FROM NCBWA RELEASE

DALLAS - The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association continued its tradition of NCAA Division I polls for the 10th year with its 2007 weekly surveys. Weekly polls were circulated from Feb. 12-June 25 following the NCAA World Series in Omaha, Neb. Oregon State became the first school since LSU in 1996-97 to repeat as Division I champ after sweeping North Carolina last Sunday night at Rosenblatt Stadium.

The poll voters come from 32 college baseball writers and related media persons from throughout the nation. The final poll had representation by a season-most 14 conferences (tied for a weekly high for the fourth time in ‘07) among the 293 baseball-playing schools in the ‘07 NCAA Division I ranks, and 17 circuits had teams in the polls in ‘07. For more information or to join the NCBWA, please go to www.ncbwa.com

Oregon State defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 9-3 in Game 2 of the CWS Championship Series to clinch their second championship in as many years. The Oregon State offense jumped on Tar Heel starter Luke Putkonen for three runs in the second inning which knocked him out after only 1.2 innings. Mike Fox, head coach of North Carolina replaced him with Andrew Carignan who acts as the team closer. Carignan ended up going 3.2 innings while giving up two runs. The Oregon State offense was led by many players but Darwin Barney went 2-5 with a homer and Jordan Lennerton hit a two run homer. Oregon State pitcher Mike Stutes struggled through 5.1 innings while giving up three runs on seven hits but picked up the win to give himself a 2-0 record in the CWS. The North Carolina offense was led by Dustin Ackley who went 2-4 with a homer and two RBI in the loss.

The Oregon State Beavers overcame many different obstacles this season who were on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament when the selections were announced. They also had some major distractions this season with Mike Lissman’s legal trouble. I would like to congratulate the team that started the entire College Baseball season with a trip to Hawaii-Hilo and ended it as the National Champions for the second straight season which is the first time it has happened in College Baseball since LSU won the championship in 1996-1997.

Oregon State Recap
UNC Recap
SeBaseball Recap
Baseball Daily Digest Recap

Team USA completed their tour of New England with a 5-4 victory over the Newport Gulls (NECBL). Team USA scored four runs in the first inning with the first run coming on a double by Justin Smoak (South Carolina). Brett Wallace (Arizona State) then followed up with a three run homer in his first at bat of the summer with Team USA. The coaching staff of Team USA used the game to get five pitchers work in the game. Jacob Thompson (UVA) started and gave up no runs on one hit and two walks. Mike Minor (Vanderbilt) came in for two innings while giving up two hits and striking out four batters. Eric Surkamp (NC State) then came in to pitch two innings but gave up one run on two hits. Josh Romanski (San Diego) came in relief of Surkamp and gave up three runs in his two innings of work. Cody Satterwhite (Ole Miss) gave up two hits but did not give up a run as he got his first save of the summer for Team USA. The team will be off until June 29th when they play Chinese Taipei in Burlington NC.

Team USA Recap
Newport Recap

Liberty University has hired Jim Toman to lead their baseball program. Toman was the Associate Head Coach at South Carolina before accepting this position. He has spent the last 18 years as a member of Ray Tanner’s staff at South Carolina and previously at NC State. He is regarded as one of the top recruiters in the nation as he has lead the Gamecocks to a top 25 recruiting class every year for the last eleven years.

Liberty Release

The Cape Cod League has announced that Bobby Gagg (Coastal Carolina) of Yarmouth-Dennis was named the Coca-Cola Pitcher of the Week while his teammate at Yarmouth-Dennis in Gordon Beckham (Georgia) was named the Coca-Cola Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. Gagg started for Yarmouth-Dennis against Orleans on Tuesday. He pitched seven shutout innings while only allowing four hits. Gordon Beckham hit .360 on the week while driving in five runs. He also had two homers and two doubles on the weekend. The full CCBL Release is available here.

Game 2 of the College World Series Championship Series is tonight between Oregon State and North Carolina with Oregon State holding a 1-0 lead in the best of three series. Gametracker is available by clicking here.

The Torrington Twisters (NECBL) edged Team USA 4-3 behind a strong start from Steve Strasberg who struck out seven out of the twelve batters he faced. The Torrington staff held Team USA to only three hits as Justin Smoak picked up two hits including a two run homer in the eighth inning. Garrett Green went 2-3 with two runs scored and a homer in the victory for the Twisters. Team USA will be back in action on Sunday as they finish their tour of New England when they visit the Newport Gulls.

Team USA Recap
Torrington Recap

The Oregon State Beavers took Game 1 of the College World Series Championship Series by a score of 11-4. Jorge Reyes pitched 6.1 innings while allowing only three runs to the North Carolina offense. Joe Patterson relieved Reyes by giving up only 1 run over the final 2.2 innings. North Carolina starter Alex White was lit up for five runs in 5.1 innings of work. Jordan Lennerton did most of the damage to the North Carolina offense by going 2-4 with a homer and two RBI. Mitch Canham also had a strong day as he went 1-2 with two RBI. The Tar Heels offense was led by Reid Fronk who had a two run double in the 5th inning.

