NCAA College Baseball Regionals Recap Part I
Photo Credit: CBS 17
As of Monday, the Regional round of the D1 College Baseball Playoffs has ended. With it, 16 teams moved on to the Super Regionals, and 48 went home. Here are the recaps of each of the regionals.
Knoxville Regional Winner: Tennessee Volunteers
To minimal surprise, Tennessee ran through regionals, outscoring its opponents 33-12 in three games. Indiana opened the Knoxville regional with a 10-4 win against Southern Miss, capitalized by a three-hit, four-RBI performance from first baseman Brock Tibbitts, and a nine-strikeout performance by starting pitcher Ty Bothwell. Southern Miss managed to fight through the losers’ bracket to return to the Regional Final. However, they knocked off Northern Kentucky after junior Niko Mazza threw a complete game shutout in a 6-0 victory. They then got revenge against Indiana with a 15-3 blowout. Three different Golden Eagles racked up three RBI in the shootout. Tennessee beat Northern Kentucky, Indiana, and Southern Miss in succession, winning by scores of 9-6, 12-3, and 12-6, respectively. Its top performer was sophomore outfielder Dylan Dreiling, who went 7-15 at the plate with two home runs, three walks, and five runs scored. Tennessee is set to play Evansville on June 7.
Greenville Regional Winner: Evansville Purple Aces
The fourth-seed came to play in Greenville, as they shocked college baseball by winning a regional that included both East Carolina and Wake Forest. Evansville started hot, beating the host East Carolina Pirates 4-1. Kenton Deverman threw a stellar eight innings (1 ER, 4 K, 3 H), and Shane Harris closed it out in the ninth for the Purple Aces. Wake Forest engaged in a pitching duel with Virginia Commonwealth University but ultimately lost a 1-0 game. Even with a 10-strikeout performance from David Falco Jr., Wake Forest had no chance after Christian Gordon of VCU went seven and two-thirds innings, allowing only two hits and punching out an astounding 13. Wake Forest couldn’t catch a break as they fell by one to ECU in the losers’ bracket due to a last-inning meltdown. Down 4-1, the Demon Deacons put across five runs to go ahead of the Pirates in the top of the ninth. But, a five-hit bottom of the ninth, capitalized by a walk-off from junior Luke Nowak, sent Wake Forest home in stunning fashion. Evansville outslugged VCU 17-11 to make the final round of the regional, then East Carolina did the same by defeating VCU 10-7. The Pirates refused to be eliminated, putting up a ridiculous 19 runs against Evansville. In the penultimate game seven of the regional, the Pirates continued to crush the ball, putting up five runs in the first five innings. Evansville wasn’t done though, and with one out in the sixth, left fielder Mark Shallenberger hit a three-run bomb to give Evansville a 6-5 lead. They held on and became the only fourth seed to move on to the Super Regional. Their road doesn’t get easier, as they now are tasked with taking down the number one ranked Tennessee Volunteers.
Tallahassee Regional Winner: Florida State Seminoles
In a battle of the Deep South, Florida State University prevailed as the winner of the Tallahassee Regional. FSU beat Stetson University 7-2, and the University of Central Florida narrowly got the better of Alabama in an 8-7 win. Right fielder Jack Zyska had a nice day at the plate (2-4, 3 RBI, 1 BB) to help the Knights against the Crimson Tide. Stetson finished off Alabama by virtue of a combined shutout from redshirt senior Aric McAtee (4.1 IP, 3 K, 21 BF) and senior Anthony DeFabbia (4.2 IP, 4 K, 15 BF). Florida State sent Central Florida down to the losers’ bracket to face Stetson via a 5-2 game. UCF quickly fought their way back to a rematch with the Seminoles by sending home Stetson. The Knights beat the Hatters 5-2, as Jack Zyska once again had a stellar game, going 3-3 with two RBIs and a walk. Unfortunately, another multi-hit performance from the outfielder (2-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB) would be in vain as the Seminoles put across 12 runs to head to the next round. They did so despite only accumulating seven hits, as the UCF pitchers struggled to find the strike zone. Florida State’s Super Regional matchup will be against UConn.
Norman Regional Winner: UConn Huskies
It took until game seven, but UConn came out on top in Norman. UConn began by defeating Duke 4-1. Freshman Tyler Minick went 2-4 with a homer for the Huskies. The University of Oklahoma tore through Oral Roberts, 14-0, on the back of a combined shutout between Kyson Witherspoon and Carter Campbell. Duke beat Oral Roberts 6-2 in the losers bracket with an 11 hit performance. Following each of their victories, the Huskies and Sooners matched up in the second round of the Norman Regional. UConn came out on top, knocking the Sooners to the losers bracket. In the 4-1 win, Huskies starter Stephen Quigley went eight innings and only gave up a single run. Down to their last leg, Oklahoma just surpassed Duke in a 4-3 ballgame, giving them another chance against the Huskies. In the rematch, a huge eighth inning from the Sooners kept their College World Series dreams afloat, as they beat UConn 6-4. In game seven, UConn took a 6-0 lead and didn’t look back, running away with the win and a trip to the Super Regional. The series with the Seminoles begins on June 7.
