201 5 college world series preview
2015 CWS GUIDE
2015 CWS DAILY SCHEDULE
There’s a lot to see and do in Omaha beyond the ballpark! Check out our insider’s guide on Page 10
Saturday, June 13: Bracket One 2 p.m.: Arkansas vs. Virginia 7 p.m.: Florida vs. Miami Sunday June 14: Bracket Two 2 p.m.: Louisiana State vs. Texas Christian 7 p.m.: Cal State Fullerton vs. Vanderbilt Monday June 15 2 p.m.: Bracket One losers 7 p.m.: Bracket One winners
CWS BY THE NUMBERS
BRACKET ONE
BRACKET TWO
.232: College World Series batting average at TD Ameritrade (since 2011)
16.1: Highest scoring average (both teams combined) in CWS (1998)
25: Total College World Series home runs at TD Ameritrade
6.1: Lowest scoring average (2013)
6.25: Average home runs per College World Series at TD Ameritrade
ARKANSAS (40-23)
LSU (53-10)
VIRGINIA (39-22)
TCU (49-13)
FLORIDA (49-16)
CS FULLERTON (39-23)
2.68: Collective ERA at TD Ameritrade
VANDERBILT (47-19)
77: CWS games won in last at-bat
MIAMI (49-15) These four teams play a double-elimination tournament to determine a bracket champion, which advances to the CWS Finals. For previews of these teams, see Pages 8 and 9
These four teams play a double-elimination tournament to determine a bracket champion, which advances to the CWS Finals. For previews of these teams, see Pages 10 and 11
CWS FINALS BEST-OF-THREE SERIES June 22-24
23: CWS game won in last at-bat since 2000
0: Number of CWS grand slams at TD Ameritrade 9: Number of CWS shutouts at TD Ameritrade 30,553: Highest CWS attendance (North Carolina vs. Louisiana State, June 20, 2008)
20: CWS one-run games in TD Ameritrade
27,127: Highest TD Ameritrade attendance (UCLA vs. Mississippi State, June 25, 2013)
8: Most one-run games in one CWS (2014)
347,740: Highest total CWS attendance (2014)
Tuesday June 16 2 p.m.: Bracket Two losers 7 p.m.: Bracket Two winners Wednesday June 17 7 p.m.: Bracket One one-loss teams Thursday June 18 7 p.m.: Bracket Two one-loss teams Friday June 19 2 p.m.: Bracket One championship 7 p.m.: Bracket Two championship Saturday June 20 2 p.m.: Bracket One championship rematch (if necessary) 7 p.m.: Bracket Two championship rematch (if necessary) Monday, June 22 7 p.m.: CWS Finals Game One Tuesday June 23 7 p.m.: CWS Finals Game Two Wednesday June 24 7 p.m.: CWS Finals Game Three (if necessary)
COPYRIGHT 2015 ©2015 BY TEN: THE ENTHUSIAST NETWORK MAGAZINES, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE USA. GENERAL MANAGER: WILL LINGO. ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: GEORGE SHELTON. EDITORS: JOHN MANUEL, MICHAEL LANANNA, JIM SHONERD. DESIGN & PRODUCTION: SARA MCDANIEL.
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2015 College World Series • 3
2015 CWS GUIDE
leclair drives new generation
I
’m not sure it makes any sense for a sport to be so associated with a disease as baseball is with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS first became part of the American consciousEditor in Chief ness when it struck Baseball America Yankee first baseman johnmanuel Lou Gehrig, forcing @baseballamerica.com him to end his streak of consecutive games played at 2,130 in 1939. He died two years later. Last year, more than $200 million poured in to various ALS research charities as part of the Ice Bucket Challenge, which went viral to raise awareness of the disease, a hereditary condition that is always fatal. It started as a tribute to Pete Frates, who played four seasons at Boston College from 2004-07, after he was diagnosed with the disease in 2012 as a 27-year-old. Frates has become the new face of ALS, and his coach at BC, Notre Dame’s Mik Aoki, has continued to be involved with Frates’ cause. “It’s more heartbreaking that it’s personal,” Aoki told Curt Rallo of und.com this spring. “It’s heartbreaking to see where Pete is, how debilitating it’s been to him. It’s inspirational . . . there’s a mix of a whole lot of emotions thrown into one big cauldron. Some of those emotions are great, some of those emotions make you cry, some of those emotions make you shake your head in amazement.” ALS’s connections to baseball make me shake my head. Another member of baseball’s Hall of Fame, Jim “Catfish” Hunter, was diagnosed with the disease after his playing career. He died young, at age 53, on his farm in eastern North Carolina. East Carolina’s Greenville, N.C., campus is about 75 miles from Hunter’s farm, and in 2002, Pirates baseball coach Keith LeClair announced he too had ALS, which ran in his family. I’ll never forget seeing LeClair at an American Baseball Coaches Association convention, waiting in the lobby for a cab, and asking him if he was OK because his weight loss was noticeable. (He said he was jogging a lot.) Later that year, he made his announcement, and I traveled to Greenville to profile the program trying to make it through the devastating news. Kevin MacMullen, now an assistant coach at Virginia, and Tommy Eason,
ALS cut Keith LeClair’s life short before he reached his goal of bringing a team to Omaha, but his coaching disciples have vowed to bring one of their teams in part to honor LeClair’s memory
John Manuel
4 • 2015 College World Series
now head coach at Pitt (N.C.) CC, were LeClair’s assistants at the time, and their love for LeClair and focus stood out. It doesn’t surprise me that ECU has continued to honor LeClair, who died in 2006. I’d been around the program a decent amount, especially in 2000 and 2001, when ECU was a No. 1 seed in back-toback seasons. Those team were personal favorites for their toughness and togetherness. I had no idea that togetherness would last and be so relevant in 2015, but the LeClair coaching tree remains a major factor in college baseball. While Chad Tracy went on to appear in 938 major league games over nine seasons, five members of the ’01 Pirates are coaching college baseball, led by current East Carolina head coach Cliff Godwin. Michigan head coach Erik Bakich and one of his top assistants, Nick Schnabel, played on that club, while Coastal Carolina assistant Joe Hastings and Loyola Marymount assistant Bryant Ward were the 2000 team’s leading hitters. The college LeClair disciples keep in touch constantly. Bakich said they use a mobile phone app with a private group setting to message each other daily. “My last year was coach LeClair’s last year,” Ward said. “It’s just a special bond that we have with each other, and I don’t see that ever going away.” Bakich has been a head coach the longest, taking over at Maryland in 2010 and leading Michigan to the Big Ten tournament championship and a regional berth
