After a full weekend of doing nothing but watching college baseball, we’ve survived to super regionals. Let’s look at the most notable moments from each group, then watch me be wrong about who’s going to Omaha.
Los Angeles regional winner: Cal Poly
The Mustangs cruised through LA, beating their opponents by a combined score of 24-5. That pitching staff I talked about in the preview showed up big time. Griffin Naess threw 9 K’s against Virginia Tech, Carson Turnquist and Josh Volmerding both struck out 7 in their respective battles with St Mary’s. Cal Poly faces the lowest seeded regional host, so an Omaha berth is in the realm of possibility. Now, let’s talk about the team that the Mustangs never got to match up against. The #1 nationally seeded UCLA Bruins. This team turned out to be what some people thought Indiana Football was. I was fully bought in on the Bruins this year. I even went to see them play 14 innings against Rutgers in April. Now, with hindsight, I can see everything that cost UCLA in that game alone. Firstly, Logan Reddeman. The staff ace sat down 18 Scarlet Knights in 8 innings, but just one start later he was injured. He didn’t play this regional, and his arm was sorely missed. UCLA pitching was far from the problem, but Reddeman’s presence on the mound could’ve given them a deeper bullpen to utilize, which would have a domino effect on both St Mary’s games. Problem 2 is more complex than injuries. UCLA had comeback wins in 30 games this year. One would assume this is a good thing, but you could see it cost them. This team got WAY too comfortable late on, to the point where a team like the Gaels who played desperate produced more results. They bear the unfortunate title of the first #1 national seed to lose in game 1 and never make the final. UCLA will be back next year, but the wasted Roch Cholowsky season is going to sting until the Bruins return to Omaha.
Atlanta regional winner: Oklahoma
After Georgia Tech’s 22 run game 1, just about everyone had this team in Omaha. They somehow didn’t make it out of their home city. UCLA was surprising for sure, but after game 1 we all thought elimination was possible. On the other hand, I was genuinely shocked by the Yellow Jackets’ elimination. Up 7-3 at home, against a team you beat in game 5, with one of the best offenses of the BBCORR era, and you lose? Even the commentary crew’s call of Dayton Tockey’s walkoff sounds like they’re in disbelief.
The second year in a row where both the #1 and #2 seeds are bounced in regionals. In case you didn’t already know, there’s nothing like college baseball.
Athens Regional winner: Georgia
Finally a top team that acted like it. The Dawgs steamrolled their group, outscoring LIU and Liberty 30-9 in three games. They played so well that there really isn’t anything to talk about here. LIU went up to Kudzu Hill after elimination. That’s pretty fun.
Auburn regional winner: Auburn
“They probably do nothing, but wouldn’t it be awesome if they pulled an upset off.”- Me discussing the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers in my regional preview. They pulled off an upset, and it was just as awesome as I expected. 4 runs in the top of the 1st, two more in the 2nd, and suddenly by the 4th inning it was 10-0 Milwaukee. The Tigers made a comeback attempt, but it failed and what most people considered to be the worst team in the tournament is moving through the winners bracket. For some context, Auburn has a 5 million dollar baseball facility, and Milwaukee practices in a campus gym. Tragically, Auburn took them down in games 6 and 7, but nobody will remember that. Thank you for your weekend as America’s Team Milwaukee, we won’t forget what you did for us.
Chapel Hill regional winner: North Carolina
Outside of the Tar Heel’s dominance, ECU and Tennessee gave us a classic on day one, playing 14 innings ending in a 7-3 Pirates win. The star of the show was ECU ace Ethan Norby, who came out of the bullpen to strike out 8 Vols in 4.2 innings in an outing that probably won them the game. Tennessee, after exhausting all their arms, fell to VCU, an outcome that can’t be seen as anything but divine justice falling upon them and the committee for infiltrating the all Carolina regional. ECU fought hard in games 4 and 6, but the Tarheels were just too much for them to handle. The loss of ECU’s logo is matched by the UNC powder blue, so it’s ok in the end.
Austin regional winner: Texas
Waiting to start Jackson Flora didn’t work out well for UC Santa Barbara. Tarleton State took them down for the program’s first ever regional win, which pretty much clinched Texas’s super regional berth. Holy Cross and Tarleton State both got demolished, and while Santa Barbara fought, they were no match. But hey, Jackson Flora struck out 9 against Holy Cross in the elimination bracket!
Tuscaloosa regional winner: Alabama
Another pretty straightforward group. Outside of USC Upstate’s upset over Oklahoma State in game 2, the favored team won every other game.
Gainesville regional winner: Troy
This team just doesn’t give up. They didn’t quit after a rough first half of the season. They didn’t quit after some Sun Belt tournament struggles. They didn’t quit after losing to Miami in game 2, or after seeing Florida put up 22 runs on the Hurricanes in game 4. The Troy Trojans went into Gainesville and beat Florida in games 6 and 7 by a combined score of 26-13. Seems like they aren’t underrated anymore.
