NCAA College World Series -- OSU Baseball [R]

OSU takes on Cal State Fullerton in game 1 of the College World Series in Omaha at 4pm on Saturday June 16th.

-SciFi

Impressive sweep by the Beavs in the CWS.... what a 10-game run to end the season.

Congrats!

What is Pilot Baseball going to look like next year?

Well... the pitching should be pretty solid, but hitting will be a big question mark.

Kutz is gone, but David Gruener and a healthy Ari Ronick will be back, so the Pilots will have two starters right there. Well, at least, I'm assuming that Ronick will be back. He was drafted in the 38th round, but as a 6'5" lefty who can throw different pitches for strikes, he can be a much higher pick. He injured his shoulder during the season and that really cut down his draft stock. I bet he'll come back and be a high-round pick. (I mean, if Chris Siegfried can get drafted in the 11th round...)

The third spot in the weekend rotation will be a jumble... Danny Meier entered last season as a starter but injured his shoulder. Not sure if he will try to give it another go next year. Ed Wakefield looked OK in brief stints (through that would mean three lefties) and Ben Panther got pretty good reviews by the coaches prior to the season despite struggling during his freshman year.

They also got two local pitching studs coming in, Scott Burris and Ben Pressler:

http://www.portlandpilots.com/sports/baseball/release.asp?release_id=4387

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=118185302069449700

Not sure if either of those guys will be ready right away, but it's a good sign to see some of the top local kids going here instead of Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.

It wouldn't surprise me if they brought in a JuCo righty to help put a more veteran arm in there.

Offensively, there is some good young talent - Rocky Gale behind the plate and Clayton Shaw at third both were starting at the end of the season as freshman. Chase Powell will be a stud at first and will only be a junior.

Up the middle is maybe a bit questionable. CJ Cullen began the season as the starter at short but struggled (he was a freshman) and eventually benched. Brandon Howard was up-and-down at second, though he did start playing better at the end of the season. Charlie Herche also looked OK in stretches. I'd say those spots will be open to competition, that's for sure, though Cullen and Howard are probably pencilled in.

Danny Meier will be back and can hopefully bounce back from his poor plate performance of last season. Cory Wiltshire will be back too, and he has definite room to improve - he's got a good stroke and some pop... I think they will really be counting on him to step it up. Not sure who will replace Justin Pierce - they experiemented with Paul Crowder in the outfield, but I'm not sold on that. Again, I think they might try to go the JuCo route and get an established hitter.

Power will be a big concern... they lose James Allen and Pierce, both of whom had power. Meier and Powell have it but need to show it more consistently.

So yeah... I'm not sure if they are at the point where they will challenge for the WCC title, but if you didn't get a chance to see the team play this year, they are much improved. The starting pitching is quite good and the defense came around after some early hiccups. They won't outslug anyone, but they can be consistently competitive with the personnel they've got.