The Road to Omaha: 2018 College Baseball Thread

RIP to longtime college baseball coach Jack Stallings, who won 1,259 games over 40 seasons with Wake, FSU and Georgia Southern, leading each of the latter two to Omaha.

 

Replay rules in college baseball are ridiculous. Can't review safe or out, or foul/fair balls, like that last one, which was obviously foul. Pac-12 ump, too, generally they don't suck as much as in football.

Last year, 2-run double that clearly hits the foul line is called foul. This year, foul ball called fair. Neither play reviewed.

 

And millions and millions spent on production, and no K box? Unreal.

 

Not so fast.

Mississippi State baseball fan dupes news channel with phenomenal deadpan delivery of fake story - Golf Digest

 

Thing is, 99 percent of the country believes it's true, because it's 99 percent plausible. The guy is from Mississippi.

 

Four teams left: Mississippi State, Arkansas, Florida and Oregon State.

Gonna be difficult for SEC haters, who now have to root for the team whose best pitcher is one of the biggest pariahs in the history of college sports.

 

Looks like the Rally Banana has gone rotten. All of the breaks Mississippi State got to get here seem to be going against them right now.
The last two innings they've had a guy thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double (on what was actually a heads-up play by the guy who was thrown out) and hit into a line drive double play to end the sixth inning on a ball that was absolutely scorched and could have scored two runs if it got through.
That's the kind of luck you need to win championships. Oregon State is getting it and Mississippi State is not.

 

Beavers complete march through loser's bracket, save nation from all-SEC final. The two best teams at this tournament will play for the title.

 

I thought coming into the CWS that Oregon State was the best team, and they're starting to play like it. Only problem is, Arkansas has been flying under the radar most of the year and is playing its best ball right now too. Should be a great championship series.

Kudos to Mississippi State, too. That team had no business being anywhere near the CWS semifinals. They played so far over their head for the past two months it was ridiculous. A special year and nothing to be ashamed of at all. It sounds cheesy, but they came together at an awkward time and fought their way through about a dozen obstacles that would've sunk 99 percent of the teams out there. Living proof what a great attitude can do for a ball club.
And the best part is, most of their team is coming back. They had four true freshmen in the lineup, their best hitter was drafted in the 31st round and has already said he's coming back, and there were only five or six seniors on the roster. Hard to say with baseball, but they should be in the mix again next year.

 

True freshmen. Ick.

 

MSU has a great guy for a coach, Gary Henderson will do an excellent job. He was super at OSU under Casey, back in the days when the Beavers could only dream of getting a real guy like Kevin Abel to come here from San Diego.

 

If they keep him. They haven't given him the job permanently yet and were reportedly reaching out to Louisville's Dan McDonnell and TCU's Jim Schlossnagle last month. Getting deep into the College World Series and winning a couple of national coach of the year awards might change that, though. Gotta hope they were just waiting until everything was finished to sit down and discuss it. I don't know what more a guy could do to make his pitch for the job.