2012 Tallahassee Regional

Regional Schedules

1. Florida State Seminoles (3)

Tallahassee, Florida

At-large bid from ACC

2012 record: 24-6, 43-15 (first in Atlantic Division)

Head Coach: Mike Martin (Florida State, 1966)

Record at School: 1,716-592-4, 33 years

Overall Record: 1,716-592-4, 33 years

Assistant Coaches: Mike Bell, Mike Martin Jr., Matt Matulia

Team offense: .283 BA, 387 R, 36 HR, 58-50 SB

Top hitters: James Ramsey (.382/12/49/9-13 SB), Jayce Boyd (.395/3/55/20 2B), Devon Travis (.316/5/34/22 2B), Sherman Johnson (.263/2/28/59 BB),

Top pitchers: Mike Compton (10-2, 2.88 ERA, 75 IP, 67 H, 26 BB, 52 K), Brandon Leibrandt (6-2, 2.91 ERA, 80.1 IP, 70 H, 25 BB, 64 K), Robert Benicasa (4-1, 1.36 ERA, 13 SV, 33 IP, 20 H, 4 BB, 47 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2011 (3-0 at Tallahassee Regional, 1-2 at Tallahassee Super Regional)

Notes: Florida State posted an ACC-record 24 conference wins this season. This season James Ramsey became the first Seminole to don a captain’s ‘C’ on his jersey. Ramsey is projected to be an early draft pick, after being selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 22nd round last year. Mike Martin became the fourth coach in all divisions and third in Division I history, to win at least 1,700 games. Martin reached the historic milestone with an 8-4 victory over Georgia Tech on Sunday, April 8 in Atlanta. Florida State also became the fastest school in Division I history to win 2,600 games (ahead of California, Michigan, Stanford, Texas, Southern California, Fordham, Arizona, and Arizona State), as the Seminoles reached the mark in only their 65th year of college baseball.  Florida State tied an ACC record, winning 24 conference games in the regular season.  Brandon Leibrandt is the son of Charlie Leibrandt, former pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, and Texas Rangers. The Seminoles have had at least 40 wins and have played in the NCAA tournament for 35 straight years, spanning Mike Martin’s entire head coaching tenure, but have not yet won a national championship. Their streak of tournament appearances is the second-longest in the country – fellow ACC team Miami has 40.

2. Mississippi State Bulldogs

Starkville, Mississippi

Automatic bid – won SEC Tournament

2012 record: 16-14, 39-22 (tied for second in SEC West)

Head coach: John Cohen (Mississippi State, 1990)

Record at school: 125-109, 4 years

Overall record: 446-305-1, 13 years

Assistant coaches: Butch Thompson, Lane Burroughs

Team offense: .252 BA, 277 R, 21 HR, .334 SLG%, .359 OB%, 42-69 SB

Team pitching: 2.58 ERA, 559 IP, 492 H, 170 BB, 516 K

Top hitters: Adam Frazier (.376/0/26/15 2B/.484 OB%), Daryl Norris (.279/1/25), Trey Porter (.262/5/23), Hunter Renfroe (.257/4/24/15 2B), Wes Rea (.245/5/38)

Top pitchers: Jonathan Holder (2-0, 0.00, 9 SV, 27.1 IP, 14 H, 5 BB, 28 K), Chris Stratton (11-1, 2.21, 1 SV, 102 IP, 78 H, 21 BB, 123 K), Caleb Reed (1-5, 2.56, 8 SV, 52.2 IP, 46 H, 21 BB, 47 K), Kendall Graveman (4-4, 2.92, 86.1 IP, 83 H, 19 BB, 54 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2011 (3-0 at Atlanta Regional, 1-2 at Gainesville Super Regional)

Notes: The Bulldogs won the SEC tourney, playing six afternoon games and winning five, including a 3-0 victory over Vanderbilt in the Championship Game. It was the program’s seventh conference tournament title and first since 2005. Chris Stratton was named SEC Pitcher of the Year. MSU is 29-1 when leading after six innings and 33-1 when leading after seven. The Bulldogs are 24-2 when holding opponents to a pair of runs or less. The Bulldogs missed the NCAA Tournament for three seasons before their return a year ago. MSU was a 3-seed in 2011, but went 3-0 in Atlanta to advance to the Gainesville Super Regional, taking Florida to the limit before falling in the deciding game. The Bulldogs have reached the College World Series eight times, the last in 2007. Coach John Cohen played on the 1990 MSU CWS team and returned to his alma mater after coaching Kentucky, where he was honored by CollegeBaseballInsider.com as national coach of the year in 2006.

