The College World Series opens Saturday in Omaha. The Pac-12 conference will like all of us be watching the events on TV.
What happened to the Pac-12? Five teams qualified for the NCAA baseball tournament but none of them punched a ticket to the Series.
Oregon State- The Defending National Champions went quietly at home in Corvallis losing 7-6 to Cincinnati and 4-1 to Creighton.Now the Beavers are moving on with a new coach on the horizon. Pat Casey said he won't return to the dugout after a season off so will it be Interim coach Pat Bailey moving in the that job on a permanent basis? Will Pitching coach Nate Yeskie get an opportunity or will Athletic Director Scott Barnes look elsewhere?....stay tuned.
UCLA- The #1 seed in the tournament loses to upstart Michigan. The Wolverines won the Corvallis regional. Never had to play the Beavers in Corvallis. But they are coming together obviously at the right time. The Bruins hadn't lost a series all season and were the prohibitive favorites over an unranked Wolverines team. Check the highlights above. Michigan makes it to Omaha for the first time since 1984. The Bruins despite a 52-11 record come up short in what could have been a magical season.
STANFORD- Mississippi State was on a mission. They had such a strong desire to get back to Omaha for a second straight season and the Cardinal didn't match their intensity. The Bulldogs used impressive pitching to hold Stanford to three runs in 18 innings. 6-2 and 8-1 were the finals. "We are not done yet," MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. "This group is really player-driven. They have goals. They are still motivated from last year to get back and play the best they can in Omaha."
ARIZONA STATE- The Sun Devils had to go to Baton Rouge to try and get to the CWS. They got off to a rocky start losing to Southern Miss 15-3. Their bats came alive in the elimination game beating Stony Brook 13-5. Then in a crazy game against Southern Miss, ASU built up a 12-6 lead after six innings. But Southern Miss scores three in the eighth and four in the ninth to comeback and send the Devils back to Tempe 13-12. LSU beat Southern Miss 6-4 to qualify for Omaha
CALIFORNIA- The Bears trip to Omaha was going through Fayetteville and the Arkansas Razorbacks were determined to return to the CWS and avenge their loss to Oregon State in the 2018 finals. Cal got off to a horrendous start losing to TCU 13-2. A quick exit for Cal....in the second game Central Connecticut State was too much sending Cal back to Berkeley 7-4 the final. Arkansas will be back in Omaha opening against Florida State Saturday at 4:pm
Eight teams are in. Four from the SEC. Two from the ACC. One each from the Big 12 and Big 10. The Pac-12 won it all last year thanks to the Beavers. This year time for a little soul-searching and come back in 2020 with a resolve to return to Omaha.
Here is the complete schedule for the 2019 College World Series: