Beware of Blowouts at College World Series

On those days when Florida State is playing in the College World Series, the first thing Coach Mike Martin says he does in the morning is look out his hotel window to see which way the wind is blowing.

“I can tell what it’s going to be like even before I get to the ballpark,” Martin said.

The wind blowing out and hitters with aluminum bats can be a difficult combination for pitchers in Rosenblatt Stadium, where another College World Series begins today with Oklahoma State (46-19) playing Alabama (51-14) and Miami (46-13) facing Rice (58-13). The first round continues Saturday with Florida State (53-12) going against Texas A&M; (52-16) and Cal State Fullerton (49-12) against Stanford (48-13).

A year ago, the eight competing teams launched 62 home runs--14 more more than the previous record--and USC won the championship with a 21-14 victory over Arizona State.

Since then, however, the NCAA has put restrictions on the aluminum bats to make them less powerful, and it apparently has had at least some effect. An NCAA study showed home runs down from 1.03 per game at midseason a year ago to 0.93 at the same point this season.

But the question is whether any of that will show up in this year’s Series.

“There are some outstanding pitchers in this tournament, but everything can change when the wind blows straight out,” said Martin, whose team is making its seventh appearance in nine years.

Stanford Coach Mark Marquess has two of the tournament’s most successful starting pitchers in sophomores Jason Young (11-3, 3.14 earned-run average) and Justin Wayne (9-1, 4.92 ERA), but Marquess also is familiar with Rosenblatt’s reputation as a hitter’s park.

“That doesn’t mean a top pitcher isn’t going to be able to throw a shutout here,” Marquess said. “But you know it’s going to be more difficult when you come to the park and see the flags going out. If a pitcher isn’t on his game, you’re definitely going to see some runs scored.”

Young pitched an eight-hitter in a 1-0 victory over USC in the first game of the super-regional series at Stanford. Wayne held USC to five hits and two runs in the second game of the series, won by the Cardinal, 5-3. They had a combined 22 strikeouts in the two games.

Fullerton will send right-hander Adam Johnson (10-3, 3.22 ERA) against Young on Saturday, and probably use left-hander Jon Smith (7-0, 2.71) in its second game on Monday. Matt Sorensen (11-0, 4.36) also is available.

Several of the other teams in Omaha have strong front-line pitching.

Florida State’s staff ERA average of 3.01 is the best in the nation. Nick Stocks (12-2, 3.09) leads the Seminoles, but another top pitcher, freshman Blair Varnes (11-1, 3.84), is probably out of the tournament after injuring his knee in a pile-on celebration after Florida State’s super-regional victory over Auburn. Jon McDonald (9-2, 3.24) is the team’s other leading starter.

Other top pitchers in the field include Mario Ramos (13-2, 2.42) of Rice, Alex Santos (11-3, 3.10) of Miami, Matt Smith (9-5, 2.93) of Oklahoma State and Manny Torres (10-2, 4.89) of Alabama.

But the threat of the long ball still looms.

Oklahoma State has hit 130 home runs this season, and outfielder Lamont Matthews has 30. Texas A&M; has hit 127, with Daylan Holt getting a school-record 34. Alabama has 117 and Miami 100.

Florida State has second baseman Marshall McDougall, who hit six homers in one game this season, an NCAA record. McDougall is batting .422 with 25 homers and 98 runs batted in.

Fullerton has hit 89 homers, an average of 1.46 per game compared to 1.45 last year. The Titans’ Ryan Owens has been on a home run tear recently. Owens has five homers in six postseason games, and has 15 in his last 18 games. Owens leads the team with 23, five behind Bob Caffrey’s school-record 28, set in 1984.