Here are the super regionals. And their variety of scenarios is… well, pretty great.
Seven of the top eight national seeds will be present. But so did Evansville, only the ninth regional No. 4 seed to survive. Florida State is in its 18th super regional, which is pretty impressive considering this format has only been around for about 25 tournaments. Evansville and West Virginia are on their first. This will be the second for Kansas State, Clemson hasn’t been in 14 years, Georgia in 16 years.
Ten No. 1 seeds won their own regional championships, as did five No. 3 seeds. The terrain was safe, except when it wasn’t. Arizona was quickly blown out of its own site in two games, the final push being a 7-0 shutout by Dallas Baptist. Arkansas was 34-3 at home this season until losing 7-6 to Kansas State and then to Southeast Missouri State. UC Santa Barbara was 27-0 at home this season against every team in the world not named Oregon. The Ducks beat the Gauchos twice last weekend, giving them one run in 18 innings.
Five SEC teams are playing. That means six don’t. Some of the more surprising losses included Arkansas at home, South Carolina losing to James Madison for the first time in 41 years, and Vanderbilt pitchers allowing 23 runs in two losses. LSU’s national title defense ended in Chapel Hill, but it took an epic 10-inning loss to the Tar Heels to get there. The Tigers had the lead in the ninth but couldn’t hold it.
In fact, the last four national champions – LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt – are all gone. But Oregon State, winner in 2018, will be there this week, as will Florida, champion in 2017, and Virginia, winner in 2015. They represent five of the last 32 Men’s College World Series titles. The teams that won the other 27 are nowhere to be found.
SUPER REGIONALS: 8 Super Regional Hosts and Game Times Announced for 2024 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship
This is a baseball Sweet 16 created in various ways, often with unconventional heroes.
No. 1 seed Tennessee blasted its way through its own region, hitting as many home runs — 12 — as the total number of runs allowed by its pitchers. The Vols now have 159 home runs for the season, 13 more than any other collection of bashers in the country. “It’s a long lineup,” Southern Mississippi coach Christian Ostrander said after examining the business side of Tennessee’s offense as the Vols blasted five homers in a 12-3 romp Sunday . “You can’t catch your breath.”
That’s what he meant: Catcher Cal Stark hit two home runs and drove in four runs Sunday. He was ninth in Tennessee’s batting order.
Connecticut committed one error in four games to win in Norman, shaking off a frustrating Big East tournament when the Huskies were two and done, both losses coming in extra innings. UConn was one of the No. 3 seeds to advance past a regional, but that shouldn’t be that surprising. Just two years ago, the Huskies won 50 games and took Stanford to go the distance at the super regional.
Kentucky pitchers allowed one run in their region’s final 21 innings, including shutting out Indiana State. No one has done that to the Sycamores since April 2022, 139 games ago. “There’s a way to compete in the SEC to survive,” Indiana State coach Mitch Hannahs said. “You see that in a 3-1 broken ball. You see that in a 2-0 breaking ball.
He was referring to Kentucky’s Mason Moore, who pitched six shutout innings against the Sycamores on Sunday to extend his scoreless streak in the NCAA Tournament to 20.1 innings over two years. Moore wasn’t even at the stadium the day before, recovering from a stomach virus at home and undergoing IV treatments.
“At 7:36 p.m. (Saturday), my phone rings,” Wildcats coach Nick Mingione said. “It’s a text message from Mason. This is what he said: “Here we go! Just to let you know, I’m feeling better and back to normal. I’m ready to go out there and win us a ball game tomorrow, Coach.'”
What he did.
Kansas State swept its three games in the Fayetteville area by a combined score of 33-12. In contrast, Oregon won its three games in Santa Barbara by a total of five points. That’s not a big margin for error, but the Ducks pitchers didn’t make much of it. Their three starters allowed just three runs in 23 innings. This is the same Oregon team that was quickly eliminated from the Pac-12 Tournament, scoring just four total points in two losses.
Florida slipped into the NCAA tournament with a 28-27 record and a 13-17 SEC mark, which is hardly the numbers for a super-regional contender. But then who saw Ashton Wilson coming? As late as May 12, the second-year reserve outfielder had just eight at-bats and two hits this season, but injuries opened up a spot for him late in the year and he arrived at Stillwater Regional with a .231 batting average. He then homered, drove in five runs, hit .429 and was named region MVP. Florida continued on, winning three playoff games and advancing to the super regional at Clemson with a 32-28 record.
