June 18, 2012

CBI Live: Arkansas 2, #8 South Carolina 1

CWS Game 8 Notes

Arkansas joins Arizona at 2-0 in CWS

By Phil Stanton

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder

@roadtoomaha

Arkansas and South Carolina have played four times this season, with both winning twice. The Gamecocks won two out of three in Fayetteville.

Arkansas and Arizona are both 2-0 in the CWS. It is the first time since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999 that neither 2-0 team is a national seed.

The Razorbacks have won their first two CWS games for the second time and the first since 1979, when Arkansas defeated Pepperdine, Arizona and Texas before falling to eventual national champion Cal State Fullerton twice in finishing as national runner-up.

Arkansas has allowed 14 earned runs in 72 innings during the NCAA tourney. The Razorbacks have surrendered two runs over the past 32.1 innings. Arkansas has held its opponents to one run or less in five NCAA tourney games.

The Razorbacks have held both of their first two CWS opponents to one run or less. Only two other teams have done that since 1976: Pepperdine in 1992 (6-0 over Wichita State, 7-0 over Texas) and Texas in 2005 (5-1 over Baylor, 5-0 over Tulane).

Ryne Stanek of Arkansas has allowed one run or less in 10 of his 17 starts. His ERA in the 2012 NCAA Tournament is 1.59 (three runs in 17 innings).

Barrett Astin of the Razorbacks has not allowed an earned run in his past 10 innings. His last earned run was against Auburn on May 12.

South Carolina is 27-2 over the past three years in the NCAA tourney, the best three-year record in history (teams had to appear in at least two of three years to qualify).

The Gamecocks have an ERA of 1.77 in the 2012 NCAA Tournament (13 earned runs in 66 innings).