3. Samford Bulldogs

Birmingham, Alabama

Automatic bid – won Southern Conference Tournament

2012 record: 19-11, 39-21 (fourth in Southern Conference)

Head Coach: Casey Dunn (Auburn, 1999)

Record at School: 243-193, 8 years

Overall Record: same

Assistant Coaches: Tony David, Mick Fieldbinder, Rucker Taylor

Team offense: .307 BA, 425 R, 62 HR, .465 SLG%, .393 OBP %, 48-72 SB

Top hitters: Saxon Butler (.350/14/60), Phillip Ervin (.340/10/52), Zeth Stone (.335/1/33), C.K. Irby (.328/4/45), Brandon Miller (.299/22/63)

Top pitchers: Josh Martin (12-1, 2.96 ERA, 103.1 IP, 90 K), Charles Basford (9-2, 3.95 ERA, 98 IP, 54 K), C.K. Irby (5-1, 9 SV, 1.53 ERA, 35.1 IP, 29 K), Joseph Burns (3-1, 1.49 ERA, 36.1 IP, 37 K)

Last NCAA appearance:  First appearance

Notes: The Bulldogs defeated Georgia Southern 9-6 in a 10-inning affair to capture the Southern Conference Championship and secure their first NCAA Tournament berth. Last season, the Bulldogs came up one game short, losing 1-0 to Georgia Southern in the SoCon Championship game. Under Casey Dunn’s leadership, the Bulldogs have posted 30-plus wins in five of the past six seasons. Infielder Austin Allison is the great nephew of NASCAR legends Bobby and Donnie Allison. OF Brandon Miller was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 33rd round coming out of high school in 2008. Miller leads the nation in home runs with 22. C.K. Irby is a threat both at the plate (66 hits, .328 BA) and on the mound as the teams closer (9 SV).

4. UAB Blazers

Birmingham, Alabama

Automatic bid – won Conference USA Tournament

2012 record: 9-15, 32-28 (seventh in Conference USA)

Head Coach: Brian Shoop (Malone (OH), 1980)

Record at School: 171-174, 6 years

Overall Record: 863-486-1, 23 years

Assistant Coaches: Perry Roth, Josh Hopper, Ron Polk

Team offense: .271 BA, 278 R, 18 HR, .348 SLG%, .355 SLG%, 68-88 SB

Top hitters: Ivan De Jesus (.297/3/23/12-17 SB), Keith DePew (.299/0/21/11 SH), Patrick Palmeiro (.252/5/34/12 2B),

Top pitchers: Ben Bullard (5-5, 2.96 ERA, 82 IP, 72 H, 27 ER, 19 BB, 79 K), Michael Busby (5-4, 3.90 ERA, 90 IP, 92 H, 39 ER, 22 BB, 55 K), Chase Mallard (4-4, 3.13 ERA, 2 SV, 63.1 IP, 53 H, 22 ER, 25 BB, 45 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 1991 (1-2 at Central Regional held in Austin, TX)

Notes: The Blazers defeated Memphis, 5-0, in the C-USA championship game Sunday afternoon to earn the berth in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Brian Shoop came to UAB after serving 17 seasons at the helm of the Birmingham-Southern program, where he compiled a record of 692-307-1 and captured a NAIA championship Since coming to UAB, Shoop has had 88 players named to the C-USA Commissioner's honor roll for compiling a 3.0 GPA or better, while 24 student-athletes have earned the league's academic medial for totaling a 3.75 GPA or better. Shoop's squads have compiled team GPA's of over 3.0 in four of five seasons. Ivan De Jesus, a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, was a sixth round draft choice (Chicago Cubs) out of high school. Infielder Keith DePew has led the Blazers in sacrifice bunts for two consecutive seasons, including a program record 14 in 2011. Patrick Palmeiro, who was selected in the 22nd round by the Pittsburg Pirates as a high-school senor in 2008, is the son of former MLB player Rafael Palmeiro.