Aaron Fitt: Hello everyone, thanks for stopping by. Vince, the new, more spaced-out schedule really works to Fresno's advantage. The Bulldogs will be able to bring Justin Wilson back on almost full rest on Friday, and that's the guy they'd want against UNC or LSU, which both rely heavily upon lefthanded hitters. I think Fresno has a real good chance to wrap up that bracket on Friday. If things get pushed to Saturday, that's when Fresno's lack of pitching depth could be a factor. But then, Clayton Allison could be fully healthy and ready to go by Saturday, so maybe the Bulldogs are in good shape either way. One thing's for sure — they're playing very loose, like you said, and they are indeed very fun to watch.

Aaron Fitt: I think that certainly plays a role — West Coast teams are always very battle-tested by the time they get to Omaha. Of course, there were plenty of highly ranked and highly seeded West teams that got bounced before they even reached Omaha (Arizona State and Fullerton, for example, were both national seeds that failed to win super-regionals at home). Traditionally, the West Coast has produced the most national champions, but remember, this decade was largely dominated by non-West teams (Miami, Texas, Rice) until Oregon State came along (and yes, Fullerton had a title in there as well). And the West hasn't wrapped anything up yet in 2008, either.

Aaron Fitt: They certainly are in the driver's seat in that bracket, and any team that starts out 2-0 in the CWS obviously has a very good chance to win it all. Of course, we've seen teams start out 2-0 and fail to reach the finals each of the last two years (it was Rice in both instances), so nothing's certain. Stanford's playing very well right now, and the strong outings from Sandbrink and Davis yesterday spared the rest of that pitching staff. I still don't know that Stanford has enough arms to win two more in a row against Georgia, but the Cardinal are set up fairly well in the first game with Bleich starting and Storen still pretty rested. Georgia, of course, is in perfect shape on the mound and will be able to mix and match power arms to its heart's delight in order to wrap up that bracket Friday. I worry just a bit about the three-day layoff stunting Georgia's momentum, but certainly you still have to favor the Bulldogs.

Aaron Fitt: I don't know what Fresno State and Stanford have to do with the Big West and WCC, which combined to win just two regionals and failed to get a team to Omaha despite heavily hyped contenders like San Diego, Long Beach, Fullerton and Irvine. That's like saying Georgia's success should result in more respect for the SoCon, Sun Belt and ACC. Really, this West against the Rest mentality is getting old.

Aaron Fitt: Oh, they're good. McRee has got a big-time power arm from the left side; he's either going to be a boffo Friday night guy next year or a lights-out closer. Poythress has a lot of power and has done it with wood bats too, in the Coastal Plain League last year. Cerione is a nice, scrappy player who has come up big offensively down the stretch and plays a solid center field. That's a pretty nice core for next year's team.

Aaron Fitt: You'll have to wait until after the CWS!

Aaron Fitt: Well, he's only made one appearance so far, but yes, it was impressive. He's a legitimate three-pitch lefty with good command and firm stuff. The supplemental first round was probably the perfect spot for him to go — not a reach, not a steal.

Aaron Fitt: They do have some of that "team of destiny" feel about them. They kind of remind me of last year's Oregon State team, which opened the season in about the same spot in the rankings as Fresno (the Beavers were 16th, if I recall, and Fresno was 18th this year), then disappointed for about three-quarters of the year, then something just clicked. Pat Casey remembers telling his team going into a must-win series at UCLA the final weekend, it's now or never. They won that series and momentum just kept building and building, and they were a steamroller by the time they got to Omaha. For Fresno, something just clicked about six weeks ago, and like with the Beavers a year earlier, everybody just bought in and started doing whatever it took to win. The momentum has just kept building, and now they're a confident juggernaut. And like you said, team ball is the biggest single reason for this surge, as it was with Oregon State last year.

