2021 NCAA Baseball Tournament Saturday Regionals Schedule, Scores Analysis, TV & More

Day 2 is here!

After an exciting Friday of regionals, the schedule for Saturday is below. Looking for our analysis from Friday? You can find our game-by-game analysis here, and our 11 takeaways here. 

TIME (ET)	MATCHUP	WINNER	Regional	TV
12 p.m.	(3) Michigan vs. (4) Central Michigan	CMU, 8-2	South Bend	ESPN2
12 p.m.	(1) Florida vs. (4) South Alabama	USA, 19-1	Gainesville	SECN
12 p.m.	(3) Virginia vs. (4) Jacksonville	UVA, 13-8	Columbia	ESPNU
12 p.m.	(2) Southern Miss. vs. (4) SEMO	USM, 21-0	Oxford	ESPN3
12 p.m.	(2) Duke vs. (4) Wright State	DUKE, 14-6	Knoxville	ACCN
1 p.m.	(3) Maryland vs. (4) Norfolk State	UMD, 16-0	Greenville	ESPN3
1 p.m.	(2) Oregon State vs. (4) McNeese State	OSU, 10-5	Fort Worth	ESPN3
2 p.m.	(3) Fairfield vs. (4) Southern	FFD, 6-2	Austin	ESPN3
2 p.m.	(3) Indiana State vs. (4) Presbyterian	ISU, 9-2	Nashville	ESPN3
3 p.m.	(2) UCLA vs. (4) Army	UCLA, 13-6	Lubbock	ESPN2
3 p.m.	(3) Northeastern vs. (4) NJIT	NJIT, 3-2	Fayetteville	ESPN3
3 p.m.	(3) Campbell vs. (4) Samford	CAM, 16-13	Starkville	ESPN3
3 p.m.	(3) Alabama vs. (4) Rider	BAMA, 3-1	Ruston	ESPN3
4 p.m.	(3) LSU vs. (4) Central Connecticut	LSU, 6-5	Eugene	SECN
4 p.m.	(3) Nevada vs. (4) North Dakota State	NDSU, 6-1	Stanford	ESPN3
4 p.m.	(2) Miami vs. (4) South Florida	USF, 10-2	Gainesville	ESPNU
4 p.m.	(2) Oklahoma State vs. (4) Grand Canyon	OSU, 5-3	Tucson	ESPN3
6 p.m.	(1) East Carolina vs. (2) Charlotte	ECU, 7-5	Greenville	ESPN3
6 p.m.	(1) Notre Dame vs. (2) UConn	ND, 26-3	South Bend	ESPN3
6 p.m.	(1) Ole Miss vs. (3) Florida State	MISS, 4-3	Oxford	ESPN2
6 p.m.	(1) Tennessee vs. (3) Liberty	TENN, 9-3	Knoxville	ESPN3
7 p.m.	(1) Louisiana Tech vs. (2) NC State	NCSU, 8-3	Ruston	ACCN
7 p.m.	(1) Old Dominion vs. (2) South Carolina	ODU, 2-1	Columbia	ESPN3
7 p.m.	(1) TCU vs. (3) Dallas Baptist	DBU, 8-6	Fort Worth	ESPN3
7 p.m.	(1) Texas vs. (2) Arizona State	UT, 10-3	Austin	LHN
7 p.m.	(1) Vanderbilt vs. (2) Georgia Tech	VU, 4-3	Nashville	ESPNU
8 p.m.	(1) Mississippi State vs. (2) VCU	MSU, 16-4	Starkville	ESPN3
9 p.m.	(1) Arkansas vs. (2) Nebraska	ARK, 5-1	Fayetteville	ESPN3
9 p.m.	(1) Stanford vs. (2) UC Irvine	STAN, 12-4	Stanford	ESPN3
9 p.m.	(1) Texas Tech vs. (3) North Carolina	TTU, 7-2	Lubbock	ESPN2
10 p.m.	(1) Oregon vs. (2) Gonzaga	UO, 7-3	Eugene	ESPNU
10 p.m.	(1) Arizona vs. (3) UC Santa Barbara	ARIZ, 4-0	Tucson	ESPN3

ANALYSIS 

Moving to Regional Final

– Oregon is one win away from its first super regional since 2012 thanks to a 7-3 win over Gonzaga. The Ducks made a statement early on with four runs in the first on an error, a Josh Kasevich RBI groundout and RBI singles from Anthony Hall and Sam Novitske. After the Zags punched back with three runs in the third, Oregon got three of its own in the top of the fourth, two of which came on a Gabe Matthews two-run homer. Lefthander Robert Ahlstrom turned in a good start, giving up seven hits and three runs in eight innings, and Kolby Somers threw a scoreless ninth with the help of a double-play ball after a leadoff walk. 

