Florida State
Record: 48-15, 24-6 Atlantic Coast Conference.
Schedule: vs. Arizona on Friday at 9 p.m.
Coach: Mike Martin (1721-592-4 in 33 seasons at FSU)
Road to Omaha: At home, the Seminoles defeated UAB in the first game of the Tallahassee Regional and then beat Samford twice to advance to the Super Regional. FSU routed Stanford in the first game, scoring 7 runs in the fourth inning for a final of 17-1. The second game was postponed due to weather, giving the teams a day to rest before the Seminoles secured their position in Omaha with an 18-7 win.
Top hitters: INF Jayce Boyd (.389, 4 HRs, 21 doubles, 59 RBIs, 44 runs); OF James Ramsey (.382, 13 HRs, 12 doubles, 57 RBIs, 76 runs); INF Devon Travis (.310, 7 HRs, 22 doubles, 40 RBIs, 59 runs).
Top pitchers: LHP Brandon Leibrandt (8-2, 2.58 ERA); RHP Mike Compton (11-2, 2.86 ERA); RHP Gage Smith (5-0, 3.12 ERA).
Key stat: Florida State has an 8-12 record in opening rounds of the College World Series and a 6-5 all-time record against Arizona.
Of note: This is FSU’s 21st trip to the College World Series, the 15th under head coach Mike Martin, with an all-time record of 26-40 ... The Seminoles have the 11th most wins in the history of the CWS ... The Seminoles have faced Arizona five times in the College World Series, winning only once in the opening game of 1970 ...This is FSU’s first time as the No. 3 seed.
Arizona
Record: 43-17, 20-10 Pacific 12 Conference.
Schedule: vs. Florida State on Friday at 9 p.m.
Coach: Andy Lopez (917-512-1 career record as a head coach; 398-246-1 in 11 seasons at Arizona)
Road to Omaha: The Wildcats won the Pac-12 tournament and swept through the Tucson regional, topping Missouri once and Louisville twice on the way to the Super Regional. Arizona then survived a 10-inning contest against St. John's in the game one and punched its ticket to Omaha with a 7-4 win over SJU in game two.
Top hitters: LF Johnny Field (.383, 7 triples, 3 home runs), RF Robert Refsnyder (.354, 6 home runs, 61 RBIs), 3B Seth Mejias-Brean (.366, 21 doubles, 51 RBIs), DH Bobby Brown, .356, .555 SLG, 54 RBIs), SS Alex Mejia (.361, .494 SLG, 52 RBIs)
Top pitchers: RHP Kurt Heyer (12-2, 2.28 ERA, 7 CGs), RHP James Farris (7-3, 4.18 ERA, 3 CGs), RHP Mathew Troupe (4-1, 3.90 ERA, 6 saves)
Key stat: Arizona's .333 team batting average is tops in the Pac-12 and is fourth-best in the nation. The Wildcats also score an average of 7.5 runs per game.
Of note: Arizona and Florida State met in the 1986 College World Series championship game with the Wildcats claiming a 10-2 victory over an FSU team that featured Luis Alicea, Paul Sorrento and Richie Lewis … Arizona owns a 6-5 all-time record against FSU, the two schools' last meeting was in 1992 … Wildcats coach Andy Lopez was 13-15 against FSU during his tenure as the head coach at Florida (1995-2001) ... UA is 28-1 when holding opponents to four runs or less … The Wildcats are 37-4 when outhitting their opponents, conversely they're 1-2 when being outhit.
UCLA
Record: 47-14, 20-10 Pac-12.
Schedule: vs. Stony Brook on Friday at 5 p.m.
Coach: John Savage (274-205 in 8 seasons at UCLA; 10 seasons overall as a head coach).
Road to Omaha: Hosting the Los Angeles regional for the third consecutive season, the Bruins defeated Creighton, then New Mexico, and Creighton again, making it to the Super Regional for the third time in the last six seasons. The Bruins hosted their Super Regional against TCU, won their first two games, and made it to the College World Series for the second time in three seasons.
Top hitters: OF Jeff Gelalich (.365, 11 HRs, 10 doubles, 46 RBIs, 55 runs); C Tyler Heineman (.343, 1 HRs, 7 doubles, 27 RBIs, 41 runs); OF/1B Cody Keefer (.339, 0 HRs, 12 doubles, 36 RBIs, 42 runs).
Top pitchers: RHP Ryan Deeter (1-0, 0.94 ERA); RHP David Berg (5-3, 1.58 ERA); RHP Adam Plutko (11-3, 2.56 ERA).
Key stat: Seven of the current Bruins have already participated in the CWS in 2010. They won the first World Series games for the program, taking their CWS record to 3-7.
Of note: Co-champions of the Pac-12 with Arizona (also in the CWS), won the regular-seaosn tiebreaker due to the series victory over the Wildcats earlier in the season ... The Bruins have earned their second highest season win total (47) and back-to-back conference championships for the first time in school history ... Savage is the first Bruins coach to go to the College World Series more than once ... UCLA has won 19 of its last 21 games, including a current nine-game streak ... Seven Bruins have been selected in the 2012 MLB Draft.
Stony Brook
Record: 52-13, 21-3 America East. Schedule: vs. UCLA on Friday at 4 p.m.
Coach: Matt Senk (22nd season at Stony Brook, 621-289-3)
Top hitters: CF Travis Jankowski (.422, 78 runs, 11 triples, 5 HRs, 46 RBIs), 3B William Carmona (.399, 12 HRs, 62 runs, 25 doubles, 72 RBIs), 2B Maxx Tissenbaum (.389, 3 HR, 51 RBIs, 44 runs), LF Steven Goldstein (.344, 4 HRs, 34 RBIs, 36 runs), DH Kevin Krause (.335, 12 doubles, 40 RBIs, 38 runs).
Top pitchers: RHP Tyler Johnson (12-1, 1.94 ERA), RHP Brandon McNitt (8-3, 2.50 ERA), RHP Matt Gallup (4-0, 2.35 ERA), RHP Frankie Vanderka (3-3, 2.37 ERA), RHP James Campbell (5-0, 3.09 ERA).
Key stat: Willie Carmona is 18 for 34 (.529) with 11 RBIs in the NCAA postseason.
Of note: Stony Brook is just the second No. 4 seed to advance to the CWS since the Regional-Super Regional format was introduced in 1999. Fresno State did it in 1999 and won the title. … Jankowski, a junior, was drafted 44th overall in the MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres. … Stony Brook’s ERA is 2.99. The Seawolves, which have allowed just 220 runs this season, have five pitchers with a 3.09 ERA or less. … Johnson three-hit LSU as Stony Brook took a 3-1 win to open the Super Regional. Vanderka pitched a complete game to help Stony Brook clinch a Super Regional with a 7-2 win over LSU. … Stony Brook has scored the most runs of the four teams in its half of the bracket. The Seawolves have 468, followed by Arizona (451), FSU (427) and UCLA (384). … Stony Brook made the jump to Division I in 2000. … The most famous Stony Brook alum is Texas Rangers closer Joe Nathan, who has more than 270 saves since 1999 with the Giants, Twins and Rangers. He made a $500,000 donation to the athletics department to help fund a new baseball field in his name. The field opened in 2011.
- Tim Linafelt
- GM & Editor - Noles247