June 13, 2007

 

Frequent Visitors, Surprise Guest Highlight CWS Field

By John Manuel

Eight teams with the same dream, back home in Omaha . . . heading into college baseball's pinnacle, here's a quick look at the stories that define the sport's 2007 College World Series field.

Arizona State
The Sun Devils make their third trip under coach Pat Murphy. The Sun Devils ranked 20th in the preseason but were a different team this spring--literally--thanks to several impact semester transfers. The most important was freshman closer Jason Jarvis, who saved 11 games--a league high nine in Pacific-10 Conference play--and gave the team a premium power arm. He became eligible in March and changed the complexion of the Sun Devils' pitching staff. But the other key semester transfer was sophomore catcher Kiel Roling, who spent the fall at Central Arizona JC and arrived in Tempe in January. A starter from Day One, Roling ranked second on the team in homers (15) and RBIs (63) heading into Omaha.

UC Irvine
The Anteaters are one of the event's Cinderellas, since this is just their sixth season since re-starting their program at the Division I level. However, the program has tradition--former UCLA coach Gary Adams led Irvine to back-to-back Division II titles in 1973-74. Picked third in the preseason in the Big West, UC Irvine made a name early this season with a series sweep at Houston, then won six of seven Big West series, losing only to Cal Poly. The Anteaters did it with aggressiveness and supreme execution, offensively and defensively, a testament to coach Dave Serrano. BA's 2004 Assistant Coach of the Year, Serrano has taken what he learned at Cal State Fullerton under George Horton and applied it to his new school. Now pupil and master, as it were, will be on the same side of the bracket in Omaha.

Cal State Fullerton
Of course, the fact Horton got these Titans to Omaha is cause enough to celebrate his career. This is how you replace a legend like Augie Garrido--by building your own legend. The Titans make their sixth trip to the CWS in the 64-team era, more than any other school. Let that sink in--not only is Fullerton not in a Bowl Championship Series league, it doesn't even have football. The Titans had an up-and-down season, with valleys such as a three-game sweep at East Carolina and four straight series losses to end Big West play, and peaks like series victories against Rice and Wichita State. Now another peak--a perfect 5-0 run through regionals and super-regionals. With the money on the table, never doubt the Titans.

Louisville
The Big East gets its first team to Omaha since 2002 (Notre Dame) as the Cardinals get all the way to the College World Series in just their second-ever regional appearance. Think athletic director Tom Jurich is happy about his choice of Dan McDonnell to lead the program now? McDonnell becomes the first rookie coach since Florida State's Mike Martin in 1980 to take his team to the CWS, breaking through on his own after helping lead Mississippi to back-to-back super-regional trips in his last two seasons there as an assistant. He joins North Carolina's Mike Fox as a coach who also played in the CWS, as McDonnell was a member of The Citadel's famed 1990 team.

Mississippi State
The Bulldogs finished fourth in the Southeastern Conference in the regular season, yet they are the only Southeastern Conference team standing come Omaha. Ron Polk's eighth trip to the CWS in his fourth decade may be his most surprising yet. His team's identity revolves around offense (fourth in the SEC in scoring), even though it has hit just 49 home runs in 58 games, and its 4.76 team ERA ranked ninth in the SEC. The real story of the Bulldogs was their fans. Big attendance and money figures helped them play host to Clemson in the super-regional in the first place, and about 26,000 fans showed up for the two games in Starkville, willing the team to victories.

North Carolina
The Tar Heels earned a repeat trip to Omaha and sent out Boshamer Stadium in style; their old ballpark will be bulldozed after the super-regional to make way for a new $17 million one on the same spot. North Carolina also exorcised some old demons by beating South Carolina, a program that had eliminated it in the postseason three years in a row from 2002-2004. The difference is, those teams didn't have Chad Flack or Josh Horton. The two juniors have emerged as money players the last two seasons, the Tar Heels' best hitters since Brian Roberts was there in the late 1990s.f

Oregon State
The defending national champions nearly missed the postseason but snuck in despite a 10-14 Pac-10 mark. Once in, they wouldn't leave, winning a regional at Virginia, then winning a super-regional even when being no-hit into the ninth inning of Game One. Oregon State's resilience can't be quantified, and coach Pat Casey knows how to coax heroic performances out of his pitchers. In 2006, it was Jonah Nickerson with three starts in eight days, and in 2007, lefty Joe Paterson pitched 12 innings in three regional outings to pull the Beavers through.

Rice Wayne Graham takes his Owls to Omaha as the favorite for the second straight season. It's in many ways the same Rice crew that got here last year, a team that won its first two games before being stifled by Oregon State's pitching. The Owls are a year older and wiser in 2007 and more complete, but their offense still lags behind the pitching. Two health issues on the pitching staff cloud the Owls' chances--can closer Cole St.Clair dominate coming back from shoulder woes? And will versatile righthander Ryne Tacker be able to pitch after a bout of biceps tendinitis?