{"id":14142,"date":"2017-06-26T09:57:31","date_gmt":"2017-06-26T13:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=14142"},"modified":"2017-06-26T09:57:31","modified_gmt":"2017-06-26T13:57:31","slug":"2017-cws-group-winners-and-cws-final-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=14142","title":{"rendered":"2017 CWS Group Winners and CWS Final preview"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/CWS-2017_calendar-narrow.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-13886\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13886\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/CWS-2017_calendar-narrow.jpg\" alt=\"CWS-2017_calendar-narrow\" width=\"234\" height=\"272\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a recap of our CWS coverage so far for 2017:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=13362\">College Baseball 2017\u00a0Kickoff<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=13884\">Field of 64 announcement<\/a>\u00a0with Regional predictions and highlights of top-end draft prospects.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=11114\">2017 Draft Preview<\/a> with coverage of\u00a0Local College-age eligible players of note (publishing closer to the draft)<\/li>\n<li>2017 CWS tournament: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=13898\">Regional Results, Super-Regional Pairings<\/a><\/li>\n<li>2017 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=13970\">CWS Super-Regionals recap<\/a>, CWS field and predictions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Lets review the CWS group play.\u00a0 The CWS plays just one or two games a day; a far cry from the first weekend, where 64 teams played hundreds of games over the course of a long weekend.\u00a0 So this post has been written in one or two sentence increments for a week and a half\u2026<\/p>\n<p>My pre-CWS predictions were\u00a0LSU from the top and TCU from the bottom. \u00a0My predictions weren&#8217;t looking too hot after the first day, but ended up being half right. \u00a0Read on.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>In the Top\u00a0Bracket<\/strong><\/span> (#1 Oregon State, Cal-State Fullerton, #12 Florida State, #4 LSU)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>In the opening games<\/strong>, Oregon State overcame a bad outing from\u00a0<strong>Jake Thompson<\/strong>, rallying to top Cal-State Fullerton 6-5. \u00a0Meanwhile, LSU similarly overcame a bad outing from its ace\u00a0<strong>Alex Lange<\/strong>, getting a shutdown relief effort from #2 starter\u00a0<strong>Jared Poche<\/strong> and the one-out close-out from Virginia native\u00a0<strong>Zach Hess<\/strong> to beat Florida State 5-4.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the first elimination game<\/strong>, Florida State took advantage of 8 CS-F walks to win 6-4 and eliminate the Titans.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the winner&#8217;s bracket game<\/strong>, Oregon State made a pretty large statement by destroying LSU 13-1. \u00a0OSU&#8217;s\u00a0<strong>Bryan Fehmel<\/strong> totally baffled LSU for 8 innings, giving up just 1 run on 2 hits (the run was on a very large homer in the 8th inning when the game was well in hand). \u00a0 LSU&#8217;s staff walked *twelve* batters and never had a chance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the play-in game<\/strong> to the group final, LSU&#8217;s\u00a0Poche came back on short rest and dominated FSU for 8 innings, giving up just one unearned run. \u00a0After back-to-back crushed homers to open the 9th, Lynchburg&#8217;s Hess came on and just blew away three hitters to close out the game with 95-96 heat and a fantastic curve. \u00a0LSU moves on.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the group final<\/strong>, OSU could do nothing with LSU&#8217;s ace Lange, who gave up just two hits through 7 and a third; then super closer Hess came on and struck out 4 of the 5 guys he faced to force a winner-take-all game to close out the group. \u00a0Its only fitting. \u00a0I&#8217;m not the only one gushing over Hess; the CWS broadcasters spent a full inning talking about him &#8230; in the TCU\/Florida game. \u00a0In the winner take all game on 6\/24\/17, LSU got to OSU&#8217;s starter early, their own starter was fantastic (mid-week starter\u00a0<strong>Caleb Gilbert<\/strong> gave up just 2 hits through 7 and change before handing the ball over to Hess once again. \u00a0<strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">LSU<\/span> <\/strong>comes back through the loser&#8217;s bracket to advance. \u00a0Its hard not to say that the loss of OSU&#8217;s ace\u00a0<strong>Luke Heimlich<\/strong> didn&#8217;t affect the outcome of this CWS: I have no issues saying that LSU would have been much harder pressed to overcome OSU two days in a row if they had to face a guy with a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.osubeavers.com\/documents\/2017\/6\/24\/\/0624_Overall.pdf?id=6545\">0.76 ERA on the season<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Final Group standings: LSU, Oregon State, Florida State, Cal-State Fullerton.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>In the Bottom\u00a0Bracket<\/strong><\/span> (Texas A&amp;M, #7 Louisville, #6 TCU, #3 Florida)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>In the opening games<\/strong>, Louisville overcame a bad start from its #1 draft pick\u00a0<strong>Brendan McCay<\/strong> to bash their way to victory over TAMU 8-4. \u00a0In the nightcap, Florida rode a fantastic outing from its 1st rounder\u00a0<strong>Alex Faedo<\/strong>, who shut down TCU on 2 hits over 7 innings for a 3-0 victory, severely dampening TCU&#8217;s chances and my predictions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the first elimination game<\/strong>, TCU got a stellar start from\u00a0<strong>Brian Howard<\/strong> (12ks in 7 innings) and eliminated TAMU 4-1.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the winner&#8217;s bracket game<\/strong>, Florida got a dominant start from its #2 starter (and likely 2018 early 1st rounder\u00a0<strong>Brady Singer<\/strong>), who gave up just one run in 7 innings and Florida eased by Louisville 5-1.