The SEC's 10 greatest College World Series moments
It’s back.
After a 1-year hiatus thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the College World Series is set to begin Saturday. And with few restrictions, college baseball’s annual party in the Cornhusker State should be rocking.
Full capacity at TD Ameritrade Park. Tailgating, dining and hydration spots aplenty in downtown Omaha. And a triumvirate of SEC school’s to boot.
It’s been nearly 3 decades since the conference failed to place a team in the CWS, which means plenty of memorable stanzas throughout the league’s proud history.
With Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State intent on creating more starting Saturday, we count down the SEC’s top 10 College World Series moments to date.
10. Norwood gives Vandy the crown
In Game 3 of the 2014 championship series, Vanderbilt outfielder John Norwood capped a 3-for-3 day with a home run off Virginia closer Nick Howard in the 8th inning. That’d go on to be the winning run as Vandy snagged its first national title.
9. 429 reasons to celebrate
Both Auburn’s Edouard Julie and Florida’s Pete Alonso hold the distinction of hitting the longest home runs in TD Ameritrade Park history. Both blasts went 429 feet; Julien did it in 2019, Alonso in 2015.
8. Gamecock gala
Six schools have won consecutive national championships. But only one can say it did it by closing out historic Rosenblatt Stadium (more on that later) and opening up the new yard the following summer. Second baseman Scott Wingo and outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. led South Carolina on a magnificent title defense in 2011, capped by a 2-game sweep of Florida in the championship series. Nobody has repeated since.
7. Starkville North and the legend of the Rally Banana
Mississippi State’s illustrious 1985 squad lives on in college baseball lore. But the “Rally Banana” mystique of the 2018 team is up there. The Bulldogs went on a tear during that year’s CWS, endearing themselves both to the throngs of fans that made the trip to “Starkville North” and the locals in Omaha. Their signature talisman? A banana, first used by designated hitter Jordan Westburg to mimic a phone in the dugout. soon, Mississippi State fans began sporting banana gear, and the magic carried the Bulldogs within a win of the championship series. Not a bad late-season run for a team that finished fifth in its own seven-team division.
6. Alex. Faedo.
Florida’s 6-5 right-hander was virtually unhittable during the 2017 CWS. In 2 starts, both against TCU, Faedo struck out 22 — 22! — batters and pitched 14 1/3 scoreless innings. The Gators didn’t even need him in the championship series against LSU; their 2-game sweep made for Florida’s first and only national championship.
5. Georgia on my mind
More recent memory conjures horrifying images of Georgia falling to No. 4 regional seed Fresno State in the 2008 championship series. But back in 1990, there was no stopping coach Steve Webber‘s bunch. After finishing second in the SEC, the Bulldogs ripped through the postseason and topped it off with a championship-game victory over Oklahoma State. Pitcher Dave Fleming, shortstop J.R. Showalter, outfielder Bruce Chick and catcher Tommy Owen were selected in the 1990 MLB Draft.
4. Rocker’s gem
After becoming the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter during Super Regional play, Vanderbilt luminary Kumar Rocker followed up with 11 strikeouts in a championship-series victory over Michigan. Rocker earned tournament Most Outstanding Player honors as the Commodores won their second title.
3. Will Clark’s big days
There’s a reason for the statue of Clark outside Mississippi State’s Dudy Noble Field. The first baseman’s storied collegiate career included an 8-for-15, 5-RBI showing at the 1985 College World Series. The Bulldogs came up short of the title, but Clark’s 2 homers, a double and a triple remain one of the best individual performances in CWS history.
2. Whit’s walk-off in final game at the ‘Blatt
For 60 years, Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium — just south of downtown Omaha — served as the Mecca of college baseball. But everything with a beginning has an end, and South Carolina’s Whit Merrifield provided the final, punctuated play at the old ballpark: a walk-off single in Game 2 of the 2010 finals to give the Gamecocks the first of back-to-back national championships.
1. THE walk-off
You probably knew this was coming; sorry for the lack of suspense. But some memories get better with time; LSU hero Warren Morris’ walk-off home run to give the Tigers the 1996 national championship is certainly in that category. Consider this: The line-drive homer that stunned Miami and the rest of the college baseball world is the only 2-out, bottom-of-the-9th, walk-off home run to clinch collegiate or professional championship — at any level. Sometimes lost in the lore is the fact is it was Morris’ only home run of the season.