Day 1 Regional Recap | Day 2 Regional Recap | Wright State Bullpen Feature

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Throughout this long season, the players, coaches and fans of the third-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini have come to expect clutch, game-winning performances from their dynamic, all-everything closer, Tyler Jay. On Sunday afternoon, they received a performance of that magnitude from one of their elite starting pitchers.

Senior right-hander Drasen Johnson overcame some early woes and stuck around right until the end, firing a complete-game, five-hit shutout to lead No. 6-seed national seed Illinois to a 3-0 win over Notre Dame in the winner’s bracket final of the NCAA D-I Champaign Regional at chilly and overcast Illinois Field.

Illinois (49-8-1), the Champaign Regional’s No. 1 seed, will face No. 3 Wright State (42-16) – the 4-0 winner of Sunday night’s elimination game against No. 2 Notre Dame (37-22) – in the Regional’s championship game Monday. If Illinois loses that game, a second “if necessary” game will be played. With a best-in-the-nation .853 winning percentage, losing hasn’t come the Illini’s way very often this season.

“This team is so unselfish,” Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said postgame. “There’s not one person who cares who gets the attention. All they care about is winning and that’s why we’ve won at a high level. At different times during the year, you’ve had different guys that have gotten a lot of attention. Drasen doesn’t care (about that). … All he cares about is what happens with this team.”

Johnson (10-3) was shaky at the outset, although Notre Dame couldn’t capitalize. He loaded the bases in the bottom of the first on an error, a hit batsman and a walk, and then gave up singles to Zak Kutsulis and Cavan Biggio in the second. The Irish left all five runners on base, three in scoring position.

The strong defensive play of the Illini’s infielders in those first two innings benefitted Johnson greatly, and he also took care of a couple of things on his own.

“As long as I can get past the third (things) usually improve from there,” he said. “Just the bad pitches I made early on – I got some key strikeouts when I had to just to keep them from crossing home.”

After the early struggles, it was smooth-sailing for the 6-4, 200-pound righty from Chillicothe, Ill. Johnson said there was no discussion about him finishing the game – it was his third complete game – despite the fact that Hartleb had Jay up in the bullpen throughout the eighth and ninth innings. Fans and scouts might have been disappointed they didn’t get to see Jay, but Johnson was committed.

“We didn’t even talk about that,” he said. “I’m sure (Hartleb) had something in mind but I was fully prepared to finish that game.”

Notre Dame sophomore right-hander Ryan Smoyer (9-1) was tagged with his first loss of the season but he didn’t pitch poorly. He did a nice job of keeping the ball down in the early innings and retired the first six Illini batters he faced, four on ground-ball outs.

That streak ended when Big Ten Player of the Year David Kerian delivered a base-hit to lead-off the top of the third. Illinois didn’t score in that frame and Smoyer threw a scoreless fourth before the Illini finally found their stroke in the fifth.

Will Krug laced a one-out single through the left side and came around to score the game’s first run when No. 9-hitter Ryne Roper dropped a double into the leftfield corner. Lead-off hitter Adam Walton followed with a single up the middle, scoring Roper, and Ryan Nagle pushed a single of his own through the right-side of the infield to put runners on first and third. Walton then scored on a sacrifice fly from Reid Roper to give the Illini a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth. And that’s the way it finished.

“I felt good today; I had four pitches working,” said Smoyer, who gave up the three runs on nine hits over 7 2/3 innings of work. “I got out there … and we were just putting zeros up on the board. They get a couple of timely hits … (and) there’s nothing you can do about it. Give credit to them, they just made timely hits when they needed them.”

Nagle, Fletcher and Kerian each had two hits to lead the Illini’s 10-hit attack, and Fletcher and Kerian doubled. All five of the Irish’s hits were singles, and Biggio and Ryan Bull each had a pair.

– Jeff Dahn



College of Charleston 3, Auburn 2

Rain effected changes to the schedule at the Tallahassee Regional, forcing a delay to the elimination matchup between College of Charleston and Auburn while also forcing both of the Regional championship games (if both are needed) to Monday.

The Cougars only managed four hits in this game, and three were off the bat of first baseman Nick Pappas, two of which were home runs; a solo shot in the second and a two-run blast in the seventh that proved to be the deciding blow.

