Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Nebraska has secured a regional home site. We'll see later if we get a super Eight national seed. If we would have beaten Kansas, I think there was a very good chance, but it may be sketchy now
Nebraska Regional Series Thread
- Thread starter Eric the Red
- Start date
Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Nebraska to Host NCAA Regional
Lincoln – The NCAA announced Sunday that the University of Nebraska was selected as one of 16 sites to host NCAA Regional baseball tournament action next weekend in Lincoln. The 2006 Lincoln Regional begins on Friday, June 2, with two opening-round games and could run through Monday, June 5 at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.
The 2006 season marks the fifth time in the last six years that Nebraska has been chosen to host an NCAA Regional and the fourth time since Hawks Field opened in 2002. The Huskers, who were 42-14 heading into Sunday’s Big 12 title game against Kansas, have won three regional titles at home (2001, 2002, 2005).
Tickets for the Lincoln Regional will go on sale on-line at Huskers.com, beginning at 5 p.m. Sunday, May 28. All-Session General Admission Tickets are $56 (adults) and $35 (Youth - ages 3-18; Seniors - 60+, UNL Students with a valid N-Card). Children ages 2 and under will be admitted free. Because of the Memorial Day holiday, the Ticket Office, located across the street from Memorial Stadium, will not open until 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
The 16 regional sites, with host institutions and records through Saturday, May 27, are as follows: Alabama (41-19), Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Arkansas (38-19), Fayetteville, Ark.; Cal State Fullerton (41-13), Fullerton, Calif.; Clemson (46-14), Clemson, S.C.; Georgia (41-19), Athens, Ga.; Georgia Tech (45-16), Atlanta; Kentucky (42-15), Lexington, Ky.; Mississippi (39-20), Oxford, Miss.; Nebraska (42-14), Lincoln, Neb.; North Carolina (45-13), Chapel Hill, N.C.; Oklahoma (40-19), Norman, Okla.; Oregon St. (39-13), Corvallis, Oregon; Pepperdine (39-19), Malibu, Calif.; Rice (49-10), Houston; Texas (40-19), Austin, Texas; and Virginia (46-13), Charlottesville, Va.
Tentative NCAA Lincoln Regional Schedule
Friday, June 2
Game 1: 1:05 p.m.
Game 2: 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, June 3
Game 3: 1:05 p.m. (Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2)
Game 4: 7:05 p.m. (Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2)
Sunday, June 4
Game 5: 1:05 p.m. (Winner Game 3. vs. Loser Game 4)
Game 6: 6:05 p.m. (Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5)
Monday, June 5
Game 7: 1:05 p.m. (if necessary – same teams as Game 6)
Lincoln – The NCAA announced Sunday that the University of Nebraska was selected as one of 16 sites to host NCAA Regional baseball tournament action next weekend in Lincoln. The 2006 Lincoln Regional begins on Friday, June 2, with two opening-round games and could run through Monday, June 5 at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.
The 2006 season marks the fifth time in the last six years that Nebraska has been chosen to host an NCAA Regional and the fourth time since Hawks Field opened in 2002. The Huskers, who were 42-14 heading into Sunday’s Big 12 title game against Kansas, have won three regional titles at home (2001, 2002, 2005).
Tickets for the Lincoln Regional will go on sale on-line at Huskers.com, beginning at 5 p.m. Sunday, May 28. All-Session General Admission Tickets are $56 (adults) and $35 (Youth - ages 3-18; Seniors - 60+, UNL Students with a valid N-Card). Children ages 2 and under will be admitted free. Because of the Memorial Day holiday, the Ticket Office, located across the street from Memorial Stadium, will not open until 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
The 16 regional sites, with host institutions and records through Saturday, May 27, are as follows: Alabama (41-19), Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Arkansas (38-19), Fayetteville, Ark.; Cal State Fullerton (41-13), Fullerton, Calif.; Clemson (46-14), Clemson, S.C.; Georgia (41-19), Athens, Ga.; Georgia Tech (45-16), Atlanta; Kentucky (42-15), Lexington, Ky.; Mississippi (39-20), Oxford, Miss.; Nebraska (42-14), Lincoln, Neb.; North Carolina (45-13), Chapel Hill, N.C.; Oklahoma (40-19), Norman, Okla.; Oregon St. (39-13), Corvallis, Oregon; Pepperdine (39-19), Malibu, Calif.; Rice (49-10), Houston; Texas (40-19), Austin, Texas; and Virginia (46-13), Charlottesville, Va.
Tentative NCAA Lincoln Regional Schedule
Friday, June 2
Game 1: 1:05 p.m.
Game 2: 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, June 3
Game 3: 1:05 p.m. (Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2)
Game 4: 7:05 p.m. (Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2)
Sunday, June 4
Game 5: 1:05 p.m. (Winner Game 3. vs. Loser Game 4)
Game 6: 6:05 p.m. (Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5)
Monday, June 5
Game 7: 1:05 p.m. (if necessary – same teams as Game 6)
Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Committee Set To Deal
NCAA tournament field will be revealed Monday
By Will Kimmey
E-mail this article
May 25, 2006 Print this article
The NCAA Division I baseball committee convenes Friday in Indianapolis and immediately will take care of the most important items on its agenda.
"We try to get all our food ordered for weekend and decide who the vegetarians are and make sure there are enough plates," said UNC Greensboro coach Mike Gaski, the only coach on the committee. "We actually get after it pretty good on Friday night."
The 10-man committee, which has discussed the field in conference calls each Monday for the last three weeks, will start trying to figure out whom to award the regional host sites and the 34 at-large tournament bids. First must sort out the 16 regional host sites, which will be announced Sunday at 3:30 p.m., and then fill out the entire field. The process takes all weekend, with the committee watching conference tournament games and making changes at late as Monday morning prior to the 12:30 p.m. bracket unveiling.
