’s six solid innings of work.
This highly anticipated ACC-SEC rematch saw a pair of unbeaten pitchers climb the hill for the start. Luke Smith seemed unsolvable himself, until the ninth. The Cardinal righty struck out ten batters through eight innings, a new high water mark for a Louisville hurler in CWS play.
Smith would get just a single out in the 9th, lasting 8 1/3 on the evening. Things turned a bit testy following his strikeout of Julian Infante to end the eighth frame with Louisville up 2-1. As a result, the Vandy Boys exhibited a little extra satisfaction after tying the game off him via Paul’s double down the right field line which scored JJ Bleday in the 9th.
Just two batters later DeMarco broke through as well, this time off Cardinal closer Michael McAvene. This set the eventual final and turned Smith into the pitcher of record. Two outs shy of a complete game victory, he was handed his first loss of the season.
JJ Bleday, fairly quiet in the CWS thus far in relation to the very high bar his rare talent level sets, started the rally with a one out walk. Time will tell whether the 9th inning rally brings the ‘Dores high powered offense to full song.
Vanderbilt had scored the contest’s only early run, getting on the board in the 3rd inning. The 1-0 lead held steady into the seventh inning stretch. Louisville plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the 7th for the second consecutive game, this time claiming the lead right there. For all the reasons documented above, It would not hold.
Tyler Brown came on to seal it for Vandy, picking up his record setting seventeenth save of the season in the process. Jake Eder bridged the gap between Hickman and Brown, picking up the W, or in this case perhaps more appropriately, picking up the V.
Dan McDonnell had high postgame praise for Vandy’s talented lineup, “they’ve always pitched well and played solid defense…they make you earn everything,” he said. “But this may be the best of the lineups they’ve had (top to bottom).”
That’s saying something, when you consider this team won the national championship just five short years ago. They will face Michigan in the National Championship Series next week, seeking title number two.
Game 11
Thursday – June 20 – 8:00 PM ET
Michigan Wolverines 15 Texas Tech 3
Texas Tech Eliminated
Michigan claimed regional and super regional titles at the home of both the tournament’s top seed and its defending champion to reach Omaha, ending host school Creighton’s season along the way. They are unbeaten since arriving back in the familiar Midwest locale.
A few weeks ago Michigan participated in the Big Ten Championship at TD Ameritrade Park. In fact, they experienced what looked to be the season’s final gasp in that tourney. Now the Maize and Blue will play in the National Championship Series here beginning Monday evening.
It will mark the first appearance in the championship series for a Big Ten program. It also marks the first time a conference team has appeared in the title matchup since Ohio State claimed the 1966 crown.
Michigan’s offense exploded for fifteen runs, notching the only lopsided victory thus far at this year’s College World Series. Thirteen unanswered runs propelled the Wolverines into the national finals. 15-3 proved the final result.
Jimmy Kerr’s heroics were once again on display. A multi-homer effort for the senior first baseman highlighted a 4-for-6 afternoon. Kerr scored four times and drove in three runs, also posting a double. In a nod to his “whatever it takes” approach, he also laid down his first bunt of the season in a key early situation.
It was a back and forth affair at the beginning. The Wolverines posted a 2-0 advantage after one. Tech battled back to snatch the lead at 3-2 in the second frame. After Michigan reclaimed the lead 4-3, the Red Raiders had the tying and go ahead runs aboard in the top of the third. They did not score. They would not score again.
No team in this year’s tournament had plated more runs than Texas Tech entering play Friday. Michigan scored more runs in this single game than anyone besides Tech has logged in the entire tournament. Their fifteen run Friday equaled Texas Tech’s total for the entire College World Series.
Scoring twenty runs in the two games against Tech, Michigan handed the Lubbock crew both their Omaha losses. Mixing in a win over FSU, the Wolverines claimed Bracket One and await the winner of Vanderbilt and Louisville in the best of three series for the title.
Michigan is in search of a third baseball national championship. It would be the first since 1962.
Game 10
Thursday – June 20 – 8:00 PM ET
Louisville Cardinals 4 Mississippi State 3
Mississippi State Eliminated
Dan McDonnell and Chris Lemonis came to the College World Series together in 1990. They were teammates for The Citadel. The small military academy based in Charleston, South Carolina joined the party at historic Rosenblatt Stadium during their most memorable season as players.
Thursday night they were in opposing dugouts at TD Ameritrade Park, fighting for more than bragging rights. The winner would earn for his club the opportunity to stick around at least one more day. A spot in the national semi-finals was on the line in this ACC-SEC clash.
Mississippi State turned to freshman right-hander JT Ginn (8-4, 3.36). Louisville handed the ball to southpaw Nick Bennett (7-3, 4,40). They were masterful early. The contest fittingly was settled late. In fact, the game ultimately came down to its final pitch.
Walk-off wins in Omaha across the last several years possess a running theme. Mississippi State is always involved. The trouble for the Bulldogs this time around, someone else was batting last.
This time around the tables were turned on the comeback kids from Starkville. Louisville plated four late and unanswered runs, two in the bottom of the 7th, two more in the bottom of the 9th. McDonnell’s team had flipped the script. Ripping a page out of State’s own playbook left the Cards standing.
Mississippi State had been outstanding late in games. The Bulldogs were up 3-0 at stretch time and poised for a 48th straight win when leading after eight frames. They had not lost in such a scenario all year. Their own twenty-eight come from behind victories were the most in college baseball this season. These impressive statistics did little for the Bulldogs on this summer’s eve in Omaha.
Drew Campbell’s third hit of the night was the decisive blow. Campbell notched a pair of RBI, including his walk-off winner. As the ball landed out of SEC hit king Jake Mangum’s reach in right center-field, Louisville poured out of the dugout for a wild celebration seemingly ignited in the blink of an eye. The Cards owned last licks and stole away victory.
The two head coaches and self described “best friends” shared an extended embrace near home plate which was at once both congratulatory and consoling in nature. Louisville, with momentum, marches on.
Mississippi State was looking to assure the SEC of a representative in the National Championship Series for the eleventh time in the past twelve years. Instead, the Cardinals made sure just a single representative each from four of the nation’s five power conferences remain to settle the title.
The ACC and SEC will go head to head once (maybe twice) more in pursuit of a at least a shot at the crown. Regular Season champion Louisville faces an even tougher task this weekend. The Cards must secure back to back wins over Tim Corbin’s Vandy Boys, a squad which entered Omaha as the top remaining national seed after sweeping the SEC regular season and tournament championships.
Game Nine
Wednesday – June 19 – 7:00 PM ET
Texas Tech Red Raiders 4 Florida State Seminoles 1
Florida State Eliminated
Mike Martin’s legendary career ended exactly where it should have, in Omaha. It may not have been the final chapter most around the game we’re hoping for, Eleven however, departed with a tip of the cap, a sly smile and his trademark upbeat demeanor. Fittingly, the night became an extended tribute to college baseball’s all-time winningest head coach.
In four decades at the helm of the Florida State program, Mike Martin gave so much of himself to the game. On a memorable Wednesday night in Omaha, the site of his 2,029th and final victory, time was carved out for one final salute.
In the ballgame, the newly found power of Texas Tech’s Brian Klein revealed itself once again. Klein blasted his second homer of the CWS, just his third overall on the season. Texas native and recent Rangers draftee Josh Jung doubled and drove in a run as well. Solid pitching and strong defense rounded out a balanced effort for the Red Raiders in the 4-1 win.
Texas Tech faces Michigan in the national semi-finals beginning Friday. Tim Tadlock’s crew will need to defeat the Wolverines on consecutive days to reach the National Championship Series.
Game Eight
Wednesday – June 19 – 2:00 PM ET
Vanderbilt Commodores 6 Mississippi State Bulldogs 3
A multi-HR effort from Stephen Scott, just the third such performance in the TD Ameritrade Park era at the CWS, placed Vanderbilt on solid footing for the coming weekend in Bracket Two.
No one entered this national championship tournament with more wins than Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. The two remaining SEC clubs in pursuit of the title, they each finished atop their respective divisions in league play. With the stakes as high as ever, their fans were forced by weather to wait an extra day for the much anticipated showdown.
In the end, Vanderbilt controlled the league both during the regular season and the tournament. Now the Commodores control their side of the bracket at the College World Series.
Mississippi State will face Louisville for the right to stick around on Thursday night. The VandyBoys await the winner of that contest, now must be defeated twice in the semi-final round.
Game Seven
Tuesday – June 18 / Wednesday – June 19 (Resumed) / Noon ET
Louisville Cardinals 5 Auburn Tigers 3
Auburn Eliminated
It took a portion of two days, yet once the rain finally cleared Louisville prevailed by a pair of runs to claim a 50th win and keep the season alive. When the game ended on Wednesday afternoon, it was Tuesday’s “rain inning” which had proven the difference. The Cards posted the only crooked number of the ballgame in that fateful fourth, en route to a 5-3 victory.
Three runs scored to break a 1-1 tie just one inning prior to the game being halted because of weather. After a thirty-two minute delay, it became evident there would be no more baseball on Tuesday.
Auburn was a bit snake-bitten, again. For the second straight game an untimely infield error proved costly. In this case, a ground ball to the right side could not be fielded cleanly in the rain. It would have ended the inning. Instead, two additional runs eventually made their way home, leaving the score 4-1 at the time of stoppage.
The Tigers battled back on Wednesday, but couldn’t seem to find the timely hit which had marked their improbable post-season run. Auburn ultimately outhit Louisville 13 to 7, but left twelve men on base in the contest.
Louisville was led offensively by Tyler Fitzgerald and Drew Campbell. Fitzgerald homered in the first inning to set the tone. The juniors were responsible for two of the Cardinals three RBI’s.
In his first action since the suspension following his ejection in the regional round, Michael McAvens contributed with a huge strikeout to end the eighth after Auburn worked the bases loaded against him to provide further drama. The Tigers threatened one final time in the 9th, but Michael Kirian struck out the potential tying run to seal it for Louisville.
Auburn’s magical tournament run ends in Omaha. Louisville awaits the winner of the Vanderbilt-Mississippi State showdown which was moved from Tuesday evening to the originally vacant Wednesday afternoon.
Game Six
Monday – June 17 – 7:00 PM ET
Michigan 2 Florida State 0
A complete game shutout from Michigan’s Tommy Henry kept the Wolverines unbeaten in the College World Series and provided a little rest for the well traveled Ann Arbor crew. Michigan won its second game of the championship tournament on the strength of his masterpiece, sending FSU into the elimination side of the bracket.
Henry scattered just three hits in the process of quieting the ‘Noles bats. The southpaw used his 100th pitch of the night to secure a double-digit strikeout total and put the finishing touch on the win. Yes, Henry was COMPLETE-ly GOLDen.
He wasn’t the only one. Jesse Franklin’s homer on the game’s second pitch also marked an even hundred. It was the 100th home run since the series moved downtown in 2011.
The milestone blast brought the long ball total to the century mark in the 130th CWS game played at TD Ameritrade Park. This one swing proved enough in support of the dominant performance turned in by Henry.
Michigan is one win from the National Championship Series. Florida State will be back in action on Wednesday night versus Texas Tech.
Game Five
Monday – June 17 – 2:00 PM ET
Texas Tech 5 Arkansas 4
Arkansas Eliminated
This contest could really be broken down into three segments. Arkansas built a 3-0 lead across the first third of the ballgame. Texas Tech used the long ball to battle back in the middle portion, then won it on an RBI triple from Cody Masters in the final third.
Get your guns up. The victory kept the Red Raiders season alive. Tim Tadlock said he, “just knew these guys were going to be fun to watch with the season on the line.” He was on target.
Every part of this game was fun to watch. A Texan, Heston Kjerstad homered for Arkansas to begin the scoring. Kjerstad, Casey Martin and Matt Goodheart drove home the runs that built the early lead. Martin tripled home a run, then scored on an RBI groundout.
Texas Tech homered in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to battle back for the lead. They came in the form of a two-run shot from Cameron Warren and solo blasts by Easton Murrell and Josh Jung. Murrell, a former Razorback, landed the game tying shot. It was the first of his career, landing in his former teammates bullpen.
After Arkansas tied the game on a Sac Fly, the stage was set for Masters’ eighth inning heroics. He nearly notched Tech’s fifth home run of the championship tournament, instead watching the ball bounce high off the right-centerfield wall for a decisive three bagger.
Lubbock awaits Monday evening’s outcome. Coach Tadlock’s resilient Wild West gunslingers face the Florida State-Michigan loser at 7PM ET Wednesday. Their backs remain against the wall.
Arkansas, last season’s national runner up, was dealt a different kind of heartbreak in 2019. The Hogs became the first team eliminated from this year’s tournament, the result of a pair of one run losses.
Game Four
Sunday – June 16 – 7:30 PM ET
Mississippi State 5 Auburn 4
Mississippi State and Auburn share a conference. They have shared a baseball diamond over two-hundred times since the early 1900’s. Surprisingly, their meeting in Omaha on Sunday was the first ever in NCAA post-season play.
Four runs in the bottom of the 9th inning propelled Mississippi State to its 28th come from behind victory of the season. The Bulldogs lead the nation in such games for a reason, they kept grinding until finally securing a breakthrough. First year head coach Chris Lemonis’ team left fourteen base runners in the contest, yet plated the one that mattered most on a single up the middle from Marshall Gilbert.
There have been two walk-off wins in Omaha across the past four seasons, both belong to State. The opportunity came because the Starkville crew continued to put pressure on Auburn’s defense, taking advantage of a throwing error on what would have been the game’s final out.
The fateful frame started with a double from SEC hit king Jake Mangum. Elijah MacNamee drove home the inning’s first run two batters later. All this was required before the third member of the Bulldogs key senior leadership group could end it on a ball right back through the box. Gilbert’s two-out bases loaded single sparked a wild celebration which ran the gamut of emotions on both sides.
The result wiggled National Pitcher of the Year Ethan Small off the hook and spoiled a stellar outing from Auburn starter Jack Owen. The Tigers had been led offensively all night by Edouard Julien, who drove in three of Auburn’s four runs. Julien also notched one of the longest CWS home runs of the TD Ameritrade era, a 429 foot blast which pushed Auburn out front 2-0 in the second inning. His throwing miscue to first base in the ninth was an untimely departure from a very strong night. Auburn would not have been in a position to win without his earlier efforts.
A trio of multi-hit performances helped Mississippi State transform a three run ninth inning deficit into the program’s latest improbable style win. Mangum, MacNamee and Skelton provided them. The latter of the three ultimately put the ball in play which tied the game.
Auburn will have to shake the difficult loss off quickly, facing elimination in a 2PM ET start against ACC regular season champ Louisville on Tuesday. Mississippi State will be the designated home team in search of further magic in a winner’s bracket showdown against conference foe and league champion Vanderbilt. The series’ only pair of 50 win clubs will square off at 7PM ET that evening.
Game Three
Sunday – June 16 – 2PM ET
Vanderbilt 3 Louisville 1
This ACC-SEC matchup of new generation Omaha powers went to the second overall seeded Commodores thanks to the timely home run ball and stellar work atop the mound. It was in keeping with the formula that has worked all season for the VandyBoys, who set a new school record for wins by picking up their 55th in the game.