in 2015. Bakich says the lessons handed down from LeClair and his college coach, former Clemson coach Jack Leggett, guide him and his program every day. “We talk about coach LeClair here at Michigan. It’s part of our recruiting presentation and our leadership curriculum,” Bakich said. “We tell people about coach LeClair’s five-year struggle with ALS . . . At the end of his life, he struggled to go to sleep because he couldn’t even close his eyelids. “He was just such an inspiration with the dignity he showed. It changes your perspective when you realize what he went through, and that whatever you have going on, others are less fortunate.” Godwin and Bakich both led their teams to regional play with conference tournament victories. Loyola Marymount and Coastal Carolina fell one conference final victory short of making it a clean sweep for the LeClair tree. One day, Bakich says, he expects to see his old teammates again—at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. It’s the tribute he and his old teammates believe LeClair deserves. “That’s the ultimate goal,” Bakich said. “It’s a promise we all made to him; he never made it here. It’s the last thing I told him the last time I spoke to him. “First, I told him that I loved him. And second, I told him I would finish the job and get to the College World Series for him. We all feel that way. Omaha is the ultimate goal.” BaseballAmerica.com
THE INDUSTRY STANDARD, FOR 35 YEARS AND COUNTING.
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2015 CWS GUIDE
TO P P L AYE R S : K E Y S TAT S
VIRGINIA COACH: Brian O’Connor. COLLEGE WORLD SERIES HISTORY: Fourth trip to Omaha and second straight. Lost in finals to Vanderbilt last year. POSTSEASON ROUTE: No. 3 seed in Lake Elsinore Regional. Won in three games, beating Southern California in the final. Swept Maryland in super regional. SCOUTING REPORT: “I think you look back at their season and you look at their ups and downs there, I think you have to, No. 1, give that coaching staff credit for what they’ve been through and where they are now. If I would have told you earlier in the year that Virginia was going to lose McCarthy, Kirby and La Prise and Coman for a while and end up going to Omaha, you would’ve looked at me like I was crazy. “I think as you start to break down their lineup, they have some young kids that haven’t been in this league a really long time that have performed for them. When you took Thaiss, who didn’t get a whole lot of atbats last year, and you put him in the middle of the order, he’s done a great job. He’s dangerous. You’ve got those two freshmen in there with Haseley and Smith that they
don’t really carry themselves like freshmen. Smith’s more dangerous just because of his power. And then the guy you don’t want up in a big situation, in my opinion, is Kenny Towns because he’s such a veteran guy, and he really pays attention to how he’s pitched, and he’s a coach’s son. “They’ve got a lot of pieces there. It’s certainly not hard to see that they are where they are based on the talent. But everything they’ve been through, I’m sure Brian and his staff are unbelievably proud of their kids and what they’ve been able to accomplish. “They can coach with the best of them, and they’ve done that. You can watch them, and there’s a pretty good presence over there with their staff. I think they’re very positive and they do a good job of motivating their kids, and they’ve stuck with a lot of those guys. And now you have a team that thinks they have momentum. “When you look at their starters, Connor’s as electric as they come. He will make some mistakes, and you’ve got to get them. But when he’s going good, he’s 91 to 95 to both sides of the plate. I think he’s a guy that’s kind of taken on the responsibility of being
ARKANSAS COACH: Dave Van Horn. COLLEGE WORLD SERIES HISTORY: Eighth trip to Omaha, first since 2012. POSTSEASON ROUTE: No. 2 seed in Stillwater Regional. Won in three games, beating St. John’s in the final. Won super regional in three games over Missouri State. SCOUTING REPORT: “You always know how many batters (Benintendi) is from coming up. Everybody’s always thinking about him. He can be coming up four spots from there, and I think everybody’s aware of it. And then, I think you think so hard about Benintendi that you forget about a couple guys that can bite you like a veteran like Spoon—he can blow a gap on you at any time. That third baseman (Wernes) was such a great defensive player last year, now he’s giving them something offensively. “I think you can pitch six innings against them and they can be pretty quiet. Navigate around Benintendi and don’t let Spoon get a swing off on a cripple pitch, and I think you can roll through them a couple times. They ever get a leadoff man on, you’ll get a little hit-and-run action. I think they’re built for a big inning. When they get going, Dave (Van
6 • 2015 College World Series
Horn) will start hitting and running, putting some pressure, and I think they kinda get on a roll to make their team go. But if they’re playing station to station, then it really puts the pressure on Benintendi to have very productive at-bats. I think when they sense it in the game and get a couple guys on early, you’ll see them really start to put that offense in motion, and that’s how they’ve been historically. “(Killian) was 89-91. I don’t know. He’s competitive. Hangs in there, kinda keeps them in the ballgame. He just keeps battling, whether he’s given up five or given up none or given up two. He just keeps coming at you. Their staffs have always, historically, never run from or never feared throwing that fastball in. It’s an aggressive pitching style, an aggressive approach. I think just think they started hitting the spot with that new ball a little bit better as the season went on, and they never cower or shy away. They hang with it, and I think they’re built off the ability to throw the fastball in. The guys that are doing that the best at this time of the year are the guys they’re going to use. “(McKinney) looked good. Poise, espe-
Pos. Name C Matt Thaiss 1B Robbie Coman 2B Ernie Clement 3B Kenny Towns SS Daniel Pinero LF Pavin Smith CF Adam Haseley RF Joe McCarthy DH Kevin Doherty
Yr. So Jr. Fr. Sr. So. Fr. Fr. Jr. Jr.
