Super Regional Preview: Texas at Mississippi
By Will Kimmey
June 9, 2005
No. 7 Texas
Coach: Augie Garrido (ninth season)
CWS History: 31trips to Omaha (last in 2004), five titles (last in 2002)
How They Got Here: Won the Austin, Texas, regional in five games, beating Arkansas in the final.
<TABLE class=small cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Top Hitters
</TD><TD vAlign=top>AVG/OBP/SLG, Key Stats
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Sr. SS Seth Johnston
</TD><TD vAlign=top>.384/.426/.576, 8 HR, 15 SB, 61 RBI
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>So. CF Drew Stubbs
</TD><TD vAlign=top>.331/.397/.565, 11 HR, 31 SB
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Jr. C Taylor Teagarden
</TD><TD vAlign=top>.345/.459/.557, 21 2B, 6 HR
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>So. LF Carson Kainer
</TD><TD vAlign=top>.329/.414/.428, 9 2B
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Top Pitchers
</TD><TD vAlign=top>W-L, ERA, Key Stats
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>So. RHP Kyle McCulloch
</TD><TD vAlign=top>10-4, 3.07, 81-40 K-BB, 117 IP
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>So. RHP Randy Boone
</TD><TD vAlign=top>7-4, 3.41, 94-35 K-BB, 105 IP
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Fr. RHP Adrian Alaniz
</TD><TD vAlign=top>5-3, 2.89, 80-27 K-BB, 87 IP
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Jr. RHP J. Brent Cox
</TD><TD vAlign=top>7-2, 1.69, 71-16 K-BB, 64 IP, 15 SV
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Players Taken In The 2005 Draft
J. Brent Cox, rhp (Yankees, 2nd round)
Taylor Teagarden, c (Rangers, 3rd)
Sam LeCure, rhp (Reds, 4th)
Seth Johnston, ss (Padres, 5th)
Buck Cody, lhp (Giants, 16th)
David Maroul, 3b (Giants, 23rd)
ClaytonStewart, rhp (Phillies, 28th)
Texas Scouting Report
They're Texas and have that belief that they're going to win no matter what. I don’t know what is it or what you can call it. They never panic and obviously get that from Augie (Garrido). Still, you never felt (nervous) against them like you did Nebraska. I didn't feel they had offensive power to kill us. Try to get ahead early, as long as we were up we knew that (J. Brent) Cox would have to stay down in that pen. You know he's lurking down there. If Cox gets in, you better hit the first fastball you see because if not it's going to be all sliders. (Adrian) Alaniz was unbelievable early and his velocity was down in the Big 12 tournament. His fastball is straight. He's going to throw that good breaking ball and we just sat breaking ball and tried to hit it the other way. (Kyle) McCulloch throws fastballs early, then gets the slider going and mixes in a change. He's a competitor, he's aggressive and he'll work backwards. (Buck) Cody has some trouble throwing strikes, he's a guy we had get to from the bullpen. He'll throw a lot of fastballs, especially in tight spots.
Seth Johnson was unbelievable for me this year. Last year he wasn’t anything close to this year; he's just flat better. We tried everything: in, out, soft, up, down, hard. He's more patient now, but still likes that first pitch. You want to be careful with (Drew) Stubbs and (Taylor) Teagarden, but not too careful because you can pitch to them. Stubbs has power to all fields, but he'll chase breaking balls late in counts. Teagarden tries to pull early, and has power that way, but goes oppo late and shoots the gaps. I saw where (Chance) Wheeless hit a home run against Arkansas; he has power in there. I always wondered why he hit four, five hole and that's why. (Nick) Peoples and (Carson) Kainer (have been) playing every day lately and have both been real good.
With Texas it's predictable when they bunt, and they like to put pressure on you. It's similar to most Texas teams. Augie likes to sacrifice on the road, but push and drag at home because of the turf. He won't hit and run at home, he will on road. It gets to you real quick on their surface. Augie's going to see that short fence (at Mississippi) and have a guy like Johnston, who can hit it over it, and still be tempted to bunt because that's what they do. It will be interesting to see if he sticks with what he's done all year or takes a chance to hit it out. He lets them let it fly on the road. I don’t think he'll bunt as much.
