College World Series 2011: Vanderbilt And Florida Kick Off Action In Omaha With Wins

The first day of the 2011 College World Series came to a close on Saturday night as the Florida Gators downed the Texas Longhorns, 8-3, to advance to the winner’s side of their bracket. The matchups in Omaha are structured as two mini-tournaments leading up to the final series on June 27. Vanderbilt also took care of business on Saturday in the early game, handing North Carolina a 7-2 loss.

Bracket 1 has been updated to reflect the changes at the NCAA website. On Monday, Texas and North Carolina will face-off in an elimination game at 2 p.m. EDT. Later in the day, at 7 p.m. EDT, Florida and Vanderbilt will battle it out to take the upper-hand in the bracket going forward. The winner of that game will only have to win once more to advance to the final series while the loser will have to win three more times.

The great pitching match-up wasn’t quite so. One elite pitcher had his shortest start of the season and the other was undone by bad defense, but while the type of game wasn’t expected, the result was. Florida got a big game from Bryson Smith, who reached base in all five plate appearance, scored twice and drove in a pair, as they topped Texas on the opening day of the College World Series. With the win, the Gators advance to the winner’s bracket where they will play Vanderbilt, while the Longhorns will do battle with North Carolina in an elimination game.

Errors helped get Texas on the board first. Consecutive errors put two men on with nobody out in the third inning and after a single the Longhorns had themselves a 1-0 lead. A sacrifice fly by Mark Payton followed and the Longhorns had stretched their lead some. The damage wasn’t done though. Another single was followed by another sacrifice fly and Texas were up 3-0 on the favored Gators.

So much for that great pitching match-up. Taylor Jungmann lasted just 75 pitches and 4.1 innings, giving up five runs for Texas and Hudson Randall gave up four runs for Florida in their College World Series openers. It was hardly the best of outings for either, but the Gators won’t complain. Those five runs, plus two more in the seventh inning have stretched their lead to 7-4, although they do have a legitimate complaint as to whether they should have one more.

Jungmann’s last pitch of the game came with one out in the fifth inning when he hit a batter. Augie Garrido had seen enough and pulled his ace, but it didn’t do much good. The first pitch the next batter saw was laced for a RBI double by Preston Tucker and the Gators had themselves a 5-3 lead.

Leading 3-0 with Taylor Jungmann pitching it looked like Texas was in a really good spot to grab their College World Series opener. Sure, it was only the third inning, but they were three up and had one of the most dominant pitchers in the country on the mound. Jungmann or no Jungmann, Florida was coming back though and they did it quickly. After the Longhorns tallied three times in the top of the third the Gators came back for two in the bottom of the third then two more in the fourth to snatch a 4-3 lead over Texas.

Jungmann surrendered consecutive walks to start the third inning, the last thing he wanted to do after being give a lead. A one-out single by Bryson Smith scored one of those runs then the Gators were given a couple gifts. The first was a wild pitch and the second was a passed ball, allowing another run to come in and scut the lead to 3-2 after three innings.

It took until the third inning, but the match-up of elites between Texas and Florida finally has some runs. The first two innings were quick and easy for both teams, but the Longhorns struck for three runs in the third inning to take a 3-0 lead over the Gators in the early going. They were aided by two Florida errors, but they added a pair of hits of their own and stole a bag to jump on the favored Gators.

The inning started with a ground ball right through the legs of shortstop Nolan Fontana and a throwing error by Preston Tucker on a sacrifice bunt put two men on with nobody out. That brought up the top of the Longhorns’ lineup and Tant Sheppard ripped a single to score a run for a 1-0 Texas lead. The runner also went from first to third on the play so when Mark Payton lifted a fly ball to left field, the runner was able to tag and score for another Texas run. Sheppard then stole second and took third on a base hit so Erich Weiss’ fly ball to left also went for a sacrifice fly and the Longhorns were ahead 3-0.

It’s top team versus top team and top pitcher versus top pitcher as Texas and Florida meet on day one of the College World Series. Both are among the nation’s elite with each earning one of the eight national seeds and tonight will feature one of the best pitching match-ups around as the Longhorns send Taylor Jungmann to the mound to face the Gators’ Hudson Randall.

A first round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers, Jungmann went 13-2 with a 1.38 ERA this season. He has a fastball that will touch the high 90’s and is the definition of a big, strong flamethrower. Both of his losses this season did come in his two postseason starts though so there is concern about his slumping at the worst possible time.

Vanderbilt baseball are a strong team with a great ace in Sonny Gray, but they didn’t even need him to be at his best to defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels this afternoon, as their bullpen and bats came up big late in the game. The UNC baseball team looked great in the first six innings of the game, but the Commodores eventually took over, sending UNC down to the loser’s bracket after winning by a final score of 7-3.

Gray and Patrick Johnson both got off to fairly strong starts, but were let down by questionable control and poor defense. Both teams were able to score multiple times in the beginning of the game, mostly through bad defense and smallball, and the game was tied up at 3-3 at the end of the 3rd inning.

The North Carolina Tar Heels lead the Vanderbilt Commodores in the first game of the 2011 College World Series, but it could be a lot worse for the Vanderbilt baseball team. UNC had the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning, but Corey Williams got out of the jam and right now, North Carolina only leads by one run as a result. After five innings, the score is 3-2 in favor of UNC baseball.

Sonny Gray was solid today, but did not have his best stuff and as a result, was pulled after 4 2/3 innings with the bases loaded. Williams, a left-handed pitcher came in and did his job, striking out Chaz Frank, getting out of the bases loaded jam.

The 2011 College World Series is underway from TD Ameritrade Stadium - Rosenblatt Stadium’s replacement - and the North Carolina Tar Heels and Vanderbilt Commodores are involved in a tight one. Both teams have scored, and they’re all tied up through three innings as they fight for the NCAA baseball title.

Vanderbilt and UNC both got on the board in the first inning, with Vanderbilt batting at the top of the inning. Freshman Tony Kemp, the leadoff hitter, reached base with a bunt single and was able to get to second base on a throwing error by pitcher Patrick Johnson. On the next at bat, Anthony Gomez grounded out but Colin Moran failed to hold Kemp as he advanced to third. The next batter was Aaron Westlake, who hit a deep fly ball that allowed Kemp to tag up and score the first run.

The 2011 College World Series gets underway on Saturday afternoon as North Carolina and Vanderbilt take the field in Omaha. This year, the College World Series leaves its traditional home -- Rosenblatt Stadium -- and heads to TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. The final eight teams will battle it out over the next 11 days with the NCAA championship on the line.

Saturday’s games begin at 2 p.m. when North Carolina faces Vanderbilt. At 7 p.m., Texas and Florida take the field in the second game of the day. The field is split into two brackets, and Saturday matchups are all part of the aptly-named bracket one. Saturday’s winners will face-off on Monday while the losers will battle in an elimination game on the same day.