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
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Most Extreme Double Elimination Challenge (part 2)
Friday's Painful Eliminations
Texas 6, Ok. State 1 - Bye bye defending tournament champs!
Nebraska 2, Texas Tech 1 - Texas Tech's magical ride is over. (*sniff*)
Saturday's Painful Eliminations
Baylor 9, Texas 8 - Texas will probably make the tournament, but a #1 regional seed is probably not likely.
Game 1: Nebraska 5, Missouri 4 - Huskers stay alive....
Game 2: Nebraska 17, Missouri 9 - ... and pound the Tigers into submission
Sunday's Championship
Baylor vs. Nebraska - 1:00 PM Central on FSN Southwest
The two teams that split the regular season title battle it out.
Note: No Cheap Seats until Tuesday. Happy Memorial Day.
Texas 6, Ok. State 1 - Bye bye defending tournament champs!
Nebraska 2, Texas Tech 1 - Texas Tech's magical ride is over. (*sniff*)
Saturday's Painful Eliminations
Baylor 9, Texas 8 - Texas will probably make the tournament, but a #1 regional seed is probably not likely.
Game 1: Nebraska 5, Missouri 4 - Huskers stay alive....
Game 2: Nebraska 17, Missouri 9 - ... and pound the Tigers into submission
Sunday's Championship
Baylor vs. Nebraska - 1:00 PM Central on FSN Southwest
The two teams that split the regular season title battle it out.
Note: No Cheap Seats until Tuesday. Happy Memorial Day.
Friday, May 27, 2005
Most Extreme Double-Elimination Challenge
(For those who have never seen MXC: Official Spike TV Page/MXC fan club)
Our Hosts, Kenny Blankenship and Vic Romano.(TV Tokyo/Spike TV)
Painful Eliminations of the Day
(going home)
Our Hosts, Kenny Blankenship and Vic Romano.(TV Tokyo/Spike TV)
Painful Eliminations of the Day
(going home)
- Kansas Jayhawks, boulder dashed by Texas 9-0. That deserves an MXC Impact Replay!
- Oklahoma Sooners, wall banged 6-3 by Nebraska. Thanks to Joba "The Hutt" Chamberlain, and Alex Gordon, The Sooners must now wait on the selection committee, who may painfully eliminate them again. (This in the season where the Sooners coach was also painfully eliminated)
Landed in the safety fluid, but still alive.
(first loss)
- Texas Tech, babaganoushed 10-1 by Missouri and Big XII Pitcher of the Year Max Schertzer.
- Oklahoma State, log dropped 8-3 by Baylor, eliminating manager Frank Anderson's 5-game win streak in Big XII tournament play. Indeed.
Today's games
Elimination Bracket:
- Oklahoma State vs. Texas 4:00 PM Central
- Texas Tech vs. Nebraska 7:00 PM Central
Tomorrow: More Big XII Tournament.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
The one word to describe the Big XII: You never know
A very Joaquin Andujar start to the Big XII baseball tournament.
Texas, my pick to win the whole thing, found itself in the losers bracket right away when they got outslugged by Oklahoma State 10-4. But then again, when you leave the bases loaded twice and leave 12 runners on base total, losses are inevitable.
The biggest upset of the day, however, was pulled off by the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who took on Nebraska and won 5-3. Now, Nebraska has the best pitching staff in the conference, and Texas Tech has one of the worst. Not only that, Nebraska took 2 of 3 from the Raiders in Lubbock earlier this year. Wow!
Thankfully for these two, it's double-elimination up to the final, but they are walking a fine line. Especially Nebraska, who now faces a dangerous Oklahoma team that has rallied since the Cochell resignation.
Yesterday's Games
#6 Oklahoma State 10, #3 Texas 4
#2 Baylor 2, #7 Kansas 1 (10 innings)
#4 Missouri 8, #5 Oklahoma 7
#8 Texas Tech 5, #1 Nebraska 3
Today's games
Eliminaton Bracket:
#3 Texas vs. #7 Kansas - 11:00 AM Central
#1 Nebraska vs. #5 Oklahoma - 2:00 PM Central or 30 min. after Texas-Kansas
Winner's Bracket:
#2 Baylor vs #6 Oklahoma State - 5:00 PM Central
#4 Missouri vs. #8 Texas Tech - 7:00 PM Central
Softball Super Regionals
Bethune-Cookman at Texas
This is not as cut-and-dried as it looks. Bethune-Cookman could be the Gonzaga of the softball ranks. They knocked off several nationally ranked teams over the course of the season, including Florida Gators, the seeded team in their region. That said, they still have to win at least one, possibly 2 games against Cat Osterman, who is absolutely unhittable.
Alabama at Texas A&M
Two teams that seem fairly even on paper, but I gotta go with A&M because it's really tough to win on the road in college softball. Plus, A&M has a team blogger. Gotta like that.
