Previewing the Los Angeles Regional
By Mike Vamosi
Pac 12 regular season co-champion UCLA Bruins will be hosting an NCAA Regional at Jackie Robinson Stadium for the third straight season. In addition to hosting the Bruins are the number two national seed in the tournament and the winner of this regional will face whoever comes out of the College Station Regional hosted by Texas A&M.
Making up the regional with the host Bruins is two seed San Diego Toreros from the West Coast Conference, three seed New Mexico Lobos of the Mountain West and four seed Creighton Bluejays of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Record: 42-14, 20-10 Pacific 12 Conference
Tournament Appearances/Last: 18/2011
Head Coach: John Savage (8th season)
Top Pitcher(s): Adam Plutko 9-3/2.79 ERA, Grant Watson 9-2/4.41 ERA, Nick Vander Tuig 8-3/4.94 and Scott Griggs 3-1 with 15 saves/2.27 ERA
Top Hitter(s): Jeff Galalich .367 AVG/79 H/9 HR/39 RBI/116 TB/15-of-19 SB/ATT, Cody Keefer .338 AVG/73 H/0 HR/34 RBI/86 TB/11 Doubles, Beau Amaral .313/73 H/4 HR/43 RBI/103 TB/12-of-18 SB/ATT
Notes: UCLA has 22-10 home record this season and is 19-4 on the road but will play at home until the College World Series should they advance … Against teams in the tourney the Bruins beat Purdue, Cal State Fullerton, Pepperdine, Stanford, Oregon State, Arizona, Oregon and Baylor … Entering the tournament they’ve won 14 out of their last 16 games … As a team they are hitting .310 and have a team ERA of 3.26.
Record: 40-15/15-9 West Coast Conference
Tournament Appearances/Last: 7/2010
Head Coach: Rich Hill (14th season)
Top Pitcher(s): Paul Sewald 8-3/2.83 ERA, Calvin Drummond 8-6/3.33, Dylan Covey 6-3/3.38, Michael Wagner 5-1 with 19 saves/2.50 ERA
Top Hitter(s): Kris Bryant .359 AVG/74 H/14 HR/57 RBI/136 TB/16 Double/2 Triples/.660 Slugging %, Corey LeVier .367 AVG/72 H/3 HR/31 RBI/96 TB/15 Doubles, Andrew Daniel .350 AVG/78 H/4 HR/45 RBI/112 TB/18 Doubles/2 Triples/.502 Slugging %
Notes: San Diego has never faced New Mexico or Creighton and is 7-19 all-time against UCLA … USD beat the Bruins 5-3 on May 6, 2008 in LA in the schools last meeting on the diamond … Against teams in the tourney the Toreros beat Sam Houston State, Oregon State, Vanderbilt and Pepperdine … As a team they are hitting .310 and have a ERA of 3.25 ERA … Finished second in the regular season to Pepperdine in the West Coast Conference by a game, both made the tournament.
Record: 36-22/18-6 Mountain West Conference
Tournament Appearances/Last: 4/2011
Head Coach: Ray Birmingham (5th season)
Top Pitcher(s): Gera Sanchez 8-2/2.45 ERA, Josh Walker 8-2/3.81 ERA, Austin House 7-5/2.92, Bobby Mares 1-1 with 5 saves/4.71 ERA
Top Hitter(s): DJ Peterson .418 AVG/99 H/16 HR/76 RBI/174 TB/21 Doubles/.734 Slugging %, Mitchell Garver .391 AVG/100 H/10 HR/57 RBI/163 TB/27 Doubles/.637 Slugging %/68 R, Josh Melendez .356 AVG/80 H/3 HR/43 RBI/119 TB/12 Doubles/9 Triples/22-of-23 SB/ATT
Notes: Third straight trip to the NCAA tournament … Rank fourth nationally with a .333 batting average and have the lowest team ERA (4.38) since the 1977 season … During their 9-game winning streak they’ve outscored opponents 115-39 … Against teams in the tourney the Lobos beat TCU, Fresno State, TCU and New Mexico State … Beat San Diego State 22-3 in the tournament finals, shared the regular season title with TCU who also is in the field.
Record: 26-28/6-14 Missouri Valley Conference
Tournament Appearances/Last: 10/2011
Head Coach: Ed Servais (9th season)
Top Pitcher(s): Ty Blach 6-5/2.65 ERA, Erick Mattingly 2-4/2.87 ERA, Shane Liska 2-4/3.42 ERA, Kurt Spomer 3-1 with 3 saves/3.62 ERA, Reese McGraw 4-6 with 4 saves/4.07 ERA
Top Hitter(s): Nick Judkins .308 AVG/65 H/1 HR/30 RBI/79 TB/7 Doubles/2 Triples/24 Walks, Chance Ross .296 AVG/63 H/3 HR/31 RBI/91 TB/11 Doubles/4 Triples/25 Walks, Mike Gerber .247 AVG/48 H/4 HR/35 RBI/74 TB/10 Doubles/2 Triples/21 Walks, Anthony Bemboom .255 AVG/1 HR/33 RBI/80 TB/15 Doubles/4 Triples
Notes: Creighton is 13-18 all-time in 10 NCAA tournament appearances, including a 5-12 mark since the schools only College World Series trip in 1991 … The Bluejays have 12 seniors and 9 juniors or 21 players on the roster with tournament experience 22 including pitcher Shane Liska who went in 2009 with Xavier … Servais is 4-6 with the ‘Jays in the postseason and is the lone coach in the program to make the tournament three or more times … Creighton winning the MVC tournament as the eighth seed was the lowest to win the tournament … The ‘Jays have hit 15 homeruns as a team with only one coming at cavernous TD Ameritrade Park Omaha … Against teams in the tourney the Bluejays beat Indiana State … one of three teams from the Valley to make the tournament joining Indiana State and Missouri State … As a team they hit .248 with a team ERA of 3.42.
Regional Schedule –
Friday, June 1st
3:00 p.m. (PT) – Game 1: New Mexico v. San Diego
7:00 p.m. (PT) – Game 2: Creighton v. UCLA
Saturday, June 2nd
3:00 p.m. (PT) – Game 3: Loser of Game 1 v. Loser of Game 2
7:00 p.m. (PT) – Game 4: Winner of Game 1 v. Winner of Game 2
Sunday, June 3rd
3:00 p.m. (PT) – Game 5: Winner of Game 3 v. Loser of Game 4
7:00 p.m. (PT) – Game 6: Winner of Game 4 v. Winner of Game 5
Monday, June 4th
7:00 p.m. (PT) – Game 7: Game 6 Rematch (if necessary)
There will be a live video feed available courtesy of the UCLA athletic department.
NCAA Baseball Bracket
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