NCAA Baseball Tournament: Saturday Regionals Scores, TV, Analysis

Image credit: LSU infielder Brandt Broussard turns a double play during a game against Stony Brook during Friday regionals play in Baton Rouge. (Photo by John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Time for Day 2!

Friday’s opening round of play featured some weather-related stop and starts and relatively few upsets, although Cincinnati did hold on to beat defending champ Oregon State late in the evening. 

Here’s to hoping for smoother sailing Saturday. 

For those looking for Friday results and analysis, you can find that here. Scroll below (beyond the scores) to read today’s analysis. 

TIME	LOWER SEED	HIGHER SEED	WINNER	SCORE	TV
FINAL	(2) Indiana	(4) Illinois-Chicago	Indiana	9-5	ESPN3
FINAL	(2) NC State	(3) Campbell	Campbell	5-4	ESPN3
FINAL	(2) Tennessee	(4) UNC-Wilmington	Tennessee	12-3	ESPN3
FINAL	(2) California	(4) Central Conn.	Central Conn.	7-4	ESPN3
FINAL	(3) Florida	(4) Army	Florida	13-5	ESPN2
FINAL	(3) Coastal Carolina	(4) Florida A&M	Coastal Carolina	9-4	ESPN3
FINAL	(2) Illinois	(4) Jacksonville St.	Jacksonville St.	7-5	ESPN3
FINAL	(3) McNeese State	(4) Ohio State	Ohio State	9-8	ESPNU
FINAL	(2) Florida Atlantic	(4) Mercer	Florida Atlantic	10-6	ESPN3
FINAL	(2) Miami	(4) Southern	Miami	12-2	ESPN3
FINAL	(2) Arizona State	(4) Stony Brook	Arizona State	13-5	ESPN3
FINAL	(2) Texas A&M	(4) Fordham	Texas A&M	11-2	ESPN3
FINAL	(2) UConn	(4) Harvard	UConn	10-2	ESPN3
FINAL	(1) East Carolina	(4) Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	5-4	ESPN3
FINAL	(1) Louisville	(3) Illinois State	Illinois State	4-2	ESPN3
FINAL	(1) North Carolina	(3) Liberty	North Carolina	16-1	ESPNU
FINAL	(1) Oregon State	(2) Creighton	Creighton	4-1	ESPN2
FINAL	(2) UC Santa Barbara	(4) Sacramento State	Sac. State	6-4	ESPN3
FINAL	(2) Baylor	(4) Omaha	Baylor	24-6	ESPN3
FINAL	(1) Georgia Tech	(2) Auburn	Auburn	6-5	SEC Network
FINAL	(1) Mississippi State	(3) Central Michigan	Mississippi State	7-2	ESPN3
FINAL	(1) Ole Miss	(3) Clemson	Ole Miss	6-1	ESPNU
FINAL	(1) Texas Tech	(2) Dallas Baptist	Texas Tech	3-2	ESPN3
FINAL	(1) West Virginia	(3) Duke	Duke	4-0	ESPN3
FINAL	(1) Georgia	(3) Florida State	Florida State	12-3	ESPN2
FINAL	(1) Vanderbilt	(2) Indiana State	Vanderbilt	8-5	ESPN3
FINAL	(1) LSU	(3) Southern Miss.	LSU	8-4	ESPN3
FINAL	(1) Arkansas	(3) TCU	Arkansas	3-1	ESPN3
FINAL	(1) Oklahoma State	(3) Nebraska	Oklahoma State	6-5	ESPN3
FINAL	(3) Michigan	(4) Cincinnati	Michigan	10-4	ESPN3
FINAL	(1) Stanford	(3) Fresno State	Fresno State	7-2	ESPN3
FINAL	(1) UCLA	(3) Loyola Marymount	LMU	3-2	ESPN3

Movin’ On Up

— In a holdover game from Friday that never got finished due to poor weather in Greenville, Campbell held on for a 5-4 win over North Carolina State. The Camels jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, with the big blow coming on a two-run homer off the bat of first baseman Koby Collins. On the mound, righthander Michael Horrell did a nice job, even if his defense didn’t help him a ton. He threw seven-plus innings, allowing five hits and four runs, but just one of those runs was earned, a solo homer from NC State outfielder Jonny Butler that knocked Horrell from the game in the eighth. With everything at the Greenville Regional being backed up a day, Campbell’s winner’s bracket game won’t come until Sunday evening. 

