Super Regional Updates Day Three

Four more teams clinched a berth in the 2011 College World Series on Sunday.

Florida Gators

South Carolina Gamecocks

Texas Longhorns

California Bears

The North Carolina Tar Heels and Vanderbilt Commodores won their Super Regional on Saturday.

Three SEC teams have a spot in the 2011 College World Series. The ACC can claim three if Florida State and University of Virginia win on Monday.

Updates of Sunday’s games

University of Florida vs. Mississippi State

So much for the new bats limiting home runs, Florida slugged five home runs against Mississippi State on Sunday closing their Super Regional with an 8-6 victory. Mike Zunino contributed to the home run derby hitting his 18^th on the season. Zunino, a Johnny Bench Award finalist, went 2-4 raising his season average to .376. Mississippi State 2B Nick Vickerson hit another home run in a losing effort; his 9^th of the year. This is the Gators seventh appearance in the College World Series.

South Carolina vs. University of Connecticut

Christian Walker has hit back to back Super Regional clinching home runs (2010 over Coastal Carolina) to lift the Gamecocks 8-2 to the College World Series over Connecticut. The Gamecocks will have an opportunity to defend their 2010 NCAA National Championship in Omaha.

University of Texas vs. Arizona State University

The Texas Longhorns clinched their 37^th College World Series berth with a 4-2 win over Arizona State. Texas’ pitchers scattered 6 hits keeping ASU off balance all game. Texas SS Brandon Loy went 3-4 with a RBI and BB raising his season average to .350.

University of California vs. Dallas Baptist University

The Cal Bears stopped Dallas Baptist unbelievable 2011 play winning 6-2. Is Cal a team of destiny this season? Their program was cut by the university earlier in the year due to budget constraints but saved by booster donations in time for 2011 season play. Catcher Chadd Krist went 2-4 with 3 RBIs for Cal.

Elimination Monday

Florida State and UC Irvine won to keep their College World series hopes alive on Sunday.

Florida State University vs. University of Texas A&M

Florida State demolished Texas A&M 23-9. FSU out hit Texas A&M 16 to 12 and capitalized on 4 Aggie errors. FSU hit 3 home runs on their way to scoring 20 earned runs. Five different A&M pitchers took the mound on Sunday, each giving up at least 3 earned runs.

Game three between FSU and Texas A&M begins Monday at 7:00 p.m. EST.

University of Virginia vs. UC Irvine

After a 4 ½ hour rain delay, the Anteaters stayed alive with a 6-4 win over #1 overall seeded Virginia. LF Drew Hillman went 2-4 with a solo home run for UC Irvine.

Game three between Virginia and UC Irvine is set for Monday at 4:00 p.m. EST. 

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Super Regional Updates Day Two

Vanderbilt and North Carolina have won a berth in the College World Series.

North Carolina held off a late game rally to beat Stanford 7-5 earning a trip to the College World Series. C Jacob Stallings went 3-5 with 3 RBIs for the Tar Heels. RP Greg Holt gave up 4 ER in the 8^th to bring the Cardinal within 6-5 before the Tar Heels added another run in the 9^th.

Vanderbilt jumped on Oregon State early and kept the pressure on to win 9-3. Vanderbilt’s offense was highlighted by SS Anthony Gomez’s 4-6 and 1B Aaron Westlake’s 3-4 nights. Westlake went deep for the Commodores and knocked in 6 runs. Will Clinard earned the victory throwing 4.2 innings, 1 ER, and striking out 8. 3B Carter Bell went 2-4 and hit a solo home run for the Beavers.

Elimination Sunday

Texas ties series with Arizona State University winning 5-1. 2B Jordan Etier hit a 3-run home run in the 9^th, his second on the season, to blow the game open. Game three is at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Mississippi State ties series with Florida State winning 4-3. Nick Vickerson hit a walk-off 2-run home run with two outs in the ninth to keep Mississippi State alive in their bid for a College World Series berth. Florida C Mike Zunino, a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award, went 2-5 and he is now hitting .374 on the season. Game Three is at 1:00 p.m. EST in the Gainesville Regional.

Game 1 Updates

Texas A&M beat Florida State 6-2 behind the strong pitching of Ross Stripling.

Stripling scattered 7 hits in 7 innings to earn the victory for the Aggies. The Aggies scored 4 runs in the 7^th to take a 5-2 lead. Florida State had strong efforts at the plate by RF James Ramsey 3-4, .371, and C Rafael Lopez, 3-4, .341. Game two is at 4:00 p.m. EST in the Tallahassee Regional.

South Carolina beat Connecticut 5-1 behind Michael Roth’s outstanding pitching, 8.1 innings pitched, 1 R, O earned. The Gamecocks racked up 10 hits against Huskies pitching. Game two is at 7:00 p.m. EST in the Columbia Regional.