A two-run blast in the bottom of the seventh broke the 1-1 tie and set the final score in stone. All three runs were driven home by the long ball and came at the hands of third baseman Austin Martin.
The Vandy lead off man ambushed talented Louisville southpaw Reid Detmers on the other sophomore’s very first pitch. When he found the left field seats for a second time in the game, cashing in against the Cards bullpen, Martin had placed the Nashville crew out front for good.
By virtue of Martin’s multi-homer effort, the designated home team never trailed. The offense he provided was sufficient alongside seven strong innings from starter Drake Fellows and shutdown work from Zach King and Tyler Brown out of the Vandy pen.
Vanderbilt awaits the winner of tonight’s Auburn-Mississippi State matchup at 7PM ET on Tuesday. Louisville will be forced to battle back out of the elimination side of the bracket beginning Tuesday at 2PM ET.
Game Two
Saturday – June 15 – 7 PM ET
Florida State 1 Arkansas 0
Over 26,000 College World Series fans witnessed a classic pitcher’s duel between Florida State’s Drew Parrish and Isaiah Campbell of Arkansas. Both teams were limited to just five hits apiece and the lone decisive run was not scored until the ninth inning.
That’s when JC Flowers took over. The centerfielder, already responsible for the premier defensive play of the tournament’s opening day, reached to lead off the inning and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly from Nader De Sedas. It made the eight shutout innings from Parrish stand up. The Seminole starter’s 9th win of the season was marked by just that many punch-outs.
After crossing the plate to give FSU the 1-0 lead in the top of the 9th, Flowers sprinted toward the bullpen to prepare for the bottom of the frame. The two-way player and ‘Noles closer worked a flawless inning for his thirteenth save of the season.
Mike Martin’s Seminoles remained perfect as well, having reeled off six straight NCAA tournament wins. FSU and Mississippi State are the only remaining teams without a post-season loss.
The main storyline from this opening day can be described as follows: “Last Four In = First Two Wins.” Welcome to the already wild 2019 College World Series. Two national seeds taken down by a pair of former regional three-seeds to raise the curtain. Yet, As Coach Martin put it, “this is a strong field, the tournament is a long way from being in anyone’s hands.”
Another step will be taken in that direction on Monday. Florida State will be the designated home team against Michigan at 7PM ET. Texas Tech also won a coin flip, as a result they will bat last against Arkansas in the 2PM ET elimination game.
Game One
Saturday – June 15 – 2PM ET
Michigan 5 Texas Tech 3
Michigan built a 4-0 lead quickly on the strength of a three-run third frame. The Wolverines added a run in the seventh to claim the opening game of the 2019 College World Series by a final of 5–3 over Texas Tech. Jimmy Kerr picked up a pair of RBI’s and scored a run to lead the way. His triple was the highlight moment offensively for the Maize and Blue.
Texas Tech’s Brian Klein kept the game close with a two-run homer in the bottom of the 3rd inning. The Red Raiders would plate only one additional run despite a major scoring opportunity in the 6th.
Karl Kauffman tossed seven strong innings in notching his eleventh win of the season. Jeff Criswell worked the final two frames, allowing just a single hit to secure the save.
Both teams will be back in action Monday. Michigan faces the winner of Arkansas and Florida State at 7PM ET. Texas Tech will attempt to stave off elimination at 2PM ET.
SUPER REGIONAL PAIRINGS
#1 UCLA Bruins (Los Angeles) vs. Michigan Wolverines (Corvallis)
Top Seed – 2013 Champs Seeking Third Title (1953, 1962)
GM1: Michigan 3 UCLA 2
GM 2: UCLA 5 Michigan 4 (12 Innings)
GM 3: Michigan 4 UCLA 2
MICHIGAN WOLVERINES TO CWS!!!
#8 Texas Tech Red Raiders (Lubbock) vs. #9 Oklahoma State Cowboys (Oklahoma City)
Seeking First Title Seeking Second Title (1959)
GM 1: Texas Tech 8 Oklahoma State 6
GM 2: Oklahoma State 6 Texas Tech 5
GM 3: Texas Tech 8 Oklahoma State 6
TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS TO CWS!!!
#5 Arkansas Razorbacks (Fayetteville) vs. #12 Ole Miss (Oxford)
Seeking First Title – ’18 Runner Up Seeking First Title
GM1: Arkansas 11 Ole Miss 2
GM 2: Ole Miss 13 Arkansas 5
GM 3: Arkansas 14 Ole Miss 1
ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS TO CWS!!!
#13 LSU Tigers (Baton Rouge) vs. Florida State Seminoles (Athens)
6-Time Champions (Last 2009) Seeking First Title
GM 1: Florida State 6 LSU 4
GM 2: Florida State 5 LSU 4
FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES TO CWS!!!
#2 Vanderbilt Commodores (Nashville) vs. Duke Blue Devils (Morgantown)
2014 CWS Champions Seeking First Title
GM 1: Duke 18 Vanderbilt 5
GM 2: Vanderbilt 3 Duke 0
GM 3: Vanderbilt 13 Duke 2
VANDERBILT COMMODORES TO CWS!!!
#7 Louisville Cardinals (Louisville) vs. #10 East Carolina Pirates (Greenville)
Seeking First Title Seeking First Appearance
GM 1: Louisville 14 East Carolina 1
GM 2: Louisville 12 East Carolina 0
LOUISVILLE CARDINALS TO CWS!!!
#6 Mississippi State Bulldogs (Starkville) vs. #11 Stanford Cardinal (Stanford)
Seeking First Title Seeking Third Title (1987, 88)
GM 1: Mississippi State 6 Stanford 2
GM 2: Mississippi State 8 Stanford 1
MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS TO CWS!!!
#14 North Carolina Tarheels (Chapel Hill) vs. Auburn Tigers (Atlanta)
Seeking First Title Seeking First Title
GM 1: Auburn 11 UNC 7
GM 2: UNC 2 Auburn 0
GM 3: Auburn 14 UNC 7
AUBURN TIGERS TO CWS!!!
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College World Series Results
2018 College World Series
OREGON STATE BEAVERS WIN 2018 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
CWS FINALS
Arkansas Razorbacks (SEC) vs Oregon State Beavers (Pac 12)
2018 National Championship Series
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Game 1 – ARKANSAS 4 OREGON STATE 1
(Razorbacks lead 1-0)
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Game 2 – OREGON STATE 5 ARKANSAS 3
(Series tied 1-1)
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Game 3 – OREGON STATE 5 ARKANSAS 0
BEAVERS WIN CWS 2 GAMES TO 1!!!
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***
College World Series Results
OREGON STATE BEAVERS
2018 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
CWS Finals – Game Three
ARKANSAS vs OREGON STATE
Game 16 * Thursday, June 28 * 6:30PM ET
Oregon State 5 Arkansas 0
*****BEAVERS WIN 2 GAMES TO 1*****
Notables from Game Three…
-The conditions on Championship night were as follows: 89 degrees and finally truly sunny
-Winds were prevalent out of the south at 17 MPH for the 5:38 PM local time first pitch
-Despite being the designated home team, Oregon State opted to go with the same visiting uniform combination they had worn to victory one night earlier. The Razorbacks also stuck with the creams in hopes of a different result
-The “grinder grays,” as they had been called this season by OSU, won the day
-Freshman starter Kevin Abel shut down his opponent’s high-powered offense by twirling a complete game shutout in which the youngster threw just under 130 pitches, allowing just a pair of hits and retiring the final twenty batters he faced to go the distance
-The result saw Abel set a new single CWS record for wins, garnering his 4th such decision with the first complete game of his promising career.
-Abel ended the tournament 4-0 with an 0.86 E.R.A. across 21 innings pitched
-His CWS performance was eclipsed only by that of his battery mate Adley Rutschman who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player
-Rutschman set a new CWS record as well, nothing seventeen hits during his stay in Omaha. He also flirted with the RBI record, driving home thirteen runs to pace all hitters
-Rutschman’s final numbers in 30 official at bats were: .567 AVG, 17 hits, 13 RBI’s, 2 home runs, 3 doubles, 7 walks and 8 runs scored
-Pat Casey picked up a memorable milestone along with his third championship. He seemed to be pushing all the right buttons across the series’ final two games, which is nothing new. Thursday’s victory was Casey’s 900th win.
-The Beavers skipper has led OSU to 111 victories across the past two seasons
-The Corvallis crew took care of the unfinished business from a year ago when they were the CWS favorite, it was the mission which motivated the team all season, now completed
-First pitch on target at 5:38 CT, the initial delivery grounded to right side for a routine 4-3 putout
-The game began with a scoreless first for OSU defensively, though Arkansas had a base runner in the top of the first. Nothing pushed across had been a them, though the main story this time around is that it would be one of only a couple chances to muster anything in Game Three for the Razorbacks
-Oregon State wasted no time doing so. Here’s how the bottom of the first played out:
-Grenier (last night’s game tying hero) was hit by a pitch with one out. He would score the decisive run right away
-Larnach in long at bat, which was interrupted by review on a foul call down the third base line, then singled through the right side to put runners on first and third with one down
-Rutschman singled through the left side driving in the first run of the game, his series best 12th of the trip to Omaha
-Both secured a 15th CWS hit in these at bats, tying Jason Lane of USC (From 98) for the most hits all-time in a single College World Series
-The hit was also Rutschman’s 100th of the season, the OSU record and one of only a handful in the stories history of the Pac12 to hit triple digits in the category
-A flawless second inning for Kevin Abel who had been outstanding throughout the entire College World Series to the tune of 3 victories and a 1.50 E.R.A. across 12 innings of work
-All those numbers served simply as a preview of what was to come
-Grant Koch pounded a lead-off double off the base of the wall in the left field corner in an effort to ignite an Arkansas rally in the 3rd.
-After Biggers struck out, Cole followed with a walk and Martin with an infield single
-With the bases loaded and one out Heston Kjerstad struck out on a 2-2 pitch
-The inning left up to Luke Bonfield, Abel worked ahead with a 1-2 count before retiring the Arkansas clean-up man with a liner into right field. It stayed 2-0
-Koch’s extra base hit was one of only two base knocks in the game for the Hogs
-Arkansas’ frustration with the strike zone one half inning later, resulted in a member of the Razorbacks coaching staff being tossed from the inside first base dugout
-Dave Van Horn made an immediate pitching change following the ejection, bringing Reindl into the game. He was one of three relievers used in support of Isaiah Campbell
-Greneir who had walked just prior to the off the field commotion, stole second base with no one out and Larnach at the plate. He also walked, setting the stage for a little history
-Rutschman set the new CWS single series hits record by driving home Grenier for a 3-0 lead in the third
-Rutschman singled yet again in his next plate appearance to lead off the 5th, eventually scoring on a sac fly from Gretler to make it 4-0. This single capped a 3-for-4 performance and sealed the new CWS record for hits in a. single series at 17.
-Zak Taylor drove in the 5th and final run in the bottom of the 8th to put a lid on Oregon State’s impressive 5-0 win
-Game three was a lesson in exactly how much a ballpark can change from one night to the next, even how much a town can do so. This was brought to mind when OSU fans completely drowned out the Arkansas fans amidst the singing of “take me out to the ballgame” during the 7th inning stretch. Not to mention the celebration which followed two short innings later
-Oregon State outscored Arkansas 11-7 in the three game series
-The Beavers doubled-up the Razorbacks in the hit column 28-14 (7-2, 12-7, 9-5)
-Despite seeing their starters struggle throughout the CWS, the Beavers pitching staff held the potent Arkansas offense down throughout the series. The Hogs, a team which entered the CWS Finals having hit ninety-eight home runs on the season were not allowed to leave the yard a single time in the three game set
-OSU’s pen, forged by fire as a result of battling back through the elimination side of the bracket, did not even allow the Razorbacks to score across the final 13 innings of the National Championship Series. In fact they allowed the Hogs runs in just 4 of the series’ 27 frames
-Arkansas closed a remarkable 2018 season just two wins shy of 50, one win shy of the school’s first National Title
-The Razorbacks lost just three times in the entire NCAA Tournament, two of which came on consecutive nights in Games 2 & 3 of the CWS Finals (Their only losses to a non-conference opponent in the tourney came in the National Championship Series (The other loss occurred in Game Two of the Supers vs SEC foe South Carolina)
-It would seem a team may get no closer to a National Championship without tasting glory than Arkansas did in 2018. A remarkable season for the Hogs ended just one caught pop up short of a title. Though the finish was bittersweet for the Fayetteville crew, the road to Omaha was quite a ride. The Razorbacks were one of the final two left standing in Omaha
-The 72nd College World Series belonged to Oregon State. The Beavers came all the way back from a Game One loss to secure the third National Championship in school history.
-The Beavers accomplished this “all the way” back feat for the second time as a program (also en route to the first title in ’06)
-OSU ends the season with 55 victories, marking a second straight 50-win campaign in Corvallis
-After losing the first game played in the year’s edition of the College World Series, the Beavers secured victory in the one that mattered most, they won the last.
-2018 stands as OSU’s third National Championship in program history and first in just over a decade (’06, ’07, ’18)
-The Midwest city of Omaha saw its rainiest season ultimately belong to a group of relentless Beavers from the Pacific Northwest. An impressive run!
