Here's our weekly look at how the races for national seeds, regional hosts and at-large bids are shaping up. One thing is obvious: It's not easy to get to 64 teams. Division I lacks a deep pool of teams with quality at-large resumes. It's almost inevitable that one, two or three teams will get in that don't deserve to get in.

The NCAA doesn't release its official Ratings Percentage Index report until Tuesday afternoon, so we'll use the updated RPI rankings at WarrenNolan.com, whose Nitty Gritty Report includes detailed schedule breakdowns for every team in the top 105, plus all additional conference leaders. But we'll also consult the RPI Needs Report at boydsworld.com, keeping in mind that the RPI figures at WarrenNolan and Boyd's have slight variances.

We'll discuss at-large chances in a bit, but let's start with a look at which teams are on track to earn national seeds and which are on track to host regionals after the first 13 weeks of the season:

National seeds

SECURE TEAMS: Texas, Virginia, Arizona State, Florida

ON THE BUBBLE (IN): South Carolina, Coastal Carolina, UCLA, Louisville

ON THE BUBBLE (OUT): Cal State Fullerton, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Auburn, Arkansas, Miami, Texas Christian

One change from last week: South Carolina replaces Arkansas as a national seed after sweeping the Razorbacks in Fayetteville. South Carolina is now very close to a lock for a national seed, even with an RPI outside the top eight (14th). The Gamecocks can probably even afford to lose their home series against Florida this weekend and still earn a national seed, provided they are not swept. South Carolina and Florida are three games ahead of any other team in the league, and the Gamecocks have lost only one SEC series all season. They also have a sterling 19-8 record against the RPI top 50, which offsets their 13 games against teams outside the top 200. [...] Continue Reading »

Baseball America has learned that Cal State Fullerton junior center fielder Gary Brown will be sidelined for a couple of weeks with a broken middle finger on his left hand, which he suffered while sliding into second base in the fourth inning Sunday against Long Beach State. Brown had two more at-bats after sustaining the injury and was retired on two bunt attempts.

Brown, a leading candidate for the national Player of the Year award, leads the Big West in batting (.438), on-base percentage (.485), slugging (.695), runs (62), hits (92), triples (eight) and stolen bases (31).

The break, to Brown's non-throwing hand, will not require surgery or pins to be inserted. He will be re-evaluated by a hand specialist in a couple of weeks. [...] Continue Reading »

Strike One: Wild Weekend Roundup

Week 12 in college baseball was chock full of memorable individual performances and eyebrow-raising games. Here's a roundup:

• Florida International middle infielder Garrett Wittels extended his hitting streak to 45 games in a sweep of South Alabama. Wittels' streak is tied for third-longest in Division I history; Arizona State's Roger Schmuck hit in 45 straight games in 1971. Next up: Wichita State's Phil Stephenson, who hit in 47 straight in 1981. The record, of course, belongs to Oklahoma State's Robin Ventura, who hit in 58 straight in 1987.

• Here's another impressive streak: Vanderbilt sophomore third baseman Jason Esposito has reached base safely in 15 consecutive plate appearances, breaking Tim Brecht's 27-year-old school record. Esposito went 5-for-5 on Saturday against Mississippi State, then had a double and tied a school record with five walks on Sunday.

• Oregon catcher Eddie Rodriguez hit for the cycle Sunday against East Tennessee State. He completed the cycle with a home run to right-center field in the bottom of the eighth inning of Oregon's 17-7 win.

• St. John's freshman outfielder Jeremy Baltz blasted four home runs and drove in seven in an upset of Louisville on Friday. In the process, he broke the school records for most homers (18) and RBIs (68) in a season. A lock for first-team freshman All-America honors, Baltz is hitting .412/.487/.784. [...] Continue Reading »

Showdown of the day:

South Carolina clinched a huge road series with a 5-0 win at Arkansas. Jr. RHP Sam Dyson (9 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K) threw a complete-game shutout for the Gamecocks, who suddenly are back in fine shape for a national seed. The Razorbacks, meanwhile, have now lost three of their last four series. That series next weekend at Vanderbilt has become must-win for the Hogs to have a shot at snagging a national seed.

