College World Series

The Wichita State baseball team came to the College World Series intent on proving that you don't have to play in a state with year-round sunshine to win the national championship. The Shockers, with all due respect to past champions from California, Arizona, Florida and Texas, were anxious to gain some national respect of their own. "All these warm-weather schools have won the Series year in and year out," Wichita State pitcher Greg Brummett said. "We just wanted to come in and show the people that the Midwest has got a baseball team.

It was a hidden ball trick that worked a little too well. Not even the player who took the last ball in play from the final College World Series at Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium knows exactly where it is now. When UCLA right fielder Brett Krill scooped up South Carolina's walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning in his final college game last June, he thought of what the ball might mean to the Bruins, not the Gamecocks. "I thought I was going to use it as motivation, put it up in our locker room to get us back to Omaha and win it," Krill said in a telephone interview earlier this week.

The University of Miami entered the College World Series in peak form and ranked No. 1 in the country. But Tuesday night, Miami exited the eight-team tournament tied for fifth-place as Louisiana State defeated the Hurricanes, 6-3, and Wichita State beat Arkansas, 8-4, before a crowd of 14,000 at Rosenblatt Stadium. Two-time national champion Miami (49-18) and Arkansas (51-16) were eliminated, joining North Carolina and Cal State Long Beach, which were ousted earlier in the week.

Reporting from Berkeley On that bleak day in September, the day when university officials handed the California baseball team a death sentence, it just so happened the players were scheduled to practice. They arrived at the ballpark to learn their storied program — more than a century old — had fallen victim to state budget cuts and would be disbanded at season's end. "I was really angry," sophomore pitcher Justin Jones said. "I was upset, disappointed in the university and kind of ashamed, all at the same time.

Ben McDonald has grown accustomed to the College World Series being the site of some of his least memorable moments as a pitcher for Louisiana State University. In 1987, three days after surrendering a game-winning home run against Oklahoma State, McDonald gave up a 10th-inning, bases-loaded grand slam to Stanford's Paul Carey that eliminated LSU from the tournament. On Saturday night, McDonald was tagged two, two-run homers that proved to be the difference in a 5-2 loss to Miami (Fla.

What: 63rd NCAA College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium, Omaha. When: Today-June 24. Opening games (all times PDT): Today -- Cal State Fullerton (47-14) vs. Arkansas (39-22), 11 a.m., ESPN; Louisiana State (51-16) vs. Virginia (48-13-1), 4 p.m., ESPN. Sunday -- Arizona State (49-12) vs. North Carolina (47-16), 11 a.m., ESPN; Southern Mississippi (40-24) vs. Texas (46-14-1), 4 p.m., ESPN2. (Double-elimination bracket play continues Monday through June 21.

In what certainly must rank as one of the most dramatic endings to a College World Series game, freshman Paul Carey hit an opposite-field grand-slam in the bottom of the 10th inning Friday to give Stanford a 6-5 victory over Louisiana State. Carey's homer, before a Rosenblatt Stadium crowd estimated at 13,000, came on a 1-and-1 count with one out off freshman Ben McDonald, and kept alive Stanford's hopes of winning its first national baseball championship.

Louisiana State, which two years ago wasn't good enough to qualify for its conference tournament, is the best team in college baseball again. The Tigers won their sixth national title Wednesday night, breaking open Game 3 of the College World Series finals with a five-run sixth inning that carried them to an 11-4 victory over Texas. Jared Mitchell hit a three-run homer in the first inning as Louisiana State (56-17) built a 4-0 lead.

Two years ago, UCLA's Rob Rasmussen trudged away from his first postseason game with a "bitter feeling," toting a loss to Cal State Fullerton with him. On Sunday, Rasmussen's emotions were on the other end of the spectrum against the Titans. He pumped his fist after a strike to end the seventh inning. He all but hopped, skipped and jumped after breezing through the eighth. He flung his glove high in the air after a lazy fly-ball out finished off an 8-1 victory over Fullerton at Jackie Robinson Stadium that sent the Bruins to the College World Series.

