Rogers Loves Ohio State

Yahoo's Kendall Rogers continues his off-season praise for Ohio State. This time, not only does Rogers bang the drum for the Buckeyes' Omaha chances, but suggests that Coach Todd's 2010 side will be better than the '08 Michigan team. Wow. Gotta give credit to Rogers for making a bold statement.

Well, Buckeye fans, does this kind of hype make you happy, nervous or both?

LSU Takes Control

It's not quite as bad as in Tallahassee, but Louisiana State has taken a commanding 7 - 0 lead over Minnesota in the third inning. Our season may be just about over, Big Ten fans.

9:49pm Update - LSU cruises to a 10-3 triumph over Minnesota and wins the Baton Rouge Regional. The Gophers season ends with the loss.

Gophers Outslug Baylor

Minnesota posted thirteen runs over the last three innings to beat Baylor, 15-12. The Gophers held a 15-5 lead going into the bottom of the ninth only to see the Bears plate seven runs, but fall short. Baylor's season has concluded, Minnesota moves into the championship round against LSU.

I'm afraid, though. After seeing a burned out Ohio State staff take on a well-rested, top seed at home, I'm fearful for the Gophers against the Tigers. Let's hope somebody tosses a whale of a game for the U.

Update - You know I should mention that Derek McCallum 4-for-6 with four runs scored and seven RBI in this game. McCallum, displaying why he should have been the Big Ten's Player of the Year, doubled three times and homered.

It's All 'Noles

Ohio State has yet to take their third at bat, but they trail Florida State by a score of 20 - 0. The Buckeyes have gone through four pitchers thus far. Ugly.

Update 6:49pm - It's now 32 - 2, Florida State. Yes. 32. I don't even know what to say.

Update 8:04pm - Mercifully, it's over in Tallahassee. The final is 37-6, FSU. Florida State goes onto the Super Regionals. OSU's campaign comes to a close.

Buckeyes Bounce Bulldogs

Ohio State beat Georgia, 13-6, and advanced to the championship of the Tallahassee Regional. Michael Stephens had three hits, three runs scored and four RBI for OSU. Ryan Dew went 4-for-5 (and I'm thinking secured a spot on the all-regional team). Zach Cone had four hits and four RBI for UGA.

The Buckeyes will take on #1 seed Florida State later today. A loss versus FSU will end the Buckeyes year. A win will force a deciding game tomorrow.

Indiana's Season Comes To An End

Vanderbilt ended Indiana's season with a resounding 10-0 triumph at the Louisville Regional. Vandy's Steve Liddle had three hits and three RBI. Sonny Gray went eight innings holding IU to just seven hits and a walk while striking out ten. Kipp Schutz's three-hit game led the way for IU. The Commodores will face the loser of the Louisville and Middle Tennessee State affair tomorrow.

Minnesota Survives

Minnesota avoided elimination by sneaking past Southern, 11-8, in the Baton Rouge Regional. Gophers' LF Justin Gominsky went a perfect 4-for-4 with a pair of RBI, while Matt Nohelty and AJ Pettersen each had three hits and two RBI. The U awaits the loser of tonight's battle between homestanding Louisiana State and Baylor.

Buckeyes Stay Alive

Ohio State beat Marist, 6-4, to stay alive in NCAA regional play. The Buckeyes will now get the loser of today's late game between Florida State and Georgia. Marist has been eliminated from the post-season.

Ryan Dew had three RBI for OSU. Drew Rucinski picked up the win, Jake Hale the save.

CBB Regional Previews, Webcast Links

The College Baseball Blog has finished up their regional previews. I'll just provide direct links to the regionals featuring Big Ten programs. Here's the Louisville Regional preview and the Tallahassee Regional preview.

Brian Foley at CBB has also tracked down the links to free webcasts of various regionals. Both of tonight's games involving Big Ten schools, Minnesota vs. Baylor and Indiana vs. Louisville, are available.

Tallahassee Update

Georgia has gone deep four times and leads Ohio State, 10-2. It's the fifth inning in Tallahassee. UGA catcher Joey Lewis has homered twice and has four RBI. Ryan Dew has both RBI for the Buckeyes. There's still time for a comeback, but spotting the 'Dawgs eight runs doesn't look good for OSU.

Update 2:37 pm: It's raining on Georgia's parade in FLA. We are still in the fifth inning. Here's hoping the rain cools off those Bulldogs' bats.