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the play-in game<\/strong> to the group final, two of the best teams all \u00a0year in Louisville and TCU met in a loser-goes-home game. \u00a0TCU got 4 runs early on Louisville&#8217;s #3 starter and their freshman ace\u00a0<strong>Nick Lodolo\u00a0<\/strong> combined forces with\u00a0<strong>Sean Wymer<\/strong> to make it stick.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the group final<\/strong>, TCU broke out against Florida&#8217;s bullpen and won a laugher 9-2 to force the winner-take-all game. \u00a0Again, only fitting given the talent that is in this CWS. \u00a0However, in the final game, Florida&#8217;s Faedo shut down TCU and Florida got just enough against TCU&#8217;s\u00a0<strong>Jared Janczak<\/strong> to advance. \u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Florida<\/strong> <\/span>to the CWS final.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Final Group standings: Florida, TCU, Louisville, TAMU<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>CWS finals discussion<\/strong><\/span>: Games 1,2,3 set for M-T-W June 26, 27,28<\/p>\n<p>Pitching Matchups (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lsusports.net\/fls\/5200\/assets\/docs\/bb\/17stats\/teamcume.htm\">LSU stats<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/floridagators.com\/cumestats.aspx?path=baseball&amp;\">Florida Stats<\/a>):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Game 1: \u00a0Monday 6\/26\/17:\u00a0LSU&#8217;s #2 Starter\u00a0<strong>Jared<\/strong><strong>\u00a0Poche<\/strong> (12-3, 3.33 ERA on the season) with 4 days rest vs Florida&#8217;s #2 starter\u00a0<strong>Brady Singer<\/strong> (8-5, 3.18 ERA) on 5 days rest.<\/li>\n<li>Game 2: Tuesday 6\/27\/17: LSU&#8217;s #1 Starter\u00a0<strong>Alex Lange<\/strong> (10-5, 2.97 ERA) with 3 days rest vs Florida&#8217;s #3 starter\u00a0<strong>Jackson Kower<\/strong> (12-1, 4.15 ERA) on 3 days rest.<\/li>\n<li>Game 3: Wednesday 6\/28\/17: LSU&#8217;s mid-week starter\u00a0<strong>Caleb Gilbert<\/strong> (7-1 with a 2.85 ERA) with 3 days rest vs\u00a0Florida&#8217;s #1\u00a0<strong>Alex Faedo<\/strong> (9-2, 2.26 ERA) \u00a0on 3 days rest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>LSU&#8217;s missing their #2 starter (<strong>Eric Walker<\/strong>), who left the 2nd game of the CWS early and has not returned. \u00a0This puts them in a bind, having to use both Lange and Gilbert on short rest. \u00a0If Walker could return, they&#8217;d likely go Poche-Walker-Lange in that order. \u00a0But, Gilbert was awesome in the OSU elimination game, so its not a big step down. \u00a0Meanwhile, Florida burned Faedo to get to the final, and they may struggle to cobble together enough pitching to last the final. \u00a0Singer is ready to go game one and will be a tough out, but Kower isn&#8217;t going to slow LSU&#8217;s bats, so it may come down to how far they push Faedo on 3 days rest and after throwing a 113 pitch gem in the group final.<\/p>\n<p>These teams met in March at Florida, with the Gators winning Faedo and Singer&#8217;s starts before LSU battering Kower to take the Sunday finale. \u00a0I see the same pattern here: I think Singer shuts down LSU in game one, Lange does likewise in game 2 while LSU batters Kower again, leading to a distinct pitching advantage in game three.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Prediction<\/strong><\/span>: Florida in 3.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>College CWS tournament references<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>d1baseball.com\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.d1baseball.com\/daily\/today.htm\">daily scoreboard<\/a> is my go-to link<\/li>\n<li>d1baseball\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/d1baseball.com\/regional-tournament-central\/\">Tourney Central<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Baseball America\u2019s\u00a0College coverage home page<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.collegebaseballdaily.com\/\">CollegeBaseballDaily.com<\/a> has coverage as well.<\/li>\n<li>CollegeBaseballCentral.com has coverage as well.<\/li>\n<li>Ncaa.com\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/interactive-bracket\/baseball\/d1\/2017\">interactive full 64-team bracket<\/a> for 2017<\/li>\n<li>NCAA <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/stats\/baseball\/d1\/current\/individual\/200\">Individual player stats<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Warren Nolan.com\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.warrennolan.com\/baseball\/2017\/index\">College Baseball RPI<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Warren Nolan\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/warrennolan.com\/baseball\/2017\/conferencerpi\">Conference RPI rankings<\/a> for 2017<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a recap of our CWS coverage so far for 2017: College Baseball 2017\u00a0Kickoff Field of 64 announcement\u00a0with Regional predictions and highlights of top-end draft prospects. 2017 Draft Preview with coverage of\u00a0Local College-age eligible players of note (publishing closer to the draft) 2017 CWS tournament: Regional Results, Super-Regional Pairings 2017 CWS Super-Regionals recap, CWS field [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[3202,2844,3653,3296,3207,3651,3652,3576,3655,3579,3578,3650,3559,3400,3654,3166],"class_list":["post-14142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college","tag-alex-faedo","tag-alex-lange","tag-brady-singer","tag-brendan-mccay","tag-brian-howard","tag-bryan-fehmel","tag-caleb-gilbert","tag-eric-walker","tag-jackson-kower","tag-jake-thompson","tag-jared-janczak","tag-jared-poche","tag-luke-heimlich","tag-nick-lodolo","tag-sean-wymer","tag-zach-hess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14142"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14179,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14142\/revisions\/14179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}