For those unfamiliar with the format of an NCAA Baseball Tournament Regional, it consists of 16 four team pods who play in a double elimination format. Simply put, this means you play until you win the region or lose two games whichever occurs first. As a result, win or lose against Mississippi on Friday, Maryland will play at least one more game on Saturday. We have previewed the game with Mississippi here.
Now let’s take a look at the other teams in the bracket. Should the Terps win, they will guarantee themselves at least a third game and will face the winner of Friday’s game between UCLA and Cal State Bakersfield in what is known as the “winners bracket.” If they lose, they will play the loser of the other Friday game in, of course, the “losers bracket.” The Terps will play either UCLA or Bakersfield so we will provide a brief preview for both.
If it’s UCLA:
The Basics
University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
Founded 1919
Student Population (2014) 28,077
Nickname: Bruins
Conference: Pacific 12 (Pac 12)
Athletic Department Revenue (2014): $86,426,784
Athletic Department Expenses (2014): $86,426,784
2015 UCLA Baseball #1 Seed UCLA Regional
Overall record: 42-14
Conference record: 22-8
Road record: 15-6
Neutral site: 2-2
RPI: 4
Record vs. RPI top 50: 14-8
Record vs. RPI 51-100: 10-4
Strength of Schedule: 11
A look at whether UCLA has trouble “Bruin” for the Terps
The Bruins are one of six teams from the Pac 12 in the NCAA Tournament field. They won the National Championship in 2013 and won the Pac 12 regular season with a 22-8 record. The Pac 12 has no postseason tournament so they enter the NCAA Tournament having lost their final two games on the road at Oregon.
The Bruins played a home and home set against Cal State Fullerton their only common opponent with Maryland. The Terps won two games in a three game series in College Park in mid April. The Bruins swept their two games with the Titans winning 7-2 at home, where they are 26-6 on the season, and 5-4 on the road.
The pitching match-up
Based on Szefc’s rotation in the B1G Tournament, Maryland’s likely starter in game two will be Brian Shaffer. Shaffer is a 6’5” right handed pitcher from Pylesville, MD who finished the season 5-1 with a 4.75 ERA. He pitched in 15 games and started ten. He pitched seven strong innings against Illinois in the B1G tourney giving up just one run on six hits and walking one while striking out seven.
As we will see below, the Bruins are a solid hitting team but they are primarily about pitching. The only essential difference between their number two starter Grant Watson, who is the likely starter should Maryland and UCLA meet on Saturday, and number one starter James Kaprielian is that Kaprielian strikes out batters at about twice the rate of Watson.
Kaprielian has started 15 games, pitched to a 9-4 record, in 97.2 innings, has a 1.94 ERA, struck out 107 and holds opponents to a .227 batting average. Number two starter Watson has started 15 games, pitched to an 8-4 record in 91 innings, has a 2.08 ERA, struck out 60 and holds opponents to a .224 batting average.
And the situation doesn’t get much easier when they call relievers in from the bullpen. Their staff has combined for nine shutouts (about one every sixth game) on the season while playing the nation’s 11th most difficult schedule. By contrast, Maryland’s staff has four shutouts (one per 15 games) against the 82nd rated schedule. UCLA’s closer, David Berg, has appeared in 40 of the Bruins’ 60 games. He has a microscopic 0.73 earned run average while compiling a 7-1 record and registering 12 saves.
Batter up!
Though they won’t overwhelm opponents with the long ball, UCLA puts a solid and balanced lineup on the field. They bat .285 as a team and score just a bit over six runs per contest. With four players who hit over .300, they are led by left fielder Ty Moore’s .335. This group sets the table for the Bruins’ offense occupying four of the top five spots in the batting order interrupted only by clean-up hitter Luke Persico who hits .286. Head coach John Savage also slots the .292 hitting Trent Chatterton into the nine slot to toughen the transition from the bottom of the order to the top.
Moore also leads the Bruins with 47 RBI and is third on the team with five home runs. Third baseman Chris Keck leads the team with seven homers while hitting .306 and Kevin Kramer, the Bruins’ shortstop is a .328 hitter who has gone yard six times. Together, these three account for 18 of UCLA’s 31 home runs.
Although they won’t go deep as consistently as the Terps, UCLA hitters are adept at finding the gaps and corners. They have smacked 124 doubles on the season – over two per game.
If it’s Bakersfield:
The Basics
California State University – Bakersfield
Founded 1970
Student Population (2014) 6,507
Nickname: Roadrunners
Conference: Western Athletic
Athletic Department Revenue (2014): $11,768,994
Athletic Department Expenses (2014): $11,768,994
2015 Cal State Bakersfield Baseball #4 Seed UCLA Regional
Overall record: 36-22-1
Conference record: 17-9-1
Road record: 13-11-1
Neutral site: 6-1
RPI: 126
Record vs. RPI top 50: 3-6
Record vs. RPI 51-100: 1-4
Strength of Schedule: 219
Beep! Beep! Let’s take a quick but wily run through the Roadrunners’ season
The Roadrunners are the lone Big West representative in the 64 team NCAA Tournament field. They finished third in the regular season behind Grand Canyon and Seattle. They grabbed the conference’s automatic qualifying bid by beating Seattle in the conference tournament.
The Terps and Roadrunners have two common opponents. Bakersfield dropped a 6-4 decision to Purdue in an early season tournament played at Arizona State. The Roadrunners played a home and home set against Cal State Fullerton, a team that dropped two of three to Maryland in a three game series in College Park in mid April, with each team winning by a lopsided score on their home field.
The pitching match-up
See the discussion above for information about Maryland’s probable starter.
Assuming Bakersfield starts their ace Hayden Carter in the first game, they will probably run out 6’0” senior right hander James Barragan. Barragan has started 12 games for the Roadrunners and finished with a 7-4 record while pitching to a 2.82 ERA. However, Barragan was rocked by Seattle for eight runs in 2.1 innings in his lone start in the WAC Tournament. and head coach Bill Kernen has shown some tendency to shuffle his rotation so the Terps could face Steven Gee or Nick Rogowski.
Batter up!
Bakersfield is a solid hitting squad with a team batting average of .285 and their lineup sports three regulars hitting over .300 for the season led by second baseman David Metzgar at .385. In terms of power, the Roadrunners are reminiscent of some recent Terrapins’ teams. They’ve managed just 16 home runs all season. Still, that doesn’t mean they can’t score – something they do at a clip of nearly six runs per game.
What they do, is present a lineup that’s a consistent threat from top to bottom. While Metzgar leads the Roadrunners with 42 RBI, they have seven other players with at least 27. By comparison, Maryland, who has scored 25 more runs than Bakersfield has only six players with at least 27 RBI. The only starter the Terps will see hitting under .268 is catcher Logan Trowbridge whose .196 average is far below the Mendoza line.
For any west coast Terp fans planning to attend the game, please note that UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium is not on UCLA’s campus. It is close by but it’s actually on the campus of the LA Veterans Administration on the opposite side of the 405 freeway from UCLA’s campus. (Thanks to my friend NeonParkTerp for this tidbit.)
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