– Arizona, as potent a lineup as exists in college baseball this season, got it done on the mound in a 4-0 win over UC Santa Barbara to move to the regional final. Lefthander Garrett Irvin threw a shutout, allowing three hits and no walks with 10 strikeouts. Offensively, the Wildcats were held down fairly well by UCSB starter Michael McGreevey, and a pair of relievers, but on this night, it didn’t take much to get the job done. In the first, Daniel Susac singled home a run. In the third, Branden Boissiere added an RBI single. Against reliever Carter Benbrook in the seventh, Tony Bullard connected for a two-run blast to give Arizona some breathing room that it ended up not needing. 

– In the top of the sixth inning, Virginia Commonwealth scored three runs to pull within two runs of Mississippi State at 6-4, but that was just a fleeting moment in time that VCU was in striking distance, because MSU responded by scoring nine runs in the bottom of the sixth on the way to blowing out the Rams 16-4. The big blow in that massive sixth inning was the capper, a two-run homer from Kamren James. On the mound, lefthander Christian MacLeod was tagged with four runs in 5.2 innings of work, but Brandon Smith settled things down by throwing 2.1 scoreless innings and Parker Stinnett finished it by striking out the side in the ninth. One more win this weekend and the Bulldogs will be in a super regional once again. 

– North Carolina State quietly took care of business in the Ruston Regional for the second day in a row, this time with an 8-3 win over host Louisiana Tech. The offense scratched across three early runs, two of them on separate RBI hits by Jonny Butler, but then really went to work once it got into the La Tech bullpen, scoring three in the seventh and two in the eighth to put the game out of reach. That offensive output allowed the Wolfpack to stick to its pitching plan. Righthander Sam Highfill threw 5.1 scoreless and handed the ball over to bullpen ace Evan Justice, who wasn’t perfect thanks to three runs scored against him, but who closed out the win and struck out eight in 3.2 innings. With a win on Sunday, NC State will advance out of the regional round for the first time since 2013. 

– Texas got by Arizona State 10-3 with little incident. UT took advantage of wildness from ASU starter Justin Fall in the third, scoring runs on a bases-loaded hit by pitch, a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch. Zach Zubia added a two-run homer in the fourth to make it 5-0 and the Longhorns never looked back. Righthander Ty Madden was plenty good enough, giving up three hits and one run with four walks and seven strikeouts. With a regional final coming up on Sunday against either Fairfield or an Arizona State team that doesn’t have a ton of depth on the mound this season due to injuries, Texas is in a good spot. 

– Just as it did during the regular season, Arkansas is winning games in the Fayetteville Regional in multiple ways. On Friday, it had to win a slugfest to fend off NJIT. On Saturday, it won a game against Nebraska with pitching. Lefthander Patrick Wicklander gave up two hits and one run in five innings and righthander Kevin Kopps followed with four scoreless with six strikeouts. Matt Goodheart hit a solo homer to get the Razorbacks on the board in the first, and they plated two more in the second on a Braydon Webb RBI single and a Cayden Wallace sacrifice fly. That’s all the offense they needed, but they got some insurance in the sixth on a Christian Franklin bases-loaded walk and a passed ball. Arkansas is in great shape to advance to a super regional on Sunday. 

– Texas Tech’s pitching staff shined in a 7-2 win over North Carolina to advance the Red Raiders to another regional final. Lefthander Patrick Monteverde gave up six hits and two runs in 5.1 innings, and righthander Ryan Sublette was even better out of the bullpen, throwing 3.2 hitless innings. Combined, the pair struck out 15 Tar Heels. The teams were tied 2-2 going to the fifth, but that’s when Texas Tech took the lead and started to play add-on. A run scored in the fifth on a Braxton Fulford RBI double. Another came home in the seventh on a Kurt Wilson home run, and the dagger was the three runs scored in the eighth on a Nate Rombach bases-loaded walk and a Wilson infield single that scored two. Lubbock is as tough a place to win for road teams in regionals as anywhere else and that has proven to be the case again this season. 

