2010 Louisville Regional

Capsules by Barrett Neale, Michael Perry, Matt Mullen, Andrew Woods, Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton

1. Louisville Cardinals (7)
Louisville, Kentucky
At-large bid from Big East

2010 record: 21-6, 48-12 (first in Big East)
Head coach: Dan McDonnell (The Citadel, 1992)
Record at school: 183-75, 4 years
Overall record: 183-75, 4 years
Assistant coaches: Chris Lemonis, Roger Williams, Xan Barksdale
Team offense: .317 BA, 453 R, 85 HR, .517 SLUG%, .402 OB%, 80-103 SB
Team pitching: 3.71 ERA, 550.0 IP, 550 H, 157 BB, 454 K
Top hitters: Andrew Clark (.377/12/58), Ryan Wright (.366/15/77), Phil Wunderlich (.357/ 20/58), Adam Duvall (.336/12/47), Stewart Ijames (.335/14/61), Jeff Arnold (.310/3/30), Drew Haynes (.292 /0/21).
Top pitchers: Thomas Royse (9-1, 2.91, 99.0 IP, 92 H, 25 BB, 94 K), Justin Amlung (5-1, 4.01, 60.2 IP, 66 H, 12 BB, 51 K), Dean Kiekhefer (3-4, 4.31, 62.2 IP, 65 H, 19 BB, 39 K), Neil Holland (8-0, 2.10, 51.1 IP, 26 H, 14 BB, 52 K), Derek Self (7-0, 4.53, 57.2 IP, 73 H, 9 BB, 48 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2009 (3-1 in Louisville Regional, 0-2 in Fullerton Super Regional)
Notes: It marks the second straight year that Louisville will host an NCAA Regional and the third time it has hosted NCAA post-season games. Last year, the Cardinals won their first NCAA Regional at home with a title game triumph over Vanderbilt. Louisville won its second straight Big East regular-season title before being eliminated in the semifinals of the Big East Championship by eventual tournament champion St. John's.

2. Vanderbilt Commodores

Nashville, Tennessee

At-large bid from SEC

2010 record: 16-12, 41-17 (third in SEC East)

Head coach: Tim Corbin (Ohio Wesleyan, 1984)

Record at school: 317-174, 8 years

Overall record: 317-174, 8 years

Assistant coaches: Derek Johnson, Josh Holliday, Larry Day

Team offense: .312 BA, 432 R, 54 HR, .467 SLG%, .415 OBP, 73-96 SB

Team pitching: 3.64 ERA, 529 IP, 525 H, 189 BB, 501 K

Top hitters: Anthony Gomez (.388/2/28), Jason Esposito (.348/9/54/22 2B/28-32 SB), Connor Harrell (.326/3/38/13 2B), Aaron Westlake (.308/12/51/14 2B), Curt Casali (.301/7/31), Brian Harris (.294/5/34/10 2B), Andrew Giobbi (.293/7/52/14 2B), Joe Loftus (.275/6/35/13 2B)

Top pitchers: Russell Brewer (2-2, 6 SV, 3.07 ERA, 29.1 IP, 30 H, 8 BB, 39 K), Sonny Gray (9-4, 1 SV, 3.18 ERA, 93.1 IP, 81 H, 41 BB, 100 K), Chase Reid (4-1, 2 SV, 3.55 ERA, 58.1 IP, 59 H, 11 BB, 59 K), Taylor Hill (5-5, 3.96 ERA, 97.2 IP, 107 H, 22 BB, 69 K), Jack Armstrong (7-3, 4.19 ERA, 73 IP, 85 H, 32 BB, 48 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2009 (3-2 at Louisville Regional)

Notes: Vanderbilt is making its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and six in eight years under head coach Tim Corbin. The Commodores will be looking to advance past the regional round for the first time since 2004. VU has made the regional championship game in four of the previous five appearances, including last year against the Cardinals. The Commodores went 1-2 in the SEC Tournament. VU faced Louisville and Illinois State earlier this season and recorded wins against both.

