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College World Series 2008 Matchups

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 13, 2008

Miami (52-9)

CWS seed: 1

Coach: Jim Morris (694-254-2, 15th season)

2008 record vs. CWS teams: 3-3 (1-2 vs. North Carolina; 2-1 vs. Florida State)

Last CWS appearance: 2006

All-time record in CWS: 46-36 (22 appearances, four titles)

Short hops: 1B Yonder Alonso's 23 HRs ties him with Pat Burrell for Hurricanes' second-most in season. ... Have hit 100 HRs, third-most in school history, and have at least one in 20 of last 22 games.

North Carolina (51-12)

CWS seed: 2

Coach: Mike Fox (449-188-1, 10th season)

2008 record vs. CWS teams: 4-3 (2-1 vs. Miami; 2-2 vs. Florida State)

Last CWS appearance: 2007

All-time record in CWS: 15-14 (six appearances)

Short hops: 2B Kyle Seager set team record with 27 doubles, while 1B Dustin Ackley is one run from tying record of 80 in a season. ... Tar Heels rank as national leader in ERA (2.83), K's per nine innings (10.1), fewest hits allowed per nine innings (7.47) and opponent batting average (.227).

Fresno State (42-29)

CWS seed: 3

Coach: Mike Batesole (214-163, sixth season)

2008 record vs. CWS teams: 0-0

Last CWS appearance: 1991

All-time record in CWS: 4-6 (three appearances)

Short hops: Staff ace and WAC pitcher of year Tanner Scheppers (8-2, 2.93) has been sidelined for several weeks with stress fracture in right shoulder, but was drafted in second round by Pittsburgh. ... LF Steve Susdorf, WAC player of year, holds school record for RBIs and is third in HRs. His 29 doubles are tied for second-most among Division I hitters.

Florida State (54-12)

CWS seed: 4

Coach: Mike Martin (1,538-518-4, 29th season)

2008 record vs. CWS teams: 4-5 (1-2 vs. Miami; 2-2 vs. North Carolina; 1-1 vs. Georgia)

Last CWS appearance: 2000

All-time record in CWS: 25-36 (18 appearances)

Short hops: C Buster Posey, No. 5 overall draft pick by San Francisco, leads country in batting average, HRs and RBIs and is attempting to join Indiana's Mike Smith (1992) as only Division I players since 1965 to win Triple Crown. ... RHP Ryan Strauss has played in NCAA tournament four straight years - at four different positions: RF in 2005, LF in 2006, starting pitcher in 2007 and as reliever this year.

Stanford (39-22-2)

CWS seed: 5

Coach: Mark Marquess (1,324-667-7, 32nd season)

2008 record vs. CWS teams: 0-0

Last CWS appearance: 2003

All-time record in CWS: 38-27 (15 appearances, two titles)

Short hops: C Jason Castro was 10th overall draft pick by Houston and is finalist for Johnny Bench Award as country's best catcher. ... LHP Jeremy Bleich, team's active career leader with 30 starts, returned from four-week layoff with elbow tendinitis to throw six innings, allowing one run, in Super Regional win against Cal State Fullerton. RHP Austin Yount is nephew of Hall of Famer Robin Yount.

Rice (47-13)

CWS seed: 6

Coach: Wayne Graham (787-297, 17th season)

2008 record vs. CWS teams: 0-0

Last CWS appearance: 2007

All-time record in CWS: 10-11 (six appearances, 1 title)

Short hops: RHP Ryan Berry is one of best starters in country, following up a terrific freshman season in which he pitched for Team USA last summer at the Pan Am Games. ... 1B J.P. Padron attended LSU as freshman and then helped lead San Jacinto to third-place finish at 2006 Junior College World Series.

LSU (48-17-1)

CWS seed: 7

Coach: Paul Mainieri (77-43-2, second season)

2008 record vs. CWS teams: 0-2-1 (vs. Georgia)

Last CWS appearance: 2004

All-time record in CWS: 29-17 (13 appearances, 5 titles)

Short hops: Entered season with 20 newcomers as part of nation's top-rated recruiting class. ... Tigers have three true freshmen in everyday lineup with CF Leon Landry, SS DJ LeMahieu and C Micah Gibbs. ... Team's cumulative GPA for recently completed spring semester was 2.89, the highest figure in LSU baseball history.

Georgia (41-23-1)

CWS seed: 8

Coach: David Perno (247-182-1, seventh season)

2008 record vs. CWS teams: 3-1-1 (1-1 vs. Florida State; 2-0-1 vs. LSU)

Last CWS appearance: 2006

All-time record in CWS: 6-9 (five appearances, 1 title).

Short hops: SS Gordon Beckham, No. 8 overall draft pick by White Sox, is finalist for Golden Spikes Award. ... RHP Joshua Fields was NCBWA's Stopper of the Year, given to nation's top reliever, and has school- and SEC-record 39 saves. SEC pitcher of year was 20th overall pick by Seattle. ... C Bryce Massanari is married to 2006 Miss Nevada, Lauren Scyphers, and the two became parents April 30. Since birth of daughter, Marley, Massanari is batting .410 (32-for-78) with six HRs and 29 RBIs.

Tribune wires

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