About Eric Sorenson
After growing up in Omaha, Nebraska and skinning his knees on the concrete walkways of Rosenblatt Stadium, Eric has had college baseball in his veins for as long as he can remember. When the College World Series was going on each June, his parents would drop him and his friends off at the stadium in the morning and pick them up after the last game that night. Poor parenting? Sure. But it also fueled his fever for the sport that much more.
Eschewing the normal journalistic road to sports writing, Eric has been an advertising copywriter for years. He admits that creative background has added to his unconventional approach to sports writing and is a main contributor to his unique style.
Eric’s “addiction” to college baseball writing began back in the late 90s, when he became one of the original national writers for the sport. In the years that followed, he has covered college baseball for such media outlets as USA Today, CSTV, CBS Sportsline, CBS College Sports, College Baseball Insider and his current gig with College Baseball Today.
Living in Southern California with his wife Mandy, Eric sits in one of the hotbeds of college baseball. When he’s not covering a game or writing about the sport, he enjoys surfing, snow skiing, playing hockey and rough-housing with his black lab “T.O.” Eric was also 7th runner-up in “The Most Interesting Man In the World” competition held by Dos Equis in 2009.
Some Summer Lagniappe
The reason for my truancy.
I know. I know. It’s been 20 days since South Carolina dogpiled and I filed my last real bit of writing here on the site. Mea culpa. As I told Easton’s Kyle Horn, when asked about my lack of entries since Omaha, it’s like decompressing from rehab. I have to get used to not chasing the dragon first.
Well not to worry ladies and gents, I’m good now. After starting and stopping a few times the last two weeks, I’m finally ready to finish a daily entry here at College Baseball Today.
And let me start by adding a few more thoughts and short tales from the College World Series that I wasn’t able to add during the 10 days I was there.
Recent Comments:
July 21, 2010 at 5:21 pmTim K. says:
News on Tuesday that Kyle Parker will play football this fall for Clemson. Does
July 20, 2010 at 4:58 pmHal Incandenza says:
Rice vs. Pittsburgh...one of the best schools in the country vs. one of the wors
The UCLA program comes of age.
Maybe somewhere up there John Wooden is pulling some serious strings for his favorite baseball team. Because tonight, UCLA was able to do two things it has never done before: First, the Bruins won their 46th game of any one season, the new school high-water mark. And two, they were also able to win an NCAA Regional at Jackie Robinson Stadium. With tonight’s 6-2 win over UC Irvine, UCLA joins a list of eight teams that have already earned their way to the second weekend of post-season play after zooming through the Regionals unbeaten.
2nd baseman Tyler Rahmatulla has been a big reason UCLA has been such a solid defensive team.
It was an exciting Sunday of college baseball action, as eight slots for the Super Regionals were earned today and eight more slots will be filled on Monday.
A Night-Before Check List of What To Watch For.
Twas the night before bid-day and all through the cabin in the woods…
Thought I’d re-visit the list of things to look for in tomorrow’s announcement show that will be seen by college stitch-heads everywhere. Here’s to hoping Kyle Peterson brings good tidings to each and every one of you that have been good this year. If you’ve been bad… well, I can’t help you there, heathen.
Here are 15 things to watch for/keep in mind/wish for when the red light above camera A hits the studio…
FIU puts the “Belt” in Sun Belt Champions.
All I can say is, he warned me.
I caught up with FIU head coach Turtle Thomas earlier this season at the Coca Cola Classic down in Surprise, Arizona, where his Panthers went 3-1, including a tough loss to national monster Arizona State. He told me back then that his lineup was solid “one-through-nine and we can hit with anybody.” Well he wasn’t lying. Today, the Golden Panthers continued their knack of abusing opposing pitching and putting a serious bruising on baseballs no matter where they go. In an offensive explosion that has been one of the most impressive I’ve seen in my years of covering college baseball, Florida International pasted Troy pitching for 20 hits and 14 runs to win the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship in a shootout.
FIU dogpiles its way to the NCAA tournament with a record of 36-23 and an offense that hit .385 this week.
And yes, that means FIU now moves on to the Big Dance. Any takers to face this lineup?… Anybody?… Anybody?… Bueller?
One of the Good Guys Rides Off Into The Sunset
Think about what you were doing in November of 1978. That is, if you were even born by then.