That job gets harder following a season that's featured as much parity and fewer favorites that any since the 64-team field era began in 1999.
"Without a doubt there's more parity," said Larry Templeton, the Mississippi State athletic director in his first year as committee chairman. "There seems to be fewer teams that are at the top that clearly have defined themselves as opposed to most years. There's just a clog of teams in middle, and it's who plays who on what weekend.
"You always say it's the most difficult year. We will spend a lot of time trying to pick out final 16 teams. Picking the first 16 is real easy."
The committee's methods for making those decisions often come into question from teams that get left out of the field after what they felt were deserving seasons.
California went 34-23, 13-11 last year and missed out while Pacific-10 Conference foe Stanford made it in with a 32-23, 12-12 mark. The Golden Bears had won their last three conference series, including wins against Stanford and at Arizona, a top 25 team. UNC Wilmington (40-19, 21-3) and Troy (37-21, 23-7) both won regular season conference titles but lost early in league tournaments and were left out. And Cal Poly posted the same overall and Big West Conference record as Long Beach State at 36-20, 14-7. Long Beach State played host to a regional as a No. 1 seed; Cal Poly didn’t make the tournament.
"I was devastated that Troy didn’t get in, and Wilmington won their regular season title and didn’t get in," Gaski said. "If you're (head coaches) Bobby Pierce or Mark Scalf, you ask what else could I have done? It breaks my heart as a coach in smaller league. I fight that battle.
"The only thing I can tell you is the sentiment was that those (that got in ahead of them) were most deserving teams."
The schools that felt jilted all featured a common trait: Ratings Percentage Index figures outside of the top 45. Critics felt RPI was the overriding factor in those decisions, that a mathematical equation exerted more influence that it should have.
"It's just one of tools which I use," Templeton said. "That’s the feeling of the committee. Unlike basketball, where you get to see so many games, we rely on advisory committees in each part of country to help members rank hose teams. I've got the SEC, Atlantic Sun and Sun Belt. What coaches on the advisory committee tell me gets as much input as RPI. What some people confuse is not only does RPI rank the teams, but we look at how did they do head-to-head with some other team we're comparing, road and home records, records against the RPI top 60, record in the last 10 games.
"This would be a simple assignment if we strictly used the RPI. We could walk in the room and finish quickly."
Templeton's own school, Mississippi State, should provide an interesting case study of this process. The Bulldogs finished ninth in the SEC with a 32-17, 12-17 record. But a top 40 RPI and the fact that nine SEC teams have made the NCAA tournament in each of the last two years give the team postseason hope. But an 8-16 finish, with losses in seven of their final eight series and a 9-18 record against the RPI top 60 could dash that hope.
"If you're an SEC or ACC team this year you better play well in the conference tournament," Gaski said. "This year, more than any other year, I would say making the NCAAs because you made the conference tournament is not a fait accompli."
If that viewpoint is held by the entire committee, it could represent a change in the makeup of the field. Teams from the ACC, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC earned 65 percent of the 34 at-large bids in 2004 and 2005 after meriting an average of 50 percent in the four previous seasons. In 2000, 20 teams from those conferences got bids to the tournament; in 2005, 26 teams from those leagues got in.
"The SEC and Big 12, and in the Pac-10 and ACC, baseball is really, really good and they invest a lot of money in their programs," Gaski said. "There's no power play. The committee is set up purposely to avoid that. It's too diverse for that. You've got a guy from the Ivy (Princeton senior associate athletic director Michael Cross), Big West (Cal State Fullerton AD Mike Quinn), I'm from the SoCon, a guy Siena (AD John D'Argenio) from the northeast (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference).
"But I'm after the growth of the sport. I'm after Elon and UNC Greensboro and College of Charleston recognizing that this is good for you (to spend money on the baseball program) and the investment is well worth it. That's where I think there's a real value to having more baseball coaches on committee. We can do enough homework and be on the field to see Winthrop has really good pitching and Troy's got a closer who can pitch anywhere."
In the end, the selections come down a numbers game.
"I don’t know that we ever put the wrong team in," Gaski said. "Does it mean we left teams out deserving teams? Yes. It's trying to get 55 teams in 34 spots."
IT'S GREAT TO BE IN THE TOP EIGHT
Since the NCAA tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1999, 66 percent of the teams earning one of the Top 8 national seeds have reached Omaha.
• Sixty-four percent won or shared a regular-season conference title, a figure that rises to 69 percent when factoring out independents
• Twenty-five percent won their conference tournaments, a figure that rises to 40 percent when factoring out conferences with no postseason tournaments
• Sixteen percent won both the regular-season and conference tournament titles, a figure that rises to 28 percent when factoring out independents and leagues with no postseason tournaments
• National seeds have won 86 percent of their regionals.
• Four national seeds were eliminated before the CWS in 2004, three of them in regionals.
• Twelve of the 14 teams (86 percent) to play in the championship game were national seeds, as were five of champions.
• Cal State Fullerton (2004) is the only No. 2 seed to win the CWS.
• Texas (2005) won as a No. 1 seed that wasn't a national seed.
• Arizona State (2004) is the only national seed to play a road game in regional or super-regional play (it lost in regionals).
• Here's a look at how the major conferences compare in how their teams have fared once awarded national seeds. The Colonial Athletic Association has had one team that was a national seed, East Carolina in 2001. ECU is now a member of Conference USA. Miami reached Omaha four times (in four selections as a national seed) as an independent before joining the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Conference
National Seeds
Reached CWS (%)
ACC
11
4 (36)
Big 12
7
6 (86)
Big West
4
3 (75)
CUSA
3
2 (67)
Pac-10
10
7 (70)
SEC
12
8 (75)
WAC
4
3 (75)
NCAA tournament field will be revealed Monday
By Will Kimmey
E-mail this article
May 25, 2006 Print this article
The NCAA Division I baseball committee convenes Friday in Indianapolis and immediately will take care of the most important items on its agenda.