Pos. Name SP Connor Jones SP Brandon Waddell SP Nathan Kirby RP Josh Sborz
Yr. So. Jr. Jr. Jr.
AVG/OBP/SLG HR RBI SB .332/.424/.528 9 60 4 .301/.366/.350 1 21 2 .239/.298/.312 1 20 3 .298/.367/.450 5 60 2 .300/.404/.417 6 28 6 .313/.424/.528 9 60 4 .252/.357/.328 1 19 5 .225/.375/.292 1 9 3 .231/.373/.343 1 22 2 W-L 7-2 3-5 5-2 4-2
ERA IP BB-SO 2.96 103 48-105 4.15 91 41-81 2.28 59 30-75 1.95 60 21-52
the No. 1 guy with Kirby out. “Waddell is about as steady as they come. It’s hard to sit in there and look for one pitch, one side of the plate off of him. His mound presence and his demeanor is just incredible. “I just think they are who they are. They’ve been through so much, and adversity’s no big deal to them. And you get to a point where your offense is now in good enough shape. You’ve got McCarthy back. You’ve got Coman back. And they’re scoring enough to where they can come from behind.” TO P P L AYE R S : K E Y S TAT S Pos. Name Yr. C Tucker Pennell Jr. 1B Clark Eagan So. 2B Rick Nomura Jr. 3B Bobby Wernes Jr. SS Michael Bernal Jr. LF Joe Serrano Sr. CF Andrew Benintendi So. RF Tyler Spoon Jr. DH Brett McAfee Jr. Pos. Name SP Trey Killian SP Keaton McKinney SP Jackson Lowery RP Zach Jackson
Yr. Jr. Fr. Sr. So.
AVG/OBP/SLG HR RBI SB .200/.275/.233 0 7 0 .284/.360/.401 2 30 2 .294/.367/.428 4 19 3 .280/.375/.431 5 26 3 .280/.409/.381 4 30 2 .285/.379/.407 4 35 6 .380/.489/.715 19 55 23 .331/.370/.500 6 54 9 .280/.331/.360 2 22 3 W-L 3-4 6-2 7-1 5-0
ERA 4.74 3.27 3.16 1.91
IP BB-SO 80 22-56 83 37-43 57 19-35 57 37-87
cially for a freshman. He’s got a good arsenal. Still young—I think you’re going to get an opportunity to have a moment, or have an opportunity to get him. If he throws five innings, I think there’s going to be a point in time, a moment where you feel like you can put something together. If you do, I think you can get him early. . . . I just think if the game’s on the line, even if it’s the sixth inning, you’re going to see Jackson. I think you could see Jackson come in in the sixth inning and finish the ball game. At some point, if they’re in it, Jackson’s going to be a part of it.”
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2015 CWS GUIDE
TO P P L AYE R S : K E Y S TAT S
MIAMI COACH: Jim Morris. COLLEGE WORLD SERIES HISTORY: 24th trip to Omaha, first since 2008. School has won four national titles. POSTSEASON ROUTE: No. 1 seed in Coral Gables Regional. Won in four games, beating Columbia in the final. Swept Virginia Commonwealth in super regional. SCOUTING REPORT: “I think the biggest thing that jumps out to you is just the balance that they have. I think you’re talking about a lineup 1-7, 1-8 that’s really hard to get through because the balance is there. Speed with power, and then the right and left balance is there, and when you put that together, it makes it tough on you. “You kind of pick your poison there with Collins, and you pick your poison with Thompson, and then just when you think you get through those guys, here come some pretty good at-bats. The guys that I think that have really been the pieces that nobody talks about is Eusebio and Barr and Kennedy. Those guys, if you go back and look at them as freshmen and sophomores, it’s just unbelievable how much they’ve improved and developed.
“It’s all there. Iskenderian led the league in hitting, and he’s been a nice addition for them. There’s really no weaknesses there for them, 1-9, and that shows in the way that they’re able to score. “I think you have to be careful because you can think that they’re pitchable, but they’re veteran enough to know what you’re trying to do. They’re well-coached. “I think they really know what they’re going to get when they send Woodrey out there. I think that’s where you have to start. He’s not going to blow you away with stuff. Suarez, you have to attack his fastball, and to me, can he get you off his fastball? Can he get you off his fastball with his secondary stuff? I think you just have to get a pulse of what he’s doing early in the game. Sosa’s a sinker/slider guy, and for us, it was different. He’s a guy that I feel like if you left him in the windup and let him get comfortable, he could get into a little bit of a rocking chair and just sink you to death and let that good defense play behind him. “Then they can shorten the game because they have as good a bullpen as anybody. Hammond can stay out there
BaseballAmerica.com
Pos. Name SP Thomas Woodrey SP Andrew Suarez SP Enrique Sosa RP Bryan Garcia
Yr. Jr. Jr. Jr. So.
