Regionals Roundup: Three Advance, Three Wait

Three more teams advanced to NCAA super regionals on Monday, but the super regional field isn’t set quite yet. Due to the heavy rains peppering the Southeast, the last three super regional teams will be decided Tuesday.

The decisive regional final between North Carolina State and Coastal Carolina in Raleigh was suspended in the top of the ninth inning Monday night–with the game hanging in the balance. Down 5-3, the Chanticleers had the bases loaded with one out and five-hole hitter G.K. Young due up, when the tarp was pulled and game suspended. In Columbia, Game 7 never even started, as rain pushed back the winner-takes-all matchup between UNC-Wilmington and host South Carolina to today.

Lastly, in the Baton Rouge regional—a regional that has perhaps gotten the worst of the rain throughout the weekend—Rice battled through two elimination games, beating Southeastern Louisiana, 15-0, and Louisiana State, 10-6, to force a Game 7 with the Tigers today.

But while those regionals continue to rage on, strangely, into Tuesday, Arizona, UC Santa Barbara and Texas Tech will be prepping for super regionals after all three teams won on Monday.

Under first-year head coach Jay Johnson, the Wildcats advanced to their first super regional since 2012, the year they won the national championship. Arizona had to fight through the loser’s bracket in the Lafayette Regional to do so and beat host Louisiana-Lafayette twice, 6-3 and 3-1, on Monday to claim the regional crown. Arizona will head to Starkville to take on Mississippi State.

Arizona pitchers Kevin Ginkel and Cameron Ming combined to hold the Ragin’ Cajuns to one run on five hits in the decisive final game, striking out eight.

“The last time I was in a dogpile, I was 12,” Ming told arizonawildcats.com. “Guys are a lot bigger now. I was just trying not to get hurt.”

In Nashville, No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara took down No. 4 Xavier convincingly, 15-4, to advance to its first-ever super regional, where the Gauchos will square off with No. 2 overall seed Louisville.

The Gauchos, at one point the west coast’s best hope for a national seed, struggled down the stretch of the regular season, but they’ve since found themselves—especially on the offensive side of the game. Sophomore Austin Bush has led that charge, hitting his third home run of the regional on Monday and earning MVP honors.

“This is definitely a highlight in my coaching career,” UCSB head coach Andrew Checketts told ucsbgauchos.com. “They’re playing up to their potential and playing as a team. They’ve turned themselves into a good baseball team that has achieved. It’s been a fantastic weekend. We made the big plays and made the big pitches and got the big hits, so I’m really happy for them.”

Lastly, in Lubbock, Texas, Dallas Baptist made life difficult for No. 5 national seed Texas Tech by forcing a seventh game and playing a tight game Monday, but ultimately the Red Raiders prevailed, 5-3. Shortstop Orlando Garcia hit a two-run double in the sixth to break a 3-3 tie, and reliever Hayden Howard held the Patriots scoreless the rest of the year.

Texas Tech will host Charlottesville regional No. 3 seed East Carolina in the super regional this weekend.

“Dallas Baptist had a great year; congratulations to coach (Dan) Heefner and his staff,” Texas Tech head coach Tim Tadlock said in the post-game press conference. “It was a great ballgame. I think you see what happened today quite a bit on Mondays. It’s the fourth day in a row for these guys, and guys compete.

“You get to this point in the year with your team, you’re gonna have 27 guys in there that are going to compete for nine innings. And both teams did that, and we’re fortunate to come out on the right side of it.”