"We try to get all our food ordered for weekend and decide who the vegetarians are and make sure there are enough plates," said UNC Greensboro coach Mike Gaski, the only coach on the committee. "We actually get after it pretty good on Friday night."
The 10-man committee, which has discussed the field in conference calls each Monday for the last three weeks, will start trying to figure out whom to award the regional host sites and the 34 at-large tournament bids. First must sort out the 16 regional host sites, which will be announced Sunday at 3:30 p.m., and then fill out the entire field. The process takes all weekend, with the committee watching conference tournament games and making changes at late as Monday morning prior to the 12:30 p.m. bracket unveiling.
That job gets harder following a season that's featured as much parity and fewer favorites that any since the 64-team field era began in 1999.
"Without a doubt there's more parity," said Larry Templeton, the Mississippi State athletic director in his first year as committee chairman. "There seems to be fewer teams that are at the top that clearly have defined themselves as opposed to most years. There's just a clog of teams in middle, and it's who plays who on what weekend.
"You always say it's the most difficult year. We will spend a lot of time trying to pick out final 16 teams. Picking the first 16 is real easy."
The committee's methods for making those decisions often come into question from teams that get left out of the field after what they felt were deserving seasons.
California went 34-23, 13-11 last year and missed out while Pacific-10 Conference foe Stanford made it in with a 32-23, 12-12 mark. The Golden Bears had won their last three conference series, including wins against Stanford and at Arizona, a top 25 team. UNC Wilmington (40-19, 21-3) and Troy (37-21, 23-7) both won regular season conference titles but lost early in league tournaments and were left out. And Cal Poly posted the same overall and Big West Conference record as Long Beach State at 36-20, 14-7. Long Beach State played host to a regional as a No. 1 seed; Cal Poly didn’t make the tournament.
"I was devastated that Troy didn’t get in, and Wilmington won their regular season title and didn’t get in," Gaski said. "If you're (head coaches) Bobby Pierce or Mark Scalf, you ask what else could I have done? It breaks my heart as a coach in smaller league. I fight that battle.
"The only thing I can tell you is the sentiment was that those (that got in ahead of them) were most deserving teams."
The schools that felt jilted all featured a common trait: Ratings Percentage Index figures outside of the top 45. Critics felt RPI was the overriding factor in those decisions, that a mathematical equation exerted more influence that it should have.
"It's just one of tools which I use," Templeton said. "That’s the feeling of the committee. Unlike basketball, where you get to see so many games, we rely on advisory committees in each part of country to help members rank hose teams. I've got the SEC, Atlantic Sun and Sun Belt. What coaches on the advisory committee tell me gets as much input as RPI. What some people confuse is not only does RPI rank the teams, but we look at how did they do head-to-head with some other team we're comparing, road and home records, records against the RPI top 60, record in the last 10 games.
"This would be a simple assignment if we strictly used the RPI. We could walk in the room and finish quickly."
Templeton's own school, Mississippi State, should provide an interesting case study of this process. The Bulldogs finished ninth in the SEC with a 32-17, 12-17 record. But a top 40 RPI and the fact that nine SEC teams have made the NCAA tournament in each of the last two years give the team postseason hope. But an 8-16 finish, with losses in seven of their final eight series and a 9-18 record against the RPI top 60 could dash that hope.
"If you're an SEC or ACC team this year you better play well in the conference tournament," Gaski said. "This year, more than any other year, I would say making the NCAAs because you made the conference tournament is not a fait accompli."
If that viewpoint is held by the entire committee, it could represent a change in the makeup of the field. Teams from the ACC, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC earned 65 percent of the 34 at-large bids in 2004 and 2005 after meriting an average of 50 percent in the four previous seasons. In 2000, 20 teams from those conferences got bids to the tournament; in 2005, 26 teams from those leagues got in.
"The SEC and Big 12, and in the Pac-10 and ACC, baseball is really, really good and they invest a lot of money in their programs," Gaski said. "There's no power play. The committee is set up purposely to avoid that. It's too diverse for that. You've got a guy from the Ivy (Princeton senior associate athletic director Michael Cross), Big West (Cal State Fullerton AD Mike Quinn), I'm from the SoCon, a guy Siena (AD John D'Argenio) from the northeast (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference).
"But I'm after the growth of the sport. I'm after Elon and UNC Greensboro and College of Charleston recognizing that this is good for you (to spend money on the baseball program) and the investment is well worth it. That's where I think there's a real value to having more baseball coaches on committee. We can do enough homework and be on the field to see Winthrop has really good pitching and Troy's got a closer who can pitch anywhere."
In the end, the selections come down a numbers game.
"I don’t know that we ever put the wrong team in," Gaski said. "Does it mean we left teams out deserving teams? Yes. It's trying to get 55 teams in 34 spots."
IT'S GREAT TO BE IN THE TOP EIGHT
Since the NCAA tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1999, 66 percent of the teams earning one of the Top 8 national seeds have reached Omaha.
• Sixty-four percent won or shared a regular-season conference title, a figure that rises to 69 percent when factoring out independents
• Twenty-five percent won their conference tournaments, a figure that rises to 40 percent when factoring out conferences with no postseason tournaments
• Sixteen percent won both the regular-season and conference tournament titles, a figure that rises to 28 percent when factoring out independents and leagues with no postseason tournaments
• National seeds have won 86 percent of their regionals.
• Four national seeds were eliminated before the CWS in 2004, three of them in regionals.
• Twelve of the 14 teams (86 percent) to play in the championship game were national seeds, as were five of champions.