3. Illinois State Redbirds

Normal, Illinois
Automatic bid - won Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
2010 record: 15-6, 31-22 (tied for first)
Head coach: Mark Kingston (North Carolina, 1995)
Record at school: 35-22, 1 year
Overall record: 35-22, 1 year
Assistant coaches: Bo Durkac, Billy Mohl, Mike Current
Team offense: .295 BA, 378 R, 47 HR, .450 SLG% .395 OB%, 92-126 SB
Team pitching: 5.35 ERA, 464.2 IP, 328 H, 196 BB, 361 K
Top hitters: Kevin Tokarski (.429/7/49), Matt Mirabal (.335/3/41), Anthony Roffolo (.316/ 8/47), Ryan Court (.301/10/48), Chad Hinshaw (.288/1/31), Zach Amrein (.285/7/39), Jake Thornton (.285 /1/22)
Top pitchers: Kenny Long (4-3, 1.37, 59.0 IP, 39 H, 19 BB, 67 K), Corey Maines (6-3, 4.45, 83.0 IP, 92 H, 37 BB, 65 K), Ryan Copeland (4-5, 4.54, 79.1 IP, 76 H, 12 BB, 73 K), Brad Sorkin (4-1, 5.28, 58.0 IP, 63 H, 34 BB, 38 K), JD Lernard (4-3, 6.26, 54.2 IP, 58 H, 31 BB, 20 K).
Last NCAA appearance: 1994 (0-2 at Midwest I Regional)
Notes: The bid marks Illinois State's third foray into the NCAA Tournament. First-year coach Mark Kingston received his first taste of the College World Series as a player for the North Carolina team that advanced to Omaha in 1989. As an assistant coach, Kingston helped the 2001 Miami Hurricanes win the College World Series and capture a national championship. The Northern Virginia native played professionally for five seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs organizations. Drafted by the Brewers out of North Carolina in 1992, Kingston spent one season with Milwaukee's rookie-level team before going on to play for Peoria (A), Daytona (Advanced A) and Orlando (AA) in the Cubs organization.
 

4. Saint Louis Billikens
St. Louis, Missouri
Automatic bid - won Atlantic 10 Tournament
2010 record: 15-12, 33-27 (tied for fourth)
Head coach: Darin Hendrickson (SIU Edwardsville, 1992)
Record at school: 87-81, 3 years
Overall record: 577-255, 15 years
Assistant coaches: Kevin Moulder, Will Bradley, Danny Jackson
Team offense: .332 BA, 431 R, 57 HR, .449 SLG%, .401 OB%, 95-124 SB
Team pitching: 6.43 ERA, 526 IP, 735 H, 190 BB, 321 K
Top hitters: Jon Myers (.367/15/70/.641 SLG), Danny Brock (.361/17/73/.648 SLG), Mike Levine (.300/2/44), Zach Miller (.291/1/23), Jerry Mancuso (.290/3/18), Steve Fernandez (.290/3/18), J.D. Dunn (.286/5/30/28-34 SB), Ben Braaten (.283/2/39)
Top pitchers: Bryant Cotton (9-4, 3.97, 1 SV, 118 IP, 130 H, 28 BB, 95 K), Alex Alemann (9-5, 4.53, 113.1 IP, 140 H, 26 BB, 70 K), Jerry Mancuso (6-6, 6.75, 82.2 IP, 134 H, 18 BB, 39 K), Jason Bell (1-0, 5.97, 1 SV, 34.2 IP, 44 H, 23 BB, 16 K),  Jon Levin (0-1, 6.00, 2 SV, 21 IP, 30 H, 6 BB, 12 K), Andres Wiltz (3-0, 4.23, 2 SV, 27.2 IP, 28 H, 15 BB, 9 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2006 (0-2 at Fullerton Regional)
Notes: This is the Billikens' fourth NCAA Regional berth and their first in four years. They earned a bid by upsetting No. 4 Fordham once, No. 2 Xavier once and No. 1 Charlotte twice to win their second-ever Atlantic 10 title. Saint Louis has now won seven-straight games entering Friday's game at Louisville, bringing its win total to 33, which breaks the 2006 team record for most victories in a season. Senior pitcher Bryant Cotton was chosen as tournament MVP after earning the win against Charlotte on Thursday and picking up a save against the 49ers in Sunday's championship game. Cotton was also selected to the All-Conference Second Team with senior first baseman Danny Brock. Brock - whose father, Greg, played 10 years of major league baseball - leads the conference in RBI with 73, which beats the Saint Louis record of 67 that Troy Hausladen set in 1997. Redshirt freshman pitcher Alex Alemann was named Rookie of the Year in the Atlantic 10 and junior third baseman Jon Myers made first-team All-Conference. Myers set a Billiken record for hits in one season against Southern Illinois on May 18, topping Mike Barger's 1993 record of 81, and currently has 92 hits. Myers' 161 total bases are also a single-season program record. J.D. Dunn now has 73 career stolen bases, which puts him in second place on the Billikens' all-time list (Pat Conreaux had 80 from 1991-94). The Billikens have set one team record - their 431 runs top the 1999 mark of 426 - and are on the verge of another, needing only seven more home runs to beat the 1997 team's single-season home run record. The Billikens have three players who attended Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in Miami: freshman pitcher Andres Wiltz, sophomore pitcher Marco Mejia and sophomore infielder Lucas Calderon.