Congratulations to Oregon State, 2018 National Champions
CWS Finals – Game Two
OREGON STATE vs ARKANSAS
Game 15 * Wednesday, June 27 * 7PM ET
Oregon State 5 Arkansas 3
*****Series tied 1-1*****
-Down to their final strike, Oregon State put together a rare late inning comeback at TD Ameritrade Park on a memorable night at the CWS to keep the season alive
-The Beavers were given new life on a pop foul down the first base side which landed between three Razorbacks fielders. If caught, it would have secured the National Championship for Arkansas
-Just three pitches after Arkansas failed to secure the catch that would have put things on ice, Cadyn Grenier lined an RBI single through the left side of the infield to tie the game at three apiece
-One batter later, Trevor Larnach launched a two-run homer into the right field bullpen off flame throwing Arkansas closer Matt Cronin, placing the Beavers’ into the lead for good
-OSU had rallied with a three run top of the 9th, coming from behind for the 5-3 win
-Just how rare was the comeback? Consider this, teams leading in the 9th had won 126 of the last 128 CWS clashes at TD Ameritrade Park prior to this game
-The result also featured an out of character late inning hiccup for Arkansas. The Razorbacks were 41-2 on the season when leading after six innings
-Game Two was played in 4 hours 7 minutes, in front of 25,580 fans
-Arkansas was in their cream home uniform Wednesday, everything trimmed in cardinal red with a script letter “A” displayed on the uniform front. Oregon State employed traditional road grays with orange and black trim, featuring “Beavers” in block letters across the chest
-OSU outhit Arkansas for a second straight game, by a count of 12 to 7 this time around
-There was action early. OSU threatened in the top of the 1st with two outs following a couple of nice plays by Fletcher in center field, but Kacey Murphy ended the inning with a high fastball for a swinging strikeout of Gretler
-A fielding miscue forced Fehmel to work to one batter above the minimum in the bottom half of the frame, yet both pitchers escaped further trouble in a scoreless start to the contest
–Arkansas struck first on a wild pitch with two outs and the bases loaded in the 2nd inning
-Later on, with the game tied, Casey Martin ignited what appeared to be the game-clinching rally with a base knock in the two run fifth. Martin picked up his ninth CWS hit and team-best 18th of the NCAA tournament
-Carson Shaddy’s RBI single in the 5th capped a multi-hit game. It was a return to form at the plate for Shaddy, who has now notched 17 RBI in the NCAA Tournament for the Hogs
-Matt Cronin was attempting to pick up consecutive saves (for his 3rd in the CWS) and nail down the title for Arkansas before seeing things unravel in the 9th
-Adley Rutschman was right in the middle of things once again, a game tying home run in the 4th inning stretched his series best RBI total to 11. Rutschman has driven home 81 runs on the season for Oregon State, the top single season total in Beavers history
-Cadyn Grenier provided a pair of RBI’s, the second of which tied the game in the 9th. It was the 10th multi-RBI game for Grenier this year
-Earlier, Grenier laid down a beauty of a squeeze bunt up the third base line to push Oregon State out front 2-1 in the 5th. The bunt was executed so well, Grenier reached on the play
-Arkansas escaped what appeared to be the major threat moment for OSU at the time, with Grenier’s RBI squeeze bunt as the only damage. With the bases loaded and less than two outs, shoe-in all-tournament team members Larnach and Rutschman were up in succession. The Razorbacks limited the inning’s impact by retiring the dynamic duo in order
-It was not the final time Arkansas escaped trouble in a fashion that seemed to indicate it could be the Razorbacks night. With the tying run at third and no one out in the 6th, a second squeeze attempt by OSU was foiled when the Arkansas pitcher was able to just get his glove under a quick liner and then throw on to third for a momentum double play. One weak ground ball later, the Hogs lead was in tact for the moment
-One half inning later OSU was warned by the home plate umpire after arguing balls and strikes. Mindful of last night’s interference call and how things unraveled almost immediately following, this stage of the game seemed to be the stretch in which the composure of Oregon State was once again put to the test. As it turned out, they would answer in a major way
-In the end, the combo of Grenier, Larnach and Rutschman all notched multi-hit performances and drove in runs. All five RBI’s coming from the heart of the order
-A late scratch from the lineup, Steven Kwan saw action in a prime spot in the top of the 8th, though Oregon State would again leave a runner stranded. This time it was the tying run left at third base on Kwan’s fly out to center
-Reliving the memorable top of the 9th…
Zak Taylor fought off pitch after pitch, nearly driving a couple out of the park to the left field side, in order to eventually draw a lead-off walk
Andy Armstrong came on to pinch-hit and Zach Clayton pinch-ran (carrying the tying run). Armstrong’s job was clear and he successfully sacrificed the run on which the hopes of OSU’s season rested into scoring position at second base
The Beavers leader all season was next. Nick Madrigal came to the plate with a chance to tie the game. After falling behind 1-2 on a pair of pitches fouled straight back, the junior kept fighting until eventually grounding a 2-2 pitch off the end of his bat to the Razorbacks first baseman for an unassisted putout.
With two outs the season came down to Matt Cronin vs Cadyn Grenier. Would Arkansas win its first championship with OSU’s tying run left 90 feet away at third in back to back innings? Or would Oregon State provide more baseball?
…The rest is history
-With five runs in the game, OSU crossed over 50 runs in the CWS, now having scored 54 total in six games played
-Oregon State continued to score runs with two outs. The Beavers have driven home 31 runs with two down, a major theme for the Corvallis crew throughout this CWS
-If you like back and forth baseball, this series is for you. After just four total lead changes during the entire CWS a season ago, this year’s edition has featured fifteen lead changes across fifteen games
-Visiting designation remains the enviable position in this year’s College World Series. Teams are 12-3 from the first base dugout
-The series has featured 164 runs, an average of 10.9 per game. This is the top mark since the CWS made the move to TD Ameritrade Park in 2011
-A pair of Oregon State home runs in Game Two ran the series total to 18, five shy of last year’s TD Ameritrade era high water mark of 23
-The eight homers hit by the Beavers in this edition of the CWS ties the mark for most by one team in a CWS held in the new downtown digs (a mark set by LSU last season)
-Six teams have forced a third game in the CWS finals since the current format was adopted in 2003. Four of those six have gone on to win the series (The most recent, Coastal Carolina in ’16)
-Oregon State is one of the four teams to have already accomplished this, winning games two and three for their first of their back to back National Titles in 2006
-Thursday becomes a winner take all Championship Final. It is the 8th such game in 16 seasons since the best of three format was adopted, happening exactly 50% of the time.. The decisive game will be played at 6:30 pm ET with Oregon State as the designated home team
CWS Finals – Game One
ARKANSAS vs OREGON STATE
Game 14 * Tuesday, June 26 * 7PM ET
Arkansas 4 Oregon State 1
*****Razorbacks lead 1-0*****
-Due to inclement weather in the Omaha area, Game One of the CWS Finals, originally scheduled for Monday night was postponed to Tuesday evening.
Notables from Game 1…
-Due to the passion of Razorbacks fans and the close proximity of Omaha to Fayetteville, the game sold out early in the day. In fact Razorbacks fans were wrapped around the exterior of TD Ameritrade Park from 6am local time forward just to secure prime general admission seats
-The Ballpark was full of red with highlights of Orange scattered around, it certainly had the feel of Baum Stadium North. By the time the dust settled, they were “Calling The Hogs” all across the Midwest
-Game One was played in front of an announced crowd of 25,321
-Arkansas wore its traditional road grays, while OSU donned black tops with orange trim and white pants
-The game was completed in just under four hours, ending around 10:00pm local time
-The start was inauspicious enough, with both teams held scoreless, hitless in the first inning
-Both Arkansas and Oregon State did all their scoring in a single frame. Fortunately for the Razorbacks, theirs was a crooked number. A four spot in the 5th was the difference
-Oregon State’s lone run came in the bottom of the second, though the Beavers had many chances along the way. OSU outhit Arkansas 9 to 5 in the contest
-It was a memorable night for Mr. Knight. Arkansas ace Blaine Knight improved to 14-0 on the season with another impressive outing. This tied the school mark for wins in a single campaign
-Loeske and Cronin were just as solid out of the Arkansas bullpen, Cronin nailing the door shut and also tying a school mark, save in a single season, in the process.
-The game was marked by a couple of close calls and an overturned play via video review. A pivotal moment came in the early stages when an untimely runner interference erased Oregon State’s potential second run and worked Arkansas out of trouble with the deficit just a single run. It was the first of two occasions in the game that an Oregon State runner seemingly destined to score was returned to third base (the placement of runners on the review play being the other)
-Oregon State’s lone run scored on a one-out RBI single by Gretler in the 2nd for a 1-0 lead
-Heimlich was again touched up, losing command of the zone and seeing Arkansas take advantage prior to his departure in the decisive 5th inning
-Arkansas perhaps dodged one additional bullet, on a ground rule double that Kjerstad never saw in the Sunlight, fortunately for the Razorbacks it hopped over the fence for Larnoch’s second double of the game, his 5th of the series, breaking the CWS record
-Kjerstad bounced back nicely later in the game, with a strong throw from left field, cutting down a potential runner in scoring position. Malone was caught trying to stretch a single into a double
-In the Arkansas 5th, Gates chopped a base knock over the first baseman’s head with one aboard and one out to set the stage, by putting runners on first and third
-Koch drives home the tying run with a base hit to left field
-Biggers was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, this moved the OSU bullpen into action
-Cole followed and was also hit by a wild pitch to give Arkansas the lead at 2-1
-The Hogs would never relinquish the advantage
-With the bases still loaded for Casey Martin, Beavers second baseman, Nick Madrigal, juggled a routine ground ball, an E4, putting Arkansas up 3-1, still with only one out
-Kjerstad, looked at a wild pitch way wide of the plate on Heimlich’s first delivery his direction, this prompted OSU’s call to the bullpen. With Christian Chamberlian in, the count quickly moved to 3-0. In the end Kjerstad walked on four pitches from two Pitchers. This set the eventual final at 4-1 Hogs
-Chamberlain was good the rest of the way (tossing four-plus effective innings, giving OSU a chance to battle back, though nothing of impact ever materialized
The 4-1 final could’ve been much worse, Arkansas pushed very little across in a couple of different bases loaded situations
With Luke Heimlich not escaping the 5th, his final line was as follows: 4 1/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R (3ER), 2BB, 5K, 2HBP, 87 pitches, 52 for strikes
-Blaine Knight worked 6.0 full, allowing the 1 run on 7 hits, 6K, 1 BB. He threw 97 pitches in what was likely his final appearance of a storied career for the Razorbacks
It was a quiet ninth for Cronin after Loeske was lifted. He struck out Malone and Gretler before retiring the pinch-hitter Armstrong on a soft liner to end the game
-The Razorbacks improved to 4-0 in the 2018 College World Series
-The Hogs have outscored their opponents 27-12 thus far
-11 of 15 teams winning Game 1 of the Finals have gone on to win the CWS
-Arkansas will attempt to lock down the school’s first national championship on Wednesday
Day Eight
OREGON STATE vs MISSISSIPPI STATE
Game 13 * Saturday, June 23 * 8PM ET
Oregon State 5 Mississippi State 2
***Mississippi State Eliminated***
Oregon State powers back through elimination side of bracket, will face Arkansas in CWS Finals
Notables from Game Thirteen…
-Saturday provided the best weather night of the entire tournament (79 degrees and Sunny) and one of its more entertaining contests, especially considering the nature of the 9th
-It was certainly among the most briskly played games in this year’s tourney. The contest was completed in just over three hours. Aside from State’s opener in which the Bulldogs walked off the other Pac12 entry in this year’s CWS, Washington, by breaking a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 9th, most of this year’s games have pushed or exceeded the four hour mark
-A five run third inning proved enough for Oregon State to complete their journey back to the championship round after losing Game 1 of the 2018 College World Series
-Six of the game’s seven runs came in the decisive 3rd frame. This speaks to how well pitched the game was otherwise, on both sides
-Oregon State was able to string together five consecutive two out hits including Tyler Malone’s three-run blast. The top of the inning came to a close with the Beavers leading 5-0
-The display was just the latest installment of two-out runs for Oregon State in the CWS. The Beavers have accumulated 28 two-out RBI’s in the 2018 College World Series, the most since the tournament expanded just prior to the turn of the century
-The final result raised the Beavers run total to 48 across 5 games played in Omaha
-Oregon State outscored Mississippi State 17-4 in the two semi-final round games
-For a team totaling just four hits in their final game, Mississippi State had its chances
-The school’s magical and memorable run through the NCAA tournament came to a close abruptly as the final potential rally was snuffed out in the bottom of the 9th. The Bulldogs worked the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the inning after plating a run to pull within three. Pinch hitter Tanner Poole was hit by a pitch, leaving it up to Joran Westburg as the potential winning run with the bases loaded.
-Fittingly it had all came down to Mr. Banana himself, Westburg, who was responsible for so much of State’s inspiration, as well as, the only Grand Slam in this year’s College World Series. With Mississippi State down to their final strike (sound familiar) for a second time in the inning, he fought to remain alive, taking everything out of the zone and fouling off close pitche after close pitch before grounding into a force out at second base which ended MSU’s season.
-It was the last of several opportunities upon which the club simply could not capitalize
-In the end, consistent offensive production during their time in the midwest was most lacking for the Starkville crew
-State scored just 4 total runs against opponents other than UNC (Twelve of the Bulldogs sixteen CWS runs came in their game against the Tarheels)
-Ethan Small showed no lingering effects of Friday’s batting practice incident, he simply ran into a two-out Beavers rally in the 3rd which he could not escape until it was too late
-Cole Gordon pitched valiantly, allowing no further Oregon State runs after coming on out of the pen in the 5th. Gordon ended his season twirling 4 1/3 innings of one-hit ball
-Oregon State’s Kevin Abel, who had worked out of the bullpen during both ends of a rain delay earlier in the tourney, gave Oregon State its best starting effort of the CWS.
-Abel’s 7 strong innings set the stage for Jake Mulholland to carry OSU home across the final two frames. Though both Chamberlian and Heimlich were warming in the ninth, Oregon State was forced to use just those two pitchers (Abel & Mulholland) in the game
-Steven Kwan pinch hit in the 9th for Oregon State, though he failed to reach, it was perhaps a good sign related to his availability for the championship round
-Head Coach Gary Henderson summed it up best “We threw up 8 zeroes, just couldn’t solve Kevin Abel”
-They are not alone, Abel has put together quite an NCAA Tournament, posting a 3-0 record with a sub-one E.R.A. at 0.95 across 19 Innings of work
-Offensively, the Beavers were led by Malone’s HR and multi-hit efforts from Adley Rutschman and Michael Gretler. The duo posted the only multi-hit performances of the game for OSU and was responsible for half the club’s hit total (4 of the 8 base knocks in the game, 5 of which came consecutively in the 3rd inning)
-With ten CWS RBI thus far Adley Rutschman has reached 80 total RBI’s on the season. These marks stand as the highest Pac12 full season total since 2008 and the top CWS mark since another Pac12 athlete (Arizona State’s Kole Calhoun) notched 11 CWS RBI in 2009
-For OSU it was back to the old TD Ameritrade formula of lead early, score at least five and pitch well enough late to make its stick
-The Beavers victory also meant another win for the designated visiting club. This year’s CWS games have trended visitors by a clip of 9-4
-Oregon State advances to the CWS Finals for the first time since winning their second of consecutive titles in 2007.
-Oregon State is the first team since South Carolina in 2010 (the final season at Rosenblatt) to reach the CWS Finals after losing its first game in Omaha
-It is the second time Oregon State has journeyed all the way back through the elimination side of the bracket, the school did so en route to its first title in 2006
-Mississippi State’s season ended one victory shy of the 40 win threshold in an improbable campaign which saw the club overcome constant adversity to somehow close out the year in Omaha. They were still fighting to their very last baseball breath.