• Cal State Fullerton (2004) is the only No. 2 seed to win the CWS.
• Texas (2005) won as a No. 1 seed that wasn't a national seed.
• Arizona State (2004) is the only national seed to play a road game in regional or super-regional play (it lost in regionals).
• Here's a look at how the major conferences compare in how their teams have fared once awarded national seeds. The Colonial Athletic Association has had one team that was a national seed, East Carolina in 2001. ECU is now a member of Conference USA. Miami reached Omaha four times (in four selections as a national seed) as an independent before joining the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Conference
National Seeds
Reached CWS (%)
ACC
11
4 (36)
Big 12
7
6 (86)
Big West
4
3 (75)
CUSA
3
2 (67)
Pac-10
10
7 (70)
SEC
12
8 (75)
WAC
4
3 (75)
Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
From OWH:
The Miami baseball team is in danger of missing its right-of-passage visit to Omaha for the second straight season, a drought by the Hurricanes' lofty standards.
They are becoming regulars, though, on the trip to Lincoln. It's not the annual stopover in Nebraska of which the Hurricanes dream, but they are at least better equipped for Haymarket Park the second time around.
"We know what to expect when we get there, me included," said 13th-year Miami coach Jim Morris, whose team lost at Nebraska in super-regional play last year. "If there's any plus to going there, that's got to be it."
Miami, at 36-21, is the second seed this weekend at the NCAA Lincoln Regional. It will play third-seeded San Francisco Friday at 7:05 p.m. after Nebraska and Manhattan meet at 1:05 p.m. First-round winners play Saturday night.
A year ago, Miami made its first visit to Lincoln. Nebraska's two-game sweep secured its third berth in the College World Series since 2001 and denied Miami an 11th CWS appearance in 14 years.
In fact, if the Hurricanes lose in Lincoln this year or next weekend in a super regional, it will mark the first time since 1990 and 1991 that Miami failed in back-to-back years to reach Rosenblatt Stadium.
Miami is making its NCAA-record 34th consecutive postseason appearance. It has won 12 straight regionals, including tournaments in Gainesville, Fla., four years ago and in Austin, Texas, en route to a national title in 1996.
Don't get Morris wrong, he's grateful to get another bid into the NCAA field after finishing fifth in the top-heavy Atlantic Coast Conference.
"I just don't understand why we've got to go all the way across the country, to be honest with you," Morris said. "Lincoln is not the easiest place in the world to get to, and it's a difficult place to play. I was very, very impressed with that environment a year ago."
The Hurricanes got Nebraska's best shot last year - both from the Huskers and their following. NU packed 17,011 fans into Haymarket Park for the two games, 3-1 and 6-3 Nebraska victories.
Morris said he remembers well the fans who sprinted from the gates more than a hour before the game to their seats on the outfield berms. Once the first pitch was thrown, Nebraska fans were vocal in their feelings of contempt for the Hurricanes.
"I don't think many of them were going to go out and wear green and orange," Morris said. "But we're used to that, too. When we go into Tallahassee, we see the same thing."
Gone from Miami are many of their stars from last year: standout pitcher Cesar Carrillo, electrifying twin brothers Paco and Danny Figueroa atop the lineup and All-America third baseman Ryan Braun.
Ace left-handed pitcher Scott Maine (10-3, 4.52 ERA) has recovered from reconstructive elbow surgery 16 months ago and a near-fatal car accident last fall. Maine will not pitch Friday against San Francisco, Morris said, potentially setting him up for a Miami rematch with Nebraska Saturday night.
Center fielder Jon Jay, who leads the team with a .351 batting average and 26 stolen bases, played at Haymarket Park last year. Closer Chris Perez ranks as one of the nation's best. But the Hurricanes often start four freshmen and one junior-college transfer.
No surprise then that they experienced a roller-coaster ride of a season.
Miami started 6-6 before winning 16 straight. It then lost 10 of 15 games and dropped ACC series to Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia Tech. The Hurricanes recently won seven straight but have lost five of their past seven games to start regional play.
Still, Morris said he believes his team is playing well at the right time of year.
It's a Miami trait made evident by the unmatched postseason success. In addition the 12 consecutive regional titles, Miami has won nine straight regional openers and 20 straight regional games against any opponent other than Florida.
"I know it sounds crazy, but I'm really not sure how we've done it, other than the fact that we've seemed to play well late," Morris said. "You would think it'd be just the opposite because of our weather.
"But we've done well at the end of almost every season. I think that's the case again this year."
• NOTES: Ace Nebraska right-handed pitcher Joba Chamberlain will start Friday against Manhattan. The Huskers' have not determined a pitching order beyond their opening game. . . . NU right fielder Luke Gorsett missed practice Tuesday to have his ailing back examined. NU coach Mike Anderson said the junior slugger will practice today and that he still hopes Gorsett is available to play throughout the regional tournament.
The Miami baseball team is in danger of missing its right-of-passage visit to Omaha for the second straight season, a drought by the Hurricanes' lofty standards.
They are becoming regulars, though, on the trip to Lincoln. It's not the annual stopover in Nebraska of which the Hurricanes dream, but they are at least better equipped for Haymarket Park the second time around.
"We know what to expect when we get there, me included," said 13th-year Miami coach Jim Morris, whose team lost at Nebraska in super-regional play last year. "If there's any plus to going there, that's got to be it."
Miami, at 36-21, is the second seed this weekend at the NCAA Lincoln Regional. It will play third-seeded San Francisco Friday at 7:05 p.m. after Nebraska and Manhattan meet at 1:05 p.m. First-round winners play Saturday night.
A year ago, Miami made its first visit to Lincoln. Nebraska's two-game sweep secured its third berth in the College World Series since 2001 and denied Miami an 11th CWS appearance in 14 years.
