Is this the way it goes? We play the winner of Florida-Tech…then that winner must beat Arkansas 2 straight or we go to the finals. Isn’t that the same with Moo U and Oregon State? OSU must beat MSU 2 times to get to the finals. So, there is a good chance of Arkansas-MSU final. Is that the best 2 of 3?
Dang, I would hate to lose to Moo U as Swine so eloquently calls them. They would brag about this for years.
It will probably come down to the pitching staffs and their depth. How do we stack up against the Bulldogs there?
As I write that question…it is a dumb one. There is a lot of baseball to play. We need to get to the finals then concentrate on who we play there. One game at a time.
You are correct on all counts. I think Arkansas matches up well with Mississippi State. The Razorbacks lost that series in April without its closer being healthy and with its All-SEC second baseman getting injured in the most critical at-bat of the second game. Who knows if Arkansas loses the series without those two things happening.
Lots of baseball before there is a rematch, though. The three teams in survival mode are all very good.
One way to think of the CWS is that the initial round is just like two regionals. It is a double elimination tournament. Arkansas and Moo U are undefeated. Every one else has a loss. Any loss by any of the other teams eliminates that team. So on Friday, both Moo U and the Hogs are in the same position … win one and you make it to the final.
Once a team has made it to the finals, it is best 2/3.
Didn’t MSU’s coach get fired earlier this year? They are an unlikely team to be where they are. MSU does have a very good baseball program and history. I saw a special when they had Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro on that team that made it to the finals several years ago. They had a couple of other guys who played major league ball on that team. They were very good, but didn’t win. That was an ESPN Special, I think.
The Moo U coach was fired after being swept by So. Miss in the season opening series. But his firing had to do with an affair, not the losses. It took them a while to get going after that, but they’ve come on like a house afire lately.
There was one season Moo U with Clark, Palmeiro, Jeff Brantley, etc., played the Hogs in Ray Winder Field in LR in a midweeker. I covered the game. We won that one handily, as I recall. They may have gotten their revenge in Omaha that same year.
As a side note, I make fun of MSU as a cow college – and it is – but their campus is very nice. It’s also huge. I’m used to campuses where buildings are crammed in next to each other. That’s not necessary in Starkville, where the campus is like seven square miles – about 10 times the size of the UA campus. But once you leave campus and enter metropolitan Stankvomit … ugh. It’s like the back of an old radio, to steal a line I once heard about New Jersey.
Yep. The round beginning Monday starts from scratch. If we’re 3-0 and we’re playing Molester U at 4-1, doesn’t matter. We still have to beat the Beavs two out of three to win, and vice versa.
Let’s not get the cart in front of the horse. We’ve still got business to take care of Friday. If the Hogs do win Friday, I wouldn’t count on it being Moo U. I’d rather play Moo U., but Oregon State looks tough. Those last two innings against North Carolina showed why their loaded top of the lineup was highly drafted. Still think we could beat them, but of course, nothing will be easy at this stage of the year.