OMAHA—Minutes after Florida watched South Carolina celebrate its second straight national championship from the first-base dugout at TD Ameritrade Park, Gators coach Kevin O'Sullivan exchanged postgame handshakes with South Carolina's players and coaches, then turned to accept consolatory "congratulations on a great season" handshakes from a couple of reporters.

"We'll be back," he said. "We'll be back."

Indeed, the foundation is rock-solid for the Gators, who entered 2011 atop the national rankings and are strong favorites to be preseason No. 1 in 2012 as well. Florida followed its historically strong 2009 recruiting class with another banner haul in 2010, leaving the roster stacked with experienced stars like Mike Zunino, Hudson Randall, Brian Johnson, Austin Maddox and Nolan Fontana heading into next season.

"What a great team, what a tremendous team, classy organization," Gamecocks coach Ray Tanner said of the Gators. "They play the game the right way. You never like to lose games, but you like to play people like the Gators and coach O'Sullivan because you get after it and you play the game the right way. And you can rest assured he'll be back in Omaha time and time again."

The bright future provided some solace for the Gators—but in the immediate aftermath of a national runner-up finish, it was small solace. Florida has gone from winning a regional to reaching the College World Series to making the CWS Finals in the last three years under O'Sullivan, but the progression of the program provided little more consolation. [...] Continue Reading »

OMAHA—I took advantage of another 7 p.m. start time to play my annual round of golf with Doug Kroll of NCAA.com at Shoreline Golf Course in nearby Carter Lake—we've come to call it the Shoreline Classic. This year, we were also joined by Doug's co-worker, Matt Wickline. Like South Carolina, I am the defending champion, and like the Gamecocks on Monday, I had to overcome an early deficit, trailing by two strokes after nine holes. Like the last few innings last night, the back nine was full of dramatic momentum swings—Doug increased his lead to four strokes after 13 holes, then I surged ahead by two strokes with two holes to play. My short game melted down on No. 17, allowing Doug to retake a one-stroke lead. But I took the final hole, and our showdown ended in a draw, with Matt three strokes behind us.

Settling for a tie is never satisfying, but at least we don't have to worry about that tonight. Either South Carolina will be crowed national champion for the second straight year, or Florida will force a decisive third game Wednesday. The Gators showed plenty of character with their backs to the wall in super regionals against Mississippi State, but Mississippi State is no South Carolina, and the Bulldogs did not have Michael Roth on the mound, as the Gamecocks are expected to. After MSU's walk-off win in the second game of the Gainesville Super Regional, the Gators were "almost ticked off and mad" in the post-game press conference, according to Matthew Stevens of the Starkville Daily News. After their gut-wrenching loss Monday against South Carolina, the Gators seemed shell-shocked and despondent. Maybe they'll put those emotions behind them and bounce back tonight, but they looked like they were already beaten Monday night, for what that's worth.

If this is the last day of the college baseball season, let me say that it has been quite a year. College basball has entered a new era, ushered in by less potent bats and a brand-new stadium for the College World Series. And after a slow start, this CWS has provided us with fantastic theater over the past three games, for which I'm appreciative.

I'm also thankful for all the coaches and players who have made college baseball fun to cover in 2011. Without further ado, here is a list of my favorite players to watch and interview this season—also known as the All-Fitt Team: [...] Continue Reading »

OMAHA—They have been dismantling Rosenblatt Stadium piece-by-piece for months now and Thursday morning the pieces were put up for sale.

More than a hundred people showed up in person—while who knows how many others sat at their computers and bid over the internet—for an auction that was conducted in two tents located just outside the front gates of the fenced-off stadium.

The auction was being conducted for the Omaha Zoo Foundation, which now has the land to use for expansion of the adjacent Henry Doorly Zoo. Money from the auction is supposed to help defray costs to build a small park—the “Infield at the Zoo”—that is to be built where the playing field is/was after the stadium is demolished.

Some 900 lots were put up for bid in an auction that lasted well into the afternoon. Everything and anything was sold: from home plate to a handicapped seating sign. From pitching mounds to the padding on the outfield wall. From drinking fountains to dugout benches. From bleacher seats to bathroom contents in the umpires locker room.

Prices ranged from $5 for some signage to $7,500 for the American flag flown outside the stadium for the last time. Winning bids came from all corners of the country, although an Omaha woman won the bidding for the flag, so it will stay home. An additional 10 percent auction fee was added to each item. In some cases, removal charges also were tacked on. [...] Continue Reading »

After my 6-0 start to our annual College World Series picks competition, I stumbled with two misses Tuesday but rebounded Wednesday by correctly picking Vanderbilt to beat North Carolina, keeping me unbeaten in that bracket. John Manuel is also 7-2, and now the action shifts back to the left bracket, where California and Virginia meet in an elimination game today.

