Given a network upgrade and a line outage, I've been consumed by real work over the past few days - hence the few updates. Thank goodness for CSTV's Game Trackers, otherwise I would have completely missed what's been happening throughout the CWS, although I did get killed at one point when the NCAA visited my home. I made a decent recovery.
Here's where we're at:
Bracket 1
Rice 2-0
North Carolina 2-1
Louisville 1-2 (eliminiated)
Mississippi State 0-2 (eliminated)
Bracket 2
Oregon State 2-0
UC Irvine 2-1
Arizona State 1-2 (eliminated)
Cal State Fullerton 0-2 (eliminated)
So now North Carolina and UC Irvine face elimination.
Quick Hits:
- Louisville was the first Big East team in five years to win a CWS game.
- The UC Irvine-CS Fullerton game was the longest in CWS history, going for 13 innings. 5 hours, 40 minutes.
- UC Irvine became the first team to win back-to-back extra innings games. They've been amazing. Could they have any pitchers left for tomorrow's game against Oregon State?
- John Manuel of Baseball America mentions Runzas and makes a good point about the CWS. Where else can you see this level of focus on a single sport for that long a time?
- Take some time to look at Augie Garrido's comments about Texas, the CWS, ESPN and some changes he'd like to see in college baseball. The 11.7 scholarship limit is easy for a school like Texas to overcome, they have the money readily available. Teams that don't have it will have a hard time staying at the same level. On the other hand, college baseball is becoming more popular, and if you want to participate in that growth your school needs to step up. Raising the limit would make sure that the opportunity is there for kids who want to attend college, so maybe an arms race is worth it.
- Lots of discussion going on about the future of Rosenblatt Stadium. Will it stay or go now?
I'm still thinking that Rice takes this thing, but look at Oregon State. They are not to be denied. Can they repeat?