NCAA ties College World Series to new stadium

Months of negotiations remain to hash out the details of a new downtown home for the College World Series, but Omaha's mayor said Friday that the plan offers a "historic" chance to keep the championship in Omaha through 2030.

Rosenblatt Stadium

Seats: 23,145

Size: About 21 acres

Year built: 1947, for $1 million

Public investment: About $36 million in improvements have been made since 1989.

A plan to build a new ballpark north of the Qwest Center Omaha won the NCAA's blessing Friday, and city officials said they hope to finalize the stadium's design and financing plans by Jan. 1.

"This is a critical step in what is still a very long process. Now we can get to work on the details requested by the NCAA," Mayor Mike Fahey said.

Fahey's goal is a downtown home for the CWS by 2011.

Dennis Poppe, the NCAA's senior director for baseball and football, said: "We have a sense of direction, and we are moving forward."

Opponents of moving the CWS from its home at Rosenblatt Stadium said they are not giving up.

OMAHA.com

Fullerton and UC-Irvine News

The Daily Pilot wrote an article this weekend on Dave Serrano leaving UC-Irvine for Fullerton. The article discusses some of the reasons Serrano left Irvine for Fullerton which is led by the fact that the Irvine athletic department is currently operating without an athletic director. Serrano also states that Cal-State Fullerton athletic director Brian Quinn spoke with him in 2004 when Serrano left for Irvine and told him that he would be the next coach at Fullerton if Horton ever left. Quinn also reiterated this at Rosenblatt Stadium when the Anteaters were making their magical run. The article also discusses that former Tennessee coach Rod Delmonico has already been in contact with Serrano about taking over the Irvine job. The full article is available here.

Omaha Royals prez: two stadiums can work

Omaha Royals President Alan Stein said his group is open to any sort of possibility regarding the future of baseball stadiums in Omaha.

That includes, he said, having a hand in building a new stadium in the north downtown area, even if Rosenblatt Stadium is refurbished for the College World Series.

Among the possibilities being considered by the city is a $26 million upgrade in and around Rosenblatt Stadium. Another is a new, smaller stadium in the NoDo area with expandable seating for the CWS.

Two new stadiums? Out of the question, Stein said.

"But I'm not so sure that one new stadium and an appropriately upgraded one doesn't make sense," he said. "One of the options I've seen and heard is $50 million for a new stadium for both the CWS and the Royals.

Complete story

Serrano and Casey named Coaches of the Year

The Collegiate Baseball Newspaper has named Pat Casey as their Coach of the Year for the 2007 season. He led the Beavers to their second consecutive national championship after finishing the season below .500 in the Pac-10 conference.

Full Release from CBN

Dave Serrano of UC-Irvine was named the National Coach of the Year by Baseball America after leading the Anteaters to their first appearance in the College World Series. The Anteaters were the story in the College World Series as they won two extra innings games to advance to the final four before losing to Oregon State.

Baseball America Article

OSU - back in Beaver Nation

Thousands of Oregon State University baseball fans — a sea of orange — packed Parker Plaza on campus to welcome home the Beavers on Monday and catch a glimpse of the national championship trophy.

“We’ve got the best baseball team in America right here in Corvallis, Oregon,” said coach Pat Casey, who guided the Beavers to back-to-back titles.

OSU defeated North Carolina on Sunday to clinch the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

Could a three-peat be in the works?

Complete story

NCBWA June 25 Division I Poll – Final 2007 Survey

FROM NCBWA RELEASE

DALLAS - The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association continued its tradition of NCAA Division I polls for the 10th year with its 2007 weekly surveys. Weekly polls were circulated from Feb. 12-June 25 following the NCAA World Series in Omaha, Neb. Oregon State became the first school since LSU in 1996-97 to repeat as Division I champ after sweeping North Carolina last Sunday night at Rosenblatt Stadium.

The poll voters come from 32 college baseball writers and related media persons from throughout the nation. The final poll had representation by a season-most 14 conferences (tied for a weekly high for the fourth time in ‘07) among the 293 baseball-playing schools in the ‘07 NCAA Division I ranks, and 17 circuits had teams in the polls in ‘07. For more information or to join the NCBWA, please go to www.ncbwa.com