The Golden Bears will start junior righthander Dixon Anderson, who has power stuff but has had an up-and-down season thanks to inconsistent command. Virginia eats up pitchers who are not fine with their location, so Anderson needs to be sharp Thursday. I like how loose Cal has been out here—coach David Esquer has done a great job setting the tone for his team, which is playing with house money as the biggest underdog of the CWS. But Virginia senior righthander Tyler Wilson (today's starter) is a proven big-game pitcher with outstanding command, and I expect the Cavaliers to rebound from Tuesday's loss to South Carolina with a victory against Cal. John is also taking the Cavaliers.

One other note: Florida announced today that it will start junior lefthander Alex Panteliodis against Vanderbilt and Sonny Gray on Friday. Panteliodis was outstanding over 5 1/3 shutout innings against Vandy in the SEC title game, but I'm still a bit surprised the Gators opted not to bring back ace Hudson Randall on five days' rest against an opponent of Vanderbilt's caliber, especially with Gray on the mound. Randall will be the choice if Vandy forces a rematch Saturday; otherwise he'll be plenty rested to start the opener of the CWS Finals next week.

OMAHA—Senior catcher Curt Casali hit a solo home run, his seventh of the season, to help Vanderbilt beat North Carolina 5-1 Wednesday night. The victory advanced the Commodores into the bracket championship against Florida, which it must beat twice to reach the College World Series Finals.

Casali was gracious enough to join us for a postgame video interview.

OMAHA—Eight games into the College World Series isn't a large enough sample size to draw definitive conclusions about new TD Ameritrade Park, but it does provide an opportunity for a mid-Series assessment of the new venue.

Among the upgrades at the new ballpark is a wider concourse that circles the ballpark from home plate to the outfield and back again, giving fans elbow—and breathing—room not afforded at 63-year-old Rosenblatt Stadium.

The concourse received a big thumbs up from fans Monday night when they took refuge there after a tornado siren sounded in the sixth inning of the Vanderbilt-Florida game.

It was actually for a high-wind warning. No more than 15 minutes later a big swirling wind came in from right field and stirred up paper and other debris unlike anything even the locals had seen here. [...] Continue Reading »

OMAHA—Travel complications conspired to keep me in town one more day, but it's not like I was hurting for something to do. It's Day Five of the College World Series and time for an elimination game between Vanderbilt, rocking the Clemson-cut pants, and North Carolina, which looks in pregame to be taking a page from Cal's stirrups playbook. (Of course, Texas A&M was all about stirrups, too, and went 0-2.)

OMAHA—South Carolina's Jonathan Taylor was fighting to throw from a lower arm slot since high school. But that was when he was playing middle infield.

Taylor pitched and played second base at Wilson High in Florence, S.C. He says he threw from a lower arm slot when making throws from second and dropped down when he threw his changeup from the mound. Otherwise, he pitched overhand, and his coach implored him to throw overhand on his infield throws as well.

"I felt comfortable throwing like that, and it seemed to be a pretty good throw most of the time," Taylor said, "but he harped on me throwing over the top and making an accurate throw. And I threw a changeup from a lower slot.

"When I got to junior college (at Florence's Darlington Tech JC), I got in my first 'pen and my coach said, 'You can't do that in college, they'll pick up on it.' So instead of changing the changeup, I changed the fastball and slider."

From sidearm in juco ball, Taylor has gone even lower as a senior at South Carolina. He and pitching coach Jerry Meyers have tweaked his mechanics from last season, when he went 3-2 with a 3.49 ERA in 28 innings. His slot is a bit lower, he's added some front-side funk and hides the ball better in the back. The result is a deceptive, submarine delivery that has made Taylor the most valuable middle reliever in the country. [...] Continue Reading »

Aaron Fitt insists on interviewing only players he can look down upon or look in the eye. So here's his postgame interview with Pac-10 player of the year Tony Renda, who had two hits in Cal's 7-3 elimination victory against Texas A&M.

OMAHA—This is what Karsten Whitson came to Florida to do: start in the College World Series. Strike out hitters like Vanderbilt's Aaron Westlake—who has 17 home runs—and help pitch the Gators to within three victories of a national championship.

Of course, if Whitson were writing the script, he'd have stayed on the mound deeper in the game. In fact, if most other college coaches were writing the script, Whitson would have had a chance to work out of a two-out, two-on jam in the fifth inning.