In fact, if the Hurricanes lose in Lincoln this year or next weekend in a super regional, it will mark the first time since 1990 and 1991 that Miami failed in back-to-back years to reach Rosenblatt Stadium.
Miami is making its NCAA-record 34th consecutive postseason appearance. It has won 12 straight regionals, including tournaments in Gainesville, Fla., four years ago and in Austin, Texas, en route to a national title in 1996.
Don't get Morris wrong, he's grateful to get another bid into the NCAA field after finishing fifth in the top-heavy Atlantic Coast Conference.
"I just don't understand why we've got to go all the way across the country, to be honest with you," Morris said. "Lincoln is not the easiest place in the world to get to, and it's a difficult place to play. I was very, very impressed with that environment a year ago."
The Hurricanes got Nebraska's best shot last year - both from the Huskers and their following. NU packed 17,011 fans into Haymarket Park for the two games, 3-1 and 6-3 Nebraska victories.
Morris said he remembers well the fans who sprinted from the gates more than a hour before the game to their seats on the outfield berms. Once the first pitch was thrown, Nebraska fans were vocal in their feelings of contempt for the Hurricanes.
"I don't think many of them were going to go out and wear green and orange," Morris said. "But we're used to that, too. When we go into Tallahassee, we see the same thing."
Gone from Miami are many of their stars from last year: standout pitcher Cesar Carrillo, electrifying twin brothers Paco and Danny Figueroa atop the lineup and All-America third baseman Ryan Braun.
Ace left-handed pitcher Scott Maine (10-3, 4.52 ERA) has recovered from reconstructive elbow surgery 16 months ago and a near-fatal car accident last fall. Maine will not pitch Friday against San Francisco, Morris said, potentially setting him up for a Miami rematch with Nebraska Saturday night.
Center fielder Jon Jay, who leads the team with a .351 batting average and 26 stolen bases, played at Haymarket Park last year. Closer Chris Perez ranks as one of the nation's best. But the Hurricanes often start four freshmen and one junior-college transfer.
No surprise then that they experienced a roller-coaster ride of a season.
Miami started 6-6 before winning 16 straight. It then lost 10 of 15 games and dropped ACC series to Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia Tech. The Hurricanes recently won seven straight but have lost five of their past seven games to start regional play.
Still, Morris said he believes his team is playing well at the right time of year.
It's a Miami trait made evident by the unmatched postseason success. In addition the 12 consecutive regional titles, Miami has won nine straight regional openers and 20 straight regional games against any opponent other than Florida.
"I know it sounds crazy, but I'm really not sure how we've done it, other than the fact that we've seemed to play well late," Morris said. "You would think it'd be just the opposite because of our weather.
"But we've done well at the end of almost every season. I think that's the case again this year."
• NOTES: Ace Nebraska right-handed pitcher Joba Chamberlain will start Friday against Manhattan. The Huskers' have not determined a pitching order beyond their opening game. . . . NU right fielder Luke Gorsett missed practice Tuesday to have his ailing back examined. NU coach Mike Anderson said the junior slugger will practice today and that he still hopes Gorsett is available to play throughout the regional tournament.
Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Husker Baseball returns to NET Sports
Friday looks like a perfect day for baseball. If you weren't able to get tickets to the NCAA Regionals at Haymarket Park to see the Huskers, watch the game on NET Television. Nebraska is the number 6 national seed for the tournament and this marks their sixth appearance in the Regionals in the past seven years. The Big Red take on the Manhattan College Jaspers, who last played in an NCAA tourney back in 1957.
Watch it live!
Friday at 1 p.m. CT live on NET1 and in High Definition on NET-HD.
If Nebraska wins, their next game is Saturday night at 7 CT. If not, they play Saturday afternoon at 1 CT. During the entire weekend, NET Sports will have live coverage whenever the Huskers take the field.
Friday looks like a perfect day for baseball. If you weren't able to get tickets to the NCAA Regionals at Haymarket Park to see the Huskers, watch the game on NET Television. Nebraska is the number 6 national seed for the tournament and this marks their sixth appearance in the Regionals in the past seven years. The Big Red take on the Manhattan College Jaspers, who last played in an NCAA tourney back in 1957.
Watch it live!
Friday at 1 p.m. CT live on NET1 and in High Definition on NET-HD.
If Nebraska wins, their next game is Saturday night at 7 CT. If not, they play Saturday afternoon at 1 CT. During the entire weekend, NET Sports will have live coverage whenever the Huskers take the field.
Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Seely's slam one of many great Haymarket hits
Justin Seely celebrates his grand slam inning as a stunned Richmond bench hangs their heads during Nebraska's 11-6 2002 super regional victory at Haymarket Park. (Ted Kirk)
Blast in 2002 super regional help establish mystique of Husker's home.
BY CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
Five seasons since their courtship began, Nebraska and Haymarket Park are still holding hands.
Together, the two keep putting up big numbers and monumental victories.
As they prepare for a fourth NCAA regional baseball tournament this weekend, perhaps they’ll recall when their relationship started getting steamy.
You remember the final game of their first year as a couple — right?
“I do remember some things,” Nebraska volunteer coach Justin Seely said earlier this week.
Like how his eighth-inning grand slam that June afternoon in the deciding game of the NCAA Super Regional against Richmond essentially clinched the Huskers’ second straight College World Series berth. (For other great games in Husker Haymarket history, click here.)
Oh, but the 5-foot-10 Seely remembers much more than just his dramatic swing on a 1-0 pitch thrown by the Spiders’ 6-5 closer Andy Givens, which gave NU a 10-5 lead in a game it won 11-6.
He remembers the chat Nebraska assistant coach Mike Anderson had with him before the contest.
