College Baseball Super Regionals Preview (Pt. 2)
Make sure to also check out Super Regionals Preview Pt. 1 as well, and check back as we update the results of each series as the games finish.
College baseball’s super regionals started yesterday with Georgia being the only home team to win as Wichita State, Arizona, and Stanford all knocking off the home-standing, nationally seeded squads. We give you the info you need to know, including how each team got to the super regionals, some keys to success, and our predictions, in our Super Regionals Preview (part 2 of 2: We’ve divided our preview into 2 parts with part 2 being the Saturday/Sunday/Monday series, which make up the right half of the official NCAA tournament bracket.):
UPDATE (Schedule/Results):
Cary Super Regional
- Game 1: North Carolina wins 9-4
- Game 2: North Carolina wins 12-4
- The North Carolina Tar Heels advance to the COLLEGE WORLD SERIES.
Baton Rouge Super Regional
- Game 1: UC Irvine wins 11-5
- Game 2: LSU wins 9-7
- Game 3: LSU wins 21-7
- The Louisiana State Tigers advance to the COLLEGE WORLD SERIES.
Houston Super Regional
- Game 1: Rice wins 9-7
- Game 2: Rice wins 6-5
- The Rice Owls advance to the COLLEGE WORLD SERIES.
Tempe Super Regional
- Game 1: Arizona St. wins 12-4
- Game 2: Fresno St. wins 8-6
- Game 3: Fresno St. wins 12-9
- The Fresno State Bulldogs advance to the COLLEGE WORLD SERIES.
Cary Super Regional
Coastal Carolina (50-12) vs North Carolina (49-12)
North Carolina Tar Heels -
Road to Super Regional: In their quest to return back to Omaha, the Heels compiled an impressive 45-10 regular season record. Despite going 1-2 in the ACC Tournament, UNC still earned the #2 national seed and hosted the Cary Regional. They easily walked through the competition of Mount Saint Mary’s and UNC Wilmington en route to facing off with the Chanticleers in the super regionals.
Keys to Success: Starters Alex White and Matt Harvey have ERAs below 2.75, but it has been the staff as a whole (no pitcher has an ERA over 4.70) that has made North Carolina have the best ERA in the nation. But the offense is dynamic as well. Sophomores Dustin Ackley, Tim Fedroff, and Kyle Seager lead the baby blue, and they have to continue to play like upperclassmen for UNC to keep winning.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers -
Road to Super Regional: The Chanticleers amassed the second most regular season wins in the nation (tied at 47 with Miami only one behind Florida State’s 48 wins), including a 17-3 Big South conference record. Their impressive resume included an above .500 record against fellow NCAA tournament teams and earned them a #1 seed in the Conway Regional, the third time in four years they’ve been a regional top seed. In the regional, Coastal beat all three regional opponents and did it convincingly scoring 47 runs in 3 games.
Keys to Success: Coastal has an explosive offensive lineup that can score runs quickly and in bunches. (They scored 21 in the first four innings of the regional championship against East Carolina. Led by Regional Co-MOPs David Anderson and Tommy Baldridge, four Chanticleer hitters have knocked double digit home runs and seven batters have over 100 total bases and a .333+ batting average on the season. While the Chanticleers did score 11 runs against North Carolina earlier this season, that was a mid-week game in which UNC threw six different pitchers. Don’t expect them to be putting up 11 runs each game. Instead, Coastal will need some quality pitching if they want to make their inaugural trip to the College World Series.
Prediction: Coastal Carolina is a team on the rise that could very well win their first national championship in the next five years. However, the small school on the outskirts of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is not going to be making their first trip to Omaha this season. UNC’s pitching staff will be too much for the Chanticleers. Plus, UNC has yet to lose a series this season.