Update 4:40 pm: There's a lightning warning out for the Tallahassee area. The game will not resume until sometime after 5:00pm.

NCAA Regional Links

I'm guessing at least 30% of my readership is ready for some more baseball. As such, I'm here to provide links to all the places of relevance I've been able to track down.

TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL
Florida State is offering up a preview of the Tallahassee Regional. It's complete with plenty of additional links and some video.

Florida State's official site.
Georgia's official site.
Ohio State's official site.
Marist College's official site.

The Buckeye Nine (An OSU baseball blog)
Section B (Florida State's baseball fans)

LOUISVILLE REGIONAL
Louisville's official site. (It's actually their regional site. Seems the other one isn't working.)
Vanderbilt's official site.
Middle Tennessee State's official site.
Indiana's official site.

Behind The Plate (An Indiana baseball blog)
The Inside Pitch (IU student newspaper blog covering Hoosiers baseball)

BATON ROUGE REGIONAL
Louisiana State's official site.
Minnesota's official site.
Baylor's official site.
Southern's official site.

Kendall Rogers previews the Baton Rouge Regional.
The College Baseball Blog's Baton Rouge preview.
The Daily Gopher (SB Nation blog covering all things Minnesota)
Baylor Fans.com Baseball
Line Drives (LSU baseball blog from The Advocate)

The Big Ten issued their official press release prior to the tournament. It's a .pdf file.

A somewhat interactive (and kind of cool) tournament bracket courtesy of the NCAA.

College Baseball 360's tournament page.

Baseball America's staff will be hard at work this weekend. I'm guessing Aaron Fitt's blog will feature the breaking news.

The boys at BA have also produced their Top 100 MLB prospects heading into the draft. Check out the future pros in your regional.

And, of course, you know that Eric Sorenson's going to be all over the tournament. (By the way, thanks for including me on the selection committee, E.)

Indiana Wins Championship; Goes To NCAA Tourney

Indiana University has captured the Big Ten Tournament title and claims the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament field. And, no, I'm not talking hoops. The Hoosiers' baseball team crushed Minnesota in the Big Ten title game, 13-2. Those IU bats that so many lauded before the season powered the Hoosiers to the crown.

IU must now wait for the tournament field of 64 to be announced to see where they are going to play next weekend. Minnesota and Ohio State (who the Gophers eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament earlier today) will also wait to see if they have done well enough for the selection committee to give them at-large berths to The Dance. (One would hope their RPI number alone would merit them inclusion amongst the sixty-four.)

Tonight, however, belongs to Indiana. Congratulations to the Hoosiers on their Big Ten Tournament title.

Gophers Survive, Eliminate Boilers

Minnesota eliminated Purdue from the Big Ten Tournament, 12-3. Only four teams remain, the top four seeds heading into the tournament -- Ohio State, Minnesota, Indiana and Illinois.

Gophers' starter Tom Buske tossed his first complete game.

The Gophers will now play in today's second game against Illinois. Not only is it an elimination game for both teams, but one does wonder if it's a potential do-or-die situation for the Illini in regards to their at-large NCAA Tournament hopes?

According the this morning pseudo-RPI at Boyd's World, Illinois is sitting at number 63. A win over Minnesota (who is 25 in pseudo-RPI) would certainly help the Illini. Staying alive in the conference tournament also gives them the opportunity to add wins and RPI points. Conversely, a loss this afternoon might bounce Illinois from both the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.

Rivals Preseason Regional Projections

Rivals.com begins the new season with their NCAA Regional predictions. I don't want to ruin the surprise for you, so you'll have to go check out the link provided.

Fitt Projects NCAA Field

In a daring move, Aaron Fitt of Baseball America takes an educated guess at this year's NCAA Tournament field. Yep, he predicts all 64 teams and regional sites almost a month before the first pitch of the season.

Here's the question I presume you are pondering "Who makes the field from the Big Ten?". Well, I'm happy to report that Mr. Fitt predicts two teams from the conference making The Dance. Indiana, who is tabbed as the automatic berth from the Big Ten, and Michigan, as an at-large team, are in.

If the Big Ten can land two teams into this year's tournament, it will be a banner season. I'm leery about the RPI-quality of Indiana's schedule and Michigan has plenty of holes to fill. Nonetheless, I think we should all embrace Mr. Fitt's optimism.