— With a 4-2 win over Louisville, Illinois State became the first team to move to 2-0 and into the catbird seat of a regional. Coming into the game, it was expected that Louisville lefty Reid Detmers would steal the show, but it was Redbirds lefty Matt Walker who shined brightest. He threw a complete game, giving up six hits and two runs with two walks and seven strikeouts. More impressively, he bounced back from adversity and finished strong. After the Cardinals scored two runs in the top of the sixth to take the lead, not only did the ISU offense answer with three runs to take the lead back, Walker returned to the hill for the seventh and proceeded to face the minimum over the final three innings. Suffice it to say that the Redbirds are in a really good spot now. With Walker’s effort, the bullpen is about as fresh as it could possibly be, and now, either Indiana or Louisville will have to beat ISU twice to keep it out of its first super regional appearance. 

— With a 16-1 win against Liberty on Saturday, North Carolina cruised to 2-0 in the Chapel Hill Regional. The final score might suggest that the Tar Heels’ offense was the story, but for the most part, the way they pitched was the key. Using freshman lefty Will Sandy as an opener, UNC held the Flames to one run on six hits by using seven different pitchers, highlighted by three scoreless innings from righty Austin Love. Offensively, North Carolina broke open what was a 2-0 game after five innings by scoring two runs in the sixth, six in the seventh, four in the eighth, and two more in the ninth. 

— Texas Tech is within one game of a super regional after it out-pitched Dallas Baptist for a 3-2 victory on Saturday. Righty Caleb Kilian did a solid job of limiting damage by holding DBU to two runs despite giving up seven hits in 4.2 innings, and righty reliever Taylor Floyd came on behind him and shut the door, throwing 4.1 scoreless innings with five strikeouts. The Red Raiders scored in just one inning, when they plated three in the second inning, including two on a Cameron Warren two-run homer. With a win on Sunday, Texas Tech will be into a super regional for the second straight year and third time in four years. 

— Auburn, with a 6-5 walk-off win over Georgia Tech, is in control of the Atlanta Regional. Yellow Jackets’ lefty Connor Thomas had been cruising. Going into the ninth inning, He’d allowed just two runs, and with a 5-2 lead, a win seemed to be in hand. But then the Tigers chipped away with a run on an RBI single from first baseman Rankin Woley. Still, there were two outs and the winning run wasn’t even in scoring position. But that didn’t matter, because Auburn right fielder Steven Williams brought everyone home, himself included, with a three-run bomb to right. With the struggles Auburn has had on the mound at times this season, it was paramount that they stay on schedule pitching-wise in a regional, and this win keeps them there. 

— If you saw that a team would have to face Texas A&M lefty John Doxakis and West Virginia righthander Alek Manoah in back-to-back games, you probably wouldn’t have given them much of a chance to win both games, and you might not even expect that team to win one of them. In the Morgantown Regional, that team is Duke, and it has beaten both guys to move to 2-0. The Blue Devils didn’t exactly light Manoah up on Saturday, but they made the most of their four hits off of him in six innings and took advantage of four walks, scoring four runs. That was more than enough support for a pitching staff that shut down the Mountaineers. Righthander Bryce Jarvis threw eight innings, allowing six hits and one walk with 11 strikeouts and righty Thomas Girard came on behind him and threw a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to close it out. With one more win, Duke will appear in a super regional for the second straight year. 

— Quinnipiac gave us the biggest upset of the tournament so far, a 6-5 win over hosting East Carolina that pushes it into a winner’s bracket game against Campbell Sunday evening. When four seeds pull these types of upsets, it often comes when the underdog is able to deliver a body blow early, and that was the case in this one. The Bobcats scored two runs in the first inning, including one on a solo shot by their exquisitely named third baseman Evan Vulgamore. They tacked on another one in the second inning, and after ECU tied it 3-3, the Quinnipiac pitching staff not only limited the damage to avoid letting the Pirates get off and running, but the offense battled back to take the lead again, 5-3 in the seventh, which was enough cushion in the end. Now, there is a huge opportunity in front of both Quinnipiac and Campbell, as one of those two teams will be 2-0 going into a regional final on Monday. 

— After having to fight off a competitive Southern team on Friday, Mississippi State had a little easier time with Central Michigan on Saturday. Behind a solid effort from lefthander Ethan Small and 16 hits from the lineup, the Bulldogs took down the Chippewas 7-2. Small went six innings, giving up five hits and two runs with ten strikeouts, all while first baseman Tanner Allen did the heavy lifting on offense. He went 4-for-5 with a home run. MSU is a heavy favorite to clinch a spot in a home super regional on Sunday evening. 

