Starting at 4 o’clock today, 12 college baseball teams will attempt to stave off elimination and extend their seasons for at least one more week.

While Miami, Arizona, North Carolina State, Wichita State, North Carolina, Coastal Carolina, UC-Irvine, LSU, Rice, and Arizona State have already solidified their spot in next weekend’s Super Regionals, today there will be 12 other squads fighting to join them.

Coaches will have to make tough decisions as almost every team is running low of quality arms at this point in a regional tournament. One of the biggest decisions is whether or not to bring back the ace of the staff on only two days rest, especially if you are a team such as the San Diego Toreros or the Tulane Green Wave, who have two of the top starters in college baseball (and two first round draft picks) in Brian Matusz and Shooter Hunt.

It is highly unlikely a starter that has already thrown this weekend will get significant innings, but it is possible, depending on the resiliency of the young man’s arm, for him to come in and give an inning or two of relief.

Of course, if a coach makes the risky move and brings back Friday or even Saturday’s starter, there is always the possibility he doesn’t quite have his normal stuff, and it backfires ala the national #1 seeded Vanderbilt last season when college baseball’s most dominant pitcher, David Price, came on in the 9th inning against Michigan in the regional. Price got Vandy out of a jam in the 9th but surrendered a home run in the 10th that ultimately gave Michigan the victory.

Of the 12 teams that will play Monday, five are regional #1 seeds, four (Georgia, Cal State-Fullerton, Stanford, Florida State) of which had to go through the loser’s bracket of their respective regional and win two games Sunday just to have the opportunity to play on Monday.

The only game that will not feature a #1 seed will be the 9 PM EST matchup between second seeded San Diego and fourth seeded Fresno State as the host of the regional, Long Beach State, was eliminated yesterday by the Toreros. The Bulldogs of Fresno State will look to do what is rarely accomplished and advance to the super regionals from the #4 regional seed.

Including San Diego/Fresno State, five of the contests will feature in-state rivalries: Texas A&M/Houston, Cal State Fullerton/UCLA, Stanford/Pepperdine, and Georgia/Georgia Tech.

  • After falling 5-4 to Houston Sunday, Texas A&M, the #1 seed in the College Station Regional, will try once again to send the Cougars home. The Aggies hope to repeat their 22-4 drubbing of the Cougars earlier in the regional, though they have a definite advantage in a close game as Houston has a glaring bullpen deficiency outside of closer Chase Dempsey. (Game slated for 7:30 PM EST.)
  • The key number in the 11:00 PM EST contest between the Fullerton Titans and UCLA Bruins may very well be 11. Fullerton won their opening contest of the regional 11-0, UCLA then turned the tide by defeating the Titans 11-4 on Saturday, but with their backs against the wall, Cal State Fullerton came back to defeat the Bruins 11-8 last night to force today’s winner take all match.
  • Danny Sandbrink gave the Stanford bullpen a reprieve last night by going the distance pitching a complete game and allowing only one run. That extra rest could be a huge factor in today’s 4 PM EST game. Pepperdine’s closer Nick Gaudi threw Friday and Saturday but did not pitch yesterday. Expect multiple innings out of him today.
  • The most anticipated in-state matchup is the 7 PM EST game between bitter rivals Georgia and Georgia Tech. Georgia won impressively 8-0 Sunday behind a four hit, nine strikeout complete game shutout by Nick Montgomery. The hope for the Bulldogs is to take a lead into the late innings. When leading after 7 innings, they are 31-2; after 8 innings, 31-0 this season. Much of that can be attributed to stud closer Joshua Fields. However, Fields has allowed 6 ER in his last two outings after allowing only 2 ER the rest of the season.

The other matchup features the highest national seed, one of three national seeds still competing (the other two being Cal State Fullerton & Georgia), that has not made arrangements for the Super Regionals as of yet.

Florida State, the national #4 seed overall, will take on Tulane once again after mauling the Green Wave 17-8 last night. Since being shutout by Matthew Wilson in their regional opener against Bucknell, the Seminoles have been pounding out hits and scoring runs in bunches. In three games, the Seminoles have amassed 58 runs on 64 hits, including 9 home runs. Ten times they have scored multiple runs in an inning and seven of those innings have included 5 or more runs. Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year has led the way with 5 home runs and 12 RBI.

Interestingly, according to NCAA.com, Shooter Hunt (9-3, 2.60 ERA), who threw 5 1/3 innings Friday, and Matt Fairel (10-2, 3.64 ERA), who only lasted 3 innings Saturday against Florida, are listed as the starters. (This is also the only game where both starters are listed at this time.)

Needless to say, it is going to be an fun and interesting day/night of baseball, and I highly recommend that if you are within driving distance of any of these regional sites, you go check out the amazing atmosphere and enjoy what should be some high scoring affairs where the game won’t be over until all 27 outs are recorded.

Shotgun Spratling

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