2008 Houston Regional

1. Rice Owls

Houston, Texas

At-large bid from Conference USA

2008 record: 21-3, 42-13 (first in Conference USA)

Head coach: Wayne Graham (Texas, 1970)

Record at school: 782-297, 17 years

Overall record: 782-297, 17 years

Assistant coaches:  Mike Taylor, Dave Pierce, Patrick Hallmark

Team offense: .308 BA, 411 R, 50 HR, .455 SLG%, .401 OBP, 50 SB

Team pitching: 3.63 ERA, 495.1 IP, 496 H, 181 BB, 503 K

Top hitters: Diego Seastrunk (.374/5/54), J.P. Padron (.354/4/35), Rick Hague (.343/8/47), Aaron Luna (.327/9/52/11 SB), Jared Gayhart (.324/6/42), Adam Zornes (.309/11/50)

Top pitchers: Ryan Berry (7-4, 3.10 ERA, 90 IP, 82 H, 25 BB, 80 K), Chris Kelley (5-1, 3.23 ERA, 64 IP, 81 H, 18 BB, 57 K), Cole St. Clair (8-2, 5 SV, 2.88 ERA, 50 IP, 14 BB, 56 K), Matt Evers (4-1, 2.72 ERA, 39.2 IP, 33 H, 17 BB, 52 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2007 (College World Series semifinalist)

Notes: Rice won 40 games for the 14th consecutive season. The 2003 national champions are making their 14th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. Rice won its third consecutive Conference USA championship, but did not repeat as the conference tournament champion after being upset by eighth-seeded UAB and fifth-seeded East Carolina in their two games in New Orleans. Before the upsets in the conference tournament, Rice had won 22 of 23 games.

2. Texas Longhorns

Austin, Texas

Automatic bid – won Big 12 Tournament

2008 Record: 15-12, 37-20 (fifth in Big 12)

Head coach: Augie Garrido

Record at school: 515-251-1, 12 years

Overall record: 1,666-775-8

Assistant coaches: Tommy Harmon, Skip Johnson, Ben King

Team offense: .305 BA, 405 R, 52 HR, .475 SLG%, 541 hits

Team pitching: 4.44 ERA, 458.0 IP, 273 R, 385 K, 177 BB

Top hitters: Michael Torres (.350/4/40, 14 SB), Brandon Belt (.310/5/54), Kyle Russell (.293/15/44), Jordan Danks (.317/5/39, .554 SLG%, 20 2B, 60 runs)

Top pitchers: Chance Ruffin (7-3, 1.84, 53.2 IP, 51 K, 19 BB), Kenn Kasparek (4-3, 3.75, 54.2, 58 K, 19 BB), Austin Wood (4-3, 4.75, 58.0 IP, 34 K, 18 BB)

Last NCAA appearance: 2007 (Round Rock, Texas Regional, 2-2, lost in final to UC Irvine)

Notes: The Longhorns have not been to Omaha since winning the CWS in 2005. Chase Ruffin had the lowest ERA in the Big 12 this season and was named Freshman of the Year. Jordan Danks scored the most runs in the Big 12. Kyle Russell struggled, but was third in the Big 12 in home runs. Danks brother, John, pitches for the Chicago White Sox. Ruffin’s father, Bruce, played for Texas’ 1983 CWS champs and pitched in the majors for 12 years. Juston Street’s father and brother were both All-American pitchers at Texas and his twin brother pitched there for two seasons.

3. St. John’s Red Storm

Queens, New York

At-large bid from Big East Conference

2008 record: 20-7, 41-14 (first in Big East)

Head coach: Ed Blankmeyer (Seton Hall, 1976)

Record at school: 439-261-3, 13 years

Overall record: 439-261-3, 13 years

Assistant coaches: Mike Hampton, Scott Brown, Julio Vega

Team offense: .306 BA, 579 R, 40 HR, .448 SLG%, .390 OB%, 62/90 SB

Team pitching: 3.72 ERA, 484.1 IP, 434 H, 201 BB, 433 K

Top hitters: Daniel Benedetti (.368/0/19/14 2B), Brian Kemp (.359/1/20/16-21 SB), Carlos Del Rosario (.358/5/39.13 2B), Jeff Grantham (.354/2/27), Paul Karmas (.319/3/45/17 2B), Greg Hopkins (.306/5/34/11 2B), Gino Matias (.294/3/25/13 2B), Chris Anninos (.275/12/37/14 2B)

Top pitchers: Matt Tosoni (6-1, 1.72, 52.1 IP, 44 H, 10 BB, 29 K), George Brown (9-0, 2.73, 85.2 IP, 79 H, 9 BB, 58 K), Colin Lynch (3-1, 13 SV, 3.76, 26.1 IP, 24 H, 16 BB, 23 K), Scott Barnes (7-3, 3.92, 82.2 IP, 63 H, 44 BB, 86 K), Jared Yecker (4-2, 3.93, 52.2 IP, 43 H, 28 BB, 43 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2007 (1-2 at Myrtle Beach Regional)

Notes: The Red Storm did not lose a conference series this season, but went 0-2 in the Big East Tournament. St. John’s has recorded four straight 40-win seasons. Blankmeyer was a second baseman at Seton Hall and led the 1974 and 1975 squads to the College World Series. He is a member of the Pirate Hall of Fame.

4. Sam Houston State Bearkats

Huntsville, Texas

Automatic bid - won Southland Tournament

2008 record: 18-12, 36-23 (fourth in Southland)

Head coach: Mark Johnson (New Mexico, 1967)

Record at school: 76-47, two years

Overall record: 952-480-3, 23 years

Assistant coaches: Jim Blair, Chris Berry, Philip Miller

Team offense: .337 BA, 492 R, 61 HR, .512 SLG%, .406 OBA%, 49/70 SB

Team pitching: 5.50 ERA, 520.2 IP, 529 H, 215 BB, 383 K

Top hitters: Seth Hammock (.381/12/55), Ryan Trevino (.359/2/41), Todd Sebek (.356/5/41/24-27 SB), Keith Stein (.354/10/56), Bobby Verbick (.351/14/57), Matt Wyatt (.346/3/13), Ryan Weber (.335/1/42).

Top pitchers: Guillaume Duguay (4-2, 3.52, 64 IP, 70 H, 18 BB, 43 K), Zac Baker (4-1, 4 SV, 3.69, 46.1 IP, 44 H, 18 BB, 42 K), Dallas Gallant (9-3, 5.15, 78.2 IP, 80 H, 27 BB, 57 K), Brent Powers (2-4, 6.20, 41.2 IP, 49 H, 26 BB, 31 K).

Last NCAA appearance: 1996 (2-2 at Oxford Regional)

Notes: After not appearing in the NCAA tourney since 1996, the Bearkats have made the field of 64 two years in a row. They did it in convincing fashion, outscoring their opponents 42-15 in the Southland Conference tourney. It’s a tale of two teams the past two years. A year ago, Sam Houston State hit .319 and boasted a 4.11 ERA; this year, the batting average is up to .337 and it more than doubled its home run total, but the ERA fell to 5.50. After not hitting a homer last year, Keith Stein hit 10 and upped his RBI total by 20. Seth Hammock slugged .655, and Bobby Verbick slugged .649. Todd Sebek led the squad with 25 doubles and 24 stolen bases. Stein and Sebek are transfers from Texas A&M, while Hammock came from Baylor. Six Bearkats pitchers made more than seven starts. Coach Mark Johnson won 876 games as head coach of Texas A&M. The Bearkats went 2-2 in last year’s tourney, beating Troy and Southern Miss.