AVG/OBP/SLG HR RBI SB .329/.440/.488 7 51 1 .306/.402/.409 1 32 13 .367/.462/.479 3 55 23 .333/.445/.658 19 87 1 .303/.420/.374 0 23 1 .313/.434/.444 3 20 6 .297/.463/.410 2 29 19 .300/.395/.433 6 47 4 .303/.448/.593 15 70 7 W-L 7-2 9-1 7-4 5-2
ERA 3.06 2.96 4.07 2.68
IP BB-SO 97 21-55 79 19-74 80 31-71 37 19-34
for a while just because it’s a different look. He’s probably the guy we least wanted to see out of the bullpen. And Garcia, he’s veteran. He thinks he belongs at the end of the game, and he does, and he knows how to get the last three outs, and there’s just not a lot of teams that can say that. “I think the only thing you have to step back and watch for is how much are they going to score? That’s the one thing you have to look at. My experience in Omaha is you have to get your hitters to maybe get away from what they’re doing in the past. It can get frustrating out there.” TO P P L AYE R S : K E Y S TAT S
FLORIDA COACH: Kevin O’Sullivan. COLLEGE WORLD SERIES HISTORY: Ninth trip to Omaha, first since 2012. POSTSEASON ROUTE: No. 1 seed in Gainesville Regional. Won in three games, beating Florida Atlantic in the final. Swept Florida State in super regional. SCOUTING REPORT: “I just think it’s a complete club. The defense. The speed. You’ve got to pitch to that lineup. A couple of those guys are young, but they have numbers, and you just can’t take time off. If you make a bad pitch, they’ll make you pay for it. I think they feast a little bit off of the pitcher’s ability execute a plan or not. If you can really execute a plan and pick your spots to go inside and get the breaking ball beneath their hitters, I think they’ll swing at it. If you make some cripple pitches up out over the plate and you can’t really design being able to get a fastball to both sides of the plate, I think they roll. “I think who’s pitching against them has a lot to do with their offensive success, but they’ve got a lot of talented guys. Most of their guys can be pitched to, but they definitely can hit it out of the park.
Pos. Name Yr. C Garrett Kennedy Sr. 1B Christopher Barr So. 2B George Iskenderian Jr. 3B David Thompson Jr. SS Brandon Lopez Jr. LF Jacob Heyward So. CF Ricky Eusebio Jr. RF Willie Abreu So. DH Zack Collins So.
They definitely can steal a base. I felt their defense was superb. (Bader’s) one of those, I still think if you make a good fastball pitched down, I think you’re OK. If you make a good breaking ball pitched down, I think you’re OK. I think Tobias sometimes gives them their best at-bats, and he may not be one of the first two or three you talk about because the numbers don’t support it. But he’s been there for four years, and Bader’s been there. (Schwarz) is going to be a great player. It’s true power. Alonso’s got power. Bader’s got power. “There was some uncertainty with (Puk)—just his consistency early in the season. Then he sat out for a little bit and sometimes when things like that happen, as long as the kid responds the right way, it can be the best thing that ever happened. I think for A.J. it was. I think it was just maybe a little eye-opener, a little reality check. Our hitters came back saying that that was the best guy they’d seen all year long. When you’re 6-foot-7 and you’re throwing 95-97 and you’re throwing a breaking ball for a strike, it’s pretty hard to get comfortable in the box.”
Pos. Name C J.J. Schwarz 1B Peter Alonso 2B Dalton Guthrie 3B Josh Tobias SS Richie Martin LF Harrison Bader CF Buddy Reed RF Ryan Larson DH Mike Rivera
Yr. Fr. So. Fr. Sr. Jr. Jr. So. So. Fr.
Pos. Name SP Logan Shore SP A.J. Puk SP Alex Faedo RP Taylor Lewis
Yr. So. So. Fr. Jr.
AVG/OBP/SLG HR RBI SB .332/.393/.651 18 71 1 .304/.403/.472 3 25 0 .286/.358/.368 2 24 6 .373/.447/.557 5 41 11 .292/.404/.424 5 33 20 .292/.392/.554 15 61 7 .313/.374/.439 3 43 18 .305/.408/.370 1 23 7 .261/.331/.362 3 44 2 W-L 9-6 9-3 5-1 6-1
ERA IP BB-SO 2.50 101 22-74 3.96 73 32-99 3.36 56 12-52 1.24 51 11-31
“You’ve got like a Faedo, a young pitcher that can do well. They’ve got the lefty (Bobby Poyner) that throws really good. If anybody wants to poke a hole at them, they want to go to that bullpen. I still think they’re pretty good. They don’t have a Paco Rodriguez, but I still think they’re pretty good. (Lewis) is kind of a drop-down guy, but it’s 92 mph. It’s a different look and some velocity from that look.” “Florida is a scary team because offensively, they can really hit. They’ve got a ton of depth, pitching-wise, and they’ve been playing great defense.”
2015 College World Series • 7
2015 CWS GUIDE
LOUISIANA STATE COACH: Paul Mainieri COLLEGE WORLD SERIES HISTORY: 17th trip to Omaha, first since 2013. POSTSEASON ROUTE: No. 1 seed in Baton Rouge Regional. Won in three games, beating UNC Wilmington in the final. Swept Louisiana-Lafayette in super regional. SCOUTING REPORT: “The best lineup. I don’t know what it’s like in terms of pure talent, I just think it’s the best lineup as far as a team connecting and feeding off of one another. It’s like the guys know their identity. Stevenson and Laird know who they are. Bregman’s doing his thing. The righthanders get up on the plate and they look to the first pitch early to try to swing at. You’ve got a few of those guys. You’ve got a Foster, a Sciambra, Chinea. You’ve just got those guys—simple and aggressive. But it looks like everybody knows their identity. I think it’s the best outfield in America. I think they have an opportunity to change a game in the outfield, and then you know what Bregman brings at short. Their catching’s done a good job. “Bregman has that ‘It’ factor. I don’t think anybody does as much for their ball-
club as Bregman does. I know Swanson’s carrying (Vanderbilt) athletically, but I’m talking about some of the things you can’t measure in the stats. I think Bregman does that. I think LSU’s the most confident team. . . . It’s like they have ghosts in the dugout when they get to play at home. And the Bregman kid, just the things I’ve heard, the things I’ve seen on the field, I just think he’s about as good a leader as I’ve seen. “They’ve got good arms. I think their pen might be a little more suspect. I don’t know how big that could end up being. Their starting pitching will have to continue to really cowboy up and do their thing. Lange’s had such a special season not just because he’s a special talent, but because you don’t worry about whether they’ve got his back. I think that’s what that lineup has done for him. ‘I don’t have to be perfect here. I’ll just hold my breath. I can walk 41 guys and it’s ok. We can get away with it as a ballclub.’ I just don’t know if that winds up rearing its head at some point or if they figure it out, because it’s definitely a No. 1-type offense, and I would think overall, the defense can play at the highest level.
