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College  | Story | 6/1/2017

College Baseball Regional Preview

Jheremy Brown
Mike Rooney
Photo: Jeffrey A. Camarati, UNC Athletic Communications




Field of 64 | Perfect Game Top 25 | College Spotlight | College Player Database

Below are breakdowns of the teams playing in each of the 16 Regional sites. The sites are listed starting with the No. 1 National Seed, Oregon State, followed by the Regional site they are paired with for the Super Regional round. Those teams are also listed just below, with the Regional sites on the left paired through the Super Regionals with the sites on the right. The number in parenthesis is the National Seed (1-8).
Site Host Site Host
Corvallis, OR Oregon State (1) Clemson, SC Clemson
Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina (2) Houston, TX Houston
Gainesville, FL Florida (3) Winston-Salem, NC Wake Forest
Baton Rouge, LA Louisiana State (4) Hattiesburg, MS Southern Miss
Lubbock, TX Texas Tech (5) Tallahassee, FL Florida State
Fort Worth, TX Texas Christian (6) Fayetteville, AR Arkansas
Louisville, KY Louisville (7) Lexington, KY Kentucky
Stanford, CA Stanford (8) Long Beach, CA Long Beach State


Corvallis, Ore., Regional

1. Oregon State (1)
4. Holy Cross

3. Yale
2. Nebraska

Oregon State is a remarkable 49-4 and it is still hard to believe that the Beavers missed Regionals altogether in 2016. This is the most complete team in the country and Nick Madrigal is the star player who leads the way.

Despite a very nice season, Yale’s receipt of a three-seed drew raised eyebrows on Monday. Nebraska is an older team and they bring Regional experience to the party (2016 Clemson Regional). Jake Meyers is both the Sunday starter and leadoff hitter and he arguably should have been the Big 10 Player of the Year.
Clemson, S.C., Regional

1. Clemson
4. UNCG

3. St. John's
2. Vanderbilt

Clemson was by far the most controversial host site and the Tigers come into Regionals having lost 13 of their last 17 ACC games. The offense is led by Reed Rohlman and sophomore phenom Seth Beer but the bullpen has been a challenge at times.

UNCG’s athletic position player group hits for a high average and plays exceptional defense and they could give Clemson a problem.

Meanwhile, Vandy and St. John’s should be a fascinating matchup. St. John’s brings an experienced lineup to Clemson and the Johnnies won the Chapel Hill Regional in 2012. Because Vandy throws Kyle Wright on Saturdays, it doesn’t take much imagination to see the Commodores starting out 2-0 in this Regional.  
Chapel Hill, N.C., Regional

1. North Carolina (2)
4. Davidson

3. Michigan
2. FGCU

North Carolina is elite up the middle, led by plus defenders in Brian Miller, Logan Warmoth, and Cody Roberts not to mention their first round ace J.B. Bukauskas. If you want to nit-pick the Tar Heels, the rest of the rotation is made up of freshman in Gianluca Dalatri and Tyler Baum while closer Josh Hiatt had his worst outing of the season this past Sunday in the ACC Tournament title game. That said, this is the best team in the country not named Oregon State.

Michigan is an electric, high energy club that finished fourth in the country in stolen bases and the Wolverines have a true ace in lefthander Oliver Jaskie.  FGCU and Davidson are feel good stories for their coaches as Dave Tollett founded the Owl’s program and the Wildcats’ Dick Cooke has come back from a near-fatal car accident in 2012. 
Houston, Texas, Regional

1. Houston
4. Iowa

3. Texas A&M
2. Baylor

The Houston Cougars have put together an outstanding season despite the loss of projected first round arm Seth Romero.  While the Cougars still have an excellent rotation of Mitch Ullom, Trey Cumbie, and John King, the loss of Romero could leave them vulnerable if they end up in the losers’ bracket.

Houston is the most balanced team in this Regional but Texas A&M has the greatest pitching depth.  Brigham Hill might be the nation’s most underrated Friday night guy and their bullpen trio of Kaylor Chafin, Mitchell Kilkenny, and Cason Sherrod is outstanding.

This Regional also offers a special group of hitters led by SEC Freshman of the Year Braden Shewmake (Texas A&M), Baylor’s freshman catcher and three-hole hitter Shea Langeliers, and national home run leader Jake Adams of Iowa who has 27 dingers and counting. 
Gainesville, Fla., Regional

1. Florida (3)
4. Marist

3. Bethune-Cookman
2. South Florida
Florida has been to Omaha a remarkable five of the last seven seasons under Kevin O’Sullivan. The Gators are supremely talented, especially this rotation, and most importantly seem to be peaking at the perfect time. Dalton Guthrie (ankle) and Mike Rivera (hamate) returning to full strength will be critical to their postseason fortunes.
 