-The Beavers will now face a second consecutive SEC foe, Arkansas, in a best of three series for the title beginning Monday night at 7pm ET. Oregon State is the designated home team in Game 1 of the Championship Series
Day Seven
MISSISSIPPI STATE vs OREGON STATE
Game 12 * Friday, June 22 * 8PM ET
Oregon State 12 Mississippi State 2
Oregon State keeps hope alive blitzing Mississippi State, forces second game Saturday
Notables from Game Eleven…
-This matchup serves as a role reversal from the only two meetings between the clubs in their storied baseball histories. In ‘13 Mississippi State worked through the elimination side of the bracket by defeating Oregon State twice to earn a berth in the CWS finals
-Another major storyline in this one is the battle of Oregonian pride on a national stage. Mississippi State interim head coach Gary Henderson is a native of (hold your ears) Eugene, Oregon. Don’t worry Beaver fans, the only college colors he’s worn back home were OSU’s. Henderson served as a member of Pat Casey’s staff in the mid-2000’s. Safe to say a unique familiarity exists in this semi-final pairing
-Oregon State was on a mission Friday afternoon, pounding out 12 runs on 15 hits, living to fight another day in the process
-The Beavers used a five run second inning and a four run seventh to pull away
-It seems fitting, considering the comeback story that is Miss State’s 2018 season, the Bulldogs will have to excel once more with their backs against the wall in order to reach the title series
-The Sun finally peaked through the clouds for an extended period during this one, the first somewhat sustained sunshine since opening weekend
-The game was played in just under four hours, but finished just in front of the necessary window to get the night-cap between Arkansas and Florida started on time. This is noteworthy simply because it has rarely happened on multiple game days to this point in the tournament
-Hunter Stovall has been the bright point for Misssissippi State in the tournament to this point, leading the team with six hits in the CWS. He notched two of those and a pair of RBI’s in the game
-Keep in mind, the banana clad Bulldogs have scored only three total runs outside their twelve run (ironically enough) explosion against North Carolina
-Mississippi State will have some items to tighten up before the reboot. Among their self inflicted wounds were eleven free passes and a failure to retire the lead-off man across the first five innings of the game. The Bulldogs would only do so twice in eight defensive frames
-One further area of concern for Bulldog fans, team ace and tomorrow’s anticipated starting pitcher Ethan Small was hit on his pitching arm while out from behind a screen during pre-game batting practice. All indications are he will make the start and Mississippi State has gone on the record to say they expect no lingering effects. It is, however, worth keeping an eye on moving forward
-The home team has scored first in over half the games played in this year’s CWS, yet Oregon State became just the fourth designated home team to win across the first eleven games
-Oregon State also became the 6th team to score 10 or more runs in three consecutive CWS games, four of the previous five went on to claim the title (Stanford ’03 being the only exception)
-Oregon State has already scored over 40 runs in the 2018 CWS, plating a total of 43 runs in 4 games played, easy math reveals a double digit average for the Beavs
-Their 43 runs scored already stands as the top team total since the CWS moved to TD Ameritrade Park in 2011
-The club is hitting .377 as a team in the CWS (57-for-151) with 5 home runs, 12 doubles and 2 triples. All good enough for the top spot among the eight teams making the trip to Omaha
-Adley Rutschman has led all participants with 9 RBI’s thus far in the CWS, the most since 2016. Florida’s Deacon Liput had the high total last season with 7 total.
-The 5 run Oregon State second innings marked the 5th time in this year’s CWS that a team scored five or more runs in a single frame
-Heard the old TD Ameritrade adage score 5 and lead after eight? 66 of the past 76 teams to score five runs in the CWS have won the game (Be cautious this season however, since 5 of the 10 to lose after scoring at least five runs have been during this CWS). 123 of the last 125 teams leading after eight innings have won (Vanderbitl over Cal St Fullerton in ’15 and TCU over Texas Tech in ’16 are the exceptions)
-Speaking of scoring runs, teams have done more of that in this tournament than any other in the TD Ameritrade Park era of CWS play. 137 runs have been brought home through eleven games in this year’s CWS, already eclipsing the mark (134) set it 2015. Even more remarkable considering the potential for six additional games before the series is over. Prior to this season teams averaged a combined 7.4 runs per game in CWS contests played downtown, that average has risen to 12.5 per game
-The lead has also changed hands more in this CWS than any in recent memory. There have been 11 lead changes through 11 games, contrast that with just four total lead changes in this entire 2017 CWS.
-Oregon State has reached at least the semi’s in each of its most recent five appearances in the CWS, winning the title in ’06 and ’07
-26 teams in OSU’s shoes have come back to force the second “if necessary” game since the two bracket format was adopted in 1988. 17 of the 26 went on to win the bracket and advance to the championship.
-Oregon State need look no further than South Carolina’s 2010 title and their own championship run in 2006 for inspiration, those are the two most recent occasions in which a team losing its first CWS game rebounded to win the National Championship. The Beavers would be blazing somewhat of a new trail, the feat has not yet been accomplished at TD Amerittrade Park
-Oregon State will have a chance to do just that when the teams meet in a winner-take-all semi-final contest on Saturday. Game time is currently to be determined, based upon the outcome of the Arkansas-Florida game which follows
.
ARKANSAS vs FLORIDA
Game 11 * Friday, June 22 * 8PM ET
Arkansas 5 Florida 2
***Florida Eliminated***
Razorbacks earn trip to CWS Finals by bouncing the champs
Notables from Game Twelve…
-The “OmaHogs” made Saturday a single game slate by punching a ticket to the CWS Finals. It is the school’s first National Championship Series appearance. Arkansas did play for the tile once prior, in 1979 under the single game format
-Double-digit Razorback hits accounted for runs in four different frames to secure the victory over their conference rival and the NCAA Tournament’s top seed
-The reigning National Champions saw their title defense come to a close just one win shy of 50 on the season and two wins shy of a return to the Finals.
-Arkansas led early, scoring runs in 1st and 3rd innings before tacking on in the 5th
-Fletcher remained on fire, clearing the bullpen with a monster home run to right field which capped a two run frame and which doubled the Arkansas lead. It stood 4-0 Hogs at the halfway point
-Casey Martin scored each of the first three runs for Arkansas and drove in the Hogs fifth. Martin came home to score on an RBI single by Luke Bonfield in the 1st, a Dominic Fletcher single to right in the 3rd and another Bonfield’s contribution on an RBI groundout in the 5th
-Martin’s infield single plated Gates in the 6th, an unearned run which answered Florida’s scoring in the prior half-inning
-The Gators had plated two when Brady Smith singled home Austin Langworthy and Blake Reese scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead in half at the time
-It remained 5-2 Arkansas as they stood to stretch all across TD Ameritrade Park
-Florida’s Brady Smith came to the plate representing the tying run in the bottom of the 7th with only one out, he was struck out by Jake Reindl. Reindl went on to retire nine-hole-hitter Nick Horvath on a groundout to third base, keeping the lead in tact
-The last gasp for the champs included JJ Schwarz, Austin Langworthy and Blake Resse in the bottom of the 9th. Eric Cole reached into the seats on a foul ball down the right field line to rob the captain of a further chance in the opening at bat, a groundout took care of Langworthy and Reese struck out to end it. An efficient 1-2-3 9th for Matt Cronin
-It wasn’t just any other decision for Cronin. Not only did it place Arkansas into the Championship Round, it also tied the Arkansas school record for saves
-Isaiah Campbell held the Gators down early, crafting a perfect game through four innings and finishing with 8 strikeouts across 5 1/3 innings. He was charged with only two hits and a pair of runs en route to his fifth win of the season
-Arkansas handed Gator ace and first round draft pick Brady Singer just his third loss of the season, two of which came here at the College World Series (Arkansas and Texas Tech)
-Arkansas has scored in the first inning to set the tone in each game the Hogs have played in this CWS
-An SEC semi-final made it a forgone conclusion, but the result makes it official. The Southeastern Conference has placed at least one team in the CWS Finals for the 10th time in the past 11 seasons. There remains the potential for an all-SEC West title championship battle.
-Arkansas awaits the winner of tomorrow night’s decisive semi-final rematch between Mississippi State and Oregon State in the CWS Finals. The National Championship Series is a best-of-three format played on consecutive nights, beginning Monday evening.
Day Six
FLORIDA vs TEXAS TECH
Game 10 * Thursday, June 21 * 8PM ET
Florida 9 Texas Tech 6
***Texas Tech Eliminated***
Gators stay alive in defense of their CWS crown with consistent offensive attack
Notables from Game Ten…
-The official first day of summer provided another cool and overcast night downtown
-Baseball related activities began with the much anticipated MLB announcement that Kansas City will host Detroit in a regular season contest to be played in Omaha just ahead of the 2019 College World Series next June
-The day ended with a highly anticipated rematch between Texas Tech and Florida.
-It was not just a rematch of their earlier meeting in this tourney. Two years ago to the day Texas Tech eliminated Florida from the CWS eventually won by Coastal Carolina. By Wrecking ‘Em in ’16 Tech secured its first CWS win all-time
-Florida scored the game’s first run on a wild pitch in the top of he 4th inning. Jonathan India came home for the 1-0 lead. India had walked, reached second on a wild pitch and stolen third before trotting home on the Tech pitcher’s untimely toss the backstop
-Florida’s Jack Lefwich had not allowed a hit to that point in the game, he would surrender a pair of hits including a lead-off single to Zach Rheams in the ensuring half inning, but nothing else thanks to a diving stab turned double-play by Austin Langworthy. The left-fielder’s glove work held the score at 1-0 through four
-One left-fielder’s play deserves another, Grant Little had flashed the leather just one inning earlier with a leaping stab at the top of the wall on a ball hit by Deacon Liput
-Liput cashed in during his next at bat, seeing to it that Florida scored in back to back frames. Liput was credited with an RBI double on a hard hit ball right by first baseman Cameron Warren, 2-0 Gators
-Tech changed pitchers following the base hit, only to see Nelson Maldanado add another via an RBI groundout to short. As the game reached its mid-point Florida led 3-0
-By the time Schwarz deep fly reached the left-field bullpen for his thirteenth home run of the year, Florida had secured a 5-0 advantage on just that many hits
-Florida used an aggressive approach on the base paths throughout the game, keeping relentless pressure on Texas Tech defensively in nearly every inning
-Both teams had five hits by the end of the 6th inning, but Florida possessed the game’s only five runs
-Texas Tech finally found its offensive stroke in the bottom of the 7th, chasing the Florida starter, then securing the elusive hit with runners in scoring position to get on the board
-It came with the bases loaded following a walk to Gabe Holt and off the bat of Brian Klein again. The two-hole hitter lofted the ball into shallow CF to initiate the scoring
-Josh Jung followed with an RBI single just beyond the reach of a leaping second-baseman
-Grant Little grounded a 3-2 pitch to the shortstop that Liput could’n’t quite handle cleanly, scoring a run and making it 5-3.
-Rheams was struck out on a 3-2 pitch by the newest Florida reliever Jordan Butler
-This left the bases loaded scenario to Michael Davis with two down. Davis was 0-2 with a pair of strikeouts and a walk, he would fly out to right field, leaving the trying runs in scoring position. Though the bullpen had bent, Butler protected the Florida lead
-Langworthy would add to it. His sacrifice fly cashed in Will Dalton’s lead-off double in the 8th, extending the lead to 6-3
-This was an exact reversal of the score by which Texas Tech defeated Florida 4 short days ago
-It would not satisfy the Gators. Two batters later Brady Smith tripled off the top of the centerfield wall, sending Blake Reese home to score.
-He joined Jonathan India as the second Gator to triple in this CWS and became the 6th Florida player to do so all time
-When Smith scored on an RBI base hit by Nick Harvach, Florida had all three of the runs right back
-Texas Tech plated three more in the bottom of the 8th to pull back within two
-Jung drove home a run ahead of Little’s two-RBI single, the 70-plus RBI duo in the heart of the Raiders lineup placed the Lubbock crew back within striking distance heading to the 9th
-Before the Raiders would have their chance, however, Florida evened the hit column at 12 apiece and scored Jonathan India on an infield error to carry a 9-6 lead to the bottom of the inning
-Michael Byrne saw to it that Texas Tech went quietly in the frame, securing the three run victory for his 16th save of the season
-Despite freshman right-hander Jack Leftwich pitching into the 7th, Florida used six pitchers to nail down The win, two of which did not secure an out
-Another nearly four hour affair came to a close just ahead of midnight eastern with the reigning champions alone left standing
-With Tech’s rally coming up short, it remains true, no team has ever erased a five run deficit to win a game in the TD Ameritrade Park era of CWS play
-Tech’s season ends with 45 wins and a third trip to Omaha in the past five seasons under Tim Tadlock. Florida survives to face conference foe Arkansas on Friday evening at 8pm ET.
-The Gators will need two wins over the Razorbacks in order to return to the National Championship Series.
Day Five
ARKANSAS vs TEXAS TECH
Game 8 * Wednesday, June 20 * Noon ET
Arkansas 7 Texas Tech 4
Hogs wins back to back games versus Lone Star foes to earn spot in Semi-Finals
Notables from Game Eight…
-Another extended day in Omaha was finally underway around 2pm local time. Originally scheduled for Tuesday evening, then bumped to 11am Wednesday, the contest became just the latest affected by an ever growing number of Midwest storms blanketing this year’s CWS.
-For the fourth straight day a weather delay halted or stalled the action. Factor in the opening contest on Saturday, which was the longest 9 inning game in CWS history; all five days have been extended trips to the yard for these passionate fan bases
-Once play began, Arkansas unleashed its offense right away. The Hogs picked up where they left off on Sunday, scoring two runs in the opening stanza.
-The Razorbacks set the table by posting runners on second and third with nobody out, but were only able to plate the runs as result of a collision in right-center field on Dominic Fletcher’s two out fly ball which would have ended the inning. The play was scored a double and placed a two-spot on the board right out of the gate
-The defensive miscue allowed Arkansas to cash in Casey Martin’s double and a lead off single by Eric Cole
-Texas Tech starter Davis Martin struck out the side amidst the trouble, leaving Fletcher stranded at third with the final punch-out of the frame
-Tech nearly answered right back, leaving runners of their own stranded in scoring position to end the bottom of the first
-Both starters (the aforementioned Martin and Kacey Murphy) threw 21 pitches in the first inning, only Arkansas had something to show for the damage
-Speaking of damage, Razorbacks first-baseman Jared Gates did more of it in the 2nd, leading off the inning with his 5th career post-season homer. 5 of his 12 HR’s across four years on campus in Fayetteville. Just like that, 3-0 Hogs
-In the bottom of the frame Arkansas LF Heston Kjerstad robbed Cody Farha of at least an extra base hit with a man aboard and one out. Kjerstad collided with the wall as he made the catch. One play later, with the baserunner thrown out at second, the inning and the threat were over.
-Fletcher left nothing to chance in his third at bat of the game, punching one out solo shot to right field which cleared the bullpen for a 4-0 Arkansas lead
-100 homers on the season is still very much within reach for Arkansas, the two in this game boosted the Razorbacks total to 97 thus far
-Arkansas added a 5th run via an RBI knock from Biggers, making the score 5-0
-Texas Tech finally answered in the bottom of the 5th inning. The Raiders parlayed a dropped third strike and a walk into two runs on a two-out double to the base of the right field wall off the bat of Brian Klein
-Klein’s RBI knock was only the second hit of the game for Texas Tech, yet it chased starter Kacey Murphy from the game after 4 2/3 strong innings
-Murphy’s two hits allowed came against the first and final hitters he faced
-Tech would add no more in the frame, leaving the score at 5-2 Arkansas after five
-The next threat from Arkansas would come in the 8th, which began with back to back base runners thanks to a Heston Kjerstad single which landed just inside the LF line. The next hitter, Luke Bonfiled was replaced at the plate after failing to get the bunt down on the first pitch. Pinch-hitter, Hunter Wilson fouled out attempting to bunt the runners over in his CWS debut.
