CWS Tickets

List of CWS Teams Grows

Many of the Super Regional games were decided last night as the list of confirmed teams grew from fourto seven.  There is still one more spot available to the winner of the TCU vs. Texas game tonight at 6:00 PM Central.  Texas is heavily favored, and is the number one seed in the tournament, but the Horned Frogs dealt them a 3-2 loss last night on the Longhorn's home turf.

As we mentioned yesterday, there are some very familiar faces that we will see at this years College World Series.  CWS veterans ASU, Cal State Fullerton, and LSU will be back in Omaha this year, the three teams have won a combined 14 championships in the tournament's 62 year history.

Some newer faces will be seen this year for fans who make the trek to the famous Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha.  Virginia and Southern Mississippi are both traveling the road to Omaha for the very first time.  Virginia knocked off Ole' Miss in the Super Regional tournament and look strong coming into Omaha.  Virginia's ace pitcher Matt Packer led the Cavaliers to a 5-1 victory to win the best of three series over Ole' Miss.  Virginia's head coach Brian O'Conner will feel right at home here in Omaha.  O'Conner grew up near Omaha and says he visits here once a year to see family.  I'm sure the whole O'Conner family will be happy to see him this year for a second time.

Southern Mississippi has a similarly intriguing story.  Coach Corky Palmer will retire after this season after a great run with the Golden Eagles who were not expected to make it to Regional play much less win the Regional and Super Regional.  Southern Miss knocked off a highly favored Florida Gators team who has looked shaky at best during the postseason.

North Carolina and Arkansas round out the other seven confirmed teams for the College World Series.  North Carolina has visited Rosenblatt Stadium the last three years but has yet to win a championship.  The Tar Heels were upset in 2006 and 2007 by the Oregon State Beavers who won the championship both times.  Arkansas has been building a strong program in the last few years and looks to make Omaha a regular stop for the end of their upcoming seasons.  The Razorbacks were last in Omaha in 2004.

Familiar CWS Teams Pack Their Bags for Omaha

Fans in Omaha will see familiar faces at the College World Series this year.  So far, four teams have secured spots in the eight team tournament that is set to start June 13th.  The remaining four teams will be decided tonight at Super Regionals across the country.

LSU, Cal State Fullerton, Arkansas, and North Carolina all won their Super Regionals and will make the trek to Omaha.  All four teams have made it to Omaha in the past with Cal State Fullerton making the CWS an amazing 15 times.

The action will begin in Omaha with the opening day celebration on Friday, June 12.  There will be activities for all ages including autograph signing from 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM and Kid's Zone games and activities from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM.  Disney channel star Mitchel Musso will perform before the opening ceremony in the southeast parking lot with the beautiful backdrop of Rosenblatt Stadium.  During the opening ceremony, fans will enjoy team introductions, a parachute team, and best of all, fireworks!  All of these activities are free to the public.

The College World Series will again be held at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha.  This will be the second to last year that the series will be held there, the city of Omaha agreed to build a new stadium at the request of NCAA officials if they agreed to keep the CWS in Omaha for 25 more years.  The move to the new stadium is set for the 2011 College World Series.

2008 College World Series field is set

The two remaining super regionals wrapped up Monday night, as LSU and Fresno State will join Miami (Fla.), Georgia, Stanford, Florida State, North Carolina and Rice in the 2008 College World Series.

Here's a wrap-up of Monday's super regional finales:

LSU blows out UC Irvine

LSU exploded for six runs and never let UC Irvine even think about a late rally, blowing out the Anteaters 21-7 to earn a trip to the College World Series.

LSU came back from the dead in Sunday's second game, and that momentum carried over into the start of Monday's game. Ryan Schimpf hit a pair of home runs and had five RBI's, and Blake Dean went 5-for-5 with a home run and three RBI's to highlight the Tiger explosion.

Jordan Brown got the win in relief for LSU, which played its last game in its old Alex Box Stadium to a record crowd of 8,173.