Oklahoma at Arizona
This is a tough draw for Oklahoma because Arizona is one of the dominant programs in softball. As in 10 Pac-10 titles, 6 national championships, and Jennie Finch's alma mater dominant. Plus, Arizona coach Mike Candrea was the U.S. Olympic Softball Team coach in Athens. However, the Sooners beat the Wildcats in last year's playoffs.
California at Baylor
California was #1 for most of the year, and they are the higher seed in this Super Regional, which makes it a little weird that they are travelling to Baylor for this round. Still, Cal should emerge here.
(By the way, to those Cal fans that still think they got cheated out of the BCS: Scoreboard.)
Tomorrow: Don't! Get! Eliminated!
(Tokyo TV/Spike TV)
Texas, my pick to win the whole thing, found itself in the losers bracket right away when they got outslugged by Oklahoma State 10-4. But then again, when you leave the bases loaded twice and leave 12 runners on base total, losses are inevitable.
The biggest upset of the day, however, was pulled off by the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who took on Nebraska and won 5-3. Now, Nebraska has the best pitching staff in the conference, and Texas Tech has one of the worst. Not only that, Nebraska took 2 of 3 from the Raiders in Lubbock earlier this year. Wow!
Thankfully for these two, it's double-elimination up to the final, but they are walking a fine line. Especially Nebraska, who now faces a dangerous Oklahoma team that has rallied since the Cochell resignation.
Yesterday's Games
#6 Oklahoma State 10, #3 Texas 4
#2 Baylor 2, #7 Kansas 1 (10 innings)
#4 Missouri 8, #5 Oklahoma 7
#8 Texas Tech 5, #1 Nebraska 3
Today's games
Eliminaton Bracket:
#3 Texas vs. #7 Kansas - 11:00 AM Central
#1 Nebraska vs. #5 Oklahoma - 2:00 PM Central or 30 min. after Texas-Kansas
Winner's Bracket:
#2 Baylor vs #6 Oklahoma State - 5:00 PM Central
#4 Missouri vs. #8 Texas Tech - 7:00 PM Central
Softball Super Regionals
Bethune-Cookman at Texas
This is not as cut-and-dried as it looks. Bethune-Cookman could be the Gonzaga of the softball ranks. They knocked off several nationally ranked teams over the course of the season, including Florida Gators, the seeded team in their region. That said, they still have to win at least one, possibly 2 games against Cat Osterman, who is absolutely unhittable.
Alabama at Texas A&M
Two teams that seem fairly even on paper, but I gotta go with A&M because it's really tough to win on the road in college softball. Plus, A&M has a team blogger. Gotta like that.
Oklahoma at Arizona
This is a tough draw for Oklahoma because Arizona is one of the dominant programs in softball. As in 10 Pac-10 titles, 6 national championships, and Jennie Finch's alma mater dominant. Plus, Arizona coach Mike Candrea was the U.S. Olympic Softball Team coach in Athens. However, the Sooners beat the Wildcats in last year's playoffs.
California at Baylor
California was #1 for most of the year, and they are the higher seed in this Super Regional, which makes it a little weird that they are travelling to Baylor for this round. Still, Cal should emerge here.
(By the way, to those Cal fans that still think they got cheated out of the BCS: Scoreboard.)
Tomorrow: Don't! Get! Eliminated!
(Tokyo TV/Spike TV)
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Big XII Baseball preview
Vernon Grant 1982-2005
OSU safety Vernon Grant (George Bullard/Gensee Photo Sytems/Oklahoma State University)
Posted by Hello
Thoughts and prayers go out to the family and teammates of Oklahoma State safety and Duncanville, Texas standout Vernon Grant, who died in a car wreck Monday night.
May Madness in NCAA Men's Tennis Final
Unfortunately, Baylor's attempt to capture 2 national titles in one year fell short when their top-ranked men's tennis team lost 4-3 to UCLA.
Big XII Baseball Preview
This is probably one of the deepest fields of any conference. The top 3 all could wind up as top 8 seeds nationally (which gives them the right to host a Super Regional should they make it that far) and the top 6 could get at large bids.
The Teams
#1 Nebraska - Huskers lead just about every statistical category.
#2 Baylor - Backed in after losing 2 of 3 to Missouri
#3 Texas - #1 in the nation most of the year, Horns have the talent to challenge the top 2
#4 Missouri - 3rd in team ERA, 8th in team batting average.
#5 Oklahoma - 10-2 in the month of May. Larry who?
#6 Oklahoma State - Defending tournament champs lost 6 of 7 down the stretch and their last 3 conference series.
#7 Kansas - Inconsistent play plagues team
#8 Texas Tech - Will have to slug their way to tournament title. Pitching almost non-existent.