“We were taking BP (batting practice) and he goes ‘You’re going to play today, but you just need to know that when we’ve had big games you don’t always show up. And we need you to show up today,’” Seely said. “It was a positive way of telling me ‘You’re capable of doing it.’”
Seely also recalls vividly how amazed he was that NU coach Dave Van Horn gave him the green light on the 1-0 pitch. It came after Givens had walked in the tying run and thrown five balls in his last six pitches.
“I guess he had a good feeling that the guy was going to throw a pitch that I could hit,” Seely said. “He did.”
Seely, a left-handed hitter, drove Givens’ fastball the opposite way to left, and a fan from Omaha, Matt Hammer, won a mad scramble to retrieve the keepsake.
But Seely never saw that scene, because he was wearing a teammate’s helmet that made him feel like a Little Leaguer.
“I broke my other helmet earlier in the year, so I’m wearing Marcellus Dawson’s,” Seely said, “and the helmet goes (down) over my head when I start running down to first base. I didn’t know (it was a homer) until I saw all the people jumping up and down out in the outfield. I swear.
“I don’t really remember much up until I got to second. I hit the bag and my legs went numb, and the next step I took my knees got weak. I almost busted my tail, but I remember the shortstop just sitting there with his hands on his knees with his head down. And I remember seeing Coach Van Horn, and he’s down the line a ways — that’s the most emotional I’ve ever seen that man. He slapped me on my (butt) so hard when I went by him. At that point, I couldn’t feel anything.”
Seely eventually woke up from his dream moment and traded a ball signed by his teammates for the one snagged by Hammer.
It would be fitting if that ball were displayed in one of trophy cases inside the NU baseball office located down the left-field line. But Seely thought it’d be in better hands with his mother.
She did, after all, give him a piece of motherly advice the night before the game.
Seely had a house guest before Nebraska lost to Richmond in the second game of the series. But with the Huskers facing a win-or-clean-out-the-locker contest the next day, Mrs. Seely recommended that her son not be as hospitable.
“She said, ‘You need to get a good night’s sleep,’” he said. “After the game, I gave the ball to my mom. I was like, ‘You’re right.’”
Seely’s grand slam was the second of his career, and put him in a much different light with Van Horn than did his first.
That one came in the ninth inning of a 2001 game against Creighton in Buck Beltzer Stadium. His blast, though, merely forged a tie, and the Huskers eventually lost.
“I get to the plate (after circling the bases) and they’re mobbing me,” Seely said of his teammates. “Well, I’m a little guy and they start pushing me around and I fall over on my face and almost do a cartwheel on the turf.
“Coach Van Horn rips me after the game. He’s like, ‘We’ve got a guy who hits a home run. So what. Big deal. All it did was tie the game. He’s doing cartwheels out here on the turf.’ I kind of had to bite the bullet on that one. That was kind of memorable.”
Compared to the romance he helped start between the Huskers and Haymarket in 2002, that was a lot more like a brief fling.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
Justin Seely celebrates his grand slam inning as a stunned Richmond bench hangs their heads during Nebraska's 11-6 2002 super regional victory at Haymarket Park. (Ted Kirk)
Blast in 2002 super regional help establish mystique of Husker's home.
BY CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
Five seasons since their courtship began, Nebraska and Haymarket Park are still holding hands.
Together, the two keep putting up big numbers and monumental victories.
As they prepare for a fourth NCAA regional baseball tournament this weekend, perhaps they’ll recall when their relationship started getting steamy.
You remember the final game of their first year as a couple — right?
“I do remember some things,” Nebraska volunteer coach Justin Seely said earlier this week.
Like how his eighth-inning grand slam that June afternoon in the deciding game of the NCAA Super Regional against Richmond essentially clinched the Huskers’ second straight College World Series berth. (For other great games in Husker Haymarket history, click here.)
Oh, but the 5-foot-10 Seely remembers much more than just his dramatic swing on a 1-0 pitch thrown by the Spiders’ 6-5 closer Andy Givens, which gave NU a 10-5 lead in a game it won 11-6.
He remembers the chat Nebraska assistant coach Mike Anderson had with him before the contest.
“We were taking BP (batting practice) and he goes ‘You’re going to play today, but you just need to know that when we’ve had big games you don’t always show up. And we need you to show up today,’” Seely said. “It was a positive way of telling me ‘You’re capable of doing it.’”
Seely also recalls vividly how amazed he was that NU coach Dave Van Horn gave him the green light on the 1-0 pitch. It came after Givens had walked in the tying run and thrown five balls in his last six pitches.
“I guess he had a good feeling that the guy was going to throw a pitch that I could hit,” Seely said. “He did.”
Seely, a left-handed hitter, drove Givens’ fastball the opposite way to left, and a fan from Omaha, Matt Hammer, won a mad scramble to retrieve the keepsake.
But Seely never saw that scene, because he was wearing a teammate’s helmet that made him feel like a Little Leaguer.
“I broke my other helmet earlier in the year, so I’m wearing Marcellus Dawson’s,” Seely said, “and the helmet goes (down) over my head when I start running down to first base. I didn’t know (it was a homer) until I saw all the people jumping up and down out in the outfield. I swear.
“I don’t really remember much up until I got to second. I hit the bag and my legs went numb, and the next step I took my knees got weak. I almost busted my tail, but I remember the shortstop just sitting there with his hands on his knees with his head down. And I remember seeing Coach Van Horn, and he’s down the line a ways — that’s the most emotional I’ve ever seen that man. He slapped me on my (butt) so hard when I went by him. At that point, I couldn’t feel anything.”
Seely eventually woke up from his dream moment and traded a ball signed by his teammates for the one snagged by Hammer.
It would be fitting if that ball were displayed in one of trophy cases inside the NU baseball office located down the left-field line. But Seely thought it’d be in better hands with his mother.
