The Not-The-Same-Ole-Preview College World Series Preview

Ahhhhh, here it comes again, the endorphin rush of the College World Series. You ready for it? Or better yet, are the eight teams ready for it? This is where the rubber hits the road and we find out. And you don’t need to be reminded that it’s not always the best team that wins [...]

Twas the Night Before Christmas

As you guys know, this night before the Regionals always brings me back to my childhood, which I’ve never grown out of, of course. This is the night before the round of 64 gets their gloves on, lace up the cleats and start swinging their Easton bats… well, the champion teams will, that is. (Ha, had to throw that in. Sorry.)

Waking up in the Pacific time zone means I’ll wake up as the early games out East are throwing their first pitches of the post-season. So, as you’d imagine, I’m excited as a little girl as to get this started. And that right soon.

My Message to the Selection Committee and the Day’s Write-up

Day three of the conference tournaments saw more and more of the bizarre, unlikely and out-of-the-ordinary on diamonds across the country. For instance, here’s a picture of Georgia Tech’s Danny Hall giving a dugout interview while behind him you can see team ace Mark Pope doing the “Y-M-C-A” dance.

Now that’s bizarre.

The Must Win Teams Pick up Must-Win Wins.

If you had to characterize today’s day in college baseball, it was a day full of teams that needed to win, winning. And if today is a microcosm for what the next 10 days holds, the NCAA selection committee will have mountains of headaches ahead of them in trying to figure out the field of 64.

This was a typical scene in Athens tonight: Georgia's Michael Palazzone got stronger as the game went on, choking out the Commodores and pacing the Bulldogs to a big win over Vanderbilt.

In my ESPN preview, I proclaimed that teams like LSU, Baylor, Georgia, N.C. State and Louisville all had some much needed work to do this weekend if they wanted to keep their NCAA hopes alive. And they all came through with flying colors on Thursday.

I may have found the perfect setting for college baseball.

I spent tonight attending one of the great rivalry games in the history of college sports as Mississippi State pulled out a back-and-forth 7-6 win in Oxford over hated rival Ole Miss in front of 8,144 fans.

The view of Swayze Field at Oxford-University Stadium from the left field bleachers. The outfield fence could use some moving back, but otherwise a near-perfect venue for a college baseball game.

But the bigger story for me was the setting, the crowd and the stadium. Oddly-named Oxford-University Stadium was an incredible atmosphere and environment for taking in this Thursday night lidlifter to this rivalry weekend.

A Bunch of Filthy Pigs Lead the Mid-Week Hit Parade.

It was an interesting mid-week, to say the least. From Arkansas’ riveting 4-3 win over No. 4 Florida on Thursday night to Cleveland State’s Monday announcement that they were the next northern school set to drop the sport of baseball from it’s athletic program, we saw a lot of good and bad to stew over.

Ahhhh, the fruits of a well-pitched game. Arkansas ace A.J. Baxendale gets the win reflected on the scoreboard behind him AND an interview with former bikini model Jenn Brown.

The Baldcast That Wasn’t Really a Baldcast.

My bad.

I decided today would be a good day to go out to my old stomping grounds of Point Dume along the Pacific coast just north of Pepperdine and shoot another Baldcast with the great sea as my backdrop. But when I got out there, I discovered an angry sea my friends. The winds were at near gale force, which would make for too much aural static in my microphone, thus literally blowing out the idea. Since I couldn’t find a nice protected cove or anything, I jettisoned my plans for a Baldcast. It just wouldn’t have worked people.

Judging by the numerous whitecaps washing ashore behind me, the wind was kickin' ass out at Pt. Dume today.

But I’ll power on none-the-less and will still post my goods and bads from college baseball during this mid-week. Read on…

Is It Time For “You’re A Fraud” Thursday?

After reviewing the scores tonight, maybe just a West Coast edition will do.

Just like many other Western teams on Thursday, we're left to wonder if we're supposed to take these guys seriously?

I hate to bag on so many teams that trust me not to bag on them, ifyouknowwhatImeanandIthinkyoudo. (Damn. I’m screwed here.) But there were a lot of favored teams that bit the dust out here this weekend. So maybe I should go ahead and institute the “Fraud” rule at this point in the season. Usually I wait ’till sometime in May to do that, but damn.

Yes, a Baldcast!

… and keep in mind, I don’t use exclamation points often.

About damn time, right? Well, I got fed up with doing videos for ESPN and straying from my Baldcast roots. Shame on me, I know. So here’s my first true Baldcast of the 2011 season, I hope you dig it. Let’s also take a quick look at some mid-week stuff I’ve been wanting to mention.

Some Mid-Week Stuff

10 COOL THINGS ABOUT THE MID-WEEK GAMES.

A quick spin around the country to show what were some of the high points of the games that were played while we were all working our boring, dreadful, everyday jobs.

Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State got together for more high quality rough-and-tumble in the mid-week. By the way, Fullerton's Anthony Trajano was called safe on this play at the plate.