“Ups and downs throughout the year, but obviously none of that matters now we’re in the playoffs,” Gators star Jac Caglianone said in a television interview.
🥇: College baseball regular season awards, as chosen by Michella Chester
Evansville toppled East Carolina 6-5 on a three-run homer from Mark Shallenberger, a psychology graduate student who has previously taught. The Cinderella of the 2024 tournament has been crowned and she is heading to Knoxville this weekend. Should anyone be really shocked by the Purple Aces? They flattened the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, going 4-0 with three of the games ending in the seventh inning with the mercy run rule. The MVC team that stuck with them was Indiana State and Hannahs wasn’t surprised by what Evansville accomplished at East Carolina, fourth seed and all. “We knew Evansville was good. I think the only people who didn’t know Evansville was good were the committee. They are as good as any we have seen,” he said.
As good as Tennessee? “Tune in,” Hannahs said, “because it’s going to be a good show.”
Clemson stranded 34 runners in three games, but still won its regional championship and pulled off a nifty hidden ball trick to help kill a Coastal Carolina threat and guarantee plenty of clicks online to see it. Georgia had to rally to beat Army 8-7 and go through extra innings and over four hours to put Georgia Tech up 8-6, with the Yellow Jackets leaving the tying runs on base. That was a lot of crisis control for one weekend. “I think it’s important to tell players all the time that they can never hit the panic button,” coach Wes Johnson said.
Virginia turned to a former Cavaliers quarterback to win its regional game against Mississippi State. In 2021, Jay Woolfolk started for Virginia against Notre Dame and completed 18 of 33 passes for 196 yards and two interceptions. The Cavaliers lost 28-3. Now a full-time pitcher, he has struggled with control this season, walking 34 batters in 44.2 innings. It’s one of the reasons he hasn’t started a game since March 17, but manager Brian O’Connor went to Woolfolk to finish the regional and he held on with eight innings , allowing two runs with seven strikeouts and just one walk in a 9-2 run. victory. “You give young men an opportunity like Jay Woolfolk had tonight, and you see what they’re made of,” O’Connor said. “Jay Woolfolk is going to have this for the rest of his life.”
Then there’s West Virginia. Save this name in the good-things-come-in-small-packages file.
Derek Clarke.
The left-handed Division II transfer born on Christmas Day is 5-9 years old. Maybe. But he was big enough to throw a complete-game four-hitter against Dallas Baptist to get West Virginia off to a start in the region, then finished the deciding game against Grand Canyon with two strikeouts. With this last K, the Mountaineers were in their first super regional.
“We represent a ton of people,” coach Randy Mazey said. “Not just our university and community, but 1.8 million people in the state of West Virginia.” One more element in this Mountaineer feel-good tale: Mazey is retiring and making history is his departure memory.
North Carolina State is back in the super regional, hoping to get to Omaha and erase some terrible memories. Remember what happened to the Wolfpack there in 2021, when they made the Finals? Sent home by COVID protocols.
Texas A&M will be there, its regional sweep including an extra-inning win over Texas, and for an Aggie, what could be sweeter than that? Coach Jim Schlossnagle aims to build a true powerhouse at Texas A&M and that includes packed houses. It is therefore a little sensitive to attendance figures, like that of last weekend against Louisiana. “I hope whoever is in charge of attendance can take care of my taxes,” he said, “because 7,600 is a joke.”
BRACKET: see the updated tournament table before the super regionals
What they all formed were super regional showdowns of different flavors. The power of Tennessee against Evansville.
Florida State, which in one year went from 23-31 to 46-15, is eager to beat Connecticut and complete its comeback with a 24th trip to Omaha, where the Seminoles have still never won a title.
Kansas State and West Virginia — members of the Big 12 that have never been to a men’s College World Series — are trying to make inroads into hostile ACC baseball strongholds Virginia and North Carolina.
Oregon State and Oregon, as the last survivors of the last college team sport still competing this school year, are tasked with turning out the lights on the Pac-12 for good, trying to keep themselves and their league alive one more week in Kentucky and Texas. AM.
Georgia, looking to win a super regional for the first time since 2008, against North Carolina State. Clemson, trying to stop Florida’s second wind, a team that could come into Omaha with the lowest winning percentage in Men’s College World Series history.
So there are plenty of storylines to sort out this weekend, with 16 teams just two good days away from Omaha. Now if it doesn’t rain.