The current edition of the spotlight shines on the Super 16.
Before the impact players and key moments emerge and the national championship picture takes shape, it’s worth a look at the specific battles through which this season’s memorable college baseball post-season stories will unfold.
Tickets for Omaha will be punched this weekend with eight separate three game series beginning Friday and Saturday.
SUPER REGIONALS
#1 Florida Gators vs Florida State Seminoles
SEC vs ACC
Saturday – Monday * Gainesville, Florida
One of two instate rivalry rematches with far more than bragging rights on the line, this series also features the number one overall national seeded Florida Gators. Both Sunshine state teams cruised through their regionals with 3-0 marks to set up the highly anticipated showdown. The Gators enter with 50 wins already posted on the season after a tough closing stretch in the SEC, while FSU rides the momentum of a strong showing and runner up finish in the ACC’s round robin tournament to close out the regular year. They are also fresh of an eighteen run offensive display in the regional final victory over South Alabama. It has been a forty win campaign overall in Tallahassee to this point, though as always you can throw the records out when these two get together. The ‘Noles and Gators met in three mid-week contest this year, with Florida sweeping the season series.
#2 Louisville Cardinals vs UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
ACC vs Big West
Saturday – Monday * Louisville, Kentucky
This series boasts the only team besides the national #1 seed to have already accumulated 50 wins on the year. Many believe the Cardinals also possess the most complete team top to bottom in the entire tournament. They face the surprise of the field. Santa Barbara claimed the Nashville Regional left open by Vanderbilt’s early departure amidst tragic circumstances last weekend. It was a hard fought win for the Gauchos, as they were forced to fend off talented Washington and Xavier squads to survive and advance. The host school was barely tested in the regional round and enters with a ton of confidence as a result. This series marks the first ever Super Regional appearance in Santa Barbara history. Louisville pursues Omaha from the Supers perch for a sixth time overall, this time carrying the flag for the ACC, a conference seeking a second straight title following a five decade drought.
#3 Miami Hurricanes vs Boston College Eagles
ACC vs ACC
Friday – Sunday * Coral Gables, Florida
This series assures the ACC of at least one team in Omaha. Miami would have come as no surprise entering tournament play, the Eagles of Boston College are another story entirely. Remember the football classic between these two? One can only hope this lone conference battle of Supers weekend be just as thrilling. BC is one of two clubs (UCSB) making a first ever Super Regional appearance. They are also carrying the banner for all northern teams at this point, as the only club with a home ballpark north of the Kentucky line still alive in the NCAA Tourney. This team won the Oxford regional, considered by many as one of the tougher draws in the country. They outlasted the host Rebels, Pac 12 champs Utah and a scrappy Tulane club to move forward. The Eagles have two legit aces at the front end of their rotation in Stephens and Dunn. That tandem must pitch as well on this second weekend as they did in the first if BC hopes to unseat the program with more tournament experience than anyone in history. The #3 nationally seeded Hurricanes have a complete team and have given fans in South Florida every reason to expect an even deeper run through their 44th straight NCAA Tourney appearance.
#4 Texas A&M Aggies vs TCU Horned Frogs
SEC vs Big 12
Friday – Sunday * College Station, Texas
Look no farther than the recent Super Regional history between these teams for the reason not to miss a single pitch of this showdown. Last season’s Super Regional edition of this in-state rivalry was held in Fort Worth. Two of the three games required extra innings, with the clincher going sixteen frames before the home team celebrated with a traditional dog pile en route to a second straight Omaha trip. It’s a battle of conference tournament champions. Beyond that it’s an old school Big 12 crew (now an SEC power) vs the new baseball standard bearer. TCU won the tournament title this time around, doing that in extra inning fashion also. They’ve quickly become the Big 12’s most consistent club since entering the conference. The Aggies can reach 50 wins on the season by clinching the series, it will take yet another trip to Omaha for the 45 win Frogs to chase that mark. TCU has become a bit more of an offensive club this season than traditionally. SEC Player of the Year Boomer White (who not that long ago played in Omaha for the Frogs) has made sure the same holds true for the host team. He’s fresh off leading the Aggies to the SEC Tournament title and quickly through the regional round. For all the offensive fire power, starting pitching could tip the scales. This much is certain, Blue Bell Ballpark will be a tough ticket this weekend for a true showdown, Lone Star style.