Bulldogs pull off historical upset

Fresno State made history Monday night, becoming the first No. 4 seed from a regional to advance to the College World Series.

It wasn't easy, though -- the Bulldogs saw a seven-run lead trimmed to the point where Matt Newman came to the plate as the winning run, and Fresno State got out of the bases-loaded jam to win 12-9 and earn a trip to the College World Series.

Newman hit a pair of home runs for the Sun Devils, the second giving Arizona State a 5-4 lead in the fifth. Fresno State tied the game in the sixth, then exploded for six runs in the seventh, capped by a bases-clearing double by Erik Wetzel and a two-run bomb by Steve Susdorf, to take a seemingly-insurmountable 12-5 advantage into the ninth.

The Sun Devils rallied, but it wasn't enough as they lost a regional series at home for the first time since 2001.

The 2008 College World Series gets underway Saturday, June 14 with opening-round games in the double-elimination tournament Saturday and Sunday. First-round games and start times (times are Central) are as follows:

Saturday, June 15 -- GAME 1: Stanford (39-22-2) vs. Florida State (54-12), 1 p.m.; GAME 2: Miami Fla. (52-9) vs. Georgia (41-23-1), 6 p.m.

Sunday, June 16 -- GAME 3: North Carolina (51-12) vs. LSU (48-17-1), 1 p.m.; GAME 4: Rice (47-13) vs. Fresno State (42-29), 6 p.m.

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CWS field is almost set

The field for the 2008 College World Series is almost set, with one game/two games scheduled for Monday to determine the final spots in the field. Here's a recap of Sunday's action:

Left Bracket

Miami hangs on, beats Arizona

Miami scored three runs in the top of the first and made it stand up as they advanced to the College World Series with a 4-2 win over Arizona Sunday night.

Yonder Alonso hit a two-run homer in the first to help spark the Hurricanes to the early lead. Arizona had a chance to come back and tie the game late, but left the bases loaded as reliever Carlos Gutierrez pitched Miami out of trouble and picked up the save.

The win secured Miami's 23rd trip to the College World Series and first since 2006.

Georgia wraps up tournament trip

Gordon Beckham hit a pair of homers and drove in four runs as Georgia pounded North Carolina State 17-8 to secure the Bulldogs' third CWS bid in five years.

The Bulldogs jumped Wolfpack starter Eric Surkamp and put nine runs on the board in the botom of the first inning to put things out of reach early.

Georgia also got homer runs from Ryan Peisel, Bryce Massanari and Joey Lewis.

Seminoles explode against Shockers

Florida State continued its trend of offensive explosions with a six-run first inning on their way to an 11-4 win over Wichita State to clinch a College World Series bid.

Jack Rye hit a three-run homer in the first inning to spark the Seminoles to their 13th College World Series trip. Florida State has scored 99 runs in their six tournament wins, all coming while facing elimination.

Right Bracket

Tar Heels going back to Omaha

North Carolina ended Coastal Carolina's dreams of a first College World Series appearance, scoring six in the second on their way to a 14-4 win and a two-game series sweep.

Adam Warren took a no-hitter into the fifth and threw two-hit ball over six innings to get the Tar Heels the win. Dustin Ackley drove in three runs to highlight the Tar Heels' offensive output.

Tigers avoid elimination

LSU was three outs from elimination before making an improbable comeback to beat UC Irvine 9-7 and force a deciding third game Monday on its home field.

The Tigers got RBI singles from Blake Dean and Sean Ochinko with the bases loaded to help the Tigers storm from behind. Eric Pettis got the win in relief for the Tigers, who avoided back-to-back losses for the first time in well over a month.

Late comeback gives Owls victory

Adam Zornes' two-run homer in the eighth helped Rice come from behind to sweep Texas A&M with a 6-5 win and earn the Owls' third straight College World Series appearance.

It was the second straight year the Owls swept the Aggies to earn a CWS trip. Bobby Bell, who missed all of last year with Tommy John surgery, pitched two scoreless innings of relief to close the door on the Aggies.