TEXAS CHRISTIAN COACH: Jim Schlossnagle COLLEGE WORLD SERIES HISTORY: Third trip to Omaha, second straight. POSTSEASON ROUTE: No. 1 seed in Fort Worth Regional. Won in five games, beating N.C. State in the final. Won super regional in three games over Texas A&M. SCOUTING REPORT: It’s not exactly breaking news that TCU has an embarrassment of riches on the mound, to the point they have four guys that could be No. 1s on many teams. The Frogs boast everything pinpoint movement and control artist Preston Morrison to breakout lefty Alex Young. The rotation is backed up by a just-as-dominant bullpen anchored by power-armed closer Riley Ferrell. The lineup has plenty of athleticism and is loaded with seniors that have been there, done that in the postseason. They have little power outside of freshman catcher Evan Skoug, with his seven homers, and they slug just .378 as a team. Their home ballpark decidedly favors pitching though, and they’re suited to win there, which should translate well to TD Ameritrade.
8 • 2015 College World Series
“Cody (Jones) is the guy who makes them go. You got to keep him off the bases because his singles are doubles. And he’s a switch-hitter so he’s pretty tough on both sides. “There’s no doubt they got those freshmen (Evan Skoug and Connor Wanhanen) who are going to hit 3-4 for them for the next two to three years. Skoug is a little bit different presence than Wanhanen. Skoug is a guy who’s an extra-base threat that can score a guy from first. “They’ve been beaten in a three-game series this year, so it’s entirely possible (for them to be beaten despite pitching depth). (Riley) Ferrell’s had his struggles recently. Normally against a staff like that, I try to pick spots and run up the pitch count, but the bullpen’s so good, you’re not doing yourself any favors. You just have to attack them and jump on the first pitch you see. “You have to go with the hottest guy (to start the opener). Tyler Alexander’s carried them, he’s real good. (Alex) Young’s been good for the whole season and Morrison has the big-game experience and has been good for so long. Without being in the dug-
TO P P L AYE R S : K E Y S TAT S Pos. Name Yr. C Kade Scivicque Sr. 1B Chris Chinea Jr. 2B Jared Foster Sr. 3B Conner Hale Sr. SS Alex Bregman Jr. LF Jake Fraley So. CF Andrew Stevenson Jr. RF Mark Laird Jr. DH Chris Sciambra Sr. Pos. Name SP Alex Lange SP Jared Poche’ SP Austin Bain RP Parker Bugg
Yr. Fr. So. Fr. So.
AVG/OBP/SLG HR RBI SB .347/.391/.518 6 45 0 .355/.386/.559 11 58 1 .284/.339/.498 9 34 9 .343/.389/.482 4 56 1 .312/.406/.534 9 49 37 .308/.371/.425 2 34 22 .356/.407/.458 1 21 26 .323/.390/.379 1 23 23 .309/.363/.467 3 27 4 W-L 11-0 9-1 2-2 1-2
ERA IP BB-SO 1.89 105 44-121 2.91 105 23-69 3.54 53 21-55 1.80 35 13-34
“Somebody’s gonna pitch a good game against them. How can they unplug that offense for a moment? That’s going to be their kryptonite. If they find somebody they can’t hit, I think that’s going to be their challenge. But, I love their team. “I almost feel like it seems like they might be doing matchups or whatever. They want to have Lange there in certain spots. Poche started the Friday night game against us, and then they went Lange and then they went Bain. I just hadn’t seen Poche in a while. He’s really good, but they were beatable outside of Lange.” TO P P L AYE R S : K E Y S TAT S Pos. Name C Evan Skoug 1B Jeremie Fagnan 2B Garrett Crain 3B Derek Odell SS Keaton Jones LF Dane Steinhagen CF Cody Jones RF Nolan Brown DH Connor Wanhanen
Yr. Fr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Jr. Sr. Jr. Fr.
Pos. Name SP Tyler Alexander SP Preston Morrison SP Alex Young RP Riley Ferrell
Yr. So. Jr. Jr. Jr.
AVG/OBP/SLG HR RBI SB .286/.366/.432 7 44 5 .267/.358/.387 4 25 10 .271/.341/.345 1 28 8 .303/.378/.380 3 39 9 .256/.333/.329 2 39 8 .282/.344/.351 0 23 10 .371/.474/.500 5 33 31 .314/.385/.390 1 30 19 .320/.408/.384 1 37 11 W-L 6-2 11-3 9-2 1-3
ERA IP BB-SO 2.86 91 9-69 2.55 113 21-86 2.31 90 21-91 2.83 29 19-45
out and seeing every pitch, it’s hard to say (who should get the ball first). It could be a matchup situation. “Alexander and Young are so hard on lefties and I don’t know how many lefties (opponents) would have in there. (Mitchell) Traver not so much. It’s a what-have-youdone recently situation. One of those guys probably isn’t going to throw, and that guy is going to be, “why didn’t I throw?” They all can’t pitch, that’s going to be the toughest part.” “At this point in the season, what counts most is postseason experience.”
