2010 College World Series: UCLA and TCU Tussle For Bracket Control

With Florida and Florida St. battling just to stay alive, UCLA and TCU are set to go to work in search of control of the bracket at the College World Series. Coming into Omaha, UCLA and TCU were looked at as two of the hottest teams in the country after they dispatched some high quality competition to qualify for the College World Series. After the two teams make quick work of their opponents in the openers, the hype for this game as gone to another level in what may be the best match-up Omaha will see all week long.

With the double elimination format, taking games one and two of the tournament is the key. If you win those first two games, you get a nice long rest until Friday and will play your third game versus a team playing their fourth, while also have one more game on Saturday to advance to the Championship Series if it’s necessary. While you get two chance to win one, your opponent needs them both. UCLA and TCU each picked up opening game wins so when the two take to the field tonight, control of the bracket will be on the line as they go for the advantageous 2-0 record.

A national headliner thanks to his tremendous start, Trevor Bauer earned the majority of the praise following UCLA’s first ever College World Series win. As a result, the offensive output went largely unnoticed and unfortunately so because it was one of the finer offensive performance the Bruins put on all season. Every position player picked up a hit and the Bruins totaled 18 in the game en route to 11 runs. Most impressively, UCLA managed to put up run after run despite just three of the hits going for extra bases and none clearing the fence for a home run. Versus an excellent pitcher and red hot Florida team, UCLA pounded out base hit after base hit, stole bases and used the middle of the field exactly as their offensive game plan lays out.

Earlier in the day on Saturday, TCU made their very first appearance in the College World Series and were as impressive as the Bruins. After first inning jitters led to a single unearned run, TCU rode a brilliant pitching performance by freshman Matt Purke to a comfortable 8-1 win over Florida St. Just as UCLA’s offensive performance went overlooked because of Bauer’s terrific start, TCU’s offense went unnoticed because of Purke’s dominance. The Horned Frogs knocked out 11 hits, including a long ball to take down the Seminoles. Now, they will see if they can replicate it against the Bruins.

With Bauer having gone on Saturday, Gerrit Cole will get his chance tonight for UCLA. The Yankees’ first-round pick out of high school, Cole is armed with his blazing fastball, deadly slider and quickly improving change up. He carries a 10-3 record and 3.25 ERA into the contest, whilepponents are hitting just .195 against Cole and he’s striking out 11.5 batters per nine innings.

Opposite Cole will be a fellow right-handed sophomore, Kyle Winkler. A strong sophomore season in the books, Winkler turned in his best performance when the Horned Frogs needed him most. In the Super Regionals versus number two national seed Texas and in a deciding third game, Winkler shut the Longhorns out on Texas’ home field over 7.2 innings to clinch the Horned Frogs’ College World Series spot. Now, at 12-1 with a 2.84 ERA, he will face a UCLA offense that is clicking at the right time.

Winkler has gotten it done against the Mountain West for most of the season, while Cole has done his work against the better Pac-10. Conference affiliations don’t matter now though. Cole definitely has the better stuff, but can get erratic. When on, there’s no pitcher in the country who can match his pure talent and UCLA has a major advantage if he’s on tonight. Meanwhile, TCU has a near sure thing in Winkler and no matter what Cole does, Winkler is likely to do enough to give the Horned Frogs a chance. This one could be decided by who cracks first in the Omaha pressure.