2007 Austin Regional

(capsules compiled by Jamie Learakos, Stuart Smith, Scott Day, Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton)

1. Texas Longhorns

Austin, Texas

At-large bid from Big 12

2007 record – 21-6, 44-15 (first in Big 12)

Coach: Augie Garrido (Fresno State, 1961)

Record at school: 476-229-1, 11 years

Overall record: 1,627-753-8, 38 years

Assistant coaches: Tommy Harmon, Skip Johnson, Greg Swindell

Team offense: .317 BA, 423 R, 65 HR, .501 SLG%, .408 OBA%, 85/104 SB

Team pitching: 3.47 ERA, 523.1 IP, 485 H, 164 BB, 412 K

Top hitters: Chance Wheeless (.377/4/39), Bradley Suttle (.348/11/62), Kyle Russell (.341/27/70), Jordan Danks (.338/4/38/18 SB), Nick Peoples (.317/4/38/18 SB), Travis Tucker (.299/1/34/20 SB).

Top pitchers: Adrian Alaniz (12-2, 2.58, 97.2 IP, 75 H, 29 BB, 84 K), Randy Boone (4-5, 13 SV, 66 IP, 57 H, 12 BB, 63 K), Joseph Krebs (8-1, 2.63, 82 IP, 77 H, 19 BB, 73 K), Austin Wood (8-1, 2.95, 82.1 IP, 76 H, 18 BB, 42 K), James Russell (8-4, 3.97, 102 IP, 100 H, 27 BB, 87 K).

Last NCAA appearance: 2006 (1-2 at Austin Regional)

Notes: The Longhorns started the year 6-5 then went on to go 38-10 the rest the way, racking up another Big 12 regular-season title and their 49^th Regional appearance. Augie Garrido has led Cal State Fullerton and Texas to national titles. Skip Johnson is in his first year as pitching coach, and guided a formidable staff with help from former major leaguer Greg Swindell. It’s predominately a five-man rotation, with some help here and there from the rest of the staff. Kyle Russell led the nation in homers, is in the top 5 in slugging at .825 a leading candidate for player of the year. If there’s a downside, it’s his 61 Ks. Adrian Alaniz has won 27 games in three years for Texas. Pitcher James Russell (no relation to Kyle) is the son of former major leaguer Jeff Russell. Jordan Danks is the brother of Chicago White Sox pitcher John Danks.

2. UC Irvine Anteaters

Irvine, California

At-large bid from Big West

2007 record: 15-6, 40-15-1 (tied for 2^nd in Big West)

Coach: Dave Serrano (Trinity Int’l, 2003)

Record at school: 107-64-1, 3 years

Overall record: same

Assistant coaches: Sergio Brown, Greg Bergeron, Nathan Choate

Team offense: .323 BA, 366 R, 34 HR, .456 SLG, .398 OBA, 122/167 SB

Team pitching: 3.84 ERA, 477.2 IP, 484 H, 153 BB, 409 K

Top hitters: Ollie Linton (.386 ERA, 25 R, .544 SLG, 11 SB), Ben Orloff (.353 ERA, 44 R, .401 SLG, 17 SB), Taylor Holiday (.352 BA, 56 R, 4 HR, .571 SLG, 13 SB), Cody Cipriano (.340 BA, 50 R, 11 HR, .601 SLG, 9 SB), Matt Morris (.339 BA, 37 R, 6 HR, .495 SLG, 17 SB), Bryan Peterson (.299 BA, 34 R, 5 HR, .439 SLG, 25 SB).

Top pitchers: Wes Etheridge (2.86 ERA, 107 IP, 105 H, 23 BB, 92 K), Scott Gorgen (3.06 ERA, 108.2 IP, 96 H, 31 BB, 96 K), Dylan Axelrod (4.25 ERA, 59.1 IP, 52 H, 18 BB, 61 K).