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No. 8 Mississippi
Coach: Mike Bianco (fifth season)
CWS History: four trips to Omaha (last in 1972), titles
How They Got Here: Won the Oxford, Miss., regional in three games, beating Oklahoma in the final.
<TABLE class=small cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Top Hitters
</TD><TD vAlign=top>AVG/OBP/SLG, Key Stats
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Jr. RF Brian Pettway
</TD><TD vAlign=top>.391/.461/.704, 20 HR, 65 RBI
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Jr. 1B Stephen Head
</TD><TD vAlign=top>.319/.392/.596, 18 HR, 68 RBI
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>So. 3B Chris Coughlan
</TD><TD vAlign=top>.360/.427/.513, 20 2B, 57 RBI
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Sr. 2B Cooper Osteen
</TD><TD vAlign=top>.321/.419/.396, 13 SB, 16 2B
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Top Pitchers
</TD><TD vAlign=top>W-L, ERA, Key Stats
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Jr. RHP Mark Holliman
</TD><TD vAlign=top>8-4, 3.85, 117-45 K-BB, 110 IP
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Jr. LHP Matt Maloney
</TD><TD vAlign=top>8-2, 3.14, 104-26 K-BB, 97 IP
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Jr. LHP Eric Fowler
</TD><TD vAlign=top>7-2, 3.09, 94-22 K-BB, 82 IP
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Jr. LHP Stephen Head
</TD><TD vAlign=top>7-3, 2.59, 74-26 K-BB, 80 IP
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Players Taken In The 2005 Draft
Stephen Head, 1b (Indians, 2nd round)
Matt Maloney, lhp (Phillies, 3rd)
Mark Holliman, rhp (Cubs, 3rd)
Eric Fowler, lhp (Blue Jays, 5th)
Anthony Cupps, rhp (Diamondbacks, 7th)
Barry Gunther, c (Giants, 25th)
Cooper Osteen, 2b (Phillies, 31st)
Mississippi Scouting Report
It was clearly a different team this year versus least year. The best thing Ole Miss has going for them is they got that late-season stumble out of the way in the middle this year. You could go back four years in a row and they struggled late. Getting that behind them is big. The way they finished this year, you look at (juniors Brian) Pettway and (Stephen) Head and (Mark) Holliman and (senior Barry) Gunther--they are the heart and soul of the team. That experience is very valuable. A lot of times you see a young freshman and sophomore not have enough gas in the tank to play 56 games. As much as you can say it's physical when you wear down, it's also mental and they've overcome that.
The biggest strength is the lineup is very solid top to bottom. They mix good left and right with the hitters, with Head and Pettway being left and right, you're never going to dominate all the middle of the order guys. Pettway lost enough weight that he could play corner outfield, and they didn't have to play him at third (or DH) so they got a good athlete there. I'm sure he had some (offensive) success because of Head, but he didn’t miss pitches when he got them. (Chris) Coughlan really ignites them for me. He really elevated his game over last year. He has better plate coverage and is using the whole field more. You can't get him out (pitching) in and out anymore. The other big improvement was Gunther behind the plate as a field general; his defense really improved. Last year some days he dropped balls or missed things. Now he throws very accurately and he's blocking balls. (Shortstop Zack) Cozart made routine plays and got some big hits down the stretch.
You've got to really be able to change speeds behind in the count, get those hitters to get themselves out by chasing offspeed stuff in fastball counts. That's the success we had in past, getting them to chase in fastball counts. They're more mature and not doing that any more. The way you beat them is get everybody out around (Pettway and Head), and then solo home runs don’t beat you. Head just attacks hitters aggressively (as a closer). He's ruthless. Just pounding. I don’t know how far they go past Head. They have three legit starters, and a legit reliever, but other than that it's week to week. Pettway stepped up in SEC tournament, but the bullpen may be obsolete if the starters are on. I've seen (Mark) Holliman go unbelievable, and I've also seen (Matt) Maloney go unbelievable. If (Eric) Fowler gets his breaking ball going, he's got the best breaking ball we've seen. They're all aces.