Baton Rouge Super Regional
UC Irvine (41-16) vs LSU (46-16-1)
LSU Tigers -
Road to Super Regional: After starting 6-11-1 in SEC conference play, the Tigers swept their final four conference series to finish 18-11-1 and #1 in the SEC West. LSU carried their strong play into the SEC Tournament where they extended their winning streak to an impressive 20 games. The SEC Tournament champions received the #7 national seed and easily notched three more W’s to their winning streak in the Baton Rouge Regional outscoring their opponents 36-9.
Keys to Success: If the Tigers want to punch their ticket to Omaha, they just need to continue to play like they have been for the last 23 games. Regional MOP Blake Dean (5-11, 4 R, 5 extra base hits including 3 HR, 9 RBI) and Matt Clark have been stalwarts in the middle of the lineup and will get their hits. It is up to the other Tigers’ hitters, including five starters not named Dean or Clark that are hitting over. 300, to provide consistency. LSU’s relievers have been excellent this season, but they need the starters to provide solid innings to keep the bullpen fresh.
UC Irvine Anteaters -
Road to Super Regional: The Anteaters started 16-1, including wins over Tulane (2), and San Diego. However, after that, UC Irvine finished the regular season 22-15, with a 14-10 conference record only good enough to be tied for 3rd in the Big West (along with 21-33 UC Riverside). Nevertheless, Irvine managed to receive an at large bid as a #2 seed in the Lincoln Regional and made the most of it last weekend. Despite an uncharacteristic sub-par start by Scott Gorgen, the Anteaters hitters provided an explosive first inning to help Irvine defeat Oral Roberts (9-7) in the opener. Excellent starts by Daniel Bilbona against top-seeded Nebraska and Bryce Stowell in a rematch with Oral Roberts (the duo combined for 15.2 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 20 K) pushed Irvine into the Baton Rouge Super Regional.
Keys to Success: UC Irvine has one of the top pitching staff in the nation. Led by their three strikeout starters (305 K in 291.2 IP) and dominant closer Eric Pettis, the staffs 2.87 ERA is second in the nation. However, the Anteaters have one of the lightest hitting lineups still remaining in the tournament (only 35 home runs). Instead of the long ball, they rely on small ball. Irvine led the nation with 88 sacrifice bunts and have stolen 98 bases. It will be important for them not to let LSU get out to an early lead, and they will have to take advantage of any mistakes the Tigers make defensively.
Prediction: Alex Box Stadium should be packed to the brim the entire weekend providing a great atmosphere in the final weekend of baseball to be played there. Saturday’s potential starting pitching matchup between 12th round pick Ryan Verdugo and Gorgen, a 4th round draft pick, should provide a low scoring affair (Irvine’s specialty). If Irvine is able to end the Tigers’ winning streak Saturday, they will be able to make their second consecutive trip to Omaha. Otherwise, LSU will be headed to the College World Series.
Houston Super Regional
Texas A&M (46-17) vs Rice (45-13)
Texas A&M Aggies -
Road to Super Regional: The Aggies earned a number one seed in the big dance after a stellar season, which saw them be crowned Big 12 regular season champions. However there were some question marks when the Aggies stumbled down the stretch losing 8 of their final 9 games heading into regional play, but those questions quietly went away after A&M opened regional play with a convincing 15-1 victory over Illinois-Chicago.
In the winner’s bracket, the Aggies pounded out 22 runs in a 22-4 thrashing over Houston. The next night, the Cougars responded by defeating A&M 4-3 to force an if necessary game on Monday. A&M breezed by Houston 13-5, behind two of Regional MOP Kyle Colligan’s (8-21, 6 R, 6 RBI, 6 extra base hits) four home runs last weekend, to earn a trip to the super regional.
Keys to Success: Texas A&M will need to keep the offensive momentum they gained last weekend, as they prepare to face the talented pitching staff of Rice. Rice traditionally plays low scoring games, relying on its pitching staff, so if sluggers Luke Anders and Dane Carter can help keep the A&M bats rolling, Rice could be in trouble. The Aggies will also need to get more contributions from Jose Duran (drafted #188 by Milwaukee), who only went 4-18 with a single run batted in during the College Station Regional.
