NCAA Tournament Regionals Results At A Glance
Image credit: Tennessee INF Jake Rucker (Courtesy of Tennessee Athletic Communications)
After a weekend of regionals action, all but one spot in super regionals is accounted for. Here’s how it all stands after Monday.
Through To Super Regionals
Fayetteville Regional: Arkansas
Nebraska pushed Arkansas harder than it had been in quite some time. The Huskers on Sunday night beat the Razorbacks, 5-3, to force a decisive game Monday. Nebraska led deep into that game and forced Arkansas to go to relief ace Kevin Kopps in the third inning before a late comeback sent Arkansas to super regionals with a 6-2 victory.
Next up: Fayetteville Super Regional vs. North Carolina State
Austin Regional: Texas
Texas made light work of the Austin Regional, winning its three games by a combined total of 33-5. The Longhorns’ 33 runs on the weekend were the second-most in a regional since the four-team format was introduced in 1999. Texas will look to build on that momentum next weekend with a trip to Omaha on the line.
Next up: Austin Super Regional vs. South Florida
Knoxville Regional: Tennessee
Tennessee was pushed to the brink Friday night by Wright State before Drew Gilbert hit a walk-off grand slam to deliver a 9-8 victory. From there, the Volunteers seemed to settle into a groove and twice beat Liberty to advance to super regionals for the first time since 2005. Gilbert never slowed down, homering in all three games—his first home runs since March. Next weekend, Knoxville will host a super regional for the first time ever.
Next up: Knoxville Super Regional vs. Louisiana State
Nashville Regional: Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt swept through the Nashville Regional, but not without drama. The Commodores edged past Georgia Tech, 4-3, on Saturday night and then needed 11 innings to dispatch the Yellow Jackets, 14-11, in Sunday’s final. The end result is the same, however, and Vanderbilt will now welcome East Carolina to Nashville for super regionals.
Next up: Nashville Super Regional vs. East Carolina
Tucson Regional: Arizona
Arizona swept through a tricky Tucson Regional field, knocking off Grand Canyon in the opener and then twice beating UC Santa Barbara. While the Wildcats are better known for their offense, which could be the best in the nation, they stood out on the mound this weekend, holding the Gauchos to two runs over the two games. Arizona is now set for the first Tucson Super Regional since 2012.
Next up: Tucson Super Regional vs. Mississippi
Fort Worth Regional: Dallas Baptist
Host Texas Christian was upset by Dallas Baptist and Oregon State, and was eliminated before the regional final. That left DBU and Oregon State to battle it out for a super regionals bid and they put on a show. They played three times and all three were close games, with Monday’s 8-5 victory by DBU the largest margin of victory. The Patriots trailed that game 5-0 after five innings, before storming back with eight unanswered runs, with the big blow coming on a grand slame from Andrew Benefield in the seventh inning. DBU is in super regionals for the first time since 2011.
Next up: Super regionals vs. winner of Columbia Regional
Starkville Regional: Mississippi State
Rain on Sunday pushed the final in Starkville to Monday. Campbell gave Mississippi State a tough test, but the Bulldogs pulled out a 6-5 victory to complete a sweep of the regional. Closer Landon Sims delivered three scoreless innings to finish the final.
Next up: Starkville Super Regional vs. Notre Dame
Lubbock Regional: Texas Tech
For the third straight time, Texas Tech swept through its home regional. The draw set up well for the Red Raiders and they took advantage, beating Army (6-3), North Carolina (7-2) and, finally, UCLA (8-2). Texas Tech is in super regionals for the fifth time since 2014.
Next up: Lubbock Super Regional vs. Stanford
Stanford Regional: Stanford
Stanford made light work of the first two games of the regional, beating North Dakota State and UC Irvine by a combined score of 21-5. The Cardinal looked to be in control of Sunday’s final as well, until the Anteaters scored six runs in the eighth for an 8-4 victory to force a rematch Monday. Stanford broke out the big bats for that game and held off UCI, 11-8, to advance to its second straight super regional.
