For anyone who has watched any College World Series coverage over the first week of the tournament you’ve seen the numbers.

Teams that have started 2-0 have won 30 of the last 33 CWS titles. In 2011, South Carolina went 5-0 at the CWS. In 2012 Arizona went 5-0 and last year UCLA went 5.0. The respective ERA’s of those three teams? 0.88 for SC, 1.12 for Arizona and 0.80 for UCLA.

The reason?

The eight-team, double-elimination tournament puts extensive stress on a pitching staff. Over a 12-day period, two teams will compete in what amounts to an NCAA Regional and a NCAA Super Regional. The eight are divided into two pools and play separate double-elimination tournaments with the respective winners advancing to the finals. Win your first two games and you get three days off before playing your next contest. Fall into to the loser’s bracket with a loss and you fall into a situation of needing to play four games in five days to get the best-of-three CWS finals.

...