North Carolina is in the finals. CS Fullerton is a scrappy, never-say-die team, but they came to the end of the road tonight vs. NC in a one-run game. As I write this, Rice and the Beavs are playing for the other finals slot.
That was a scrappy CS Fullerton team, but they went about as far as they could go. Unlike many previous years, this Titan team had no players drafted in the first three rounds. They usually have two or three per year. It was a team made up of late round guys and locals, which is still pretty good, but not good enough to take it all... The drama now surrounds North Carolina. I didn't realize that the ENTIRE ACC has exactly ONE NCAA title in baseball! There's not much snow on the ground back there and I would have thought they had done better than that, but they haven't. The only ACC title in baseball was Wake Forest in 1955... BTW- Oregon State shut out Rice 5-0. The Beavers are interesting too. They've never done anything either and they're traditionally cannon fodder out here for the likes of USC, CS Fullerton, Stanford and Arizona State. Everyone has been waiting for them to fall flat on their faces for months now, but there's only a few games left. They're doing it the old-fashioned way: pitching and defense... .............JO'Co
That 3rd inning for Rice was ugly, the Rice pitchers couldn't get the ball over the plate, sort of set the tone for the evening. If the Beavers can beat Rice back to back then I like them to win it all. If not I still like Rice to win it all.
8) Oregon State 2 Rice 0 Not only did the Beavers beat Rice back-to-back, but they shut them out back-to-back. Do the Beavs have some pitchers or what? In the final inning, they emptied their bullpen and brought all the relief pitchers into the dugout, because they knew that Rice couldn't hit their closer and they were right. It reminded me of the King and his Court. Remember Eddie Faner (sp?) the softball pitcher who used to ask his outfielders to lay down while he pitched, because they wouldn't be needed? Neither Oregon State or North Carolina has ever won a title in baseball, so this will be different. If pitching wins championships, I like the Beavers chances... ..................DD
Yeah I remember seeing Eddie here in Houston one time. He didn't even have a full crew behind him. I think he pitched and simultaneously played 2nd and Shortstop or something like that. He could really make that softball do anything. Oregon State pitching was very impressive. I think they will win it all.