As a result, Charleston will play Florida State on Monday, with the winner of the Regional advancing to play Florida in the Super Regionals in Gainesville.

Notable Prospects:



Anfernee Grier, Auburn – Grier led the SEC in hits and doubles this season, but he had a rough go of it during Regional play. Grier is lean and extremely athletic, especially on defense in center field. He was getting great jumps on balls hit to the gaps and showed very efficient routes to the ball. While batting Grier struggled to find his groove. He was very pull-happy and kept getting underneath the ball resulting in weak pop-ups or a swing and miss. He was showing bunt a lot as well which seemed to have him disrupt his own timing and made him unsure of his plan of attack at the plate. Still, Grier is a very athletic player in all phases of the game and will be playing over the summer for Team USA.

– Chris King



National Notes

• Mother Nature continued to grapple with the 2015 college baseball season as rain forced postponements across the nation the past two days. As a result, only five teams have punched their tickets to Super Regional play. Here are the teams that have already advanced:

• Louisville (host, Louisville, Ky., Super Regional)

• Cal State Fullerton (will play Louisville)

• Florida (host, Gainesville, Fla., Super Regional)

• Missouri State (host, Springfield Mo., Super Regional)

• Arkansas (will play Missouri State)

• Virginia (will play the winner of the Los Angeles Regional)

• Rain washed out Sunday afternoon's game between Radford and host Vanderbilt, the winnter of which will advance to play the winner of the Illinios Regional as detailed above. Radford advanced to the Regional championship by knocking off Indiana, 5-3, earlier on Sunday as Kyle Palmer and Ryan Meisinger combined to provide 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.

• Evan Hill delivered 6 2/3 strong innings in a 3-1 elimination win for Michigan over Bradley early on Sunday before Louisville beat them soundly later in the day, 13-4. Josh Rogers worked the first seven for the Cardinals, striking out six without issuing a free pass as Louisville advanced to the Super Regionals, where they once again will serve as host.

• Louisville will host Cal State Fullerton who had no problems knocking off Pepperdine 10-1. Connor Seabold was sharp, striking out nine Waves' hitters without allowing a run in six innings of work. Five Titans hitters enjoyed multi-hit games.

• Missouri State continues their impressive 2015 season by advancing to Super Regional play, once again hosting on their own home turf, with a 3-2 win over Iowa Sunday evening. Jordan Knutson gave the Bears yet another impressive starting performance, scattering three hits and a walk, which led to three runs in seven innings of work. The Bears also made the most of only three base hits, although they did draw six walks off Iowa pitching.

The loss ends a pretty amazing season for the Hawkeyes, who did rally for two runs in the top of the eighth but fell just short as their season came to a close. They did rally in extra innings to beat Oregon 2-1 earlier in the day to advance to this game on an RBI single off the bat of Daniel Aaron Moriel.

• After losing to Arkansas on Saturday Oklahoma State got bounced from the tournament on Sunday with a 2-1 loss to St. John's. The Johnnies scored both of their runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on RBI singles by second baseman Robert Wayman and left fielder Michael Donadio.

The win allowed St. John's to advance and play Arkansas for the Regional crown and a trip to Springfield to play Missouri State in the Super Regionals. St. John's battled back again in this game, rallying for two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and another run in the seventh, but ultimately lost to Arkansas after the Hogs scractched across a run in the top of the ninth inning on an RBI groundout by Joe Serrano. Zach Jackson, as he has been all year, was electric out of the bullpen for the Razorbacks, striking out the side to secure the win and the Super Regional berth, Arkansas' first since 2012.

• Florida advanced to Super Regional play, again in Gainesville, with a 2-1 win over Florida Atlantic. Third baseman Josh Tobias had three of the Gators' eight hits and one of the two runs, while Alex Faedo picked up the win by tossing six strong innings, allowing just three base hits, a walk and the one earned run while striking out six.

• Florida will host the winner of the Tallahassee Super Regional which won't be determined until Monday after Sunday's games were delayed due to rain. The Seminoles will face the College of Charleston for the Regional Championship, with the Cougars needing to win two games to advance.