Before the College World Series began, ESPN required each team to provide four players for pregame interviews. The television network selected three UCLA pitchers, and the lone hitter was chosen only because he suffered a broken wrist as the team celebrated after the super regional. Maybe after Saturday, the Bruins' lineup will get some attention without needing a freak injury involved. In addition to starter Trevor Bauer's 11 strikeouts, UCLA took one step closer to proving it has more than just pitching in an 11-3 victory over Florida at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Dave Serrano, who guided Cal State Fullerton's baseball team to the College World Series in 2009, has been hired as the coach at Tennessee, the school announced Wednesday. Serrano, who reportedly will be paid about $500,000 per season, is one of 11 coaches to lead two programs to the College World Series. UC Irvine, with Serrano as coach, reached Omaha in 2007. "Dave is a proven winner and is a perfect fit," Joan Cronan, Tennessee's interim vice chancellor for athletics, said in a prepared statement.

UC Irvine Coach Mike Gillespie was seized by one basic, honest thought while watching Virginia players pile on top of one another in celebration Monday after a ninth-inning rally that sent the Cavaliers to the College World Series. "That was a little more painful than just losing," Gillespie said. That agony came after the Anteaters were on the verge of ecstasy. Irvine, needing one strike to advance, buckled when four consecutive Virginia batters reached base. Chris Taylor's two-run single into center field gave the top-seeded Cavaliers a 3-2 victory and left the Anteaters to ponder the visions of Omaha that had danced in their heads moments before.

Texas' Jordan Etier hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth and the Longhorns tied the super regional against Arizona State at a game apiece with a 5-1 victory at Austin, Texas. The Longhorns and Sun Devils, two of the most storied programs in college baseball, will play for a spot in the College World Series on Sunday night. Etier had a key error in Texas' 3-1 loss Friday night. The Longhorns (48-17) were up 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth, when the Sun Devils (43-17)

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Reporting from Omaha — Gerrit Cole spoke as if he were in shock, almost disbelief. He had no explanation for perhaps his worst outing as a member of the UCLA baseball team. He gave up 11 hits and six runs in seven innings Monday in the Bruins' 7-1 loss to South Carolina in the College World Series. The best-of-three series for the national title resumes Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. PDT at Rosenblatt Stadium. "Well, they had a great approach," Cole said. "I don't know what the approach was. But whatever it was, it worked.

Reporting from Omaha — Both teams stood one out from elimination. UCLA (51-15) and South Carolina (52-16) will play for the College World Series title but know good fortune was on their side at some point during the tournament. The teams begin a best-of-three series Monday at 4:30 p.m. PDT at Rosenblatt Stadium knowing their seasons could already have been over. "We were literally one out away from being two and out in the super regionals," UCLA Coach John Savage said.

UCLA made a point to say this was more than just a matchup against Matt Purke, Texas Christian's standout pitcher. Turns out, the Bruins were right. The Horned Frogs received a strong effort from Purke, but three home runs and solid relief from Tyler Lockwood were equally important in their 6-2 victory Friday at the College World Series. The teams play Saturday at 11 a.m. PDT at Rosenblatt Stadium to determine which advances to the best-of-three championship series. The Bruins (50-15)

Reporting from Omaha — The fact that it worked means UCLA Coach John Savage can admit it was a gamble. Savage decided to use No. 2 pitcher Trevor Bauer in the opening game of the College World Series against Florida. Bauer struck out 11 in seven innings Saturday in the Bruins' 11-3 victory. Now, a program that entered without a CWS victory has to be feeling pretty confident with sophomore ace Gerrit Cole on the mound Monday against first-time participant Texas Christian.

UCLA pitcher Trevor Bauer has spent much of his time here explaining why he prefers to wear a faded, worn hat. He says new ones make him look like a train conductor. Still, it may have been just as fitting for Bauer to yell "All aboard!" while the Bruins rode his arm to a 10-3 victory against Texas Christian on Saturday in the College World Series. The Bruins, making their first appearance in the finals, begin a best-of-three series against South Carolina at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Rosenblatt Stadium.

UCLA made a point to say this was more than just a matchup against Matt Purke, Texas Christian's standout pitcher. Turns out, the Bruins were right. The Horned Frogs received a strong effort from Purke, but three home runs and solid relief from Tyler Lockwood were equally important in their 6-2 victory Friday at the College World Series. The teams play Saturday at 11 a.m. PDT at Rosenblatt Stadium to determine which advances to the best-of-three championship series. The Bruins (50-15)