– The much anticipated winner’s bracket game in between Stanford and UC Irvine didn’t turn out to be much of a game, as the Cardinal raced out to an early lead and held on for a 12-4 victory. Early on, they got a lot of help from the Anteaters’ defense, as six unearned runs came home in a seven-run second inning. And if UCI was thinking about any sort of miracle comeback, Stanford added four insurance runs late on a grand slam from catcher Kody Huff, which was Huff’s second grand slam of the day. On the mound, righthander Brendan Beck was outstanding, giving up seven hits and two runs with nine strikeouts in seven innings. UCI has the pitching depth and the offensive talent to come back and challenge Stanford again on Sunday if it can get there, but that will be a tough task against a Stanford team playing this well. 

– Dallas Baptist staged an impressive comeback to beat Texas Christian 8-6 and move to its sixth straight regional final, but first where it started out 2-0. After DBU got out to a 2-0 lead with two runs in the second, TCU started to chip away at Patriots starter Rhett Kouba. Eventually, it scored six off of him in his 6.1 innings to take a 6-2 lead into the seventh inning stretch. But DBU wasn’t done, as it scored five in the bottom of seventh to take a 7-6 lead, punctuated by a three-RBI double off the bat of Christian Boulware, and then added a run for good measure in the eighth to make it 8-6. Lefthander Peyton Sherlin was untouchable in his two innings to close out the win, striking out four along the way. 

– It was fair to assume that a potential matchup between Old Dominion and South Carolina in the Columbia Regional was going to result in a fair amount of run scored, mostly on home runs. But instead, these two power-hitting teams playing in a hitters’ park gave us a tense pitchers duel won by ODU 2-1. South Carolina righthander Thomas Farr threw 7.2 innings, giving up five hits and two runs. Old Dominion’s Ryne Moore tossed seven innings, allowing three hits and one run. The bottom of the seventh and top of the eighth were the moments of truth. In the seventh, the Gamecocks had Moore on the ropes as he was losing command and loaded the bases, but with two outs, he got Josiah Sightler to line out to left field. In the eighth, ODU similarly loaded the bases, but Farr wasn’t able to wiggle out of it, instead walking in a run to give the Monarchs the lead. To close it out, righthander Aaron Holiday came in and threw two scoreless innings. 

– The Gainesville Regional has given up surprise after surprise this weekend and that continued Saturday night with South Florida making quick work of Miami in a 10-2 win to move into position one win away from a super regional. Righthander Collin Sullivan was excellent out of the gate, giving up one run in four innings, but a torrential downpour forced a delay that kept Sullivan from being able to come back out. Undeterred, Logan Lyle and Joseph Sanchez combined to give up one run over the final five innings while the offense continued to pour it on. Both Riley Hogan and Nelson Rivera had three-hit days to lead the USF lineup. 

– Righthander Jack Leiter was on his game on Saturday, and that pushed Vanderbilt to a 4-3 win over Georgia Tech. He threw six innings, giving up three hits and one run with two walks and 11 strikeouts, and the Commodores held a 4-1 lead at the time he left the game. Still, the Yellow Jackets had one push left in them, as they scored two runs in the ninth on a Drew Compton two-run homer, but Nick Maldonado was able to strike out Jake DeLeo to end the threat and the game. Vandy has followed the formula this weekend of winning the games started by Rocker and Leiter. Its bullpen is well rested, so it’s all hands on deck tomorrow against either Georgia Tech again or Indiana State, but this where it gets interesting given the Commodores struggles in third games of series. 

– At the end of a tense battle with Florida State, Mississippi secured a spot in the regional final with a 4-3 win. Lefthander Doug Nikhazy wasn’t perfect but he had his strikeout stuff working and did enough to give his team a chance to score the runs they needed. He threw seven innings, giving up four hits and three runs (two earned) with one walk and 16 strikeouts. Two of those four hits, however, were homers for FSU, a solo shot for Isaiah Perry and a two-run blast for Logan Lacey in the fifth, which put the Seminoles ahead 3-2. In the seventh, though, the Rebels caught a break. With two men on and two outs, Tim Elko hit a relatively routine grounder to first, and with his torn ACL, he was far from motoring down the line. But FSU shortstop Nander De Sedas made a poor throw, overthrowing his first baseman, scoring the tying and go-ahead runs. With the lead now in hand, Taylor Broadway came on and threw two scoreless frames to close it out. 

