First off, congratulations to Dave Serrano and the Anteaters. This team can do it all. They have phenomenal pitching, clutch hitting, and great speed offensively and defensively. Despite all the great stats you can find on paper, nothing compares to the maturity and composure of this Irvine team. Despite overflow crowds yelling and screaming, calls going against them and the pressure of history weighing on their shoulders, UC Irvine showed relative ease and made it look easy today. The 'Eaters have proven they are for real. They did it in Round Rock. They did it in Wichita. Can they do it in Omaha? No question about it.

Meanwhile, what a rotten way for Wichita State to end their season. All year long, the Shocks have been known as the team that makes the clutch hit, or clutch out. When it came to big plays, Wichita always found a way to make things happen. No doubt, the heart of Wichita this season was huge, and they worked hard to silence any doubters. When it was announced that Wichita was hosting a regional, most scoffed at the fact, and most pointed to Wichita as the regional most likely to be won by a lower seed. When New Orleans stunned the Shox in the first game, the criticism grew. However, Wichita State refused to die. The going got tough, and they got going...all the way to the regional title. The Shockers are a gutsy team that plays hard, and rest assured, they'll be back.

For now though, this is Irvine's day. I'm sure down in Gainesville, Jeremy Foley is trying to find out all he can about Dave Serrano. After all, Serrano took the Anteaters to Omaha in just in third season as a head coach. The 'Eaters work as a team, play as a team...they do EVERYTHING as a team. The players do nothing but compliment each other and their coach. Their coach deflects praise to his entire staff, who bring it right back to him. Very rarely in life do we have a team with a camaraderie like Irvine. This team decided early on that they were going to have a memorable season, and they are proof that talent, mixed with a sense of teamwork and tight friendship, can take a group of people just about anywhere they want.

So I expect huge things from UC Irvine in Omaha (I'll have more on that later this week). I expect Irvine to be fearless coming in, and relentless once they get there. There's just not a real weakness to this team right now. Should the pitching continue to be stellar, I see no reason why the UC Irvine Anteaters couldn't win the national championship. There's a few thousand people in Wichita that agree with me right now, and we all wish the Anteaters success at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Thanks to the staff at Wichita State for their hospitality, and to the Eck Stadium crowd for giving us a fantastic atmosphere to work from. Stay tuned to CSTV.com and Touching the Bases for continuing coverage of the NCAA Super Regionals and the Road to Omaha. For now though, we bid you a fond farewell from the Kansas plains, where UC Irvine wrote their names into history, and advanced to Omaha for the first time in school history, sweeping Wichita State 1-0 last night, and 3-2 today. Good night everyone!