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We are playing UC-Irvine at 7 p.m. on Friday


Mike Minyard

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Baseball Headed to Lincoln Regional; Faces UC-Irvine in Opening Game

Release: 05/26/2008

TULSA—The Oral Roberts University baseball team is headed to the Lincoln Regional as a No. 3 seed, the NCAA Selection Committee announced on Monday. Hosted by the University of Nebraska, the Lincoln Regional will be held May 30-June 1 at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park near downtown Lincoln.

ORU, which captured its 11th consecutive Summit League title last weekend, squares off against No. 2 seed and 11th-ranked UC-Irvine (38-16) at 7:05 p.m., Friday. Rounding out the regional field are top-seeded and 13th-ranked Nebraska (40-14-1) and No. 4 seed Eastern Illinois (27-28). The Huskers and Panthers play at 1:05 p.m.

Head coach Rob Walton’s Golden Eagles (46-12) haven’t faced any of the Lincoln Regional teams this season, but they have a history against each school. ORU is 4-5 all-time against UC-Irvine (last played in 2006), 19-15 vs. Nebraska (1996), and 2-1 vs. former Mid-Continent Conference member Eastern Illinois (1997).

ORU is 6-6 vs. the NCAA Tournament field, with wins over Arkansas (2-0), Dallas Baptist (2-2), Wichita State (1-1) and Pepperdine (1-2). The Golden Eagles also lost a single game at Texas.

Full Story: http://www.orugoldeneagles.com/ViewArti ... M_ID=17000

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I don't know if I understand why the host team would play at 1 p.m. on Friday.  I'm sure the reason is for the extra rest, but the crowd size should be interesting.

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Here's a capsule of the regional participants from a Lincoln website:

NCAA Lincoln Regional 

Lincoln

Posted: 1:20 PM May 26, 2008

Last Updated: 1:20 PM May 26, 2008

Reporter: 10/11 Sports

Email Address: sports@kolnkgin.com

 

The Nebraska baseball team captured the top seed in the NCAA Lincoln Regional and will open play against Eastern Illinois at Hawks Field on Friday, May 30, at 1:05 p.m. No. 2 seed UC Irvine and third-seeded Oral Roberts will also be coming to Hawks Field for the four-team, double-elimination regional this weekend. ORU and UC Irvine will face off on Friday at 7:05 p.m.

The Huskers (40-14-1) will be making their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 10 years when Lincoln Regional play opens on Friday. Tickets for the Lincoln Regional are available now on Huskers.com, or by calling the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-8BIGRED during normal business hours beginning on Tuesday, May 27, at 8 a.m.

The Huskers, who learned on Sunday that they were one of 16 regional hosts for the NCAA Tournament, discovered their challengers on the Road to Omaha when the full 64-team field was announced by ESPN on Monday at 11:30 a.m.

Miami claimed the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, while North Carolina captured the No. 2 seed. Arizona State earned the No. 3 seed, and Florida State reeled in the fourth seed. Cal State Fullerton was tabbed the No. 5 seed, while Rice laid claim to the sixth seed. LSU captured the No. 7 seed, while SEC regular-season champion Georgia rounded out the top eight national seeds. Two-time defending national champion Oregon State (28-24) did not earn a bid to the tournament.

If the Huskers are able to advance to the Super Regional round, they will face the winner of the Baton Rouge Regional, which includes top-seeded LSU, No. 2 seed Southern Miss, No. 3 seed New Orleans and fourth-seeded Texas Southern.

Nebraska was one of six Big 12 Conference teams to earn spots in the 64-team NCAA Tournament field, and one of three league teams to earn a No. 1 seed and the right to host an NCAA Regional. Big 12 regular-season champion Texas A&M earned a top seed in the College Station Regional, while Oklahoma State earned a No. 1 seed at the Stillwater Regional.

Big 12 Tournament champion Texas claimed a No. 2 seed at the Houston Regional hosted by top-seeded Rice, while Missouri also earned a No. 2 seed at the Miami Regional with the No. 1 overall seed Hurricanes. Oklahoma managed a No. 3 seed at the Tempe Regional hosted by No. 3 national seed Arizona State.