That’s when Sacramento State head coach John Smith got hired by the state school in the capital city to commandeer the baseball program. And the likable bloke has been at the helm ever since. There’s something to be said for loyalty. And commitment. And of course, 32 years of service to a single institution. Ya’ gotta dig that.
Sacramento State coach John Smith watches his team shake hands for the last time.
Today, Smith’s tenure as the Hornet head coach came to an end, as he handed the reigns to his assistant coach Reggie Christiansen and rode off into the sunset on his own terms. Bravo, man. Bravo.
South Carolina. Great team?… Or greatest team ever?
Did you guys hear that South Carolina beat Arkansas to a moist spot in the dirt this weekend? Just wondering. Yeah, I know you guys well enough. I know you saw that the ‘Cock mound crew stymied a hot-hitting Arkansas team to pull of what might be the most impressive road sweep this year.
Sam Dyson to Nick Ebert, "Dem Hawgs was easy." Carolina basks in the glow of a great weekend.
And staying in-state, Coastal Carolina also went on the road and swept a three-game litmus test at Liberty to take command over the Big South Conference. What’s in the water here? That’s a pair of impressive road warriors I tells ya’.
Now the biggest question is, will these two stay hot and make for two national seeds in the Palmetto state?
Heavy Drama In Baton Rouge.
It seemed like there were a lot of chewed fingernails across the country today as the battle for post-season positioning and conference titles are starting to hit a crescendo in the twilight of the regular season.
Vanderbilt leaves Mikie Mahtook and LSU scratching their head in despair after the series win in Baton Rouge.
Well talk about tough luck losses, man, that LSU-Vanderbilt game today was THISCLOSE to going either way. Game of inches? Sure. Game of millimeters? That may be more accurate. In front of a post-season-like atmosphere full of strained vocal chords and frayed nerves, the near-misses went the Commodores way as they escape Red Stick with an impressive – if not tightly-contested – series win this weekend.
The cruelty of May has just begun.
I equate the month of May with something along the lines of dog-fighting – it’s cruelty at its worst. That’s just the nature of college baseball’s final regular season month.
No other month on the calendar is more painful than the month before June Madness. And today was another perfect example. The canyons of our college baseball world echoed with hearts breaking in the sound of egos getting bruised. RPI darlings like UCLA, LSU, Georgia Tech, Arizona and Stanford had their noses bloodied and then rubbed in the dirt.
Proof positive that "It's good, to be, a Flo-rid-uh-Ga-tor!"
Meanwhile, Florida, Arizona State and Texas seemed to solidify their national seed status with impressive sweeps. These guys looked like Jimi Hendrix, Slash and Eddie Van Halen compared to your neighborhood garage band filled with high school band geeks playing flugelhorns. Surely nothing will happen to those three teams as we head toward the NCAA announcement show that is just 29 days away, right?
I don’t know. This IS May, ya’ know. And as we found out this weekend, May is cruel and it is merely an abbreviation for ‘mayhem.’
The Ultimate OUCH!: I miss Pam Anderson’s 1st Pitch at Pepperdine
Unfortunately this is not my picture. I got this off of Getty Images.
So here’s the deal: Because of a slightly late start from leaving my house and the crappy backed-up traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway, I made it out to Pepperdine just after the first batter of the game was announced. Little did I know, THE Pamela Anderson was there to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before today’s Portland at Pepperdine game.
You kiddin’ me! Really? Is that how bad my luck is? Crikies!
Turns out that the bountiful one was only there to toss out the pitch and then high-tailed it back home. So no celebrity sighting for me. Despite this bitter disappointment, I was able to witness something even more important – the Portland Pilots kept their assault of the West Coast Conference going.
Seminoles avoid series loss and the Ouch List. Others not so lucky.
The second edition of the Ouch List is out (If you recall, I skipped last week due to the influence of going to Vegas… for shame) and it’s a lengthy one. Yes, the baseball Gods were not kind to many many teams across the country as you’ll see below.
It was nearly a painful weekend for Florida State, but they got up off the canvas to beat Duke.
I thought one of the teams that was going to be added to the Ouch List was the Florida State Seminoles, who hobbled into today’s action with a one-to-one split with underrated Duke. But the Garnet and Gold was able to bounce back from an early deficit to down the Devils and pull out a series win. Hey Seminoles, you had me nervous there for a little bit, ya’ know?
PhxTitan says:
Thank goodness the boys at Easton checked your pulse. Sounded like in the prior