The Blue Workhorse

We’ve previously previewed the NCAA college baseball Regionals and each of the Super Regionals, and with the College World Series set to begin Saturday, it’s time for us to preview the teams that will be playing at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha for the chance to be crowned national champions.

Today, we preview Bracket Two (yesterday we previewed Bracket One) giving you each teams’ projected starting lineup, projected pitching rotation, “Road to Omaha,” and some keys to success:
Schedule/Results (will be updated daily):

Sunday, June 14

* Game 1: North Carolina vs Arizona State - 2 PM EST (ESPN)
* Game 2: Texas vs Southern Mississippi - 7 PM EST (ESPN)

Tuesday, June 16

* Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2 - 2 PM EST (ESPN2)
* Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2 - 7 PM EST (ESPN2)

Thursday, June 18

* Game 5: Loser Game 4 vs Winner Game 3 - 7 PM EST (ESPN2)

Friday, June 19

* Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs Winner Game 5 - 7 PM EST (ESPN2)

(if necessary) Saturday, June 20

* Game 7: (if necessary) Saturday 2 PM or 7 PM EST (ESPN)

North Carolina Tar Heels (47-16)

Projected Starting Lineup:
1. Ben Bunting - LF
2. Dustin Ackley - 1B
3. Kyle Seager - 3B
4. Mark Fleury - C
5. Ryan Graepel - SS
6. Levi Michael - 2B
7. Garrett Gore - RF
8. Mike Cavasinni - CF
9. Jacob Stallings - DH

Projected Pitching Rotation:
1 - Alex White (R)
2 - Adam Warren (R)
3 - Matt Harvey (R)
4 - Patrick Johnson (R)

CL: Brian Moran (L)

North Carolina’s Road to Omaha:
2009 has been another outstanding season for the UNC Tar Heels. After a solid regular season, which saw them win the ACC Coastal Division Title, the Tar Heels earned the national number four seed in the NCAA Tournament. UNC was able to breeze through the Chapel Hill Regional, knocking off Dartmouth, Coastal Carolina, and Kansas by a combined score of 31-8. The Tar Heels continued to roll through the Super Regionals, sweeping past in-state rival East Carolina by the scores of 10-1 and 9-3 to earn the programs fourth straight College World Series appearance.

The UNC program is no longer satisfied with making it to Omaha, they have their expectations set on coming back to Chapel Hill with the title. Coach Fox’s club is certainly equipped to do so, with a roster that includes 6 players that were selected in the top 6 rounds of the MLB Amateur Draft.

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Schedule/Results:

* Game 1: Saturday noon EST (ESPNU)
* Game 2: Sunday noon EST (ESPN)
* Game 3: (if necessary) Monday 1 PM or 7 PM EST (ESPN/ESPN2)

Chapel Hill Super Regional

North Carolina (45-16) vs. East Carolina (45-16)

North Carolina Tar Heels -
Road to the Super Regional: The Tar Heels have put together another solid campaign currently owning a 45-16 record, including a split of two games against East Carolina. North Carolina finished 19-10 in the ACC winning the Coastal Division but didn’t fare well at the end of the season or in the ACC tournament finishing just 5-5 over their final 10 games. They didn’t let that deter them in the Chapel Hill Regional as they swept through barely breaking a sweat winning over Dartmouth (5-2), Coastal Carolina (14-5), and Kansas (12-1).

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Chapel Hill Regional

1. North Carolina Tar Heels (42-16) vs 4. Dartmouth Big Green (27-16)
2. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (46-14) vs 3. Kansas Jayhawks (37-22)

Winner to take on champion of Greenville Regional.

The overall #4 seed North Carolina Tar Heels are hosting their fourth consecutive regional and are hoping they can do what they’ve done the last three years they have hosted — advance to the College World Series. The Tar Heels are stacked with talent, including a stellar starting rotation and the likely #2 overall pick in the June MLB Draft, first baseman Dustin Ackley.

The ACC Player of the Year, Ackley leads the team with a .399 average, 67 runs, 20 home runs, 61 RBI, and is tied with a team-high 12 stolen bases, but he isn’t the only one that can swing the stick. Kyle Seager has a .385 average and 12 steals while catcher Mark Fleury and freshman Levi Michael have 12 and 13 home runs, respectively, and all three have driven in at least 48 runs.

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The weak were weeded out. What once was a field of 65 is now down to 4.

Michigan State surprised many by knocking off the tournament’s overall #1 seeded Louisville Cardinals. North Carolina contained the Blake Griffin-express in a 12-point victory that wasn’t really even that close. Villanova won the Big East battle over Pittsburgh with a game-winning shot from Scottie Reynolds in the final seconds, and fellow Big East member Connecticut held off the pesky Missouri Tigers to advance to Detroit and the Final Four.

Each will head to Ford Field with thoughts of national championship, and it is only thanks to some great individual performances throughout the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. But who had the most outstanding individual performance in the Elite Eight? Who has earned the right to be named the ‘Elite Eight Workhorse?’ In honor of the elite eight, here are the eight candidates:

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The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is traditionally about great and, often improbable, team runs spurred by uncanny individual performances, and this year’s tournament has been no different. There have been a couple of upsets and a plenty of near-upsets. Those contests each had their own outstanding performances.

But who had the most outstanding performance to make them worthy of the distinction of being named the ‘2nd Round Workhorse?’ Here are our candidates (in alphabetical order) with a poll at the bottom:

vinaceous \vye-NAY-shus\, adjective:

1. of the color of red wine

Usage

In the locker room, the vinaceous Virginia Tech basketball jerseys were not only saturated with sweat but also tears as the Hokies realized their loss to North Carolina and subsequent 18-14 record would not land them a NCAA tournament at-large bid.
CONTEST:

In order to win, your job is to come up with the funniest example sentence(s) using the day’s word. Therefore, all you have to do to enter is leave a comment with your example sentence.

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It took me a little while to get over my sports fan depression, but I was finally able to make a full recovery and write my first post of the new year last Saturday.

Did he just say “sports fan depression?” Yea. That’s what I said.

Oh? You’ve never heard of SFD?

You may not have heard of it, but you’ve seen or even experienced it.

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Led by sophomore point guard Jeff Teague, who has thus far outplayed all opposing point guards, including North Carolina’s Ty Lawson and Boston College’s Tyrese Rice, Wake Forest defeated previously undefeated Clemson 78-68 on the road to start 3-0 in the ACC. With Pittsburgh’s loss later, Wake Forest is now the only remaining unbeaten team.

The win against Clemson moved Wake to 16-0 setting a record for the best start in school history, something even Tim Duncan couldn’t do (13-0 was Wake’s best start with Duncan).

So how has a team unranked in the preseason moved into the Top 5 with a 16-0 start?

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