Fayetteville Regional Winner: Kansas State Wildcats
Arkansas was upset by both Kansas State and Southeast Missouri, making them the highest-ranked team to be eliminated during the regional round. Arkansas tromped Southeast Missouri in game one by a tally of 17-9, but their run would end briefly after. Kansas State’s first match was also a beating, as they put up 19 runs against Louisiana Tech. Third baseman Jaden Parsons and shortstop Kaelen Culpepper each had four hits and four RBI for the Wildcats, and left fielder Chuck Ingram hit two home runs. In the following game against Arkansas, Kansas State managed to scratch six runs across against Arkansas ace and likely top-10 draft pick Hagen Smith. They held on narrowly, defeating the Razorbacks 7-6. Southeast Missouri dispatched LA Tech 9-3 in the first elimination game, and then managed the unthinkable by eliminating Arkansas altogether in a shocking 6-3 victory. The Redhawks managed to strand 13 Razorback runners on base, helping to stifle any potential Arkansas rally. Despite their impressive run, they couldn’t catch up to a red-hot Kansas State team, who beat Southeast Missouri 7-2 in the final round of the Fayetteville Regional. Kansas State will be moving on to go against Virginia in the next round.
Charlottesville Regional Winner: Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia won their own regional, despite hosting the higher ranked Mississippi State. They opened the regional with a 4-2 win against Penn, a three-run homer by Virginia second baseman Henry Goudbout proving insurmountable. Junior Khal Stephen threw 10 Ks in an eight inning start in order to win Mississippi State’s first game against St. John’s University 5-2. St. John’s did not go down easily, as they escaped elimination against Penn State 10-9 in a wild 12 inning game. Redshirt senior Anthony Brienza was the hero, knocking a single to walk off Penn and keep the Red Storm College World Series hopes alive. The walk offs were coming in bunches in this regional, as Virginia sent Mississippi State to the losers bracket with a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the ninth of a 5-4 win. The Diamond Dawgs ended St. John’s run with a 13-5 rout of the Red Storm, highlighted by a 5-5 day by right fielder Dakota Jordan. Unfortunately for Mississippi State, the rematch with the Virginia Cavaliers didn’t go much better, as they went down 9-2, six of those runs coming in the ninth inning. Junior Jay Woolfolk (8 IP, 2 ER, 7 K) got the win despite spending most of the season as a reliever. The Cavaliers will face the high scoring Kansas State Wildcats in the Super Regional.
Tucson Regional Winner: West Virginia Mountaineers
One of the biggest Cinderellas thus far in the tournament, West Virginia, the three-seed of the Tucson Regional, triumphed over powerhouses such as Arizona and Dallas Baptist. Arizona, the host of the Tucson regional bracket, lost two straight for a quick tournament exit. West Virginia started by beating DBU 4-1, thanks in large part to a complete game from senior southpaw Derek Clark, then moved on to the final by beating Grand Canyon University. Before entering the losers bracket, Grand Canyon took down Arizona in their first match 9-4 for their first ever NCAA Tournament win. Arizona saw their 2024 season come to a close after DBU shut them out, 7-0. Senior Jaron DeBerry went six scoreless with six punch outs to boot. DBU’s season ended on behalf of a 12-10 loss to Grand Canyon University. Despite a six RBI performance from DBU designated hitter Tom Poole, GCU’s team effort of 19 hits got them into the final round of regionals. That is as far as the Lopes would go though, as West Virginia took down the fourth-seed 10-6. Derek Clark, the hero of the DBU game, came in in relief to record the last two outs, securing WVU their first ever NCAA Super Regional appearance. They play UNC on Friday.
Chapel Hill Regional Winner: North Carolina
It was a two-horse battle in Chapel Hill, as both LSU and University of North Carolina went head to head for a spot in the Super Regional. Both teams won their first match, the Tigers against Wofford 4-3 and the Tar Heels against Long Island University 11-8. Then, in a matchup of the Chapel Hill one and two seed, UNC prevailed 6-2, as Tar Heel leadoff hitter Vance Honeycutt (2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R) had a strong day at the plate. Wofford escaped elimination briefly after defeating LIU 5-2, but it was short lived. LSU clubbed the Terriers 13-6. Junior Josh Pearson went 3-4 with four RBIs, four runs scored, and a walk. The Tiger win led to a rematch against UNC in the final round of the regional. Game one went to LSU, who won by a tally of 8-4. Junior Thatcher Hurd had a solid start (5.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 K) and freshman Steven Milam (3-5, 2 RBI, 1 R) contributed heavily at the plate. It came down to a third game between the two powerhouses, and ultimately the Tigers fell short. The Tar Heels trailed 3-2 for almost the entire game, but in the ninth Colby Wilkerson evened the score with an RBI single. Then in extras, after Johnny Castagnozzi reached on an error by the LSU right fielder, UNC regained the lead with an Alex Madera base hit. LSU couldn’t respond, and UNC punched their ticket to the Super Regional.