Before it was all over, Monmouth had the winning run at the plate with runners on second and third and no outs. Jarvis started out giving up three straight singles, scoring Andy Meyers and Frank Catalano along the way. To make matters worse, Jarvis then balked advancing runners to second and third -- all this without posting an out.

But then the light clicked on. Jarvis struck out Mike Casale on three pitches. He then forced a shallow fly out to center field from Justin Braun. He finished the inning by freezing John Dennis, who struck out looking.

With the ASU win, everything went according to plan today in Tempe with both higher seeds winning, setting up a pair of interesting matchups for Saturday.

In the losers' bracket, Monmouth and Nebraska square off for survival. At first glance, Nebraska looks like the favorite, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the fourth-seeded Hawks pull off the upset. I was more than impressed with their play in the loss to ASU.

Yeah, they gave up five runs, but the Sun Devils are a team that averages almost nine runs a game and were playing in front of a vocal home crowd. Monmouth played tough until the pitching broke down during the final innings and came up one big swing short of taking the lead. The Hawks will likely bring another stud to the mound against the Huskers with Ryan Buch sporting a 2.17 ERA and 9-2 record.

In the Huskers' case, I am not impressed with their play in losing to Riverside. They went through seven pitchers, almost all of whom had control issues, and got some questionable decision making from the dugout. Almost their entire bullpen threw today, so nobody's going to be fresh for Monmouth. All things considered, it has all the makings of an upset.

ASU, meanwhile, may have to bring more offense to the table against Riverside. The Highlanders scored 10 runs today and are capable of another big game. Both teams bring big bats to the plate and could produce some fireworks.

Meanwhile, I just dumped the remainder of my last bottle of water on head and it felt great. Though it has cooled down to 97 degrees. Overall, I put down 92 ounces of water today (minus those last few), so I'm staying hidrated. I've got another long day in the desert sun to face on Saturday.