PALMER: Regional weekend delivered in more ways than one

By Hunt Palmer

Find 100 American sports fans, 99 of them wouldn’t recognize ESPN’s college baseball theme song.

That’s ok. It’s still been the soundtrack of my early summer for a long, long time.

This year it sounded different. LSU didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the week following my college graduation. I’ve got a wife and two kids now. On house No. 2 and job No. 4.

I didn’t know how I would feel hearing that song this summer. As it played on Memorial Day morning, I didn’t get those butterflies. I watched the selection show with interest, not anxiety. Last week drug on as I wrote recaps instead of previews, but an amazing thing happened over the weekend.

I heard it all.

I heard my old friends from Little Rock shock college baseball on Friday at Southern Miss and Sunday as they advanced to the Super Regional that eluded them in Baton Rouge a year ago.

I heard Country Roads from Morgantown as Kentucky melted down with an error and a balk in the ninth. Coach Steve Sabins and his crew had their season stop at Alex Box Stadium last year, too. They’ll try to get back to the Supers on Monday night.

I heard stunned silence in an always quiet Jackie Robinson Stadium as St. Mary’s beat UCLA twice in one weekend. No one had beaten UCLA twice in one weekend all season. A Bruins core that endured a 19-33 season playing as freshmen two years ago went 99-24 (50-10in the Big Ten) over the next two seasons, reaching Omaha as sophomores. Roch Chowlowsky and that group went 1-2 in a home regional and became the second straight No. 1 overall seed to fail to reach a regional final.

I heard Rock Chalk drown out Pig Sooie from a jam packed Hoglund Park in Lawrence where they created a “Back Yard” behind the left field wall for the program’s first regional. Dan Fitzgerald’s Kansas club had no problem with the Hogs.

I heard cow bells early and often from Dudy Noble Field. In April, I laid eyes on that college baseball jewel for the first time since its renovation. It’s as good as it gets, and that’s what Mississippi State looked like for three days in Starkville to cruise into an all-Bulldog Super.

They’ll travel to Georgia next week where I heard Tre Phelps was ejected and suspended for Cadillaccing around the bases after “feeding the trees.” He was out of line watching the ball and waving to the entire ballpark while throttling down his trot to 750 rpm. But I still heard the ping of every other Georgia bat. That team is for real.

From Chapel Hill, I heard Tennessee and East Carolina play a classic on Friday that included a two-out solo homer to knot the score in the ninth. But the Tar Heels were too much for everyone. I’ve seen that story before despite Will Hellmers’ efforts to the contrary.

I heard Milwaukee for the first time in 15 weeks. The same Panthers that opened at The Box this season and were outscored 41-15 took a blowtorch to the SEC ‘s best pitching staff on Friday, chasing ace Jake Marciano after three outs and crushing Auburn 13-8. I didn’t hear them drop Game 6 of the regional at 1:01 am Monday morning, but I’ve heard that Monday alarm clock after a rain soaked regional kept me up until the wee hours. I know how they feel in Auburn.

Speaking of the wee hours, I heard Mike Bianco laud his team’s effort for winning a 14-inning thriller in Lincoln that played until after 1:00 am Friday night into Saturday. Those Rebels got back after it and won two more. If they want to get back to Nebraska, they’ll probably have to go through Auburn. Unless Milwaukee can stun the Plainsmen again. Think anyone in Oxford will have eyes on Tigers-Panthers on Monday?

I didn’t hear any bubbles from Blue Bell Park on Sunday night, because, well, they’re bubbles. But they were popped by USC which is trying to come back from a Friday loss in which the Trojans saved their ace for host Texas A&M. Texas State had other plans, so the Trojans didn’t get to A&M until Sunday night and bludgeoned the Aggies 14-3. I’ll hear the Aggie War Hymn on Monday. Will it be the last time until Labor Day weekend?

I heard Squeeze Play where Mike Rooney and Chris Burke work tireless hours and perfectly blend baseball knowledge, humor, passion and attention deficit disorder for an entire weekend while all the chaos is unfolding.

In the wake of a brutal season here in Baton Rouge, a funny thing happened. My love and appreciation for college baseball grew while LSU sat out of postseason play. I watched through a different lens, and that perspective was refreshing.

The transfer portal opened up on Monday morning at midnight. Jay Johnson will live on his phone for the next three weeks. His task is to make sure LSU doesn’t miss any June weekends moving forward. Tiger fans were stunned by the 2026 team’s demise, a 12-week slog to the finish line.

LSU is not alone. None of the 2025 College World Series participants made it to June this year.

I’ll miss the anticipation of boarding the flight to Omaha. I’ll miss lunch at Barrett’s and my walk past The Old Mattress Factory and The Blatt on the way into the ballpark. Several Tiger fans have told me over the last two weeks how much they’ll miss the June baseball nerves.

While I enjoyed the last three days, I hear ya.