Road to Omaha: Regionals (Part 1 of 4)

Nashville Regional:

The Field:

#1 Vanderbilt (51-11), #2 Michigan (39-16), #3 Memphis (36-25), #4 Austin Peay (39-20)

Our Pick:

Vanderbilt - Most complete team in college baseball received the #1 National Seed in the Field of 64. The 'Dores face the easiest Regional Bracket, with Michigan and Memphis slumping heavily. Failure to reach the Super Regionals would be a huge, huge upset.

Sleeper:

Michigan - The Wolverines have lost five of six and were two and out in the Big 10 Tournament. They remain the most talented team in the bracket not starting with "V", but there is not enough on the pitching staff to get them through a brutal Memphis offense on Friday and an even better Vandy offense on Saturday. That said, Austin Peay is heavily out-classed and Memphis's lack of pitching depth leaves the Wolverines as the only viable option.

Players to Watch:

David Price, LHP, Vanderbilt (pictured above) - Best pitcher in college baseball finished the year at 11-0, 2.71 ERA and .201 BAA. Incredible K/BB ratio of 175/29 in 123 IP.

Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Vanderbilt (pictured left) - On the season, .397/.467/.706, 17 HR. Helped Vandy capture SEC Tournament Championship with 13-24 performance (2 HR, 3 2B, 8 RBI).

Charlottesville Regional:

The Field:

#1 Virginia (43-14), #2 Rutgers (41-19), #3 Oregon State (38-17), #4 Lafayette (33-18)

Our Pick:

Virginia - Solid performer throughout the season and ACC tournament; failed to reach the championship game due to a tie-breaker loss to the Tar Heels. The Cavaliers will hope for an Oregon State win on Friday to avoid the streaking Rutgers offense. After being upset by Evansville in last year's Charlottesville Regional, look for UVA to come out focused and determined not to disappoint again at home.

Sleeper:

Rutgers - Scarlet Knights hit a school record 60 HRs this season, and will look to slug past UVA. The opening game against Oregon State will be the most important, as they will not want to go up against the Cavs needing to win two straight. A pitcher's park may make the Beavers a better bet, but it's hard to picture Oregon State scoring enough to beat UVA twice.

Players to Watch:

Jacob Thompson, RHP, Virginia (pictured above) - 11-0 on the season with a 1.35 ERA and .193 BAA. K/BB ratio of 96/26 over 106.2 IP.

Todd Frazier, SS, Rutgers (pictured left) - 13-25 performance (3 HR, 5 2B, 7 RBI) in the Big East Tournament landed him MVP honors and helped the Scarlet Knights to a Conference Championship and automatic bid. Led the Big East in slugging (.724) and home runs (19), 2nd in RBI (57) and 3rd in OBP (.494).

Looking Ahead:

Super Regional Match-up:

Virginia (3-1) at Vanderbilt (3-0) - Both UVA and Oregon State could give Vandy trouble. I am already anticipating taking off work next Friday in preparation for the David Price/Jacob Thompson show-down. UVA drops one to the Oregon State/Rutgers winner while Vandy advances with little trouble in the minimum three games.

Heading to Omaha:

Vanderbilt (2-1 over Virginia) - UVA's staff matches up well arm-for-arm, and should be able to take one of the first two before dropping to the number one overall seed. This should be one of the better Super Regionals if your a fan of pitching.