Survival is the name of the game Tuesday (2:05 PM ET) at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., when the University of California Golden Bears and Texas A&M Aggies men's baseball teams play an elimination game of the 2011 Men's College World Series. Cal fell to No. 1 seed Virginia in their bracket opener on Sunday and South Carolina edged Texas A&M later that day. The team to lose today will join Texas, the first school to find an exit from Omaha.
Oddsmakers at most offshore sports shops list the Aggies as -165 CWS Odds favorites for the game with a combined (over/under) total of 8-runs. Cal backers will be getting +135 odds as moneyline underdogs.
The Aggies have faced elimination three times this post season defeating Missouri in the Big 12 Tournament, topping Arizona in the College Station Regional and defeating Florida State at the Tallahassee Super Regional.
Cal faced elimination only once this post season losing to Baylor at the sub-regional at Rice University. The Golden Bears then defeated Alcorn State, Rice to advance to the semifinals where they defeated Baylor and again in the finals. Cal was sent to the Super-Regional at Santa Clara, Calif., where they defeated Dallas Baptist in back to back games earning a trip to Omaha.
Sophomore right-hander Michael Wacha will likely be the pitcher for the Aggies in today's game. Wacha has been dominant this year going 8-3 with a 2.10 ERA. Wacha seldom walks anybody, only walking 1.79 per nine innings.
Getting the starting call for Cal will be Kyle Porter. The freshman left-hander is 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA. Porter was impressive in his last start, blanking Baylor in the Aggies 8-0 victory in the Houston Regional.
2011 College World Series championship odds
Virginia +275
Vanderbilt +350
Florida +325
North Carolina +600
California +1200
South Carolina +500
Texas +650
Texas A&M +900