Rice Owls -
Road to Super Regional: The Rice Owls earned the number 6 national seed after compiling a 42-13 record, and another Conference USA regular season title. The Owls were upset in their conference tournament, being eliminated early after losing their first two games.
Rice wasted no time getting back on track, defeating Sam Houston State 3-2 in a tough regional opener. The Owls easily disposed of St. Johns 11-2, advancing to the finals where they would face in state rival Texas. The Longhorns would need to defeat Rice twice to advance, but thanks to Bobby Bell’s solid relief pitching, the Owls only needed one game to get past Texas and advance to the super regional.
Keys to Success: Like most Rice teams in recent memory, the 2008 Owls are built around a deep, talented pitching staff. The key matchup of the weekend will be the Rice pitchers against the explosive offense from Texas A&M. If Rice can get quality outings from its starters and get the ball to their bullpen with a lead, the Owls will be heading to Omaha.
Prediction: This matchup will be a true contrast in styles, between the explosive offense of A&M and the pitching staff from Rice. I think the Aggies will have just enough pitching to contain the Rice offense, and too much offense for the Owls’ pitching staff. Texas A&M will upset Rice and head to Omaha.
Tempe Super Regional
Fresno State (40-28) vs Arizona State (48-11)
Arizona State Sun Devils -
Road to Super Regional: The Sun Devils entered last weekend’s regional as the #3 national seed. Following their second straight Pac-10 title and a dominant regular season, the Sun Devils were playing good baseball heading into the postseason.
After an unexpected test in their tournament opener against Stony Brook, ASU cruised through the Tempe Regional, outscoring their opponents 36-10 on the weekend. The number two seed, and biggest threat to ASU, Vanderbilt was eliminated after two losses to Oklahoma. The Sooners were no match for the power of the Sun Devils, as ASU routed Oklahoma in the winners bracket and for the championship.
Keys to Success: Arizona State features two corner infielders who were recently first round selections in the draft, Brett Wallace (#13 to St. Louis Cardinals) and Ike Davis (#18 to New York Mets). These two lead an explosive Sun Devil offense that will be tough to shut down. The ASU pitching staff will be able to rely on plenty of run support over the weekend, but it is up to them to keep Fresno State at bay.
Fresno State Bulldogs -
Road to Super Regional: Fresno State earned an automatic bid into the regional by winning the WAC Tournament title. The Bulldogs went undefeated during the tournament and were given a #4 seed in the Long Beach Regional.
Fresno came out swinging, knocking off top seeded Long Beach in the regional opener 7-3 behind a stellar outing by Justin Wilson. The Bulldogs then earned a spot in the finals by beating San Diego 6-0, in which Fresno starter Clayton Allison tossed a complete game shutout. After a 15-1 loss to San Diego forced a winner-take-all game Monday, the Bulldogs rallied to beat the Toreros and earn a trip to Tempe with a 5-1 victory.
Keys to Success: Fresno will need another outstanding weekend of pitching in order to compete with the Sun Devils. Don’t be fooled by their #4 seed, the Bulldogs are a solid club, but they will be taking a large step up in competition this weekend. Fresno St.’s starters have to continue to throw well, and they have the ability as they have two draft pick starters (Tyler Scheppers - 2nd round, Justin Wilson - 5th round: both to the Pittsburgh Pirates) at the front of the rotation. If Scheppers and Wilson are solid, look for Fresno to give ASU trouble.
Prediction: Fresno State has been a great story so far this postseason becoming only the second #4 regional seed to advance to the super regionals. They deserve to be at the Tempe Super Regional, but Arizona State is one of the most talented teams in America, and they will have too much fire power for the Bulldogs.
Rosenblogger
Shotgun Spratling
Make sure to also check out Super Regionals Preview Pt. 1 as well, and check back as we update the results of each series as the games finish.
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