– Charlotte got out to a fast start on Saturday night, at one point taking a 4-1 lead, but East Carolina got a little Clark-LeClair magic to come back for a 7-5 win to advance to the final on Sunday. Down 5-2 after Charlotte added an insurance run in the seventh, ECU scored two in the bottom of the seventh and then took the lead with three in the bottom of the eighth on a Bryson Worrell RBI double and a two-RBI single off the bat of Lane Hoover. Matt Bridges was excellent in in relief to hold the 49ers at bay late. He tossed 2.1 scoreless innings with just one hit allowed. 

– Any discussion of the teams that have looked most impressive through the first two days of postseason has to begin with Notre Dame, which moved to the regional final with a 26-3 win over Connecticut. The Irish pounded six home runs, including two from first baseman Niko Kavadas, who also drove in eight runs. Not to be outdone, left fielder Ryan Cole also had six RBI. Lefthander Will Mercer was solid in his start even though he didn’t need to be. He allowed eight hits and two runs in seven innings. Not disrespect to UConn or Central Michigan, but given the way the Irish have played, it’s tough to imagine one of those teams winning an elimination game tomorrow afternoon and then beating the host team tomorrow night. 

– Tennessee moves to the Knoxville Regional final with a 9-3 win over Liberty. The Volunteers’ bats came out piping-hot, scoring seven runs in the first three innings on five home runs, a leadoff solo shot for Liam Spence, a solo homer for Luc Lipcius in the second, a three-run blast for Spence in the second and solo home runs for Drew Gilbert and Lipcius in the third. Liberty made a late push with three runs in the sixth, but that is as close as the Flames would get. With Will Heflin, Redmond Walsh and Sean Hunley all rested and ready to go, the Vols are in great shape to advance to super regionals tomorrow. 

Eliminations

– Shockingly, Florida was sent home by South Alabama with a 19-1 decision. Teddy Cahill has more on the end of the Gators’ season HERE. 

– After losing a heartbreaker to Tennessee last night, Wright State just seemed to run out of gas in a 14-6 loss to Duke Saturday afternoon. The Raiders’ offense came out fairly strong, scoring one run in each of the first four innings, but its pitching staff wasn’t able to quiet the Blue Devils’ lineup. Outfielder R.J. Schreck got Duke on the board with a two-run homer in the first, then added four more in the third and landed a knockout blow with six runs in the fifth. A fantastic season for WSU comes to a close with a 35-13 record. 

– Michigan is headed home after an 8-2 defeat at the hands of in-state foe Central Michigan. The Wolverines’ lineup had no answer for CMU righthander Jordan Patty, who allowed eight hits and one run in 7.2 innings, and six total runs for the Chippewas in the middle innings made the difference. Michigan ends what was a successful season overall, but one that didn’t necessarily feature the team putting it all together in the way it hoped, with a 27-19 record. 

– Norfolk State gave East Carolina all it could handle on Friday but wasn’t able to do the same in a 16-0 loss against Maryland. Fourteen runs in the first four innings for the Terrapins put the Spartans on their heels and righthander Sean Burke made sure it stayed that way by throwing six scoreless frames. It’s a disappointing way for NSU’s season to end, but that doesn’t take anything away from the accomplishment of having reached the program’s first regional this season. 

– At the end of a back and forth game, Jacksonville was sent packing with a 13-8 loss to Virginia. The Dolphins led 7-6 after the top of the sixth, but the Cavaliers scored six in the bottom half of the frame, which put things out of reach for good. Old Dominion and South Carolina, the other two teams in the regional, have to like that the Cavaliers had to use three quality arms in Mike Vasil, Kyle Whitten and Nate Savino, to get the job done, as that will make the hill a bit steeper from here despite the win. With the loss, JU’s Cinderella run comes to an end, but for a team that won just three conference games during the regular season, just getting to this point was quite the accomplishment. 

– Southeast Missouri State played pretty well last night against Mississippi, but it wasn’t able to maintain the same level of quality in a 21-0 loss to Southern Mississippi. USM righthander Walker Powell held SEMO to four hits in six innings. Offensively, four different Golden Eagles had at least three hits, with first baseman Christopher Sargent slugging three homers. The Redhawks’ season comes to a close with a 30-22 record. 

