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2015 Los Angeles Regional
(capsules compiled by Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton,
Will Merritt, Jackson Proffitt, John Whittle)
1. UCLA Bruins (1)
Los Angeles, California
Automatic bid – won Pac-12 regular-season title
2015 record: 22-8,
42-14
Head coach: John Savage
(Nevada, 1991)
Record at school:
391-268-1 (11 years)
Overall record:
479-352-2 (14 years)
Assistant coaches: Rex
Peters, T.J. Bruce, Jake Silverman
Team offense: .286 BA,
341 R, 31 HR, .415 SLG%, .371 OBP, 60-84 SB
Team pitching: 2.16
ERA, 521.0 IP, 413 H, 136 BB, 486 K, .220 oba
Top hitters: Ty Moore
(.335/5/47/11 2B), Kevin Kramer (.328/6/31/49 R), Brett Stephens
(.320/2/22/11-13 SB), Chris Keck (.306/7/45/20 2B/.505 slg%),
Trenton Chatterton (.292/2/26)
Top pitchers: David
Berg (7-1, 0.73 ERA, 12 SV, 61.2 IP, 45 H, 7 BB, 56 K), Grant
Dyer (4-1, 1.86 ERA, 53.1 IP, 32 H, 14 BB, 62 K), James
Kaprielian (9-4, 1.94 ERA, 97.2 IP, 79 H, 31 BB, 107 K), Grant
Watson (8-4, 2.08 ERA, 91.0 IP, 72 H, 20 BB, 60 K)
Last NCAA Appearance:
2013 National Champion (4-1 at Los Angeles Regional, 1-2 at Los
Angeles Super Regional, at College World Series, 2-0 at National
Championship Series)
Notes: After missing
the NCAA Tourney entirely in 2014, the Bruins are the No. 1
National Seed. This is the third time UCLA has been a national
seed and first as No. 1, and it has hosted a Regional five of
the past six years. The Bruins won the national championship in
2013 and also reached Omaha in 2010 and 2012 under
John Savage (CBI Feature), the CollegeBaseballInsider.com
National Coach of the Year in 2010. This year’s edition has won
17 games more than last year’s, when the Bruins lost 10 straight
as part of a 3-14 finish. Like the 2013 national champions, the
Bruins are pitching-rich, leading the nation in ERA (2.16) and
WHIP (1.05) and ranking fourth in K/BB ratio (3.57). Aces James
Kaprielian (107 Ks/97.2 IP) and Grant Watson limit hitters to a
.227 and .224 average, respectively. Reliever Grant Dyer has
been virtually unhittable, and senior closer David Berg has 48
career saves and is one of college baseball’s all-time great
relievers – he set the NCAA mark for career appearances in May
and now has 172 in his career. He and Watson
were one-time walk-ons. All players on the UCLA roster are
from the state of California. Unlike the 2013 national
champions, the Bruins have more pop up and down the lineup.
Chris Keck has 28 extra-base hits (20 doubles, a triple and
seven homers). Catcher Darrell Miller Jr. is the nephew of NBA
great Reggie Miller.
2. Ole Miss
Oxford,
Mississippi
At-large bid
from Southeastern Conference
2015
record: 15-14,
30-26
Head
coach: Mike
Bianco (LSU, 1989)
Record at
school: 587-348-1
(15 years)
Overall
record: 687-418-1
(17 years)
Assistant
coaches: Matt
Clement, Carl Lafferty
Team
offense: .269
BA, 296 R, 36 HR, .383 SLG%, .362 OBP%, 51-76 SB
Team
pitching:
4.44 ERA, 492.2 IP, 518 H, 157 BB, 390 K, .269 BAA
Top
hitters: Connor
Cloyd (.400/0/15), Sikes Orvis (.267/16/53), Errol Robinson
(.291/1/30), Colby Bortles (.286/7/46)
Top
pitchers: Wyatt
Short (4-1, 1.42 ERA, 38.0 IP, 28 H, 12 BB, 43 K, 10 SV),
Christian Trent (7-6, 3.70 ERA, 92.1 IP, 99 H, 19 BB, 68 K),
Brady Bramlett (7-3, 3.84 ERA, 77.1 IP, 41 H, 20 BB, 78 K),
Scott Weathersby (4-2, 2.62 ERA, 3 SV, 55.0 IP, 45 H, 14 BB, 51
K)
Last NCAA
appearance: 2014
(3-0 at Oxford Regional, 2-1 at Lafayette Super Regional, 2-2 at
College World Series)
Notes: Team-leading
hitter Connor Cloyd has been out since early May with an oblique
injury and his status, as of early this week, is still up in the
air for the NCAA Tournament. There is optimism he will be ready
to play though. … Left-handed pitcher Wyatt Short was named
second-team All-SEC by the league’s coaches this year. Short
hasn’t allowed an earned run in 19 of his 22 appearances. …
Third baseman Colby Bortles is the younger brother of former UCF
and current Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles, who
was selected with the third pick overall in the 2014 NFL Draft.
