June 19, 2008

2008 College World Series

Day Five Notes

Stanford’s win over Miami was the seventh come-from-behind victory in nine games in the 2008 College World Series and the sixth straight going back to North Carolina’s win on Sunday over LSU.

The team that has scored first is 3-6 in the CWS and has lost five of the past six games.

Only one of the first nine CWS games has been shorter than three hours. The UNC-LSU game was 2:59.

Miami now holds a 5-3 advantage all-time against Stanford. The Cardinal is 3-2 in NCAA Tournament play and 2-2 at the College World Series. Miami won 17-3 in 1985. Stanford won 2-1 in 1988. The Hurricanes won 12-1 in the 2001 National Championship Game.

Miami has scored in the first inning in two of its three CWS games.

Stanford has not scored in the first or second inning in any of its three CWS games. The Cardinal has scored in the third in two of the three contests, plating a total of five runs.

Through the first nine games of the 2008 CWS, starting pitchers have gone an average of 4.2 innings. Only two starters have pitched seven innings. Seven games have been won by relievers.

In 20 appearances during his rookie season, Stanford starter Danny Sandbrink only allowed more than one earned run twice. In his past seven appearances, he has allowed five earned runs in 28 innings (1.61 ERA) with seven walks and 17 strikeouts.

Including a 4-0 advantage against Miami, Stanford has outscored its opponents 110-50 in the fifth inning this season. Over the fourth and fifth innings, the Cardinal has outscored its opponents 167-76.

The last No. 1 seed to win the CWS was Miami in 1999, the first year the bracket expanded to 64. The Hurricanes went 4-0 in Omaha and defeated No. 2 Florida State 6-5 in the title contest.

For the second day in a row, a team avoided elimination on the birthday of the head coach’s wife. LSU defeated Rice on Tuesday on the birthday of Paul Mainieri’s wife. Stanford eliminated Miami on the birthday of Mark Marquess’ wife. Wednesday was also the birthday of Cardinal pitcher Jeremy Bleich and All-American catcher Jason Castro.