TV Schedule
(All games on FSN Southwest, Check here for times on your FSN)
Semifinal #1 - Saturday 5/28 10:00 AM Central
Semifinal #2 - Saturday 5/28 1:00 PM Central
Championship - Sunday 5/29 1:00 PM Central
Complete Schedule
Bracket (.pdf)
Pick: Texas
Texas is really the strongest team talent-wise in this field, and they beat Nebraska in their regular season series. The Longhorns may have it tough with Baylor, but they should emerge with the trophy.
Tomorrow: El Super Regional Bla-Blazo
OSU safety Vernon Grant (George Bullard/Gensee Photo Sytems/Oklahoma State University)
Posted by Hello
Thoughts and prayers go out to the family and teammates of Oklahoma State safety and Duncanville, Texas standout Vernon Grant, who died in a car wreck Monday night.
May Madness in NCAA Men's Tennis Final
Unfortunately, Baylor's attempt to capture 2 national titles in one year fell short when their top-ranked men's tennis team lost 4-3 to UCLA.
Big XII Baseball Preview
This is probably one of the deepest fields of any conference. The top 3 all could wind up as top 8 seeds nationally (which gives them the right to host a Super Regional should they make it that far) and the top 6 could get at large bids.
The Teams
#1 Nebraska - Huskers lead just about every statistical category.
#2 Baylor - Backed in after losing 2 of 3 to Missouri
#3 Texas - #1 in the nation most of the year, Horns have the talent to challenge the top 2
#4 Missouri - 3rd in team ERA, 8th in team batting average.
#5 Oklahoma - 10-2 in the month of May. Larry who?
#6 Oklahoma State - Defending tournament champs lost 6 of 7 down the stretch and their last 3 conference series.
#7 Kansas - Inconsistent play plagues team
#8 Texas Tech - Will have to slug their way to tournament title. Pitching almost non-existent.
TV Schedule
(All games on FSN Southwest, Check here for times on your FSN)
Semifinal #1 - Saturday 5/28 10:00 AM Central
Semifinal #2 - Saturday 5/28 1:00 PM Central
Championship - Sunday 5/29 1:00 PM Central
Complete Schedule
Bracket (.pdf)
Pick: Texas
Texas is really the strongest team talent-wise in this field, and they beat Nebraska in their regular season series. The Longhorns may have it tough with Baylor, but they should emerge with the trophy.
Tomorrow: El Super Regional Bla-Blazo
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Baylor Wins Again?
Don't look now, but Baylor may just get it's second national title this year.
Almost a month and a half after Baylor won it all at the Women's Final Four, it's top-ranked Men's tennis team is on the verge of a national title, after waxing Florida.
And it's baseball team may end up hosting a regional and getting a top 8 national seed, which means Baylor would host a super-regional if it wins the regional and have an easier road to the College World Series.
Not bad when you consider that in 1994 there were some who wondered why Baylor and not the University of Houston was going to be included in the Big XII.
See what happens when you finish behind Texas Tech, Mark?
Sunday, the Texas A&M Aggies baseball team, who were picked to finished second in the conference in pre-season polls, lost to Texas in an 11-1 mercy-rule rout. The loss meant A&M would finish a game behind 8th place Texas Tech and out of the Big XII tournament for the first time since the conference's formation.
Yesterday, A&M fired skipper Mark Johnson, who compiled an 876-433-3 in 21 seasons in College Station.
While, as a Red Raider fan, I take some pleasure in the struggles of the Aggies (who finished 9th out of the 10 baseball-playing schools of the Big XII), I can't help but wonder why they would treat someone who coaches a non-revenue sport with that career record so harshly. A football or basketball coach with a winning record who has a next-to-last finish might get the ax, or at least be on the hotseat, but an AD will usually let a non-revenue sport coach with a career record like Johnson's to slide.
Looks like with Fox College Sports, CSTV, and ESPNU, now televising more sports, the stakes are getting higher for everyone.
Oh well, I hear the Astros' may be looking for a new skipper, Mark.
I'll have an article on Spur of the Moment later today.
Tomorrow: Big XII Baseball Preview.
Almost a month and a half after Baylor won it all at the Women's Final Four, it's top-ranked Men's tennis team is on the verge of a national title, after waxing Florida.
And it's baseball team may end up hosting a regional and getting a top 8 national seed, which means Baylor would host a super-regional if it wins the regional and have an easier road to the College World Series.
Not bad when you consider that in 1994 there were some who wondered why Baylor and not the University of Houston was going to be included in the Big XII.
See what happens when you finish behind Texas Tech, Mark?
Sunday, the Texas A&M Aggies baseball team, who were picked to finished second in the conference in pre-season polls, lost to Texas in an 11-1 mercy-rule rout. The loss meant A&M would finish a game behind 8th place Texas Tech and out of the Big XII tournament for the first time since the conference's formation.