Eastern Illinois comes to Lincoln after capturing the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Charleston, Ill., school brings a 27-28 overall mark to Nebraska after defeating Southeast Missouri in the OVC championship game to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since winning the league title in 1999. That season, the Panthers knocked off Arizona in the Waco Regional hosted by Baylor, before being eliminated from the tournament.

Head Coach Jim Schmitz led Eastern Illinois to a 13-13 conference mark during regular-season Ohio Valley Conference play. The Panthers are hitting .281 with 30 homers as a team while averaging six runs scored per game. Panther pitchers own a 4.33 team ERA, while opponents have scored 5.5 runs per contest and hit .253 against Eastern Illinois.

Junior center fielder Brett Nommensen leads the Panther offense by hitting .397 with four homers, four triples and 17 doubles on the year. The first-team All-OVC selection has scored a team-leading 54 runs, while also stealing a team-best 18 bases. The only other Panther batting over .300 is sophomore outfielder Curt Restko, who comes to Lincoln with a .305 average. Restko has one homer and 19 RBIs.

Josh Mueller emerged as the ace of the Eastern Illinois pitching staff during the season and earned a spot on the All-OVC Freshman Team. Mueller went 6-7 with a 4.26 ERA on the year. Mueller struck out 75 and walked 41 in 67.2 innings pitched, while holding opponents to a .218 batting average.

The Huskers will be facing Eastern Illinois for the first time in school history when the two teams meet on Friday.

UC Irvine (38-16) earned the No. 2 seed in the Lincoln Regional. The Huskers own a 1-0 all-time record against the Anteaters, as NU posted a 5-3 win in the only previous meeting on Feb. 22, 1980.

The Anteaters finished in a tie for third in the Big West Conference regular-season standings after shutting out UC Santa Barbara, 2-0, on Sunday, May 25, at the Anteater Ballpark. UC Irvine finished with a 14-10 conference mark. The Anteaters come to Lincoln as winners of four of their past five games.

On the season, UCI owns an impressive 2.87 team ERA, while carrying a .305 team batting average. The Anteaters are averaging 6.1 runs per game, while holding the opposition to just 3.8 runs per contest. Ben Orloff leads an extremely balanced UCI offense by hitting .355 with 18 stolen bases. Orloff is one of seven Anteater regulars batting over .300, including Francis Larson who owns team bests with seven homers and 39 RBIs to go along with his .326 average. Ollie Linton has added a .323 average and a team-leading 36 stolen bases.

Last season, UC Irvine produced one of the best seasons in school history with a 47-17-1 overall record and a 15-6 Big West mark. The Anteaters advanced to the College World Series by beating Texas in the regional round before sweeping Wichita State in the Super Regional. At the CWS, UCI opened with a loss to Arizona State, before knocking off both Cal State Fullerton and the Sun Devils. The Anteaters had their season come to an end with a 7-1 loss to 2007 national champion Oregon State.

Third-seeded Oral Roberts owns the best record in the Lincoln Regional field with a 46-12 overall mark. The Golden Eagles captured their 11th straight conference title by winning the Summit League tournament with a 9-0 win over Southern Utah on Saturday at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa.

ORU comes to Lincoln riding a 12-game winning streak. The Golden Eagles dominated the Summit League All-Tournament Team with seven selections to the squad, including MVP Brian Van Kirk. He was joined on the unit by Brendan Duff, David Genao, Juan Martinez, Kelly Minissale, Ben Petralli and Jerry Sullivan.

Van Kirk enters the NCAA Tournament hitting .421 with 17 homers, 22 doubles and 72 RBIs on the season. He headlines a Golden Eagle squad that is batting .330 as a team with 74 home runs and 138 doubles. ORU is averaging 8.6 runs per game, while holding the opposition to 4.8 runs per contest. As a team, the Golden Eagles carry a 4.22 ERA. Carlos Luna owns a perfect 12-0 record on the season with a 3.15 ERA, while teammate Michael Jarman is 11-2 with a 3.74 ERA.

