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College  | Story | 6/9/2018

CWS Set, Super Regional Recap

Patrick Ebert
Photo: Kody Clemens (Texas Athletics)



Super Regional Preview | College Top 25 | Player/Pitcher of the Week

Listed below are short recaps of each of the eight Super Regional sites which will be updated as they are completed. With half of the bracket complete here are the first two College World Series matchups:

Bracket 1 (begins Saturday)
Oregon State vs. North Carolina | 2:00 p.m. CT
Washington vs. Mississippi State | 7:00 p.m. CT

Bracket 2 (begins Sunday)
Arkansas vs. Texas | 1:00 p.m. CT
Florida vs. Texas Tech | 6:00 p.m. CT

Five of the teams participating in the 2018 College World Series were ranked among Perfect Game's top seven preseason teams:

1. Florida
2. Oregon State
4. Texas Tech
6. Arkansas
7. North Carolina

Texas opened the 2018 season ranked 23rd, Mississippi State started 25th and Washington was unranked.

Below are details of each of the eight Super Regional matchups as well as further details on the Player and Pitcher of the Week as follows:

Perfect Game/Rawlings National Player of the Week: Kody Clemens, Texas
Perfect Game/Rawlings National Pitcher of the Week: Michael Byrne, Florida


Chapel Hill Super Regional

The Chapel Hill Super Regional was the first one to be completed as North Carolina made quick work of Stetson, playing the early games on each of the first two days. Cody Roberts' three-run home run in the fifth inning on Friday broke a 1-1 tie and put UNC ahead for good, and his RBI double in the first inning on Saturday kicked off a four-run frame that they never looked back from, beating Stetson in both games 7-5 and 7-4. Both games ended on deep fly balls off the bat of Hatters' designated hitter (and closer) Brooks Wilson with the bases loaded.

North Carolina's Nos. 1-5 hitters – Kyle Datres, Michael Busch, Roberts, Brandon Riley and Ike Freeman – did their job at the top and in the middle of the order, going a combined 16-for-38 (.421) with 11 runs scored and nine driven in. Cooper Criswell and Gianluca Dalatri, the Tar Heels' starters, pitched efficiently enough to hand the game over to UNC's deep bullpen, which combined for four frames on Friday and 5 2/3 on Saturday to secure the two victories.

Stetson's sensational season comes to a close with a 48-13 overall record. North Carolina advances to the College World Series for the first time since 2013.


Corvallis Super Regional

After a convincing 8-1 win for Oregon State on Friday – a game that saw Trevor Larnach and Adley Rutschman hit back-to-back home runs in the first innings and ace Luke Heimlich pick up his 16th win of the season with 8 2/3 strong innings – Minnesota made things interesting for most of Saturday's game. The Gophers held a 3-2 lead going into the top of the eighth inning, but the Beavers tied the game at three in the eighth and added three more in the ninth, highlighted by Rutschman's two-run single, to pull ahead and secure a berth in the 2018 College World Series with a 6-3 victory.

Minnesota's pitchers had no answer for Oregon State's lethal middle-of-the-order punch as Larnach and Rutschman combined to go 8-for-13 with five runs scored and seven driven in over the two games, and they were also walked five times combined. The Beavers also put their pitching depth on display as a pair of hard-throwing lefthanders, freshman Christian Chamberlain and sophomore Jake Mulholland, struck out eight of the Gophers' final 12 batters.

Oregon State advances to the College World Series for the second year in a row, making it to the semifinals last season before losing back-to-back games to LSU, a team they dismissed from this year's tournament a week ago in the Regional round. Minnesota finishes the year 44-15 after winning the Big Ten regular season and conference tournament titles in addition to both hosting and winning a Regional in Minneapolis.


Fullerton Super Regional

For the first time in program history Washington will participate in the College World Series after walking off Cal State Fullerton with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kaiser Weiss in the 10th inning.

The Huskies entered the bottom of the 10th down 5-4, as Fullerton took the lead on a Hank LoForte home run in the top of the frame, only his second homer of the season. Washington DH Joe Wainhouse led off the Huskies’ 10th with a single and was pinch run for by Jack Johnson. Johnson scored the tying run on a single by A.J. Graffanino, and Levi Jordan, who reached on an error prior to Graffanino’s single, scored the game-winning run on the sac fly.

Washington entered the ninth inning with what seemed like a commanding 3-1 lead as starter Joe DeMers carried a perfect game into the seventh inning and finished the contest hurling 8 2/3. Cal State Fullerton scored three innings in the top of the ninth and a single tally in the 10th to take temporary leads, each time seeing Washington battle back.

After Washington won the first game of the series on Friday, Cal State Fullerton claimed game two on Saturday. Lucas Knowles out-dueled Titans’ ace Colton Eastman in Game 1 before Fullerton’s pitching limited the Huskies to just two runs – a pair of solo shots by Wainhouse – on six hits.

With the loss not only is Cal State Fullerton denied their 19th trip to the College World Series, but it also breaks the Big West’s streak of consecutive years sending a team to Omaha (UC Irvine in 2014, Fullerton in 2015 and 2017, UC Santa Barbara in 2016). The Titans finish the year 36-26.


