Nashville Regional Preview

Baseball America will break down all 16 regionals, including Nashville, hosted by Vanderbilt. Michael Lananna has the details.

STAT PACK (National rank in parentheses)
	Avg.	Scoring (R/G)	HR	SB	ERA	K/9	WHIP	Fielding %age
1. Vanderbilt	.274 (139)	6.8 (40)	43 (69)	87 (27)	3.12 (14)	9.7 (2)	1.21 (16)	.976 (29)
2. UC Santa Barbara	.260 (213)	5.3 (152)	25 (192)	72 (61)	3.89 (73)	7.6 (94)	1.33 (62)	.973 (56)
3. Washington	.282 (100)	5.1 (183)	33 (123)	26 (274)	3.99 (82)	6.5 (218)	1.27 (34)	.976 (31)
4. Xavier	.259 (219)	4.9 (198)	54 (34)	97 (15)	4.58 (141)	6.0 (256)	1.54 (178)	.974 (47)

Vanderbilt (43-17, 18-12 in SEC East)

15th appearance (11th straight), at-large, third place in SEC East

Top 300 prospects: RHP Jordan Sheffield (23), OF Bryan Reynolds (31), LHP Ben Bowden (78)

Season in a Sentence: After making the College World Series finals for the second straight year, the Commodores retooled and reloaded successfully with the nation’s top recruiting class and a young, talented core.

Player to Watch: Bryan Reynolds, of: The junior center fielder is Vanderbilt’s leading hitter and home run hitter, with 13, and has been as steady as they come for the Commodores throughout his college career. He’s batting .335/.462/.615 in 218 at-bats and could be the first Commodore off the draft board next week.

Best Weekend: vs. South Carolina, March 31-April 2. Vanderbilt’s top series win came against eventual SEC East champion South Carolina, taking two of three against the Gamecocks. It was an important SEC series win, as the Commodores also played each of the SEC’s four national seeds but were unable to win those series.

Outlook: Vanderbilt has a solid draw in this regional, hosting two West Coast teams from what was a down year in the west coast. With that said, there is plenty of talent on the mound in this regional—such as Washington’s Noah Bremer and UC Santa Barbara’s Shane Bieber. Those teams shouldn’t be overlooked, but Vanderbilt is the clear favorite.

UC Santa Barbara (37-18-1, 13-11 in Big West)

11th appearance (2nd straight), at-large, third place in Big West

Top 300 Prospects: RHP Shane Bieber (213), OF Andrew Calica (235)

Season in a Sentence: The Gauchos looked, at one point, like the team to beat in the Big West and a potential host, but they struggled down the stretch, going 9-8 in May.

Player to Watch: Shane Bieber, rhp: The Biebs has been a reliable weekend rotation force in all three seasons for UCSB, going 11-3, 2.96 in 112 innings this season. He works deep into games, works quickly and keeps his defense engaged. He should at least keep UCSB within striking distance.

Best Weekend: at Long Beach State, April 1-3. UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach, the seeming favorites for the Big West after hot starts to the season, squared off in the beginning of April. The Gauchos won the series and entered the apex of their season in terms of RPI and ranking.

Outlook: The good news for the Gauchos coming in is they’ve gotten healthier. The return of freshman righthander Noah Davis should help—he’s flashed moments of brilliance this season. Still, coming out of a regional hosted by Vanderbilt—a team that has made the CWS finals back-to-back years and is 31-5 at home this season–is a tough assignment. The Gauchos will need to pitch well and get production out of bats such as Andrew Calica and Austin Bush to have a chance.

Washington (32-21, 17-13 in Pac-12)

10th appearance (first since 2014), at-large, second place in Pac-12

Top 300 Prospects: None

Season in a Sentence: The Huskies were one of the few success stories out of the Pac-12 this season, exceeding expectations and vying for first place in the conference up until a decisive showdown with first-place Utah at season’s end.

Player to Watch: Jack Meggs, of: The son of head coach Lindsay Meggs, the junior’s .286/.358/.340 line doesn’t jump out, but he’s the type of player who brings more to the table than sheer numbers. An opposing Pac-12 coach said earlier this spring he thought Meggs might be the most valuable player in the league just for the leadership and scrappiness he provides.

Best Weekend: at California, April 29-May 1. California, a preseason top 10, was still in striking distance of first place in the conference when the two teams met in Berkeley, but the Huskies effectively squashed any hopes of a standings resurgence by winning the series. Washington then followed that up with another road series win at Southern California.

Outlook: Compared to the prospect-rich Commodores, the Huskies aren’t filled to the brim with draft talent, but they have a gritty team that plays together and plays solid team defense. Closer Troy Rallings—second in the nation with a 0.89 ERA—didn’t pitch in the final weekend due to elbow issues. The Huskies could use him this weekend.

Xavier (30-28, 14-4 in Big East)

3rd appearance (first since 2014), automatic qualifier, first place in the Big East

Top 300 Prospects: None

Season in a Sentence: The Musketeers got hot at just the right time, winning 16 of their last 18 games to surge into first place in the Big East standings, then took care of business in the tournament to get the automatic bid.

Player to Watch: Dan Rizzie, c: The senior catcher won Big East tournament MOP honors, going 8-for-14 with six RBI. He’s Xavier’s leading hitter, batting .312/.373/.472 with nine home runs in 231 at-bats.

Best Weekend: Big East Tournament, May 26-29. Xavier’s best weekend was undoubtedly its most recent one. The Musketeers needed to win the Big East tournament; their resume wasn’t strong enough to earn an at-large. They defeated Creighton, which at one point seemed like an at-large lock, twice in the conference tournament to win the championship and make their way back to a regional.

Outlook: The Musketeers don’t have the odds on their side in this one. Their RPI (No. 79) and strength of schedule is significantly weaker than the rest of the competition. What Xavier has in its favor is that it is coming in red hot, having won 16 of it last 18, but that success doesn’t seem likely to continue.