The "Ping" of the Bat

First off, since I didn't get to post on Memorial Day, I just want to give a big thank you to anyone in our military that happens to read Cheap Seats. Thanks for defending our rights over there.

I've always admired our military. They sacrifice just about everything to do what they do to go to the worst places on the face of the earth. All so we can sit here and blog.

Texas advances to Women's CWS

Texas, with Cat Osterman getting the day off, blitzed upstart Bethune-Cookman 6-1 to advance to the Women's College World Series. The Longhorns pitched well in her absence, though, with an ERA of 0.00 (the one run came on a sacrifice fly) and a WHIP of 0.85.

Some have questioned whether or not the Longhorns have the pitching depth behind Osterman to win it all. I think those questions have been answered. The offense however, hasn't shown up at times, and that could be this team's achilles heel.

As for the rest of the Big XII, Oklahoma lost on a walk-off homer by Arizona's Jennifer Martinez, and Baylor and A&M both lost at home, making Texas the lone conference representative in Oklahoma City.

Complete Women's CWS Bracket

NCAA Baseball Tournament Field Announced

Not too many surprises from the announcement of the NCAA Baseball Tournament field of 64. As expected, Baylor and Nebraska (who beat Baylor yesterday for the Big XII Championship) were top 8 national seeds, which gave them the right to host super regionals if they get that far.

Texas got a top seed and is hosting a regional, but not one of the top 8, which drew the ire of Longhorn fans and talk show hosts. However, Texas could have helped its case with better play in the month of May and a strong showing at the Big XII Tournament.

Oklahoma will go out to Ole Miss for it's regional, while Missouri plays in the regional hosted by defending national champion Cal State-Fullerton.

Also making the field: Rice, a former national champion; TCU, who have one of the best pitching staffs in the Nation; and UT-San Antonio, suprise winners of the Southland Conference.

Complete Bracket

Tommy John Surgery

While we're talking baseball, Ben Shpigel of the Dallas Morning News wrote an article about Tommy John surgery, which has become more commonplace in the major leagues and has saved a lot of careers.

Tomorrow: Catching up