She did, after all, give him a piece of motherly advice the night before the game.
Seely had a house guest before Nebraska lost to Richmond in the second game of the series. But with the Huskers facing a win-or-clean-out-the-locker contest the next day, Mrs. Seely recommended that her son not be as hospitable.
“She said, ‘You need to get a good night’s sleep,’” he said. “After the game, I gave the ball to my mom. I was like, ‘You’re right.’”
Seely’s grand slam was the second of his career, and put him in a much different light with Van Horn than did his first.
That one came in the ninth inning of a 2001 game against Creighton in Buck Beltzer Stadium. His blast, though, merely forged a tie, and the Huskers eventually lost.
“I get to the plate (after circling the bases) and they’re mobbing me,” Seely said of his teammates. “Well, I’m a little guy and they start pushing me around and I fall over on my face and almost do a cartwheel on the turf.
“Coach Van Horn rips me after the game. He’s like, ‘We’ve got a guy who hits a home run. So what. Big deal. All it did was tie the game. He’s doing cartwheels out here on the turf.’ I kind of had to bite the bullet on that one. That was kind of memorable.”
Compared to the romance he helped start between the Huskers and Haymarket in 2002, that was a lot more like a brief fling.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
NET and Huskers.com Provide Live Video for Regional
Lincoln - NET and Huskers.com will team up to provide live television and video coverage across Nebraska and around the world on the Internet of the Huskers' NCAA Lincoln Regional baseball games at Hawks Field at Haymarket park this weekend.
Live coverage of all of Nebraska's NCAA Regional games will be provided on NET1 and in high-definition on NET-HD as part of NET Sports.
Larry Punteney and Adrian Fiala will call the action for all Husker games broadcast, with stadium reports provided by Matt Davison. In addition to the televised action, the game will be simulcast live for free on Huskers.com, the official web site of Nebraska athletics.
The coverage begins with Nebraska taking on the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Manhattan Jaspers, Friday, June 2, at 1 p.m. CT. The match-up will also be carried live nationwide on College Sports TV. NET1 and NET-HD will pre-empt programming throughout the Regional competition as necessary in order to provide live coverage of every game involving the Huskers.
"NCAA Regional Baseball" is a production of UNL Television for broadcast as part of NET Sports.
NET1 and NET-HD are part of NET Television, a service of NET. For a complete program schedule, visit NET’s Web site (netNebraska.org) and click on Television.
Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Huskers want to experience Omaha thrill again
Friday, Jun 02, 2006 - 12:42:38 am CDT
Huskers take next step toward a possible College World Series berth against Manhattan.
BY CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
Playing in the College World Series is one of those unforgettable deals that’s still hard for Ryan Wehrle to describe.
“It’s kind of unexplainable,” Nebraska’s sophomore shortstop said. “Being from Omaha, going out to that first night and getting a standing ovation from the crowd is something you don’t do every day. It kind of just gave you chills. Once you get that feeling, you want to get back there.”
That quest begins in earnest today when the Huskers take on Manhattan College in the first game of the NCAA Regional at Haymarket Park. (For a look at players to watch in the Lincoln Regional, click here.)
Rewarded with the No. 6 national seed, NU is one of six teams in this year’s field of 64 that advanced to the 2005 College World Series. Nebraska beat Arizona State for its first-ever win at the event, then lost to eventual runner-up Florida before being eliminated by the Sun Devils in a dramatic extra-inning game.
The Huskers made it to last year’s CWS by going 3-0 in their regional and then sweeping a best-of-three super regional from Miami. In somewhat of a strange twist, the Hurricanes are back at Haymarket Park as the No. 2 seed in the Lincoln regional and will open against No. 3 seed San Francisco tonight.
While a rematch with Miami might be anticipated by many of the fans who will pack NU’s home park, Nebraska has its focus on the Jaspers.
A year ago, with All-America pitcher Joba Chamberlain on the mound, the Huskers were pushed to the limit in their 8-6 opening win against Illinois-Chicago. No wonder Chamberlain will be starting again today.
“It’s important to let guys know the atmosphere that comes with a regional,” said NU closer Brett Jensen. “Every team here is going to be a quality ball club. You have to bring your ‘A’ game every day. It doesn’t matter if it’s the four seed or a one seed — you have to play your game. Everybody’s here for a reason. They earned their way.”
Nebraska got here by thriving against a tough schedule, then surviving a 3-8 late-season stretch that left it tied for third place in the Big 12 Conference. NU regrouped to advance to the championship game of the league tournament.
Manhattan, which won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title to earn its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1957, has won 11 of its last 12 games.
“We finished strong last year down the stretch,” Jensen said. “But at the same time, we were telling ourselves it’s a whole different season. Everybody’s 0-0 when it comes regional time, so it’s just about getting that one game at a time and trying to extend that season as long as you can.
“This year’s the same. We kind of struggled at the end of the Big 12 season, but at the same time we’re geared up for this regional.”
After all, the desired destination (Rosenblatt Stadium) is only about 60 miles east on Interstate 80. The Huskers have been in the CWS three of the past five years.
“Not a lot of teams can say that,” Jensen said. “It’s a blessing to compete in front of this kind of atmosphere and have a realistic goal of making it up the road and doing some damage up there.”
NU has five players in its every-day lineup who either started or played a big role at last year’s CWS — Wehrle, first baseman Brandon Buckman, second baseman Jake Opitz, catcher Jeff Christy and designated hitter Andy Gerch.
Chamberlain and Johnny Dorn also started games, while Jensen and sophomores Tony Watson (now an All-Big 12 starter) and Luke Wertz made relief appearances.
Wehrle said the playoff veterans make it a point to remind those who are getting ready for their first postseason what they’re playing for.