#5 Texas Tech Red Raiders vs East Carolina Pirates
Big 12 vs American Athletic
Friday – Sunday * Lubbock, Texas
They’re still playing in West Texas too by the way. The Big 12 champs and only national seed to come from outside of the powerful ACC/SEC bubble has their guns up to remind everyone that their 45 win club is still kicking. Tech ran away with the regular season conference crown, then survived a scare from DBU in the Lubbock Regional by winning game two of the finals for advancement. It’s a heavy hitting Red Raiders group which paced the Big 12 in HR’s with 50 on the season. It’s impossible to sleep on a team with conference player of the year Eric Gutierrez in the lineup. East Carolina won the Charlottesville regional hosted by the defending national champions. If that doesn’t provide Pirate fans with enough confidence, consider that Coach Cliff Godwin has Omaha experience, making it to the College World Series as an Ole Miss assistant before taking over at his Alma Mater to the tune of instant success. ECU had already beaten Virginia two out of three in Charlottesville prior to tournament action last week, a sign of how battle tested they were all season. For ECU to succeed they’ll have to go from unseating a team which secured the ACC’s first title in decades (as a 3 seed ironically enough), to knocking off a group which secured a first Big 12 title in nearly twenty years. In case you’re wondering the Pirates and BC Eagles are the only three seeds remaining in the tourney.
#6 Mississippi State Bulldogs vs Arizona Wildcats
SEC vs Pac 12
Friday – Sunday * Starkville, Mississippi
The SEC regular season champs remain home for the Super Regional round, but with a very difficult challenge. If BC is carrying the flag for the northern teams, Arizona is certainly doing the same for the power conference clubs out west. As an at-large team which did not close out the year with an incredibly impressive stretch run, the Wildcats seemed to finally put it all together in the final few games of the Lafayette regional. Remember, this is a team that won the national title just a few short years ago. Even though it is a new crop of ‘Cats, the experience of having been there still pays dividends for a staff and a program. That should also come as good news for a Mississippi State team in search of a return to Omaha for the first time since the 2013 club appeared in the championship series against UCLA. Barely tested in the regional round, the Bulldogs will once again have all the comforts of Starkville to provide an additional boost in what should be a very entertaining series between clubs with a history of post-season success.
#8 LSU Tigers vs Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
SEC vs Big South
Saturday – Monday * Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Two of the hottest teams in the country will square off down on the Bayou. LSU is 16-3 since the rally possum showed up on that fateful Saturday night and sparked a come from behind SEC win. Though it has more to do with timely offense and solid pitching, there is much to be said for the Bayou Bengals finish to the regular season after starting just 2-5 in SEC play. Jake Fraley and Kramer Robertson pace a potent offense, while the solid 1-2 punch of Alex Lange and Jared Poche in the rotation has been effective. Coastal Carolina will enter one of the toughest environments in all of college baseball, yet they do so with maybe the most momentum in the entire tournament. After entering their final at bat trailing by two runs, the Chanticleers used a four run frame (part of a ninth inning which was interrupted and postponed a day by rain) to knock off their neighbors from the Carolina to the north. Winning the Raleigh regional over NC State in dramatic fashion was just the latest chapter in what has been another impressive season for the Chants. If any offense from a mid-major conference has the power to keep up with LSU, perhaps it is Coastal Carolina. They finished second in all of Division I baseball with 89 homers in the regular season. The Big South champions have a rare combination of power, speed and post-season experience which could make things interesting for a Tigers team in pursuit of Omaha for a second straight year.
South Carolina Gamecocks vs Oklahoma State Cowboys
SEC vs Big 12
Saturday – Monday * Columbia, South Carolina
Pitching has been the catalyst to the success of both Oklahoma State and South Carolina. Don’t think for a moment, however, that it is wise to sleep on teams that combined to score 78 runs in their regional games. Keep in mind, Oklahoma state only had to play three contests. The Cowboys swept through the Clemson regional, depriving fans of another all Palmetto State showdown and ousting the 7th overall National Seed in the process. Oklahoma state exhibited tremendous depth on the mound in making quick work of the Tigers (twice) and Cornhuskers (in the opening game). The OSU victory secured the Big 12 a perfect 3 for 3 regional showing. They join Texas Tech and TCU as conference comrades still fighting for a trip to Omaha. South Carolina became only the second SEC host team in history to drop its first game of the tournament and battle back to win the regional. After falling to the fourth seeded Rams of Rhode Island in the opener, the Gamecocks eliminated Duke, Rhode Island and high-powered UNC-Wilmington en route to their latest Super Regional appearance. For a club that missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 1990’s a year ago, the host school looks to be a team on a mission. 43 of South Carolina’s 51 regional runs were scored on Sunday and Tuesday to close out the run. They will need Friday night starter Clarke Schmidt to return to form in order to matchup well with a Cowboys squad which relies heavily on strong pitching and solid defense.
“The Eye” will regularly shine a spotlight on specific players, coaches or teams worthy of attention for their efforts in the past week across the landscape of college baseball. Our spotlight is the place to keep up with the key performers and performances on the journey toward the World Series.