June 14, 2012

College World Series Capsules

College World Series Schedule

CWS First-time Appearances

NCAA Interactive Bracket

Inside the College World Series

By Phil Stanton and Sean Ryan

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founders

From 64 to 16 to 8, we’ve reached the pinnacle, the College World Series. As we prepare for the games in Omaha, CBI takes a look inside the CWS.

Conference Call

There are five different conferences represented in this year’s College World Series field. The SEC leads with three (Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina). The last time there were no SEC teams in Omaha was 1992. There is a pair of Pac-12 participants (Arizona, UCLA). You have to go back to 1996 to find a CWS field with no Pac-12 teams.  Florida State is the lone ACC representative. The last CWS without an ACC squad was 2005. Kent State represents the Mid-American Conference. The last MAC school to reach Omaha was Eastern Michigan in 1976, finishing as national runner-up. Stony Brook is the first America East program to reach the CWS. (photo by Jimmy Jones)

State of Affairs

This year’s octet hails from seven different states. There are two teams from Florida and one from Arizona, Arkansas, California, New York, Ohio and South Carolina. The last time all eight schools were from eight different states was 2009.

Buckeye State

Kent State is the third program from the state of Ohio to reach the College World Series and the first since Mike Schmidt led the Ohio Bobcats to Omaha in 1970. Ohio State made four trips (1951, 1965, 1966, 1967).

Empire State

Stony Brook is the sixth school from the state of New York to make the College World Series and the first since St. John’s appeared in 1980. Other teams to reach Omaha include Colgate, Ithaca, New York U. and Syracuse.

NY-OH

Only once before has the CWS field included a team from Ohio and a team from New York. Ohio State and St. John’s both reached Omaha in 1966, with the Buckeyes winning the national championship.

Lopez Tonight

Arizona head coach Andy Lopez is one of three coaches to bring three different schools to the College World Series. Lopez guided Pepperdine to Omaha 20 years ago, in 1992. He led Florida to the CWS in 1996 and 1998, while bringing the Wildcats in 2004. The other two coaches are Larry Cochell (Oral Roberts, Cal State Fullerton, Oklahoma) and Ron Polk (Georgia Southern, Mississippi State, Georgia).

Horn of Plenty

Arkansas skipper Dave Van Horn is one of two coaches to bring two different teams to Omaha multiple times. This is his third time bringing the Razorbacks to the CWS (2004, 2009, 2012). Van Horn also led Nebraska to Rosenblatt Stadium in 2001 and 2002. The second coach is Augie Garrido (Cal State Fullerton, Texas).

Free Passes

Florida State is seventh in the nation in on-base percentage (.406). One huge factor is that three of the top five players in drawing walks are Seminoles. Sherman Johnson is second with 65, James Ramsey is fourth with 60 and Stephen McGee is fifth with 58.