– McNeese State made a comeback attempt against Oregon State, but it ultimately fell short in a 10-5 loss. Tied 5-5 going to the eighth after McNeese scored the tying run in the bottom of the seventh, OSU answered with five runs in the top of the eighth, three of which came home on a Kyle Dernedde three-RBI double. McNeese’s inspiring run into the postseason will remain one of the better stories of this postseason, even if it’s over sooner than the Cowboys would have wanted. 

– Presbyterian’s run, which began with an unlikely sweep through the Big South Tournament, comes to a close with a 9-2 loss to Indiana State. Sycamores righthander Zach Frey gave his team exactly what it needed, throwing a complete game, giving up five hits and two runs with 10 strikeouts, which sets them up as well as possible to compete with either Georgia Tech or Vanderbilt tomorrow for a spot in the regional final. The Blue Hose end the season with a 22-23 record and will now look to turn this season’s success into some program momentum moving forward. 

– Rider gave Alabama a tough game, but came up short in a 3-1 loss. Both starting pitchers threw the ball well, with Alabama righthander Dylan Smith (9 IP, 7 H, 1 R) outdoing Rider lefthander Frank Doelling (6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R). A two-run homer for Crimson Tide right fielder William Hamiter in the seventh to break a 1-1 tie was the big blow that broke the Bronc’s back, as it were. Rider, which was making its first postseason appearance since 2010, finishes the season 23-18. 

– In a well-played game, NJIT sent Northeastern home with a 3-2 victory, the first NCAA Tournament win in NJIT program history and the first for any team at the school since it joined Division I. Northeastern’s season ends with two tough losses. It was right there in games against Nebraska and NJIT this weekend, and with one or two things going their way Friday night, they’re preparing for a winner’s bracket game against Arkansas rather than making travel plans back to Boston. An outstanding season for Northeastern, which ended in its second postseason appearance in three seasons, ends up with a 36-12 record. 

– After two games in which it played valiantly, Army was eliminated with a 13-6 loss against UCLA. The Black Knights were down just 6-3 after four innings, but the Bruins played add-on with three in the fifth, one in the sixth and three more in the seventh to run away with things. Army, which has become a regular in regionals under Jim Foster, ends its season 28-25. 

– Louisiana State coach Paul Mainieri will get to coach at least one more game, as his Tigers sent home Central Connecticut State by a 6-5 score in 10 innings. In the bottom of the 10th with the game tied 5-5, LSU loaded the bases with one out and walked off with the win on a Giovanni DiGiacomo RBI single up the middle. The Blue Devils, who were in a regional for the third time in four seasons, finish 28-15. 

– For the second straight day, Nevada’s  prolific offense was stifled, and this time, with a 6-1 loss to North Dakota State, it was sent back to Reno. A Wolf Pack lineup that had no trouble putting up runs in bunches during the regular season scored just never could get anything going this weekend, scoring just one total run in losses to UC Irvine and NDSU. On Saturday, Bison righthander Cade Feeney held them to four hits and one run in six innings. Still, with this being the first postseason appearance for Nevada since 2000, the 2021 season, which ends with the Pack going 25-20, was a massive success. 

– Oklahoma State lefthander Parker Scott was just too good on Saturday, sending Grand Canyon packing with a 5-3 loss. Scott threw 6.1 innings, giving up seven hits and three runs (two earned), which allowed OSU to nurse a lead that it took early in the game. GCU, which was making its first-ever regional appearance, ends the season with a 39-21-2 record. 

– Southern was a good story during the month of May, beating Jackson State, who had previously been unbeaten in SWAC play, in the conference tournament final to secure a second straight regional appearance, but on Saturday it was eliminated from regionals with a 6-2 loss to Fairfield. Five runs scored in the first four innings of the game gave the Stags a lead they would never relinquish. Southern finishes 20-30 on the season, but its accomplishments should far outshine a sub-.500 overall record and 0-2 showing in Austin. 

– Even after falling behind 7-1 by the end of the second inning, Samford fought hard to make it a competitive game with Campbell, even getting the go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth inning, but ultimately, it fell 16-13 in Starkville. This game was a classic desperation elimination game, with both teams throwing six different pitchers. Samford fought through some inconsistency during the regular season to earn its bid to the postseason and deserves a lot of credit for that. Its final record is 35-24.