College World Series and thoughts about UND Baseball

[siouxfan123]

This past weekend I have been casually watching the Super Regionals of NCAA Baseball and with UND entering Division I in a couple of years it has me thinking about the future of UND Baseball.

The first question I pose is whether or not UND will ever be able to put together a competitive team? I am not talking about one that even makes it to Omaha, but one that can make it to the NCAA Tournament from time to time. As we all know UND is geographically disadvantaged when it comes to baseball because of our long winters and more importantly the unpredictable nature of Spring. It takes year round training to produce results you want and taking BP and running drills in the Field house is not the best way to prepare of a season. Also having to play exclusively away games in March and judging from this past year

[siouxhockeyfan11]

I believe that before UND becomes a competitive baseball program they need to upgrade their facilities...including Kraft Field which I think should be removed or completely redone. UND has not been competitive on the D II level recently so I see no reason why to expect great things right away but with the right facilites and some good recruiting hopefully down the road the boys can make it into the tournament(I hope the same for basketball one day)

[riders06]

This will be my third consecutive year attending the College World Series in Omaha and it is one event that I feel everyone who has any desire to watch baseball should attend. The passion that these kids play with is unbelievable to go along with a great atmosphere. Not to mention it is cheap and there are quite a few different ways to get tickets. If you ever have the chance to go to Omaha for the World Series, take it and I promise that you will not regret your decision.

[Brasco]

A new coach would help the program! How many years can a program remain the same with little or no progress before a coach is held accountable?

When UND had good pitchers in the past, Ziegler does not take care of them. Rerick and Mahoney (years back now) when I was in school were dominant pitchers who were drafted but overused in poor conditions leading to arm injuries.

If you don't frequently get great players you must at least protect the ones that do come. I would not want my son to play for Ziegler.

[wcbsas]

The University of Nebraska is capable of creating a perennial top 25 team that has visited the World Series two years ago. The argument that it is a "southern" sport doesn't hold water ... its capable of being done (a) with the right coaching, (b) right fan support and © with the right facilities.

Which probably means UND doesn't stand a chance!

[The Sicatoka]

I enjoy baseball but the climate and facilities issues faced by UND led me to ....

[SiouxMD]

The University of Nebraska is capable of creating a perennial top 25 team that has visited the World Series two years ago. The argument that it is a "southern" sport doesn't hold water ... its capable of being done (a) with the right coaching, (b) right fan support and

[darell1976]

[Devils]

Heard a few days ago from some current players that Ziegler is resigning. Surprised it hasn't made the news yet.

[Hammersmith]

[star2city]

Heard a few days ago from some current players that Ziegler is resigning. Surprised it hasn't made the news yet.

Has Ziegler applied for the NDSU job?

A new coach would help the program! How many years can a program remain the same with little or no progress before a coach is held accountable?

When UND had good pitchers in the past, Ziegler does not take care of them. Rerick and Mahoney (years back now) when I was in school were dominant pitchers who were drafted but overused in poor conditions leading to arm injuries.

If you don't frequently get great players you must at least protect the ones that do come. I would not want my son to play for Ziegler.

With weather conditions and lack of depth, isn't it difficult to prevent pitchers from injury and being overused?

If you had a son that was a pitching prospect, would you want him groomed in North Dakota or in Florida/Texas/Arizona etc?

For the funding and facilities that Ziegler had to work with, seems like he did a good job.

[star2city]

The University of Nebraska is capable of creating a perennial top 25 team that has visited the World Series two years ago. The argument that it is a "southern" sport doesn't hold water ... its capable of being done (a) with the right coaching, (b) right fan support and

[The Sicatoka]

Notice no Big Ten School has appeared in 20 years: 160 slots with 0 Big Ten teams.

Doesn't one of those schools play in a dome shared with a pro baseball team?

That's an embarrassing "0 for".

[star2city]

Rather inspirational reading:

Oregonian: There is only one "team" left in Omaha

But not Oregon State.

Because on Saturday, after its 11-4 victory over North Carolina in the opening game of the best-of-three College World Series finals, the Beavers watched as the Tar Heels players began peeling off, bleeding into the crowd, one by one, across the way. And the Beavers said nothing, but only because nothing had to be said.

Then, Oregon State's players walked to home plate, set their gear down and waited. And waited. And after about 10 minutes, someone announced that everyone was present, and it was then, and only then, that the team left the field in a single-file line with the dazed deputies marveling at what they'd just witnessed.

You know, a team.

The only team left in this tournament, really.

And if you'd been paying especially close attention, you might have noticed that when the Oregon State players made an error in the field, they were greeted as the inning ended at the top of the dugout steps with back slaps and words of encouragement.

Meanwhile, North Carolina reliever Tyler Trice made two throwing errors in a disastrous four-run seventh inning -- including sailing one down the right field line -- and when he was pulled from the game by his coach, not a single teammate moved to the dugout steps.

There was a lot of discussion last week about what it is that makes Oregon State special. Casual observers, unfamiliar with the chemistry of a Pat Casey team, fail to understand how it's possible that this group could be the best college baseball team in the country. But what they don't understand is that Casey doesn't need all the best players to win it all, he just needs some of them.

Pac-10 champion Arizona State had more talent than Oregon State this season. So does North Carolina. So does Vanderbilt, for that matter, and it stalled in the opening round.

Also, there were four other Pacific-10 Conference teams that finished higher than the Beavers in the regular season. But none of those clubs walked together -- figuratively, literally or in any other way. None of them figured out how to walk as a team, which is why they're home watching on television today while the Beavers play for the national title.

It's remarkable, because you can make the argument that they're not good enough to have done any of this, but before you do, understand that they just did.

When this season is over, the Beavers should become a case study for us all. Teams, companies, societies and civilization could learn something about themselves by watching this group walk out of the building together.