Hattiesburg regional winner: Little Rock
God Bless college baseball. Last year the Little Rock Trojans were one game away from changing the entire tournament when they went to game 7 against the eventual champions LSU. This year they didn’t even need 7 games. The Little Rock Trojans scored 4 runs in the 9th inning to take down Southern Miss in game 1, then they beat the most popular underdog pick, Jacksonville State handily in games 4 and 6. This will be their first ever super regional berth, and I couldn’t be happier to see it.
Tallahassee regional winner: St Johns
The main lesson that should be taken from this group is that FSU should never host a regional again until they build a dome to play in. Let’s not let the wildness of this regional be washed away by the rain though. One of the games most affected by the rain was Florida State vs Coastal Carolina’s elimination duel, which was supposed to be a duel between team aces that was ended by the delay. On the same day, the two actual powerhouses, St John’s and NIU, played, with Johns winning 21-8. Still a great season for NIU, who got their first ever tournament win in game 2. Johns went on and upset FSU to advance to supers for the 4th time in school history. What a fun group.
Eugene regional winner: Oregon
The PAC 12 reunion tour wasn’t as dramatic as we wished, but it was a great reminder of better times. Washington State and OSU dueling, while Oregon beats up on the winner, a west coast tale as old as time. In other news, I still don’t know why Yale was here. We could’ve just had three teams and no one would’ve noticed. RIP PAC-12, we will never forget how great you were.
College Station regional winner: USC
The Trojans bounced back well after a loss in game 2 to Texas State. They won both elimination games by double digits, then dominated Texas A&M in games 6&7. I didn’t expect A&M to win, but I thought it would at least be close instead of the Aggies pulling a 2025 and completely giving up.Was their game plan to hope USC didn’t show up to the ballpark? Well, whatever their plan was, it obviously didn’t work, and we have our third team of Trojans moving onto supers.
Lincoln regional winner: Ole Miss
When they won that Arizona State game at 1:00 AM I knew they were coming out of Lincoln on top. That exact thing happened. In a rare example of Rebels beating Lincoln, Ole Miss took down Nebraska in game 4, then they walked it off in the 10th against Arizona State after coming back from an early 3-0 lead.
Starksville regional winner: Mississippi State
The underseeded Bulldogs demolished their group at home and are rewarded by playing the top remaining seed. That doesn’t seem very fair.
Lawrence regional winner: Kansas
That escalated quickly. The bottom two seeds didn’t do much, so Kansas and Arkansas were left to battle. A rivalry quickly started between the two fanbases which led to drinks thrown at the Kansas student section and other chaos. The JUCO Jayhawks got their revenge for the thrown drink by sweeping Arkansas in two tight games, including a high scoring game 6 that featured 23 runs and a dramatic almost-comeback from the Hogs. The Arkansas faithful will have to wait another year to avenge the 2025 Omahog disaster that they aren’t allowed to forget about.
Morgantown regional winner: West Virginia
First of all, I would like to apologize to Kentucky. Me and many college baseball fans didn’t think they belonged and the Wildcats. took that personally. They had the Mountaineers on the ropes after a game 4 upset. They almost had a super regional trip locked up with a three run lead in game 6, but they dramatically blew it, with game 7 being clinched with a walk off homer from Paul Schoenfeld. Alright, game 6 was lucky, surely West Virginia can’t do it again right? Turns out they definitely could do it again. Armani Guzman was the hero this time around with a single to center followed by a beautiful rendition of Country Roads. How could you not love college baseball.
Predictions
#1 Cal Poly vs #16 West Virginia
Winner: West Virginia
No matter what we get a team making their first Omaha appearance.
#4 Auburn vs #13 Ole Miss
Winner: Ole Miss
If Auburn could barely take down Milwaukee, Ole Miss might be too much for them to handle
#5 UNC vs #12 USC
Winner: North Carolina
The Tarheels are definitely towards the top of the list of Omaha contenders. USC is good, but UNC is a level above them.
#8 Troy vs #9 Little Rock
Winner: Troy
This is the greatest postseason matchup in college baseball history by far. Trojans vs Trojans for each school’s first Omaha appearance. As much as I want to root for Little Rock, I’ve gotta go with my day 1 Troy Trojans.
#2 Oklahoma vs #15 Kansas
Winner: Kansas
JUCO Jayhawks to Omaha
#3 Georgia vs #14 Mississippi State
Winner: Georgia
Why is this a super regional matchup?
#6 Texas vs #11 Oregon
Winner: Texas
Texas is back
#7 Alabama vs #10 St John’s
Winner: Alabama
Another John’s upset for the Northeast? I don’t think so, but it would be really cool wouldn’t it.