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2015 CWS GUIDE
VANDERBILT COACH: Tim Corbin COLLEGE WORLD SERIES HISTORY: Third trip to Omaha; defending national champion. POSTSEASON ROUTE: No. 1 seed in Nashville Regional. Won in three games, beating Radford in the final. Swept Illinois in super regional. SCOUTING REPORT: “The arms really stand out, and the depth of the arms. It’s kinda one guy after the next that keeps coming at you. They can match up in the bullpen with some lefthanders, but their starters really carry it for them. Moving Pfeifer into the rotation has been a positive move for them, but just a lot of depth with the arms and just the talent level’s through the roof. “We actually swung the bat pretty well against Fulmer. Great fastball, and you’ve got to make sure that he’s throwing the breaking ball for a strike. If he’s throwing the breaking ball for a strike, it’s going to be a really tough day on the hitters. . . . . We swung it pretty decent against Buehler as well. He’s obviously got great stuff. Explosive stuff. His stuff’s a little easier to see. Our hit-
ters were a little bit more comfortable off of Walker. The velo’s a little bit more, but I think Carson’s fastball is a little bit heavier than Walker’s, and Walker has a tendency just to get the ball up in the zone a little bit. “Pfeifer was still in the bullpen when we faced them, but he was really good and very aggressive. Max-effort guy that’s grunting on every pitch and throwing that hard slider and just your really ideal guy for the bullpen, but he was so good that they moved him into the rotation and he’s excelled in that role, too. “(Swanson’s) a very cool and calm competitor. That’s the thing that really strikes you about their whole lineup. They play with a lot of emotion but it’s not any kind of a rushed or panicked emotion. It’s just a very confident approach that, ‘We’re going to win this game.’ One through nine, there’s just a lot of guys that scare you in a lot of different ways. They’ve got guys that can hit balls in the gap. They’ve got guys that can lay down bunts and steal bases. “You’ve got guys in front of Dansby, you’ve guys behind Dansby. You can’t take a hitter off against their lineup. Ro Coleman
CAL STATE FULLERTON COACH: Rick Vanderhook COLLEGE WORLD SERIES HISTORY: 17th trip to Omaha, first since 2009. POSTSEASON ROUTE: No. 1 seed in Fullerton Regional. Won in three games, beating Pepperdine in the final. Won super regional in three games over Louisville. SCOUTING REPORT: “(Eshelman) was fantastic the second half of the year. He throws that fastball that people just don’t see, and if he gets a little help from the umpires, it’s almost over. He does get some help from them because he has such good command and he’s in the strike zone so much that he has the ability to expand the plate a little bit on both sides later in the game because he’s earned it. “All their guys do a good job of changing locations with their fastball. (Pitching coach Jason) Dietrich does a great job of calling a game, I think. It’s hard to sit on patterns because they do a pretty good job of staying out of it. They’re all down, and they’re all getting strike one a bunch. They’re expanding the plate a little bit as a group, trying to get you to try and cover the whole plate. We didn’t have a lot of success against them, but
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if you’re going to try and cover that whole plate against them, you’re in trouble. “I think they started to settle in (offensively). They do most of their damage in the top half. Olmedo-Barrera can hit a ball in the gap and has some power and can punish you if you elevate it and make mistakes. The Vargas kid’s tough to pitch to. He’s on top of the plate. If you throw him away, he’s going to get on base because he can handle the pitch that’s away and he battles with two strikes. The key, in my opinion, is getting through the top of the order and then making sure you throw strikes to the bottom part of the order. “We had heard early in the year about how they struggled defensively, and then they were unbelievable the weekend we saw them. Richards played flawless shortstop and made two highlight reel plays up the middle of the field. Their outfield played solidly. Kennedy’s a plus-plus receiver, a plus-plus thrower. So, the weekend we saw them, they looked like a plus defensive team and they didn’t make any mistakes. It sounds like their errors come in bunches, but we didn’t see any of that the weekend
TO P P L AYE R S : K E Y S TAT S Pos. Name C Karl Ellison 1B Zander Wiel 2B Tyler Campbell 3B Will Toffey SS Dansby Swanson LF Jeren Kendall CF Bryan Reynolds RF Rhett Wiseman DH Ro Coleman
Yr. So. Jr. Jr. Fr. Jr. Fr. So. Jr. So.
Pos. Name SP Carson Fulmer SP Philip Pfeifer SP Walker Buehler RP Kyle Wright
Yr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Fr.
AVG/OBP/SLG .213/.296/.287 .316/.408/.569 .236/.301/.297 .305/.384/.436 .350/.442/.661 .289/.405/.542 .311/.382/.455 .318/.419/.566 .308/.414/.415 W-L 13-2 5-4 4-2 5-1
HR 2 14 2 4 15 7 5 14 1
RBI 15 65 26 46 62 37 45 47 25
SB 1 13 5 7 16 18 17 12 4
ERA IP BB-SO 1.82 114 46-152 4.09 84 40-105 2.97 79 25-81 1.06 51 21-55
and Campbell and Toffey, all those guys are kind of the role players on this team, but they’ve gotten some big hits and a lot of RBIs for them. You worry about Swanson and Reynolds and Wiel. Kendall’s another guy— freshman that’s just kind of come out of, not out of nowhere, but just a really talented guy that can really hurt you. You’ve got the main three you think about, but then the pieces around them are all really talented and good baseball players that just know how to play the game. This team, they believe they’re going to win. They’ve got a lot of confidence and they’ve got a ton of talent. TO P P L AYE R S : K E Y S TAT S Pos. Name Yr. C A.J. Kennedy Jr. 1B Tanner Pinkston Jr. 2B Taylor Bryant So. 3B Jerrod Bravo Jr. SS Timmy Richards So. LF Josh Vargas Jr. CF Tyler Stieb Jr. RF Dustin Vaught Jr. DH Davi Olmedo-Barrera Jr. Pos. Name SP Thomas Eshelman SP John Gavin SP Connor Seabold RP Tyler Peitzmeier
Yr. Jr. Fr. Fr. Sr.
