OMAHA, Neb. -- A capsule look at the eight teams competing in the College World Series, which starts Saturday at TD Ameritrade Park. (Capsules in order of CWS opening games. Coaches' records through super regionals):
OREGON STATE (54-4)
Coach: Pat Casey (843-444-5, 23 years at Oregon State; 1,014-553-6, 30 years overall).
Road to Omaha: Won Corvallis regional: beat Holy Cross 8-2, beat Yale 11-0, beat Yale 8-1. Won Corvallis super regional: beat Vanderbilt 8-4, beat Vanderbilt 9-2.
All-time record in CWS: 13-8 in 5 appearances; national champion 2006, 2007
Short hops: The status of Luke Heimlich, the national ERA leader, is uncertain. He asked to be excused from pitching in the super regional after a newspaper detailed the molestation case against him when he was 15. ... Beavers are on a 21-game win streak. Their last loss was April 29, to Southern California. ... If Oregon State wins the national title, it will be the first champion with fewer than nine losses since Texas (49-5) in 1975. ... RHP Drew Rasmussen was the No. 31 overall draft pick by Tampa Bay.
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CAL STATE FULLERTON (39-22)
Coach: Rick Vanderhook (237-125, 5 years at Fullerton and overall).
Road to Omaha: Won Stanford regional: beat BYU 13-2, beat Stanford 4-1, beat Stanford 4-2. Won Long Beach super regional: lost 3-0 to Long Beach State, beat Long Beach State 12-0, beat Long Beach State 2-1.
All-time record in CWS: 34-29 in 17 appearances; national champion 1979, 1984, 1995, 2004.
Short hops: RHP Colton Eastman has allowed no earned runs in 13 2/3 postseason innings. ... Titans have gone 26 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run, and their 1.19 postseason ERA is lowest in the nation. ... 1B Dillon Persinger has stolen four of his 18 bases in the tournament. ... Titans have never had a losing season in 43 years at the Division I level. ... CF Scott Hurst hit four home runs against Cal State-Northridge on May 20.
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FLORIDA STATE (45-21)
Coach: Mike Martin (1943-692-4, 38 years at Florida State and overall).
Road to Omaha: Won Tallahassee regional: lost 3-1 to Tennessee Tech, beat UCF 6-1, beat Tennessee Tech 5-3, beat Auburn 8-7 in 10 innings, beat Auburn 6-0. Won Tallahassee super regional: beat Sam Houston State 7-6, beat Sam Houston state 19-0.
All-time record in CWS: 28-42 in 21 appearances.
Short hops: FSU has made the most CWS appearances of any team that has not won a national championship. This will be the Seminoles' 22nd appearance. ... Seminoles have hit nine home runs in seven tournament games. ... Their pitchers averaged 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings in regionals and super regionals. ... DH Quincy Nieporte's 82 RBI are fourth nationally and first among CWS players. ... 3B Dylan Busby has been hit by six pitches in his last 10 games.
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LSU (48-17)
Coach: Paul Mainieri (508-199-3, 11 years at LSU; 1,372-691-7, 35 years overall).
Road to Omaha: Won Baton Rouge regional: beat Texas Southern 15-7, beat Southeastern Louisiana 11-6, beat Rice 5-0. Won Baton Rouge super regional: beat Mississippi State 4-3, beat Mississippi State 14-4.
All-time record in CWS: 36-24 in 17 appearances; national champion 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009.
Short hops: RHP Alex Lange was the No. 30 overall draft pick by the Chicago Cubs, and RF Greg Deichmann went No. 43 overall to Oakland. ... Tigers' 9.8 runs per game rank first in the national tournament. ... 3B Josh Smith, at .696, has the highest tournament on-base percentage of any CWS player. He's 6 for 13, walked 8 times and been hit by 2 pitches. ... LSU's .718 all-time NCAA Tournament winning percentage (148-58) ranks No. 1.
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TEXAS A&M (41-21)
Coach: Rob Childress (499-259-2, 12 years at Texas A&M and overall).
Road to Omaha: Won Houston regional: beat Baylor 8-5, beat Iowa 3-2, beat Houston 4-3. Won College Station super regional: beat Davidson 7-6 in 15 innings, beat Davidson 12-6.
All-time record in CWS: 2-10 in 5 appearances.
Short hops: Aggies have won five consecutive after coming into the tournament off losses in eight of its previous 10. The Aggies were one of the last four at-large teams to get NCAA bids. ... Martin was the No. 56 overall draft pick by Houston. ... Choruby is 11 for 22 (.500) with four doubles in the tournament. ... Aggies went into super regional against Davidson outscoring opponents 157-58 in the fifth through seventh innings. Davidson outscored them 9-2 over those innings.
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LOUISVILLE (52-10)
Coach: Dan McDonnell (508-201, 11 years at Louisville and overall).
Road to Omaha: Won Louisville regional: beat Radford 11-6, beat Oklahoma 11-1, beat Xavier 8-7. Won Louisville super regional: beat Kentucky 5-2, beat Kentucky 6-2.
All-time record in CWS: 1-6 in 3 appearances.
Short hops: 1B Brendan McKay, a three-time John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year, was the highest-drafted college player. He went No. 4 overall to Tampa Bay as a first baseman. ... 1B Drew Ellis, batting a team-leading .367 with 20 home runs, went No. 44 overall to Arizona. ... LF Josh Stowers is in a three-way tie for first with four doubles in the tournament. ... Cardinals have stolen 97 bases after swiping 101 last season.
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TCU (47-16)
Coach: Jim Schlossnagle (612-270, 14 years at TCU; 689-317, 16 years overall).
Road to Omaha: Won Fort Worth regional: beat Central Connecticut 9-6, beat Virginia 5-1, beat Dallas Baptist 15-3. Won Fort Worth super regional: beat Missouri State 3-2, beat Missouri State 8-1.
All-time record in CWS: 8-8 in 4 appearances.
Short hops: RHP Brian Howard has won five consecutive postseason starts, including one at the 2016 CWS. ... Howard is the first TCU pitcher to win 10 games in back-to-back seasons. ... C Evan Skoug has hit four home runs in five tournament games and has 20 for the season, and his 12 postseason RBI are most among CWS players. ... Frogs, with 102, are the only CWS team with more than 100 stolen bases.
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FLORIDA (47-18)
Coach: Kevin O'Sullivan (443-207, 10 seasons at Florida and overall).
Road to Omaha: Won Gainesville regional: beat Marist 10-6, beat USF 5-1, lost 6-2 to Bethune-Cookman, beat Bethune-Cookman 6-1. Won Gainesville super regional: beat Wake Forest 2-1, lost 8-6 to Wake Forest, beat Wake Forest 3-0.
All-time record in CWS: 14-21 in 10 appearances.
Short hops: RHP Alex Faedo was the No. 18 overall draft pick by Detroit. ... Faedo picked up his first career save in the super regional-clinching win over Wake Forest. ... Gators pitchers have struck out 89 in 69 tournament innings. ... RHP Michael Byrne has 23 strikeouts in 15 postseason innings. ... RHP Brady Singer has walked one in 13 1/3 tournament innings.
Sports on 06/16/2017