NCBWA POLL (FINAL)
Rk.	School	Conference	Overall	Week	Pvs.
1.	Oregon State	Pacific-10	49-18	5-0	10
2.	North Carolina	Atlantic Coast	57-16	4-3	2
3.	Rice	Conference USA	56-14	2-2	1
4.	Arizona State	Pacific-10	49-15	1-2	3
5.	UC Irvine	Big West	47-17-1	2-2	4
6.	Vanderbilt	Southeastern	54-13	-	5
7.	Louisville	Big East	47-24	1-2	12
8.	South Carolina	Southeastern	46-20	-	6
9.	Mississippi State	Southeastern	38-22	0-2	8
10.	Cal State Fullerton	Big West	38-25	0-2	13
11.	Texas A&M	Big 12	48-19	-	7
12.	Texas	Big 12	46-17	-	9
13.	Virginia	Atlantic Coast	45-16	-	11
14.	Florida State	Atlantic Coast	49-13	-	t14
15.	Clemson	Atlantic Coast	41-23	-	t14
16.	Wichita State	Missouri Valley	53-22	-	t14
17.	Mississippi	Southeastern	40-25	-	13
18.	Oklahoma State	Big 12	42-21	-	14
19.	Coastal Carolina	Big South	50-13	-	15
20.	Michigan	Big Ten	42-19	-	17
21.	Arizona	Pacific-10	42-17	-	16
22.	Arkansas	Southeastern	43-21	-	18
23.	San Diego	West Coast	43-18	-	19
24.	Charlotte	Atlantic 10	49-12	-	25
25.	Missouri	Big 12	42-18	-	23
26.	UCLA	Pacific-10	33-28	-	29
27.	Long Beach State	Big West	39-20	-	26
28.	TCU	Mountain West	48-14	-	28
29.	Louisiana-Lafayette	Sun Belt	45-17	-	27
30.	Creighton	Missouri Valley	45-16	-	30
Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Austin Peay (40-22), East Carolina (40-23), Kent State (33-26), Minnesota (41-18), Ohio State (38-24), Southern Mississippi (39-23), Rutgers (42-21), St. John's (41-19), UC Riverside (38-21), Western Carolina (42-20).
Dropped out: None.
By conference: Southeastern 5, Atlantic Coast 4, Big 12 4, Pacific-10 4, Big West 3, Missouri Valley 2, Atlantic 10 1, Big East 1, Big South 1, Big Ten 1, Conference USA 1, Mountain West 1, Sun Belt 1, West Coast 1.

Oregon State wins Back to Back Titles

Oregon State defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 9-3 in Game 2 of the CWS Championship Series to clinch their second championship in as many years. The Oregon State offense jumped on Tar Heel starter Luke Putkonen for three runs in the second inning which knocked him out after only 1.2 innings. Mike Fox, head coach of North Carolina replaced him with Andrew Carignan who acts as the team closer. Carignan ended up going 3.2 innings while giving up two runs. The Oregon State offense was led by many players but Darwin Barney went 2-5 with a homer and Jordan Lennerton hit a two run homer. Oregon State pitcher Mike Stutes struggled through 5.1 innings while giving up three runs on seven hits but picked up the win to give himself a 2-0 record in the CWS. The North Carolina offense was led by Dustin Ackley who went 2-4 with a homer and two RBI in the loss.

The Oregon State Beavers overcame many different obstacles this season who were on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament when the selections were announced. They also had some major distractions this season with Mike Lissman's legal trouble. I would like to congratulate the team that started the entire College Baseball season with a trip to Hawaii-Hilo and ended it as the National Champions for the second straight season which is the first time it has happened in College Baseball since LSU won the championship in 1996-1997.

Oregon State Recap
UNC Recap
SeBaseball Recap
Baseball Daily Digest Recap

No TV, No Problem!

Game 2 of the College World Series Championship Series is tonight between Oregon State and North Carolina with Oregon State holding a 1-0 lead in the best of three series. Gametracker is available by clicking here.

Oregon State takes Game 1

The Oregon State Beavers took Game 1 of the College World Series Championship Series by a score of 11-4. Jorge Reyes pitched 6.1 innings while allowing only three runs to the North Carolina offense. Joe Patterson relieved Reyes by giving up only 1 run over the final 2.2 innings. North Carolina starter Alex White was lit up for five runs in 5.1 innings of work. Jordan Lennerton did most of the damage to the North Carolina offense by going 2-4 with a homer and two RBI. Mitch Canham also had a strong day as he went 1-2 with two RBI. The Tar Heels offense was led by Reid Fronk who had a two run double in the 5th inning.

Oregon State Recap
UNC Recap
Doug Kroll (CSTV) Recap
Rivals.com Recap

The teams will play Game 2 on Sunday at 7 pm eastern time. If Oregon State wins the game they will be the national champions for the second straight year while North Carolina will try to force a deciding game on Monday. The Beavers will send Mike Stutes (11-4, 4.03 ERA) to the mound while UNC sends Luke Putkonen (8-1, 4.44 ERA) to the mound.

