The Manhattan Regional is set to be an exciting one with host team Kansas State and preseason #1 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks, along with #3 seed Bryant Bulldogs and #4 seed Wichita State. Kansas State has the 2nd highest batting average in the NCAA, while the Hogs have the best ERA in the NCAA. There is one guarantee about the regionals, expect the unexpected because every year there is a Cinderella team like Stony Brook or Kent State so sit back and enjoy the ride.
#1 Seed Kansas State: Overall Record: 41-17 Conference record: 16-8 Head Coach: Brad Hill
Kansas State is in a new position this year as this is the first time in school program that the Wildcats will be hosting a baseball regional. KSU won its first Big 12 baseball title since 1933. Kansas State is an excellent hitting team that has been moving in the right direction ever since head coach Brad Hill was hired 10 seasons ago.
Pitching: The Wildcats pitching rotation is statistically average at best when you look at its 3.83 ERA. Kansas State really has not found a solid #1 starter, but it looks as if freshman Blake McFadden (6-2, 4.04 ERA) is their to go starter. KSU’s lowest ERA comes from reliever Jake Matthys at 2.13, who is also tied for the team lead in saves with seven. The Wildcats will need to find some sort of a consistency if they want to make a big run in the tournament. Having an ERA that is not in the top 50 in the NCAA isn’t very good, but it’s something Kansas State’s offense can help with.
Hitting: What the Wildcats lack in pitching, they make up for in offense. Kansas State has a team batting average of .323, which ranks 2nd in the NCAA. The Wildcats have 9 hitters that are hitting over .300 on the year, and eight of these 9 hitters are usual starters for the Wildcats. Not only do they have 9 players batting over .300, but the Wildcats also have 7 batters with an on base percentage north of .400. The Kansas State hitter to look out for is Jared King, who’s batting .337 with 6 HRs and 48 RBIs. Kansas State has other hitters that may hit for a higher average, but King is the guy that Kansas State relies on to knock in its runs.
Keys to winning: Kansas State has to get good outings from its starting pitchers. If the Wildcats fall behind early to a team like Arkansas or even Bryant it will be hard to comeback with the solid bullpen both teams have. Kansas State’s larger baseball field also hurts its run totals, but the Wildcats were an impressive 24-7 at home, so they’ve worked around that all season.
#2 Arkansas Razorbacks Overall record: 37-20 Conference Record: 18-11 Head Coach: Dave Van Horn
A lot of baseball experts picked Arkansas as their preseason #1 team, but offensive struggles really hurt the Hogs from reaching that potential. The Hogs have a tremendous leader in Dave Van Horn, who has made 5 appearances in Omaha as a head coach (3 with Arkansas, 2 with Nebraska). Van Horn and the Hogs will be looking for revenge after they believed they were snubbed from hosting a regional, but the past two times Arkansas went to Omaha they did not host a regional either.
Pitching: The best in NCAA without question. The Hogs have a team ERA of 1.87, which is first in the NCAA, .34 points better than the next closest team. All three of Arkansas’ starters have an ERA below 2.oo. The Hogs are lead by Ace and possible future 1st round draft pick Ryne Stanek. The junior right-hander is 9-2 on the season with an ERA at 1.40. Stanek is a power arm in every sense of the word, but the Hogs will more than likely go with junior right-hander Barrett Astin (4-4 1.94 ERA) instead to start the series. Arkansas closer is Colby Suggs (12 saves, 1.93 ERA) who much like Stanek is a power arm. Suggs’ record stands at 0-0, which is exactly what you want from your closer. Arkansas will bring stuff most offenses at this regional haven’t seen.
Hitting: While the Hogs may have a fantastic pitching staff, the Razorback lineup is nothing to be scared of at all. As a team, the Razorbacks hit .260. However, the Hogs actually do have the most HRs of any team in this regional with 27. The player to look out for in this regional for the Hogs is sophomore OF Brian Anderson. The Edmond, Oklahoma native leads the Hogs with a .338 batting average and is tied for most HRs on the team with four. The Hogs are a small ball team in every sense of the word and will look to take advantage of every little break they can. Much like Kansas State, the Hogs will not hit many HRs at this ballpark, so expect Arkansas to struggle to score many runs.
Keys to win: Arkansas will need its pitching staff to be what is has been the entire season. Arkansas is really the only team in this regional that could come back from losing early, but with the Hogs lack of offense that is something they should avoid. Arkansas will need to get more offense from more than just one or two hitters if they would like to advance. Expect Van Horn to possibly switch his lineup around a bit before the first game.