Slam helps Bulldogs force third game

Arizona State looked to be in command and cruising toward a super regional sweep, but Fresno State had other plans as they came back for an 8-6 win to force a third game Monday.

The Bulldogs were trailing 5-3 in the fourth when Gavin Hedstrom changed things with a two-out grand slam to left center. Hedstrom drove in another run later to finish with five RBIs.

Greg Bordes was 3-for-4 with a two-run triple that helped Arizona State to a 5-2 lead in the fourth before Hedstrom's slam changed the momentum.

Saturday's super regional recaps

Stanford is the first team to punch their ticket to the 2008 College World Series, and three super regional series will need a third game to decide the champion. Here's a rundown of Saturday's results:

Left Bracket

Stanford sweeps Titans

A three-run rally in the sixth inning helped Stanford hold off a Cal State Fullerton comeback, giving the Cardinal an 8-5 win and a trip to the College World Series.

Stanford, which swept the Titans in an earlier series this year, got a big lift from Jason Castro, who hit a bases-clearing double in the sixth to give Stanford the lead for good. The hit came after Cal State Fullerton tied the game in the top of the inning on an RBI double by Erik Komatsu.

The loss was only the second time Cal State Fullerton lost a super regional in its history and the first time they were swept in 30 super regional appearances.

Wolfpack ties series with Georgia

A four-run seventh inning helped North Carolina State avoid elimination with a 10-6 win over Georgia Saturday.

The Wolfpack got two RBIs each from Jeremy Synan, Ryan Pond, Tommy Foschi and Russell Wilson to make a Sunday winner-take-all game neccessary.

Georgia has never lost a regional or super regional at home. North Carolina State is trying for their first CWS appearance since 1968.

Seminoles bounce back again

Last week, Florida State was shut out in its regional opener, then exploded for over 50 runs to win their regional.

They did it again Saturday, bouncing back from a first-game defeat to pound Wichita State 14-4 and require a third game in the super regional Sunday.

Matt Fairel threw eight innings of solid ball for the host Seminoles and ended Wichita State's 10-game winning streak. Dennis Guinn's two-run single sparked a five-run third inning that broke a 3-3 tie.

Miami hangs on against Arizona

Facing elimination at home, Miami hung on down the stretch and outscored Arizona 14-10 to tie their super regional series at 1-1.

Mark Sobolewski homered in the sixth to spark a four-run inning that gave Miami the lead for good. Miami trailed 4-1 going into the fourth and scored six to take the lead, but Arizona answered with three runs of their own to tie the game at 7-7 after four innings.

Right Bracket

Anteaters snap Tigers' winning streak

UC Irvine has no problem going on the road to earn a trip to the College World Series, and they proved it by beating LSU 11-5 in their super regional opener Saturday.

The win is a huge one, as it not only moves the Anteaters to within one game of a second straight CWS appearance, but it ended LSU's nation-leading 23-game win streak.

Sean Madigan and Brock Bardeen both homered for the Anteaters, who broke the game open with eight runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

UNC takes advantage of errors

North Carolina made the most of six Coastal Carolina miscues to post a 9-4 win in their regional opener on Saturday.

Kyle Seager, Kyle Shelton and Seth Williams each drove in a pair of runs to move the second-seeded Tar Heels to within a game of a third straight CWS trip. Alex White pitched well in the winning effort, striking out six and scattering eight hits over seven innings.

Owls hold off Texas A&M

Cole St. Clair pitched very well in relief and got some timely hitting to help Rice beat Texas A&M 9-7 in their first super regional matchup Saturday.

Jordan Dodson drove in four runs, two coming on a double in the fifth inning. He later came home on an error to help Rice regain the momentum after the Aggies tied the game at 5-5 with three in the top of the fifth.

Rice is one win away from their seventh CWS appearance in the last 12 seasons. They haven't lost a regional or super regional game since 2006.

Sun Devils have no problems

Arizona State took command early and got a pair of homers from Ryan Sontag to blast Fresno State 12-4 in their first super regional matchup.