Nebraska and Oral Roberts have faced each other 34 times in history, with the Golden Eagles carrying a 19-15 advantage in the all-time series.The two teams have not faced each other since the Huskers swept a three-game series against ORU, April 5-7, 1996.

2008 NCAA Lincoln Regional

May 30-June 2

Hawks Field, Lincoln, Neb.

Friday, May 30

Game 1: #1 Nebraska (40-14-1) vs. #4 Eastern Illinois (27-28), 1:05 p.m.

Game 2: #2 UC Irvine (38-16) vs. #3 Oral Roberts (46-12), 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, May 31

Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1:05 p.m.

Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 7:05 p.m.

Sunday, June 1

Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1:05 p.m.

Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 6:05 p.m.

Monday, June 2

Game 7 (If necessary): Same teams as Game 6, 1:05 p.m.

Courtesy: Nebraska Media Relations

 

Find this article at:

http://www.kolnkgin.com/home/headlines/ ... html 

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I don't know if I understand why the host team would play at 1 p.m. on Friday.  I'm sure the reason is for the extra rest, but the crowd size should be interesting.

Yeah I totally assumed that we would have the afternoon game.  Friday is a work day - seems pretty strange to me.  I know that last year in Wichita we had the afternoon game.

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I would imagine that the Cornhuskers are the only show in town, and will have no problem filling the stadium with a sea of red, no matter what time their game is.

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I like our chances in Lincoln...we certainly could not have hoped for a much better draw....so who gets the start in Game 1?...Luna, Jarman or Sullivan???.... 8-)

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I like our chances in Lincoln...we certainly could not have hoped for a much better draw....so who gets the start in Game 1?...Luna, Jarman or Sullivan???.... 8-)

My guess is Sullivan.  Although the Mrs. and I weren't there Saturday, I understand that Jerry was on target all day and he has a pretty good 2 - 3 game run going right now.  Sometimes you just go with the hot hand.  Winning the first game is a must...all hands on deck!!

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I like our chances in Lincoln...we certainly could not have hoped for a much better draw....so who gets the start in Game 1?...Luna, Jarman or Sullivan???.... 8-)

I think we will see Luna, Jarmin and Sullivan in that order just like the conference tournament. We almost saw Sullivan at the end of the WIU game. That makes me believe Coach Walton has a lot of confidence in Jerry. I would expect coach to have a very quick hook in the first and second games. Sullivan could come in out of the bulpen if long relief is needed. That could give Luna or Jarmin another shot the next day or even one day rest. We have a solid offense that can keep us in the game even if we give up a few runs in the first inning or two.

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Mike,

I think you're right about this one. Very similar to Hefner coming in quickly in relief of Sully against the Shockers. It will be very interesting to see how this pans out. It could also be that we will save our very best in Luna for the Saturday Game.

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I just don't see Coach Walton holding anything back. He's the poker player that shows his cards win or lose. He plays good hands every time... Plays the percentages type guy. I think he has the right cards (personnel) to make a run in this tournament. I believe him 110% when he says he likes this team.

Went off with the poker analogy, but we have a coach with good cards that knows how to win with them.  We should all be excited heading into this tournament.

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Here's a breakdown of the teams in the Lincoln regional (sorry for the layout):

                    D-1    Non                                                                                                  Last

          RPI    Rec    Conf  Conf  Home  Road  Neutral  1-50  51-100  101-200  201+  10  Streak

NU        7  39-14-1  21-3 17-9-1 27-3-1  11-9    1-2    16-13-1  8-0      12-1    3-0    4-6    1 Loss

UCI      33    38-16  24-6  14-10  16-8    20-8    2-0        8-8    14-3      13-4    3-1    6-4    2 Wins

ORU    38    46-12  19-8  24-4    26-1    17-8    3-2        8-6    3-1        5-0    30-5  10-0  12 Wins

EIU    192    26-28    9-15  13-13  13-6    4-18    9-4        0-1    2-2      6-17    18-8    7-3    5 Wins 

Some observations: 

UCI is good on the road and on neutral fields.  They should be a formidable opponent. 