Not at Florida. Whitson, the Padres' unsigned 2010 first-round pick out of Chipley (Fla.) High, hasn't pitched more than 6 1/3 innings in a game all season. His highest pitch count is 92, and coach Kevin O'Sullivan pulled him after 83 Monday night. Gators reliever Steven Rodriguez wound up finishing the game, getting one fewer out while still registering more strikeouts (seven to five) and throwing just 50 pitches.

"I was just trying to keep us in it," Whitson said. "My slider was a little low in the zone the first couple (of) innings. Then I did a good job of changing my sights and bringing it up a little bit, and I was able to keep hitters off balance.

"I knew when Preston (Tucker) hit that home run, I had to put a zero on the board the next inning, which I did. Then Sully came and got me and brought in (Rodriguez), and you can't say enough about what he did today. So it was good for him to pick me up." [...] Continue Reading »

Well, Florida already has beaten Vanderbilt 3-1, which tells you a bit about my video editing skills. Still, this preview has our picks today. Aaron has improved to 6-0 with the Gators' victory, while I fell to 5-1. We diverge again in Games Seven and Eight:

OMAHA—Monday's winners' bracket game between Florida and Vanderbilt was suspended by inclement weather, with the Gators leading the Commodores 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Play will resume at 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday; ESPN will televise the action when play resumes.

The Gators jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Preston Tucker's massive three-run homer to right field against Southeastern Conference pitcher of the year Grayson Garvin in the fourth inning. The 'Dores got on the board in the fifth, when Anthony Gomez singled home Connor Harrell and knocked UF starter Karsten Whitson out of the game.

Steven Rodriguez took over for Whitson and was on the mound with one out in the bottom of the sixth when tornado sirens started blaring from downtown, at about 8 p.m. CT. Rodriguez got Mike Yastrzemski to fly out, and then the players were called off the field. A bank of black clouds rolled through the city, and hurricane-force winds caused debris to swirl throughout the stadium.

On May 13, Vanderbilt led Florida 4-2 in the sixth inning when play was suspended, knocking Vandy ace Sonny Gray out of the game. Florida reversed momentum when play resumed the next day and won 6-5. Both of these teams have extraordinarily deep bullpens, so neither team gains a distinct advantage from the suspension.

OMAHA—A little excitement was expected in the baseball game, but the weather provided it this evening at TD Ameritrade Park when an approaching thunderstorm accompanied by high winds interrupted the sixth game of the 2011 College World Series, with Florida leading Vanderbilt 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning.

When tornado sirens rang out just after 8 p.m. local time, fans immediately got up and began exiting the stands. Play actually continued as Vanderbilt got an out before umpires called the delay at 8:02 p.m. Many of the fans retreated to the main concourse, a touted feature of the new ballpark that earned a big thumbs up on this night. [...] Continue Reading »

OMAHA—Asking “What do you think about the weather?” is an innocent enough question to make small talk with the person standing next to you while riding upstairs in a crowded elevator.

Of course, when that person is Dennis Poppe, vice president for NCAA Division I football and baseball, you get a more in depth response than, “Looks like we’re in for some rain.”

When Poppe was asked about the weather about a half hour before Monday’s North Carolina-Texas game at TD Ameritrade Park, he reached into his pocket and produced a colorful map. It was a visual representation that boils down to this — severe weather is forecast Monday evening within an hour after the first pitch for the Vanderbilt-Florida game. [...] Continue Reading »

OMAHA—The weather forecast for the College World Series area appears dire, but we'll see if the thunderstorms and hail predictions hold off in our new downtown CWS home.

It needs to, because the evening's Florida vs. Vanderbilt tilt should be outstanding. It pits my preseason national championship pick with Aaron's, and it's the first pick we have disagreed about during this week's Series. We went audio over video for today's picks blog, so have a listen as we review the CWS to this point and preview today's games.

Here's the VandyfloridaPreview. North Carolina-Texas preview (which of course I should have done first!) to come soon. In the interest of having the picks out there before the games start, we both surprisingly pick North Carolina over Texas, while diverging on the evening's game. Aaron's got Florida; I've got Vanderbilt. We're both 4-0 to this point, but obviously at least one of us will no longer be undefeated after today.

UPDATE: Due to technical issues, we never got that UNC-Texas preview up. I'm sure you'll be able to live with it.

Much has been written about UCLA righthander Trevor Bauer and his interesting pre-game warmup routine. Not as much has been written about how Virginia lefthander Danny Hultzen prepares for a start. While he doesn't use a hacky sack or a "javelin," it is still entertaining to watch him warm up.

