Check out all of WBR’s 2014 College World Series coverage.
One of the most unpredictable seasons of college baseball in recent memory is set to culminate with the 68th annual College World Series in Omaha, Neb. As has been the case for so many years, eight teams have hit, ran, pitched, and fielded their way to the middle of the country in hopes of capturing a national championship for their school.
A quick look at the field reveals several new faces like Texas Tech, which is making their first ever C.W.S. appearance. A team in Ole Miss that has been here four times previously, but is making their first trip to Omaha since 1972. UC Irvine, Vanderbilt, and No. 7 overall national seed TCU are each making their second ever appearance, while the only returning team from the 2013 CWS, Louisville, and No. 3 national seed Virginia are each making their third visit. The veteran of the group is Texas. The Longhorns are making their 35th, which if you don’t have a calculator handy means they have played in the College World Series nearly twice as much as the rest of the 2014 field combined.
Here’s a quick preview of the upcoming series:
Bracket One, Saturday, June 14, 2014 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha
Game 1 at 2:00 pm (CT): U.C. Irvine Anteaters (40-23 overall, 19-11 road/neutral) vs. Texas Longhorns (43-19 overall, 20-9 road/neutral)
2014 Head-to-Head: N/A
The opening game of the 2014 College World Series features two head coaches that are no strangers to Omaha. Texas’ Augie Garrido is making his 15th appearance in the C.W.S, taking Cal State Fullerton to Omaha on seven occasions where he won three national championships with the Titans. This trip will be the eighth time he’s coached the Longhorns to a berth in the College World Series, winning national titles with them in 2002 and 2005. At the helm for the ‘Eaters is former Southern Cal skipper Mike Gillespie. He is making his first trip to the College World Series with UCI, but led USC to four appearances in his 20 seasons there, including a national championship run in 1998.
UC Irvine shocked everyone as they emerged from the Corvallis Regional where they beat UNLV 10-3 to open the tournament before eliminating the No. 1 overall seed in Oregon State (14-2, 0-4, 4-2). Like Texas, they also swept their Super Regional opponent, defeating Oklahoma State (8-4 & 1-0) down in Stillwater. They are the only team in the 2014 CWS field to make it to Omaha without playing a home game in the NCAA Tournament.
Texas defeated Rice 3-2 in 11 innings and won two out of three from Texas A&M (8-1, 2-3, 4-1) to win the Houston Regional. Then swept an upstart Houston Cougar squad (4-2 & 4-0) in the Austin Super Regional to advance to Omaha.
Projected Pitching Matchup:
- UC Irvine – Andrew Morales (Jr., RHP, 11-2, 1.53 ERA, 136 K, 30 BB, .182 BAA)
- Texas – Nate Thornhill (Sr., RHP, 8-2, 1.57 ERA, 59 K, 35 BB, .206 BAA)
Game 2 at 7:00 pm (CT): Louisville Cardinals (50-15 overall, 16-8 road/neutral) vs. Vanderbilt Commodores (46-19 overall, 15-9 road/neutral)
2014 Head-to-Head:
May 6 – Louisville 11, Vanderbilt 7
Two of the more dangerous teams in the field are led by coaches who have enjoyed a lot of success in recent years, and are hoping to take that to another level with a national championship. Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell is in his 8th season as the skipper for the Cardinals. Under McDonnell, Louisville has reached the NCAA Tournament seven times, including the only three CWS appearances in school history. He has won 50+ games in three of the last five seasons, and has the Cardinals in the CWS for the second consecutive season. They are the only team from the 2013 field to return to Omaha this season.
Vanderbilt is led by former Clemson assistant Tim Corbin. As a member of the Tigers, Corbin made four trips to the College World Series, and now he has the Commodores here for the second time in his 12 seasons leading the program. The ‘Dores are one of two teams in this field that have won a game at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, going 2-2 in their other prior appearance in 2011. Although Louisville and Vanderbilt aren’t yet household names in the college baseball world this is their fifth combined trip to Omaha since 2007.
Louisville’s road to Omaha never left its own ballpark. The Cardinals defeated Kent State (5-0), Kansas (6-3), and Kentucky (4-1) to advance to the Super Regional where they bested NCAA Tournament newcomer Kennesaw State (5-3 & 7-4) to move on to Omaha for the second consecutive season.
Vanderbilt also swept through regional play, crushing Xavier 11-0 before going sweeping Oregon (7-2 & 3-2). In the Super Regional they faced off with another Pac-12 school in Stanford. After jumping on the Cardinal in the opening game en route to an 11-6 victory, Stanford came back to force a winner-take-all Game 3, which the Commodores won 12-5 to clinch their 2nd trip to the CWS in school history.
