College Recap

May 21, 2007

By JEFF SIMPSON

It was a very quiet week as far as PG Crosschecker’s Top 50 rankings are concerned as the top eight teams stayed the same. Several teams had very impressive sweeps over the weekend including No. 1 Vanderbilt over Louisiana State , No. 2 Florida State over Georgia Tech, No. 5 Arizona State over Oregon State , No. 6 Texas over Texas A&M, No. 10 Missouri over Oklahoma State and No. 18 UC Riverside sweeping Long Beach State .

With the NCAA tournament selections a week away, several big schools are very much on the bubble. The most notable team in danger of missing the tournament is 2006 College World Series champion Oregon State . While starting out strong, the Beavers have dropped three straight Pac-10 series and sit at 8-13 in conference play. They have one last chance to strengthen their hopes of an NCAA bid against UCLA this weekend.

It is not uncommon for a team to not quality for the Southeastern Conference tournament, but still make the NCAA tournament. This year the candidates look to be Kentucky and Louisiana State . LSU struggled down the stretch, but Kentucky might have a good enough overall record to make the tournament. At 28-28, Florida will likely have to have a solid SEC tournament just to be eligible for the NCAA tournament. An at-large team must have at least a .500 record.

With Cal Poly taking two of three games from traditional power Cal State Fullerton over the weekend, the Titans also might be on the bubble. At 9-9 in the Big West Conference, the Titans will need a strong non-conference schedule to outweigh their conference play.

No. 50 Oral Roberts is the only team new to the poll this week, after finishing 19-1 in regular season play in the Mid-Continent Conference. Memphis fell out of the poll.

Team of the Week: Missouri . The No. 10 Tigers cruised right through the end of the regular season, sweeping Oklahoma State on the weekend. Missouri has won five straight conference matchups since falling to Texas A&M and have a lot of momentum going into the Big 12 tournament. With a 19-8 conference record, Missouri should be a strong candidate to host a regional in two weeks.

Player of the Week: Robert Leonard, Stony Brook. The senior right fielder had a big week for the Seawolves, connecting for five home runs against Maryland-Baltimore County . For the week, Robert went 8-for-16 (.500) with 11 RBIs and seven runs scored in four games. He is hitting .346 on the year with seven homers and 42 RBIs.

Pitcher of the Week: Two pitchers that have already racked up this award this year share Pitcher of the Week honors.

Preston Guilmet, Arizona . The sophomore righthander had another impressive Pac-10 performance with a complete-game shutout of Washington on Friday. Guilmet allowed three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. He is now 11-1, 1.58 on the year. In 120 innings, he has allowed 86 hits and 25 walks with 126 strikeouts.

David Price, Vanderbilt. The soon-to-be No. 1 pick in the draft had yet another dominant SEC performance against LSU on Friday. The junior lefthander went 8.2 innings, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out 15. Price is now 10-0, 2.76 in 114 innings, with 84 hits, 29 walks and 164 strikeouts.