Bethune Cookman and Marist are traditionally strong programs but neither has been able to make a dent in NCAA Tournament play.  Two seed South Florida will be a formidable challenge for the Gators as the Bulls have star power in shortstop Kevin Merrell and lefthander Shane McClanahan. McClanahan in particular is a name to write down as the lefthander has been up to 98 mph this year and is a sure fire first round pick in 2018.

Winston-Salem, N.C., Regional

1. Wake Forest
4. UMBC

3. Maryland
2. West Virginia
This Wake Forest club has many of the elements of the Omaha sleeper we often see: older team, just enough pitching, and a draw that could create momentum. Couch Ballpark is a band box of sorts and no team in this Regional is more poised to take advantage of that than the Demon Deacons. Stuart Fairchild is an undersized five-tool player and Gavin Sheets has had a monster season.
 
West Virginia and Maryland both struggled down the stretch but had excellent seasons nonetheless. West Virginia has a dynamic offense but their pitching injuries down the stretch could make the losers’ bracket untenable. Maryland advanced to Super Regionals in both 2014 and 2015 under John Szefc and this team has balance. It could be that the Terps best baseball is ahead of them. 

Baton Rouge, La., Regional

1. Louisiana State (4)
4. Texas Southern

3. Rice
2. Southeastern Louisiana

LSU is another preseason Top 5 team who has gotten white hot down the stretch. The Tigers sat at 10-8 in the SEC after six conference weekends but went 11-1 down the stretch to tie Florida for the league title and then punctuated it with another title in Hoover.

Rice was just 18-26 on May 1st and it looked like the Owl’s streak of 22 straight Regionals was toast. Rice literally had to win the Conference USA tournament title to qualify for Regionals and Wayne Graham’s troops did just that. Both the Owls and Southeastern Louisiana were in the Baton Rouge Regional last year and that lack of creativity feels disappointing.
Hattiesburg, Miss., Regional

1. Southern Miss
4. Illinois-Chicago

3. South Alabama
2. Mississippi State

This Regional sold out in a matter of minutes and gaining an early lead looks to be the key to winning this bracket. Southern Miss, Mississippi State, and South Alabama are all clubs with explosive offenses and outstanding bullpens. There is also considerable star power here with Dylan Burdeaux (led the nation with 100 hits), SEC Triple Crown leader Brent Rooker, and the Jaguars’ Travis Swaggerty who was a stat-compiling machine (10 HRs, 56 RBI, .487 OBP, 19 SBs).

UIC looks unassuming in this company but don’t forget that the Flames won a series at Vanderbilt this year.
Lubbock, Texas, Regional

1. Texas Tech (5)
4. Delaware

3. Sam Houston State
2. Arizona

There could be an offensive explosion in Lubbock and Tim Tadlock’s Texas Tech club features one of the longest lineups in College Baseball. Ace Davis Martin returned from injury last week in the Big 12 Tournament and that is a huge development as the Red Raiders attempt to go to Omaha for the third time in four years.

Delaware is a dangerous four seed that features an experienced and athletic lineup with an incredible eight regulars hitting .300 or better. The rest of this bracket contains last year’s National Runner-Up in Arizona and a program in Sam Houston State that has made an eye-popping eight Regionals in the last 11 years.
Tallahassee, Fla., Regional

1. Florida State
4. Tennessee Tech

3. Auburn
2. Central Florida

Florida State was a preseason Top 5 team that saved their best for last, winning three games versus Louisville and an ACC Tournament title in the last two weeks of the season. Dick Howser Stadium is a hitter’s paradise and that should play well for Tennessee Tech who led the nation with an astounding 97 home runs.

First year skipper Greg Lovelady has UCF playing loose and fast and the Knights are an up tempo team with a very good bullpen. Auburn is a wildcard here since Keegan Thompson and Casey Mize might be the most intimidating one-two punch in the entire tournament.
Fort Worth, Texas, Regional

1. Texas Christian (6)
4. Central Connecticut State

3. Dallas Baptist
2. Virginia

TCU is a conundrum in that the Frogs may be the nation’s best coached team and their inconsistent pitching seemed to solidify itself last weekend in Oklahoma City. However, Luken Baker is now out for the season and that is a huge loss.

