Aaron Fitt of Baseball America has put out his predictions for the 2009 College World Series. He expects two teams from the ACC in Miami (FL) and North Carolina to make it back to Omaha after strong 2008 campaigns. He has three teams from the West Coast to make it to the College World Series in Cal-State Fullerton, Oregon State, and the University of San Diego. Aaron expects Big 12 rivals Texas and Texas A&M to make it back to the big stage after subpar 2008 campaigns. Read the rest of this entry »

The College Baseball Blog made the trip down to Brockton MA to take in the First Annual Cape Cod Hall of Fame Classic between the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and the Falmouth Commodores. The game was played at Campanelli Stadium which serves as the home of the independent league Brockton Rox.

The Red Sox were able to pick up a 5-4 victory over the Commodores holding off a ninth inning rally as the Commodores had the tying run on third base with two outs but UC-Riverside closer Joe Kelly was able to get Darrin Ruff to ground out to second to end the game. Read the rest of this entry »

Carl Dubois of The Advocate in Baton Rouge reports that LSU will lose its hitting coach Cliff Goodwin to Central Florida, the same school that just one week earlier lured away LSU’s recruiting coordinator and pitching Terry Rooney.

Current Michigan State head coach David Grewe is one of the top candidates to take over the pitching and recruiting coordinator position.

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
OMAHA, Neb. — The seventh-seeded LSU baseball team saw its remarkable season come to an end on Friday night as second-seeded North Carolina eliminated the Tigers from the 2008 NCAA College World Series on a ninth-inning grand slam by catcher Tim Federowicz that gave the Tar Heels a 7-3 win at Rosenblatt Stadium.

LSU concluded the year with a 49-19-1 record and the most wins since the 2000 team won 52 games. The Tigers, who once held a 6-11-1 record in Southeastern Conference play, completed one of the most incredible turnarounds in league history that saw the squad win the SEC Western Division, the SEC Tournament, the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional and the NCAA Baton Rouge Super Regional. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
OMAHA, Neb. - Due to lightning and heavy rains in the Omaha area, Thursday’s College World Series elimination contest between North Carolina and LSU was suspended with the Tar Heels holding a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The game will be resumed at 7:08 p.m. Eastern Friday on ESPN.

The contest was halted at 6:27 p.m. local time and was suspended at 9:32 p.m. after a delay of more than three hours. Read the rest of this entry »

The LSU late-inning magic continues as the Tigers, who were on the verge of elimination in the Super Regionals before rallying to earn a trip to Omaha, staved off elimination from the College World Series by scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth to claim a 6-5 decision and send Rice home.

Rice did itself no favors, as pitcher Cole St. Clair hit Sean Ochinko on an 0-2 count, and an error by shortstop Rick Hague allowed the Tigers to load the bases. Blake Dean then knocked a 1-0 pitch to the left field wall, clearing the bases and giving LSU its first lead of the game, along with the victory. Read the rest of this entry »

OMAHA, Neb. — Hours after being introduced as the new head baseball coach at the University of Central Florida, LSU pitching coach and recruiting coordinator Terry Rooney arrived Thursday night at the site of the College World Series.

His long-range plans for UCF now take a backseat to his immediate goal: to finish the job the right way with LSU.

Stetson coach Pete Dunn, for whom Rooney worked as pitching coach in 2002 and 2003, said LSU fans shouldn’t worry about Rooney’s focus being in the wrong place during the CWS, which begins this weekend. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
OMAHA, Neb. — North Carolina right-hander Alex White limited seventh-seeded LSU to four hits in seven innings and the second-seeded Tar Heels pounded out 17 hits to deal the Tigers an 8-4 loss in the 2008 NCAA College World Series opening round on Sunday night at Rosenblatt Stadium.

LSU (48-18-1) will face Rice in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Tuesday. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN 2. Read the rest of this entry »

The LSU Tigers are heading into Omaha with victories in 25 out of their last 26 games with an overall record of 48-17-1 while going 18-11-1 in the SEC. They are led by second year head coach Paul Mainieri who will be making his second appearance in the College World Series after taking Notre Dame to Omaha in 2002. The Tigers swept through the Baton Rouge Regional with a victory over Texas Southern by a score of 12-1 before beating Southern Miss twice by scores of 13-4 and 11-4. The Tigers followed that up by playing against UC-Irvine where they lost Game 1 by a score of 11-5 then rallying in the top of the ninth in Game 2 to get a 9-7 victory and destroying UC-Irvine in the winner take all game 21-7. Read the rest of this entry »

For college baseball players everywhere, the word “Omaha” rolls off the tongue like no other.

LSU’s proud army of baseball legacies knows that all too well.

They also know all about dog piles and victory laps around an old ball yard that has seen her share of celebrations.

With the memory of a stirring ninth-inning comeback the night before fresh in their minds and an emotionally charged start as the launching pad, the Tigers punched their ticket to Omaha and the College World Series in explosive and dominating style Monday night.

In the process of romping past shell-shocked Cal Irvine 21-7, LSU also composed the final chapter in the proud and nostalgic history of Alex Box Stadium. Read the rest of this entry »

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — LSU scored five runs in the ninth inning, including Sean Ochinko’s go-ahead single, as the Tigers rallied to stave off elimination in their super regional series with a 9-7 win over UC Irvine on Sunday.

The deciding third game at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium is Monday night. Read the rest of this entry »

LSU’s 23-game winning streak came to an end Saturday, as UC Irvine smacked the homestanding Tigers 11-5 in the first game of the final series ever at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium.

A Tony Asaro single plated two runs to give the Anteaters a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Going into the sixth, UC Irvine held a 3-1 edge and gets two aboard via the walk from a pair of Tiger pitchers. Sean Madigan then erases the Anteaters’ “small ball” image by depositing the ball over the right center fence to put Irvine up 6-1. Read the rest of this entry »

Tigers to stick with strengths vs. UCI

By now, the point has been clearly pushed across.

In case you haven’t heard, the red-hot LSU baseball team will not adapt its style simply because UC Irvine figures to play at a different tempo and with a different approach.

Tigers coach Paul Mainieri beat on the same drum again Wednesday, reiterating what he has said all week.

“Just because they play small ball doesn’t mean we’re going to combat that by playing small ball ourselves,” Mainieri said.

Maybe not. Read the rest of this entry »

LSU 11, Southern Miss 4

From the middle of the diamond at a raucous Alex Box Stadium, Michael Hollander knew what was coming Sunday night against Southern Miss in the championship game of an NCAA regional tournament.

Heck, by that point of the game and at this point of LSU’s magical baseball season, everybody had a pretty good hunch what was looming with red-hot Blake Dean at the plate and the bases full of Tigers. Read the rest of this entry »

New Orleans 18, Texas Southern 5

Johnny Giavotella was 3-for-3 with a home run and four runs scored, helping New Orleans eliminate Texas Southern from the NCAA tournament with an 18-5 victory Saturday in the Baton Rouge regional.

New Orleans (43-20) blew the game open in the bottom of the fifth, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring six runs to take a 13-2 lead. Read the rest of this entry »