Ann Arbor Regional: Day Three

Arizona Wins Regional Title

The University of Arizona won the All-Wildcat Regional Final in Ann Arbor. U of A claimed the crown by beating Kentucky, 5-3. The number one seed in the region won all three of the contests they played, one each against the rest of the field -- Eastern Michigan, Michigan and Kentucky.

Tonight, the desert Wildcats got a strong start from lefty Eric Berger who worked 7.1 innings giving up five hits, two walks and the three UK runs. Berger also fanned 11 UK batters. After Berger's evening was completed, UA turned to their (insert your adjective here) bullpen.

Just as they had done in the previous two regional games, the UA bullpen of Ryan Perry, Daniel Schlereth and Jason Stoffel shutdown the opposition. Arizona's bullpen is one of the best I've ever seen on the collegiate level.

Bobby Coyle had a pinch-hit, two-run homer to lead UA's offense. T.J. Steele had a pair of hits and scored twice. Brad Glenn, Bryce Ortega and Dwight Childs drove in the other Arizona runs.

UK answered with a pair of homers. One each from Collin Cowgill and Brian Spear. Spear drove in the other Kentucky tally with a double.

The win now advances UA to the Super Regional, most likely against Miami (FL). Kentucky's season was concluded with the loss.

Earlier in the day, UK eliminated Michigan from regional play with a 12-6 triumph. Kentucky jumped on the Wolverines early posting seven runs in the first inning and two more in the second. Cowgill led the way with three hits, two runs scored and two RBI. Spear had three RBI. Troy Frazier, Chris Wade and Sawyer Carroll all had two RBI each. Frazier and Carroll both homered.

Zach Putnam launched a three-run homer for Michigan. Adam Abraham had a four-hit game. Mike Dufek and Leif Mahler both knocked in two runs.

Regional Photos

Kentucky's All-America outfielder Sawyer Carroll.


Arizona's Preston Guilmet took the mound in game one versus EMU.

Regional Photos

This is Eastern Michigan's Steve Bradshaw.

Ann Arbor Regional: Day Two

Today began with the resumption of last night's rain delayed contest between Michigan and Kentucky. As you may recall, UM led 5-1 when the thunder rolled in. The Wolverines increased last night's lead to 7-1 before a UK mounted a comeback. Kentucky All-America Sawyer Carroll homered to lead a four-run eighth inning to draw UK within two runs. However, Michael Powers allowed no more Wildcats tallies and Michigan won, 7-5.

Although he didn't toss a pitch today, Zach Putnam's five innings of work on Friday got him the win. Powers earned his eighth save. Jason Christian and Leif Mahler both had a pair of RBI. Tyler Howe drove in two for UK.

The win elevated Michigan into the winner's bracket and a seven o'clock date with Arizona. Kentucky fell into the loser's bracket and would face an elimination game against Eastern Michigan.

While Michigan may have won the battle, they lost a solider. Nate Recknagel, the Big Ten's Player of the Year, injured an elbow and is out for the remainder of Michigan's season.

EMU had leads of 1-0 and 3-2, but UK matched every Eagles run with more of their own and prevailed, 4-3. Carroll homered again, had two hits, two runs scored and drove in two to pace Kentucky's offense. Greg Dombrowski posted the win and Andrew Albers recorded the save. Eagles' 1B Steve Bradshaw had a pair of hits and two RBI.

EMU battled hard both days, but could never get themselves over the top and now find their season over. UK, however, avoided elimination and now get to play another elimination game on Sunday afternoon.

The final game on Saturday saw the top two seeds in the Ann Arbor Regional square off. #1 Arizona jumped out to a 3-0 first inning lead over #2 Michigan. The Wildcats plated another run in the third and led 4-0 before Michigan's offense arrived.

The host Wolverines plated single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, but got no closer. Coach Lopez called on his superior bullpen and the Big Three -- Daniel Schlereth, Ryan Perry and Jason Stoffel -- shut the door. Arizona won, 4-3.

Wildcats' starter David Coulon worked the first five innings and improved to 8-3. Stoffel posted his 12th save. C.J. Ziegler and Brad Glenn both had two hits and a RBI for UA.

Michigan's Ryan LaMarre collected three hits, two runs scored and a RBI. Zach Putnam homered and Christian tripled in another. UM's All-America candidate Chris Fetter pitched the full eight innings and struck out seven.

Arizona's triumph pushes them to within one win of a regional championship. UA now awaits the winner of Sunday's Michigan and Kentucky rematch. The winner will advance to play the Wildcats tomorrow night. The loser of tomorrow's two o'clock game is eliminated.

