2007 College Station Regional

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

1. Texas A&M Aggies

College Station, Texas

Automatic bid - won Big 12 Tournament

2007 record – 13-13, 44-16 (fifth in Big 12)

Coach: Rob Childress (Northwood, 1990)

Record at school: 69-46-1, two years

Overall record: Same

Assistant coaches: Matt Deggs, Jeremy Talbot, Will Bolt

Team offense: .320 BA, 431 R, 58 HR, .473 SLG%, .473 OBA%, 139/174 SB

Team pitching: 4.03 ERA, 539.1 IP, 514 H, 217 BB, 453 K

Top hitters: Blake Stouffer (.391/9/75/20 SB), Parker Dalton (.384/5/35/17 SB), Craig Stinson (.357/11/44), Luke Anders (.353/10/42), Brandon Hicks (.349/10/58/28 SB), Ben Faltner (.319/1/23/34 SB).

Top pitchers: Kyle Nicholson (11-1, 4 SV, 1.92, 112.1 IP, 85 H, 18 BB, 93 K), David Newmann (10-1, 3.21, 92.2 IP, 70 H, 43 BB, 89 K), Scott Migl (6-3, 4.03, 67 IP, 73 H, 18 BB, 30 K), Kyle Thebeau (2-5, 6 SV, 5.10, 67 IP, 50 H, 34 BB, 73 K).

Last NCAA appearance: 2004 (3-1 at Houston Regional, 0-2 at Baton Rouge Super Regional)

Notes: The Aggies have won 19 more games this season than last season and won the Big 12 tourney title in Rob Childress’ second season in College Station. A&M will serve as a Regional Host after winning its tournament title. Blake Stouffer does a little of everything for the Aggies, slugging .625 and stealing 20 bases in addition to his 75 RBI. Catcher Craig Stinson has returned from nagging injuries the past two seasons to post a big year. Before this year, ace Kyle Nicholson was 10-6, primarily out of relief and had 95 strikeouts - he has 93 Ks this season. He ranks in the top 20 in the country in ERA. David Newmann won 10 games after missing 2006 due to Tommy John surgery.

2. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns

Lafayette, La.

At-large bid from Sun Belt

2007 record – 23-7, 43-15 (first in Sun Belt)

Coach – Tony Robichaux (McNeese State, 1986)

Record at school – 13 years

Overall record - 637-410, 20 years

Assistant coaches – Anthony Babineaux, John Szefc, Jason Krug

Team offense: .312 BA, 427 R, 73 HR, .493 SLG%, .393 OBA%, 62/85 SB

Team pitching: 3.79 ERA, 513 IP, 550 H, 128 BB, 463 K

Top hitters: Jonathan Lucroy (.364/17/65), Jefferie Tatford (.362/10/46), Scott Hawkins (.349/16/46), Nolan Gisclair (.341/11/50/11 SB), Josh Logan (.335/0/18/19 SB), Xavier Alexander (.307/1/21), Kolin Hatfield (.273/4/34).

Top pitchers: Andrew Laughter (2-1, 3 SV, 2.73, 33 IP, 36 H, 7 BB, 24 K), Danny Farquhar (6-3, 6 SV, 2.88, 83.2 IP, 71 H, 21 BB, 111 K), Brent Solich (5-1, 3.18, 65 IP, 69 H, 14 BB, 59 K), Buddy Glass (7-4, 3.28, 79.2 IP, 90 H, 20 BB, 63 K), Matt Pilgren (6-0, 3 SV, 3.77, 43 IP, 39 H, 10 BB, 39 K), Gregory Harmon (1-1, 3 SV, 4.09, 44 IP, 42 H, 16 BB, 39 K), Hunter Moody (8-3, 4.14, 78.1 IP, 89 H, 20 BB, 55 K).

Last NCAA appearance: 2005 (1-2 at New Orleans Regional)

Notes: Louisiana-Lafayette is back in the NCAA tournament and almost had a chance to stay at home as a host. An unexpected loss in the final of the Sun Belt tourney is about the only thing bad that happened to this dangerous Ragin’ Cajuns edition. Tony Robichaux, the Sun Belt coach of the year, is a proven winner and took his Cajuns to the College World Series in 2000. Buddy Glass, Jonathan Lucroy and Scott Hawkins were named first-team all-conference - it’s the second time for Glass, who has won 15 games the past two years. Hawkins, a catcher, is batting 100 points higher this season than last. Danny Farquhar has 12 wins in his first two years, and ERAs of 2.88 this year and 2.17 last.

