College World Series Notebook

by Aaron Fitt and Will Kimmey
June 19, 2005

Seniors Corsaletti, Hooft draw upon experience

OMAHA--Senior leadership figured to be a factor Sunday night. This is the College World Series, after all, and a giant, boisterous crowd was on hand to give players butterflies.

But Nebraska's six players with CWS experience and four seniors didn't make the difference in the winner's bracket matchup. Instead it was center fielder Jeff Corsaletti, the lone Florida senior in a starting lineup that includes five sophomores and a freshman, who went 4-for-5 with three doubles, three runs and two RBIs to lead the Gators to the brink of the CWS championship series.

"I heard about how cool this press room was, so I wanted to make a statement so I could see what it was like," Corsaletti joked after the game.

The senior leadoff hitter certainly made a statement by doubling in his first three at-bats, first down the right-field line, then down the left-field line, then down the left-field line again. Gators coach Pat McMahon said Corsaletti has pushed himself to get better since he arrived at Florida, and his ability to use all fields has been the most notable difference in his game this year. That's a big reason Corsaletti was able to rise from a 22nd-round draft pick as a junior in 2004 to a sixth-rounder this year (by the Red Sox).

"I think a lot of it has to do with maturity--I've just grown up," Corsaletti said. "I'm really focusing on my approach at the plate, seeing a lot more pitches and taking a lot more walks. In the beginning of the year I was batting in the two or three hole, and about 10 games in they switched me to leadoff, and I did that in high school and loved it, so I was comfortable."

As productive as Corsaletti's first four at-bats were Sunday night, it might have been his last at-bat that spoke to his true value to the Gators. With his team leading by three runs with one out in the ninth inning, Corsaletti hit a routine grounder to first base, but instead of jogging down the line he sprinted. Nebraska first baseman Curtis Ledbetter bobbled the ball, and Corsaletti beat him to the bag. The next two batters struck out, so Corsaletti's hustle didn't affect the game's outcome, but that's not the point. The Gators' senior leader made yet another statement to his teammates.

"Even the play late in the game, where he gets down the line as quick as you can and pressures the defense on a tough play--that's Jeff Corsaletti," McMahon said. "He plays the game as hard as you can play it. And I'm very proud to be his coach."

Back With A Bang

Joey Hooft got back into the lineup at the right time, delivering RBI doubles in each of Arizona State's first two CWS games after not making a start during super-regional play. The senior third baseman collected two hits and drove in the game-tying run in Sunday's 4-2 win against Tennessee.

How Hooft returned to the lineup is another question. Teammate Travis Buck urged Hooft to explain his return. "That you were scared to play third base?" Hooft asked.

"(Murphy) wanted to have me play third and have (Joe) Persichina at second," Buck said. "He said, 'What do you think?' I think we need his experience. Persichina coming off a big pinch hit (home run) against Fullerton, he's better coming off the bench. I told him to go with (Hooft), I'll play right field."

Hooft's experience came in two CWS trips during his three years at Miami. He left that program on good terms, but in search of more playing time after serving as a utility player. Hooft chose Arizona State on the recommendation of former shortstop Dustin Pedroia, and agreed to try playing a new position.

"I'm a second baseman by trade, and had never played third base before this year," Hooft said. "If a program is going to take a chance on me to come in as a senior transfer, I'm not going to be picky."

Hooft hit .327 through his first 15 games at Arizona State before missing a month with a hamstring injury. He struggled offensively upon his return and batted just .254 the rest of the way. He played through the slump until the super-regional, when Murphy moved Buck to third base and Jeff Larish to left field to get Rocky Laguna in the lineup as the right fielder.

"It's a tough thing for anybody to not be in the lineup," Hooft said. "But it's a team thing, and when you get back in there, you get your chance."

Hooft has made the best of this second opportunity, with three hits in six CWS at-bats to go along with three walks.

"I expected more out of Joey (during the season)," Murphy said, "but he's put it together at the right time."

He'll Be Here All Week

From ESPN crews conducting pregame meetings to assorted beat writers at postgame press conferences, it's hard to find a media member who isn't enjoying Arizona State's stay in Omaha. It's mostly because coach Pat Murphy continues to make each of them laugh.

Murphy even had his players laughing Sunday as they sat on the dais following Arizona State's 4-2 win against Tennessee. The coach said his team was struggling so much early in the game that he began making out his 2006 lineup and thinking about recruiting. The cackles grew louder when Murphy pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket and read off his '06 pitching rotation. He then referred to reliever Pat Bresnehan as a Neanderthal who rears back and fires fastballs with no clue where they're going, and he made light of DH Zechry Zinicola executing a successful hit-and-run by chopping a ball out of the strike zone for a single when no such play had been called. "He doesn't know the signs, but it's only 64 games into the season," Murphy deadpanned.

"What he does every day, he puts a smile on our face," junior right fielder Travis Buck said. "It doesn't matter if we're going good or bad. He takes all the attention off of us. Half the time, you know, he's messing with us. Some people take it the wrong way, but you've got to know his personality. He's a real nice guy when you get to know him and he cares about us."

Senior third baseman Joey Hooft said Murphy's carefree attitude, which drove him to have the team run through a prepractice stretching session at Cal State Fullerton in dress shirts, ties and shorts, helped the players relax during pressurized postseason situations.

"From the super-regional to here, I think we've played looser than (we would have) with a different coach," Hooft said. "He can be intense, but he also thinks he's a comedian at times."

ROSENBLASTS

• Both of Sunday's games counted as one session for attendance purposes, and the crowd of 26,813 ranked as the second-largest session attendance in CWS history. The overwhelmingly pro-Nebraska crowd did not faze Florida, however.

"The crowd was a huge factor, obviously, and it was awesome to have that many people in the stands and be part of the second-largest crowd in College World Series history," Florida second baseman Adam Davis said. "Coming onto the field tonight, I had to enjoy it myself a couple times. We talked about how you can use that, and it can affect people different ways. You can use it to your advantage and let it fire you up, or you can let it get in your head and get in the way of what you're doing. We let it motivate us tonight."

The big crowd pushed the attendance of 26,641 from Saturday's Texas-Baylor game into third place all-time and stands 1,313 fans behind the 28,126 that attended games between Texas and Georgia and Cal State Fullerton and South Carolina on June 23, 2004.

The first three days of the 2005 CWS have produced three of the 11 highest CWS attendance figures ever.

• Through six CWS games, no starting pitcher had gotten through the second inning before allowing a hit. Just two pitchers--Florida's Alan Horne and Oregon State's Jonah Nickerson--were able to post 1-2-3 first innings.