— Florida State nearly missed out on a regional in Mike Martin’s final season, but now that it is in the postseason, it has turned on the jets. On Saturday, the Seminoles absolutely put it on Georgia righty Emerson Hancock, the potential top overall pick in the 2020 draft, on the way to a 12-3 win. In Hancock’s four innings, FSU scored five runs on nine hits, and then when lefty Ryan Webb came on for Hancock, it scored five runs off of him in one-third of an inning. Meanwhile, FSU righthander C.J. Van Eyk managed the game well, allowing three runs on nine hits in eight innings of work. You know the Seminoles would love to make an Omaha run for “11,” and they’re well on their way with a 2-0 start in the Athens Regional. 

— Vanderbilt’s Kumar Rocker, after suffering through some ups and downs to begin his freshman season, has become a real weapon for the Commodores over the second half of the season. On Saturday, in an 8-5 win over Indiana State to move Vanderbilt to 2-0 in its home regional, Rocker came up big again. He threw 6.2 innings, giving up seven hits and one run with no walks and eight strikeouts. The Sycamores actually did as good a job with the Vandy offense as anyone has, really, holding it to four runs through eight innings, but the Commodores put up four runs in the ninth to add some insurance that turned out to be pretty important when you consider that ISU added four runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning. With the Commodores awaiting a team, either Ohio State or Indiana State, whose pitching will undoubtedly be stretched thin by Sunday evening, it’s hard to imagine anyone but the home team moving on. 

— In its 8-4 win over Southern Miss to move to the regional final of the Baton Rouge Regional, Louisiana State gave a master class in dealing with in-game adversity. Early on, the Tigers were cruising. USM hadn’t done much against righty Cole Henry, so a 4-0 lead seemed pretty safe. But then the Golden Eagles loaded the bases against righthander Todd Peterson in the seventh, and when LSU coach Paul Mainieri went to another righty, Zack Hess, Southern Miss second baseman Matthew Guidry greeted him with a grand slam to tie the game 4-4. Undeterred, LSU fought back to score three runs in the top of the eighth and then another in the ninth to put the game away and put themselves in position to advance to a super regional with a win on Sunday.

— Texas Christian lefty Nick Lodolo wasn’t bad against Arkansas, particularly when you consider how good that lineup is. He threw five innings, giving up four hits and one unearned run, though he did issue four walks. The problem for TCU was that Arkansas righty Isaiah Campbell was just better. He gave his team eight innings of four-hit, one-run baseball with one walk and eight strikeouts. With two seed California already eliminated and Lodolo behind them, the Razorbacks have to feel very good about pushing their way into a super regional on Sunday. 

— When you have power all up and down a lineup, you are never out of a game, and Oklahoma State proved that point in a big way in its 6-5 win over Nebraska on Saturday night. For most of nine innings, it looked like the Huskers’ day. Righty Matt Waldron allowed just one run and struck out 11 in 7.2 innings, and the Nebraska lineup jumped on OSU lefty Parker Scott to grab an early lead. But in the ninth, trailing 5-2, the Cowboys came alive. With a couple of men on and two outs, shortstop Andrew Navigato singled home a run to make it 5-3, and then center fielder Trevor Boone connected for a massive three-run homer to left to give OSU its first lead of the day. Riding the wave of this emotional win, Oklahoma State is sitting pretty at 2-0, one win away from a super regional appearance.

— With host Oregon State already out of the running, the Corvallis Regional has been blown wide open, and Michigan, with a 10-4 win over Cincinnati, is taking advantage. After the teams traded single runs early in the game, the Bearcats jumped out ahead with three runs in the sixth, but that only seemed to wake the Wolverines, as they answered with five runs in the sixth to take back the lead, and then added on four more in the eighth for good measure. Making what Michigan has done even more impressive is that it has done it without some key pieces. Big Ten player of the year Jordan Brewer has been out, and shortstop Jack Blomgren was a late scratch on Saturday because of a back injury. But Blomgren’s replacement in the order, Riley Bertram, more than carried his own weight, going 4-for-4 with a double, while DH Jordan Nwogu and first baseman Jimmy Kerr added home runs. On Sunday, the Wolverines will look to break through to a super regional for the first time since 2007. 

— Fresno State stayed piping-hot with a 7-2 win over Stanford to take control of the Palo Alto Regional. After righty Ryan Jensen set the tone with an outstanding start against UC Santa Barbara on Friday, fellow righthander Davis Moore followed it up with one of his own, throwing 6.2 innings, giving up two hits and one run with three walks and eight strikeouts. DH Emilio Nogales led the way in the lineup, going 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI, and it was his double that drove in two runs and broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning. The Bulldogs are one win away from getting back to a super regional for the first time since that magical 2008 national championship-winning season. 