If Arizona wins Sunday night's contest, they go to the Super Regionals. If the UM/UK winner can hold off Arizona Sunday evening, then we will have a Monday night title game.

A few bonus notes:

* The scoreboard went from intermittent in the UK/EMU game to completely out-of-order during the Arizona vs. Michigan game. Technical difficulties are always possible, but it looks bad when you just coughed up all that money to renovate the yard.

* Rumor has it UK's pitching staff is being held together with duct tape. Many are nursing injuries.

* I'm still confused as to why nobody televised these games. I'm left to assume there isn't much interest in this regional in Tucson or Lexington, either.

* I view both Kentucky and Michigan as parallel programs. Both have coaches that have raised dormant programs and have spent money upgrading facilities. Both have jumped into the national spotlight in the last few seasons. The next step, the most difficult one, is becoming consistent national powers.

* Derek VanBuskirk moved to firstbase in Recknagel's absence.

Ann Arbor Regional: Day One

As you know by now, technically, it wasn't a complete first day. I'll get back to that as we progress, but let's start with the opener Eastern Michigan vs. Arizona. It looked a fairly routine afternoon at the old ballpark for the Wildcats scored four in the second inning and tacked on another an frame later. However, the Eagles mounted a fifth inning comeback.

EMU batters scored six times and forced UA starter Preston Guilmet off the mound. Suddenly, the fourth seeded Eagles led, 6-5. Alas, Guilmet's departure yielded unexpected results -- an up-close and personal look at the dynamic Wildcats' bullpen.

A trio of UA relievers, let's just call them fast, faster and fastest for the time being, held EMU in-check long enough to the Wildcats' bats to emerge.

Arizona scored three times in the sixth to pull ahead, 8-6. That forced Eagles' starter Sean Hoffman out of the game. However, EMU reliever Dan Puls came in and tossed two hitless innings, although he allowed a single Wildcats' tally. Puls walked three.

EMU countered the UA rally by plating another run in the top of the seventh to draw the score to 8-7. The Eagles had a runner on third and one out, but EMU couldn't get the tying run across the plate. That opened the door for UA.

C.J. Ziegler's three-run double off the brick monster in left was the highlight of a five-run eighth inning that sealed Arizona's triumph. UA prevailed, 13-7. Back to that three-headed monster of a bullpen.

The win went to reliever Ryan Perry who took over for Guilmet. Perry tossed seeds for 1.2 innings allowing just one hit and striking out five of the six batters he faced. Then came Daniel Schelreth. The Wildcats lefty also worked 1.2 and even allowed one run on three hits, but fanned three more EMU batters. The save went to Jason Stoffel who went 1.1, struck out three of the six Eagles he faced and allowed one hit and one walk.

Combined the trio 4.2 innings scattering five hits, one run, striking out 11 and yielding just one walk. In fact, it was the only walk UA allowed all afternoon.

Eastern Michigan played a tough, pesky game and gave UA all they could handle. Arizona may not have looked spectacular, although that 'pen was dynamite, but they did what they had to do -- win the game and advance to the winner's bracket. It's what championship teams do, especially on the road.

The late game, of course, featured the home-standing Michigan Wolverines against a different set of 'Cats, these from Kentucky. After Kentucky scored a run in the second, Michigan chased UK starter Chris Rusin in the bottom of the same frame by driving in five runs to take the lead. Jason Christian's two-RBI double was the highlight of the uprising.

With UM leading 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth, with two on and two out, the lightning arrived. So did the thunder. And, very soon after, the rain appeared. NCAA officials waited around an hour before calling it a night.

The skies had been threatening on-and-off all day long. Even the Arizona and EMU teams were given the plan for what to do if/when the rain fell upon their contest. Thankfully, that game was completed without any precipitation. However, the two and three seeds didn't fare as well. The two teams will resume play this morning at 11am.

While one can argue who this delay helps the most I know for certain who it hurts the most -- the loser. Because whomever drops the game between UM and UK gets to immediately play in another game. Only the second game will be an elimination game against a well-rested and probably cranky EMU side.

If the continuation game happens to drain either side's bullpen, their second game of the day could be more challenging regardless of which bracket they are in.

Let's hope the weather, which has been very nice so far this morning, cooperates today. Hopefully, I'll have an update late, late tonight on Day Two.