2010 Austin Regional

Capsules by Barrett Neale, Michael Perry, Matt Mullen, Andrew Woods, Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton

1. Texas Longhorns (2)

Austin, Texas

At-large bid from Big 12

2010 record: 24-3, 46-11 (first in Big 12)

Head coach: Augie Garrido (Fresno State, 1961)

Record at school: 613-280-2, 14 years

Overall record: 1,764-604-9, 42 years

Associate head coach: Tommy Harmon

Assistant coaches: Skip Johnson, Travis Tucker

Team offense: .291 BA, 392 R, 73 HR, .478 SLG%, .381 OB%, 82-106 SB

Team pitching: 2.53 ERA, 516 IP, 415 H, 163 BB, 504 K

Top hitters: Russell Moldenhauer (.340/7/34/12 2B), Tant Shepherd (.338/7/33/18 2B/14-15 SB), Cohl Valla (.332/8/37/12 2B/13-15 SB), Cameron Rupp (.313/9/51/13 2B), Kevin Keyes (.302/13/54/11 2B/12-15 SB), Connor Rowe (.268/2/17), Brandon Loy (.258/1/22/10 2B/12-20 SB), Kevin Lusson (.254/13/43), Jordan Etier (.225/8/30/12-16 SB)

Top pitchers: Chance Ruffin (6-1, 13 SV, 0.77 ERA, 58.1 IP, 37 H, 18 BB, 89 K), Taylor Jungmann (6-3, 2.16 ERA, 104 IP, 80 H, 37 BB, 113 K), Cole Green (10-1, 2.64 ERA, 99 IP, 77 H, 23 BB, 66 K), Brandon Workman (11-1, 3.77 ERA, 90.2 IP, 88 H, 20 BB, 90 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2009 (3-0 in Austin Regional, 2-1 in Austin Super Regional, 4-2 in College World Series)

Notes: Texas was the national runner-up a season ago, dropping two of three in the championship series to LSU. Texas will host an NCAA Regional for the 24th time at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. The Longhorns have the best team ERA in the nation at 2.53. Texas won the Big 12 regular-season title by eight games, but lost three times in three tournament games after losing only three in 27 regular-season league contests. Texas is a national seed for the fifth time since the tourney format changed in 1999, and the Longhorns will be shooting for their third title since 2002. Over 43 years, coach Augie Garrido has compiled 1,754 wins - an average of nearly 41 a season. The Longhorns boast one the country's best pitching staffs, which limits hitters to a .221 average. Its team ERA of 2.53 is 3.5 runs better than its opponents (6.03). In fact, no one on the Longhorns has an ERA higher than Brandon Workman's 3.77. Chance Ruffin, the son of former major league hurler Bruce Ruffin, has been one of the best relievers in the country, putting up Huston Street-like numbers. He has 89 strikeouts and 19 walks in 58.1 innings, and opponents hit .176 off him. Taylor Junmann has electric stuff and has struck out 113 in 104 innings. And Cole Green has four complete games, including two shutouts. Texas thrives on the belief that its offense is suspect. The Longhorns score nearly seven runs a game and have pop up and down the order. Kevin Keyes and Kevin Lusson have the most power, but Russell Moldenhauer and Tant Shepherd pepper the ball around the park. And as always, Garrido's team manufactures runs. The Longhorns have 69 sacrifice bunts compared to 29 for their opponents.
 

2. Rice Owls

Houston, Texas

At-large bid from Conference USA

2010 record: 17-7, 38-21 (first in C-USA)

Head coach: Wayne Graham (Texas, 1970)

Record at school: 864-335, 19 years

Overall record: 1,439-448, 30 years

Assistant Coaches: Mike Taylor, Dave Pierce, Patrick Hallmark

Team offense: .327 BA, 535 R, 91 HR, .533 SLG %, .419 OB %, 56/73 SB

Team pitching: 4.47 ERA, 515.0 IP, 529 H, 201 BB, 352 K

Top hitters: Anthony Rendon (.393/23/78), Diego Seastrunk (.377/9/49), Rick Hague (.352/14/52), Michael Fuda (.341/7/42), Jimmy Comerota (.337/6/45), Chad Mozingo (.324/3/37), Jeremy Rathjen (.314/12/65)

Top pitchers: Jared Rogers (8-1, 1 SV, 4.10, 79 IP, 89 H, 12 BB, 48 K), Boogie Anagnostou (3-4, 4.18, 60.1 IP, 64 H, 25 BB, 24 K), Taylor Wall (5-5, 4.65, 81.1 IP, 75 H, 30 BB, 58 K), Mike Ojala (5-2, 3.80, 47.1 IP, 35 H, 19 BB, 51 K), Tyler Duffey (2-2, 4 SV, 5.21, 38.0 IP, 42 H, 15 BB, 41 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2009 (4-1 at Houston Regional, 0-2 at Baton Rouge Super Regional)

Notes: After scoring 53 runs in the first three games of the C-USA Tournament, the Owls were held to just four runs against Southern Miss. Despite finishing second place in C-USA, Rice will still offer an extremely potent offense, led by all-world Anthony Rendon. Under the guidance of Wayne Graham the program will make its 16th consecutive appearance. The 19-year skipper is known as one of the best in college baseball who knows how to coach teams to the top. Jared Rogers is the top starter in the rotation.

3. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns

Lafayette, Louisiana

At-large bid from Sun Belt Conference

2010 record: 21-9, 37-20 (tied for first)

Head coach: Toby Robichaux (McNeese State, 1986)

Record at school: 576-380-1, 16 years

Overall record: 839-557-1, 24 years

Assistant coaches: Anthony Babineaux, Mike Trahan, Brooks Badeaux

Team offense: .294 BA, 377 R, 45 HR, .438 SLG%, .374 OB%, 100-124 SB

Team pitching: 3.39 ERA, 515.2 IP, 485 H, 153 BB, 406 K

Top hitters: Chad Keefer (.333/15/57/13 2B), Jordan Poirrier (.330/12/56/17 2B), Matt Goulas (.321/3/37/14-18 SB), Greg Fontenot (.319/1/33/10 2B), Alex Fuselier (.307/3/39/20-21 SB), Tyler Frederick (.305/4/25), Kyle Olasin (.274/2/22/19-23 SB), Justin Robichaux (.270/1/24), Lance Marvel (.265/3/13), Brian Bowman (.240/0/12/17-19 SB)

Top pitchers: Joey Satriano (3-0, 5 SV, 2.53 ERA, 46.1 IP, 44 H, 14 BB, 34 K), Zach Osborne (8-4, 2.56 ERA, 112.2 IP, 95 H, 19 BB, 108 K), Ryland Parker (2-1, 2 SB, 2.89 ERA, 28 IP, 16 H, 12 BB, 24 K), Dayton Marze (5-4, 2 SB, 3.10 ERA, 49.1 IP, 51 H, 16 BB, 34 K), T.J. Geith (6-1, 4.79 ERA, 82.2 IP, 90 H, 21 BB, 60 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2007 (2-2 in College Station Regional)

Notes: The Ragin’ Cajuns swept a three-game series at ULM to close the regular season in a tie for first with Florida Atlantic. Second-seeded ULL went 0-2 in the Sun Belt Tournament. ULL is making its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2007. The Ragin Cajuns won 17 of their final 18 conference games. Senior pitcher Justin Robichaux is the son of head coach Tony Robichaux.

4. Rider Broncs

Lawrenceville, New Jersey

Automatic bid – won Metro Atlantic Tournament

2010 record: 15-9, 36-21 (tied for third)

Head coach: Barry Davis (Bridgewater, 1987)

Record at school: 157-161, 6 years

Overall record: 728-357-4, 21 years

Assistant coaches: Jamie Steward, Pat Horvath, Ray Scipione

Team offense: .317 BA, 446 R, 33 HR, .433 SLG%, .415 OB%, 60-86 SB

Team pitching: 5.33 ERA, 481 IP, 525 H, 214 BB, 337 K

Top hitters: Nick Wojnowski (.396/9/45/14 2B), Steve Galella (.358/2/30/10 2B), Brandon Cotton (.358/1/32/12-17 SB), A.J. Albee (.356/9/60/14-17 SB), Karl Johnston (.323/1/27/21-27 SB), Mason Heyne (.321/4/56/20 2B), Adam Wayman (.306/1/40/10 2B)

Top pitchers: Tyler Smith (6-4, 9 SV, 2.77 ERA, 48.2 IP, 48 H, 12 BB, 40 K), Mike Thomas (0-2, 3.59 ERA, 97.2 IP, 94 H, 29 BB, 94 K), Mike Murphy (4-4, 1 SV, 5.14 ERA, 56 IP, 62 H, 24 BB, 38 K), Patrick Devlin (7-3, 5.37 ERA, 68.2 IP, 79 H, 35 BB, 55 K), Joe Calogero (3-0, 5.50 ERA, 52.1 IP, 68 H, 14 BB, 22 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2008 (0-2 in Fullerton Regional)

Notes: The Broncs are making their 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and second in the past three years. Junior second baseman A.J. Albee was named tourney MVP. He set single-season Rider records with 62 runs, 60 RBI and 177 assists. He is five away from the hit record of 88.