San Francisco Baseball: Taking a Closer Look at the Eugene Regional

June 04, 2011; Houston, TX, USA; Rice Owls pitcher Austin Kubitza (21) pitches against the Baylor Bears during the second inning of game four of the Houston regional of the 2011 NCAA baseball tournament at Reckling Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Although the Diamond Dons did not win the WCC tournament, they find themselves in the NCAA Baseball tournament based on a strong showing during the regular season. San Francisco proved they were one of the 64 best teams in the country by there stellar performance throughout the whole season, and the selection committee rewarded them for that. They will be competing for a spot in the NCAA super regionals, but first they will have to go through three other superb teams to do so.

The 1 Seed- Oregon

Yet again, Oregon has stacked ball club, despite only existing for a few years or so. The Ducks are hosting the regional, and appear to have the best chances of marching further in the tournament. Oregon finished the season with an overall record of 45-14, and a conference record of 22-8. The Ducks finished second in the Pac-12 this year.

The Ducks are led on offense by infielder Ron Healy, who has had a phenomenal season so far. Not only is Healy hitting .324 this season, he has hit 10 home runs with 50 rbi’s, combined with a slugging percentage of .548. If Healy catches fire during the tournament, teams will have a very hard time stopping the Ducks.

The 2 Seed- Rice

Rice comes in as a two seed in the Eugene regional, after sharing a title of the C-USA regular season championship, as well as winning the C-USA conference tournament. The Owls posted a 41-17 overall record this season, and 15-9 conference record.

The Owls have two phenomenal pitchers, Austin Kubitza who is primarily a starter, and Zech Lemond, who pitches out of the bullpen. Kubitza is seventh in the entire country with 119 strikeouts, and boasts a 2.03 ERA. Lemond has an ERA of 1.13, and is 29th in the country in WHIP with a .96.

The 4 Seed- South Dakota State

The Jackrabbits come into the tournament red hot after winning the Summit League tournament. They went 16-10 in conference play, which put them 2nd in the regular season conference rankings behind Omaha. South Dakota State finished 35-22 overall.

The Jackrabbits have a phenomenal starting pitcher in Layne Somsen, who has an ERA of 1.92, which is low for a starting pitcher. He has appeared in 14 games, and has started 12 of them. The Jackrabbits will mostly likely only go as far as Somsen wants to take them.