— Winning a game against UCLA by out-pitching them might have the highest degree of difficulty of any team feat in college baseball, but Loyola Marymount pulled it off in a 3-2 win over the Bruins to move to 2-0 in the Los Angeles Regional. Righthander Josh Agnew got it started by scattering seven hits and allowing two runs in 6.2 innings. After righty C.J. Fernandezeez came on and got two key outs to get the Lions out of the seventh, closer Nick Frasso got the last six outs, three of them via strikeout. The winning run for LMU came across in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single from catcher Connor Uhl. UCLA has the pitching depth and the prolific offense to work its way back and still win the regional, so it can’t be counted out, but for now, Loyola Marymount is in the driver’s seat. 

 

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

— By virtue of its game being the first elimination game played on Saturday, Illinois-Chicago was the first team eliminated from a regional with a 9-5 loss to Indiana. In a cruel example of how quickly fortunes can change in the regional format, the Flames were sent packing less than 24 hours after they took a quick 3-0 lead over Louisville on Friday and perhaps had visions of a winner’s bracket game dancing in their heads. On Saturday, UIC jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Indiana, but once again, couldn’t hold it, and then it just wasn’t able to do quite enough against the Hoosiers’ bullpen. Don’t be surprised if we see the Flames back in this position again very soon. There is a good deal of young talent on the roster that should help UIC compete for the Horizon League bid again in 2020. 

— Speaking of quick changes in fortune, UNC-Wilmington went from leading North Carolina in the ninth inning on Friday night to eliminated by Tennessee 10-3 on Saturday. The Volunteers’ piggy-backed duo of righthander Camden Sewell and lefthander Garrett Crochet was outstanding. The pair combined to throw seven innings, giving up six hits and one run with two walks and eight strikeouts, which kept the Seahawks from putting anything together offensively until it was much too late. The loss brings the career of UNCW head coach Mark Scalf to an end after 28 seasons at the helm, and begins the tenure of Randy Hood, a longtime assistant under Scalf. 

— With a 7-4 loss to Central Connecticut State, California finishes off a disappointing 0-2 weekend in the Fayetteville Regional. With six total runs across two games, the Bears weren’t able to impose their will offensively as they hoped to do, and their pitching wasn’t up to the task to do the heavy lifting instead. The win is a big deal for the Blue Devils, as it is the first NCAA Tournament win in program history, and only the second in NEC history. CCSU right fielder Dave Matthews (not that Dave Matthews) had a huge game, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, and four RBI. 

— Army wasn’t able to recreate the magic of upsetting NC State last season, as they were eliminated from the Lubbock Regional after a 13-5 loss to Florida. It was the second day in a row that Black Knights pitching couldn’t slow down the opposing offense, after they allowed 11 runs to Texas Tech on Friday. On the other end of the spectrum, UF righthander Jack Leftwich didn’t allow a hit until the sixth, when Army’s Josh White homered, and when it was all said and done, he’d thrown seven innings, allowing just the one hit and one run with one walk and seven strikeouts. 

— Illinois dropped its elimination game in Oxford to Jacksonville State by a 7-5 score. The Illini appeared to be cruising through six innings, as they held a 4-0 lead, but that’s precisely when things got crazy. JSU rallied in the seventh to tie it at 4-4 on two-run homers from third baseman Nic Gaddis and first baseman Alex Strachan. Illinois took back the lead in the top of the eighth on a Kellen Sarver solo homer, but fell behind again in the bottom half thanks to a Little League three-run homer from Gamecocks pinch hitter Andrew Naismith. It was going to be a two-run double, but an attempted back-pick throw on Naismith at second base sailed into left field, which allowed him to score. The victory is the first NCAA Tournament win in Jacksonville State program history. As for the Illini, they have an exciting young core led by middle infielder Branden Comia, catcher Jacob Campbell, and righthander Aidan Maldonado, but at the same time, this was also a veteran-laden team and the 2020 version of Illinois baseball will look quite a bit different. 

— Florida A&M ducked out of the Atlanta Regional with a 9-4 loss to Coastal Carolina. After falling behind 3-0 early and then 6-1 halfway through the game, the Rattlers battled back with three runs in the sixth to make it a competitive game, but late insurance by the Chanticleers kept them out of reach. CCU DH Jake Wright and center fielder Parker Chavers had home runs to lead the offensive attack. It might have been a quick exit for Florida A&M, but that doesn’t diminish what it accomplished in getting to this point. This was the second regionals trip for A&M in Jamey Shouppe’s six seasons at the helm, and it is a program that has clearly established itself as a consistent force in the MEAC. 

