(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Welcome to this week's College Baseball Karma of the Week. The segment that takes a look back at the past week in college baseball to bring you the best and the worst news of the week.
Just missing the list of bad news this week is the story out of Massachusetts in which MIT, which prides itself on having one of the largest athletic programs in the country in terms of the number of sports, announced that is will be dropping eight sports because of the economy.
Of those sports included in the cut (alpine skiing, competitive pistol, golf, wrestling, and men and women’s ice hockey and gymnastics).the baseball team (pictured at right) was not one of them....for now.
Now let's get on with the top stories of the week.
Bad Karma
Honorable Mention- Unable to get the elusive sweep.
College baseball teams can't win every game. But at this point in the season, as teams begin to consider their positioning in the upcoming playoffs, teams are looking to get a weekend sweep wherever they can to help improve their stock.
Unfortunately for several top-25 teams, that sweep is about as elusive as Patrick Schuster's curve ball.
No. 1 Texas will certainly not be number one next week as the Longhorns had their 10-game winning streak snapped by Rice and have now lost back-to-back games to No. 23 Kansas State. Now Kansas State goes for the elusive sweep later today.
No. 3 Arizona State, No. 4 Georgia, No. 13 Georgia Tech, No. 15 UC Irvine and No. 18 Miami all won on Friday but then lost on Saturday to California, Mississippi, No. 25 Clemson, Utah and No. 19 Virginia Tech respectively.
No. 20 Oregon State avoided being swept by unranked UCLA by winning Saturday. The Beavers now look for the series win later today.
Teams that are going for the weekend sweep today include; No. 2 North Carolina, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Virginia, No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 10 Cal State Fullerton.
Runner-up- Texas freefall
As I just mentioned, No. 1 Texas will not stay number one after today. The Longhorns lost on Tuesday to No. 12 Rice and are now in danger of being swept by the No. 23 Kansas State Wildcats at home.
The games have been close, having lost 4-2 and 5-4 in 12 innings.
The Longhorns are now 12-8 in Big 12 Conference play and the Wildcats are 10-7.
Winner- Not a good day for LeMoyne-Owen.
Division II LeMoyne-Owen played a double-header against Jackson State University on Wednesday and were promptly reminded of the fact that they were Division II.
I mean no disrespect to the school or the athletes, but JSU won the first game 22-0 and followed it up with a 23-5 win in the second game.
I'm sure the coach of Le-Moyne-Owen told any media that was there that his team learned a valuable lesson in humility and they will only grow from this experience. Or something completely ridiculous like that.
The fact is, they got trounced not once, but twice. The only lesson to be learned here is not to play a Division I opponent again unless you are ready to take them on. Sorry if that's too harsh, it's just the hard truth of it.
Good Karma
Honorable Mention- Charging back to the top.
News flash! The Ole Miss Rebels are working their way back into the top-25 after falling out a few weeks back. After losing two to South Carolina earlier this month, the Rebels have won seven of their last nine including a 10-8 win over No. 4 Georgia on Saturday and two of three over Florida State.
The Rebels look for a series win over Georgia later today and a secure spot back in the top-25.
Runner-up- Yup! He did it again.
As you read right here last week, Patrick Schuster, the Mitchell High School phenom from Florida had thrown three straight no-hitters. Well, number four came last week against rival Paco High School.
Schuster struck out 17 en route to the fourth no-no. He has not allowed a hit in 26.3 innings and has struck out 60 in the four-game stretch.
His fame is at it's virtual peak right now, with national media appearances and dozens of scouts watching his every move. He faces a dilemma this summer, whether to cash in on this fame and go pro right out of high school or fulfill his commitment to play ball at the University of Florida.
But for now, Schuster is focusing on his next game, Tuesday at 4 p.m. EDT, as he tries to become the fifth prep player to get his fifth straight no-no.
Winner- Team USA invitees named
USA Baseball announced a list this week of the 17 initial invitees to the 2009 USA Baseball National Team Trials to be held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C., June 15-24. The trials will eventually have a field of 36 players vying for the final 22-man roster which will be announced on June 24.
The invitees, in alphabetical order, are: Michael Choice, OF (UT-Arlington), Gerrit Cole, RHP (UCLA), Christian Colon, IF (Cal State Fullerton), Derek Dietrich, IF (Georgia Tech), Blake Forsythe, C (Tennessee), Micah Gibbs, C (LSU), Sonny Gray, RHP (Vanderbilt), Yasmani Grandal, C (Miami), Rick Hague, IF (Rice), Chris Hernandez, LHP (Miami), Deck McGuire, RHP (Georgia Tech), Hunter Morris, 1B (Auburn), Drew Pomeranz, LHP (Mississippi), Anthony Ranaudo, RHP (LSU), Anthony Rendon, IF (Rice), Logan Verrett, RHP (Baylor) and Tony Zych, RHP (Louisville).
The 2009 team will be coached by Tulane University head coach Rick Jones, who previously served as an assistant coach for the 1990 National Team. Jones is joined by pitching coach Mike Kennedy (head coach, Elon University) and assistant coaches Dan McDonnell (head coach, Louisville University) and Rob Cooper (head coach, Wright State University).
Keep it tuned here for the latest announcements from the trials.
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That's all for this week. Thank you once again for taking the time to read my humble little column. Did you like it? Tell your friends. Did you hate it? Tell me why. I'm open to respectful, constructive criticism. Childish comments and hateful remarks will be deleted.
Best wishes for good karma to all! Thanks for reading.
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