Projected Pitching Matchup:
- Louisville – Kyle Funkhouser (So., RHP, 13-2, 1.73 ERA, 117 K, 59 BB, .198 BAA)
- Vanderbilt – Carson Fulmer (So., RHP, 6-1, 1.78 ERA, 81 K, 31 BB, .186 BAA)
Bracket Two, Sunday, June 15, 2014 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha
Game 3 at 2:00 pm (CT): Texas Tech Red Raiders (45-19 overall, 12-15 road/neutral) vs. No. 7 overall seed TCU Horned Frogs (47-16 overall, 20-8 road/neutral)
2014 Head-to-Head:
Mar. 21 – TCU 9, Texas Tech 0
Mar. 22 – Texas Tech 10, TCU 2
Mar. 23 – Texas Tech 12, TCU 2
Apr. 22 – TCU 4, Texas Tech 0
Players and coaches from these two teams won’t need any help finding energy for this matchup, meeting four times in the regular season with each team winning twice. TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle continues to keep the Horned Frogs in the national spotlight. Prior to taking over at TCU in 2004 the school had never won 40 games in a season, but under Schlossnagle they have now done it seven times. Schlossnagle led the Horned Frogs to their only prior CWS appearance in 2010, falling just short of reaching the championship series in their first trip.
Texas Tech’s appearance in the CWS in head coach Tim Tadlock’s second year is nothing short of remarkable. In the past, the Red Raiders have fielded some of the nation’s most talented teams, but could never make it over the hump on the road to Omaha. In Tadlock’s first season the Red Raiders finished 26-30, but took a huge leap this season. They enter the tournament at 45-19 on the season and are sporting an NCAA Tournament-best 0.65 ERA after allowing only four runs in six tournament games.
TCU’s road to Omaha started with a pair of extra-inning affairs. First, they knocked off Siena 2-1 in 11 innings, then outlasted Sam Houston State, 3-2, in a 22-inning epic. They finished off SHSU in the regional final 6-1 before winning two out of three from Pepperdine in the Fort Worth Super Regional two get to Omaha.
Texas Tech rode an incredible team pitching performance all the way to Omaha. It began with a win over Columbia followed up by winning two out of three from Miami (Fla.) to claim the Coral Gables Regional. Thanks to College of Charleston turning the Gainesville Regional upside down, the Red Raiders hosted the Super Regional in Lubbock, Tex., and tossed consecutive 1-0 shutouts to eliminate College of Charleston and move on to Omaha.
Projected Pitching Matchup:
- Texas Tech – Chris Sadberry (Jr., LHP, 5-3, 3.17 ERA, 60 K, 23 BB, .263 BAA)
- TCU – Preston Morrison (Jr., RHP, 9-4, 1.32 ERA, 85 K, 19 BB, .197 BAA)
Game 4 at 7:00 pm (CT): Ole Miss Rebels (46-19 overall, 18-12 road/neutral) vs. No. 3 overall seed Virginia Cavaliers (49-14 overall, 15-10 road/neutral)
2014 Head-to-Head: N/A
The only teams in this field with more than four College World Series appearances are Texas and Ole Miss. However, while the Longhorns have made Omaha a home away from home with their NCAA record 35 CWS appearances, the Rebels have not been to Omaha since 1972. Despite 11 postseason appearances and averaging 40 wins per season over the last 10 years under head coach Mike Bianco, the Rebels could not advance further past the super regional round until this year.
Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor will have the hometown crowd behind him as he tries to lead his Cavaliers to their first ever national championship. O’Connor played and coached at Creighton, helping the Jays earn their lone trip to the CWS back in 1991. Eighteen years later he led Virginia to their first appearance, and brought them back in 2011 and now again, hoping to make it third times a charm in 2014. O’Connor is the third-winningest active head coach in college baseball.
The journey to Omaha for Ole Miss included a pair of one-run victories over nationally-ranked Washington in the Oxford Regional. They made things difficult for themselves in the super regional round, dropping the opening game 9-5 at the hands of No. 6 overall seed Louisana-Lafeyette. The Rebels rebounded, however, to earn 5-2 and 10-4 victories over the Rajun’ Cajuns to end a 41-year CWS drought.
The road to the 2014 CWS didn’t start out as challenging for Virginia as it did for Ole Miss. The Cavaliers cruised through the Charlottesville Regional, beating Bucknell 10-1 and Arkansas twice (3-0 and 9-2) to advance to the Super Regionals to face Maryland. Like the Rebels, UVA dropped the opening game, 5-4, but rebounded with a 7-3 win and an 11-2 blowout of the Terps to make it three CWS trips in six years for the Cavaliers.
Projected Pitching Matchup:
- Ole Miss – Chris Ellis (Jr., RHP, 10-2, 2.45 ERA, 64 K, 35 BB, .259 BAA)
- Virginia – Nathan Kirby (So., LHP, 9-2, 1.73 ERA, 104 K, 25 BB, .182 BAA)