Yesterday, A&M fired skipper Mark Johnson, who compiled an 876-433-3 in 21 seasons in College Station.
While, as a Red Raider fan, I take some pleasure in the struggles of the Aggies (who finished 9th out of the 10 baseball-playing schools of the Big XII), I can't help but wonder why they would treat someone who coaches a non-revenue sport with that career record so harshly. A football or basketball coach with a winning record who has a next-to-last finish might get the ax, or at least be on the hotseat, but an AD will usually let a non-revenue sport coach with a career record like Johnson's to slide.
Looks like with Fox College Sports, CSTV, and ESPNU, now televising more sports, the stakes are getting higher for everyone.
Oh well, I hear the Astros' may be looking for a new skipper, Mark.
I'll have an article on Spur of the Moment later today.
Tomorrow: Big XII Baseball Preview.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Cat and Mouse Game
... and Mississippi State was the mouse
(Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman)
Cat Osterman pitched another shutout as the Longhorns beat Mississippi State 2-0 to advance to the Super Regional of the NCAA Softball Tournament. Not that that's really news, Has anyone ever gotten a run off of Cat? Or a hit?
Anyway, the Longhorns are now 2 wins against Bethune-Cookman away from returning to Oklahoma City (site of their Big XII championship win) for the Women's CWS.
Also representing the Big XII in the Super Regionals are the Texas A&M Aggies, who beat Penn State to advance, the Baylor Bears, who beat Florida State, and the Oklahoma Sooners, who beat Oregon. Oklahoma State is going home, however, after losing to Arizona in it's regional final.
Now, on to the other diamond
In the final weekend of the Big XII baseball season, The Texas Longhorn baseball team eliminated the A&M Aggies from the conference tournament with a 11-1 mercy-rule win.
The beneficiary of the Aggies' misfortune is Texas Tech, who squeaked into the tournament as the 8th seed despite losing to Oklahoma.
Nebraska and Baylor ended up tied for the regular season title, but Nebraska will get the #1 seed based on head-to-head record. The tournament starts May 25 at "The Brick" (a.k.a Bricktown Ballpark) in Oklahoma. (Complete Bracket in PDF format)
Rangers sweep Astros
Not like we needed to drive the point home that the Astros stunk, but the Rangers swept them over the weekend.
How many weeks until NFL Training Camps open?
More commentary:
John P. Lopez, Houston Chronicle
Lisa Gray, The Dugout
Spurs take Game 1
San Antonio, the lone Texas team left in the NBA playoffs, ripped game 1 from Phoenix at America West Arena. and in the process ripped home court as well. It may not matter because of Phoenix's road record, but it's nice for the Spurs to get a road win under their belt after going 1-2 on the road in the Seattle series.
More Commentary:
Spur of the Moment
Tomorrow: TBA
(Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman)
Cat Osterman pitched another shutout as the Longhorns beat Mississippi State 2-0 to advance to the Super Regional of the NCAA Softball Tournament. Not that that's really news, Has anyone ever gotten a run off of Cat? Or a hit?
Anyway, the Longhorns are now 2 wins against Bethune-Cookman away from returning to Oklahoma City (site of their Big XII championship win) for the Women's CWS.
Also representing the Big XII in the Super Regionals are the Texas A&M Aggies, who beat Penn State to advance, the Baylor Bears, who beat Florida State, and the Oklahoma Sooners, who beat Oregon. Oklahoma State is going home, however, after losing to Arizona in it's regional final.
Now, on to the other diamond
In the final weekend of the Big XII baseball season, The Texas Longhorn baseball team eliminated the A&M Aggies from the conference tournament with a 11-1 mercy-rule win.
The beneficiary of the Aggies' misfortune is Texas Tech, who squeaked into the tournament as the 8th seed despite losing to Oklahoma.
Nebraska and Baylor ended up tied for the regular season title, but Nebraska will get the #1 seed based on head-to-head record. The tournament starts May 25 at "The Brick" (a.k.a Bricktown Ballpark) in Oklahoma. (Complete Bracket in PDF format)
Rangers sweep Astros
Not like we needed to drive the point home that the Astros stunk, but the Rangers swept them over the weekend.
How many weeks until NFL Training Camps open?
More commentary:
John P. Lopez, Houston Chronicle
Lisa Gray, The Dugout
Spurs take Game 1
San Antonio, the lone Texas team left in the NBA playoffs, ripped game 1 from Phoenix at America West Arena. and in the process ripped home court as well. It may not matter because of Phoenix's road record, but it's nice for the Spurs to get a road win under their belt after going 1-2 on the road in the Seattle series.
More Commentary:
Spur of the Moment
Tomorrow: TBA
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