Editor’s note: The following article was published first on d1baseball.com.
The 2025 NCAA DI baseball regional tournaments run from May 30 to June 2. Below you will find previews for each region, from D1baseball.com. This article will continue to be updated with more regions.
Baton Rouge Regional Preview
The sixth overall national seed LSU welcomes Dallas Baptist, A-10 champ Rhode Island, and OVC champ Little Rock to Alex Box Stadium this weekend. Can the Tigers return to supers after losing in the regional round a season ago? If so, they must lean on a talented pitching staff and slow down potent offenses in DBU, URI, and pesky underdog Little Rock.
1. LSU: Regular Season Results | Team Stats and Leaders
2. Dallas Baptist: Regular Season Results | Team Stats and Leaders
3. Rhode Island: Regular Season Results | Team Stats and Leaders
4. Little Rock: Regular Season Results | Team Stats and Leaders
Most Exciting Player: Jared Jones, 1B, LSU
There may not be more raw power in the country than Jones. The mammoth slugger has slugged 19 homers and 66 RBIs in his junior season. He’s one of those players who people notice when he steps in the box, and one must expect he’ll be in top form as his LSU career winds down with a home regional.
Best Hitter: Anthony DePino, 3B, Rhode Island
DePino has amassed massive numbers this season with a .359 average, 19 homers, 20 doubles, and 60 RBIs for the Rams. He’s also stolen 21 bases and drawn 55 walks in an incredibly productive season in the Atlantic 10. But he’s also been an incredibly productive power hitter for four years, with a school-record 64 career homers to go along with 178 RBIs and a 1.062 career OPS in 204 games.
Best Defensive Player: Steven Milam, SS, LSU
Milam has developed into a playmaker in the middle of the field. He’s always in the correct position and seems to find a way to make the highlight play and nab the runner by a step.
Best Pitcher: Kade Anderson, LHP, LSU
Anderson might be the best pitcher in the nation and the top college arm in the draft. The lefty holds batters to a .220 average and is as competitive as any pitcher in college baseball. Anderson has a legit four-pitch arsenal, but his fastball and changeup generate truly elite swing-and-miss rates. Our David Seifert wrote that he draws industry comparisons to Scott Kazmir, who was the 15th overall selection in the 2002 draft and went on to a 108-win career over 13 years in the MLB.
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Conway Regional Preview
No. 13 national seed Coastal Carolina racked up a gaudy 48-11 overall record while winning both the Sun Belt regular-season title and conference tournament. Now the Chanticleers host a very dangerous Florida club that recovered from a rocky first half with a big-time second-half surge, along with fellow perennial power East Carolina and MAAC heavyweight Fairfield.
1. Coastal Carolina: Regular Season Results | Team Stats and Leaders
2. Florida: Regular Season Results | Team Stats and Leaders
3. East Carolina: Regular Season Results | Team Stats and Leaders
4. Fairfield: Regular Season Results | Team Stats and Leaders
Most Exciting Player: Dixon Williams, MIF, East Carolina
One of the most well-rounded players in college baseball, Williams offers a blend of speed (22-for-25 in stolen base attempts), power (13 homers and 12 doubles), barrel control and patience (.296 average, .451 OBP with 47 walks against 45 strikeouts). He’s also a premium defender with extremely sure hands, smooth actions and great instincts at second base — and he can also handle himself at shortstop (where he played in the conference tournament) despite lacking a bazooka arm. But the Pirates got a nice spark in their 4-0 run through the AAC tourney with Williams at short and spark plug freshman walk-on Braden Burress (the tournament MOP) at second base.
Best Hitter: Colby Shelton, SS, Florida
You could make a case here for fellow Gators Bobby Boser and Brody Donay (who both offer more power), or Fairfield’s trio of Dean Ferrara, Matt Bucciero and Luke Nomura, or ECU’s Williams. But we’ll give the nod to Shelton, who is hitting .377 overall and .360 in SEC competition, both team highs. He’s a tough out with 21 walks against 24 strikeouts, and he boasts a .458 OBP and a .606 slugging percentage, with a team-leading 19 doubles along with seven homers. Shelton is also a standout defender at short, but he really stands out for his evolution from a feast-or-famine slugger with high strikeout totals over his first two seasons, to an under-control hit machine as a junior.
