NCAA Super Regionals: Punching tickets and breaking records
Friday was mostly a dud as NCAA Super Regionals got underway. Four series opened play, but Saturday brings the other four and a much busier slate. Here’s what to know.
The boys of Troy
There were some incredible scenes on day one of the super regionals. Morgantown was special hosting their first super regional, and Auburn looked electric under the lights. However, Troy and Little Rock stole the show. The game itself wasn’t particularly competitive, as the Trojans rolled to a 12-2 victory.
The real story may have been what took place outside of the fences at Riddle-Pace field. That’s a stadium that holds a little over 2,000 people at max capacity for the regular season. This isn’t the regular season, though. Friday afternoon saw Troy set a program record for attendance at 6,426 people.
That’s college baseball. And that, as Steven Schoch would say, is rad.
Auburn in a hole…again
Auburn was never going to make it easy on themselves. That’s apparently just not their style when it comes to postseason baseball.
The Tigers lost to Ole Miss in Game 1 of their super regional on Friday night. They got a good enough start out of Andreas Alvarez who struck out ten in his 5.2 innings pitched. But, give credit to Ole MIss and their lineup which epitomizes modern day baseball.
They strike out a ton, and they hit the ball a long way. That about sums it up. Judd Utermark did what he does best and hit a back breaking home run to put Ole Miss up big. It was his 22nd of the season, and it was possibly his most absurd.
Utermark’s bomb left the stadium entirely over the left field green monster knockoff at Auburn with a launch angle of 43 degrees and an exit velocity over 111 mph. It gave the Rebels a 4-1 lead, and they improved to 36-0 when leading by three or more runs in a game.
The story was what each team did with runners in scoring position and two out hitting. Multiple times we saw Ole Miss extend innings with two out base hits that resulted in runs on the next at-bat. The Rebels were 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position on the night while Auburn was a measly 2-for-9.
The two will meet again Saturday in a win-or-go home game for Auburn.
Brunch N’ Baseball
I spent the entire week complaining that the best matchup of the weekend was scheduled for 10 a.m. CT. Then again, there’s something to be said for getting great baseball right out of the gate.
Georgia and Mississippi State. Two teams that are playing great baseball. Two teams that are more than familiar with each other in the SEC. Two teams that love Buc-ee’s more than almost anyone besides a family of five on a ten hour road trip.
These are the two best lineups in the tournament still standing, and they’ll be playing in a band box where the ball leaves the yard as often as blue lights flash behind football players on Loop 10. I’m not sure if 10 a.m. is too early for popcorn, but get it ready for sure.
Saturday schedule
All times central, and the television channel is in parentheses.
10:00 a.m. – No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 14 Mississippi State (ESPN)
11:00 a.m. – No. 16 West Virginia vs Cal Poly (ESPN2)
1:00 p.m. – No. 5 UNC vs USC (ESPN)
2:00 p.m. – Troy vs Little Rock (ESPN2)
4:00 p.m. – No. 4 Auburn vs Ole Miss (ESPN)
5:00 p.m. – No. 15 Kansas vs Oklahoma (ESPN2)
7:00 p.m. – No. 6 Texas vs No. 11 Oregon (ESPN)
9:00 p.m. – No. 7 Alabama vs St. John’s (ESPN2)