The other part of TCU’s issue is that Virginia is the best two seed in the entire NCAA Tournament and the Cavaliers’ offense, led by Pavin Smith’s 12 home runs and scant nine strikeouts, is arguably the best in the country. DBU is also very offensive but the Patriots possess two secret weapons: an elite bullpen duo of Seth Elledge and Dalton Higgins and program postseason experience as Dan Heefner has DBU in their seventh Regional in the last ten seasons.
 
This Regional boils down to how well the TCU pitching staff holds up against these two formidable offenses.

Fayetteville, Ark., Regional

1. Arkansas
4. Oral Roberts

3. Oklahoma State
2. Missouri State

This Regional has WWF Battle Royale written all over it. Oral Roberts has one of their best teams in years and they are a very difficult four seed. Oklahoma State is scorching hot, having won the Big 12 tournament in dramatic fashion, and many of these Cowboys were key players in last year’s run to Omaha.

This is another grouping that could produce offensive fireworks as Arkansas led the SEC in home runs and Chad Spanberger hit five round trippers in Hoover alone. Missouri State boat-raced the MVC regular season with Jake Burger and Jeremy Eierman combining for 41 home runs.
Louisville, Ky., Regional

1. Louisville (7)
4. Radford

3. Xavier
2. Oklahoma

Dan McDonnell has turned Louisville into America’s most consistent College Baseball program and the Cardinals have done the impossible this year: have seven players taken in the first 115 picks in last year’s draft and still figure out a way to be a Top 8 National Seed. Brendan McKay is a three-time first team All-American, Devin Hairston is an elite defender at shortstop, and Drew Ellis is this year’s breakout offensive player in the ACC.

Oklahoma has one of the Big 12’s scariest lineups and the Sooners won an amazing five series against Top 25 RPI teams. Watch out for Xavier however as the Musketeers are in back-to-back Regionals and have a true ace in funky lefthander Zac Lowther. Radford also has significant Regional experience, earning their second NCAA Tournament bid in the last three years. 

Lexington, Ky., Regional

1. Kentucky
4. Ohio

3. North Carolina State
2. Indiana

This Regional may become the “Lubbock Lite” of opening weekend as Cliff Hagan Stadium plays offensive and Kentucky, Indiana, and NC State all feature very physical and athletic lineups. In fact, all three clubs are in the Top 50 nationally for home runs.

That said, Kentucky has a special offense this year and Evan White may be the best overall player in this Regional. If the Wildcats play clean defense, and that has been an issue at times, they are the class of this field.

NC State is a club that feels destined for some good College Baseball karma as the Wolfpack experienced incredible heartache in the 2015 Fort Worth Regional and then the 2016 Raleigh Regional when they had eventual National Champion Coastal Carolina down to their last strike.

Rob Smith of Ohio seems to have figured out the MAC Tournament as Ohio has won the league’s automatic bid now in two of the last three years.

Stanford, Calif., Regional

1. Stanford (8)
4. Sacramento State

3. BYU
2. Cal State Fullerton

This Regional will start on Thursday due to BYU's inclusion here and the Cougars are an extremely physical and potent offense led by junior Colton Shaver. Sacramento State is no pushover four seed and the Hornets eliminated Arizona State in the 2014 San Luis Obisbo Regional.

Fullerton and Stanford played opening weekend at Fullerton and the Titans won the series and almost swept the Cardinals in fact. Fullerton has endured an injury plagued season but shortstop Timmy Richards and Colton Eastman are nearing full strength which is a difference maker.

Stanford is an older team that fields .979 and utilizes an all-lefthanded rotation with power-armed righthander Colton Hock looming in the bullpen. Projected high draft pick Tristan Beck has not thrown a pitch this season which makes Mark Marquess’ 41st and final season even more remarkable.
Long Beach, Calif., Regional

1. Long Beach State
4. San Diego State

3. UCLA
2. Texas

This is one of the most difficult Regionals in the field and it will be a bonanza if you like good pitching. Long Beach State’s Darren McCaughan is a vintage west coast sinker-slider ace and the Dirtbags, who are in their third Regional in four years, are a more physical team than you might imagine. David Banuelos is one of the best catchers in the country.

Texas and UCLA offer three elite arms in Morgan Cooper, Nolan Kingham, and Griffin Canning. San Diego State is arguably the best number four seed in the field and the Aztecs are in their fourth Regional in the fifth year. 
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