2013 Tallahassee Regional

(capsules compiled by Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton, Zachary Kerr)

1. Florida State Seminoles

Tallahassee, Florida
At-large bid from ACC
2013 record: 20-10, 44-14 (first in Atlantic Division)
Head Coach: Mike Martin (Florida State, 1966)
Record at School: 1,767-608-4, 34 years
Overall Record: 1,767-608-4, 34 years
Assistant Coaches: Mike Bell, Mike Martin Jr., Chris Cates
Team offense: .284 BA, 388 R, 29 HR, 38-64 SB
Team pitching: 2.80 ERA, 523.2 IP, 472 H, 177 BB, 460 K
Top hitters: DJ Stewart (.348/4/51/7-11 SB), Jose Brizuela (.320/3/40/5-6 SB), Marcus Davis (.298/9/55/5-7 SB), Stephen McGee (.296/8/46/51 BB),
Top pitchers: Scott Sitz (9-1, 1.73 ERA, 83 IP, 79 H, 20 BB, 67 K), Luke Weaver (6-2, 2.13 ERA, 84.1 IP, 67 H, 17 BB, 100 K), Robby Coles (4-2, 1.63 ERA, 9 SV, 33.2 IP, 25 H, 14 BB, 34 K), Brandon Leibrandt (9-4, 3.21 ERA, 84 IP, 81 H, 28 BB, 76 K, CG)
Last NCAA appearance: 2012 (3-0 at Tallahassee Regional, 2-0 at Tallahassee Super Regional, 2-2 at College World Series)
Notes: The Seminoles' only losses in their College World Series run last year were against eventual champion Arizona. 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 36 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 41. The team lost its first two games in ACC Championship pool play by one run and its last by a walk-off home run in the 12th inning. D.J. Stewart enters the regional with his team's season-high hit streak of 14 games, including multiple-hit games in all three ACC Championship contests. Stewart leads the team in that category, as well, with 23.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide

Notes: Alabama returns to the NCAA Tournament after missing a year ago, making its 23rd regional appearance. The Crimson Tide has reached Omaha five times (1950, 1983, 1996, 1997, 1999). Alabama is looking for its first national championship. The Crimson Tide opens with Troy, their second meeting of the season. Alabama took an 11-2 victory from the Trojans on May 8. ‘Bama is 19-8 all-time against Troy and 1-9 vs. Florida State. It has never faced Savannah State. Alabama is 9-18 against teams in the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide is 20th in the nation in fielding percentage at .976 and third in double plays with 76. Alabama lost a tough 3-2 decision to eventual champion LSU in the SEC Tournament. The Tigers scored a pair with two away in the top of the ninth to eliminate the Crimson Tide and advance to the semifinals. Assistant coaches Dax Norris and Andy Phillips were both All-Americans at Alabama.

3. Troy Trojans

Notes: Troy finished tied for first in the Sun Belt with South Alabama at the end of the season but left the conference tournament after three close, low-scoring games: a win against eight-seed Arkansas State, a loss against four-seed and eventual champion Florida Atlantic, and a loss to Arkansas State. Junior shortstop Tyler Vaughan, senior third baseman Logan Pierce and outfielder Danny Collins were voted to the All-Sun Belt First Team. Collins set several New England Collegiate Baseball League records last summer in 41 games: 19 homers, an .818 slugging percentage, 29 extra-base hits, and 130 total bases. He won the league's home run derby and MVP award. He and Pierce ranked ninth and 13th in the nation in doubles, with 24 and 21. As a team, the Trojans were third in the country with 144 doubles. Redshirt junior Shane McCain was elected Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year, and junior first baseman Trae Santos made the second team. Santos was 10th in the country with 16 home runs. The Trojans ended the season 14th in Division I with 52 homers. Senior closer Nate Hill finished sixth in the nation with 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

4. Savannah State Tigers

Notes: The Tigers ended Bethune-Cookman’s eight-year reign as MEAC champions by posting their first conference title. In the championship game, Kyle McGowin tossed 10 innings in the 1-0 win to improve to 12-1; opponents have hit only .215 off McGowin. Todd Hagen hit .320 with 26 RBI and 16 stolen bases, a year after batting .296 with 20 RBI. Six Tigers stole more than 10 bases as they finished 127 for 157 on the season – Darien Campbell leads the team with 24. Savannah State coach Carlton Hardy played for Grambling State and spent a year in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. In his first year as coach as the Tigers, his squad posted an upset of Florida State.