Nashville Super Regional

In a three-game series that had no shortage of dramatic fireworks, Mississippi State finally pushed their way past Vanderbilt with a 10-6 victory in 11 innings. The two teams were tied, 3-3, as the ninth inning opened, and each squad scored three runs in the ninth to force extras.

Tanner Allen broke the 6-6 tie with a run-scoring double in the 11th, and the Bulldogs added three more runs on a bases-loaded walk by Justin Foscue and a two-run single by Luke Alexander.

Each of the first two games of the series were decided by walkoff home runs. In the first game it was Mississippi State’s Elijah MacNamee who once again came up big, just as he did a week ago in Regional play, hitting a two-run bomb to end the game. In Game 2, J.J. Bleday served as Vanderbilt’s hero, hitting a solo shot that forced Sunday’s contest.

Vanderbilt finishes the season 35-27 after reaching the Super Regional round for the seventh time in nine seasons. Mississippi State advances to Omaha for the first time since 2013.


Austin Super Regional

The Texas Longhorns scored a pair of runs in both the second and third innings of Monday’s 5-2 victory against Tennessee Tech to advance to the College World Series for the 37th time in program history and the first time since 2014. Ryan Reynolds hit a two-run single in the third inning and both Kody Clemens and D.J. Petrinsky hit solo shots in the fourth that gave Texas a lead they would not relinquish.

After losing the first game of the series, Texas bounced back with a 4-2 win as pitchers Chase Shugart and Blair Henley combined to limit the powerful Tennessee Tech offense to only three base hits. In the third and deciding game Texas emptied out the bullpen, using five pitchers – including Saturday’s starter and staff ace Nolan Kingham – to navigate through the final four innings after starter Matteo Bocchi pitched admirably over the first five frames.

Clemens continues to be the most dialed-in and completely unpitchable hitters in all of college baseball, hitting a home run in each of the three games as well as a double in Game 2. In the three games he went 5-for-8 with the three bombs, three runs scored, four driven in and five walks. As a result, he was named the PG/Rawlings Player of the Week.

With the loss Tennessee Tech’s magical postseason run comes to a close. They finish the year 53-12 and managed to eliminate both Missouri State and host Ole Miss as part of the Oxford Regional a week ago.


Lubbock Super Regional

Freshman Gabe Holt hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning and Michael Davis followed with a two-run shot in the fourth setting the tone early as part of an eventual 6-2 win over Duke. The Red Raiders pounded out 13 base hits, including four by Josh Jung, while Davis Martin and Ty Harpenau each tossed three effective innings as Texas Tech returns to Omaha for the third time in five seasons.

The Game 3 win seemed very similar to their Game 1 victory in which the offense scored six runs on 11 hits while using a Johnny Wholestaff approach with their pitching staff. Holt was especially effective serving as Texas Tech’s leadoff man, going 7-for-12 with five runs scored and four RBI in TTU’s three games.

Duke did take the second game with a convincing 11-2 win as Graeme Stinson tossed six scoreless innings and the offense exploded for 16 base hits, six of which went for extra bases. The Blue Devils end their incredibly successful season with a 45-18 overall record, which included a 5-3 mark in the postseason.


Fayetteville Super Regional

Time and time again Arkansas has proved that when their offense is clicking on all cylinders they are the single-most dangerous lineup in all of college baseball. Monday was one of those days for Arkansas, routing SEC-foe 14-4 in Fayetteville on their way to securing a berth to the College World Series, their first since 2015.

Carson Shaddy hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Luke Bonfield went 3-for-4 with four RBI in a contest that South Carolina was never really in. Isaiah Campbell gave the Hogs four valuable innings as the starter and Barrett Loseke once again bridged the gap with 2 1/3 strong innings of relief to help propel Arkansas to the CWS-clinching win. Shaddy finished the Super Regional round 5-for-10 with four runs scored and nine driven in, as his bases-clearing double in the seventh inning of Game 1 also put that game out of reach.

South Carolina did win the second game to keep this best-of-three series interesting. The Gamecocks finished the year 37-26, going 2-5 against Arkansas this year, with all but one of those games being played in Fayetteville.


Gainesville Super Regional

If Austin Langworthy’s walk-off home run in the 11th inning on Monday seemed familiar there’s a good reason for that, as he hit another solo home run in the top of the ninth inning on Sunday that temporarily tied Game 2 of their series with Auburn, 2-2.  Florida would of course lose that game, but Langworthy’s blast gave them a 3-2 win in their favor with a return trip to Omaha where they will defend their 2017 National Championship.

Michael Byrne appeared in all three games of the series and was able to avenge his Game 2 loss with four shutout innings against the Tigers on Monday to pick up the win. He also provided three scoreless frames on Saturday and finished the Super Regionals with 10 strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings on his way to being named the Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week.

This will mark the fourth year in a row that Florida has advanced to the College World Series and their eighth appearance in 10 years. For Auburn they finish the year 43-23, and similar to South Carolina against Arkansas, went 2-4 against the Gators in Gainesville this year.
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