3. Ohio State Buckeyes
Columbus, Ohio
Automatic bid – won Big Ten Tournament

2007 record: 37-22, 15-15 (6^th in Big Ten)
Coach: Bob Todd (Missouri, 1971)
Record at school: 800-407-2, 20 years
Overall record: 924-489-2, 24 years
Assistant coaches: Greg Cypret, Harry Gurley, Eric Parker
Team offense - .316 BA, 358 R, 19 HR, .405 SLG%, .389 OB%, 71/93 SB
Team pitching – 4.38 ERA, 495 IP, 542 H, 198 BB, 370 K
Top hitters – Matt Angle (.365/0/29/22 SB), Jason Zoeller (.352/9/40/11 2B), J.B. Shuck (.348/1/37), Justin Miller (.342/1/49/14 2B), Tony Kennedy (.335/1/30/14 SB), Eric Fryer (.332/3/49/15 2B), Jacob Howell (.316/3/20/14 SB), Cory Kovanda (.290/0/17)

Top pitchers – Cory Luebke (8-1, 1.84, 107.2 IP, 85 H, 28 BB, 91 K), Jake Hale (4-3, 10 saves, 4.19, 58 IP, 61 H, 22 BB, 46 K), J.B. Shuck (4-3, 4.48, 74.1 IP, 85 H, 31 BB, 55 K), Rory Meister (4-6, 3 saves, 4.91, 44 IP, 49 H, 24 BB, 31 K)

Last NCAA appearance – 2005 (1-2 at Corvallis Regional)
Notes – Ohio State became the first No. 6 seed to win the Big Ten Tournament. It was the eighth title for the Buckeyes, all under Bob Todd. This will be OSU’s 18th NCAA appearance and first since 2005. It will be the 12th NCAA trip under Todd, who earned his 800th victory at OSU in the Big Ten title game. Cory Luebke was named the tourney’s Most Outstanding Player, earning a victory over host and top-seeded Michigan in the first round of the tournament and returning on three days rest to work 7.2 innings in the win over No. 2 Minnesota.

4. Le Moyne Dolphins

Syracuse, N.Y.
Automatic bid – won Metro-Atlantic Tournament

2007 record: 22-3, 34-17 (First in MAAC)
Coach: Steve Owens (St. Lawrence, 1981)
Record at school: 257-134, eight years
Overall record: 502-226-1, 16 years
Assistant coaches: Pete Hoy, Bob Nadin, Scott Landers
Team offense - .295 BA, 298 R, 38 HR, .436 SLG%, .365 OB%, 49/79 SB
Team pitching – 3.82 ERA, 429 IP, 393 H, 197 BB, 341 K
Top hitters – Andy Parrino (.408/9/44), Mike Brown (.338/3/23/13 SB), Stephen Crawford (.319/2/25/17 SB), Phil St. Amant (.312/5/41), Corey O'Neill (.295/4/28)

Top pitchers – Ryan Woods (7-1, 14 SV, 1.31, 55 IP, 35 H, 12 BB, 41 K), Eric Beaulic (8-1, 2.55, 77.2 IP, 49 H, 48 BB, 81 K), Bobby Blevins (9-2, 2.77, 104 IP, 87 H, 34 BB, 99 K), Daniel Tunison (4-1, 2.72, 46.1 IP, 44 H, 11 BB, 24 K)

Last NCAA appearance – 2004
Notes – The Dolphins are in the tourney for the third time in the past five years. Coach Steve Owens spent eight years at Courtland State prior to arriving at Le Moyne and owns a winning percentage of .690. He earned his 500th win in the first round of the MAAC tourney against Canisius. Andy Parrino was named the MAAC player of the year, while Bobby Blevins was the co-pitcher of the year. Blevins, a senior, is one of the best - if not the best - pitcher in school history, topping the career charts with 32 wins and 284 strikeouts. Closer Ryan Woods was named the MAAC reliever of the year and has been lights out, holding hitters to a .178 average. Le Moyne's staff allows only 4.5 runs a game.