On Campus: College World Series Edition

OMAHA—Before the games begin today at the College World Series, the eight teams gathered at TD Ameritrade Park on Friday for practice, media day and autograph sessions. Below are news and notes from the eight participant schools.

Arizona: In his first season at Arizona, coach Jay Johnson has instilled a philosophy of playing every game like it is the most important of the year. The Wildcats call each game a Super Bowl, and will play Super Bowl 66 (unlike the NFL, they don’t use roman numerals) against Miami on Saturday night. Johnson said the Wildcats bought in right away. “You would have thought our life depended on playing well at Rice on Opening Night,” Johnson said. “I think they’ve embraced it. Out west there’s a lot of good teams, so you’re playing good teams on Tuesdays. We really made an emphasis on the only one that matters is the game in front of us. And it’s been a good formula and they’ve done a good job taking care of it.” … Sawyer Gieseke is officially an infielder on the Arizona roster, but he has also taken on the role of team videographer this season. He has made 15 videos about the Wildcats this year, ranging from “Clubhouse Matters,” a spoof of the “Family Matters” credits, to “Goo Goo Cats—Slide,” an air guitar rendition of the Goo Goo Dolls song “Slide,” to compilations of postgame celebrations. Gieeske said “Clubhouse Matters” is one of his favorite videos because it included the whole team, while “Goo Goo Cats” was the most cinematic. Starring Tyler Crawford, Robby Medel and Kaleb Roper, “Goo Goo Cats” attracted the attention of the Goo Goo Dolls, who tweeted a link to the video, which Gieske said was the objective. “On camera I have Robby and Crawford saying like, ‘Our goal is to get the Goo Goo Dolls to retweet this. And if they do, then we’ve made it,’” Gieseke said. “And that’s what the video did. That was awesome. That they saw it was really cool.” Gieseke, a junior film and television major, said he hopes to be able to make a career out of video production, ideally in sports.

Coastal Carolina: While Gary Gilmore has been a head coach for 27 seasons, this is his first trip to the CWS. So in preparation for leading the Chanticleers in Omaha, he reached out to several coaches who have been to the CWS before. He said the most resounding piece of advice was to not allow the experience to change the team’s identity. “This bunch here is a veteran group, and for the most part very loose and relaxed,” Gilmore said. “I want to make sure we keep that environment the same here. If we’d come here having played at home, this environment might worry me, but after last weekend (at the Baton Rouge Super Regional), there’s no way this can intimidate us.” … Gilmore said he expects some 50-100 former players will be in Omaha this week. Some will be players who played for him recently, and some will be his former teammates from when he played for the Chanticleers in 1979 and 1980. Shortstop Michael Paez said he received a congratulatory text from Cubs infielder Tommy LaStella, who played on Coastal’s 2010 super regional team. Paez said the Chanticleers owed a debt of gratitude to the former players. “We’ve got to thank them at the end of the day,” he said. “They paved the way.”

Florida: Lefthander A.J. Puk and righthander Dane Dunning were Florida’s two highest-drafted players last week, selected sixth and 29th overall, respectively. The pair have been linked by more than draft status lately, as Puk has struggled in the NCAA tournament, while Dunning has surged. They have essentially piggybacked in the tournament, with Dunning relieving Puk in both starts after the lefthander was knocked out of both games without making it through five innings. Coach Kevin O’Sullivan said he doesn’t intend to change the Gators rotation in the CWS. “We’re not going to reinvent the wheel, we’re not going to change a whole lot,” O’Sullivan said. “We got to this point because (Logan) Shore, Alex (Faedo) and A.J. have been our starters. We do have some flexibility with Dane. He’s been throwing the ball great. But at the end of the day, we’re not going to change that formula.” In 11 2/3 innings in the NCAA tournament, Dunning held opponents to one run on eight hits and struck out nine batters. Puk has given up five runs (four earned) on six hits and six walks in eight innings. … Righthander Jackson Kowar has been sidelined by a collapsed lung for the last two months, and has not been on Florida’s active roster for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. But the freshman has made good progress and after throwing well in an intersquad game and his bullpens, will be on the CWS roster. O’Sullivan said he isn’t sure exactly how he will use Kowar, but the freshman will be limited to short stints. “He looked fine,” O’Sullivan said. “But we certainly wouldn’t run him out there for more than 30 pitches.” Kowar, who last pitched April 19 against Jacksonville, was primarily used as a midweek starter this season. He went 3-0, 3.37 with 44 strikeouts and 10 walks in 34 2/3 innings.

Miami: After reaching the CWS last year for the first time since 2008, Miami comes into this year’s tournament with Omaha experience and hungry for a longer stay. “We’re here to play, we’re not as much in awe being here,” closer Bryan Garcia said. “Last year felt like we were happy just getting here. And now, we’re not happy with just getting here. We want to make a run here.” Garcia is a two-year team captain, and coach Jim Morris said him adopting that attitude is important for the Hurricanes. “If you can get a guy that can come in, be confident enough to do that job and confident enough to talk and share that with the other players, it’s definitely going to help us,” Morris said. … In honor of Miami making its 25th appearance in the CWS, addidas gave the Hurricanes some new gear. Because 25 is traditionally the silver anniversary, silver will join Miami’s familiar green and orange on its uniforms in Omaha. The team received silver cleats, and the logo on its hat and the lettering and numbers on its white jerseys is silver.