-All was forgiven once Fletcher did it again. The five-hole hitter drove home the first run with an RBI single. Carson Shady followed with the same. A brand new 7-2 score left fans calling the Hogs all across TD Ameritrade Park
-Arkansas nearly added more, if not for Gabe Holt’s leaping catch against the wall in right, followed by a wild pitch hard off the backstop which caromed quickly back to the catcher allowing for a diving tag at the plate to end the inning
-The Razorbacks had already done enough, Arkansas had outhit Texas Tech 12-3 at that point and built a lead large enough to stick
-Texas Tech’s final rally came in the home half of the 9th. The Raiders scored a pair of runs with three consecutive hits to start the frame and would eventually get the tying run to the on deck circle, but no further. It was a case of too little, too late
-In the end, Dominic Fletcher had accomplished something no one else in the TD Ameritrade era had yet pulled off. He secured 4 hits and 4 RBI’s in a CWS game
-The Sun seemed to peek through for the first time in what felt like days as the game worked its way through the bottom of the 8th inning. It is certainly shining on the Razorbacks
-Arkansas is now in the driver’s seat of Bracket Two, awaiting Thursday night‘s Florida-Texas Tech winner in the semi-final round. The elimination game between the Gators and Red Raiders is scheduled for 7pm ET
OREGON STATE vs NORTH CAROLINA
Game 9 * Wednesday, June 20 * 7PM ET
Oregon State 11 North Carolina 6
***NORTH CAROLINA ELIMINATED***
Beavers come to life as late night mist rolls in over TD Ameritrade Park, using back to back four run frames to secure a magical come from behind victory over the Tarheels
Notables from Game Nine…
-Right back where it started from, the CWS saw its first rematch of ’18. It was fittingly the mid-2000’s championship rematch which had opened the tournament on Saturday
-This edition was not quite as long (remember these teams set a new 9 inning record for CWS game length in their most recent meeting). This time around the game was played In just under four hours, ending slightly past 11pm local time
-The result was different as well, thanks to the comeback of the CWS thus far. A four run top of the 8th inning pushed the Beavers into the lead for good
-The scoring in this game also started quickly, OSU hit a pair of home runs in the first inning.
-Cadyn Grenier drove the third pitch of the game out of the park following Nick Madrigal’s ground out to begin the game. After Trevor Larnach grounded out to first base, Adley Rutschman homered, also to left field for a 2-0 advantage
-Oregon State added a run in the 3rd when Larnach drove home Grenier to lead 3-0
-UNC pushed across three of their own in the bottom of the 3rd, chasing Heimlich from the game in the process
-The critical blow of the inning was Brandon Riley’s hopper over the first baseman’s head ruled just fair and scoring a pair of ‘Heels to tie the game. This followed an RBI groundout from Cody Roberts which had put North Carolina on the board
-Heimlich did not escape the third in either game against the Tarheels
-UNC wasn’t done there, Brandon Maltarono led off the bottom of the 6th inning with a triple
-Kyle Datres followed two batters later with a memorable HR which ricocheted off the left field foul pole extending the lead to 6-3
-Fair/Foul plays have been a major storyline in Oregon State’s last two trips to Omaha. This time around they overcame a couple of “just fair” haymakers
-Cooper Criswell and Caden O’Brien combined for the effective mound work in this one for North Carolina. Criswell provided OSU a second look through just over 2 innings of action. O’Brien worked 4 1/3 strong innings in the middle. He departed in the 8th. Things went down hill immediately and the UNC bullpen became a revolving door
-Oregon State used the combo of Christian Chamberlain, Dylan Pearce and Jake Mullholland behind Heimlich to stay close and eventually seal the win. It was Mulholland who kept things in order across the final three innings, securing the win in the process
-This classic wasn’t without late drama. As a heavy Pacific Northwest style mist rolled in over TD Ameritrade Park, with the game closing in on the local hour of 10pm, the Beavers suddenly changed the complexion of the contest
-After attempting to squeeze home a score (the roller up the first base line went foul), Grenier battled to the tune of an 11 pitch walk. This loaded the bases with no one out in a 6-3 game
-Adley Ruschman came up big once more. The clean-up hitter drove a one-out double into the night mist and off the outfield wall, clearing the bases to tie the game. With the hit, Rutschman set the new school record for single season RBI’s at 77 on the year
-Right-hander Brett Daniels, who inherited the bases loaded jam from Joey Lancellotti, struck out Larnach, gave up the impact double, struck out Malone, walked Kwan and Gretler, then walked Jack Anderson on a 3-2 pitch to surrender the lead
-The inning ended on a pop up just in front of home plate. By then it was 7-6 Oregon State
-Steven Kwan, out of the lineup for he first time this year would pinch hit with two outs and Rutschman at second base, but with first base open. UNC intentionally walked him to face Gretler. Oregon State used its trademark patience at the plate to take the lead
-UNC’s bottom of the eighth was just as dramatic. Martorano drew a lead-off walk and was sacrificed to second by a pinch hitter Dalla Tessar. After Datres flew out to right field, Michael Busch did the same, leaving the tying run in scoring position and ending the ‘Heels threat
-While the Tarheels couldn’t score, OSU kept doing so. The Corvallis crew put things to bed by adding a second consecutive four spot in the 9th. The loudest knock was a two run shot by Tyler Malone into the continuing mist and over the right field fence which served as the exclamation point
-Oregon State eliminated UNC from the College World Series yet again, ironically remaining the Tarheels Kryptonite despite the initial result in Omaha
-Has anyone mentioned the weather? It played a major role in the first of the meetings between these teams. A chill in the air on a cool evening with a steady mist marked Wednesday. So, in a fascinating twist, the clubs from opposite coasts played in the warmest and coolest games of the Midwest based tournament to this point
-The results made sense, a team used to playing in heat and humidity claimed the game with that feel; a team used to playing in a climate known for moisture and cooler temperatures won the game played under those conditions.
-The designated visitors keep on winning in Omaha. Clubs occupying the first base dugout and top line on the scoreboard are 7-2 through the first 9 games of the 2018 CWS
-Double-digit run totals have been almost as big a storyline as the Midwestern weather. For the fourth time in nine games a team plated ten or more runs.
-North Carolina’s season comes to a close with 44 wins and a return trip to Omaha
-Oregon State next faces Mississippi State in the Semi-Final Round beginning Friday afternoon. Pat Casey’s club will need to defeat Mississippi State, under the direction of his former assistant and fellow Oregonian Gary Henderson, on consecutive days. The Beavers will be the designated home team in Friday’s contest
Day Four
MISSISSIPPI STATE vs NORTH CAROLINA
Game 6 * Tuesday, June 19 * 11AM ET
Mississippi State 12 UNC 2
Bulldogs “slam” Tarheels, earn spot in CWS Semi-Finals
Notables from Game Six…
-The first game of a busy baseball Tuesday started ten minutes behind schedule (well, really a day and ten minutes later than expected) due to continued storms in the area on Tuesday morning
-This was the first CWS game to begin this early in the morning since Arizona State faced Clemson at 10:22 am on June 21, 2010 in the final season at The Blatt. That morning battle was part of a series also noted for extended weather delays in which South Carolina eventually won their first of back to back “out with the old, in with the new” National Championships
-With North Carolina’s loss, every team in the field has now been handed a post-season defeat
-Mississippi State remained hot, paced by a 3-for-4, 7 RBI performance from nine-hole hitter Jordan Westburg. His early Grand Slam was the difference maker
-Known for in-game dugout shenanigans (a la the reason bananas are all over Omaha, Westburg made his lasting mark between the white lines this time around.
-The Freshman tied the CWS single game RBI record, becoming the sixth player to drive home seven runs in a College World Series game
-It’s not a good idea to play Mississippi Sate after a delay: The Bulldogs have not only walked-off a game in every round of the tournament, they’ve also now won a contest delayed by rain in every round of the tournament
-With anticipated game two starter Cooper Criswell used in the Tarheels opener, sophomore Austsin Bergner was given the nod opposite Mississippi State’s Konor Pilkington. They would both garner the decisions in the game
-MSU’s Cole Gordon picked up a save by working three strong relief innings
-Bergner pitched well for UNC aside from the one breaking ball he hung to Westberg, throwing 98 total pitches and lasting into the 8th. He settled in to retire 16 consecutive batters following the Grand Slam
-North Carolina started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when Kyle Datres double was cashed in via a sacrifice fly from Cody Roberts for a 1-0 lead
-Mississippi State answered in a major way in the 2nd. After State’s opening game hero Luke Alexander singled to load the bases, Westburg blasted his Grand Slam into the Left Field bleachers to put the Bulldogs ahead 4-1
-The 49th Grand Slam in CWS history, it was only the second home run of the year for the Freshman DH. The big blow came on a 1-2 pitch with two men out
-It was just the 2nd Grand Slam in the TD Ameritrade Park era, both occuring in the past two seasons (KJ Harrison of Oregon State had the other vs LSU in ’17)
-UNC had already been charged with an error earlier in the inning, thus all four runs were unearned
-The Tarheels made three such errors in the game, matching UNC’s total from the club’s first six NCAA Tournament games combined
-When the dust cleared, 8 of MSU’s 12 runs in the game were unearned
-Mississippi State’s impact freshman group was 1-for-25 in the CWS through the midway point of the team’s second game in Omaha, the one, however, was Westburg’s Grand Slam
-The youngsters came to life in unison during the 8th, serving as catalysts for an 8 run frame which would allow the ‘Dogs to pull away. Westburg again had the big blow, a bases clearing double which set the final at 12-2
-One particular moment seemed to be a snapshot of the entire story for UNC: with the bases full of Bulldogs and no one out in the 8th, MSU’s Elijah MacNamee hit directly into the well-placed shift (which featured a three man left side on the infield), only to see the throw home elude UNC’s catcher and a run score anyway. It was the Tarheels second defensive miscue of the inning and opened the door for the Bulldogs to build on the lead. In the blink of an eye it was to 8-2
-Mississippi State ended the game havinng secured twelve runs on nine total hits
-The Bulldogs had nine official at bats with the bases loaded, securing over half their hits (5-for-9) in that scenario
-The Starkville boys have shown their versatility by winning a pair of games in very different ways here in Omaha
-North Carolina will square off with its historic CWS nemesis Oregon State for a second time in this year’s tournament attempting to stave off elimination on Thursday evening. UNC will be the designated home team in the contest
-Mississippi State will now rest and wait for the winner in a game scheduled for Friday afternoon
FLORIDA vs TEXAS
Game 7 * Tuesday, June 19 * 4PM ET
Florida 6 Texas 1
***TEXAS ELIMNIATED***
Defending Champs take care of Texas behind a strong outing from Jackson Kowar
Notables from Game Seven…
-The reigning champions remained alive in the tournament with consistent offense and a career performance on the mound from right-handler Jackson Kowar
-Kowar provided 6 2/3 strong innings, throwing 121 pitches and striking out a career high 13 batters. The most ever by a Florida pitcher in a CWS game
-His 13 strikeouts set a new record for CWS games held at TD Ameritrade Park
-The last two pitchers to strike out 13 batters in a CWS game were UCLA’s dynamic duo of Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole in 2010. Mark Prior was the only other pitcher to accomplish the feat in seven innings or less before Kowar
-The performance also secured Kowar a 10th win on the season
-Florida wasted no time getting on the board, scoring on SEC Player of the Year Jonathan Inda’s RBI single for a 1-0 lead
-The 1-0 advantage would hold through the first five innings of the game
-Florida posted four more runs in the sixth to create some breathing room
-India was in the middle of things as usual, his monster 3-run homer into the left field bleachers wowed spectators while setting the score at 5-0
-The Gators tacked on one more in the 8th and allowed just one Texas run in the same frame, setting the final.
-Jonathan India’s homerun in the 6th was the 200th HR hit at TD Ameritrade Park
-Florida reached a double-digit hits total, outpacing Texas 10 to 8 in the column
-Kody Clemens, whose impact at the plate led the ‘Horns back to baseball’s promised land, ended up with just a single hit in each of the two games Texas played in Omaha. Somewhat fittingly, he was the Longhorns final out on a fly ball to center field
-One would think Tuesday’s game marks the final time Texas’ famed #16 will be worn in collegiate baseball action. It was a worthy tribute. Texas’ most fitting tribute to legendary head coach Augie Garrido was the Omaha trip itself
-The Gators and ‘Horns have now evenly split their four meetings all time. All four clashes between the high-profile schools have occurred at the CWS since 2005. Texas swept the National Championship Series between the two in that ’05 campaign. Florida has won the last two meetings (the other coming in 2011).
-Florida’s recent experience with this group of players paid off yet again. After stumbling a bit down the stretch, even en route to Omaha if that is possible, Kevin O’Sullivan’s Gators looked much more like the complete team they have been the last few years. Order seemed to be restored for the Gainesville crew on Tuesday afternoon.
-6-1 is the same final score by which Florida won its championship clinching game last season
-The Gators are 6-0 when facing elimination across the past two seasons
-In a CWS already known for its lead changes, Florida never trailed
-Texas saw its “return to Omaha season” come to a close with 42 wins and a Big 12 title
-Florida’s elimination of Texas leaves the SEC as the only conference with multiple schools remaining in Omaha
-The Gators will face the loser of the upcoming Arkansas-Texas Tech battle in another elimination game on Thursday evening
Day Three
OREGON STATE vs WASHINGTON
Game 5 * Monday, June 18 * 2PM ET
Oregon State 14 Washington 5
***WASHINGTON ELIMINATED***
Beavers come back strong after extended weather delay to eliminate Huskies in an all Pac 12 showdown
Notables from Game Five…
-Oregon State scored ten unanswered runs following a 4 1/2 hour rain delay to take control and eventually secure victory in Omaha’s first elimination game of ’18
-Washington led 5-4 when play was stopped with the bases full of Beavers and two outs in the top of the 6th inning
-The weather delay marked a second straight day the afternoon game was halted with a bases loaded situation in he middle frames
-Familiar Pac 12 foes, the schools used their baseball twitter accounts to compete in a friendly game of Tic-Tac-Toe at one point during the rain delay. The game ended in stalemate. This prompted one of the schools to reply, “guess we’ll have to settle it on the field.” A lighter moment from the lengthy day at the ballpark
-Delay included, Monday was a nearly 9 hour marathon for the teams and their fans
-Word came postgame that Oregon State played a time-passing strategy game called mafia during the delay. Must have worked, the Corvallis crew was unstoppable when play resumed
-The game featured a rematch of the regular season conference series between the two teams which Oregon State claimed, taking two of three at home in late March
-Oregon State won the first two games by a combined score of 19-3 (16-1 and 5-2). Washington salvaged the finale with an 8-4 decision
-It was punch and counter-punch between the teams early. Washington plated three runs in the bottom of the 3rd to lead 3-0. Oregon State answered with the first of two four spots in the 5th to take the lead for the first time
-A two run bottom of the 5th put The Huskies back out front 5-4
-Once the storms arrived it was all Oregon State. The weather mattered little to the Beavers, Kevin Abel pitched on both sides of the delay, accumulating four strong innings of work for his fifth win of the year
-Beaver hitters matched the home run total for the first four games of the tournament with a pair of blasts over the right field fence in the latter innings.
-Nobach’s three-run home run came on a 2 Ball 2 Strike 2 outs offering and barely cleared the wall to extend the lead to 9-5
-Oregon State had reclaimed the advantage at 6-5 just prior to his homer on a two-out RBI double from Michael Gretier. Both extra base hits were a part of the four run seventh, the second such inning in the game
-Tyler Malone’s solo shot into the bleachers would extend the advantage to 10-5 int the 8th
-The game became tied 5-5 in the sixth on a bases loaded walk drawn by Malone coming out of the delay
-The Beavers tacked on four additional two-out runs in the frame to salt away the win
-Malone’s blast to lead off the 8th inning was the only run scored by OSU with less than two outs
-13 of Oregon State’s 14 runs in the game were scored with two out
-The Beavers doubled up Washington in the hits column 16 to 8
-Oregon State won the game with consistent offense in frames 5 thru 8. The runs came as follows: 4 in the 5th, 1 in the 6th, 4 in the 7th and 5 in the 8th
-If you’re going to play all day, at least set a record or two, right? These Pac 12 rivals did.
