Three Strikes

By Will Kimmey
April 10, 2006

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STRIKE ONE: Gorsett Goes Gonzo

Who needs Alex Gordon? OK, the Royals do. And Nebraska could also still use the 2005 College Player of the Year. But Luke Gorsett is doing a fine Gordon impression this season. He went 11-for-18 with two homers and eight RBIs last week, including game-winning RBIs in Nebraska's first two wins of a series sweep of Missouri. The junior right fielder transferred to Nebraska after leading all junior college hitters with 24 home runs at Garden City (Kan.) CC in 2005, and he leads the Big 12 with 14 homers this year. He's also fourth in batting and fifth in RBIs. Actually, all of his numbers through Nebraska's 29 games (he's played in 28 of them) compare favorably to Gordon's 2005.

Player, Year	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB-ATT
Gorsett '06	113	.407	.461	.858	7	14	36	10	16	4-7
Gordon '05	253	.372	.518	.715	22	19	66	63	38	23-26

Gorsett's pace looks a little faster, but he still must face Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor and Oklahoma—four teams with very strong pitching staffs--and make his way through the postseason, where the pitching will at least be above-average. So Gorsett's numbers could end up very similar to those of Gordon a year ago.

STRIKE TWO: Well-Armed Alabama 

Southeastern Conference coaches picked Alabama to finish fifth in the SEC West in a preseason poll, but after winning a series against then-No. 1 Mississippi State two weeks ago and former No. 2 South Carolina this past weekend, Alabama is 9-3 and tied with South Carolina for the league's best record. The thought was that Alabama might not boast enough bats to battle with the big boys in the often offensive SEC. Well, Alabama does rank seventh among SEC teams in on-base percentage and ninth in runs scored, but the Crimson Tide pitching staff has proven stingy enough to make those figures not matter as much.

A rotation of junior lefthander Wade LeBlanc (6-0, 2.47), junior righthander Bernard Robert (5-1, 2.79) and freshman righty Tommy Hunter (5-2, 2.95) has helped Alabama to a 3.01 team ERA and .225 opponents average. Sophomore closer David Robertson, who led the league in strikeouts per nine innings last year, has helped Alabama win the tight ones, as has a veteran lineup led by senior catcher Kody Valverde (.292-8-31) that scores key runs, plays solid defense and rarely panics. So while Alabama's formula isn’t the heavy-hitting one that normally leads to SEC success, this one's working well and looks fairly similar to the one used by Texas, Rice and Cal State Fullerton in recent years. And those teams have won the last four College World Series. 

STRIKE THREE: Tough Schedules Breed Tough Teams

Houston and Southern California both lost on St. Patrick's Day, with the Cougars dropping to 12-10 and the Trojans sliding to 12-11. Houston has gone 9-4 since, including 7-2 in Conference USA with series wins at East Carolina and against Tulane, to improve to 21-14. USC is 8-3 since that point, improving to 20-14, 7-2 in the Pacific-10 with series wins against OregonState, Stanford and California.

The common theme for both clubs is that the early .500 records weren't signs of average clubs, but teams that were playing two of the nation's more difficult non-conference schedules. According to Boyd's World, Southern California's strength of schedule ranks fourth overall and its non-conference schedule ranks seventh. Houston's schedule ranks 33rd overall and 17th against non-conference teams.

So playing tough opponents added more losses to the Cougars’ and Trojans’ records, but the tactic also looks to have made both teams more battle ready early on in conference play. And the two teams join Stanford, Florida and UCLA in a group of five teams with winning percentages of .600 or lower that rank among the Top 30 in Ratings Percentage Index. That standing should help with seeding come NCAA tournament time.

WILD PITCHES

• James Madison averages 9.6 runs per game and has reached double figures in scoring 15 times in 34 games. That makes the no-hitter Adam Ottavino threw against the Dukes in a 2-0 Northeastern win Friday all that more impressive. The junior righthander walked three batters and struck out a career-high 14 hitters. He's 3-2, 3.76 with 58 strikeouts in 43 innings and needs 13 more strikeouts to tie the Northeastern career record of 241. 

• Le Moyne junior lefthander T.J. Sheridan threw a seven-inning no-hitter with seven strikeouts in a 1-0 win against Manhattan in the second game of a doubleheader. Manhattan senior lefthander Chris Cody held LeMoyne to only one hit while recording 10 strikeouts in leading his team to a 2-1 victory in the opener.

• The Standard-Times of New Bedford, Mass., reported the 10-team Cape Cod League will consider expanding by two teams. The new teams wouldn't begin play until 2007 at the earliest, with 2008 a more realistic goal. Eastham, Mashpee, Sandwich, Nantucket, New Bedford and South Plymouth all have expressed interest in fielding teams. The Cape last expanded in 1988.