2023 college baseball/softball thread

Do we have an idea who Tulane bumped out of the field?

 

The first four out (not necessarily in this order) were Arizona State, Kansas State, Kent State and UC Irvine. So one of those. The way John Cohen talked about Irvine when he was asked about them, it seemed like they might have been the next one in.

 

Plenty of rooms in Knoxville.

 

Would love to beat Clemson AGAIN in the postseason . . . but it ain't happening with this bunch.

 

Tulane torments the Trojans again, just like in football -- (4 Pac-11 teams made it, USC was 4th in league, but Arizona messed it up by winning the conference tournament after going 12-18 and finishing 8th).

 

I think they bumped ASU. USC wasn't even included in the last four out.

 

Tulane football wins the Cotton Bowl.
Tulane mens hoops wins 20 games.
Tulane baseball makes the NCAAs at 19-40.

DON'T WAKE ME

 

Non-regional news: Fresno State takes interim tag off coach.

 

What the hell has happened to USC's baseball program over the past 20 years? They were the gold standard for a long, long time — or at least a regular contender at the national level — and then went into the dumpster. One regional appearance since 2005, and only a couple of winning seasons for what should be a blue blood program.
They've got tradition, a great recruiting base and play in a good baseball league. Are they just not putting the resources into it? Can't get a coaching hire right? Did the other Pac-12 teams just surge so far ahead of them during a down cycle that there's no coming back?

 

The Curse of Mark Prior.

 

Lots of thing I've heard about.
Rod Dedeaux was wealthy enough to get away with stuff, and his replacement, Mike Gillespie, was top notch. After that, nearly all of their coaching hires were bad, starting with Chad Kreuter. He thought since he was a former major-leaguer, he could do this, but he couldn't. This is a story from about 2008 or 2009. A friend of mine, his son was a prep star in the Phoenix area. He wanted to go to USC and took a recruiting trip there. He said the whole visit Kreuter badmouthed Gillespie, WHO WAS HIS WIFE'S DAD. Didn't make sense to my friend. Kreuter told the kid he wanted him, but give him a week to get things figured out, then call. The kid called a week later, Kreuter answered the phone. Kid identified himself, Kreuter hung up. Kid tried calling a few more times and never reached Kreuter. The kid went to JC for a year, then transferred to UCLA and was all-conference on the teams that had Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer. They went to Omaha twice.
After Kreuter were Frank Cruz, Dan Hubbs and Jason Gill. None were any good. Cruz won a high school championship and, after USC, took Loyola Marymount to the tournament. I read about a mutiny under Gill, who was pulling scholarship money, dumping guys, not arranging for proper travel or housing on road trips.
Bad luck also figured in. I remember one year, the Trojans got letters-of-intent from three high school blue-chippers. A few months later, all three were drafted in the first round of the MLB draft and they all signed to turn pro. By then, it was too late to bring in any decent recruits. That is one of the difficulties in recruiting -- you want the best guys you can get, but if they're too good, they're going pro and you get nothing.
The coach now, Andy Stankiewicz has a good track record. Hopefully, he's the guy.
I was spoiled by Trojan baseball, which I covered as a student for the school paper. We had Roy Smalley, Fred Lynn, Rich Dauer, etc., and won the national championship all three years I covered them. Part of the five in a row, and six out of seven, they won from 1968 to 1974.

 

One more year, then they're off to the Big Ten. RPI will take a massive hit. Horrible road trips. And Fullerton, LMU, LBSU, UCI etc., all outstanding programs in their own right, can use "your parents and friends will miss half your games" against them in recruiting local kids because they'll be playing in Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nebraska and freaking New Jersey.