College World Series 2016: TV, Live-Stream Schedule and Game Times for Monday
Miami (Fla.) and UC Santa Barbara have reached a critical point of their seasons, and one of them will be going home at the end of Monday's action at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Hurricanes (50-13) lost to Arizona 5-1 Saturday, while the Gauchos (42-19-1) lost to Oklahoma State 1-0. When Miami and UCSB meet Monday afternoon, the loser will be eliminated from the College World Series.
The Hurricanes will try to get back onto the winning track with their strong hitting attack. They were held in check by the Wildcats Saturday, but they are led by Brandon Lopez, Zack Collins, Johnny Ruiz and Carl Chester.
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Lopez is the team's leading hitter with a .383 average, and he has two home runs and 42 RBI. Collins is the Hurricanes' leading power hitter, as he has hammered 15 home runs and driven in 57 runs to go with his .356 average.
Ruiz is hitting .342 with 24 extra-base hits, while Chester has a .337 average and a .428 on-base percentage.
| 2 p.m. | Miami (Fla.) | UCSB | ESPNU | Watch ESPN |
| 7 p.m. | Oklahoma State | Arizona | ESPN | Watch ESPN |
Noah Davis could get the start for the Gauchos, and the freshman right-hander takes a 6-4 record along with a 4.70 ERA to the mound. The other possibility is Joe Record, who has a 6-5 record and a 3.91 ERA.
UCSB head coach Andrew Checketts said his team played well, but it just couldn't bring home a run against the Cowboys.
"I thought our guys battled really well," Checketts said, per the team's official website. "I thought they were in character early. Put some pressure on them a little bit offensively. I thought our at-bats early in the game were good. We couldn't string them together or capitalize on any of them. And then once they scored the momentum changed a little bit."
Arizona and Oklahoma State will meet Monday night, and both teams have plenty of momentum.
The Wildcats were able to jump on top of Miami early with three runs in the first inning, and they held on to that early momentum throughout the game.
The hard-hitting Hurricanes managed a run in the fourth inning, but the Wildcats would not give them anything after that.
Arizona (45-21) has won six games in a row and 13 of its last 14 games. Getting on top early was the key to the game, according to Wildcats head coach Jay Johnson.
"We try to stay a pitch at a time, an inning at a time," Johnson said (h/t NCAA.com). "And the reality of it is it's a little bit easier to do that when you're playing with a lead. And we've been fortunate in four of the last five games against 45-whatever-win teams that we've been out in front, 2-0, 3-0, and that's a credit to our players being prepared to play from the first pitch."
Oklahoma State (42-20) rode the strong arm of Chicago Cubs third-round pick Thomas Hatch to their shutout win over the Gauchos. The win was the Cowboys' first in the College World Series since 1993, and the shutout was the team's first in the CWS since 1986.
Cowboys catcher Collin Theroux said that Hatch got better as the game went along.
“I’ll tell you what, his first four innings, it was probably looking to be his worst outing of the year,” Theroux told Michael Lananna of Baseball America. “His pitch count was up. He wasn’t hitting his spots. He was getting hit hard, and once he found himself he was pretty good. He’s a pretty good pitcher, man.”
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