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A look at the eight teams competing in the College World Series,
which starts Friday at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb. (coaches'
records at current schools through super regionals):
No. 1 seed: Cal State-Fullerton (46-16)
Coach: George Horton (220-92-1, fifth year).
Road To Omaha: Won Fullerton, Calif., regional: beat Temple
17-3; beat Arizona St. 13-3; lost to Texas Tech 11-5; beat Texas
Tech 9-2. Won super regional: Beat Mississippi St. 13-2; beat
Mississippi St. 9-3.
2001 record vs. CWS teams: 6-3 (3-0 vs. Miami, 1-1 vs. Southern
California, 1-2 vs. Stanford, 1-0 vs. Tennessee).
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Looking back
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How the eight CWS teams have fared in previous tournaments:
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App.
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Record
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Titles
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USC
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20
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73-24
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12
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Miami
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19
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39-30
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3
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Stanford
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12
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28-21
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2
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Fullerton
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10
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23-16
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3
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Georgia
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2
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4-3
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1
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Tennessee
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2
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6-4
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0
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Nebraska
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First appearance
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Tulane
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First appearance
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Last CWS appearance: 1999.
Short Hops: Tournament's No. 1 seed clinched College World
Series berth at home for first time. Won national titles in 1979,
'84 and '95. Have hit just 58 homers this season, but 14 in NCAA
tournament. RHP Kirk Saarloos (15-2, 2.24 ERA) has won 15 straight
decisions, struck out 150 and walked just 23 in 144 2-3 innings.
Workhorse was Titans closer before this season and is fourth in
NCAA history with 126 career appearances. 1B Aaron Rifkin hit three
homers in super regional-clinching win, and has 12 postseason RBIs.
3B Shawn Norris was MVP of Fullerton regional, going 8-for-11 with
11 RBIs. 2B David Bacani has reached base in 60 of 62 games and has
300 career hits. LHP Jon Smith (10-2, 3.48) is star on field and in
classroom -- has 4.0 grade-point average as accounting major.
No. 2 seed: Miami (49-12)
Coach: Jim Morris (389-119-1, eighth year).
Road To Omaha: Won Coral Gables, Fla., regional: beat Bucknell
14-6; beat Florida 6-2; beat Stetson 16-8. Won super regional: Beat
Clemson 10-8; beat Clemson 14-6.
2001 record vs. CWS teams: 0-3 (vs. Cal State-Fullerton).
Last CWS appearance: 1999.
Short Hops: Hurricanes enter CWS on 13-game winning streak,
longest in country, and have won 16 of last 17. Have appeared in
NCAA-record 29 consecutive regional appearances. Won CWS in 1982,
'85 and '99. SS Javy Rodriguez has school-record 66 stolen bases
and 58 RBIs to join Calvin James (1985) as only Miami players with
at least 50 in a season in both categories. Hurricanes lead nation
with 215 stolen bases, 65 more than second-place North Carolina
A&T. OF Mike Rodriguez set school record with 31 consecutive steals
earlier in season, and has been thrown out only twice in 51
attempts. Deep bullpen has NCAA-record 207 relief appearances this
season. 1B Kevin Brown (.267, 12, 43) had 10 RBIs in
regional-clinching win. LHP Brian Walker (11-1) and RHP Tom Farmer
(13-2) head solid pitching staff.
No. 3 seed: Southern California (44-17)
Coach: Mike Gillespie (607-330-2, 15th year).
Road To Omaha: Won Los Angeles regional: beat Oral Roberts 12-4;
beat Pepperdine 4-3; beat Fresno St. 8-0. Won super regional: beat
Florida International 5-1; beat Fla. International 6-0.
2001 record vs. CWS teams: 3-5 (1-1 vs. Cal State-Fullerton, 2-4
vs. Stanford).
Last CWS appearance: 2000.
Short Hops: Trojans playing in CWS for fourth time in seven
years, and have won record 12 championships (1948, '58, '61, '63,
'68, '70-'74, '78, '98). Have won six in a row, and 15 of last 16.