The Sun Devils have been in double digits three times in four postseason games. Petey Paramore had a pair of RBIs and Jason Kipnis and Brett Wallace each had three hits for the Sun Devils.

Super Regionals: Road teams draw first blood

Super regional play got underway Friday afternoon, and three of the four road teams put their hosts on the brink of elimination. Here is a breakdown of results from the opening day of the final weekend before the College World Series:

Georgia handles Wolfpack

Georgia moved to within one win of their third CWS appearance in five years with a convincing 11-4 win over North Carolina State.

Trevor Holder was solid on the mound for the Bulldogs, going 8 2/3 innings to get the win. He got plenty of offensive support, led by Gordon Beckham, who gave Georgia the lead for good with a two-run double in the third.

Joey Lewis and Miles Starr both drove in a pair for the Bulldogs, who have won five straight since opening tournament play with a loss to Lipscomb.

Shockers outlast Seminoles

Conor Gillaspie is an Omaha native, and he helped Wichita State draw first blood in Tallahassee, Fla., on Friday with a key three-run homer that sparked a four-run sixth inning to help the Shockers to a 10-7 win.

Josh Workman had three hits for the Shockers and Rob Musgrave pitched 5 2/3 innings to get the win for Wichita State.

Florida State lost its first game in regionals, but came roaring back to advance to this round last weekend. They'll need to win the final two games of the series to earn a trip to Omaha.

Extra-inning heroics for Arizona

Arizona and top-seeded Miami were locked in a classic battle in their first game Friday evening, and it took some extra-inning heroics for the visiting Wildcats to come away with a 6-3 win in 11 innings.

Jon Gaston's three-run blast to right in the top of the inning came with two outs and broke the tie to give Arizona the one-game advantage. Relief pitcher Carlos Gutierrez looked to be cruising in the inning before hitting Colt Sedbrook with an 0-2 pitch. He gave up a single to Brad Glenn, then the decisive blast to Gaston.

Jason Stoffel picked up the win in relief, striking out five in three innings.

Stanford hangs on for 4-3 win

Stanford struck early, then hung on to beat Cal State Fullerton 4-3 to take a one-game lead in the best-of-three series.

Jeremy Bleich had an inspiring effort in his first win since being out of the lineup for almost two months with tendonitis in his pitching elbow. He pitched six strong innings and allowed just three hits to help Stanford post its fourth straight win over the Titans this season.

Jason Castro and Sean Ratliff both hit homers for the Cardinal. Erik Komatsu hit a two-run homer in the eight for the hosts, but it wasn't enough.

Game two of each of the above series is scheduled for Saturday. Any third games that are needed will be played Sunday.

Four super regionals begin play on Saturday. Those machups, with local start times, are:

Coastal Carolina at North Carolina, 12 p.m.

Texas A&M at Rice, 2 p.m.

UC Irvine at LSU, 5 p.m.

Fresno State at Arizona State, 6 p.m.

Super regionals start Friday

Super regionals get under way Friday as the 16-team field is reduced to the final eight that will play in the College World Series beginning Saturday, June 14.

The start times for the eight super-regionals are noted below. Teams in the left bracket will play games Friday, Saturday and Sunday if needed. Teams competing in the right bracket play games Saturday, Sunday and Monday if needed. All times noted are local start times.

Left Bracket

Arizona at Miami (Fla.) -- Game 1: 7 p.m.; Game 2: 7:30 p.m.; Game 3: 7 p.m.

North Carolina State at Georgia -- Game 1: 12 p.m.; Game 2: 12 p.m.; Game 3: 4 p.m.

Stanford at Cal State Fullerton -- Game 1: 7:30 p.m.; Game 2: 4:30 p.m.; Game 3: 4 p.m.

Wichita State at Florida State -- Game 1: 2 p.m.; Game 2: 12 p.m.; Game 3: 1 p.m.

Right Bracket

Coastal Carolina at North Carolina -- Game 1: 12  p.m.; Game 2: 1 p.m.; Game 3: 12:30 p.m. or 7 p.m.

