Now here is an interesting combination: college baseball and the NBA. After this post, you'll have to get your news from somewhere else for the next several days. I'm getting married to my fiancee, Holly, on Saturday! We are headed to the Disney resort on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina for our honeymoon. By the time I get back, the College World Series will have started. Hopefully, Virginia is in it. The NBA Finals, of course, will still be going on as there is no longer sporting event in the world than the NBA playoffs. Pretty sure I was in college when this year's playoffs started. :)
UVA BASEBALL
Virginia mostly cruised in the Charlottesville Regional, beating Army, 2-1, Elon, 2-0, and then finally getting their bats going in the final game to beat Elon, 11-3, on Sunday.
Now, as a top national seed, the Cavs host a Super Regional this weekend. They drew Mississippi State, the top seed from the Starkville, Miss. Regional. The Bulldogs went 3-1 in the regional, losing to Central Arkansas, 5-2, on Sunday before downing the Bears, 6-1, on Monday. Overall, Mississippi State is 46-18 this season. It lost to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
Mississippi State's starting pitching has been shaky recently, but overall, the Bulldogs have an outstanding pitching staff, 15th in the nation in ERA at 2.76, 11 spots better than UVa. Their strength lies in their bullpen. Ross Mitchell is 12-0 out of the bullpen with a 1.41 ERA. Offensively, the Virginia hurlers will have to contend with Hunter Renfroe, who is hitting .352 with 15 HRs. Three other players hit over .300.
The Super Regionals are best two of three. There are eight Super Regionals so there are 16 teams left. This is the Sweet 16 of college baseball, if you will. For the ACC, in addition to UVa, Florida State, North Carolina, and N.C. State are all still alive and all host a Super Regional.
For UVa-MSU, Game 1 is Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN2. Game 2 is Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU. Game 3, if necessary, is Monday at 4 p.m. on ESPN2.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NBA FINALS
The Spurs easily dispatched the Grizzles in the Western Conference finals in four games. The Heat had a time with Indiana before finally blowing out the Pacers in Game 7 of the East finals Monday. This is the seventh NBA Finals where one team swept in the conference finals and the other went to Game 7. The team that sweeps usually has the edge, going 4-2 in the finals. That does not support the theory that the rested team is rusty. It supports a theory saying the better team swept in the conference finals and usually ends up winning the finals, too.
The Spurs are the older team in this situation, though the Heat aren't very young, either. The rest has probably done wonders for San Antonio's old guys. Tim Duncan has said how much he really wants to win this title. I would not be surprised if he retires if the Spurs win the championship. Sneakily, Duncan would have five NBA titles (also won it in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007) if they can pull it off. He is underrated as an all-time great. That would be just one less title than MJ and tied with Kobe Bryant.
I just don't think I see San Antonio getting done, though. I don't think the Spurs match up well with Miami's athleticism. The Heat seemed to have another gear this season and I think they will use it in this series. The games should be mostly competitive, but I like the Heat in six games.
UVA BASEBALL
Virginia mostly cruised in the Charlottesville Regional, beating Army, 2-1, Elon, 2-0, and then finally getting their bats going in the final game to beat Elon, 11-3, on Sunday.
Now, as a top national seed, the Cavs host a Super Regional this weekend. They drew Mississippi State, the top seed from the Starkville, Miss. Regional. The Bulldogs went 3-1 in the regional, losing to Central Arkansas, 5-2, on Sunday before downing the Bears, 6-1, on Monday. Overall, Mississippi State is 46-18 this season. It lost to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament semifinals.Mississippi State's starting pitching has been shaky recently, but overall, the Bulldogs have an outstanding pitching staff, 15th in the nation in ERA at 2.76, 11 spots better than UVa. Their strength lies in their bullpen. Ross Mitchell is 12-0 out of the bullpen with a 1.41 ERA. Offensively, the Virginia hurlers will have to contend with Hunter Renfroe, who is hitting .352 with 15 HRs. Three other players hit over .300.
The Super Regionals are best two of three. There are eight Super Regionals so there are 16 teams left. This is the Sweet 16 of college baseball, if you will. For the ACC, in addition to UVa, Florida State, North Carolina, and N.C. State are all still alive and all host a Super Regional.
For UVa-MSU, Game 1 is Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN2. Game 2 is Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU. Game 3, if necessary, is Monday at 4 p.m. on ESPN2.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NBA FINALS
The Spurs easily dispatched the Grizzles in the Western Conference finals in four games. The Heat had a time with Indiana before finally blowing out the Pacers in Game 7 of the East finals Monday. This is the seventh NBA Finals where one team swept in the conference finals and the other went to Game 7. The team that sweeps usually has the edge, going 4-2 in the finals. That does not support the theory that the rested team is rusty. It supports a theory saying the better team swept in the conference finals and usually ends up winning the finals, too.
The Spurs are the older team in this situation, though the Heat aren't very young, either. The rest has probably done wonders for San Antonio's old guys. Tim Duncan has said how much he really wants to win this title. I would not be surprised if he retires if the Spurs win the championship. Sneakily, Duncan would have five NBA titles (also won it in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007) if they can pull it off. He is underrated as an all-time great. That would be just one less title than MJ and tied with Kobe Bryant.
I just don't think I see San Antonio getting done, though. I don't think the Spurs match up well with Miami's athleticism. The Heat seemed to have another gear this season and I think they will use it in this series. The games should be mostly competitive, but I like the Heat in six games.
Comments
Post a Comment