California beat Dallas Baptist 7-0. California’s pitching 3-hit the Patriots potent offensive lineup. Pats RF Jason Krizan 1-4, .416, and CF Landon Anderson 1-3, .358, couldn’t muster up any additional offense against the solid starting pitching of Justin Jones. Game two is at 10:00 EST in the Santa Clara Regional.

Virginia beat UC Irvine 6-0 behind 1B Jarred King’s home run and 3-4 effort, 3 RBIs. UC Irvine was held to four hits. Game two is at 1:00 p.m. EST in Charlottesville Regional.

The top 8 seeded teams going into post-season play:

Virginia

Florida

North Carolina

South Carolina

Florida State

Vanderbilt

Texas

Rice

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Super Regional Updates

Four Super Regionals began action on Friday. Super Regional play is a best of three format.

#1 Florida beat #3 Mississippi State 11-1 in the Gainesville Super Regional

#1 Arizona State beat #1 Texas 3-1 in the Austin Super Regional

#1 Vanderbilt beat #1 Oregon State 11-1 in the Nashville Super Regional

#1 North Carolina beat #2 Stanford 5-2 in the Chapel Hill Super Regional

The remaining four Super Regional sites will begin action today. Today’s Super Regional matchups include:

#1 Virginia vs. #3 UC Irvine in the Charlottesville Super Regional

#3 California vs. #3 Dallas Baptist in the Santa Clara Super Regional

#1 Florida State vs. #1 Texas A&M in the Tallahassee Super Regional

#1 South Carolina vs. #2 Connecticut in the Columbia Super Regional

Saturday Update

#3 Mississippi State avenged Friday’s loss to the Florida Gators by winning 4-3.

Quick Notes of Interest

The current regional format used in the NCAA baseball tournament began in 1999

This is Mississippi State’s first Super Regional since 2007 and their 4^th overall

Florida made it to Omaha in 2010

Florida sophomore Mike Zunino is a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award

The last time Texas and ASU met was in the 2009 College World Series, Texas won both games

Texas leads the all-time series vs. ASU 27-19

Stanford is making their first Super Regional appearance since 2008, their 8^th appearance.

Stanford has advanced to the College World Series in 6 of their previous 7 Super Regional bids

North Carolina has not appeared in a Super Regional since 2009

OSU’s last Super Regional was in 2007; OSU won back to back titles in 2006 & 2007

The Cavalier’s have advanced to a Super Regional in three straight years

This is UC Irvine’s second appearance in a Super Regional (2008)

The Cavalier’s hold a 2-0 series lead over the Anteaters

This is the first Super Regional for Cal and Dallas Baptist

Florida State has advanced to the Super Regional round in 4 consecutive years

Texas A&M’s last Super Regional was in 2008

This is Connecticut’s second post season berth in the NCAA tournament and their first Super Regional

The Gamecocks have advanced to their second straight Super Regional. They are looking to be the first repeat College World Series winners since Oregon State in 2006 & 2007

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Quick Sporting News

NCAA Regional wrap up

Texas A&M defeated University of Arizona 3-0 today in a storm delayed game originally set for Monday. A&M advances to the Tallahassee regional to face Florida State. Texas A&M helps salvage some respect for the Big 12 in the NCAA Tournament. The Big 12 finished regional play 9-10. The ACC finished 16-8, PAC 10 18-5, SEC 18-6, Big East 6-5, and the Big 10 was 2-2.

#3 seed Dallas Baptist, an Independent team, continued their amazing season by surviving the Fort Worth bracket to advance to the Santa Clara regional to face another #3 seed University of California at Stephen Schott Stadium.

Pryor says, “Tat ya later” to OSU

Who is the least liked wide receiver named Terrelle in pro football? Terrelle Pryor, take a bow. He has easily outdistanced himself from the former disliked, Terrelle Owens. And Pryor has to be fooling himself if he thinks he will be a quarterback on the next level. Someone give Pryor former University of Arkansas quarterback Matt Jones’ phone number.

How kind or harsh will the media, blogs, and message boards be to Terrelle Pryor? He’s an easy target and deserving of all that he receives. It’ll be funny reading soft and easy headlines like, “Pryor leaves OSU” or “Pryor heads to the NFL”. Let’s be honest. The headlines should read, “OSU doesn’t want the continued headache and embarrassment Pryor has brought the school so they finally kicked him off the team”.