“We tell them what kind of experience it is,” he said, “(because) once you feel it you want to go back all the time.”
Nebraska could enter the regional minus its leading home run hitter, Luke Gorsett. The junior right fielder injured his back during an at-bat in the Huskers’ Big 12 Tournament game against Texas and sat out the championship loss to Kansas.
Gorsett, who’s hitting .350 with a team-best .646 slugging percentage, has been slow to recover, and coach Mike Anderson was contemplating leaving him off the Huskers’ active roster for this weekend. Bryce Nimmo is likely to replace Gorsett in the lineup and play center field, while Nick Jaros will slide over to left and Andrew Brown will move from that corner to right.
“It affects us, obviously. He’s a quality player,” Anderson said of Gorsett. “But we still get to put somebody else in the six hole. Somebody else will have an opportunity and hopefully make the most of it.”
Nebraska’s primary challenge will be to solve left-handed senior Chris Cody (11-2, with a sparkling 1.45 earned run average). Cody, who’s completed eight of his 12 starts, had one shaky outing in a March 15 loss to Miami, but his other defeat was a 1-0 decision against Fairfield.
Friday, Jun 02, 2006 - 12:42:38 am CDT
Huskers take next step toward a possible College World Series berth against Manhattan.
BY CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
Playing in the College World Series is one of those unforgettable deals that’s still hard for Ryan Wehrle to describe.
“It’s kind of unexplainable,” Nebraska’s sophomore shortstop said. “Being from Omaha, going out to that first night and getting a standing ovation from the crowd is something you don’t do every day. It kind of just gave you chills. Once you get that feeling, you want to get back there.”
That quest begins in earnest today when the Huskers take on Manhattan College in the first game of the NCAA Regional at Haymarket Park. (For a look at players to watch in the Lincoln Regional, click here.)
Rewarded with the No. 6 national seed, NU is one of six teams in this year’s field of 64 that advanced to the 2005 College World Series. Nebraska beat Arizona State for its first-ever win at the event, then lost to eventual runner-up Florida before being eliminated by the Sun Devils in a dramatic extra-inning game.
The Huskers made it to last year’s CWS by going 3-0 in their regional and then sweeping a best-of-three super regional from Miami. In somewhat of a strange twist, the Hurricanes are back at Haymarket Park as the No. 2 seed in the Lincoln regional and will open against No. 3 seed San Francisco tonight.
While a rematch with Miami might be anticipated by many of the fans who will pack NU’s home park, Nebraska has its focus on the Jaspers.
A year ago, with All-America pitcher Joba Chamberlain on the mound, the Huskers were pushed to the limit in their 8-6 opening win against Illinois-Chicago. No wonder Chamberlain will be starting again today.
“It’s important to let guys know the atmosphere that comes with a regional,” said NU closer Brett Jensen. “Every team here is going to be a quality ball club. You have to bring your ‘A’ game every day. It doesn’t matter if it’s the four seed or a one seed — you have to play your game. Everybody’s here for a reason. They earned their way.”
Nebraska got here by thriving against a tough schedule, then surviving a 3-8 late-season stretch that left it tied for third place in the Big 12 Conference. NU regrouped to advance to the championship game of the league tournament.
Manhattan, which won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title to earn its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1957, has won 11 of its last 12 games.
“We finished strong last year down the stretch,” Jensen said. “But at the same time, we were telling ourselves it’s a whole different season. Everybody’s 0-0 when it comes regional time, so it’s just about getting that one game at a time and trying to extend that season as long as you can.
“This year’s the same. We kind of struggled at the end of the Big 12 season, but at the same time we’re geared up for this regional.”
After all, the desired destination (Rosenblatt Stadium) is only about 60 miles east on Interstate 80. The Huskers have been in the CWS three of the past five years.
“Not a lot of teams can say that,” Jensen said. “It’s a blessing to compete in front of this kind of atmosphere and have a realistic goal of making it up the road and doing some damage up there.”
NU has five players in its every-day lineup who either started or played a big role at last year’s CWS — Wehrle, first baseman Brandon Buckman, second baseman Jake Opitz, catcher Jeff Christy and designated hitter Andy Gerch.
Chamberlain and Johnny Dorn also started games, while Jensen and sophomores Tony Watson (now an All-Big 12 starter) and Luke Wertz made relief appearances.
Wehrle said the playoff veterans make it a point to remind those who are getting ready for their first postseason what they’re playing for.
“We tell them what kind of experience it is,” he said, “(because) once you feel it you want to go back all the time.”
Nebraska could enter the regional minus its leading home run hitter, Luke Gorsett. The junior right fielder injured his back during an at-bat in the Huskers’ Big 12 Tournament game against Texas and sat out the championship loss to Kansas.
Gorsett, who’s hitting .350 with a team-best .646 slugging percentage, has been slow to recover, and coach Mike Anderson was contemplating leaving him off the Huskers’ active roster for this weekend. Bryce Nimmo is likely to replace Gorsett in the lineup and play center field, while Nick Jaros will slide over to left and Andrew Brown will move from that corner to right.
“It affects us, obviously. He’s a quality player,” Anderson said of Gorsett. “But we still get to put somebody else in the six hole. Somebody else will have an opportunity and hopefully make the most of it.”
Nebraska’s primary challenge will be to solve left-handed senior Chris Cody (11-2, with a sparkling 1.45 earned run average). Cody, who’s completed eight of his 12 starts, had one shaky outing in a March 15 loss to Miami, but his other defeat was a 1-0 decision against Fairfield.
Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Gotta hit boys
KansasHusker
All-Conference
WTF is this guys problem...where has he been all year!
KansasHusker
All-Conference
The webcast of the game is backed up like 30 min or so and stuck on the bottom of the 2nd inning when Christy is up to bat with a 2-1 count...technical difficulties. <_<