Updated: June 14, 2005, 3:57 PM ET

Longhorns clinch 32nd trip to Omaha

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By Will Kimmey
Special to ESPN.com

Editor's note: Baseball America contacted college coaches familiar with the 16 Super Regional teams for analysis. Anonymity was granted in exchange for their candor.

Oxford Super Regional
Texas (51-16) vs. Mississippi (48-20)
At Swayze Field
Oxford, Miss.
Saturday, June 11

Texas 2, Mississippi 0, 4th inning, susp. rain
Sunday, June 12
Mississippi 6, Texas 4, comp. of susp. game
Texas 3, Mississippi 1
Monday, June 13
Texas 6, Mississippi 4
Texas (51-16) advances to College World Series

Texas Longhorns
Coach: Augie Garrido (ninth season)
CWS History: 31 trips to Omaha (last in 2004), five titles (last in 2002)
How They Got Here: Won the Austin, Texas, regional in five games, beating Arkansas in the final.

Texas' Top Hitters
Player (Position) AVG OBP SLG Key Stats
Seth Johnston (SS) .384 .426 .576 8 HR, 61 RBI, 15 SB
Drew Stubbs (CF) .331 .397 .565 11 HR, 31 SB
Taylor Teagarden (C) .345 .459 .557 21 2B, 6 HR
Carson Kainer (LF) .329 .414 .428 9 2B

Texas' Top Pitchers
Player W-L ERA Key Stats
Kyle McCulloch (RHP) 10-4 3.07 81 K's, 40 BB, 117 IP
Randy Boone (RHP) 7-4 3.41 94 K's, 35 BB, 105 IP
Adrian Alaniz (RHP) 5-3 2.89 80 K's, 27 BB, 87 IP
J. Brent Cox (RHP) 7-2 1.69 71 K's, 16 BB, 64 IP, 15 SV

Scouting the Longhorns: They're Texas and have that belief that they're going to win no matter what. I don't know what is it or what you can call it. They never panic and obviously get that from Augie Garrido. Texas never gave us the nervous feeling that Nebraska did. I didn't feel they had offensive power to kill us.

Try to get ahead early. If you can stay in the lead, J. Brent Cox would have to stay down in the pen. You know he's lurking down there. If Cox gets in, you better hit the first fastball you see. If not, it's going to be all sliders. Adrian Alaniz was unbelievable early, but his velocity was down in the Big 12 tournament. His fastball is straight. He's going to throw that good breaking ball. We just saw a breaking ball and tried to hit it the other way. Kyle McCulloch throws fastballs early, then gets the slider going and mixes in a change. He's a competitor, aggressive and he'll work backward. Buck Cody has some trouble throwing strikes, he's a guy we had get to from the bullpen. He'll throw a lot of fastballs, especially in tight spots.

Seth Johnson was unbelievable for me this year. Last year, he wasn't anything close to this year. He's just flat better. We tried everything: in, out, soft, up, down, hard. He's more patient now, but still likes that first pitch. You want to be careful with Drew Stubbs and Taylor Teagarden, but not too careful because you can pitch to them. Stubbs has power to all fields, but he'll chase breaking balls late in counts. Teagarden tries to pull early, and has power that way, but goes opposite late and shoots the gaps. I saw where Chance Wheeless hit a home run against Arkansas. He has power in there. I always wondered why he hit four or five hole and that's why. Nick Peoples and Carson Kainer have been playing every day lately and have both been real good.

With Texas it's predictable when they bunt, and they like to put pressure on you. It's similar to most Texas teams. Augie likes to sacrifice on the road, but push and drag at home because of the turf. He won't hit and run at home, he will on road. It gets to you real quick on their surface. Augie's going to see that short fence at Mississippi and have a guy like Johnston, who can hit it over it, and still be tempted to bunt because that's what they do. It will be interesting to see if he sticks with what he's done all year or takes a chance to hit it out. He lets them let it fly on the road. I don't think he'll bunt as much.

Mississippi Rebels
Coach: Mike Bianco (fifth season)
CWS History: Four trips to Omaha (last in 1972), , no titles
How They Got Here: Won the Oxford, Miss., regional in three games, beating Oklahoma in the final.

Mississippi's Top Hitters
Player (Position) AVG OBP SLG Key Stats
Brian Pettway (RF) .391 .461 .704 20 HR, 65 RBI
Stephen Head (1B) .319 .392 .596 18 HR, 68 RBI
Chris Coughlan (3B) .360 .427 .513 20 2B, 57 RBI
Cooper Osteen (2B) .321 .419 .396 13 SB, 16 2B

Mississippi's Top Pitchers
Player W-L ERA Key Stats
Mark Holliman (RHP) 8-4 3.85 117 K's, 45 BB, 110 IP
Matt Maloney (LHP) 8-2 3.14 104 K's, 26 BB, 97 IP
Eric Fowler (LHP) 7-2 3.09 94 K's, 22 BB, 82 IP
Stephen Head (LHP) 7-3 2.59 74 K's, 26 BB, 80 IP

Scouting the Rebels: Mississippi is clearly a different team this year. The best thing the Rebels have going for them is they got that late-season stumble out of the way in the middle this year. Getting that behind them is big. Juniors Brian Pettway, Stephen Head and Mark Holliman and senior Barry Gunther are the heart and soul of the team. That experience is very valuable. A lot of times you see a young freshman and sophomore not have enough gas in the tank to play 56 games. As much as you can say it's physical when you wear down, it's also mental and they've overcome that.

Ole Miss' biggest strength is the lineup is very solid top to bottom. They have a good mix of left-handed and right-handed hitters. With the lefty Head and righty Pettway in there, you're never going to dominate all of the middle of their order.

I'm sure Pettway had some offensive success because of Head, but he didn't miss pitches when he got them. Chris Coughlan really ignites them for me. He really elevated his game over last year. He has better plate coverage and is using the whole field more. You can't get him out pitching in and out anymore. The other big improvement is Barry Gunther behind the plate as the field general. His defense is really improved. Last year, he dropped some balls or missed things. Now, he throws very accurately and he's blocking balls. Shortstop Zack Cozart made routine plays and got some big hits down the stretch.

You've got to really be able to change speeds behind in the count and get those hitters to get to chase off-speed stuff in fastball counts. That's the success we had in past, getting them to chase in fastball counts. They're more mature and not doing that any more. The way you beat them is get everybody out around Pettway and Head. Solo home runs don't beat you.

Head just attacks hitters aggressively as the closer. He's ruthless. Just pounding. I don't know how far they go past Head. They have three legit starters and a legit reliever, but other than that it's week to week. Pettway stepped up in SEC tournament, but the bullpen may be obsolete if the starters are on. I've seen Mark Holliman go unbelievable, and I've also seen Matt Maloney go unbelievable. If Eric Fowler gets his breaking ball going, he's got the one we've seen. They're all aces.

Will Kimmey covers college baseball for Baseball America.