Clinched CWS berth at home for first time since 1978. RHP Mark
Prior (14-1, 1.50) was No. 2 pick by Chicago Cubs in Tuesday's
draft. Prior, regarded by some as greatest college pitcher ever,
has struck out school and Pac-10 single-season record 189 and
walked just 17 in 131 2-3 innings. RHP Rik Currier (12-2, 2.39) has
115 strikeouts and is school and conference career leader with 444.
Pitching staff's 580 strikeouts is school record. No. 3 starter
Anthony Reyes (5-3, 3.42) is 4-0 with 0.27 ERA in last four starts.
SS Seth Davidson, school's career leader in hits, runs, at-bats and
steals, has appeared in 224 straight games -- including championship
game against Arizona St. in 1998.
No. 4 seed: Stanford (48-16)
Coach: Mark Marquess (1,043-514-5, 25th year).
Road To Omaha: Won Stanford, Calif., regional: beat Marist 4-3;
lost to Texas 4-3; beat Marist 6-0; beat Texas 10-9; beat Texas
4-3. Won super regional: beat South Carolina 11-1; lost to South
Carolina 4-3; beat South Carolina 3-2.
2001 record vs. CWS teams: 6-3 (2-1 vs. Cal State-Fullerton; 4-2
vs. Southern California).
Last CWS appearance: 2000.
Short Hops: Won four elimination games in tournament to secure
school-record third straight CWS berth. Won back-to-back national
championships in 1987 and '88. Needs two victories for third
straight 50-win season. RHP Jeremy Guthrie (12-4, 2.58) heads
pitching staff with team ERA of 3.34 -- lowest since 2.64 in 1973.
Stanford's four starters -- Guthrie, RHP Jeff Bruksch (9-3, 3.21),
LHP Mike Gosling (7-2, 3.57) and LHP Tim Cunningham (6-0, 3.53)
have combined for 34-9 record and 3.13 ERA. 2B Chris O'Riordan
(.374, 12, 66) has Cardinal's career-best batting average of .370,
and leads or co-leads team in 13 offensive categories. OF Carlos
Quentin (.352, 11, 51) was Pac-10 freshman of year. Solid defensive
team leads nation with fielding percentage of .977, .005 ahead of
school record.
|  | | Jon Kaplan has helped Tulane win more games than any team in the country. |
No. 5 seed: Tulane (55-11)
Coach: Rick Jones (345-150, eighth year).
Road To Omaha: Won New Orleans regional: beat Southern U. 22-9;
beat Oklahoma St. 13-10; beat Oklahoma St. 13-10. Won super
regional: lost to Louisiana State 4-3 in 12 innings; beat LSU 9-4;
beat LSU 7-1.
2001 record vs. CWS teams: 0-0.
Last CWS appearance: None.
Short Hops: Nation's winningest team won two straight against
defending-champion Louisiana State to spoil retiring Tigers coach
Skip Bertman's bid for sixth title in last 11 years. Have outscored
opponents 620-358, led by 3B Jake Gautreau's Division I-leading 91
RBIs. Gautreau, taken with the 14th pick by San Diego in Tuesday's
draft, is offensive sparkplug with .354 batting average and 20
homers. SS Andy Cannizaro (.390, 69 RBIs, school-record 112 hits),
OF Michael Aubrey (.357, 13, 67) and 1B James Jurries (.338, 10,
53) add to tough lineup that has .337 combined batting average.
Aubrey also 3-0 with 5.05 ERA as one of Green Wave's starting
pitchers.
No. 6 seed: Georgia (47-20)
Coach: Ron Polk (79-46, second year).
Road To Omaha: Won Athens, Ga., regional: lost to Georgia
Southern 4-3; beat Georgia Tech 13-5; beat Georgia Southern 10-9,
11 innings; beat Coastal Carolina 9-3; beat Coastal Carolina 8-7.
Won super regional: beat Florida State 8-7; lost to Florida St.