• TCU stayed alive early on Sunday beating Stony Brook in an elimination game, 8-3. Brian Howard got the start for the Horned Frogs, working the first 4 1/3 innings while saving both Tyler Alexander and Alex Young for the two games they would need to win to advance to Super Regional play.

Alexander more than did his part on Sunday evening, going the distance in the win as TCU stayed alive yet again in a 8-1 win over N.C. State to force the deciding game on Monday. Alexander allowed only two runs (one earned) on three base hits without issuing a walk while striking out six.

• The other half of the Super Regional pairing proved to be another wild ride between Texas A&M and California as they exchanged blows into extra innings for the second straight day in College Station. Texas A&M took this contest 4-3 in 12 innings in a game that ended in a rundown between home plate and third base, and pulled ahead in the top of the inning on an RBI single by Nick Banks. The two teams will play again on Monday.

The Aggies had clawed back after losing's Saturday night's heartbreaker at the hands of the Bears by beating Coastal Carolina in an elimination game 8-1. The offense pounded out 13 hits, including three from Banks, one of which was a home run, while Andew Vinson delivered 7 2/3 scoreless innings.

• Cory Taylor tossed an absolute gem against Texas to keep the host Patriots Super Regional hopes alive with a complete game three hitter in which he allowed just one run while striking out nine Longhorns in the 8-1 win. The win propelled them to a night game against Oregon State, who lost to VCU earlier in the day, with DBU coming out on top once again, 7-1.

Drew Smith provided 3 1/3 scoreless, one-hit innings with four punchouts in relief of starter Sean Stutzman, who allowed just one run over the first 5 2/3 innings. Dallas Baptist will need to beat Virginia Commonwealth twice on Monday to advance to Super Regional play.

• Three Columbia Lions pitchers – Bryce Barr, Zack Bahm and Adam Cline – combined to two-hit the mighty Hurricanes offense in a big 3-0 upset in Coral Gables. Columbia had beat Florida International earlier in the day, 4-3, to advance, and now will play one more contest against Miami on Monday to determine the Regional champion.

The winner will face the winner of the Dallas Regional between Dallas Baptist and VCU.

• The Baton Rouge Regional will also be determined on Monday with LSU and UNC Wilmington set to play one another for possibly two games if the Seahawks claim game one. UNCW put a six-spot on the board in the third inning on their way to a 8-2 win over Tulane.

• The University of Louisana rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom ninth for a 2-1 walkoff win over Houston. The win spoiled a dominant start by freshman Seth Romero, who pitched into the ninth inning after allowing only one base hit, and was responsible for the first of the two runs that scored.

The win pushed the Ragin' Cajuns into Monday's Regional championship, and the loss pushed Houston into an elmination game against Rice, who beat Houston Baptist earlier in the day, 3-1. Houston's Corey Julks hit a huge home run in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game 2-2, but Houston end up losing 3-2 in 20 innings to the Owls after Leon Byrd hit an RBI double. Rice's Austin Orewiler tossed what was effetively a complete game out of the bullpen, providing 9 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out seven to carry Rice through those long innings while picking up the win.

Rice will now face Louisiana on Monday for the championship.

• UCLA staved off elimination against Bakersfield on Sunday to force themselves into the Regional championship against Maryland. Shortstop Kevin Kramer and left fielder Ty Moore both hit home runs for the Bruins' in their 9-1 win before getting another shot at the Terps.

And the Bruins were able to carry that momentum through Sunday evening's contest against Maryland, winning 4-2 to force an extra game on Mondy. Kramer (2-for-5) and Moore (3-for-4) were once again the offensive heroes for UCLA.

• USC and San Diego State played a wild elmination contest that the Trojans ended up winning 12-11, in a game that saw the two teams collect 18 and 14 hits respectively. USC fought back late after the Aztecs took a 11-7 lead by scoring eight runs in the sixth and seventh innings, scoring five runs of their own over the final two frames to secure the victory. Eight of the nine Trojans hitters recorded mult-hit wins as Tyler Gilbert delivered 2 1/3 scoreless innings to close out the game.

The win propelled Southern California to a game against Virginia for the Regional championship which the Cavaliers claimed with a 14-10 victory in another high-scoring affair. Virginia's Nos. 1 through 5 hitters combined to go 7-for-21 with 11 runs scored and nine driven in.