NU is 4-6 in their last 10 games.  They do well at home and therefore should do well this weekend, but are not unbeatable.  They are 23-1 against teams with an RPI higher than 50 (of which UCI and ORU are not in that group).

ORU is 30-5 against 200+ RPI teams.  I never thought about how many low rated wins we had.  Having five losses to this group should be a concern.  Hopefully we play to our level of competition.  We have a very good record on the road and neutral sites and a nice record against top 50 competition.

EIU has done very well on neutral fields; however, Friday's game will not be a neutral site for this team.  I would expect EIU to be 0-2 in this regional and ORU, UCI and NU still around on Sunday.

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Here's a breakdown of the teams in the Lincoln regional (sorry for the layout):

                    D-1    Non                                                                                                  Last

          RPI    Rec    Conf  Conf  Home  Road  Neutral  1-50  51-100  101-200  201+  10  Streak

NU        7  39-14-1  21-3 17-9-1 27-3-1  11-9    1-2    16-13-1  8-0      12-1    3-0    4-6    1 Loss

UCI      33    38-16  24-6  14-10  16-8    20-8    2-0        8-8    14-3      13-4    3-1    6-4    2 Wins

ORU    38    46-12  19-8  24-4    26-1    17-8    3-2        8-6    3-1        5-0    30-5  10-0  12 Wins

EIU    192    26-28    9-15  13-13  13-6    4-18    9-4        0-1    2-2      6-17    18-8    7-3    5 Wins 

Some observations: 

UCI is good on the road and on neutral fields.  They should be a formidable opponent. 

NU is 4-6 in their last 10 games.  They do well at home and therefore should do well this weekend, but are not unbeatable.  They are 23-1 against teams with an RPI higher than 50 (of which UCI and ORU are not in that group).

ORU is 30-5 against 200+ RPI teams.  I never thought about how many low rated wins we had.  Having five losses to this group should be a concern.  Hopefully we play to our level of competition.  We have a very good record on the road and neutral sites and a nice record against top 50 competition.

EIU has done very well on neutral fields; however, Friday's game will not be a neutral site for this team.  I would expect EIU to be 0-2 in this regional and ORU, UCI and NU still around on Sunday.

Thanks for the stats.  Very helpful to see the comparison of teams.

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It looks as though ORU and UCI fans both had the same reactions in regards to this regional, we both think it's relatively easy.  Obviously, I don't know much about ORU baseball, but here's my short analysis on what you will be facing from UCI on Friday.

Our starting pitcher will most likely be Scott Gorgen, if you watched any of last years CWS, he was pretty dominant, I believe he pitched 4 games in the post season last year with 3 complete games.  This year has been no different, he currently leads our staff with a 10-3 record, 1.90 ERA, and has allowed only 57 hits in 104 innings pitched (opponents .161 avg.).  Starting pitching is the obivious strength of our team as our other 3 starters are 8-3 (3.10 era), 7-2 (3.04 era), and 5-2 (1.38 era).  Gorgen is one of the 10 national finalists for the Pitcher of the Year, which is believe is named after Roger Clemens.

Our offense is made up of a bunch of contact hitters.  No real power threat, we're your typical base hit, stolen base, sac bunt team. 

Goodluck on Friday, it should be a great game.

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What do you guys think the possibility is of Cornhusker fans pulling for ORU against UC-Irvine, kind of as the presumed underdog, and, if they do, could it help us much?

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Thanks for the info, Ric....should make you feel a lot better after we kick your A$$ on friday night....TheEagleman Prediction....8-4 ORU... Bring on the Huskers!!!.... :-D

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I just don't see Coach Walton holding anything back. He's the poker player that shows his cards win or lose. He plays good hands every time... Plays the percentages type guy. I think he has the right cards (personnel) to make a run in this tournament. I believe him 110% when he says he likes this team.

Went off with the poker analogy, but we have a coach with good cards that knows how to win with them.  We should all be excited heading into this tournament.

Minyard with the poker references!?!? Nice.

Is your next analogy going to include exotic dancers?

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