CWS - so far

[notanative]

Working from memory, but I think that only 3 of the 8 original top 8 national seeds made it to Omaha, and all three lost their first game over the weekend.

Mississippi State 5-4 over Oregon State (3);
NC State 8-1 over North Carolina (1); and
UCLA 2-1 over LSU (4).

Some fun and interesting baseball going on.

 

[ElginHotSausage]

I figured LSU would win it all since Fullerton and Vandy didn't make it. Last night slowed them down a bit thank gawd. UCLA may have the only pitching staff good enough to beat them.

 

[billygoat hill]

Anyone but LSU please. I want title #7 coming home to Austin, not Baton Rouge! I'll have to root for UCLA now since they took down the tigers.

 

[notanative]

In the bottom of the 6th it's 3-1 NC over LSU. If LSU goes, Miss State will be the only surviving SEC team in play. Interesting.

 

[billygoat hill]

Mississippi State's players are all huge and appear to be 30 years old. The 1st baseman is like 6-7 and their sophomore closer looks like a future WWF star. Impressive team!

 

[notanative]

Maybe they just show up on TV that way, but watching college baseball starting with the regionals to yesterday's game, I have the impression that our players don't have the same look of maturity, and I can't help but wonder if that's an issue.

 

[johnnyg88]

Have our players even started shaving yet?

 

[Alex_de_Large]

Miss St. closer is Kenny Powers.

 

[WashU-Horn]

Missy will win this.

 

[UT Horn Fan]

If someone had told me before the CWS started that the championship series would be between the Pac 12 and the SEC, I wouldn't have disagreed. I just would have gotten both teams wrong.

 

[notanative]

I would have said Pac-12 and ACC.

 

[UT Horn Fan]

Was watching the CWS last week and they flashed a graphic up listing UCLA's season stats and they looked familiar. I did some quick research and they and Texas are almost identical per the NCAA.

Season Batting Average:
Texas: .259
UCLA: .247

Season ERA:
Texas: 2.61
UCLA: 2.58

Yet the Bruins have a 1-0 lead in the National Championship Series and Texas didn't even make their conference tournament.

 

[Unques prist]

UCLA's best pitcher did not get suspended twice for drug test violations, their CF did not get kicked off the team, their 3rd base coach did not get relieved of his 3rd base coaching duties and evidently their HC did some freaking coaching.

Other than that, these programs are identical.

 

[billygoat hill]

UCLA clutch hitting = A
Horns clutch hitting = D-

 

[UT Horn Fan]

UCLA clutch hitting = A
Horns clutch hitting = N/A

FIFY

 

[Unques prist]

Other than the obvious UCLA = 2013 NC and TX = 9th place in the Big XII, is runs scored. With nearly identical batting avg., UCLA scored 293 runs in 61 games and TX scored 196 runs in 51 games, an avg of almost 1 more run per game. When you rely heavily on great pitching and have poor hitting, you have to execute sac bunts and run the bases smartly. UCLA executed their offense extremely well, whereas TX ran the bases poorly and was unusually poor in sac bunt opportunities. That 1 run per game = would have changed some outcomes since TX had 10 1 run losses.

 

[CanaTigers]

In reply to:

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[notanative]

The only stat that matters is W, and then only when the W hits the right games.

 

[zork]

I was there when Napoleon had a clutch 2 out base hit with RISP vs Stanford at the 2002 CWS in the first inning that meant the difference between Texas answering the Stanford deluge or getting shut out going to inning number 2. Clutch 2 out hitting or just hitting in general with RISP is a must unless you are mashing/raking at all other times to make it a moot point.

Hopefully Texas can get the mojo back. Texas used to win those 1 inning games and many, many times it was a last inning comeback string of hit after clutch hit to make the magic happen. I long for the return of those Texas teams.

Cause the past few years have been the suck.