Other showdowns:

• Virginia swept a doubleheader against North Carolina, 3-2 and 5-1
• Arizona State over Arizona, 12-4
• Coastal Carolina over Liberty, 7-1, to clinch the series
• Miami over Georgia Tech, 9-2, to even the series. Tech replaced Brandon Cumpton with Mark Pope in the Saturday starter spot; didn't work, as Pope took his first loss of the season.
• Kentucky over Louisiana State, 9-4, to clinch the series. People are starting to ask:  crazy as it sounds, is LSU in legitimate danger of missing the SEC and/or NCAA tournament? Right now, the Tigers are 12-14 in the league, tied with Tennessee for seventh place—just a game ahead of Kentucky and Alabama. Unbelievable slide for LSU, which was 11-4 in the conference on April 18.
• Auburn over Tennessee, 18-0, to even the series
• Southern Mississippi and Rice split a doubleheader in Houston. USM won the first game, 11-10, holding off a furious Rice ralley (eight runs in the eighth). The Owls cruised to a 10-2 win in the nightcap.
• Washington State over Stanford, 4-2, to even the series
• Kansas over Kansas State, 7-3, to even the series
• Oregon State over Washington, 7-3, to clinch the series. The Beavers have likely surged right back into the field of 64.
• Centenary over Oral Roberts, 17-7, to give the Gents a 2-0 lead in the four-game series
• Louisiana-Lafayette over Western Kentucky, 12-5, to even the series [...] Continue Reading »

Showdown of the day:

Sr. RHP Blake Cooper (7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) and South Carolina three relievers stymied Arkansas' high-powered offense in a 3-2 road win for the Gamecocks. South Carolina broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh on So. OF Jackie Bradley Jr.'s RBI double.

Other showdowns:

• Georgia Tech over Miami, 14-3
• Coastal Carolina over Liberty, 5-2
• Kansas State over Kansas, 5-4
• Mississippi over Alabama, 5-4
• Kentucky over Louisiana State, 11-9, on Lance Ray's walk-off three-run homer in the ninth
• Stanford over Washington State
• Oregon State over Washington [...] Continue Reading »

Showdown of the day:

Texas Christian got four hits from Matt Curry and five RBIs from Jantzen Witte in a 10-5 against Southland Conference leader Texas State. Trent Appleby picked up the win with 4.1 scoreless innings of relief for TCU, which needs a strong finish to make a push for a national seed.

Other showdowns:

• Florida over Florida Atlantic, 7-3
• North Carolina over College of Charleston, 10-0, giving the Tar Heels eight straight wins heading into their showdown at Virginia
• Michigan State over Michigan, 13-10
• Texas A&M over Centenary, 15-3
• Tennessee over Middle Tennessee State, 12-7, continuing the Volunteers' late surge. The Vols have won six straight and nine of 10. [...] Continue Reading »

Showdown of the day:

Vanderbilt beat Louisville, 11-10, on Jason Esposito's walk-off solo homer in the 17th inning, ending a five-hour, 33-minute marathon. The Commodores erased an early 5-0 deficit with six runs in the third, and when Louisville broke a 6-6 tie with two runs in the ninth, Vandy answered with two of its own in the bottom of the frame to force extra innings. The Cardinals struck again with two runs in the 14th, and again Vandy answered with two to extend the game, setting up Esposito's heroics.

Other showdowns:

• UC Irvine over UCLA, 2-1, giving the Anteaters a much-needed win over a quality opponent. Irvine improved to 5-5 against the top 50 in the RPI, per WarrenNolan.com.
• Oregon over San Diego, 13-4, halting the Ducks' four-game losing streak and the Toreros' eight-game winning streak.
• East Carolina over Elon, 7-4, dealing a bit of a blow to the Phoenix's at-large resume.
• Washington State over Portland, 6-5. The Cougars also have little margin for error, making this a very important win.

Upset of the day:

Oklahoma State thrashed Rice, 12-5, behind five RBIs from Davis Duren and four from Mark Ginther. The Owls have little margin for error if they hope to host a regional, and losing their third straight midweek game against a Big 12 opponent (and a middle-to-bottom of the pack Big 12 opponent, at that) hurts. [...] Continue Reading »

Mike Weathers announced his retirement at Long Beach State, effective at the end of the 2010 season. Long-time pitching coach Troy Buckley, back this year from a brief sabbatical in pro ball with the Pirates organization, will take over as the Dirtbags' head coach at the end of the season.

The 49ers peaked under Weathers earlier in the decade, going to back-to-back Super Regionals in 2003-2004, losing to Stanford and Arizona. They produced a string of first-round picks who have become major leaguers as well, led by righthander Jered Weaver (2004, when he was the College Player of the Year), shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (2005) and third baseman Evan Longoria (2006).