Oregon State Recap
UNC Recap
Doug Kroll (CSTV) Recap
Rivals.com Recap

The teams will play Game 2 on Sunday at 7 pm eastern time. If Oregon State wins the game they will be the national champions for the second straight year while North Carolina will try to force a deciding game on Monday. The Beavers will send Mike Stutes (11-4, 4.03 ERA) to the mound while UNC sends Luke Putkonen (8-1, 4.44 ERA) to the mound.

Oregon State looked like a much more polished team on Saturday evening while North Carolina looked a little tired from the long week in Omaha. We will see tomorrow if the Tar Heels can get a big start from Putkonen as their bullpen has been extremely busy this past week.

The Gametracker for Game 1 of the College World Series Championship series is available here for anyone not able to watch the game on TV.

North Carolina (57-14)

The North Carolina Tar Heels head back to the CWS Championship Series to face Oregon State for the second straight year. UNC has compiled a 4-1 record in Omaha as they fought through the loser’s bracket. The Tar Heels are led on the mound by Robert Woodard who has struggled in the College World Series but has a 11-2 overall record with a 3.19 ERA. Rob Wooten has appeared in every single game in the NCAA. He has pitched 15.1 innings in the tournament compiling a 1.17 ERA. The Tar Heel offense woke up in the final elimination game against Rice on Thursday when four different hitters went deep. Josh Horton, who was a second round pick by the Oakland Athletics leads the CWS with a .389 average.

North Carolina is expected to start Alex White (6-6 4.74 ERA) in Game 1.

UNC CWS Game Notes
CBB report on UNC-BC

Oregon State (47-18)

The Oregon State Beavers enter the College World Series Championship Series seeking their second straight national championship. This is also their second straight year facing the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Championship series. The Beavers lost a ton of talent from last year’s team but have been able to get hot at the right time of the year as they have compiled a 3-0 record in the CWS. The Beavers are led by catcher Mitch Canham who was the 57th overall pick by the San Diego Padres. Canham is hitting .321 with ten homers on the season. Daniel Turpen is the top starting pitcher for the Beavers. He was drafted in the eighth round by the San Francisco Giants. He has accumulated a 10-1 record with a 3.44 ERA.

Pat Casey will send Jorge Reyes (6-3, 3.00 ERA) to the mound for Game 1.

Oregon State CWS Game Notes

The College Baseball Blog predicts that Oregon State wins the championship in two games as UNC’s starting pitching has been suspect all post season. North Carolina has a stronger bullpen so they need to have a solid five-six inning start in every game of the series to have a chance.

CWS Championship Series Previews from the Internet

Salem News (OR paper)
Corvallis (OR) Gazette Times
News and Observer (NC paper)
River Ave. Blues
Arizona Daily Star
Rivals.com
Doug Kroll of CSTV Preview (Great article)

Team USA continued their strong start to their summer season with a 5-0 victory over the Vermont Mountaineers. Pedro Alvarez led the team at the plate for the second straight day by going 3-4 with three RBI in the win. Brian Matusz started for Team USA while giving up one hit and hitting one batter in four scoreless innings of work. Team USA will be back in action on Saturday when they head down to Torrington CT.

Team USA Recap
Vermont Recap

OMAHA, Neb. — The city of Indianapolis has steel skyscrapers, slick presenters and the constant clatter of hardhats building the amateur sports capital of the world. Today, it juggles USA Track and Field and a dream to host the Super Bowl. Tomorrow, officials will contemplate something else, maybe the College World Series, because a bustling sports city never really sleeps.

Omaha has Jim Costello and 120 New York strip steaks.

Costello is with the Kiwanis Club, and for two weeks each summer, it’s his job to make one of the eight teams at the CWS feel special. He grills up halibut, chicken and mounds of steaks for Oregon State, and lets the boys tool around on pontoons at Chris Lake. One time, his job took him to a Laundromat at 2 a.m., washing jockstraps and dirty socks, because “it had to be done.”

“I almost try to treat them like they’re a guest in my house,” Costello says. “They’re our team. We’re Oregon State Beavers fans now.”

Indianapolis, it seems, doesn’t have a chance.

Elizabeth Merrill talks about keeping the CWS in Omaha
David Albright talks about moving the CWS

I bet a lot of our readers already know about the Alaska Goldpanners tradition of playing a game at midnight on the summer solstice. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports has written a very good article on the game which can be read here. Jim Caple of ESPN.com also visited the game in 2005. The full article is available for ESPN Insiders here.

Our buddy at Summer Ball is an excellent reference on all Summer Leagues including the Alaskan League.

St. Bonaventure head coach Larry Sudbrook received a plea bargain after carrying a .357 Magnum revolver onto a commercial airplane at the Buffalo Airport on May 10th. The Bonnies were traveling down to Charlotte for a key Atlantic 10 showdown when Sudbrook was arrested for having the weapon in his carryon bag. He ended up getting a thousand dollar fine and will give up possession of the gun. He could face disciplinary action from the university after a panel reviews the case.

Sudbrook led the Bonnies to a 25-27 record in 2007 as the team finished in sixth place in the Atlantic 10 conference.

AP Article

Jim Wells has announced his retirement as the head coach of Alabama. He was at the school for 13 seasons and accumulated a 553-272 record. This announcement means that at least three SEC programs will have new head coaches next season. A full national search for a successor will begin immediately.

Alabama Release
SEBaseball Article
AP Article