Last NCAA appearance: 2006 (0-2 at Malibu Regional)

Notes: UCI dominated Division II baseball in the 70's and after shutting the baseball program completely down for 10 years, they re-started the Division I baseball program in 2002 with a brand new stadium.  They are ranked 10th this season and are officially back. They are lead by pitcher Scott Gorgen, who was named to Roger Clemens preseason watch list before the 2007 season.  They could be the sleeper that many east coast teams know very little about.

3. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Winston-Salem, N.C.

At-large bid from ACC

2007 record: 13-7, 33-27 (fourth in ACC Atlantic)

Coach: Rick Rembielak (Akron, 1988)

Record at school: 94-79, 3 years

Overall record: 467-330-1

Assistant coaches: Jon Palmieri, Greg Bauer, Marshall Canosa

Team offense: .272 BA, 377 R, 54 HR, .406 SLG, .372 OBA, 51/69 SB

Team pitching: 4.80 ERA, 551.2 IP, 632 H, 246 BB, 399 K

Top Hitters: Willy Fox (.337/5/40), Allan Dykstra (.316/18/59), Brett Linnenkohl (.294/7/27/10 SB), Dustin Hood (.289/0/43), Andy Goff (.285/2/30), Evan Ocheltree (.276/7/35)

Top Pitchers: Eric Niesen (6-5, 3.15, 80.0 IP, 64 H, 37 BB, 83 K), Ben Hunter (7-6, 4.41, 69.1 IP, 77 H, 27 BB, 69 K), Garrett Bullock (4-2, 4.71, 91.2 IP, 109 H, 34 BB, 44 K), Brad Kledzik (4-4, 4.85, 89.0 IP, 109 H, 40 BB, 55 K), Josh Ellis (5-3, 2.74, 46.0 IP, 38 H, 17 BB, 67 K, 8 SV)

Last time in tournament: 2002 (3-2 in Winston-Salem Regional)

Notes: Wake Forest is returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002. They were the runner-up to Richmond in the Winston-Salem Regional that year. The Demon Deacons were runner-up in this year’s ACC Tournament, losing to North Carolina in the championship game, 3-2. WFU won six in a row from April 24 through May 2. They swept conference opponents Maryland and Duke and took two out of three against then No. 4 Virginia. Allan Dykstra was named second-team All-ACC for his 17 home runs and 55 RBI.

4. Brown Bears
Providence, R.I.

Automatic bid - won Ivy League Tournament

2007 record: 13-7, 28-26 (first in Patriot)

Coach: Marek Drabinski (Connecticut, 1991)

Record at school: 211-276, 11 years

Overall record: Same

Assistant coaches: Bill Cilento, Jason Lefkowitz

Top Hitters: Ryan Murphy (.402/2/23/11 SB), Devin Thomas (.389/16/64/12 SB), Matt Nuzzo (.376/2/28), Jeff Dietz (.337/8/52), Bryan Tews (.304/6/30), Robert Papenhause (.294/5/38)

Top Pitchers: Jeff Dietz (9-3, 2.53, 89.0 IP, 75 H, 18 BB, 81 K), Will Weidig (4-2, 5.01, 46.2 IP, 54 H, 18 BB, 30 K), James Cramphin (6-3, 5.12, 72.0 IP, 71 H, 41 BB, 82 K), Rob Hallberg (2-0, 5.48, 21.1 IP, 23 H, 17 BB, 30 K, 3 SV), Alex Silverman (2-3, 4.38, 24.2 IP, 33 H, 12 BB, 20 K)

Last time in tournament: First Appearance

Notes: Brown will be playing in their first NCAA Tournament in school history. Brown split a two-game series with Lafayette, winning winning 6-1 and losing 11-4. The Bears won the first game of the Ivy Championship series 1-0 before having their bats come alive for a 20-6 drubbing of Penn. Robert Papenhause and Devin Thomas both had grand slams in the second game. The Bears went 13-1 from April 24 to May 25.