The clubs used a combined 36 different players, setting a new record for number of players used in a single game at the CWS. The previous record dated back to a 1994 contest in which Georgia Tech and Oklahoma used 34 players.
-Washignton tied the single game record for most players used by a team with (20)
-The game marked just the second time in TD Ameritrade park era that a team scored 14 or more runs (Florida scored 15 in a game during the 2015 CWS)
-In fact, this contest featured the most combined runs in a game since the CWS moved downtown to TD Ameritrade in 2011
-The victory secured a 50 win season for the Beavers
-Washington’s season ends with its historic first trip to Omaha and a 35-26 overall mark
-Oregon State will play again on Wednesday night. Beavers await the loser of tomorrow morning’s rescheduled contest between UNC and Mississippi State
Day Two
ARKANSAS vs TEXAS
Game 3 * Sunday, June 17 * 2PM ET
Arkansas 11 Texas 5
Arkansas uses the big inning to dominate an old rival
Notables from Game Three…
-The latest renewal of the old SWC rivalry goes to Arkansas In impressive fashion
-Sunday’s win was the 80th NCAA tournament victory all-time for the Razorbacks
-It was the 5th CWS meeting between the rivals, the first since 2004
-11 runs marks the most scored in a game by the Razorbacks in school CWS history
-Only five times in the TD Ameritrade era has a team scored 11 or more runs in a CWS game
-Arkansas used a balanced attack for victory. The Hogs showed patience at the plate, used the long ball and relied upon a solid outing from ace Blaine Knight
-Knight picked up his 13th win of the season, remaining undefeated and tying a school record for wins in a single season (his line: 5.0 IP allowing 2ER on just 4 hits)
-All nine Razorback batters reached based, with 8 of 9 securing hits and scoring
-Arkansas scored in the 1st inning for the 25th time this season (Hogs are 22-3)
-60 first inning runs scored by Arkansas on the season, most of any team in CWS
-Luke Bonfiled hit the first home run of the 2018 CWS to put ARK ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the 5th. It was the school record 95th homer of the season
-Razorbacks followed with an 8 spot in the lengthy bottom of the 6th. Fourteen Arkansas batters came to the plate, resulting in eight runs on six hits
-The “DiamondHogs” had the bases loaded for over three hours. Arkansas loaded the sacks on multiple occasions in the frame, including just prior to the game’s 2 hour 49 minute rain delay
-Seven of the eight runs Arkansas scored in the innings came home before Texas could secure the first out, the eighth scored on a Sac Fly for out number one
-Eight runs surrendered in the 6th are the most allowed by Texas in any single inning this season
-Texas actually limited the damage, the ‘Horns made no errors and left three Razorbacks sranded to end the inning
-Texas initiated its national best 36th trip to the CWS by taking the field vs Arkansas
-By playing in the CWS Kody Clemens joined his father Roger Clemens (On Father’s Day) to become the 13th father-son combination to appear in the CWS
-Roger Clemens is the only father to have two sons on the list. (Rocket played in Omaha back to back seasons in ’82 & 83, his son Kacey appeared in 2014, now Kody in 2018)
-Golden Spikes finalist Kody Clemens came in hitting .500 (11-for-22) in the tournament with 5 homers 3 doubles and 11 RBI. He was limited to a 1-for-5 day with a pair of K’s
-Augie Garrido’s #16 returned to the top step of the dugout in Omaha. The legendary Texas skipper’s jersey was worn by David Pierce in tribute to one of college baseball’s best all-time coaches. Augie brought an even Eight Texas teams to Omaha
-The return of this year’s Longhorns ended a three year drought and saw to it that each of Augie’s recruiting classes made at least one trip to the CWS
-Texas scored its first run of the game by cashing in Tate Shaw’s triple in the third inning. It was the first three-bigger of the CWS and the highlight of a 3-for-3 day
-Shaw had a third of the Longhorns 9 hit total personally to lead the way at the plate
-Arkansas has faced, with success, each of the three teams on its side of the bracket this season, the only team in this year’s CWS to do so
-With the extended rain and lightning delay, the first game of the day ended well beyond 7:30 PM local time (after a 1PM CT start). Official game time for the contest was 3 hours 55 minutes, with a delay of 2:49
Arkansas awaits the winner of Florida and Texas Tech in a winner’s bracket matchup on Tuesday evening. Texas faces the loser in an elimination game Tuesday afternoon
FLORIDA vs TEXAS TECH
Game 4 * Sunday, June 17 * 7PM ET
Texas Tech 6 Florida 3
Red Raiders pound out twelve hits to knock off defending champs
Notables from Game Four…
-The Father’s Day nightcap ended around midnight local time. The Sunday’s baseball slate was played in just under twelve hours thanks to a weather delay during the first game
-Texas Tech has now won both meetings with the Gators all-time. Tech eliminated Florida from the 2016 College World Series with a 3-2 victory
-Tech solved newly crowned Dick Howser trophy winner, SEC pitcher of the year and first round MLB draft pick Brady Singer to the tune of five runs on nine hits across 6 and 1/3 innings, handing the Gators ace just his second loss of the season
-Six runs on twelve hits stands as Tech’s top CWS marks in both categories
-The Red Raiders bullpen picked up its 4th win for a perfect 4-0 post-season mark
-Dylan Dusek laid a solid foundation on the mound in a planned two inning stint. It was his his third NCAA Tournament start and just his 5th of the year
-Ryan Shetter followed with 4 1/3 strong frames to pick up the win. He’s now a perfect 6-0 on the season
-A fourteen pitch at bat from Carmeron Warren in the 4th innings seemed to get the Raiders offense jump-started. Warren fouled off nine pitches, including five in a row to run Singer’s pitch count up. Though he was eventually retired, Tech plated its first run in the frame, tying the game
-The Raiders following with back to back 2-run innings, in the 5th and 6th respectively, to take control of the game.
-7 of 9 Tech batters logged a hit, led by a 3 for 3 performance from Grant Little
-Little also had the defensive gem of the night robbing Deacon Liput of an extra base hit in the bottom of the 1st inning on a play at the wall which set the tone
-Gabe Holt introduced himself to Omaha in impressive fashion. The Freshman was 2-for-5 with a trio of RBI’s
-Texas Tech took the lead on a high chopper toward first that carumed off first baseman JJ Schwarz glove resulting in a pair of runs, this made the score 3-1
-Schwarz was back in the lineup for the first time since mid-May, batting cleanup and playing 1B for the Gators
-Florida finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, leaving 8 stranded
-Half of Tech’s runs were unearned, resulting from a passed ball and a two-out error
-SEC Player of the year Jonathan India logged a triple in the opening stanza, he would be left at third to end a scoreless first
-Nelson Maldonado launched a 2-run HR in 7th which pulled FLA within two. His blast was the 75th CWS homerun in the eight editions since the series moved to TD Ameritrade Park in 2011
-Florida used reliever Michael Byrne across the final 1 1/3 innings attempting to keep the score close following Maldanad’s homer
-Byrne saw his scoreless innings streak end at 14 1/3 when Tech scored on Gabe Holt’s RBI single in the 9th
-Interestingly, the game featured a pair of balks. After not having a balk call in over two seasons (since 2015), this was the third such call across the first two days of this year’s tournament. Florida scored on Shetter’s balk in the 3rd inning, it was the contest’s first run
-Florida became the first defending champion to drop its opener the next season since Oklahoma in 1995, reigning champs were 8-0 since
-64 of the last 70 teams to score 5 or more runs in CWS competition have won
–Texas Tech plays Arkansas on Tuesday evening, while Florida squares off against Texas earlier in the day on the elimination side of the bracket
Day One
OREGON STATE vs NORTH CAROLINA
Game 1 * Saturday, June 16 * 3PM ET
North Carolina 8 Oregon State 6
Tarheels win longest nine inning game in CWS history
Notables from Game One…
-Totaling 4 hours 24 minutes, the game eclipsed the Miami-Tennessee contest from 2001 as the longest 9 inning game in CWS history (Miami defeated Tennessee 21-13 in 4 hours 21 minutes at Rosenblatt Stadium)
-The teams combined for 14 runs and 24 hits. Six of the game’s fourteen runs scored as a result of something other than a base hit
-After tying the game 1-1 in the 2nd, UNC used a three run 5th inning to take the lead. The victors never trailed again
-Despite losing starter Gianluca Dalatri to a recurring injury in the first inning, the Tarheels prevailed thanks to solid bullpen work from Caden O’Brien, Brett Daniels, Joey Lancellotti, Josh Hiatt and Cooper Criswell. OBrien picked up the win (7-0) with Criswell securing the Save (1). Criswell was scheduled to start the Heel’s second game of the tourney. He worked 2 1/3 scoreless to close the game. The Tarheels sent six of the games ten total pitchers to the mound.
-Oregon State ace Luke Heimlich lasted only 2 1/3 innings, giving up six earned runs in the rare loss, just his second setback of the season
-This gme marked only the second time in the TD Ameritrade era that both teams scored 6 or more runs in a CWS game.
-In an out of character performance, Oregon State was charged with three errors in the contest
-It was the first time the CWS began with an error on the first pitch of the series opening game
-North Carolina’s win came with history in mind. The Heels were matchup up with the culprit from the program’s two highest profile Omaha setbacks all-time. (UNC experienced back to back losses against Oregon State in the 2006 & 2007 Championship Series)
-It was discovered after the game that the Tarheels were playing with heavy hearts. North Carolina received the sad news just prior to the game that former teammate Zach Attianese perished along with his father in a tragic automobile accident back home. Everyone’s thoughts and prayers are certainly with the Caroilna family.
-Attendance was announced at 21,628 for the 2018 CWS opener
-UNC faces the winer of Mississippi State-Washington at 7PM ET on Monday. Oregon State will play the loser of that contest in an elimination game at 2PM ET
WASHINGTON vs MISSISSIPPI STATE
Game 2 * Saturday, June 16 * 8PM ET
Mississippi State 1 Washington 0
State claims pitchers duel in dramatic walk-off fashion
Notables from Game Two…
-Luke Alexander’s base knock into right field over the head of Washington’s drawn in outfield secured a third walk-off victory in this year’s tourney for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs have now walked-off a game in each round of the NCAA Tournament
(Regionals vs FSU / Super Regionals vs Vanderbilt / CWS vs Washington)
-Hunter Stovall led off the bottom of the 9th with a single into right field, he eventually scored the winning run. A fitting end to the second baseman’s 3-for-4 day
-Alexander’s game winner was Mississippi State’s tenth hit of the game. They outhit Washington 10-6
-Game 2 was the first CWS game in Washington Huskies history. The Huskies are the only team in this year’s CWS making a first trip to Omaha
-The finish spoiled a stellar outing by Washington ace Joe DeMers (7 1/3 shutout innings of work), making the seven scoreless frames turned in by Bulldogs starter Ethan Small stand up
-Small took a liner off his lower body early in the contest, but remained in the game for MSU
-Zach Neff was handed the win (4-3) and Washington’s Alex Hardy was given the loss (5-3)
-Alexander, Stovall along with previous tourney heroes Elijah MacNamee and Jake Mangum all notched multi-hit performances for State
-Only one walk was issued in the game on either side, it was an intentional pass
-Game Two featured the first game since 1985 in which both teams were scoreless entering the 9th inning of play
-Mississippi State’s walk-off win was the first such finish in the CWS since 2015
-In contrast to the record breaking pace of Game 1, the second contest was played in just 2 hours 45 minutes
-Perhaps partially due to strong winds and warm temperatures, Day One of the CWS did not feature a HR
-The heat was a major factor on and off the field Saturday. Temps reached the doorstep of 100 degrees for the second straight afternoon, seemingly impacting endurance and attendance (especially in the earlier game) along the way
-Mississippi State advances to take on North Carolina on Monday evening. Washington will face Oregon State in a Pac 12 showdown for the right to stick around on Monday at 2PM ET
2018 CWS BRACKET
SUPER REGIONAL PAIRINGS
Florida Gators (Gainesville Regional) vs. Auburn Tigers (Raleigh Regional)
Tenth Super Regional Appearance Second Super Regional Appearance
#1 Seed – Reigning Champs Seeking First Title
Texas Tech Red Raiders (Lubbock Regional) vs. Duke Blue Devils (Athens Regional)
Third Super Regional Appearance First Super Regional Appearance
Seeking First Title Seeking First Title
Arkansas Razorbacks (Fayetteville Regional) vs. Carolina Gamecocks (Greenville Regional)
Seventh Super Regional Appearance Thirteenth Super Regional Appearance
Seeking First Title 2-Time Champs (Last 2011)
Texas Longhorns (Austin Regional) vs. TN Tech Golden Eagles (Oxford Regional)
Tenth Super Regional Appearance First Super Regional Appearance
6-Time Champions (Last 2005) Seeking First Title
Cal St Fullerton Titans (Stanford Regional) vs. Washington Huskies (Raleigh Regional)
Fourteenth Super Regional Appearance First Super Regional Appearance
4-Time Champions (Last 2004) Seeking First Title
Vanderbilt Commodores (Clemson Regional) vs. Miss State Bulldogs (Tallahasse Regional)
Eighth Super Regional Appearance Eighth Super Regional Appearance
2014 CWS Champions Seeking First Title
UNC Tarheels (Chapel Hill Regional) vs. Stetson Hatters (Deland Regional)
Eighth Super Regional Appearance First Super Regional Appearance
Seeking First Title Seeking First Title
Minnesota Golden Gophers (Minneapolis) vs. Oregon St Beavers (Corvallis)
First Super Regional Appearance Seventh Super Regional Appearance
3-Time Champs (Last 1964) 2-Time Champs (Last 2007)
2017 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
GAME RECAPS
FLORIDA GATORS 2017 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Gators claim series two games to none
CWS FINALS – GAME TWO
National Championship Series
Florida Gators 6 LSU Tigers 1
Florida Gators win school’s first baseball national championship!
Congratulations to Kevin O’Sullivan and the Florida Gators on a Championship Season.
CWS FINALS – GAME ONE
National Championship Series
Florida Gators 4 LSU Tigers 3
Florida leads CWS Finals 1-0
With a record night atop the mound, Brady Singer pitches the Gators within one game of a National Championship. Florida used early offense and solid work on the mound from both Singer and closer Michael Byrne to nail down another one run victory in Omaha.
LSU faces a must-win situation tomorrow night as they hand the baseball to their all-time winningest pitcher, Jared Poche’ at the College World Series. Game two of the series is scheduled for 8PM ET.
A photo gallery from last night’s first game of the series for your enjoyment…
The National Championship Series is an All-Southeastern Conference affair pitting the #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 here the SEC will have won 5 out of last 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
- Paul Mainari –
- 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 teams last met in late March for an SEC weekend series in Gainesville, FL
- 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…
Saturday June 24th
Game 14* Saturday 8PM ET
Florida Gators vs TCU Horned Frogs
Semi-Final Round – Elimination Game
Tonight’s game is a straight up winner-take-all. The victor faces LSU for the title.
