The 2011 College World Series continues from TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb.,(2 PM ET) when top-seed Virginia takes on California in first round action. The CWS is divided into two brackets. Bracket-1 is made up of 2-seed Florida, 3 North Carolina, 6 Vanderbilt and 7 Texas. Virginia is in Bracket-2 along with 4-seed South Carolina, Texas A&M and California.
F
lorida and Vanderbilt have already won their first round games while North Carolina and Texas will play in the losers bracket of this double-elimination tournament.
Oddsmakers list the Cavaliers as -280 CWS Odds favorites over Cal with a 7 1/2-run total. Cal backers will be getting +210 odds as underdogs.
The Cavaliers' pitching staff leads the nation with a 2.26 earned run average and 9.83 strikeouts per nine innings heading into CWS play. Virginia's pitching rotation of Danny Hultzen, Tyler Wilson and Will Roberts, has been outstanding all year, and particularly in the NCAA tournament. The three have combined for a 4-0 record and 0.87 ERA in 41 innings of work during NCAA play. They have struck out 43 while walking just seven. All three boast ERAs under 1.50 in the tournament.
California's baseball program did well for itself this season under head coach David Esquer. The program was destined for the bugetary chopping block but salvaged thanks to some successful fundraising efforts. This is the first visit to the CWS since 1992 for California. The Bears finished sixth in the regular season Pac-10 standings. If not for its strong pitching, the Bears would not have made it this far. The Bears finished the season with the second best ERA of 2.84. Bears pitchers recorded 454 strikeouts this season and only gave up 167 walks.
Prior to the start of the series, oddsmakers had installed the Cavaliers as +275 CWS Odds favorites while Cal is considered a long-shot at +1200 odds.