… Christian Trent, a lefty pitcher, signed with and enrolled at LSU but
left the program after one year for Delgado C.C. where he also
spent a season. Now, he’s in his second year as a weekend
starting pitcher for the Rebels. Ole Miss is making its fourth
straight Regional appearance and 12th in the past 13 years. The
Rebels won their first Super Regional a season ago and reached
the College World Series for the fifth time in program history
and first time since 1972.
3. Maryland Terrapins
College Park, Maryland
At-large bid from Big Ten
2015 record: 14-10,
39-21 (tied for third)
Head coach: John Szefc
(Drexel, 1989)
Record at school:
109-69, 3 years
Overall record:
321-206-3, 10 years
Assistant coaches: Jim
Belanger, Rob Vaughn, Corey Haines
Team offense: .265 BA,
376 R, 50 HR, .409 SLG%, .371 OB%, 59-77 SB
Team pitching: 3.35
ERA, 531.1 IP, 476 H, 204 BB, 505 K, .237 oba
Top hitters: Brandon
Lowe (.342/9/52/17 2B), Kevin Martir (.330/7/42/15 2B), Kevin
Smith (.279/7/33/11-14 SB), Anthony Papio (.271/6/24), Jose Cuas
(.246/11/53/11 2B) Top pitchers: Kevin Mooney (3-0, 1.39
ERA, 8 SV, 32.1 IP, 15 H, 21 BB, 37 K), Ryan Selmer (3-0, 1.42
ERA, 50.2 IP, 37 H, 15 BB, 17 K), Mike Shawaryn (12-2, 1.65 ERA,
103.1 IP, 76 H, 23 BB, 124 K), Robert Galligan (3-4, 2.96 ERA, 1
SV, 48.2 IP, 45 H, 15 BB, 52 K)
Last NCAA Appearance:
2014 (3-0 at Columbia Regional, 1-2 in Charlottesville Super
Regional)
Notes: Head coach John
Szefc must serve a two-game suspension at the start of Regionals
as a result of his ejection in the Big Ten Tournament
Championship Game. The Terps have
reached the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season after
going 43 years in between trips. The Terps were 1-6 all-time in
tourney contests before going 4-2 in 2014. The Terps reached the
Big Ten title game this season after advancing to the ACC
championship game in 2014 for the first time since 1976.
Maryland ended the 27-game win streak of Illinois during the Big
Ten Tournament. Maryland is 2-1 all-time against UCLA and 0-1
against Ole Miss. The Terps have not played CSU Bakersfield.
Sophomore Mike Shawryn is a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes
Award and the Dick Howser Award. Junior catcher Kevin Martir is
a Johnny Bench Award semifinalist. Kevin Mooney had three saves
in the Big Ten Tournament. Anthony Papio and Robert Galligan
contributed journal entries to College Baseball Insider this
season.
4. CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners
Bakersfield, California
Automatic bid – won WAC Tournament
2015 record: 17-19-1,
36-22-1
Head coach: Bill Kernen
(Redlands, 1970)
Record at school:
196-196-1, seven years
Overall record:
436-350-4, 14 years
Assistant coaches: Alex
Hoover, Bob Macaluso, Richie Escalera
Team offense: .283 BA,
351 R, 16 HR, .365 SLG%, .364 OB%, 52-68 SB
Team pitching: 3.57
ERA, 524.0 IP, 552 H, 200 BB, 334 K
Top hitters: David
Metzgar (.358/2/42/16 2B), Max Carter (.320/0/27), Joey Sanchez
(.308/0/21), Kris Cayton (.308/2/11), Mylz Jones (.285/2/30),
Jordie Hein (.282/1/30)
Top pitchers: Hayden
Carter (8-3, 2.55 ERA, 116.1 IP, 126 H, 22 BB, 56 K), Steven Gee
(5-3, 2.66 ERA, 2 SV, 71.0 IP, 71 H, 22 BB, 43 K), James
Barragan (7-4, 2.82 ERA, 83.0 IP, 76 H, 33 BB, 78 K)
Last NCAA Appearance:
First appearance
Notes: The Roadrunners
worked through the losers' bracket and defeated top-seeded
Seattle twice to win its first WAC title. David Metzgar was
named WAC tourney MVP, hitting .409 with one home run and five
RBI. UCLA leads the all-time series against CSUB 3-1. The
Roadrunners have never faced Ole Miss or Maryland. Head coach
Bill Kernen served as head coach at Cal State Northridge from
1989-95, helping the Matadors transition from Division II to
Division I. In the fall of 1995, Kernen entered the dramatic
writing graduate program at Columbia. He wrote and produced two
full-length plays by 1997 before adding two more plays over the
next two years. His 1998 play, Galleria degli Angeli, was a
finalist in the Oglebay Institute National Playwriting
Competition. CSUB had 23 players on its roster from California,
two from Arizona and one from Virginia. Pitcher Hayden Carter
had six complete games in his past eight starts.
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