Another Aussie Makes His Mark in College Athletics, plus College World Series Talk

A few days ago, I wrote about several Australian Student-Athletes tasting success on the American college level. Sunday Night, another did it again.

Arizona St. Pitcher Josh Spence, from Australia, went 9 innings giving up 2 earned runs and striking out 10 to lead the Sun Devils to an 8-2 victory over Clemson, thus qualifying them for a berth in the 2009 NCAA College World Series in Omaha later this week.

Arizona St. sends a strong team to Omaha obviously. this is due to their strong pitching staff. They will face the North Carolina Tar Heels, who disposed of the in-state counterpart E. Carolina 10-1 in Game 1 and 9-3 in Game 2. In other action, the Golden Eagles of Southern Mississippi clinched their first ever trip to Omaha by sweeping the Florida Gators in Gainsville 9-7 and 7-6. They will most likely get a stern World Series opener against either the overall number 1 seed Texas Longhorns or TCU. That series is tied 1 to 1 with the deciding third game Monday Night. If I have the brackets right, Cal St. Fullerton will take on Arkansas and LSU will face Virginia to round out the openers in the CWS.

Australia has made major strides in Baseball. A few Aussies have made it to the Major Leagues such as former Atlanta Brave Pitcher Brad Klontz and current Brave Peter Moyeland. Josh Spence of Arizona St. has an excellent chance to join them. He and his Arizona St. teammates have a great chance to win the National Championship. We shall see. I've always loved watching the CWS. It's exciting baseball. We have a new team this year, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles making their first trip ever. Could they make a miracle run like Fresno St. did last year? Tune in this Friday on ESPN when the action starts.