However, the last two years have produced disappointing results. Weathers had his first losing season at the Beach last year at 25-29, and this year's club is just 21-23 heading into tomorrow's meeting with Southern California. Weathers has a 309-198 record in this his 10th season as head coach, after nine seasons as an assistant to Dave Snow. [...] Continue Reading »

Here's our weekly look at how the races for national seeds, regional hosts and at-large bids are shaping up. The NCAA doesn't release its official Ratings Percentage Index report until Tuesday afternoon, so we'll use the updated RPI rankings at WarrenNolan.com, whose Nitty Gritty Report includes detailed schedule breakdowns for every team in the top 105, plus all additional conference leaders. But we'll also consult the RPI Needs Report at boydsworld.com, keeping in mind that the RPI figures at WarrenNolan and Boyd's have slight variances.

We'll discuss at-large chances in a bit, but let's start with a look at which teams are on track to earn national seeds and which are on track to host regionals after the first 12 weeks of the season:

National seeds

SECURE TEAMS: Texas, Virginia, Arizona State, Florida

ON THE BUBBLE (IN): Coastal Carolina, Arkansas, Louisville, UCLA

ON THE BUBBLE (OUT): South Carolina, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, Texas Christian, Cal State Fullerton, Auburn

Just one change from last week: UCLA edges past South Carolina for the eighth national seed. The Gamecocks still control their own destiny in this discussion. If South Carolina wins its last two series against Arkansas and Florida, the committee will not be able to deny it a national seed, even if its RPI remains outside the top eight (and the Needs Report says the Gamecocks, currently 20th, cannot climb back into the top eight). Even going 3-3 over those last two weekends might be enough. But losing a road series at Kentucky this past weekend was an unexpected setback, and coupled with the Gamecocks' RPI deficiencies, that series temporarily knocked them out of the driver's seat for a national seed.

UCLA moved back into national seed position with a road series sweep of Washington, rebounding admirably from a sweep at the hands of Arizona State the week before. The Washington series moved the Bruins into a tie for second place in the Pac-10, and their remaining schedule (Southern California, at Cal, Washington State) is very manageable. UCLA is in good shape in the RPI (No. 8), and has a nice 21-10 record against the top 100 in the RPI.

With Auburn and Fullerton surging, there are now 15 teams with plausible shots at the eight national seeds, and a lot can change in the next three weeks. [...] Continue Reading »

Strike One: Mean Green Machine

Dartmouth went 22 years between trips to regionals before getting over the hump last year. The wait was a lot shorter this time around.

The Big Green punched the first ticket to the NCAA tournament this weekend, winning the best-of-three Ivy League championship series at Columbia. Dartmouth will now appear in regionals in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1969-70.

Columbia drubbed Dartmouth, the Ivy's preseason favorite, 13-2 in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, but the Big Green is a resilient lot. Behind a huge day from freshman catcher Chris O'Dowd (4-for-5, 4 R, 5 RBI, HR, 2B), Dartmouth survived a slugfest, 15-10, to force a decisive third game Sunday.

O'Dowd, who leads Dartmouth in batting (.375), on-base percentage (.481) and slugging (.644), had two more hits in an 11-5 win Sunday, part of a balanced 17-hit attack that included at least one hit from all nine starters. Dartmouth was clinging to a 5-4 lead before breaking the game open with four runs in the seventh, capped by senior Brett Gardner's two-run single. [...] Continue Reading »

Showdown of the day:

In a series with major implications for the SEC West race and regional hosting positioning, Mississippi beat Arkansas 3-2 to even the series. Sr. RHP Aaron Barrett (8 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) was terrific for the Rebels, who did all of their scoring in the first two innings and held on for the win.

Other showdowns:

• New Mexico over Texas Christian, 3-2, to even the series
• Florida over Alabama, 14-8, to clinch the road series
• Kentucky over South Carolina, 2-1, to even the series
• UCLA over Washington, 14-6, to clinch the road series
• Vanderbilt over Louisiana State, 6-2, to even the series
• Washington State over California, 13-10, in the series opener
• San Diego over Portland, 5-1, to clinch the road series and stay unbeaten in West Coast Conference play.
• Texas over Kansas State, 17-2, to even the series [...] Continue Reading »

Showdown of the day:

You wouldn't expect 31 runs to be scored in a game started by Sonny Gray and Anthony Ranaudo, but that's what happened in Baton Rouge on Friday. Louisiana State stormed back from an early seven-run deficit and beat Vanderbilt 16-15 in 10 innings. Ranaudo (2.2 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 1 K) was shelled for the third straight week, and Gray (3 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 3 K) was hit hard as well. After the Tigers took a one-run lead in the eighth, Vandy tied it on Anthony Gomez's solo homer off closer Matty Ott in the ninth. That set the stage for Mich Gibbs' walk-off RBI double in the 10th.

