Super Regionals start tomorrow for college baseball, and let’s pick up where we left off in yesterday’s blog. Here are my thoughts on the other four super regionals.
#12 Louisville @ #5 Texas A&M
This matchup is fascinating to me because Louisville had some moments of trouble and some moments of dominance in their regional. In the first matchup with Michigan, the Cardinals struggled to match the Wolverine offense, falling 7-3. The following day, the offense began to warm with an 8-5 win over Oregon before exploding Sunday night with some revenge against Michigan to the tally of 20-1.
In the elimination game on Monday, Louisville and Michigan had an intense, back-and-forth battle for the first seven and a half innings where Michigan held a 9-7 lead. In the bottom of the 8th, a controversial call in Louisville’s favor helped spark a four-run inning as the Cardinals took back the lead for the final time, punching a ticket to the College Station Super Regional.
Texas A&M is one of the most intriguing teams in college baseball. Much like Auburn, the Aggies were picked to finish in the cellar of the SEC, and as conference play started, it appeared to be playing out that way. Somewhere a few weeks into conference play, things began to click. First-year coach Jim Schlossnagle’s squad turned a corner and began to scale the SEC West standings. Eventually, A&M surpassed division-favorite Arkansas on the final weekend of the season.
In the postseason, the Aggies have picked up right where they left off in the regular season. A&M swept their way through their regional, including a 15-9 victory over Schlossnagle’s old team in TCU.
Something interesting to keep an eye on with this team is how they manage the mental side of the game. Watch each batter. Watch how they take deep breaths, especially in crucial moments, to calm themselves. Watch how they all have a routine. Watch how they focus on a specific point on the barrel of their bats that allows them to “lock in” at the plate. This team is the embodiment of the “win the next pitch” mentality, and it starts with the man in charge in Schlossnagle.
Louisville has had a nice run, but in the end, I do not think their luck will continue in College Station. This A&M team’s mastery of the mental game of baseball will allow them to make it to Omaha.
Ole Miss @ #11 Southern Miss
Well, if you’re looking for a wild atmosphere, this is one of the two regionals to keep an eye on. Hattiesburg will be absolutely bumping this weekend when Ole Miss rolls into town.
Southern Miss has had a tremendous year, but their regional was anything but smooth sailing. The Golden Eagles had to scrape by Army before dropping their first matchup with LSU in a tight battle on Saturday.
On Sunday, it took extras for Southern Miss to stay alive against Kennesaw State and force a rematch with LSU, who they beat 8-4 to force a Game 7 on Monday. After a one-game reprieve from nerve-racking battles, Southern Miss barely fended off the Bayou Bengals with a game-winning run in the top of the 9th inning to advance to the Super Regionals.
On the other hand, Ole Miss was a controversial pick to even make the NCAA Tournament. The consensus was that Ole Miss was likely the last team selected for the tournament.
Well, when the Rebels went down to Coral Gables to the Miami Regional, you would not have realized that they were a fringe tournament team. After a day or so delay due to weather, Ole Miss got off on the right foot with 7-4 and 2-1 wins over Arizona and #6 Miami to start the regional.
Finally, in their third game on Monday, Ole Miss took a buzzsaw to Arizona behind the big bat of Tim Elko, who homered three times in the game and hit .778 for the regional, to the tune of a 22-6 victory.
Sweeping a regional is always difficult. Sweeping a regional on the road as a three-seed at the #6 team in the country is dang near impossible, and Ole Miss did it in style.
This regional is a total toss-up for me. Ole Miss looks better coming in. Southern Miss has a much stronger body of work and home-field advantage. Add in a little bulletin board material about the atmosphere that Ole Miss served up to Southern Miss fans, and I think the Golden Eagles might get it done and make it back to Omaha for the second time in program history.
Arkansas @ #10 North Carolina
This regional will have a whole lot of offense. Both teams had some really explosive performances a week ago.
UNC had to fight their way through the loser’s bracket of their regional after dropping a close one to VCU on Saturday. They scraped by against Georgia thanks to a robbed home run in the 9th inning and went on to get its revenge against VCU with a pair of wins to close out their regional.
Arkansas is the lone survivor of possibly the wildest regional last weekend. Stillwater was where you needed to be to watch high-scoring offenses and home runs all over the place. After a 7-1 win over Grand Canyon, Arkansas took on the regional hosts in #7 Oklahoma State and managed to power through with a 20-12 victory.
After Okie State had a ridiculously stupid comeback 29-15 victory of Missouri State, Arkansas and Oklahoma State squared off again in a crazy, back-and-forth affair that needed the 10th inning to allow the Cowboys to take down the Razorbacks 14-10, but on Monday, Arkansas managed to fend off OSU 7-3 to win an extremely intense and hostile regional.
This Arkansas team has been underrated all year and has looked the part of a top-5 team for much of the season. I think the Hogs will be too much for UNC. UNC fans might have flashbacks to 2019 when they let another SEC team, Auburn, come to town and punch a ticket to Omaha.
#9 Texas at #8 East Carolina
This may be the other regional that has a very…hostile environment. ECU’s field has a short wall with fans draped all over it. Texas Head Coach David Pierce may have thrown a little extra gasoline on the fire by talking about the atmosphere in the media. He said that his teams have had beer thrown on them, and security has had to get involved in the past in Greenville.
Well…rather than settling down a raucous environment, I think ECU’s fans will use these comments as extra motivation to make sure the atmosphere is…memorable for Texas.
Texas has been one of the favorites to be in this spot from the preseason. They were the #1 team in the country early in the season before Tennessee dethroned them. For a short stretch, the Longhorns scuffled, but they rebounded and secured the #9 seed this postseason. In the Austin Regional, Texas quietly handled their business without any drama and swept their way to the Supers.
ECU almost had a very similar story. ECU has been strong all season, and ECU handled their first two games without a whole lot of outside noise. The only blemish of their weekend was a 9-1 loss to Coastal Carolina on Sunday night as the Chanticleers forces a Game 7 against the Pirates. Unfortunately for Coastal, ECU got their revenge handily on Monday with a 13-4 victory and the chance to host a Super this weekend.
If we base this series off talent, it should be a Texas victory, but as I said before, ECU is an extremely tough place to play. I think this one is somewhat of a toss-up as well.
The only thing that is for sure with these series is that there will be fireworks. There will be drama. There will be bad calls by umpires that the losing fan bases with cite as reasons their team is not going to Omaha. Nonetheless, it will be extremely exciting to watch.