ESPN and ESPN2 will provide exclusive coverage of every College World Series game in high definition beginning Saturday, June 14, network officials said Wednesday.
In addition to the live television coverage, ESPN360.com will simulcast every telecast, and all three games (if necessary) of the Championship Series will be televised in primetime (June 23-25).
This will be the “sports leader’s” 29th consecutive year broadcasting CWS games from Omaha, Neb. The series kicks off Saturday, June 14 on ESPN and ESPN360.com with Stanford squaring off against Florida State at 2 p.m. ET and Georgia taking on the University of Miami at 7 p.m. On Sunday, June 15, Fresno State battles Rice at 2 p.m. ET and LSU takes on North Carolina at 7 p.m.
Mike Patrick and analyst Orel Hershiser will call the action with help from reporters Erin Andrews, Sean McDonough, Barry Larkin, Kyle Peterson, Karl Ravech and Robin Ventura.
ESPNU will provide live coverage of the coaches’ press conference Friday, June 13 at 3 p.m. ET and Sunday, June 22 at noon ET. In addition to the game coverage, Ravech will provide live segments from Rosenblatt Stadium for SportsCenter June 16-18.
Throughout the series, ESPN and ESPN2 will utilize an on-field handheld camera for the third year. The handheld camera will bring viewers closer to the action with in-game live shots of home run celebrations, head coaches’ trips to the mound, batters in the on-deck circle and more.
Also, every umpire will wear a microphone for live and short turn-around audio, capturing the sounds of the game from all angles on the field. The network is also planning to include “People of Omaha” vignettes highlighting the people in and around the College World Series host city: the organ player at Rosenblatt Stadium, the retired PA announcer, the groundskeeper, long-time ticket holders, etc.
