COLLEGE BASEBALL 2008
Weekly Wrap-Up
April 21, 2008

By Jeff Simpson

The most anticipated series of the 2008 college baseball season took place in Tallahassee, Fla., this past weekend with No. 1 Miami (33-4, 17-2) and No. 2 Florida State (34-5, 18-3) squaring off.

More than 19,000 fans packed Dick Howser Stadium for the three-game, Atlantic Coast Conference series, which saw the Hurricanes take two of three games. As expected, there was plenty of offense as the series featured two of the nation’s most potent lineups. Miami scored 27 runs over the three games. Potential first-rounder Yonder Alonso had a big weekend for the Hurricanes, going 5-for-9 (.556) with three home runs and seven RBIs. Sunday’s finale was reduced to seven innings due to a travel curfew, with Miami hanging on for an 11-10 victory.

The series win kept Miami at No. 1 in the weekly PG Crosschecker Top 50 college rankings, while Florida State remained at No. 2.

A third ACC school, North Carolina, moved into the No. 3 spot. The Tar Heels (34-7, 16-4) have won nine straight games, including a sweep over Boston College and mid-week victories over UNC Greensboro and Charlotte. UNC improved its national-best team ERA to 2.15. This coming weekend will provide another ACC showdown series with Florida State traveling to face North Carolina.

In Pacific-10 Conference action, two-time defending College World Series champion Oregon State (18-13, 6-6) became the first school to win a series from Arizona State (31-6, 7-5) on its home field this year. The Sun Devils were 27-1 at home before the Oregon State series, with their lone previous loss coming to Northern Colorado March 21. Junior first baseman Ike Davis (.417-15-61) continues to be a leading candidate for national player-of-the-year honors, while junior third baseman Brett Wallace (.393-10-48) is also having a big year at the plate.

No. 14 Stanford (21-12-1, 8-4) continues to roll through Pac-10 play, beating UCLA 2-1 to win its fourth straight weekend series. The Cardinal has yet to drop a weekend series, after a disappointing 2007 season in which the Cardinal went 28-28 and 9-15 in conference play. Much of Stanford’s improvement can be credited to a pitching staff which is posting a 4.21 team ERA, compared to 6.01 in 2007.

The race for the Big 12 Conference regular-season title is starting to get interesting with four teams in the Top 12 this week. No. 8 Oklahoma State (27-11, 11-7) had another impressive week, sweeping No. 27 Texas (23-16, 8-10). The Longhorns have become one of the most disappointing teams in the country this year, due in large part to a pitching staff which is struggling with a 5.11 team ERA.

No. 5 Texas A&M (33-7, 15-3) saw its 13-game winning streak come to an end in a mid-week loss to Rice, but extended its conference winning streak to 12 after sweeping Baylor. No. 11 Rice (31-10, 13-2), meanwhile, looks well on its way to another Conference USA championship after sweeping No. 37 East Carolina (27-13, 8-7).

After getting off to a bit of a rough start this season, No. 15 San Diego (31-11, 10-2) seems to have figured things out. The Toreros pitching staff was expected to be one of the best in the country and has started to look the part recently, allowing only one earned run over its last four games. Junior lefthander Brian Matusz (8-1, 1.76, 67 IP/52 H/18 BB/90 SO) is looking like a top candidate for player of the year.

Six teams entered the Top 50 this week, including No. 39 Texas Christian (26-13, 11-4), No. 40 Louisiana-Monroe (27-12, 17-4), No. 42 College of Charleston (27-13, 10-5), No. 43 Canisius (29-6, 9-3), No. 48 Florida Gulf Coast (29-12, 19-5) and No. 50 Northern Iowa (23-11, 10-2). Surging Canisius has already won more games than any team in school history.

Dropping out of the Top 50 were Baylor, Creighton, Elon, San Diego State, Southern Miss and Washington.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Justin Smoak, 1b, South Carolina. A potential high first-round pick in the upcoming draft, Smoak appears to be hitting his stride at the right time for South Carolina, which has won five of its last six SEC contests. The junior first baseman started the week strong with a three-home run, nine-RBI performance against USC-Upstate. Smoak then went 7-for-12 in a key SEC series win over Mississippi. For the week, Smoak went 11-for-22 (.500) with three homers and 11 RBIs. He is now hitting .382-13-40 on the year, while sporting a .730 slugging percentage.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Scott Gorgen, rhp, UC Irvine. Gorgen claimed his second pitcher-of-the-week honor in 2008 after an outstanding performance against UC Riverside on Friday night. The junior righthander struck out 14 batters in just seven innings in a 7-2 victory for the Anteaters. Gorgen allowed two earned runs on three hits, while walking two in yet another dominating performance. Gorgen improved to 7-2, 2.23 on the year with a 21-77 walk/strikeout ratio. He has held opposing hitters to a .164 average and had allowed 37 hits in 65 innings.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Georgia. The Bulldogs continue to look like the class of the SEC in 2008 after winning their sixth straight series to begin the 2008 season. Georgia scored two mid-week victories over Georgia State and East Tennessee State, before going 2-0-1 against LSU in Baton Rouge. Georgia trailed LSU 10-3 on Sunday going into the seventh inning before tying the game at 10-10, only to have the game stopped after 12 innings due to a travel curfew. The Bulldogs have built up a 3 ½ game lead in the SEC East. Junior shortstop Gordon Beckham (.424-19-46, 12 SB) belted three more home runs on the week and remains a favorite for national player of the year. Sophomore first baseman Rich Poythress (.384-9-40) is the other key offensive threat for the Bulldogs. On the mound, closer Josh Fields (0.00 ERA, 11 SV) stretched his scoreless innings streak to 21 innings (21 IP/5 H/37 SO).

Full PG Crosschecker Top 50 rankings can be found at www.pgcrosschecker.com.