A quick snapshot at the rest of the competition
The College World Series begins tomorrow afternoon with Coastal Carolina taking on Arizona at 1:00 P.M. on ESPN. The bracket opposite of LSU opens up the tournament and while there’s no guarantee the Tigers make it to the championship series (June 21-22/23) we should at least get a cursory introduction to the teams that LSU could potentially be playing. Opposite of LSU’s bracket is one of the successful programs this century, Jay Johnson’s old team, the team that beat Jay Johnson’s old team and his current team en route to a national championship, and an ACC power that’s making its sixth trip to Omaha in the past 18 seasons.
#8 Oregon State
Record: 47-14-1
Team ERA: 4.30
Team Batting Average: .292
Team Fielding: .982
No conference, no problem for the Beavers. Oregon State played an independent schedule this year and are about as battle-tested as anyone left in the field. The Beavers won one more game away from Corvallis, 24, than they did at home with a 13-7 road record and 11-3-1 neutral site record.
The star of this Oregon State squad is shortstop Aiva Arquette who checks in as the No. 6 overall prospect in the draft. In what will be his only year in Corvallis, Arquette is batting .354 with 18 homers and 65 RBI while playing sound defense with just four errors.
Elsewhere on the roster, Gavin Turley’s a projected top-100 pick in next month’s draft and is the program’s all-time leader in home runs (52), and RBI (186). The Beavers might also have a future stud on their hands in the form of Dax Whitney as the righty led all freshman with 111 strikeouts in 71.1 innings. Oregon State’s also got championship pedigree as head coach Mitch Canham was a player on those Beaver teams that won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.
#13 Coastal Carolina
Record: 53-11
Team ERA: 3.21
Team Batting Average: .291
Team Fielding: .977
Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson might be the best 1-2 combination in America, but the Chants have arguably the nastiest, deepest staff in the country. Coastal ranks top-5 nationally in ERA, WHIP (1.187) and BB/9 (3.15%), and they’re “only” No. 37 nationally in K/9 (9.45%). If anyone’s got the pitching to carry them all the way to a championship, it’s Coastal Carolina.
Coming into Omaha, Coastal has three pitchers who have ERAs ranked in the top-75 nationally: Jacob Morrison (2.15 in 96.1 IP), Riley Elkhoff (2.90 in 80.2 IP), and Cameron Flukey (3.24 in 91.2 IP). They won’t hand out many free passes either, as all three rank in the top-75 in walks per nine innings.
While Coastal’s rotation is great, the bullpen might be better. Of their four top relievers by innings pitched, three have ERAs south of 2.61, and closer Ryan Lynch has an ERA of, not a typo, 0.59. Opponents are batting .195 against him, and he’s only been charged with two earned runs in 30.2 innings this season.
Ironically for all the hoopla about Coastal’s pitching, it’s catcher Caden Bodine who seems to be the best player on the team. Bodine ranks as the No. 38 overall prospect in this summer’s draft and the switch-hitting catcher leads the Chants in batting average (.335), doubles (18), and on base percentage (.470).
Arizona
Record: 44-19
Team ERA: 4.82
Team Batting Average: .285
Team Fielding: .978
If Arizona gets a late lead, their odds of winning are about 100 percent. The Cats are 32-0 when leading after 6/7 innings, and 38-0 when leading after 8. Tony Pluta has saved a program-record 14 games this season and hasn’t given up a run since April 1. Outfielder Brendan Summerhill is listed as the No. 19 overall prospect in this summer’s draft and is hitting a career-best .358 this season with an on base percentage of .477.
Arizona has the second-worst ERA on their side of the bracket, but the Cats are good about not handing out free passes. Arizona’s top-10 nationally in BB/9 and Wildcat pitching has only given up 41 home runs this season.
Louisville
Record: 40-22
Team ERA: 5.35
Team Batting Average: .305
Team Fielding: .971
Give Louisville baserunners at your own peril. Speed and chaos is the name of the Cards’ game as they lead the country with 171 stolen bases this season.
Louisville’s pitching isn’t great, but Patrick Forbes ranks third nationally with 14.6 Ks per nine innings. The righty is 4-2 on the year with a 4.36 ERA in 66 innings pitched. Jake Schweitzer has been really good out of the pen for Louisville as well. In 22 appearances, Schweitzer has a 2.15 ERA, a WHIP of 1.17, and opponents are batting .194 against him.