Stanford at the College World Series
Rain may have halted play at the College World Series Thursday, but the Cardinal have continued their hot play, regardless of the murky weather.
So far in the College World Series, the Cardinal erupted in the ninth inning of their game against Florida State to win 16-5, holding FSU to its lowest run total since their first game in the Tallahassee Regional, and eliminated the top-seeded team in the tournament, 8-3, on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Standford faces Georgia in the College World Series. The Bulldogs represent the one blemish on Stanford’s record at the CWS and their one loss in their last nine games. That came in a pitcher’s dual on Monday that ended 4-3 in Georgia’s favor. In that game, Standford jumped on the Bulldogs early, scoring three runs in the top of the third, but then only managed to get one single in the last six innings.
I would expect a similar game tomorrow since both teams’ strengths are their pitching, and considering Georgia’s dominating bullpen, the Cardinal will likely have to jump on the Bulldogs early in order to build up a lead their own relievers can protect. Georgia’s pitching staff is also not going to give anything away in that game, so the Cardinal hitters should be ready to hit. It’ll be a tough game for Stanford, especially since their offense is rather futile even when their not facing the great pitching of Georgia, but I suspect that the possibility of beating the team that broke their seven game winning streak will be tempting enough to ignite their sleeping bats.
If the Cardinal do win on Saturday, then they will have to play Georgia again on Sunday since that’ll be Georgia’s only loss so far in the world series. The winner of that game on Sunday will then be one of the final two teams remaining to play for the national championship.
I believe that the Pac-10 has already tied its own record for national championships in a school year, so if Stanford were to pull off a miracle, then it would mean a lot for the Pac-10 as a whole. Let’s go Cardinal!!
In other news, ESPN.com has come up with a series titled: “Face of the Program” in which they pick the one person, place, or play that defines the college football program at each school. Some of their choices for the Pac-10 are really easy, like Don James at the University of Washingto