UC Irvine at LSU -- Game 1: 5 p.m.; Game 2: 3 p.m.; Game 3: 6 p.m.

Texas A&M at Rice -- Game 1: 2 p.m.; Game 2: 6 p.m.; Game 3: 11:30 a.m. or 6 p.m.

Fresno State at Arizona State -- Game 1: 6 p.m.; Game 2: 7 p.m.; Game 3: 4 p.m.

Race To Rosenblatt: Our Final Eight

We didn't agree totally with the top eight seeds for this year's NCAA tournament. And while we're still not convinced of at least one team in that bunch, we're going to go with the top eight seeds in our final Race To Rosenblatt rankings for 2008.

Georgia was the one team we weren't impressed with when the 64-team field was announced. After two-and-'cueing it at the SEC tournament, we felt that maybe there was one or two teams better suited with nabbing the No. 8 seed.

Georgia won its regional, but had to take the long road to the next round after losing its opening game to Lipscomb (Lipscomb???) on Friday. They bounced back to win four in a row and now will host North Carolina State in the super regionals.

Our final rankings are who we think will finish the Race To Rosenblatt with a trip to the College World Series. We pick Georgia as one of the teams going to Omaha based largely on the fact that they've never lost a regional or super regional tournament at home. The Wolfpack will make it interesting, but we think Georgia will find a way to get the job done and punch their ticket to Omaha in three games.

As far as the rest of the field, here's what we think:

(1) Miami vs. Arizona -- The Wildcats are playing well, but Miami has way too many weapons -- the least of which being home-field advantage. Miami wins 2-0

(5) Cal State Fullerton vs. Stanford -- Stanford swept the Titans during the second weekend of the season, but this is a different Cal State Fullerton squad from three months ago. With home field and a gritty effort in beating UCLA twice, we like the Titans to get back to Omaha. CSF wins 2-1

(4) Florida State vs. Wichita State -- After stumbling in the opening round, the Seminoles' bats have been on fire with double-digit efforts in each of their last four games. The Shockers have the pitching to slow this bunch down, but I don't think it's enough. Florida State wins 2-1

(2) North Carolina vs. Coastal Carolina -- The Chanticleers finally advanced to a super regional, but this is a Tar Heel team on a mission. Too much talent to keep this bunch from getting back to Omaha. North Carolina wins 2-0

(7) LSU vs. UC Irvine -- The Anteaters were the darlings of the College World Series in 2007, but the Tigers are on a tear right now with a 23-game winning streak. Playing their final home series before the old stadium is torn down, LSU cruises. LSU wins 2-0

(6) Rice vs. Texas A&M -- Quite frankly, we're surprised Texas A&M is still around after their late-season slump. They're playing well enough now to test the Owls, but Rice has enough arms that they'll be able to handle the lone Big 12 team still in the field. Rice wins 2-0

(3) Arizona State vs. Fresno State -- The Sun Devils have way too much firepower to make us think this will even be a challenge. Fresno State got this far as a fourth seed, and this is as far as they go. Arizona State wins 2-0

Our final pre-CWS Race To Rosenblatt rankings are as follows:

1. Miami (Fla.)

2. North Carolina

3. Cal State Fullerton

4. Arizona State

5. Florida State

6. Rice

7. LSU

8. Georgia

Super regionals to start Friday

Six regionals completed play Monday to set the 16-team field for super regionals.

Results of Monday's regional finals and this weekend's super regional matchups are as follows:

Left Bracket

at Stanford (Calif.) -- Stanford def. Pepperdine 9-7. STANFORD advances

at Athens (Ga.) -- Georgia def. Georgia Tech 18-6. GEORGIA advances

at Fullerton (Calif.) -- Cal State Fullerton def. UCLA 5-4. CAL STATE FULLERTON advances

at Tallahassee (Fla.) -- Florida State def. Tulane 16-7. FLORIDA STATE advances

Right Bracket

at College Station (Texas) -- Texas A&M def. Houston 13-5. TEXAS A&M advances

at Long Beach (Calif.) -- Fresno State def. San Diego 5-1. FRESNO STATE advances

Super Regional Matchups

Left Bracket

Games are Friday, Saturday and Sunday (if neccessary)

Arizona at (1) Miami (Fla.)

