College World Series 2015: Latest Results and Updated Picks for Sunday
The 2015 College World Series got off to a loud start with Virginia scoring two late runs to knock off Arkansas and Florida running all over Miami in an impressive performance. Now, the pressure is on the final four teams to make their presence felt in Omaha.
LSU and Vanderbilt are two SEC powerhouse teams—with the Commodores looking to defend their national title—going against two underdog teams in TCU and Cal State Fullerton. The SEC had mixed results on Saturday, so today could be ripe for at least one upset to happen.
Whichever teams lose on Sunday, there is good news because the double-elimination format gives them at least one more chance to make their presence felt in the College World Series.
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Here's how things have set up for the College World Series thus far and a look at how things will shake out on Sunday.
| No. 2 Arkansas vs. No. 3 Virginia | Virginia def. Arkansas, 5-3 |
| No. 1 Miami vs. No. 1 Florida | Florida def. Miami, 15-3 |
| No. 1 LSU vs. No. 1 TCU | 3 p.m. |
| No. 1 Vanderbilt vs. No. 1 Cal State Fullerton | 8 p.m. |
| No. 2 Arkansas vs. No. 1 Miami | 3 p.m. (June 15) |
| No. 3 Virginia vs. No. 1 Florida | 8 p.m. (June 15) |
TCU (49-13) vs. LSU (53-10)
TCU and LSU have taken very different paths to reach this point, although both teams have been among the best in the country all season.
The Horned Frogs had to ride out 16 innings against Texas A&M in the super regionals to finally secure a spot in Omaha. They have been playing a lot of tight games in the NCAA tournament, playing four one-run contests thus far.
LSU has been on cruise control in the tournament, going 5-0 with two shutouts and not allowing more than three runs in a game to this point.
Both teams are led by their pitching staffs. TCU has the nation's lowest WHIP (1.05) and second-lowest ERA in the nation with a 2.38. LSU is tied for eighth in ERA at 2.84 and 18th in WHIP with a 1.21.
LSU will be going with left-hander Jared Poche to start this game. The sophomore has poise beyond his years with a 2.91 ERA in 105 innings, which is something LSU head coach Paul Mainieri acknowledged in naming Poche the starter, via Baseball America's Michael Lananna:
Runs are usually hard to come by at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, unless you are Florida, so two dominant pitching staffs should have a field day in this environment.
The biggest divide is on offense, as LSU is a top-10 team with 439 runs in 63 games. TCU is OK with 369 runs scored in 62 games, but its .378 slugging percentage ranks 164th in the country.
That's a dangerous combination, because the Horned Frogs have to play small ball with a lot of singles and sacrifice bunts to score. Giving away outs against one of the nation's best pitching staffs isn't ideal for success.
Plus, as noted by Sean Ryan of the Sporting News, TCU has been taken to the limit in postseason play dating back to the Big 12 tournament.
"TCU has been pushed hard the past few weeks," Ryan wrote, "losing twice in the Big 12 tourney before escaping both Regionals and Super Regionals. And the matchup against two of the SEC’s best doesn’t leave much margin for error."
Running on fumes isn't a good way to start the College World Series, though at least TCU has had five days off to get ready for LSU.
LSU 4, TCU 1
Cal State Fullerton (39-23) vs. Vanderbilt (47-19)
These two teams went through a similar experience during the regular season that helped prepare them for the urgency that goes along with tournament baseball.
Vanderbilt went through a rough stretch, going 11-9 from April 10 through the end of the regular season, that made it appear vulnerable heading into postseason play. The Commodores responded by making a run to the SEC championship game and are 5-0 in the NCAA tournament.
Cal State Fullerton was 21-20 on April 25 before running off 18 wins over its next 21 games to make the College World Series for the first time since 2009.
While the path Vandy and Cal State took may have ended in similar fashion, the way they walked it was very different. The Commodores are a star-studded team with players like Dansby Swanson, Carson Fulmer and Walker Buehler being first-round picks in the Major League Baseball draft.
Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin also has the experience advantage after winning a national title last year. Cal State Fullerton head coach Rick Vanderhook has led his team to the NCAA tournament in each of his four seasons, but this is his first appearance in Omaha.
The Commodores are one of the few teams in the country that can drive the ball out of the park, as Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com noted:
"We’re hopeful the new ball will help things fly out a bit better at TDAPO during the next two weeks. And if that’s the case, Vandy is one of those teams that should reap the benefits. The Commodores have some real power threats in their lineup, starting with Swanson, who has 15 homers on the year, while Wiseman and Wiel each have 14, Reynolds has five and Toffey and Kendall, combined, have 11. The ‘Dores rank sixth nationally in homers.
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Offense is a problem for Cal State Fullerton, which is tied for 111th in runs scored and tied for 207th with 20 home runs as a team. That puts more pressure on starting pitcher Thomas Eshelman to be precise and hold Vanderbilt's lineup at bay.
Eshelman has been up to the task all year for the Titans, boasting a 1.58 ERA with 131 strikeouts and seven walks in 131.1 innings. He will have to be an ace one more time for his team to avoid playing an elimination game on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, when there's such a small margin for error with a team, that usually means something bad will happen at some point. It also doesn't help that Vanderbilt is a better all-around group that is playing as well as anyone in the country right now.
Vanderbilt 5, Cal State Fullerton 1
Stats via NCAA.com
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