Baseball isn't like basketball. Or even Baseketball for that matter. If baseball were like basketball, all Cal would have to do is beat U of SD this Friday to move on to the next round. And if baseball were like Baseketball, all the Bears would have to do is beat USD and hope that Denver beats Atlanta in the American Southwestern Division East Northern, then Milwaukee goes to the Denslow Cup, unless Baltimore can upset Buffalo and Charlotte ties Toronto, then Oakland would play LA and Pittsburgh in a blind choice round robin. And if no clear winner emerges from all of this, a two-man sack race will be held on consecutive Sundays until a champion can be crowned.
"STOP COMPARING US TO FAMILY GUY!!!"
But in baseball, it's a double elimination tournament. So, not only does Cal have to worry about USD this Friday at 2 PM, they also have Long Beach State and Fresno State to be concerned with. So, let's try to take a deeper look at them, then.
First up, the delightfully titled 49ers and/or Dirtbags (they seem to have both nicknames). They finished the year on a strong note after enduring a rough stretch where they lost 11 out of 13 games (including getting swept by our Bears). A large part of that is their stud ace, Andrew Liebel, who is singlehandedly keeping the hair gel industry alive.
Similar to that dude from USD, Liebel is what Cal had hoped Ross would be. He's even on the short list for the National Player of the Year award, the Golden Spikes Award. LBSU has even set up a website to promote him (hopefully it works out better for him than Marshawn10 or Tha1 did). Here's some more information on him:
Liebel, who is 8-2 on the season, continues to lead the Big West in ERA (1.74) and innings pitch (103.2) and is second in strikeouts (91). He has pitched into the seventh inning in all 19 of his career starts after 54 career relief appearances.
Liebel is seventh nationally in ERA and ranks 41st nationally in wins. His first three starts of the season (in which he had a 1.16 ERA against Rice, Wichita State and Hawaii) were all no-decisions that LBSU won in extra innings.
Of course, the 49erbags have more than just pitching. They have hitting, too. Smart hitting. Their best hitter, Shane Peterson, is an Academic All-American:
Peterson ranks amongst the Big West top-10 in nine different offensive categores, and leads the Big West in batting (.399) and on-base percentage (.510), while ranking second in slugging (.601).
Now, let's look at Fresno State, the Bulldogs. They won the WAC for the third time in a row this year. They are led by Steve Susdorf, who the Bulldogs seem unwilling to write a in depth article about. But looking at his stats, he batted .347 and OPSed 1.019 on the year.
"Why won't they write an easy to C+P article about me??? I am the all time RBI leader, c'mon!"
One of their best pitchers is Fresno State all-time saves leader Brandon Burke. He also doesn't have an easily C+Pable article. Damn you, Fresno State. First you beat us in football back in 2000 and now this. Ai!
Bah, now I'm tired. Poring over Fresno State baseball stat sheets isn't as glamorous as it sounds. I always see the dudes at BruinsNation getting all "Linky linky" with it and I figure that can't be tough too tough. But it is! Waaaaaahh! And now Lost is on and I can't concetrate anymore, what's going to happen to Sayid, I love that guy so much RIGHT now!
This blogging stuff ain't easy! Fuck, can't Marshawn do something awesome for me to fawn over????? Speaking of which BEAST MODE!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Hey, woah, when did MarshawnLynch.org come around? How come I'm *just* hearing about this?? Forget about college baseball championships, there's tons of Marshawn awesomeness I just stumbled upon. UNBELIEVABLE!!!
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Oh, Marshawn, you help me forget the frustrations of the Fresno State athletic department website. Let's never fight again. GO BEARS!