#3 Seed Bryant University Overall record: 44-16-1 Conference record: 27-5 Head Coach: Steve Owens
The Bulldogs are lead by 3rd year head coach Steve Owens, who has won at least 30 games ever since he joined the program. Bryant is relatively new because this is only the 4th season the Bulldogs have been a Division 1 baseball program, so it will be interesting to see how Bryant handles the big stage. The only notable Bryant wins are over Ohio State and last years tournament Cinderella Stony Brook.
Pitching: The Bulldogs have a very sharp pitching rotation that posted a 2.63 ERA for the season, which ranks 10th in the NCAA, along with throwing an impressive 7 complete games. Bryant will be lead by senior right-hander Peter Kelich, who has a 7-4 record with an ERA at 2.53. Kelich has been the Bulldogs Friday starter for most of the season, but the Bulldogs other two starters Craig Shlitter (10-3, 2.53 ERA) and Kevin McAvoy (7-2, 3.42 ERA). The Bulldogs also have a fourth starter in John Healy, who is only 9-1 with an ERA at 2.32, so the Bulldogs obviously have enough starters to get the job done. The Bulldogs bullpen is also as equally as impressive with three pitchers will an ERA all below 1.70 and their closer Salvatore Lisanti has 10 saves on the year.
Hitting: Bryant as a team hit .289 with 21 HRs, a very average offense for a team that plays in a very weak conference. Bryant is lead offensively by senior OF Kevin Brown. Brown has the teams highest batting average (.368) along with the most HRs for the Bulldogs with six and second on the team in RBIs with 46. Brown’s biggest stat is his impressive .505 on base percentage, which is sixth in the NCAA. This team will go as far as Brown will be able to take them. Sophmore Carl Anderson .340/2/47 is another nice piece the Bulldogs have that will need to come up big if the Bulldogs want to make noise.
Keys to win: Bryant needs to stay calm in their first Division 1 postseason appearance. Bryant will need to field the ball extremely well and do the little things correctly to defeat the higher ranked Razorbacks and Wildcats. Also, a few lucky breaks here or there could be the next surprise team. #4 Seed Wichita State Overall record: 39-26 Conference record: 15-6 Head Coach: Gene Stephenson
Wichita State is lead by head coach Gene Stephenson. If that name rings a bell it’s because Stephenson has the 2nd most wins by any coach in Division 1 college baseball along with 5 College World Series appearances with one championship in 1988. Wichita St. struggled throughout the season, but they did get hot at the right time and could turn out to be a Stony Brook like team.
Pitching: The Shockers this season had a team ERA of 3.31 and were lead by junior Cale Elam, who posted an impressive 7-4 record with an ERA at 2.60 and 70 strikeouts. Wichita State’s next two starters are not quite as sharp as Elam, both are a combined 8-11 overall and both have ERA’s north of 3.50, which for college baseball is not that great. The Shockers do however have a very strong bullpen lead by closer Brandon Peterson with a 1.15 ERA and 10 saves. Wichita also has another great arm out of the pen with Aaron LaBrie, who has an ERA of .87 in 52 innings pitched.
Hitting: Wichita State has a very nice offense that has 5 hitters with averages over .300 and the Shockers are really spread out when it comes to their offensive output. The Shockers power comes from sophomore 1st basemen Casey Gillespie, who leads the team in HRs with 10 with the next guy coming in with 4. The Shockers do not bring a ton of power to the plate, but will hit for average. The Shockers offense came to life in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament where the team scored 5 or more runs in 5 of their 6 games.
Keys to win: Being the 4 seed, the Shockers do need to catch some breaks if they want to advance to the Super Regional, but with head coach Gene Stephenson they do have a chance. The Shockers should be able to hit, but they will need to get better performances from its starting rotation in order to make a run.
Prediction:
Expect this regional to have very few surprises in it. Kansas State and Arkansas should be able to get by their first game of the tournament, but I do think both games will be closer than any Wildcat or Hog fan would want. The Razorbacks should be able to take this regional in Manhattan, but the Hogs inconsistent offense is something that will make me hesitate to pick them to win the entire thing. The key in this regional is how will Arkansas hit. If the hogs hit well, they advance, if not, they will not have to worry about a repeat of last year.
Winner: Arkansas
2nd Place: Kansas State
3rd Place: Wichita State
4th Place: Bryant
Brett Rorie's Blog 