Monday, May 28, 2012

HI NOTES: Big 12 Champs move on to NCAA Regionals

BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

♦ More Big 12 Championship photos
Mizzou takes Big 12 baseball title (Kansas City Star)
Blake Holovach didn’t see it. He was sprinting to back up home plate, a pitcher’s duty on a ball hit to the outfield with a runner at second.

Catcher Ben Turner saw it. “I started freaking out,” Turner said.

Coach Tim Jamieson didn’t see it from the dugout, but once the throw from right fielder Dane Opel got to Turner in time for a tag that would have sealed the deal, Jamieson’s concerns melted away.

The upshot is, Missouri won a baseball game with deep meaning to the program and Jamieson.
Missouri beats Oklahoma to win Big 12 tournament (NewsOK.com)
The Tigers, in farewell address before exiting for the Southeastern Conference, completed an unlikely run to the title after finishing sixth in the regular-season standings, never losing a game in Oklahoma City. In doing so, they claim the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
. . .
And the Sooners could only watch as the Tigers dogpiled in Oklahoma City.

“We're heartbroken, don't get me wrong,” Golloway said. “I know it's been since 1997. Nobody wanted it more than we did, I promise you. I didn't sleep last night.
Mizzou claims first Big 12 title: Tigers beat Sooners for first conference championship since ‘80 (NCAA.com)
The Big 12 Tournament title for the Tigers is their first in the sport and is Mizzou’s first baseball conference title since 1980 when it won the Big 8 Tournament. The Tigers beat a pair of top 25 teams, Texas and their archrival Kansas en-route to winning the championship. The win secures the Tigers an appearance at an NCAA regional for the eighth time in 10 years.
Missouri's last Big 12 game delivers a conference championship (Examiner.com)
By winning the Big 12 Baseball Championship, Missouri became only the second team is Big 12 history to win the conference tournament as a six seed.
Post-Game Press Conference Quotes (Big12Sports.com)
Ben Turner, On his final visit to the mound: “I went out there and told Blake, „Look around you. There‟s 8,000 people, and you have a chance to shut them up.‟ It‟s not anything against the fans. It was a great environment. I had so much fun playing in front of those people. All week, all these guys did a great job.”
Mizzou's Post Game Press Converence VIDEO (Big12Sports.com)

Sooners fall to Tigers in conference tournament finals (OU Daily)

Mizzou downs OU, captures first tourney crown since 1980 (Tulsa World)

Mizzou tops Oklahoma 8-7 to win first Big 12 title (Sports Illustrated)

Missouri wins Big 12 baseball crown before leaving for SEC, beating Oklahoma 8-7 (Washington Post)

Kendall Rogers on Twitter: #Missouri takes care of #Oklahoma 8-7 to finish off a magical run, and to take a bubble spot with #Big12 auto. Probably knocks out #Texas.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

♦ The Big 12 win awards the Tigers an automatic berth in the NCAA Regionals. The at-large teams, top-eight national seeds, first-round regional pairings and site assignments will be announced at noon ET, Monday, May 28. The one-hour program will be shown live on ESPNU.

One surprise among 16 NCAA Regional hosts (Baseball America)
The 64 teams will break down into 16 four-team, double-elimination regional tournaments. Surprisingly, that list did not include Kentucky and instead included Miami, which reached the ACC tournament championship but did not win the league, losing in the title game just after regionals were announced. Here are the 16 regional sites, presented in alphabetical order. All are at campus sites with one exception, Purdue, which will be played at the home park of the Gary Railcats, an independent minor league team

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