Oregon State looked like a much more polished team on Saturday evening while North Carolina looked a little tired from the long week in Omaha. We will see tomorrow if the Tar Heels can get a big start from Putkonen as their bullpen has been extremely busy this past week.

Oregon State-UNC Game 1

The Gametracker for Game 1 of the College World Series Championship series is available here for anyone not able to watch the game on TV.

CWS Championship Series Preview: UNC vs Oregon State

North Carolina (57-14)

The North Carolina Tar Heels head back to the CWS Championship Series to face Oregon State for the second straight year. UNC has compiled a 4-1 record in Omaha as they fought through the loser's bracket. The Tar Heels are led on the mound by Robert Woodard who has struggled in the College World Series but has a 11-2 overall record with a 3.19 ERA. Rob Wooten has appeared in every single game in the NCAA. He has pitched 15.1 innings in the tournament compiling a 1.17 ERA. The Tar Heel offense woke up in the final elimination game against Rice on Thursday when four different hitters went deep. Josh Horton, who was a second round pick by the Oakland Athletics leads the CWS with a .389 average.

North Carolina is expected to start Alex White (6-6 4.74 ERA) in Game 1.

UNC CWS Game Notes
CBB report on UNC-BC

Oregon State (47-18)

The Oregon State Beavers enter the College World Series Championship Series seeking their second straight national championship. This is also their second straight year facing the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Championship series. The Beavers lost a ton of talent from last year's team but have been able to get hot at the right time of the year as they have compiled a 3-0 record in the CWS. The Beavers are led by catcher Mitch Canham who was the 57th overall pick by the San Diego Padres. Canham is hitting .321 with ten homers on the season. Daniel Turpen is the top starting pitcher for the Beavers. He was drafted in the eighth round by the San Francisco Giants. He has accumulated a 10-1 record with a 3.44 ERA.

Pat Casey will send Jorge Reyes (6-3, 3.00 ERA) to the mound for Game 1.

Oregon State CWS Game Notes

The College Baseball Blog predicts that Oregon State wins the championship in two games as UNC's starting pitching has been suspect all post season. North Carolina has a stronger bullpen so they need to have a solid five-six inning start in every game of the series to have a chance.

CWS Championship Series Previews from the Internet

Salem News (OR paper)
Corvallis (OR) Gazette Times
News and Observer (NC paper)
River Ave. Blues
Arizona Daily Star
Rivals.com
Doug Kroll of CSTV Preview (Great article)

Omaha adamant about keeping CWS

OMAHA, Neb. -- The city of Indianapolis has steel skyscrapers, slick presenters and the constant clatter of hardhats building the amateur sports capital of the world. Today, it juggles USA Track and Field and a dream to host the Super Bowl. Tomorrow, officials will contemplate something else, maybe the College World Series, because a bustling sports city never really sleeps.

Omaha has Jim Costello and 120 New York strip steaks.

Costello is with the Kiwanis Club, and for two weeks each summer, it's his job to make one of the eight teams at the CWS feel special. He grills up halibut, chicken and mounds of steaks for Oregon State, and lets the boys tool around on pontoons at Chris Lake. One time, his job took him to a Laundromat at 2 a.m., washing jockstraps and dirty socks, because "it had to be done."

"I almost try to treat them like they're a guest in my house," Costello says. "They're our team. We're Oregon State Beavers fans now."

Indianapolis, it seems, doesn't have a chance.

Elizabeth Merrill talks about keeping the CWS in Omaha
David Albright talks about moving the CWS

UNC advances to CWS Championship Series

North Carolina hit four homers in a 7-4 victory over Rice to advance to the CWS Championship Series where they will take on Oregon State. The Tar Heels got a solid start from Adam Warren who gave up three runs in six innings as his record goes to a perfect 12-0 on the year. Rob Wotten came in to the game to relieve Warren but gave up a run on three hits in 0.2 innings. Andrew Carignan pitched a perfect 2.1 innings to get his 18th save of the year. The Tar Heels were led on offense by Dustin Ackley who went 2-3 with a homer and two runs scored. Tim Fedroff, Josh Horton, and Seth Williams also hit homers in the victory. The Owls were led by Diego Seastrunk who had two RBI in the loss.

This is the second straight year that the Rice Owls were denied a spot in the CWS Championship series with two consecutive losses. The Owls end the season with a 56-14 record while UNC will play Oregon State for the national championship.