Aaron Fitt: Well, there's no way Stanford should have been a national seed. As good as the Cardinal were on weekends, they lost far too many midweek games, and those losses still count. I didn't believe Georgia should have been a national seed, but I would have gone with Oklahoma State, not Stanford or another West team. And Fresno, don't forget, lost 27 games in the regular season. They've got more losses than any team that's ever reached the CWS. They might have been more talented and dangerous than a typical No. 4 team, but their resume was that of a No. 4. They just got hot at the right time — that doesn't mean they were seeded improperly.

Aaron Fitt: Yeah, that's a hairy bunch. I think I'll go with Coach Perno... big hair's just not my style!

Aaron Fitt: I think I'll go with Drew Storen, who has terrific stuff at the back of Stanford's bullpen. Very impressive the way he got three straight outs to strand runners at second and third in the ninth yesterday.

Aaron Fitt: He's got the second-best stuff out here among starting pitchers, after Alex White. He'll run that fastball up to 95-96 and pitch in the 92-94 range with heavy sink. He'll show you a 65 or 70 curveball, just a hammer, and he'll flash an above-average changeup too, though he tends to be inconsistent with his command of both secondary pitches. He had his best start of the year in his last real start, a 13-strikeout masterpiece in a 2-0 win over Wake Forest in the ACC tournament. If he's on, nobody will beat him, but he struggled with walks for much of the year.

Aaron Fitt: I would say so, yes. Not that being "the favorite" has done any good for any of the other favorites out here this year...

Aaron Fitt: I would agree with all of it, except I would throw Stanford right into the mix with LSU for best power-hitting team.

Aaron Fitt: The crowds are down quite a bit from last year's record pace. After Day Four, I believe, the gate was about 6,000 fans behind last year's pace. And there seems to be a bit more malaise among many of the fans who do show up. A lot of the locals have whined about the event's Saturday start date — they liked getting off work Friday and making a four-day weekend out of the first set of games. And people around here don't much care for change. I'll be interested to see if the fans start to rally around Fresno State the way they rallied around Irvine and Oregon State in years past.

Aaron Fitt: Paul Mainieri wondered the same thing in th eighth inning against Rice, and the Tigers rallied for four in the ninth. I know this much: If I were UNC and I had a decent lead in the late innings today, I wouldn't feel too safe.

Aaron Fitt: Do you work for the Giants, Josh?

Aaron Fitt: No, if anything, Posey helped himself in Omaha with a fine four-hit game against Miami. But by this point, CWS performance has very little impact on bonuses, unless a guy gets hurt. Clubs have already seen their top draft picks over and over again, they know what they're getting. A good week or a bad week here won't change anything.

Aaron Fitt: They peaked too early; their usually reliable closer let them down against Georgia; they pressed against Stanford. But let's also give the teams they played credit. Georgia and Stanford were simply the hotter teams when it mattered most. Both teams showed an awful lot of toughness and character in those two wins against Miami. The Hurricanes kept battling over the final three innings against Stanford, but I certainly wasn't impressed by their toughness, on the whole.

Aaron Fitt: I can't make any promises, Bret. I'm starting to feel awfully good about Fresno's chances!

Aaron Fitt: I really think it could go either way. You'll have to check the blog later this afternoon to get my official pick and John's. Of course, this year more than ever, the picks are an exercise in futility — what a fun, unpredictable CWS.

Aaron Fitt: Barring a late surprise, it'll be Blake Martin against Matt Harvey. Louis Coleman and Rob Wooten will of course be central figures in the late innings, as usual, but the team that does a better job building a bridge from its starter to its closer will be in the best shape. The teams that have won here this week have gotten outstanding middle relief, almost across the board. On paper, I'd give UNC an edge here, but Brian Moran and Colin Bates have been shaky down the stretch after dominating for three-quarters of the season. Tyler Trice and Rob Catapano might be the key guys for UNC. For LSU, Paul Bertuccini has been outstanding this year, and they've got other decent options with Daniel Bradshaw, Nolan Cain and Anthony Ranaudo. I actually feel a little more confident in that group than I do in UNC's group...

Aaron Fitt: That really should be an outstanding game today — I just love that matchup. Enjoy it, everyone. We'll have another chat from Omaha next week to discuss the CWS finals. Until then, so long, everybody.