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News Nuggets, 06.21.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Texas trips Tulane; Baylor bounces Beavers

TEXAS 5, TULANE 0

OMAHA — Texas set a record with its 75th College World Series win Monday night, riding the strong pitching of Kyle McCulloch to a 5-0 victory over top-seeded Tulane.

In its fourth straight and record 32nd appearance overall at the CWS, Texas passed Southern California's mark of 74 victories.

The Longhorns, unbeaten in two games so far this year, advance to a Wednesday night game at Rosenblatt Stadium against the winner of Tuesday night's Tulane-Baylor elimination game.

Texas (53-16) scored two in the first off Tulane's top lefty, Brian Bogusevic (13-3), added two more in the fifth and another in the sixth, while collecting 12 hits.

The Longhorns got a stellar catch from right fielder Nick Peoples when he jumped against the right field wall in the eighth to take an extra base hit away from Micah Owings.

McCulloch (11-4) pitched out of a first-inning jam and allowed six hits in seven shutout innings with three walks and seven strikeouts. J. Brent Cox pitched the final two innings to complete just the sixth CWS shutout since 1994.

It was also Texas' first shutout at the CWS since 1983 when Calvin Schiraldi blanked James Madison.

BAYLOR 4, OREGON STATE 3, 10 innings

Baylor extended its first College World Series appearance in 27 years by at least one day with its first win in the tournament, a 4-3 squeaker past Oregon State.

Mike Pankratz, batting .193, blooped an RBI single over first baseman Andy Jenkins and just out of the reach of second baseman Chris Kunda, ending the Beavers' first appearance in the CWS since 1952.

The Bears (45-23) advanced to a Tuesday matchup against Tulane.

Jeff Mandel (4-0) got the win for Baylor after holding Oregon State (46-12) to one hit in 4 2-3 innings of relief.

Josh Ford reached base safely leading off the 10th against Kevin Gunderson (6-4) after Beavers shortstop Darwin Barney couldn't field a high-bouncing grounder. Ford advanced to second on a sacrifice before Reid Brees singled through the left side of the infield to put runners on first and third.

Pankratz, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning, then got the game-winning hit on an 0-1 pitch.

Baylor starter Trey Taylor couldn't make it out of the second inning after walking five of the 10 batters he faced.

Notebook: 'Hollywood knucklehead' out at home

OMAHA — The College World Series is a unique baseball experience.

There's the ``ping'' of aluminum bats. And the attitude of the players, who approach the game with an all-out enthusiasm and a series of high-fives and back slaps for their teammates. Every home run hitter is greeted en masse at home plate.

You'll more than likely see a little bit of everything, even an attempted steal of home with the bases loaded in the ninth inning.

That's what Arizona State star Travis Buck tried to do in a game Sunday and was easily tagged out. Good thing his team was already ahead by two runs en route to a win over Tennessee.

Buck's venture didn't anger coach Pat Murphy. It just brought this type of tongue-in-cheek response: ``We had a knucklehead baserunner at third who didn't get in the baseline,'' Murphy said. ``He was way out in the grass, trying to Hollywood it.''

ALL GROWN UP: The First Colony Little League is quite a training ground for future baseball players. Six players who once competed in the Sugar Land, Texas, LL are now in the College World Series.

Tulane's Billy Mohl, Sean Morgan and Stephen Porlier as well as Baylor's Ryan LaMotta, Cory Van Allen and Paul Miles all played in the First Colony LL.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Florida CF and leadoff hitter Jeff Corsaletti tied a CWS record with three doubles in the Gators' 7-4 win over Nebraska.

``I was seeing it well and took what they gave me,'' said Corsaletti, a sixth-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox.

Six others have also had three doubles in one game, the most recent Andy Phillips of Alabama versus Rice in 1999. Included on that list was former Atlanta Braves star Bob Horner when he played for Arizona State in 1978.

SEE YA NEXT YEAR: Oregon State's first trip to the College World Series since 1952 didn't last long after the Beavers lost their first two games.

But Kevin Gunderson, the losing pitcher in a 4-3, 10-inning loss to Baylor on Monday, said it won't take 53 years for OSU to return. It'll be a lot sooner.

``The Beavers will be back in Omaha next year in 2006. I promise you that,'' Gunderson said.

SHORT HOPS: Sunday's game between Nebraska and Florida drew 26,813 fans, the second-largest crowd for any session ever at the College World Series. Most were dressed in Cornhusker red. ... — ... Arizona State pitcher Seth Garrison hopes to be in the dugout Tuesday to cheer his teammates when they face the Cornhuskers in an elimination game, a rematch of a first-round game won by Nebraska. Garrison, a freshman who grew up in Omaha, underwent an emergency appendectomy early Sunday. ``It's unfortunate,'' ASU coach Pat Murphy said. ``I don't think he'll be pitching anytime soon.'' ... — ... Baylor DH-C Travis Ford is a hard man to keep off the bases. Ford didn't get on base in a first-round loss to Texas, snapping a streak of 23 games in which he had reached. But he got right back on Monday against Oregon State with a third-inning walk. Ford has failed to reach base in only three games all season for the Bears and has been hit by a pitch a painful 16 times. ... — ... Florida, which doesn't play again until Wednesday after winning its first two games in Omaha, is the only team still unbeaten in NCAA tournament play. The Gators are 7-0, having also swept their regional and super regional. ... — ... Murphy again on having to play Nebraska a second time in the CWS, where the Huskers have a large fan following: ``I'd like the newspapers to get the game times mixed up, so the fans come about three hours late.'' ... — ... Oregon State's Jacoby Ellsbury, who holds the school record for hits in a career and a season, had one more Monday and finished the season with 99. ... — ... Baylor's 4-3 victory over Oregon State in 10 innings was the 75th extra inning game in CWS history and the first since Rice beat Stanford 4-3 in 10 innings two years ago en route to the title.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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