[Husker] The #2 regional seeds and UIC stats/info

[jschlechte at mobil1.net]

Again trying decipher the committee's thought process can be
difficult, but here goes:

First NC State and Miami are within the same conference
(ACC), therefore no first round pairing in a regional.

NU - NC State
NC State ended the season not so great.  While they took 2
of 3 from FSU and beat Miami in the opening game of the
conference tournament, they lost the next two.  Final ten
games 6-4 record.

Miami - Mississippi State
Mississippi State won four straight to win the SEC tourney. 
Final 10 game record of 8-2.  Within that span they went 2-2
vs. LSU, won games against Tennessee, S. Carolina and
Mississippi.

Also, the committee isn't terribly concerned about the 2 and
3 seed placement.

On NU's national seed - Brad you're right, NU did a lot
things to offset the high RPI.  The fact that NU was "in"
nearly every game to the end may have had more significance
than was recognized by most pundits.  NU certainly deserves
it based on the on field performance.

UIC Flames #4 seed in Lincoln
Record: 38-19-1
Website:  http://tinyurl.com/73vpm

They started the season 0-8 against teams in the top 100 RPI
- Arkansas, Evansville and Michigan.

I'm making an assumption about who the starting pitcher
might be, but I would think soph. Zach Peterson or possibly
soph. Ryan Zink who had a great freshman year pitching (9-3,
ERA 2.07, 92 K, 15 BB).

2005 Important Pitcher Stats
Peterson
ERA 3.18 W-L 10-1 K 45 BB 14 Opp BA .291 IP 85 Hits 99

Zink
ERA 3.56 W-L 8-5 K 74 BB 29 Opp BA .270 IP 113 2/3 Hits 119

Foster (Closer)
ERA 4.79 W-L 7-6 Saves 6 K 29 BB 19 Opp BA .329 IP 71 1/3
Hits 96

Team Batting Average .305
Team Fielding Average .956

Common Opponents - all wins for NU and UIC
Northern Illinois
NU 10-2, 3-2
UIC 3-0

Iowa
NU 6-1
UIC 2-1, 5-4

-Jay