North Carolina State at (8) Georgia

Stanford at (5) Cal State Fullerton

Wichita State at (4) Florida State

Right Bracket

Games are Saturday, Sunday and Monday (if neccessary)

Coastal Carolina at (2) North Carolina

UC Irvine at (7) LSU

Texas A&M at (6) Rice

Fresno State at (3) Arizona State

Sunday's regional scores

Some of the 16 regionals were decided Sunday in the NCAA Div. I baseball tournament. Here are Sunday's results along with time schedules for the Monday games that will decide the final super-regional teams:

Left Bracket

At Miami (Fla.) -- Ole Miss def. Missouri 9-6 (Missouri eliminated), Miami (Fla.) def. Ole Miss 11-2. MIAMI (FLA.) advances

At Ann Arbor (Mich.) -- Kentucky def. Michigan 12-6 (Michigan eliminated), Arizona def. Kentucky 5-3. ARIZONA advances

At Raleigh (N.C.) -- South Carolina def. James Madison 7-5 (James Madison deliminated), North Carolina State def. South Carolina 2-1. NORTH CAROLINA STATE advances

At Athens (Ga.) -- Georgia def. Lipscomb 14-3 (Georgia eliminated), Georgia def. Georgia Tech 8-0. Georgia and Georgia Tech will play again Monday to determine regional winner.

At Fullerton (Calif.) -- Cal State Fullerton def. Virginia 4-1 (Virginia eliminated), Cal State Fullerton def. UCLA 11-8. Cal State Fullerton and UCLA will play again Monday to determine regional winner.

At Stanford (Calif.) -- Stanford def. UC Davis 8-4 (UC Davis eliminated), Stanford def. Pepperdine 13-1. Stanford and Pepperdine will play again Monday to determine regional winner.

At Stillwater (Okla.) -- Oklahoma State def. TCU 9-8 (TCU eliminated), Wichita State def. Oklahoma State 11-7. WICHITA STATE advances

At Tallahassee (Fla.) -- Florida State def. Bucknell 24-9 (Bucknell eliminated), Florida State def. Tulane 17-8. Florida State and Tulane will play again Monday to determine regional winner.

Right Bracket

At Cary (N.C.) -- UNC-Wilmington def. Elon 15-11 (Elon eliminated), North Carolina def. UNC-Wilmington 7-3. NORTH CAROLINA advances

At Conway (S.C.) -- East Carolina def. Alabama 16-1 (Alabama eliminated), Coastal Carolina def. East Carolina 24-11. COASTAL CAROLINA advances

At Lincoln (Neb.) -- Oral Roberts def. Nebraska 8-0 (Nebraska eliminated), UC Irvine def. Oral Roberts 8-0. UC IRVINE advances

At Baton Rouge (La.) -- Southern Miss def. New Orleans 8-2 (New Orleans eliminated), LSU def. Southern Miss 11-4. LSU advances

At Houston (Texas) -- Texas def. St. John's 4-3 (Texas eliminated), Rice def. Texas 7-4. RICE advances

At College Station (Texas) -- Houston def. Illinois-Chicago 14-11 (Illinois-Chicago eliminated), Houston def. Texas A&M 4-3. Houston and Texas A&M will play again Monday to determine regional winner.

At Long Beach (Calif.) -- San Diego def. Long Beach State 5-1 (Long Beach State eliminated), San Diego def. Fresno State 15-1. San Diego and Fresno State will play again Monday to determine regional winner.

At Tempe (Ariz.) -- Oklahoma def. Vanderbilt 11-10 (Vanderbilt eliminated), Arizona State def. Oklahoma 12-0. ARIZONA STATE advances