AVG/OBP/SLG HR RBI SB .169/.255/.215 0 19 0 .254/.317/.333 0 18 5 .194/.341/.272 2 11 0 .312/449/.404 0 24 4 .235/.375/.318 1 26 8 .340/.448/.403 0 15 13 .303/.379/.371 0 23 12 .256/.383/.276 0 14 2 .328/.433/.571 10 45 14 W-L 8-5 7-3 5-3 5-3
ERA IP BB-SO 1.58 131 7-131 3.66 86 25-67 2.84 67 12-74 2.20 57 11-58
we saw them. Taylor Bryant at second base is an above-average defender. Stieb in center field is a plus-plus runner. They were solid, defensively. “They were clicking towards the end. They’re pounding the strike zone and playing defense, and the middle of the order was hot. . . . Every year they go into the postseason, they’ve got half their team that’s been there twice already. All the returners have won a conference championship. So, I think there’s something to be said for that— that mystique that the program has and has had for a long time.”
2015 College World Series • 9
2015 CWS GUIDE
new viewS on omaha from a new omahan
locations in the area. And what’s a Runza? To describe it would ruin the surprise of hearty Midwestern goodness. Suffice to say it’s a treat brought to Nebraska by German immigrants, and now is a staple at Cornhusker football games. Voodoo Taco (three locations) has been in the news lately, having invented the taco cannon to shoot tacos into the ravenous crowds at Nebraska-Omaha hockey games. The Mavericks made their first Frozen Four in 2015, losing to eventual national champions Providence. FUN FACT: The Voodoo Taco at Aksarben Village is across the street from the grave of Omaha, the 1935 Triple Crown champion racehorse.
BY PAUL TRAP
T
hree years ago our family moved to Omaha from Boston. Admittedly I was nervous to find myself stranded in the Great Plains, but taking solace from an NPR story that called the city “surprisingly hip” and Baseball America staffers who said the College World Series is the best event in baseball. Thankfully, both have proved true. TD Ameritrade Park, still with its new car smell, is a hub of activity during the CWS, but the immediate area can be ghost town the rest of the year. So for a better taste of Omaha, radiate out from the ballpark. Unlike Boston, where any trip crosstown was a major logistical effort, you can get anywhere in Omaha in 20 minutes. Here are my suggestions for fun beyond the ballpark. Most of these places have a dedicated website, so I’ll leave the googling for location and hours to you and your smartphone.
FEASTING AND IMBIBING For the BA staff, a trip to the CWS includes a mandatory trip to The Drover for their signature Whiskey Steak, but be sure to try some delicious Nebraska corn-fed beef at one of Omaha’s old-school steakhouses, each a time capsule of good value and the best of 1970s decor: Johnny’s Cafe (since 1922) is located at the site of the original Omaha stockyards; Piccolo Pete’s (since 1932) is a favorite of Warren Buffett; Gorat’s (since 1944); and Cascio’s (since 1946). Downtown’s Old Market is a popular destination for food and drink, but it can get awfully crowded during CWS time. Instead, explore some of Omaha’s outlying neighborhoods. Benson (Maple Street) is my favorite retail corridor with its mix of tattoo parlors, thrift stores, pizza shops, bars, performance
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venues and excellent restaurants. You can enjoy fine dining, then walk down a dark alley and catch an indie band from New York playing in a hot, sweaty, cinder-block garage. OF NOTE: Lot 2, with a focus on locally produced food, and Beercade, a full bar with two floors of vintage pinball machines. FUN FACT: The sport teams at Benson High School are called the Bunnies.
The Blackstone District (Farnham Street) sports brew pubs, a wine bar and The Nite Owl, serving a full menu, Monday thru Saturday, till 2 a.m. The Crescent Moon serves 60 beers on tap, many Nebraskabrewed, and their take on the Reuben, the sandwich invented in a hotel across the street. For a taste of true regional cuisine, down a Runza at one of their eponymous fast-food
A FEW SIGHTS TD Ameritrade Park was built on the site of the Union Pacific Railroad Shops (historical signage outside the park beyond left field), so let’s take a moment to embrace Omaha’s railroad history. Union Pacific brings in their show locomotives for visitation on tracks across the street from the ballpark, and a Big Boy, the largest steam engine ever to ride the rails, overlooks Interstate 80 from the parking lot of Lauritzen Gardens. Union Pacific Headquarters has an excellent cafeteria open to the public for breakfast and lunch (a 14-minute walk from the stadium). Be sure to cross the street and explore Omaha’s monument to pre-train travel, The Spirit of Nebraska’s Wilderness and Pioneer Courage Park, a clunky name for a glorious monument to adventures and hardships on the Oregon Trail. Some 120 detailed and larger-than-life bronze sculptures of settlers, scouts, wagons, oxen and horses make their way west, winding through three city blocks, frightening a herd of buffalo who morph through walls before sending a flock of geese into flight. SAD FACT: One in 17 travelers on the Oregon Trail perished, so someone in that wagon train is not going to make it.
Back to trains: The Union Pacific Museum across the river in Council Bluffs, Iowa, is in BaseballAmerica.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OMAHA CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU
Old Market is a popular destination, but do yourself a favor and venture out this year
Homy Inn was pegged as Nebraska’s top dive bar by Esquire Magazine, with four flavors of champagne on tap. Yes, you read that correctly. No food, but you can have a pizza delivered from Sgt. Peffers from across the street. With Louisiana State making the field of eight, expect fans to gather at the Barrett’s Barleycorn, which serves as Baton Rouge North during the CWS. Sadly, longtime CWS haunt Pauli’s is no longer with us.