Other showdowns:

• Arkansas over Mississippi, 11-4, as Drew Smyly (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) beat Drew Pomeranz (6.2 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K)
• Texas Christian over New Mexico, 3-2
• Cal State Fullerton over UC Riverside, 6-4, in the return of So. RHP Noe Ramirez (6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER) from a broken bone in his left hand
• San Diego over Portland, 2-0 [...] Continue Reading »

Western Illinois first-year head coach Mike Villano had to take over a program reeling from the death of his predecessor Stan Hyman, who died in September. Now, Villano's program is reeling again from the death of pitcher Devin VanBrooker, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in Macomb, Ill.

Western Illinois has canceled its series against Centenary in the wake of VanBrooker's death. Makeup dates for the Summit League series were pending.

"Devin's passing is a shocking, tragic loss. Words cannot describe how we as coaches and our players feel right now," Western Illinois head baseball coach Mike Villano said. "He was not only a standout pitcher, but a great teammate as well. I only knew Devin for a few short months but I am honored to have had the opportunity to coach him and get to know him as a person. We want to extend our thoughts and prayers to the VanBrooker family in their time of grief."

VanBrooker, a junior lefthander, was one of the team's top starters, going 3-4, 8.07 with 40 strikeouts in a team-best 55 innings.
 

Showdown of the day:

Louisville completed a two-game midweek sweep of Ohio State with a 10-8 win in Columbus. So. 2B Ryan Wright (3-for-5, 3 2B, 3 RBI) led the Louisville offense, and Jr. RHP Neil Holland picked up his 12th save with two hitless innings of relief. After the game, long-time Ohio State coach Bob Todd announced he will retire at the end of the season.

Other showdowns:

• Southern Mississippi over Mississippi State, 14-3
• Florida International over Bethune-Cookman, 10-4 [...] Continue Reading »

After weeks of fan voting online, the NCAA has announced its 25-man College World Series Legends Team. Members of the team who can attend will be honored at the CWS this year, in the final season of Rosenblatt Stadium.

The 25 players and three coaches were culled from a list of 95 nominees picked by the NCAA, the Omaha World-Herald and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. [...] Continue Reading »

Ohio State coach Bob Todd will retire after the season, the school announced Wednesday evening. Todd, 61, told his team he plans to retire after a 10-8 loss to Louisville this afternoon.

“I think I’m ready,” said Todd, the winningest coach in Ohio State history with 897 wins, in a release. “I always said I wanted a career and not just a job. I think I found that. I still feel good and I love this game because it has been a very enjoyable and prominent part of my life and that of my family, but I have always felt I’d rather leave this game too early than too late.”

The Buckeyes have won eight Big Ten regular-season titles and eight Big Ten tournament championships during Todd's 23-year tenure. They reached regionals 13 times. Todd was inducted into the school's athletics hall of fame in the fall of 2008 and was enshrined in the American Baseball Coaches Association hall of fame in 2009. Todd's coaching career has spanned 39 years, including 37 in Division I. He became the 41st coach to reach the 1,000-win plateau in February. [...] Continue Reading »

Showdown of the day:

Arizona State Fr. RHP Brady Rodgers (8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K) shut down rival Arizona to help the Sun Devils even the season series with a 13-1 win in Tempe. ASU broke open a 4-0 game with a seven-run sixth, capped by a two-run double by So. 2B Zack MacPhee and a two-run homer by Sr. OF Kole Calhoun.

Other showdowns:

• Portland over Oregon, 3-1, behind seven shutout innings from Fr. RHP Chris Johnson. This is Portland's best win of the season, and it allows the Pilots to carry momentum into their huge crucial showdown against San Diego this weekend.
• Rice over Texas State, 16-2, in the Owls' return from their exam break. Sr. RHP Jared Rogers pitched five shutout for Rice.
• Louisville over Ohio State, 6-0
• Louisiana State over Southeastern Louisiana, 9-5, snapping LSU's seven-game losing streak
• Clemson over Florida Gulf Coast, 14-2. The Tigers took three out of four in the series.
• North Carolina over Elon, 17-7
• Oral Roberts over Wichita State, 6-4 [...] Continue Reading »

Here's our weekly look at how the races for national seeds, regional hosts and at-large bids are shaping up. The NCAA doesn't release its official Ratings Percentage Index report until Tuesday afternoon (and it's only updated through Sunday's games), so we'll use the updated RPI rankings at WarrenNolan.com, whose Nitty Gritty Report includes detailed schedule breakdowns for every team in the top 105, plus all additional conference leaders. We'll also consult the RPI Needs Report at Boyd's World, keeping in mind that the RPI figures at WarrenNolan and Boyd's have slight variances.