Next up: Lubbock Super Regional vs. Texas Tech
South Bend Regional: Notre Dame
No team made a bigger statement this weekend than Notre Dame. After getting snubbed for a top-eight national seed by the selection committee, the Fighting Irish swept through what looked to be a solid field, outscoring their opponents 50-5. First baseman Niko Kavadas led the way for the Irish, going 6-for-11 with five home runs and six walks on the weekend. He now has 21 home runs on the season, a new program record. Notre Dame is on to super regionals for the first time since 2002.
Next up: Starkville Super Regional vs. Mississippi State
Oxford Regional: Mississippi
Ole Miss fended off Southern Mississippi in a slugfest Monday for a 12-9 victory and a second straight home regional title. After two well-pitched games to start the regional, Ole Miss got into more offensive showdowns with Southern Miss the last two days, as the teams combined to score 38 runs over the two games. In the end, however, the Rebels are moving on.
Next up: Tucson Super Regional vs. Arizona
Greenville Regional: East Carolina
East Carolina swept through the Greenville Regional, but every game of the weekend was a close one. The Pirates opened the weekend with an 8-5 victory against Norfolk State, then used a late comeback to beat Charlotte, 7-5, on Saturday. ECU led Sunday’s final against Maryland from start to finish, but the Terrapins refused to go away late in the game. But the Pirates finished the job and have advanced to back-to-back super regionals for the first time in program history.
Next up: Nashville Super Regional vs. Vanderbilt
Gainesville Regional: South Florida
USF is this year’s Cinderella story, as the Bulls won the Gainesville Regional as a No. 4 seed and advance to their first super regional in program history. USF beat both Florida and Miami to reach the final undefeated, but South Alabama forced a title game rematch with a 4-0 victory Monday afternoon in a game that started on Sunday before being suspended due to rain. USF bounced back for a 6-4 victory in the nightcap, completing an impressive showing this weekend. The Bulls are hot, having won the American Athletic Conference Tournament last week as well.
Next up: Austin Super Regional vs. Texas
Eugene Regional: Louisiana State
After losing its opening game in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1985, LSU came all the way through the loser’s bracket in Eugene. It needed 10 innings to beat Central Connecticut State on Saturday and then swept a Sunday doubleheader against Gonzaga and Oregon. On Monday, LSU won a wild game, 9-8, scoring three runs in the eighth inning to push ahead for good. LSU is playing with a lot of belief as it makes one final NCAA Tournament run before coach Paul Mainieri retires at the end of the season.
Ruston Regional: North Carolina State
NC State came into regionals as one of the hottest teams in the country, having won 14 of its last 18 games. That momentum carried over to this weekend in Ruston, as the Wolfpack swept through the regional as the No. 2 seed. NC State outscored its opponents, 30-11, on the weekend, including a 14-7 victory in Sunday’s final against host Louisiana Tech. NC State is back in super regionals for the first time since 2013 after several heartbreaking misses.
Next up: Fayetteville Super Regional vs. Arkansas
To Be Decided
Columbia Regional
Final: No. 1 Old Dominion vs. No. 3 Virginia (9 a.m. ET)
Top-seeded Old Dominion won the first two games of the weekend, including on Saturday night beating host South Carolina to advance to the final. Virginia took the hard route, coming through the loser’s bracket all weekend. The Cavaliers relied on their pitching Sunday, eliminating South Carolina with a 3-2 victory and then beating ODU, 8-3, in the nightcap. Brandon Neeck threw 5.2 scoreless innings and struck out 16 batters in relief against the Monarchs. Monday’s rematch was postponed due to rain.
Conference call
Eight conferences had multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament. Here’s how they’ve fared so far.
American: 6-1 (two super regional teams)
SEC: 21-9 (six super regional teams)
Big 12: 8-4 (two super regional teams)
Pac-12: 14-9 (two super regional teams)
ACC: 15-11 (two super regional teams)
Missouri Valley: 4-3 (one super regional team)
Big West: 5-4
Conference USA: 8-7
Big Ten: 5-6
ASUN: 2-4
Big South: 2-4
Metro Atlantic: 2-4
Comments are closed.