CWS Bracket 2 Preview: LSU, TCU, CSF, & Vanderbilt

The boys are back home in Omaha! The LSU Tigers are making their 17th trip to somewhere in middle America and are just 5 wins away from their 7th National Championship and first since 2009. The task at hand will not be an easy one with a very strong field in this year’s College World Series. LSU will compete in Bracket 2 with TCU, Cal State Fullerton, and Vanderbilt. The MLB Draft was held earlier this week and 22 players from these 4 teams alone were drafted in the top 10 rounds and 31 players overall. Now let’s get to the heart of the matter…


This won’t be the preview that you have come to know from me due to a schedule conflict, but I have provided all of the stat charts and such. There won’t be any commentary or scouting report to go with those stats. I also included a screenshot of Baseball America’s Magazine, which previews each team.








NCAA Interactive Bracket
D1 Baseball’s CWS Preview
Baseball America’s Bracket 2 Preview





TCU Horned Frogs
Record: 49-13
Conference: 18-5, 1st in Big 12
Non-Conf: 25-4
Home: 33-4
Away: 15-7
Neutral: 1-2
Common Opponents w/ LSU: NONE

How They Got Here:
---Received #7 national seed with at-large bid
Fort Worth Regional – defeated Sacred Heart 10-0, lost to NC State 5-4, defeated Stony Brook 8-3, defeated NC State 8-2 and 9-8 (in 10)
Fort Worth Super Regional – defeated Texas A&M 13-4, lost 2-1 (in 10), and won 5-4 (in 16)

Players Taken in the MLB Draft This Week
LHP Alex Young – 2nd round
LHP Tyler Alexander – 2nd round
RHP Riley Ferrell – 3rd round
OF Cody Jones – 6th round
RHP Preston Morrison – 8th round
RHP Trey Teakell – 9th round
SS Keaton Jones – 15th round
RHP Mitchell Traver – 28th round















Links
TCU Season Stats
TCU Roster
TCU Schedule (via Warren Nolan)






Cal State Fullerton Titans
Record: 39-23
Conference: 19-5, 1st Big West
Non-Conf: 15-17
Home: 21-8
Away: 17-13
Neutral: 1-2
Common Opponents: NONE

How They Got Here:
---Received Big West automatic bid (no conference tournament)
Fullerton Regional – defeated Pepperdine 9-3, defeated Arizona State 3-2 (in 14), defeated Pepperdine 10-1
Louisville Super Regional – defeated Louisville 3-2 (in 10), lost 9-3, won 4-3 (in 11)

Players Taken in the MLB Draft This Week
RHP Thomas Eshelman – 2nd round
RHP Justin Garza – 8th round
LHP Tyler Peitzmeyer – 9th round
OF David Olmedo-Barrera – 12th round
A.J. Kennedy – 30th round
2B Jake Jefferies – 39th round














Links
CSF Season Stats
CSF Roster
CSF Schedule (via Warren Nolan)





Vanderbilt Commodores
Record: 47-19
Conference: 20-10, 2nd SEC, 1st SEC East
Non-Conf: 19-7
Home: 27-8
Away: 15-7
Neutral: 5-4

How They Got Here:
---Received at-large bid and regional host matched with #6 national seeded Illinois
Nashville Regional – defeated Lipscomb 9-1, Indiana 6-4, and Radford 21-0
Champaign Super Regional – defeated Illinois 13-0 and 4-2

Players Taken in the MLB Draft This Week
SS Danby Swanson – 1st overall pick
RHP Carson Fulmer – 1st round
RHP Walker Buehler – 1st round
LHP Phillip Pfiefer – 3rd round
OF Rhett Wiseman – 3rd round
RHP Tyler Ferguson – 6th round
1B Zander Wiel – 12th round
3B Xavier Turner – 19th round
LHP John Kilichowski – 39th round

















Links
Vanderbilt Season Stats
Vanderbilt Roster
Vanderbilt Schedule (via Warren Nolan) 

The 2015 College World Series Bracket

Super Preview: Louisiana-Lafayette vs LSU – Sat 7 | Sun 5 or 6 | *Mon (TBA)

 Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns (42-21) vs.  LSU Fighting Tigers (51-10) at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, LA.




It is Super Regional weekend in Alex Box Stadium! LSU hosts Louisiana-Lafayette in a best of 3 series for a trip to the College World Series in Omaha, NE. The Regional/Super Regional history runs deep between these two programs. LSU leads the post-season series 6 games to 1, with the most memorable day of all coming on June 2nd, 2002, in two of most heated games in LSU history and the infamous Aaron Hill flying bat. LSU would escape the loser’s bracket and beat the Cajuns twice that day to advance to their 4th consecutive Super Regional.