— After falling behind Florida Atlantic 10-0 in the seventh inning, Mercer made a late push to extend its time in a  regional with six runs over the final two innings, but it wasn’t enough, and the Bears are headed home after a 10-6 defeat. Mercer just simply couldn’t solve FAU freshman righty Jacob Josey, who threw seven shutout innings on four hits and four walks. They might be done for the season, but you can bet on the Bears being a factor in the SoCon in 2020, because, well, they always are. This was the program’s fourth regional appearance since 2010, and its 35 wins in 2019 made it the tenth consecutive season that it has reached that threshold. 

— In the first extra inning game of the NCAA Tournament, Ohio State sent McNeese State packing with a 9-8 win. Just as he was so often in the Big Ten Tournament, OSU lefty reliever Andrew Magno was the star. He threw 7.1 innings of relief, giving up five hits and one run with two walks and 12 strikeouts on 93 pitches. The Buckeyes trailed 8-5 going to the eighth, but scored three runs in that inning on two RBI singles and a bases-loaded walk, and then pushed the go-ahead run across in the 13th on an RBI single off the bat of center fielder Ridge Winand. Being eliminated is always tough, but it’s particularly tough when you go 0-2 with a pair of one-run losses, as McNeese did this weekend. At this time of year, margins are thin, and you don’t have to tell that to the Cowboys. 

— Southern wasn’t able to compete with Miami the way it did with Mississippi State on Friday, as a 12-2 loss sent them home. The Canes got the job done with two massive innings. In the first, they scored four runs, including two on a double off the bat of first baseman Alex Toral. Then, in the fifth, they scored eight more, including three on a three-run homer by left fielder Gabe Rivera. Even with the quick exit, there’s little doubting that Southern, under Kerrick Jackson, is a program with an upward trajectory that will be a factor in the SWAC for the foreseeable future. 

— Stony Brook had an upset on its mind Saturday, as they took a quick 2-0 lead over Arizona State in the first inning, but the thought didn’t last. After going scoreless in the first two innings of the game, the Sun Devils scored in six of the final seven frames on the way to a 13-5 win. ASU left fielder Trevor Hauver went 3-for-5 with a triple out of the leadoff spot, and third baseman Gage Workman added a 3-for-5 performance of his own. With the loss, Stony Brook is headed back to New York, and while it would have liked to stick around a little longer, it was another outstanding season for a program that has been incredibly consistent.

— Its outstanding pitching staff faltered in a loss to Duke on Friday, but on Saturday, it shined for Texas A&M in an 11-2 win over Fordham. In the win, lefty Asa Lacy threw 7.1 innings, giving up three hits and one run with one walk and seven strikeouts to help get his team to Sunday. First baseman Hunter Coleman had a huge day at the plate for the Aggies, going 3-for-4 with a walk, two homers, and five RBI. For Fordham, even with the 0-2 showing, a regional appearance, the program’s first in more than 20 years, is a decided step in the right direction. 

— Harvard nearly pulled off an upset of Oklahoma State on Friday thanks to an outstanding effort on the mound from righthander Hunter Bigge, but it wasn’t able to pull the trick off on back-to-back days, and the Crimson were eliminated with a 10-2 loss to Connecticut. The Huskies scored seven runs in the second inning to put Harvard in an early hole and the Crimson offense couldn’t muster much against a UConn pitching staff that was using a bullpen-by-committee approach all game long. It always stings to have a near-miss like the one Harvard had against Oklahoma State, but in the program’s first regional appearance since 2005, the Crimson were plenty competitive. 

— UC Santa Barbara, a team that narrowly missed hosting a regional, is gone from the Palo Alto Regional after dropping an elimination game to Sacramento State 6-4. For the second day in a row, Gauchos starting pitching struggled. On Saturday, it was lefty Jack Dashwood who struggled. He allowed four runs on eight hits to the Hornets in 3.2 innings. UCSB had to work really hard to get back into the game, and eventually it tied it 4-4 in the eighth, but Sac State came right back with a two runs in the bottom half on a Trevor Doyle two-run double. For a team that undoubtedly had visions of getting back to Omaha, just as it did back in 2015, this was a tough way for UCSB’s season to end. 

— Omaha played UCLA very close on Friday, and even led going into the middle innings, but Baylor simply overwhelmed the Mavericks on the way to a 24-6 win on Saturday. The Bears scored in all but one inning, and catcher Shea Langeliers went absolutely nuts, going 5-for-6 with three home runs and 11 RBI. Getting blown out in an elimination game is never the way a team wants to go out, but this season was nothing but positive for Omaha. With the program’s first regional appearance under its belt, perhaps the Mavericks emerge as an annual challenger to Oral Roberts in the Summit League.