UNC Recap
Rice Recap

Oregon State knocks off UC-Irvine 7-1

The Oregon State Beavers ended the UC-Irvine Anteaters magical run in the College World Series as the Beavers won 7-1 to advance to the CWS Championship series which starts on Saturday. The Beavers starting pitcher Daniel Turpen went eight innings while only giving up five hits and one run to lead the Beavers. The offensive star for Oregon State was Mitch Canham as he went 3-5 with three RBI in the game. Darwin Barney also went 3-5 but only picked up two RBI. The UC-Irvine pitching finally caught up to them as Christian Bergman gave up four runs in four innings. The Irvine offense was dormant throughout the game as Cody Cipraino went 2-3 with a run scored.

UC-Irvine ends the season with a 47-17-1 record while Oregon State heads to the Championship series which starts on Saturday against either North Carolina or Rice. OSU is looking to repeat as National Champions.

UC-Irvine Recap
OSU Recap

North Carolina forces a deciding game against Rice!

Robert Woodard and two relievers limited Rice to six singles and a double, Dustin Ackley broke open the game with a three-run homer and North Carolina beat the Owls 6-1 in the College World Series on Wednesday.

The Tar Heels (56-14), the 2006 CWS runners-up and No. 3 national seed, forced another game against No. 2 Rice (56-13) Thursday at 7 pm. The winner meets defending national champion Oregon State in the best-of-three championship starting Saturday.

North Carolina
North Carolina Recap
Houston Chronicle .com
Rice Owls Recap

Stuck at Work??

If you are one of the many people that are stuck at work and can't watch the College World Series, we can help you out. We have provided Gametracker links below.

North Carolina vs Rice at 2:00 pm Eastern Time

UC-Irvine vs Oregon State at 7:00 pm Eastern Time

UC-Irvine wins a wild one over Arizona State

The UC-Irvine Anteaters picked up an 8-7 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils in one of the most exciting games in the College World Series in recent history. The Anteaters trailed 7-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth. The Anteaters were able to pick up four runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie up the game. The Anteaters inning was brought to a halt as UC-Irvine third base coach Greg Bergeron and Cody Cipriano collided as the player was rounding third. Third base umpire David Buck recognized the contact and rightfully called Cipriano out on the play. It would stay tied until the tenth inning when the Anteaters got a single from Ollie Linton which brought home Matt Morris with the winning run. This was the second straight extra inning victory for the UC-Irvine baseball program.

ASU ends the season with a 49-15 record while UC-Irvine will face Oregon State at 7 pm as the Anteaters have to defeat OSU twice to get to the Championship series.

PS: I want a UC-Irvine Baseball Hat now as I have jumped on the bandwagon. Where can I buy one that the players wear? If you have the answer leave a comment or e-mail us.

UC-Irvine Recap
Arizona State Recap
SEBaseball Recap
ESPN Recap
Daily Pilot Recap
East Valley Tribune Recap

North Carolina edges Louisville 3-1

North Carolina sent home Louisville after a very strong outing by Luke Putkonen. Luke went 7 innings while giving up a single run on three hits while striking out seven batters and walking only one batter. Louisville came into the game scoring in double digits in both of their games in the CWS. The lone run scored by Louisville came in the first inning on a home run by Logan Johnson but they were not able to get anything else off of Luke Putkonen. North Carolina got all there runs in the second inning including two coming on a critical error by Louisville Chris Dominguez. The North Carolina offense was led by Seth Williams who got the only RBI in the game for the Heels.

Louisville ends the season with a 47-24 record in what is the greatest season for the Cardinals baseball program in their history. North Carolina now advances to play Rice at 2 pm eastern time on Wednesday. The Tar Heels have to knock off the Owls twice to advance to the Championship series.

North Carolina Recap
Louisville Recap
SEBaseball Recap
Courier-Journal Recap
News and Observer Recap

Oregon State defeats Arizona State

The Oregon State Beavers knocked off the Arizona State Sun Devils 12-6 in a winner's bracket showdown on Monday. The Sun Devils have rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh to put them down 12-5 but the Sun Devils were not able to make the great comeback as they lost 12-6. The Beavers got a solid start from Mike Stutes who went six innings while giving up only three hits and five walks as he gave up four runs. The Beavers were led on offense by Mike Lissman who went 3-4 with four RBI. Eric Sogard went 2-5 with two RBI to lead the Sun Devils in the losing effort. ASU will be back in action on Tuesday when they face UC-Irvine while Oregon State will play the ASU/UC Irvine winner on Wednesday.

OSU Recap
ASU Recap
SEBaseball Recap

UC Irvine wins in Wild Extra Inning Affair!

The game went for over 5 hours with UC Irvine winning in 13 innings 5-4. Bryan Peterson provided the heroics with a single to center field to drive in Cody Cipriano with the winning run to keep the Anteaters season alive. They will take on Arizona State on Tuesday at 7 pm with an elimination game.

Cal State Fullerton Recap
UC Irvine Recap
SeBaseball Recap