Florida and TCU battle for the final spot in the Championship Series (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)
Game 13 * Saturday 3PM ET
LSU Tigers 6 Oregon State Beavers 1
Semi-Final Round – Top Seeded Oregon State Eliminated
LSU defeats Oregon State to punch ticket to CWS title round. (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)
Friday June 23rd
Game 12 * Friday 8PM ET
TCU Horned Frogs 9 Florida Gators 2
Semi-Final Round
TCU and Florida tangled again with the Gators one win away from the National Championships Series. A pair of 49 win clubs raced to 50 with their CWS fates hanging in the balance. The Horned Frogs kept their season alive at least one more day with an impressive 9-2 win. Here is a photo gallery from the Frogs victory.
TCU forces a decisive Saturday contest with an impressive victory over the Gators. (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)
Game 11 * Friday 3PM ET
LSU Tigers 3 Oregon State Beavers 1
Semi-Final Round
LSU and Oregon State met again with the Beavers one win away from celebrating the tenth anniversary of their most recent championship with a return to the title series.
A pair of 50 win clubs entertained the Omaha faithful to open the weekend and LSU came out on top. The Tigers forced a decisive Saturday afternoon contest for the right to play in the National Championship Series. Here is a photo gallery from the LSU win:
LSU ends Beavers streak to force “if necessary” battle on Saturday. (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)
TD Ameritrade Park in waiting for the semi-finals. (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)
Thursday June 22nd
Game 10 * Thursday 8PM ET
Louisville Cardinals vs TCU Horned Frogs
Louisville Eliminated
The first College World Series meeting between the Cardinals and Horned Frogs went into the win column for TCU Thursday evening. The Frogs remain alive in the 2017 College World Series and will face the Florida Gators for a second time in this year’s tournament on Friday.
For the second straight season Jim Schlossnagle’s club has reached the semi-finals of college baseball. This time his Frogs will need a pair of wins to advance to the National Championship Series.
It is a path TCU knows all too well, they were in Florida’s position last season when Coastal Carolina defeated the Frogs on back to back days to advance. Interestingly, tomorrow’s battle will be between the two clubs owning the longest active Omaha streaks. In fact, the Gators and Frogs are the only teams back from last year’s party on the corner of 13th and Abbott.
On Thursday night, TCU scored all its runs in a single frame. The club used a high-impact second inning, during which their offensive attack ultimately chased Freshman All-American Nick Bennett, taxing the lefty to the tune of forty-nine pitches across one and two-thirds.
The Cardinals chipped away across the next three frames, plating a single run in each to pull within a run. It remained a one run contest into the ninth, though not without a bit of controversy.
After the Cards’ tying run was thrown out on a close play at second base in the eighth inning, Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell was ejected by Mark Winters. A video review earlier in the contest ended with the call of safe upheld for a TCU run resulting from one of the closest plays at the plate in CWS history. It was a tough night for Louisville in relation to bang-bang plays.
A little nail-biting was also in order for the Louisville faithful prior to their final at bat. TCU threatened to add a little insurance with one out in the bottom of the eighth. A throwing error opened the door for the Frogs. Evan Skoug was then intentionally walked to set up a force play. Warner followed with a single into right field, loading the bases.
Both teams’ seasons hinged on the at bat of Nolan Brown for a moment. Brown hit a little dribbler out in front of the plate which was handled by Louisville for the second out at home. Elliott Barzilli’s ensuing trip to the plate ended the inning, thanks to a solid play by talented shortstop Devin Hairston.
The Cardinals had stood tall defensively, giving themselves a chance. Devin Mann singled with two outs in the ninth and represented the tying run, but Michael Landestoy followed with a groundout to short, bringing an end to Louisville’s outstanding season.
The story on this night was surely Sean Wymer, who was masterful across four and one-third out of the TCU bullpen. The sophomore right-hander protected the slim margin by allowing just a pair of hits and giving up no runs while nursing home the victory.
His effort was possible thanks to further offense from Omaha’s hometown kid. Ryan Merrill drove home a pair of runs in the decisive second. Thanks to a heads-up base running play on a throw through to the plate, he would score another, he was involved in three of the Frogs four total runs.
Four now officially remain, setting up Oregon State-LSU and Florida-TCU showdowns for this weekend for the right to play in the title series. With a third one-run game in the books, Friday sets up nicely for a little more CWS drama.
TCU advances with a win over Louisville on Thursday night. (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)
Wednesday June 21st
Game 9 * Wednesday 6PM ET
LSU Tigers 7 Florida State Seminoles 4
Florida State Eliminated
In a rematch of each club’s tournament opener, LSU provided College World Series fans with the same result. The boys of summer out of Baton Rouge remained alive with a second win over the Seminoles.
The Tigers secured a 50 win season on Wednesday night, bouncing back nicely from their first loss in the past eighteen contests less than forty-eight hours earlier. Now they will discover on Friday afternoon whether they can ultimately do anything with bracket favorite Oregon State the second time around.
While FSU’s twenty-second trip to the College World Series produced an all-too-familair result, plenty of credit goes to the Seminoles for keeping the season alive all the way to Omaha. Mike Martin’s ‘Noles did pick up a win in CWS competition. A win to be celebrated alongside a host of other impressive accomplishments this season, not the least of which was claiming the ACC tournament title.
On a ninety-plus degree evening in the midwest, five runs in the top of the second inning and a complete game effort from Jared Poche’ were the catalysts in extending the Tigers’ season. The ‘Noles mustered just four runs and seven hits off Poche’. This included the back to back bombs from Quincy Nieporte and Cal Raliegh which ended his bid for a complete game in the 9th.
In a historic home run hitting season at TD Ameritrade Park and beyond, these back to back blasts on consecutive pitches were the first such home runs in the seven year history of the young ballpark. Interestingly, the last back to back homers in the College World Series were also provided by Mike Martin’s Seminoles, coming June 23, 2010, as part of the farewell tour at Rosenblatt Stadium.
Jake Slaughter’s three-run home run stood as the major blow of the decisive second inning. It was only slaughter’s third homer of the year, capping the five run frame.
With the win, Jared Poche’ now stands alone in the LSU record books. Poche’ now owns more wins than any other pitcher to ever wear the purple and gold. How special for both Poche’ and the Tigers that he reached that mark on this night and in this place.
The game also produced a video review in the top of the 9th inning. The review came on the play that produced the Tigers’ sixth run. The call was upheld as it was determined Kramer Robertson slid into home safely under the tag of FSU catcher Cal Raleigh. LSU proceeded to tack on another run with Zach Watson’s RBI double. These runs became very important in light of FSU’s rally in the bottom of the inning.
Coach Martin’s kids went down fighting to the final pitch. Despite a large deficit in the 9th inning, Florida State was able to get the tying run to the on deck circle and ultimately found a way to leave their unique mark on this year’s summer classic. It was hugs and handshakes all around as FSU’s season once again ended in baseball’s promised land.
The 22,872 on hand witnessed a high-profile matchup of traditional college baseball powers. The two clubs own 40 College World Series trips between them.
Gracious as always, Mike Martin thanked everyone in the room and tipped his cap. Though he said he as proud of the fight in this team as any he’s ever coached. Enough young pieces will remain in place for his Seminoles, that perhaps it is not a stretch to believe they may be right back home in Omaha again next year.
LSU and Oregon State meet in the afternoon contest on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 3PM ET.
LSU used an early crooked number to eliminate FSU. (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)
Tuesday June 20th
Game 8 * Tuesday 7PM ET
Florida Gators 5 Louisville Cardinals 1
Florida uses the home run ball to defeat Louisville
Florida took one major step closer to a playing for the National Championship with a dominant performance against Louisville. The Gators earned a little rest in the process. Kevin O’Sullivan’s club will next play on Friday against the survivor of a matchup between the Cardinals and TCU Horned Frogs scheduled for Thursday evening.
The Gators (49-18) used a pair of home runs to build a sizable advantage in the first half of the contest. Austin Langworthy ricocheted an opposite field blast off the left field foul poll in the third inning to put the Gators on the board. Deacon Liput followed just one inning later with a three run shot to hand Florida a 4-0 lead.
Seven solid innings of work from sophomore right-hander Brady Singer (8-5) complemented the Gators offensive attack nicely. Singer struck out nine batters and surrendered a single run.
Louisville (53-11) threatened for much more than a single run, on a couple of occasions. With two aboard and two down in the bottom of the sixth, Devin Mann struck out looking. An inning later, after Florida’s Mike Rivera had driven home the Gators fifth run in the top of the frame, Louisville managed to get the tying run to the plate.
Brendan McKay led off the inning with a double. Colin Lyman drove him home with a two-out RBI, scratching across the Cards first run. The bases loaded at bat belonged to Logan Taylor, though the threat was averted when he grounded into a force play at second base. Florida’s breathing room was still in tact at 5-1. It would stand as the final.
The Cardinals outhit the Gators by a count of seven to five on the night. In the final analysis, however, the early impact and loud swings of Langworthy and Liput made the difference.
Florida and Oregon State are in control of their respective sides of the bracket as Omaha’s pair of remaining unbeatens heading into the mid-week. Both clubs sit one win away from the National Championship Series.
Florida handles Louisville to remain unbeaten in Omaha. (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)
Game 7 * Tuesday 2PM ET
TCU Horned Frogs 4 Texas A&M Aggies 1
Texas A&M Eliminated
TCU uses a three run third inning to stick around in Omaha
Brian Howard (12-3), TCU’s “big game Howie,” pitched the Horned Frogs (48-17) into an extended midwest stay with seven strong innings on Tuesday afternoon against in-state rival Texas A&M (41-23). Three runs scored in the bottom of the 3rd inning proved the difference in the ballgame.
Three is currently the operative number in this Lone Star rivalry, as today’s result marks the third straight year TCU has ended the Aggies’ season. Though this time around it came with slightly less drama. The Frogs led 4-0 after three innings and held for a three run victory.
Evan Skoug drove in a run and scored a run to help lead the Horned Frogs. All four runs were scored by different players, all four RBI’s belonged to different players in a complete team effort. Sean Wymer pitched the final two frames in support of Howard. Wymer did not allow a hit and tossed two scoreless in the process of picking up his second save of the season.
One of the great storylines from this game involved the solo home run of Ryan Merrill. An Omaha native, Merrill grew up going to CWS games at Rosenblatt Stadium. What a thrill it must have been to round the bases in front of the home faithful after leading off the third inning with a lifetime moment.
TCU is two wins shy of a fifty win campaign and now three wins shy of reaching the Championship Series. Most importantly, they still have a baseball pulse.
The Frogs know all-too-well the difficulty of closing out a team which has survived the elimination side of the bracket in Omaha. Coastal Carolina defeated TCU in back to back games in order to reach the title series a year ago. Now Texas Christian hopes to travel the same journey. Today’s win over the Aggies was the first agenda item to that end.
Texas A&M’s fine season in the SEC comes to a close. The ‘Frogs will next be in action on Thursday night against the loser of tonight’s Florida-Louisville contest.
TCU defeated Texas A&M in an all-Texas elimination contest. (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)
Monday June 19th
Game 6 * Monday 7PM ET
Oregon State 13 LSU 1
Oregon State cruises in GRAND style, extending national best win streak to 23.
Oregon State and Louisiana State Universities sent their baseball programs to Omaha in search of a first. The quest for both former College World Series Champions is an initial title in the tournament’s new home.
Both schools have, on more than one occasion, tasted ultimate college baseball success. All of that, however, was at the old place, the nostalgic Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium.
With solid stretch runs, they’ve both exhibited a unique hunger for a downtown crown.
It took only six innings for the clubs to experience a first of a very different kind. They were on the field for the inaugural Grand Slam in TD Ameritrade Park history. The blast lifted Oregon State to a twenty-third consecutive victory and placed the top seeded Beavers solidly into the driver’s seat on the top side of the College World Series bracket.
Oregon State and LSU collided with the nation’s longest winning streaks on the line. The Tigers had claimed seventeen consecutive wins entering play Monday. Both clubs were unbeaten in this year’s NCAA tournament. It would be the Beavers alone who remained on a roll.
K.J. Harrison’s memorable home run was simply the biggest of several blows provided by the Corvallis crew offensively. Oregon State already possessed a 4-0 lead when his blast cleared the left field wall. The Beavers would tack on three more runs in the seventh and two additional in the eighth to put up a double-digit run total before the night was done.
LSU was forced to use a CWS record tying eight different pitchers and only mustered a single hit off Oregon State starter Bryce Fehmel (6-2) across the game’s first six innings. The Tigers got on the board in the seventh thanks to a solo shot from Zach Watson. It would be their only run.
A potential 50-win season for LSU was placed on hold by the outcome. The Tigers now must attain that mark on Wednesday night against FSU to keep the dream of a 2017 championship alive.
Oregon State rests until Friday afternoon, at which time they will play the winner of the LSU-FSU battle. The Beavers are now 56-4, one victory away from a tenth anniversary return to the National Championship Series.
Oregon State’s complete performance leads to blowout of LSU. (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)
Game 5 * Monday 2PM ET
Florida State 6 Cal State Fullerton 4
Cal State Fullerton Eliminated
Florida State claims victory in the historic 1,000th College World Series game
Omaha’s first elimination game of ’17 would be the 1,00th in College World Series history. The milestone contest featured the Seminoles and the Titans, a pair of clubs who held the lead late in their opening contests Saturday. Both a picture of just how elusive Omaha success can be. That trend would continue in a see-saw affair. Florida State used a three-run 7th inning to survive and stick around.
The ‘Noles claimed leads of 1-0, 2-1 and eventually 3-1, before Cal State Fullerton pushed out front with a three run sixth. FSU answered with its own three-spot a half inning later for a 6-4 lead. This set the final score.
A pair of back to back bases-loaded walks on three-and-two pitches stood out. This sequence was simply a snap-shot of FSU’s at bats throughout the game. These two timely free passes resulted in both the tying and go ahead runs scoring for the Seminoles. After an infield RBI single in the hole, the 6-4 lead was established.
A two-out rally in the ninth put the Titans in position to extend their tremendous season. Hank LaForte came to the plate with the tying runs aboard. He was struck out looking by Drew Carlton, sealing Fullerton’s fate. A powerhouse college program, Titan baseball has now suffered nine consecutive Omaha losses, including three straight two and outs. Their constant success is clearly evident in those numbers.
Mike Martin’s, who will likely end his career with more wins than anyone in the game, fittingly secured victory in the 1,000th CWS game in history. It places him one step closer to that elusive title he continues to pursue.
The ‘Noles hopes were jump-started by patience at the plate and tenacity in coming from behind late, turn the tables on their Big West opponnent. FSU will stick around for at least two more days, next facing the loser of tonight’s Oregon State-LSU showdown.
The Titans tipped their caps to the fans who made the trip from Fullerton before heading up the tunnel following another successful college baseball campaign. The gesture served as a solid reminder that any season which ends in Omaha is a good season.
FSU defeats Cal State Fullerton in the 1,000th CWS game. (Photo courtesy: Leah Carmen)
Sunday June 18th
Happy Father’s Day
Game 4 * Sunday 7PM ET
Florida Gators 3 TCU Horned Frogs 0
Florida shuts out TCU to close out the first round of games in Omaha
In a battle of national seeds, the two college baseball programs with the longest Omaha streaks went head to head in a Father’s Day finale. Alex Faedo was the lead story. Allowing TCU only a pair of hits across seven strong innings, the Florida ace struck out eleven batters en route to his eighth victory of the season. The first round selection from this past week’s MLB draft was as advertised.