2015 CWS GUIDE
Think the Reuben was invented in New York? It was actually Omaha. Try one at the Crescent Moon a former Carnegie Library, and is excellent, and free. For an immediate change of pace, walk next door and experience the haunted Squirrel Cage Jail, a multi-deck rotating contraption once used to incarcerate prisoners. Mannequins are sprinkled throughout the cells to heighten the tension. And next door to that (a triple play), stop in the lobby of the Pottawattamie County Building. While Iowans pay their utility bills and prepare for court appearances, enjoy original Grant Wood (of American Gothic fame) paintings, murals rescued from a local hotel. Before heading back to Omaha, check out the giant Golden Spike Monument, a towering concrete spike-shaped obelisk, painted yellow, commemorating the city as the eastern terminus of the first transcontinental railroad. Enough with the trains. Beloved Rosenblatt Stadium is no longer with us, but the scoreboard remains on site as part of a new parking lot for the Henry Doorly Zoo. Considered one of the best in the nation, the zoo includes a two-story jungle (with openair flying bats), aquarium with walk-through shark tube and the desert dome, with a large nocturnal world in the basement, filled with things that go bump in the night and a boardwalk over a Louisiana swamp (with an albino alligator). And take a ride on the gondola over the zoo, so you can dangle your legs over the rhinos below. Malcolm X was born in Omaha, as was Gerald Ford, whose arrival is commemorated at the President Ford Birthsite and Gardens. A kiosk is on site with 24-hour audio highlighting his life and presidential golf clubs on display. A few blocks down the street is Marlon Brando’s boyhood home—there must be something in the neighborhood water. The Joslyn Art Museum is wonderful, free and open late on Thursdays. Highlights include a recently restored Rembrandt, and a gallery of Western art including the drawings and watercolors of Karl Bodmer, who explored the west on the heels of Lewis and Clark. Next door to the Joslyn is Omaha Central High School (go Eagles), noted as the alma BaseballAmerica.com
matter of Henry Fonda, Gale Sayers and Pat Venditte, the ambidextrous pitcher recently called up by the Athletics. Between games take a spin behind the Century Link Center and follow the footbridge to the Midwest Regional Office of the National Park Service. Inside is a small display of hands-on exhibits representative of Lewis and Clark’s journey, and a path leads to a pedestrian bridge that spans the Missouri River into Iowa.
BECAUSE YOu CAN’T GET ENOUGH BASEBALL In addition to the CWS, there’s even more baseball in town. The Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals used to share Rosenblatt with the CWS, but when the CWS got a new home so did the Storm Chasers, who left the city for more elbow room in a far-flung cornfield. Werner Park is 25 minutes from downtown, and the Storm Chasers hosts the Iowa Cubs June 15-17. The Lincoln Saltdogs play their American Association schedule an hour west of Omaha in Haymarket Park, which is also home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. They battle the Joplin Blasters June 19-21 and the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks June 22-24. If you’re willing to drive 90 minutes north, the Sioux City Explorers play the Saltdogs June 15-18. And of course the red-hot Kansas City Royals play in one of MLB’s best parks, a comfortable three-hour drive south. The Royals (named after The American Royal, the city’s annual stock show) tangle with the Brewers June 17 and 18, and host the Red Sox June 19-21. Be sure to fill up on barbecue (Gates, Arthur Bryant’s, Joe’s Kansas City) before heading back to Omaha.
ADDITIONAL EXPLORATION Off day? Head west on Dodge for a visit to Boys Town. Check out the world’s largest ball of stamps and the Academy Award Spencer Tracy won for his portrayal of Father Flanagan in the 1938 movie of the same name. Father Flanagan, in the process of canonization for sainthood, is interred on campus. FUN FACT: Dodge Street (Highway 6) bisects Omaha. Head east, and it takes you to Provincetown, Mass., on the curl of Cape Cod. West, to Bishop, Calif.
West on Highway 6, turn north on 168th Street, an immediate left on Burt, then north onto Old Lincoln Highway to enjoy the longest remaining stretch of America’s first transcontinental road. Ride the original brick for three miles, and commemorate your journey by pounding a Lincoln penny into the wooden bench at the corner of 203rd (pennies, nails and hammer provided). Get a taste of the wide open spaces at Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park and Wildlife Safari (30 minutes west of Omaha), and weave your car through herds of bison and elk. Detour on the return trip to the small, but free, AK-SAR-BEN Aquarium and get face-to-snout with the Missouri River’s wonderfully bizarre Paddlefish. FUN FACT: AK-SAR-BEN is Nebraska spelled
backward. So, get out of downtown. Hear some live music. Eat a steak. And of course, pray that the wind is blowing out. The Desert Dome highlights one of the world’s best zoos
ROCK ONWARD Perhaps Omaha’s best-kept secret (and let’s keep it that way) is its music scene. Conveniently located about halfway between Denver and Chicago, the city is a pit stop for acts traveling by station wagon and tour bus alike. I’ve shaken Justin Timberlake’s hand (I blame him for giving me the flu) and have enjoyed many a show from touring road warriors with a crowd of several in area basements. The Slowdown is adjacent to TD Ameritrade, and has free shows featuring local musicians throughout the CWS. The Waiting Room and The Reverb Lounge in Benson host national touring acts. With most shows starting at 9, there should be time to catch the headliner after the last out at the ballpark. And there always seems to be a band playing late at O’Leavers (with tiki bar!). Visit their Facebook page to see what’s up. For the best musical options, check in daily at lazy-i.com. 2015 College World Series • 11
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