Oklahoma State: A large part of the reason Oklahoma State was able to sweep through both regionals and super regionals was the performance of its starting pitching. The Cowboys rotation of Thomas Hatch, Tyler Buffett and Jensen Elliott is a combined 5-0, 0.79 in the NCAA tournament. Their success, however, has meant Oklahoma State hasn’t needed its bullpen much. Only four Cowboys relievers have appeared in the tournament, throwing a total of 11 innings—eight of which belong to closer Trey Cobb. Pitching coach Rob Walton said he has tried to get the relievers some work this week before leaving for Omaha. “This week we let them throw to some live hitters before we got here, which I think is going to help them quite a bit as well,” Walton said. “I like where they’re at, I like the way they’re throwing the ball.” … Lefthander Garrett Williams has pitched on some big stages during his career. He struck out 17 batters in a start in the 2007 Little League World Series and started twice for Team USA in the 2012 18U World Championships, helping the team to a gold medal. But he said he considers the CWS to be the most prestigious tournament of which he has been a part. “The Little League World Series and Team USA were awesome experiences, but the College World Series is a notch above the other ones,” Williams said. “Definitely an honor being here. It’s a great opportunity for our school and our community back home in Stillwater.”

Texas Christian: While TCU is making its third straight appearance in the CWS, it is doing so with a very different team than the last two years. From last year’s team, the Horned Frogs lost half of their pitching staff and five regulars in their lineup. With so many new players, coach Jim Schlossnagle said it has been important for TCU to stick to the same routines it has had throughout the season. Schlossnagle said TCU’s ability to remain consistent in its routines was one of the keys to advancing through a difficult super regional against Texas A&M. “We had to do that last week,” he said. “There’s a heck of a lot more anxiety or pressure in a super regional than there is in the College World Series. Getting through what we went through in College Station, that’s as big a test as we’re going to have.” … One bonus of TCU’s return trip to the CWS was pitching coach Kirk Saarloos being able to celebrate his son Brady’s birthday in Omaha for the third year in a row. Brady Saarloos’ birthday is June 14, and before the season he asked his father if they would be able to celebrate again in Omaha. Saarloos told him that he hoped they would be able to. “After we won in College Station, he looked at me and said, ‘Dad, we’re going to celebrate it again in Omaha,’” Saarloos said. “I said, ‘Buddy, I hope we get to do that every single year, but nothing’s guaranteed. It’s a tough deal that we’ve done the last couple years.’”

Texas Tech: Freshmen pitchers Steven Gingery, Ty Harpenau, Erikson Lanning and Davis Martin were thrust into key roles in Texas Tech’s staff this season, helping to propel the Red Raiders to a Big 12 Conference title and their second trip to the CWS in three years. The freshmen live together in a suite in the dorms, and Martin, who assumed the role of Friday starter, said the group is very loose. “Every day we’re in the same living room, we’re always messing with each other,” Martin said. “If you leave your door unlocked, you get pranked. I think that comes out on the baseball field too. We come out, we have fun, we enjoy the game as much as we can. I think that style of play has definitely led us to here.” … Senior first baseman Eric Gutierrez was named a first-team All-American and the Big 12 player of the year this season after hitting .326/.458/.571 with 12 home runs. Gutierrez is listed at 5-foot-10, 205 pounds, and his short stature has often led him to being overlooked. He said it has been gratifying to prove his doubters wrong. “It’s pretty neat seeing that a five-too-nothing, like people say, come in and make all these great things,” he said. “It just shows people put limits on you and it doesn’t really matter. If you love the game of baseball you just go out and play it.”

UC Santa Barbara: In addition to its Cinderella run through the NCAA tournament highlighted by Sam Cohen’s pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam to win the Louisville Super Regional last Saturday, UC Santa Barbara has also been working hard on its studies. While most schools finish in early May, UCSB remains on the quarters system and was still in session until last month. The Gauchos took their finals on the road and redshirt junior Devon Gradford and senior Justin Kelly donned their caps and gowns on the field at Louisville to celebrate graduation. The whole team celebrated Thursday in Omaha when grades came out and everyone had a successful spring in the classroom. “Academically our place is extremely difficult, one of the top rated academic institutions in the country,” coach Andrew Checketts said. “For our guys to have their hearts on baseball and their minds on their books, and to succeed as well as they did in the classroom this last quarter was a real bright spot.” Checketts said he thought UCSB’s travel schedule may have helped the players in the classroom. The Gauchos did not return to California after the Nashville Regional, limiting their distractions and forcing them to spend time studying. … Checketts considers himself lucky to be at the CWS after he and his wife were involved in a car accident in late March. They were in a car hit head on by an SUV that swerved into their lane. Checketts said he is still feeling some effects of the crash, of which he has no memory. He said he still experiences some neck pain and headaches, but is happy not to have sustained a more serious injury.