2008 Tallahassee Super Regional

Florida State Seminoles

Tallahassee, Florida

At-large bid from ACC, 4-1 in Tallahassee Regional

2008 record: 24-6, 52-11 (first in ACC Atlantic)

Head coach: Mike Martin (Florida State, 1966)

Record at school: 1536-517-4, 29 years

Overall record: 1536-517-4, 29 years

Assistant coaches: Mike Martin, Jr., Jamey Shouppe, Rod Delmonico

Team offense: .356 BA, 621 R, 95 HR, .570 SLG%, .460 OB%, 65/100 SB

Team pitching: 4.02 ERA, 553 IP, 526 H, 250 BB, 472 K

Top hitters: Buster Posey (.468/24/86/20 2B), Stuart Tapley (.397/7/35/14 2B), Jack Rye (.389/6/48/14 2B), Tony Delmonico (.378/8/69/19 2B), Tommy Oravetz (.342/4/28/13 2B), Mike McGee (.338/5/32), Tyler Holt (.330/3/40/15-24 SB), Dennis Guinn (.328/17/72/18 2B), Jason Stidham (.308/10/55/11 2B), Ohmed Danesh (.279/3/25)

Top pitchers: Buster Posey (0-0, 6 SV, 0.00, 7.1 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 10 K), Jimmy Marshall (6-2, 2.98, 2 SV, 45.1 IP, 38 H, 30 BB, 53 K), Elih Villanueva (7-2, 3.61, 92.1 IP, 77 H, 37 BB, 91 K), Matt Fairel (11-2, 3.67, 98 IP, 92 H, 38 BB, 91 K), Bo O’Dell (5-1, 3.69, 53.2 IP, 61 H, 20 BB, 35 K), Geoff Parker (6-2, 4.02, 56 IP, 61 H, 18 BB, 51 K), Mike McGee (7-1, 4.04, 55.2 IP, 50 H, 24 BB, 33 K), Ryan Strauss (9-1, 4.58, 76.2 IP, 68 H, 31 BB, 65 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2007 (2-2 in Tallahassee Regional)

Notes: FSU reached the Super Regionals for the eighth time in the 10-year history of the format. It didn’t come without some intrigue, as the Seminoles were shut out for the first time all season in the opener against Bucknell. FSU responded by scoring 74 runs in the final four wins (Florida, Bucknell and Tulane twice). Catcher Buster Posey, who also moonlights as a closer, was the Most Outstanding Player in the Regional and is a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award. The ACC Player of the Year hit two homers in the Regional and is now slugging .897 on the year. Tony Delmonico, a transfer from Tennessee, had a fantastic year after hitting .329 with 12 homers in two years with the Vols. He’s the son of coach Rod Delmonico, the former Vols coach who joined FSU’s staff this year. Jack Rye has been a four-year starter in the outfield - his father Alan pitched at UCLA. Matt Fairel (11 wins) picked up the decisive win on Monday against Tulane. Freshman Dennis Guinn slugs .632 and has 37 extra-base hits, nearly half his hit total of 77. Coach Mike Martin has led the Noles to the College World Series 12 times and 30 straight regionals. He’s amassed more than 50 wins an incredible 23 times. The matchup with WSU’s Gene Stephenson pits two of the three active NCAA coaches with more than 1,500 wins (Texas Tech’s Larry Hays just retired). FSU has never hosted Wichita State and has only played the Shockers six times despite both teams’ fantastic success (2-4, 2-2 in Omaha).

Wichita State Shockers

Wichita, Kansas

Automatic bid – won Missouri Valley Tournament, 3-0 in Stillwater Regional

2008 Record: 19-5, 47-15 (first in MVC)

Head coach: Gene Stephenson

Record at school: 1,652-548-3, 31 years

Overall record: 1,652-548-3, 31 years

Assistant coaches: Brent Kemnitz, Jim Thomas, Jerod Goodale

Team offense: .317 BA, 503 R, .477 SLG%, .406 OB%, 103/124 SB

Team pitching: 3.60 ERA, 539.1 IP, 499 H, 155 BB, 530 K

Top hitters: Conor Gillaspie (.425/10/79/16-18 SB), Andy Dirks (.399/10/59/26-33 SB), Clinton McKeever (.329/5/38/14 2B), Ken Williams, Jr. (.325/2/25/11 2B), Ryan Jones (.324/2/43/16-20 SB), Dusty Coleman (.319/8/71/12-13 SB), Josh Workman (.313/4/29/10 2B)

Top pitchers: Khol Nanney (5-1, 4 SV, 1.69, 32 IP, 22 H, 9 BB, 37 K), Rob Musgrave (11-1, 2.21, 105.2 IP, 90 H, 18 BB, 96 K), Aaron Shafer (11-3, 2.67, 107.2 IP, 94 H, 26 BB, 106 K), Anthony Capra (9-0, 2.87, 75.1 IP, 58 H, 30 BB, 87 K), Logan Hoch (2-1, 5 SV, 4.60, 43 IP, 41 H, 11 BB, 48 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2007 Wichita Super Regional (0-2)

Notes: Wichita State is looking for its first CWS appearance since 1996, the longest drought in coach Gene Stephenson’s 31-year career. The matchup with FSU’s Mike Martin pits two of the three active NCAA coaches with more than 1,500 wins (Texas Tech’s Larry Hays just retired). WSU has never played in Tallahassee and has only played FSU six times despite their fantastic success (4-2, 2-2 in Omaha). WSU won the Stillwater Regional, sweeping through TCU and Oklahoma State (twice) in three close games. The Shocks are 16-11 in games decided by three or fewer runs. Andy Dirks has a 29-game hitting streak and has reached base in 73 straight - amazingly, he reached base in a Northwest League-record 52 straight games in being named an all-star over the summer. Rob Musgrave became the first Shocker since David Haas in 1987 to throw back-to-back shutouts. Musgrave, one of the top lefties in the country, has six complete games and is 28-6 in his career. He also has been named to the AD’s honor roll and has posted several 4.0 GPAs (3.76 cumulative in accounting). Coupled with Aaron Shafer (30-8 career) and Anthony Capra (18-3 career, .216 BAA), and the Shockers are loaded with three top guns. Conor Gillaspie is from Omaha and once hit a homer at Rosenblatt Stadium in his senior season - yet he told CollegeBaseballInsider.com in March that he attended “maybe one game” of the College World Series and preferred watching on TV. He was named MVP of the Cape Cod summer season last year. WSU is hitting .403 over its past nine games. Outfielder Kenny Williams Jr. is the son of White Sox general manager Kenny Williams.