NFL plans for an 8 game season

Why? Why would the NFL plan for an 8 game season instead of a full 16 game season? Is there a law forbidding the NFL to move the Super Bowl back a few weeks? Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana is the predetermined site for the 2012 Super Bowl, XLVI. It seems hard to believe that the administrators for Lucas Oil Stadium would say no to the NFL if the NFL asked to move the Super Bowl back a couple of weeks. Maybe Roger Goodell has vacation plans in March thus having a full season extend into March would not be good for him? Do the players and owners have somewhere else they have to be this spring? It’s their job, so go do your job! However long it takes to finish it.

Wait, this makes sense. This is another attempt to yo-yo with the emotions of the fans and the NFL players. If the NFL Players Union does not settle on a new labor agreement, this “forces” the NFL and the owners into an 8 game season. This means the players will only receive half of their salary for the 2011-2012 season.

Anyone else tired of hearing about money, the U.S. economy, millionaires complaining about their cut, banks being bailed out, foreclosures, and our pro sports teams being locked out over “labor disputes”, aka money?

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Regional and Super Regional Updates

Regional play has been so great this year they have decided to postpone Arizona and Texas A&M until Tuesday at 1:35 p.m. EST. Thunderstorms rocked the College Station area just before first pitch forcing the cancellation of the game. Game site has been moved from Bryan Stadium to Olsen Field.

Monday’s results:

Florida St. 11 Alabama 1

South Carolina 8 Stetson 2

Texas 5 Kent State 0

Connecticut 14 Clemson 1

Dallas Baptist 11 Oral Roberts 9

California 9 Baylor 8

Super Regional Matchups:

Virginia vs. UC Irvine

California vs. Dallas Baptist

Florida St vs. winner of Texas A&M vs. Arizona

South Carolina vs. Connecticut

Florida vs. Mississippi State

Texas vs. Arizona State

Oregon State vs. Vanderbilt

North Carolina vs. Stanford

Top Eight Seeds

Virginia

Florida

North Carolina

South Carolina

Florida State

Vanderbilt

Texas

Rice (eliminated)

Super regional action will being June 10. 

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2011 College Baseball Tournament Updates

11 teams have won their regional and are headed to their super regional. Five more teams await their fate today. Here’s an update of this weekend’s action.  

There were few big surprises from the NCAA tournament this weekend. #3 seeded UC Irvine upset #1 seeded UCLA 4-3 on Sunday with a walk-off single in the ninth. The Anteaters advance to the Charlotte super regional, their first super regional since 2008, where they will face overall #1 seeded University of Virginia.

#3 seeded Mississippi State upset #1 seeded Georgia Tech 7-3 on Sunday in the Atlanta regional. Mississippi State advances to the Gainesville regional where they will face their Southeastern Conference foe the Florida Gators. Florida took 2 out of 3 games from Mississippi State in Starkville during the regular season (5-7, 18-0, 3-1) and beat the Bulldogs 7-5 in the SEC Tournament.

#2 seeded Stanford sent #4 seeded University of Illinois, the only Big Ten team in the tournament, home on Sunday winning 14-2. The Fighting Illini upset #1 seeded Cal-State Fullerton 7-5 in the Sunday morning game of the Fullerton regional.

The biggest upsets of the weekend occurred in the Fort Worth regional. #1 seeded TCU was put out of the tournament after three games. TCU beat #4 seed Oral Roberts on Friday 10-2, lost to #3 seed Dallas Baptist 3-2 on Saturday, and then lost to Oral Roberts on Sunday 8-4. #2 seeded Oklahoma was ousted in two games losing to Dallas Baptist 3-2 in 10 innings on Friday and Oral Roberts 7-0 on Saturday. Dallas Baptist and Oral Roberts play for the right to advance to what would have been the Houston regional had Rice not been defeated by University of California during the Sunday morning game 6-3. The higher winning seed between the Houston regional (#3 California vs. #2 Baylor) and Fort Worth regional will host that super regional.

Power conferences have paved the way to the super regional. The SEC has 4 teams advancing, ACC 3, and the PAC 10 has 3.

Teams that are headed to a super regional:

#1 seeded Virginia

#1 seeded South Carolina

#1 seeded Florida

#1 seeded Florida State

#1 seeded Arizona State

#1 seeded Oregon State

#1 seeded Vanderbilt

#1 seeded North Carolina

#2 seeded Stanford

#3 seeded Mississippi State

#3 seeded UC Irvine

Teams still fighting for a super regional berth:

#1 Texas vs. #3 Kent State; Austin regional

#2 Baylor vs. #3 California; Houston regional

#1 Clemson vs. #2 Connecticut; Clemson regional

#1 Texas A&M vs. #2 Arizona; College Station regional

#3 Dallas Baptist vs. #4 Oral Roberts; Fort Worth regional

Super regional play will begin Friday June 10 through Sunday if necessary. The super regional format is a best of three series. The College World Series will begin June 18 in Omaha, Nebraska. 

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