11-6; beat Florida St. 8-7).
2001 record vs. CWS teams: 3-0 (vs. Tennessee).
Last CWS appearance: 1990.
Short Hops: Polk, who went to CWS five times in 22 years at
Mississippi State, came out of two-year retirement last season.
Bulldogs won national title in last CWS appearance. SS Jeff
Keppinger (.387, 16, 68) has hit seven homers in eight NCAA
tournament games. DH-OF Doc Brooks (.265, 16, 53) and INF Andy
Neufeld (.339, 10, 38) are other power sources in Bulldogs lineup.
Bullpen has been outstanding with right-handers Jeffrey Carswell
(10-1, 2.61), Jody Friedman (4-2, 1.70) and Bill Sharpton (5-1,
3.86). RHP Jeremy Brown (7-3, 4.10) has been anchor of starting
staff. Team is without RHP Scott Murphy (5-2, 5.53), who was
declared academically ineligible two weeks ago.
No. 7 seed: Tennessee (46-18)
Coach: Rod Delmonico (490-248, 12th year).
Road To Omaha: Won Knoxville, Tenn., regional: beat Middle Tenn.
St. 2-1; beat Tennessee Tech 11-0; lost to Wake Forest 10-3; beat
Wake Forest 6-3. Won super regional: beat East Carolina 13-10; beat
East Carolina 6-3.
2001 record vs. CWS teams: 0-4 (0-3 vs. Georgia, 0-1 vs. Cal
State-Fullerton).
Last CWS appearance: 1995.
Short Hops: Volunteers have third-best victories total in school
history, trailing the 1995 (54) and 1994 (52) teams. Went 20-15 in
last 35 games, after beginning season 26-3 -- school's best-ever
start. Vols have won 10 times in their last at-bat, including both
super regional victories over East Carolina. Have Southeastern
Conference-leading 148 stolen bases, including 43 each by SS Chris
Burke and 2B Stevie Daniel. Burke, drafted by Houston with 10th
pick in Tuesday's draft, broke Todd Helton's school records for
hits, runs, doubles, total bases and extra-base hits. Burke (.439,
19, 59), SEC player of year, is also Vols career leader in singles
and triples. Pitching staff has struggled with 5.14 ERA.
Right-handers Wyatt Allen (9-2, 5.99), Patrick Hicklen (5-4, 4.30)
and Brian Gates (5-4, 4.67) hard-pressed to replace RHP Brandon
Crowe (6-0, 3.68), team's top pitcher who was lost for season with
elbow tendinitis.
No. 8 seed: Nebraska (50-14)
Coach: Dave Van Horn (167-69, fourth year).
Road To Omaha: Won Lincoln, Neb., regional: beat Northern Iowa
16-6; beat Rutgers 5-4; beat Rutgers 14-10. Won super regional:
beat Rice 7-0; beat Rice 9-6 in 10 innings.
2001 record vs. CWS teams: 0-0.
Last CWS appearance: None.
Short Hops: Makes first CWS appearance riding nine-game winning
streak. Scored four runs in ninth inning and three in 10th in super
regional clincher over Rice in front of a school-record crowd of
5,484 in last game played at Buck Beltzer Stadium. Have outscored
opponents 54-26 in five NCAA tournament games, and have stolen 19
bases in those games. Huskers like to run _ have 124 steals in 137
attempts this season, led by 2B-OF John Cole (28-for-30), OF Adam
Stern (27-for-31) and OF Jeff Leise (17-for-17). LHP Shane Komine
(14-1, 3.27) has won 14 straight decisions, struck out 148 and
walked just 35 in 123 2-3 innings. He is also Nebraska's career
victories leader with 31. RHP Thom Ott (5-2, 4.09) has been solid
out of bullpen with school single season-record 11 saves in 28
appearances. Lineup anchored by 1B Dan Johnson (.360, 24, 85), DH
Matt Hopper (.366, 11, 84) and Cole (.417, 9, 59) has outscored
opponents 598-335 this season.
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