Hultzen begins to prepare for a start about an hour before game time. He starts off with some running to loosen up and then the fun begins. Before Hultzen starts throwing his normal bullpen session, he first goes through his delivery several times with a towel in his throwing hand. After that, he throws from his knees to a catcher in the bullpen. Hultzen's knees are angled about 45 degrees from home plate and he throws to the catcher from about 40 feet. Both drills serve the same purpose.

"They let you work on your mechanics without actually throwing the ball," Hultzen said. "Those things help you work on your stuff without putting that stress on your arm. That's why we do a lot of flat-ground work, because throwing off a mound puts that much more stress on your shoulder. Other than that, it just loosens you up and gets you ready to throw."

Hultzen's unique approach doesn't end there. On the mound, he has some unconventional mechanics—the first thing he does in his delivery is bend his knees, like he's about to sit down in an imaginary chair. [...] Continue Reading »

OMAHA—A couple of quick thoughts as we post the pregame video:

• Feedback on the new ballpark continues to be strong from players and fans in the positive direction. I suppose the news media might be the strongest "nay" vote on the new park. A lot of veterans that I've talked to in and around the media—and by "around" I mean others who help us do our jobs and are around the Series every year—continue to have our reservations. But I think that speaks more to our love of Rosenblatt Stadium and what it meant to us than it speaks negatively of the new park.

There's no doubt this place is nicer, and no doubt that it is more corporate. It's right there in the name. At the front of the old park, giant letters proclaimed, "Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium." Here, it's TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. The old place belonged to the city and the people of Omaha. This place belongs (metaphorically speaking) to a corporate partner and the NCAA. It's up to you if that's a good thing or not. But the park is indisputably nicer and pretty close to big league.

• We welcome feedback to our approach with video. We recorded this one on the gazebo porch at our hotel, which seemed like a good idea at the time. It's fun for Aaron and me to talk about the game but it's also fun to write about it; we can do either one. Thanks for the interest. I hope it comes through how much we enjoy covering this event.

• If you don't want to watch the video, we both picked Florida and Vanderbilt yesterday to go to 2-0. Today, both Aaron and I pick South Carolina and Virginia.

Without further ado, here's the picks video:

OMAHA—Old habits die hard.

Tom Trede of Treynor, Iowa, has been coming to the College World Series since the early 1970s. And so it was Saturday that Treynor found himself driving by the old ballpark on the hill.

“I went around the block by Rosenblatt Stadium this afternoon,” said Trede. “The gutters were full of—I thought it was water at first but it was tears coming from Rosenblatt Stadium. It was a sad afternoon. It was wondering where everybody’s at.”

They were three miles away, downtown at the new $131 million TD Ameritrade Park for the opening day of the 2011 CWS.

Trede, wearing a burnt orange Longhorns T-shirt and a cowboy hat with horns attached to it, joined the crowd for Saturday evening’s Texas-Florida game. He carried a sign that read: “Old Horns! New Stadium!” as he made his way around the outfield concourse.

“The new place is great,” he said. “It’s just not Rosenblatt. It’s changed. You’ll get used to it. I’ll get used to it. Everybody will.” [...] Continue Reading »

OMAHA—After his complete-game one-hitter against Baylor in the Big 12 Conference tournament, Taylor Jungmann was 13-0, 0.95. He was the very essence of consistency and dominance over a full season. He allowed zero earned runs in eight of his 16 starts to that point—going at least eight innings in seven of those eight outings. He did not allow more than three earned runs in a start all year.

Then the NCAA tournament started. Jungmann—a first-team All-American for Texas this spring and the 12th overall pick in the draft this June—has been perhaps college baseball's premier big-game pitcher since he was a freshman, when he shut down Louisiana State in the College World Series Finals. But in three starts in the 2011 postseason, he is 0-3, 6.23.

Jungmann allowed seven earned runs in 5 2/3 innings in a loss to Kent State in the regionals. He was better last week in super regionals, giving up just three runs (one earned) in 7 1/3, but he still lost against Arizona State. And in Texas' CWS opener on Saturday, he was downright erratic, giving up five runs (four earned) on three hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings, as the Gators erased an early 3-0 lead en route to a 8-4 win.

The moment it became apparent that Jungmann wasn't truly Jungmann on Saturday was in the third inning. The Longhorns put three runs on the board in the top of the frame—and Jungmann proceeded to walk Florida's No. 8 and No. 9 hitters to start the bottom of the frame. The Gators rallied for two runs in the frame to reverse the game's momentum. [...] Continue Reading »

OMAHA—Vanderbilt outfielder Tony Kemp went 3-for-4 at the top of the Commodores' lineup, including a bunt single and run scored in the first inning of the first College World Series game at new TD Ameritrade Park.

Baseball America national writer Aaron Fitt talked to Kemp postgame.