10 Great College Baseball Games You Can Watch On YouTube, Part 2
Image credit: Mississippi State third baseman (Trevor Birchett, Mississippi State Athletics)
Last month, we released a list of 10 great college baseball games you can watch on YouTube to help you get through an extended offseason.
Some of those games have been the subject of deep dives on the Baseball America College Podcast, and several more will receive that treatment as time goes on.
But now that the calendar has mercifully flipped to April, it’s time to serve up 10 more games for those who may have already blown through the original list.
1992 College World Series Championship – Pepperdine vs. Cal State Fullerton
It would be tough to ask a championship game to give you any more than this one does.
You have the best player in college baseball in Fullerton’s Phil Nevin. You have two teams who came through a historically loaded CWS field, and most importantly, you have a nail-biter of a game.
It also turns out to be a program-defining win for the Waves. Previously a very good program that had made one other CWS trip, in 1979, Pepperdine climbed to the mountaintop for its only national title with this win.
1991 College World Series – Clemson vs. Long Beach State
Long Beach State was just beginning a period that would make it one of the most talent-rich college baseball programs in history, as this was just the second CWS trip for the Dirtbags during a run of four in less than a decade.
Clemson had been a consistent winner for a while at this point, but this was its first trip to Omaha since 1980 with a team that ended up winning 60 games.
Together, they combined to give fans an outstanding contest in a loser’s bracket game. If you’re a fan of offense, this one’s for you.
2019 College World Series – Florida State vs. Arkansas
If you are looking for a counter to the run-happy game between Clemson and Long Beach State, this could be the antidote. The Seminoles and Razorbacks combine for a gem of a pitcher’s duel.
On top of that, there’s some nostalgia and feelgood with this game, as it turned out to be FSU coach Mike Martin’s last win in Omaha. Watching this game will undoubtedly take you on a trip down memory lane with some of the great Florida State teams of the past.
2011 College World Series – South Carolina vs. Virginia
In a CWS that would end with the program’s second of back-to-back national championships, South Carolina played several close games that put a lengthy postseason winning streak in peril, but time and again, it came through.
This challenge came from a Virginia team that spent a considerable amount of time that season at No. 1 in the rankings and ended up winning the ACC regular season and tournament titles. This one goes a bit long, so get comfortable.
2004 College World Series Final Game 2 – Cal State Fullerton vs. Texas
In terms of true college baseball blue bloods, you can’t do much better than Cal State Fullerton and Texas. With 36 appearances, the Longhorns have been to Omaha more than any other program in college baseball history and the Titans have made 18 trips, tied for seventh all-time, which is impressive when you consider that the first trip didn’t happen until 1975.
There’s also the Augie Garrido connection, with the late skipper making numerous appearances with each school, including in this game with Texas.
It’s no surprise that a matchup of these two programs came down to pitching, and the Titans got the best of the Longhorns this time around.
1999 College World Series – Alabama vs. Rice
This game from CWS past is fun in part because it involves two programs in a similar place right now.
Both were regulars in Omaha in the not-so-distant past, with the Crimson Tide going three times in four years between 1996 and 1999 under coach Jim Wells and Rice going seven times between 1997 and 2008 under Wayne Graham, but as it stands now, both are rebuilding in an attempt to make a return.
Both teams were behemoths in 1999, each winning more than 50 games, and to top it off, they put on a good show in this elimination game.
2018 Nashville Super Regional Game 3 – Mississippi State vs. Vanderbilt
This was the best super regional matchup the 2018 postseason had to offer. All three games were more or less toss-ups between two of the biggest brands the college game has to offer.
The third game of the series, highlighted here, was the best of the bunch, going late into the night and providing fans with more twists and turns than your average roller coaster.
Even outside of the game itself, there are so many stories built into this one. This was MSU’s improbable run under coach Gary Henderson, who had taken over early in the season after Andy Cannizaro’s abrupt firing. In the other dugout, you had a young Vanderbilt team that was beginning to show signs of the monster that it would become in 2019.
2018 Gainesville Super Regional Game 3 – Florida vs. Auburn
If there was a 2018 super regional that rivaled the one in Nashville, it was this one in Gainesville. The teams traded wins in the first two games before settling things in an airtight gem of a game to finish it out.
Florida gets a well-deserved win here in dramatic fashion, but ultimately, this game might be remembered just as much as a jumping off point for Auburn pushing through and making its own trip to Omaha in 2019 after the heartbreak of 2018.
2019 Los Angeles Super Regional Game 1 – Michigan vs. UCLA
As good as Michigan clearly was during the 2019 season, and as much as they had proven by winning the Corvallis Regional the weekend prior, this super regional still looked like a mismatch.
After all, Michigan was a Cinderella story that was able to take advantage of Oregon State going 0-2 in a home regional, and UCLA was the team that had spent much of the business end of the regular season ranked No. 1 in the country.
Of course, the Wolverines had other ideas than going to Los Angeles and rolling over against the nation’s best team, and they proved it with their performance in this first game of a well-played super regional.
2018 Athens Regional Final – Duke vs. Georgia
There are great stories wrapped up in this game, which was already worth watching because of its status as a game seven regional final. Adding to the intrigue is that Duke had been on the brink of going 0-2 in this regional before making a torrid run and eventually pushing through to its first super regional.
Duke had also already beaten Georgia once in the first game of the regional final, which only adds to the drama. If the Blue Devils continue to improve under coach Chris Pollard, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t, we’ll look back at this game as the moment when they really announced their presence on the national stage.
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