Game 2 of the College World Series pits the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats against the No. 3 national seed Florida St. Seminoles. As part of Bracket 1, the Seminoles and Wildcats will already know which team from Game 1 moved to the winner's bracket and which one to the loser's bracket. Stony Brook and UCLA open up the festivities in Omaha with a game at 3:00 p.m. MT.
Four hours later or so, Arizona (43-17) will send its first man to the batter's box and look to gain an early advantage over the Seminoles. Arizona steamrolled its way through regional play, averaging nearly 16 runs over three games. Missouri once and Louisville twice, the Arizona offensive juggernaut chugged its way to a Super Regional showdown with the St. John's Red Storm.
In Game 1, Arizona overcame a 5-0 deficit to win that game in 10 innings, 7-6. The Wildcats didn't need anything as drastic in Game 2 and picked up a 7-4 victory to head to Omaha. Game 1's starter from that series is also opening this College World Series game: Kurt Heyer (12-2, 2.28 ERA). Heyer threw 9.1 innings and 129 pitches in that contest. He surrendered 17 hits and just one went for extra bases (a double).
The Arizona offense will be led by LF Johnny Field (.383 BA, 43 RBI, 40 BB), 3B Seth Mejias-Brean (.366 BA, 21 2B, 57 RBI) and SS Alex Mejia (.361 BA, 52 RBI). Bobby Brown is tied with Field for the team lead in triples at seven.
Florida St. (48-15) played closer games in the regional round at Tallahassee than in the Supers, but they also went 5-0 to reach this point. Florida St. outscored its regional opponents, 15-4, but then the team unleashed the big bats against the Stanford Cardinal in the Super Regional round. The Cardinals broke Stanford ace and No. 8 overall draft pick RHP Mark Appel. He allowed seven runs in what eventually amounted to a 17-1 victory for the Seminoles. Game 2 was little better for Stanford, losing that one, 18-7.
Freshman LHP Brandon Leibrandt (8-2, 2.58 ERA) will take the mound for the opener after throwing six innings of one-run ball against Stanford his last time out. Look for senior OF James Ramsey -- the 23rd overall pick in the draft -- to be a major force in this game. He is hitting .382/.519/.673 with 13 home runs and 57 RBI. First baseman Jayce Boyd, the New York Mets' sixth-round draft pick, leads the team with a .389 batting average and 59 RBI.
Game time/date: 7:00 p.m. MT, Friday, June 15, 2012
Location: TD Ameritrade Park, Omaha, Neb.
Broadcast: ESPN2/WatchESPN
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For a complete bracket, visit NCAA.com.
