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 »

Here is your recap of Day 3 in the College World Series. We saw in the losers bracket where the Miami (FL) Hurricanes beating FSU 7-5 eliminating the Noles from the tournament. In the winner’s bracket matchup, Georgia knocked off Stanford 4-3 behind a two run seventh inning to give the Bulldogs the lead for good. Stanford and Miami will face off on Wednesday at 7 pm EDT.

Miami FL 7 FSU 5 Recap
Georgia 4 Stanford 3 Recap

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
OMAHA, Neb. - The sixth-ranked Georgia baseball team advanced in the winner’s bracket of the 2008 College World Series with a 4-3 win over seventh-ranked Stanford at Rosenblatt Stadium Monday in front of a crowd of 20,087. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CCBL RELEASE

Coca-Cola Pitcher of the Week

Cotuit starter Nick Hernandes (Tennessee) has something to prove in the Cape Cod Baseball League this summer. He’s coming off a disappointing spring in which he had a losing record (2-5) and a 5.16 ERA with the Volunteers as a sophomore but he turned in an overpowering performance Saturday against a Brewster squad that figures to be in the thick of the East Division race. Hernandes pitched seven strong innings, scattering seven singles and allowing just one run while striking out eight to beat Brewster, 4-1, before more than 3,000 delighted Opening Day fans at Lowell Park. The 6-4, 203-pound left-hander from Miami, Fla., did not walk a batter.

Coca-Cola Player of the Week

Harwich shortstop Tim Smalling (Arkansas) went 3-for-4, scored a run and drove in two to take Coca-Cola Player of the Week honors after the first weekend of Cape Cod Baseball League play. Smalling provided the spark as the Mariners opened the 2008 campaign with a resounding 9-4 win to spoil Bourne’s first-ever night game at Doran Park. The 6-3, 207-pound junior-to-be, one of five Razorbacks playing in the Cape League this summer, picked up where he left off in college with his award-winning effort against Bourne Saturday night. He had five two-RBI performances as well as two three-hit games among his 16 multi-hit games for the Hogs, while also compiling a 14-game hitting streak, Arkansas’ longest of the season.

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 »

Georgia used a four run ninth inning to rally past the top overall seed in the College World Series 7-4 on Saturday. Miami headed into the top of the ninth with a 4-3 lead over 8-seed Georgia but two errors by Miami closer Carlos Gutierrez allowed the Bulldogs to score the upset over the Hurricanes.

Miami got on the board first in the bottomof the first inning on a solo home run by Jemile Weeks. Georgia tied the game in the top of the third inning on a single by Ryan Peisel but Miami came right back and retook the lead on a two run homer by Ryan Tekotte.

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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 »

The Georgia Bulldogs will be heading to their sixth College World Series appearance and head coach Dave Perno’s third with the Bulldogs. They have an overall record of 41-23-1 after winning the SEC Regular Season title with a 20-9-1 record. The Bulldogs lost the first game of the Athens Regional to Lipscomb by a score of 10-7 before running off four victories with a 9-8 victory over Louisville, 14-3 victory over Lipscomb, and winning two straight games over Georgia Tech by scores of 8-0 and 18-6. Last weekend, Georgia hosted NC State for the best of three Super Regional. The Bulldogs won the first game by a score of 11-4 before dropping Game 2 10-6 and winning the winner take all game to get back to Omaha with a 17-8 shellacking of the Wolfpack. Read the rest of this entry »

Lubbock, Texas - As eight teams load up and head to Omaha to continue the quest for the College Baseball National Championship, eight players are named as semi-finalists for the Brooks Wallace National Player of Year Award. College baseball has produced a fine class of young men to represent the “Wallace Watch” from the pre-season release to where it stands today.
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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 »

The CBB was on The World Ford Sports Show in Pensacola Florida on Saturday. I talked about all the Regionals especially focusing on the Super Regionals involving ACC/SEC teams. The interview is about 20 minutes long and is very interesting as I talked about my expectations for the weekend which have not come true but that is why we make predications. The full interview is available by clicking here.

Just a random picture for the post.

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 »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

ATHENS, GA - For the third time in the past five years, the Georgia Bulldogs are heading back to the College World Series. The seventh-ranked Bulldogs plated nine runs in the first inning and never looked back, crushing 15th-ranked N.C. State 17-8 to win the Athens Super Regional in front of 3,512 Sunday at Foley Field.

Georgia advances to the CWS for the sixth time in program history and the third time under head coach David Perno. The SEC Champion Bulldogs’ first game at Rosenblatt Stadium in the eight-team double-elimination field will be against either No. 1 national seed Miami or Arizona.
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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 »