The last post-season game between these teams was a 5-2 LSU victory in the 2013 Baton Rouge Regional championship in front of 11,838 fans. The LSU postseason attendance record of 12,153, which was set the following week against Oklahoma, could be in jeopardy on Saturday night with the demand for this 2015 Super Regional at an all-time high. Tickets on secondhand websites are selling as high as $300.



Game 1 is the only certainty we have for this Super Regional from a scheduling standpoint. The Saturday night game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and start at 7pm CT. Sunday night’s game will either be on ESPNU at 5pm or on ESPN2 at 6pm. Monday’s if necessary game has multiple possible starting times.

ESPN’s Coverage of the Super Regionals
Site: Baton Rouge, LA
Play-by-Play: Adam Amin
Color Commentary: Ben McDonald
On-Field: Kaylee Hartung







University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin Cajuns
Record: 42-21
Conference: 18-11, 3rd in Sun Belt
Non-Conf: 16-9
Home: 19-9
Away: 17-10
Neutral: 6-2

How They Got Here:
Sun Belt Tournament Champions – lost to Texas State; defeated Troy, UT Arlington, Texas State x2, and #1 seed South Alabama
Houston Regional Champions – defeated Rice 7-6, Houston 2-1, and Rice 5-2



Team Overview:
Tony Robichaux has lead the Cajuns to their 3rd consecutive NCAA regional appearance and 2nd Super Regional in as many years. After losing a ton of talent from a team that represented the #6 national seed in 2014, the Cajuns took a step back this year, finishing 3rd in the Sun Belt conference. However, Lafayette has gotten hot at the right time of the year and found themselves back in the Super Regional round and a pair of wins away from Omaha. The Cajuns have won 8 games in a row and allowed 2 runs or less in 6 of those contests. Their rotation of all freshman hurlers, along with a few key relievers, has been their backbone all year, and the team era of 3.33 ranks 42nd in the nation. Two of their pitchers, Leger and Moore were named to Louisville Slugger’s Freshmen All-American team.



Full credit to Cajun8 for posting the following information; I think he covered it well: Leger is the ace. Finesse throwing Lefty, can get up to 91-92 but works hitters really well with off-speed. Doesn't walk many batters at all. 2.87 ERA 106.2 IP 83 K only 19 BB. Wyatt Marks has turned into the #2 over the last few weeks of the regular season and into Post-season. He is a Power throwing Righty. Sits 91-93 with a great slider and curve. Has a bulldog mentality. 3.32 ERA 60 IP and 63 K only 16 BB. Evan Guillory started the season as the Friday guy, ended as the Sat/Sun guy. Guillory is a smooth throwing Righty. He won't overpower anyone, but he works hitter pretty well and usually gets us to the 5th inning with the game close. Manages base runners really well. Started the season with a 5+ era but the Cajuns are 8-2 in his last 10 starts.



Closer Dylan Moore was named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team after recording a school record 13 saves this season. The 6’4 freshman from Texas only throws his fastball about 87mph, but Moore hides the ball exceptionally well for a right handed pitcher and a jerk in his motion makes the ball even more difficult to pick up. Long relievers Will Bacon, Colton Lee, and Greg Milhorn are the other main relievers for the Cajuns. Will Bacon, a junior from Baton Rouge, has a (mostly) side arm delivery and has picked up 6 wins and 2 saves on the year. Milhorn is a sinker baller with over a 2/1 groundout to flyout ratio.



Blake Trahan is the leader of the Cajun offense despite being 4th on the team in average. Trahan has been named to at least one All-American list in each of his three seasons in Lafayette and is expected to have his named called early on in the MLB draft this weekend. The other middle infielder Stefan Trosclair was also named to the 3rd Team All-American team by Louisville Slugger. Trosclair’s 16 home runs is 10th most in the country. Of note: he hits for a .379 average against RHP and just .250 against LHP. Kyle Clement is the average leader for the Cajuns with a .343 average. Lafayette as a team has the 7th most sacrifice bunts in the nation. They rank 40th in walks, 32nd in doubles, and 20th in home runs.

On the bases, Lafayette has stolen 81 bags on the season, which is the 40th most in the country. Blake Trahan leads the team in the stolen base category with 17, and Stefan Trosclair is right behind him with 15 SBs.



Lafayette fields a decent .970 on the season. Their 52 double plays turned are 47th most in the country. Blake Trahan is the leader of the defense and has made just 9 errors at the shortstop position. Catcher Nick Thurman has thrown out 20 of 61 attempting base stealers.


Links
ULL Season Stats
ULL Roster
ULL Schedule (via Warren Nolan)
NCAA Interactive Bracket
LSUsports.net Super Regional Information Page
Article: Shortstop Skirmish – Who will come out on top?
D1 Baseball’s Preview
Video: SEC Network’s Super Regional Preview