Omaha, Nebraska is the center of the baseball universe for the next several days as the city once again hosts the College World Series. After a field of 64, just eight teams remain in the quest for it all that will end in a player dog pile on championship night. 16 NCAA regionals of four teams each were dwindled down to eight super regionals of two teams. After a best of three series at each site, we have our eight finalist that will play double elimination baseball to advance to the finals that will be a best of three series. This team by team preview will help sort out the contenders to take home the national championship during the best week of the year.
Saturday 3:00 p.m. ET. ESPN2. Texas Longhorns vs. UC Irvine Anteaters:
The Texas Longhorns are back in the CWS for the first time since 2011. This is their eye-popping 35th CWS appearance starting back in way back in 1949. Those 35 entries have resulted in six national titles and six second place finishes. Names like Keith Moreland, Roger Clemens, Calvin Shiraldi, Huston Street and Drew Stubbs have all brought home championships for the Longhorns.
This was a surprise to see this group make it from Austin to Omaha. Texas manager Augie Garrido has won two national titles since being at Texas the last 18 seasons, but the Longhorns missed the enitre playoffs the last two seasons. This return was not supposed to result in a chance at a title. 2014 MLB Draftees center fielder Mark Payton ( 7th rd, NY Yankees ) and ace starting pitcher Nathan Thornhill (13th rd, Phillies ), did return for their senior seasons just to get Texas back to the playoffs. Good starting pitching will be the key for this Longhorn addition as they will their hands full in the very first game at the CWS.
UC Irvine will head into their match up versus Texas with probably the hottest pitcher in the entire country. Andrew Morales ( 3rd rd, St. Louis Cardinals ) was a highly drafted right hander that had a 10-2 record with a 1.64 era this season. He shut out Oklahoma State in the NCAA super regionals 1-0 to advance the Anteaters to the CWS. This guy is a big game pitcher with a bulldog type mentality. UC Irvine's manager Mike Gillespie led the USC Trojans to a national title in 1998 and is in his seventh year for the Anteaters.
If you are looking for a Cinderella team to pull for, it is UC Irvine. The university shut down the program in 1992 due to budget cuts. In 2002 Anteaters baseball was back and made the CWS in 2007. Manager Dave Serrano left the program to take the same position at Cal State Fullerton, his alma mater. Gillespie, a hall of fame coach, will definitely have this under dog bunch ready to go.
Saturday 8p.m. ET. ESPN2. Louisville vs. Vanderbilt
The Louisville Cardinals baseball team is back again in 2014. Now back to back appearances in the CWS, as well as their maiden voyage in 2007. Though relatively new found success, Louisville has made the NCAA tournament eight times since 2002 which was their first ever appearance. Head coach Dan McDonnell arrived in 2007 and has steered the Cardinals to three CWS. This year they want more.
Louisville is the only returning team from the 2013 CWS and were given a gift by getting to face Kennesaw State. They were at home for the super regionals as opposed to having to travel to the 5th seeded Florida State Seminoles after KSU shockingly won that regional with out even having to face FSU.
Good pitching and an early lead will be the key for the Cardinals in Game one. The ace of the staff is Kyle Funkhouser who led the nation in wins and should be on the hill Saturday night. The Cards are undefeated all season long when they get 5 or more runs in a game. Closer Nick Burdi had 18 saves this year and 34 for his career. Both are school records. The biggest number that tells what this pitching staff is about, Louisville has won 98 straight games when leading going into the last inning.
They will be facing a great pitching staff in their own right, the Vanderbilt Commodores. After a heart stopping three game super regional battle in Nashville versus Stanford, Vanderbilt will head to Omaha with a lot less pressure on this team than in years past. A number one overall seed in 2007 and a favorite to win it all a few times since, Vandy will be making only their second CWS appearance and first since 2011.
Pitching is the name of the Commodore game and they are outstanding. Tyler Beede should be Saturday night's starter ( 1st rd, SF Giants ) and his stuff is electric. He continues a long line of elite starting pitching by Vandy. David Price ( Tampa Bay Rays ), Mike Minor ( Atlanta Braves ), and Sonny Gray ( Oakland A's ) are all current starters in the majors and were all once Commodores. Vanderbilt's ranks in the top 20 in team ERA and Beede is third in strikeouts per game. They will be looking for revenge as Louisville was the team that knocked them out of the super regionals last year when Vandy was a national seed. This game will be even bigger as it is important to stay out of the loser's brackett on the first night.