The Gators provided steady offense alongside Faedo’s stellar outing. Florida scored single runs in the 1st, 4th and 5th innings respectively. The designated the home team got on the board in their initial at bat with an RBI groundout from J.J. Schwarz. Christian Hicks and Nelson Maldonado drove in the other two Gator runs. For Maldonado, the 5th inning RBI was part of a multi-hit performance.
TCU threatened in the eighth inning, immediately following Faedo’s departure. The Frogs notched as many hits off talented closer Michael Byrne in the frame as they had logged the entire game to that point. Byrne settled down with two aboard and one out, securing a ground ball and a strike out to protect the shutout.
With a scoreless ninth, Byrne extended his school record saves number to 17. Florida is now riding an eighteen inning scoreless streak defensively in the NCAA tournament, delivering a second straight shutout (Florida blanked Wake Forest 3-0 to nail down the Gainesville Super Regional).
A Tuesday evening tilt with another national seed, the Louisville Cardinals, awaits the Gators. TCU will attempt to regroup for a highly anticipated elimination game versus Lone Star rival Texas A&M.
The first round closes with Florida shutting out TCU by a 3-0 final. (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)
Game 3 * Sunday 1PM ET
Louisville Cardinals 8 Texas A&M Aggies 4
Louisville defeats Texas A&M 8-4 to begin the second day of the 2017 CWS.
Louisville used an early five-spot to get out of the gate fast, then doubled up Texas A&M in the final analysis of a contest in which the Cardinals never trailed. In the process, Dan McDonnell’s club pounded out eleven hits, turning them into eight runs in order to remain perfect in NCAA tournament play.
Texas A&M showed tremendous fight after falling behind 5-0 in the second frame. The Aggies chipped away with two in the fourth and two in the sixth, pulling within a single run after five and one-half frames. It was as close as A&M would get.
The ‘Cards answered immediately, posting two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. This re-established a lead they would never relinquish and eventually pad with a additional run in their final at bat.
Brandon McKay was less than sharp on the mound, yet the National Player of the Year found a way to grind out a victory, his eleventh of the season. Colby Fitch drove home half Louisville’s run total off a pair of hits. He was joined by Devin Hairston and Colin Lyman who both notched multi-hit games and picked up RBI’s.
Louisville awaits the winner of the Florida-TCU contest, which is set to be played later this evening. The Gators and Frogs will be the final two teams making their first 2017 appearances in Omaha.
Louisville’s offense proved too much for Texas A&M in the clubs’ CWS opener. (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)
SATURDAY JUNE 17
Game 2 * Saturday 8PM ET
LSU Tigers 5 FSU Seminoles 4
In a wild one, LSU scores two in the 8th for a comeback victory over the ‘Noles.
On a night LSU head coach Paul Mainieri labeled bizarre, his Tigers used a pair of 8th inning runs to secure a come from behind victory to open tournament play. The combination of FSU fielding miscues and timely aggression on the base paths from the group out of Baton Rouge paved the way for the second one-run decision of the day.
The evening began with a light rain falling on the sell-out crowd filing into Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park. It ended with the Baton Rouge faithful celebrating deep into the midwestern night.
It was a game marked by a couple of sequences that even longtime baseball man Mike Martin admitted he’d never seen. Three FSU errors on a single run-scoring play followed an earlier event in which an LSU base runner scored all the way from first on a dropped third strike (wild pitch) in which no one covered home. These were the marquee moments in a game with numerous twists and turns.
FSU delivered the game’s first blow with a two run first inning blast by Dylan Busby. He would drive in three of the Noles four runs in the game. FSU led most of the way, holding a 4-3 advantage into the bottom of the 8th inning.
When all was said and done on this wild night, Tiger ace Jared Poche had finally tied the all-time record for victories at LSU, picking up the decision, out of the bullpen no less. In the big picture, Louisiana State handed the Seminoles yet another heartbreaking Omaha loss and remained on the winners side of the bracket for Monday’s slate.
Fans file in for opening day of the 2017 CWS. LSU upends Florida St. (Photo courtesy: Leah Carmen)
Game 1 * Saturday June 17 * 3PM ET
Oregon State Beavers 6 Cal State Fullerton Titans 5
Oregon State opens CWS play with a 22nd consecutive victory on the season.
Chasing unbeaten ace Jake Thompson (14-1) in the fourth inning, the Titans of Cal State Fullerton looked poised to notch a statement win to open the 2017 College World Series. The result would have handed the Beavers just a fifth loss on the season and snapped their national best twenty-one game winning streak. It did not happen.
The Corvallis crew avoided its first setback since April 29th with a dramatic comeback. It was a tale of two completely different games wrapped into one. The final result, yet another one-run victory in Omaha.
Fullerton set the tone early with a three run homer from senior Timmy Richards. The shortstop deposited his 5th long ball of the year into the outfield bleachers at TD Ameritrade Park an impressive 406 feet from home plate. Unfortunately for the Titans, their biggest blow came in the very first inning. Five solid frames turned in by junior right-hander Connor Seabold (12-5) and a pair of runs added by the designated visitors in the fourth saw to it that the starter departed with a 5-1 lead.
That was only half the story.
Oregon State came to life with patience and timely hitting in the bottom of the 6th. The Beavers would get both Nick Madrigal and Trevor Larnach to the plate with the bases loaded. Madrigal provided a run with a one-out sacrifice fly to center, making it 5-2. Harrison then walked on thirteen pitches to reload the bases. Larnach cashed in with a two-out, two-RBI single up the middle to make it a one run game. OSU tied the game on Jack Anderson’s two-out knock. Much of the work was done off Colton Eastman, who did not last the full sixth inning after walking four batters and giving up the Madrigal sac fly in relief of Seabold. Eastman threw 40-plus pitches in relief, only about half of them for strikes.
The Beavers scored their sixth and decisive run on Adley Rutschman’s RBI single in the bottom of the 8th, making good on four and one-third solid innings out of the pen from Jake Mulholland and handing the baseball to Drew Rasmussen in the ninth to nail things down for his second save of the year. All this served to keep Thompson unbeaten by pulling him off the hook. Perhaps even more importantly, it feeds the confidence of an Oregon State club riding high in the pursuit of a memorable final chapter to what has already been a historic campaign.
Oregon State awaits the winner of Saturday evening’s FSU-LSU showdown in a contest scheduled for Monday night. Fullerton will play for the right to stick around on Monday afternoon.
The 2017 College World Series opener featured an all west coast matchup between Cal St Fullerton and Oregon State.
The stage is set for Game One of the College World Series in Omaha. (Photo Courtesy: Leah Carmen)
SUPER REGIONALS
Corvallis, OR
Vanderbilt (36-23-1) vs #1 Oregon St. (52-4)
Game 1: Oregon State 8 Vanderbilt 4
Game 2: Oregon State 9 Vanderbilt 2
OREGON STATE BEAVERS TO OMAHA!
Long Beach, CA
Cal St. Fullerton (37-21) vs Long Beach St. (41-18-1)
Game 1: Long Beach State 3 Cal State Fullerton 0
Game 2: Cal State Fullerton 12 Long Beach State 0
Game 3: Cal State Fullerton 2 Long Beach State 1
CAL STATE FULLERTON TITANS TO OMAHA!
College Station, TX
Davidson (35-24) vs Texas A&M (39-21)
Game 1: Texas A&M 7 Davidson 6 (15 Innings)
Game 2: Texas A&M 12 Davidson 6
TEXAS A&M AGGIES TO OMAHA!
Louisville, KY
Kentucky (43-21) vs #7 Louisville (50-10)
Game 1: Louisville 5 Kentucky 2
Game 2: Louisville 6 Kentucky 2
LOUISVILLE CARDINALS TO OMAHA!
Tallahassee, FL
Sam Houston St. (44-21) vs Florida St. (43-21)
Game 1: Florida State 7 Sam Houston State 6
Game 2: Florida State 19 Sam Houston State 0
FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES TO OMAHA!
Baton Rouge, LA
Mississippi St. (40-25) vs #4 LSU (46-17)
Game 1: LSU 4 Mississippi State 3
Game 2: LSU 14 Mississippi State 4
LSU TIGERS TO OMAHA!
Fort Worth, TX
Missouri St. (43-18) vs #6 TCU (45-16)
Game 1: TCU 3 Missouri State 2
Game 2: TCU 8 Missouri State 1
TCU HORNED FROGS TO OMAHA!
Gainesville, FL
Wake Forest (42-18) vs #3 Florida (45-17)
Game 1: Florida 2 Wake Forest 1 (11 Innings)
Game 2: SUSPENDED: Wake Forest 8 Florida 6 (11 Innings)
Game 3: Florida 3 Wake Forest 0
FLORIDA GATORS TO OMAHA!
Super Regionals Network Broadcast Schedule
SERIES BEGINNING FRIDAY, JUNE 9
Vanderbilt (36-23-1) at No. 1 Oregon St. (52-4)
9 p.m. (ESPN2), 9 p.m. (ESPN), 9 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPNU)
Cal St. Fullerton (37-21) at Long Beach St. (41-18-1)
6 p.m. (ESPN2), 3 p.m. (ESPNU), 3 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Davidson (35-24) at Texas A&M (39-21)
3 p.m. (ESPN2), 6 p.m. (ESPN2), 6 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPNU)
Kentucky (43-21) at No. 7 Louisville (50-10)
Noon (ESPN2), Noon (ESPN), Noon (ESPN/ESPN2)
SERIES BEGINNING SATURDAY, JUNE 10
Sam Houston St. (44-21) at Florida St. (43-21)
Noon (ESPN2), Noon (ESPN/ESPN2), **1 p.m./4 p.m./7 p.m. (ESPN2) or 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Mississippi St. (40-25) at No. 4 LSU (46-17)
9 p.m. (ESPN2), 9 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPNU), **1 p.m./4 p.m./7 p.m. (ESPN2) or 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Missouri St. (43-18) at No. 6 TCU (45-16)
6 p.m. (ESPNU), 6 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPNU), **1 p.m./4 p.m./7 p.m. (ESPN2) or 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Wake Forest (42-18) at No. 3 Florida (45-17)
3 p.m. (ESPN), 3 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2), **1 p.m./4 p.m./7 p.m. (ESPN2) or 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
All times are Eastern
Game times and ESPN Network subject to change
Regional Sites
Baton Rouge, LA – #4 LSU (43-17) / SE LA (36-20) / Rice (31-29) / TX Southern (20-32)
Chapel Hill, NC – #2 UNC (47-12) / FGCU 42-18) / Michigan (42-15) / Davidson (32-24)
Clemson, SC – Clemson (39-19) / Vanderbilt (33-22) / St Johns (42-11) / UNCG (35-22)
Corvallis, OR – #1 Oregon St (49-4) / Nebraska (35-20) / Yale (32-16) / Holy Cross (23-27)
Fayetteville, AR – Arkansas (42-17) / Missouri St (40-17) / OK St (30-25) / ORU (42-14)
Fort Worth, TX – #6 TCU (42-16) / Virginia (42-14) / DBU (40-19) / Central CT (36-20)
Gainesville, FL – #3 Florida (42-16) / USF (41-17) / Bethune-Cook (33-23) / Marist (32-21)
Hattiesburg, MS – Southern Miss (48-14) / Miss St (36-24) / South Ala (39-19) / UIC (39-15)
Houston, TX – Houston (40-19) / Baylor (34-21) / Texas A&M (36-21) / Iowa (38-20)
Lexington, KY – Kentucky (39-20) / Indiana (33-22) / NC St (34-23) / Ohio (31-26)
Long Beach, CA – Long Beach St (37-17) / Texas (37-22) / UCLA (30-25) / SD St (41-19)
Louisville, KY – #7 Louisville (47-10)/ Oklahoma (34-22) / Xavier (32-25) / Radford (27-30)
Lubbock, TX –#5 TX Tech (43-15) / AZ (37-19) / Sam Houston St (40-20) / Delaware (34-21)
Stanford, CA – #8 Stanford (40-14) / CS Full (34-21) / BYU (37-19) / Sacramento St (32-27)
Tallahassee, FL – Florida St (39-20) / UCF (40-20)/ Auburn (35-24) / TN Tech (40-19)
Winston-Salem, NC – Wake Forest (39-18) / WV (34-24) / MD (37-21) / UMBC (23-33)
*Green = Regional Winner / Blue = Winner’s Bracket / Yellow = One Loss / Red = Eliminated
*Regionals listed alphabeticallly. Teams appear in order of seed with regular season record.
For Super Regional pairings click the bracket below or visit the “Road To Omaha” page.
Conference Tournament Week
With the regular season having come to a close in most conferences around the country, it is now time for NCAA Tournament automatic bids to be earned.
Visit the “Road To Omaha” page regularly for an updated listing of all Division I teams who have punched a ticket to the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Weekend of May 19th-21st
Regular season titles in both divisions of the Southeastern Conference are up for grabs in head to head matchups this weekend thanks to a rare gift in scheduling perfection. It just so happens that the Eastern Division race will be settled on the field between Kentucky and Florida in Gainesville at the same time LSU and Mississippi State battle in Starkville for the Western Division crown. What a finish to the regular season down south!
#6 Kentucky Wildcats (36-16, 18-9) @ #4 Florida Gators (38-14, 19-8)
Results
Game 1: Kentucky 12 Florida 4
Game 2: Florida 14 Kentucky 3
Game 3: Florida 6 Kentucky 4
Florida takes two of three at home
Gators win SEC Regular Season Title
#8 Mississippi State Bulldogs (33-19,17-10) @ #5 LSU Tigers (35-17, 18-9)
Results
Game 1: LSU 3 Mississippi State 1
Game 2: LSU 11 Mississippi State 5
Game 3: LSU 11 Mississippi State 7
LSU sweeps series
Tigers claim Western Division Title
Weekend of May 12th-14th
#2 Louisville Cardinals (43-6, 20-4) @ #7 Clemson Tigers (37-12, 16-8)
This battle of top 10 clubs at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson is for control of the Atlantic Division Standings. It will also provide a late season chance to impress selection committee members in both schools pursuit of national seeding. The Cardinals bring a twelve game winning streak into the Palmetto State to face the defending ACC Champs.
Results
Game 1: Louisville 4 Clemson 2
Game 2: Louisville 6 Clemson 4
Game 3: Louisville 6 Clemson 4
Louisville sweeps series in Clemson
Cardinals Clinch Division Title
Weekend of May 5th-7th
#25 Texas Longhorns (31-16, 9-8) @ #7 TCU Horned Frogs (32-11, 12-6)
This Top 25 matchup of Lone Star Rivals has the potential to be a game-changing weekend for the Longhorns. Texas can place themselves squarely in the mix for the Big XII crown with a solid series in Fort Worth. Though the Frogs are coming off a series loss in west Texas to powerful Red Raiders, they still control the conference standings-even if by a very small margin. It seems to shape up as a battle of TCU’s high octane offense versus the ‘Horns strong arms. No reason fans shouldn’t expect to be treated to a trio of tight contests.
Results
Game 1: TCU 11 Texas 10 (11 Innings)
Game 2: TCU 8 Texas 2
Game 3: TCU 4 Texas 3 (10 Innings)
TCU sweeps the series