Catching Up With the CWS

I'm a little behind with recaps of all of the College World Series action. Here is what has happened so far:

Bracket 1

Texas- 2-0

North Carolina- 1-1

Arizona State- 1-1

Southern Miss- 0-2 (eliminated)

Texas has eked out a couple of wins. First, they toppled Southern Miss with a bases-loaded walk. Then, they overcame a 6-0 deficit against the nation's #2 ERA man to beat ASU 10-6. Cameron Rupp hit a pair of oppo homers and freshman Taylor Jungmann was tremendous in relief of starter Chance Ruffin, who was hit hard, to carry the Longhorns. UNC squandered an outstanding effort by Alex White (9 IP, 1 R, 12 K) with an extra-innings loss at the hands of ASU. They came back with a CWS record-tying 23 hits, including 5 from All-American 1B Dustin Ackley, to bounce Southern Miss. The Tar Heels have Matt Harvey, Patrick Johnson, and White lined up for a potential climb out of the loser's bracket. ASU's pitching situation is much more dicey, so they'll be a longshot from here on out. Texas has two chances to beat the winner of the ASU/UNC clash, and electric righty Brandon Workman will probably get the ball first.

Bracket 2

LSU- 2-0

Virginia- 1-1

Arkansas- 1-1

Cal State Fullerton- 0-2 (eliminated)

Cal State Fullerton, perhaps the slight favorite entering the CWS, played as poorly in two losing efforts this week as they played well in convincing runs through regionals and super regionals. RHPs Noe Ramirez and Daniel Renken were simply not themselves, and the rest of the team did not play "Titan Baseball". LSU has handled their foes with some old-style LSU Gorilla Ball and a solid start from Louis Coleman to take a commanding position in this bracket. It'll be tough for either Virginia (who knocked out CSF after losing to LSU) or Arkansas (who homered and Dallas Keuchel-ed their way to a win over Fullerton and then got trounced by LSU) to win 2 games against the Tigers with the way they are playing. The Bayou Bengals are clicking on offense, defense, and on the mound.