Sunday 3p.m. ET. ESPN2. Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. TCU Horned Frogs
The Texas Tech Red Raiders head to Omaha for the first time ever. This is anything but a storied program in the land of college baseball and was a huge surprise to reach this far. The program having been around continuously since 1956 ( there was a brief 1926-1929 stint ), the Red Raiders didn't even make the tournament until 1995 under Larry Hays. Hays took the program over in 1987 and built a solid program for the first time ever. From 1987-2008 Hays had nine tournament appearances and only two losing seasons. Tim Tadlock, the current head coach, took over in 2012 as this is his first tournament appearance. Tadlock was a starting shortstop for Texas Tech from 1990-1991 and has been a perfect fit for the program.
Dylan Dusek turned in his fourth consecutive start to send TTU to the CWS against an overmatched College of Charleston. The Cougars were opponent for TTU instead of the number two ranked University of Florida Gators, who were eliminated in the first round. Texas Tech was then awarded the right to host the super regional and took advantage. First Baseman Eric Guiterrez is hitting .312 with 12 homeruns and an outstanding 58 rbi. In all expect to see agressive baseball frm this team. Ranking eighth in doubles and Seventh in triples, TTU will attack early and often with little ability to hang crooked numbers up in many innings. The pitching is solid not geat which is a good way to describe the defense. They make the routine plays with minimal errors, but don't look for many flashes of greatness with the leather.
TCU, the seven seed in the tournament, is one of only two national seeds left and can be looked upon as a favorite. After starting 15-12 this year, the Horned Frogs ripped off a 32-4 record. This isn't a small conference they did that in, This is the Big 12 that has three teams in the CWS.
This is an experienced team heading to Omaha with a great chance to celebrate at the end. With eight upperclassmen in the starting lineup this team has shown great character and chemistry. Nothing they do is great, but every area of this club is good. From defense and pitching to hitting and base running, TCU is solid across the board. An incredible rally to beat Pepperdina in the 9th inning of game three in the super regionals, proved what kind of mettle this team has. The 2-1 series loss to Texas Tech in the regular season seems to have been the catalyst for this incredible run. It was then that TCU was 15-12 and went on to finish the season at 32-4.
Sunday 8 p.m. ET. ESPN2. Ole Miss Rebels vs. Virginia Cavaliers
The Ole Miss Rebels were almost a polar opposite of TCU. Starting the season at 17-2, the Rebels then finished a more down to earth 19-11. That was good enough to win the SEC West Division. After rolling in Oxford in the opening round, Ole Miss traveled to play the Ragin' Cajuns of ULL and pulled off the upset of the sixth seed in it's own home. This will be the first trip back to the CWS since 1972.
Rebel batting is what they will lean on. Ole Miss hit .303 this year which was ranked 14th nationally. They averaged 6.1 runs a game with 116 doubles. At the very top and very bottom of the lineup, Ole Miss has speed and guys with the ability to get on base. That sets the table for Auston Boufield, Will Allen and Austin Anderson who all hit above .331 and are known for hitting it to the gap for a slew of doubles. Look for the only SEC entry to live up to it's hype and make some serious noise in Omaha.
Rounding out the field is the ACC's Virgina Cavaliers. A three seed and the conference's only hope of winning it all for the first time since 1956, UVA comes in as the odds on favorite. Preseason ranked number one and consistently in the title talk mix, UVA has never quite broken through. Having only lost one series all year long, this might the year of the Wahoos.
The biggest question for UVA is where will the offense come from? Since implementation of the newer and less explosive aluminum bats to the college game a few years ago to enhance player safety, runs do not come as easy as they used to. With that being said, the Cavs are scoring less than most. Ranked 76th in batting and 85th in slugging, they also only have 33 home runs which ranks 48th. Derek Fisher (no not that one) and Mike Papi along with Brandon Downes and Joe McCarthy (not that one either) actualy have a ton of potential offfensively especially with power. They finally started to put it together at the super regionals versus Maryland after dropping the first game. They will need to continue that roll Sunday night to avoid the loser's bracket.
Pitching is what they hang their hat on in Charlottesville, Virginia. Starter Nathan Kirby is a first team All-American and fellow starter Brandon Waddell was actually their Friday night ace. Nick Howard is the closer in the back of the pen ( 1st rd, Cincinatti Reds ) and is bolstered by the incredible combination Whit Mayberry, Connor Jones and Austin Young among others. To beat this team you have to do the little things like move runners over and score when you can. That plays well into Ole Miss's style of play. The Sunday night winner will have the first leg up into that dog pile.