We'll discuss at-large chances in a bit, but let's start with a look at which teams are on track to earn national seeds and which are on track to host regionals after the first 11 weeks of the season:

National Seeds

SECURE TEAMS: Texas, Virginia, Arizona State, Florida

ON THE BUBBLE (IN): Coastal Carolina, South Carolina, Louisville, Arkansas

ON THE BUBBLE (OUT): Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, Mississippi, Texas Christian, Cal State Fullerton

One change from the eight national seeds we listed last week: Louisville replaces UCLA, which was swept at home by Arizona State and is now just 8-10 since starting the season 22-0. Louisville's 4-0 week included an important midweek win against Kentucky and a sweep of Rutgers, helping the Cardinals climb to No. 5 in the RPI. Assuming the Cardinals can overtake Connecticut and win the Big East, they stand a good chance to land a national seed. But it's hard to see the No. 2 team in the Big East getting a national seed, regardless of how strong its RPI is. We're banking on a strong finish for Louisville, however. [...] Continue Reading »

Strike One: Small Conference Roundup

Our weekly Tuesday Stock Report has looked only at the conferences likely to receive multiple regional bids, so let's take a moment to examine the races in the leagues that are likely to receive just one bid even if the league favorites fail to win the automatic bids:

• In the America East, Binghamton swept a four-game series from last-place Hartford and took a two-game lead over second-place Maine. Maine, though, looks like the favorite to win the AEC's automatic bid. The Black Bears are battle-tested, having played nonconference series at Lamar, North Carolina and Oregon State, and they have the most talented pitching staff in the league.

• Charlotte is the clear favorite in the Atlantic 10. The 49ers lead the league by three games over Rhode Island, George Washington and St. Joseph's, and their potent offense should carry them through the A-10 tourney. Sidenote: Massachusetts is just 9-9 in the league, but the Minutemen received one of the better individual performances of the season in yesterday's 14-13 win against George Washington, as senior center fielder Brian Baudinet slugged four home runs and drove in seven.

• Preseason favorite Florida Gulf Coast is 17-4 in the Atlantic Sun, three games ahead of second-place East Tennessee State. This is the Eagles' year.

• After taking two of three from Ohio State this weekend, Michigan has become the team to beat in the Big Ten (especially with Michigan State fading fast). The Wolverines are tied for first place with—surprise!—Northwestern. If Ohio State ace Alex Wimmers is sidelined for any significant amount of time, the Buckeyes are in trouble.

• The Colonial is characteristically jumbled, with five teams within four games of first place, led by preseason favorite James Madison. The Dukes swept Delaware this weekend and lead the CAA by 1 1/2 games, and they must still be regarded as the favorites. [...] Continue Reading »

Showdown of the day:

Texas tied a Big 12 record with its 16th consecutive conference win—a thrilling 2-1 affair in 14 innings against Baylor. The Longhorns have won 19 straight overall, and their 16-game conference winning streak is the longest since Texas A&M won 16 in a row in 2008. The Bears got stellar pitching from righties Shawn Tolleson (8 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K) and Brooks Pinckard (3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), but Texas' arms were even better. Jr. RHP Cole Green (8.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) extended his scoreless innings streak to 30.2 before giving up an unearned run in the ninth, and Jr. RHP Chance Ruffin (1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R) and Fr. LHP Hoby Hilner (4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K) followed with scoreless relief.

Other showdowns:

• No. 3 Arizona State clinched its road series against No. 5 UCLA with a 6-1 win. ASU's Merrill Kelly (5.2 IP, 1 ER) and Brady Rodgers (3.1 IP, 0 R) got all the support they'd need in the Sun Devils' four-run first.
• No. 6 Florida earned two wins against No. 15 Louisiana State, 7-3 and 8-5 (in the resumption of Friday's suspended game). The Tigers have lost six straight games.
• Kansas State over Oklahoma, 14-9, to even the series in Norman
• Connecticut and Pittsburn split a doubleheader at Pitt. UConn won the first game, 11-7, and Pitt won the second, 13-4.
• Oregon over Washington State, 6-0, to even the series in Eugene
• California over Oregon State, 14-3, to clinch the series
• Virginia Tech over Boston College, 3-1, to clinch the series [...] Continue Reading »