Best Defensive Player: Caden Bodine, C, Coastal Carolina
Bodine is likely a Day One draft pick this summer thanks to his combination of elite defense behind the plate and his elite discipline at the plate (44 BB against 18 SO). He’s an uncommonly athletic backstop with soft hands, excellent blocking and receiving skills, and a very accurate arm, if not a cannon. He is fielding .998 with just one passed ball and has thrown out 36 percent of base stealers.
Best Pitcher: Jacob Morrison, RHP, Coastal Carolina
After missing 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Morrison was one of college baseball’s brightest breakout stars this spring, going 11-0, 1.90 with an 84-19 K-BB mark in 85.1 IP en route to Sun Belt pitcher of the year honors. An imposing 6-foot-8, 245-pound righty, Morrison works downhill from a high slot with a very good four-pitch arsenal: a riding fastball that averages 92.6 mph and touches 95; a mid-70s downer curveball that opponents are hitting just .098 against (86th percentile in Division I); a wipeout mid-80s slider with a 39.% whiff rate (75th percentile); and a functional changeup.
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Clemson Regional Preview
This has the potential to be one of the more exciting regionals in the tournament. Host Clemson is no stranger to the postseason under head coach Erik Bakich, who has guided the Tigers to three straight home regionals. After dropping the first one, they advanced last year and have the team to do so again. West Virginia had the makings of a host for much of the year and won the Big 12 regular season title; WVU aims to return to supers for the second season in a row. Kentucky is one of a record 13 teams from the SEC to earn a bid and has its sights set on a second straight run to Omaha. Finally, USC Upstate is in the field for the first time after knocking on the door the last few years before winning 22 of 27 games against Big South competition this spring, en route to the regular-season and tournament crowns.
1. Clemson: Regular Season Results | Team Stats and Leaders
2. West Virginia: Regular Season Results | Team Stats and Leaders
3. Kentucky: Regular Season Results | Team Stats and Leaders
4. USC Upstate: Regular Season Results | Team Stats and Leaders
Most Exciting Player: Cam Cannarella, CF, Clemson
There are few players in the country that have the capability to make the plays Cannarella does in center field, and he’s truly the emotional heartbeat of the Tigers. Cannarella has heated up down the stretch offensively and is now slashing .344/.477/.495 with more walks (51) than strikeouts (40) and 20 doubles on the year. Clemson head coach Erik Bakich has frequently described him as a superhero, particularly in big moments. “He has that ability, that when we need the highest level of compete and the highest level of execution, in the most high-leverage situation, that is when he shines,” Bakich said. “He’s got a very special gift in that regard.” And, since Cannarella has a claim for the next category as well, it’s notable that over the last month, he’s 26-for-58 (.448) with seven extra-base hits and paces the team with 16 RBIs and a 1.181 OPS.
Best Hitter: Johnny Sweeney, DH, USC Upstate
We’ll highlight the younger brother of USC Upstate head coach Kane Sweeney here. Johnny Sweeney has erupted as a junior and entrenched himself in the cleanup role for the Spartans. He hit just .201 over 139 at-bats in his first two years on campus but has slashed .351/.702/.504 with 17 home runs and 15 doubles while driving in 81 runs. Sweeney’s 3.8 offensive WAR paces the field in Clemson while his underlying numbers show an ability to punish secondaries, particularly changeups and sliders. The former is an interesting matchup against the Tigers’ Aidan Knaak as Sweeney’s posted a .562 wOBA (96th percentile) against changeups.
Best Defensive Player: Cam Cannarella, CF, Clemson
In the 2024 Super Regional against Florida, Cannarella pulled off the catch of the year — an over-the-shoulder basket catch while running at full speed up the hill in center field at Doug Kingsmore Stadium — to prevent a walk-off in the 10th inning. That type of play is almost routine for the junior, who flashed the leather on many occasions this year and provided a safety blanket for his pitching staff. Metrically, he’s also only gotten better this year, posting an 11.8 defensive runs saved mark that ranks 11th nationally among center fielders. You can chalk the improvement up to settling back in after offseason labrum surgery.
Best Pitcher: Aidan Knaak, RHP, Clemson
There’s an argument here for Clemson’s backend pairing of Reed Garris and Lucas Mahlstedt, but the Tigers’ path to a regional win begins with a strong start from Knaak. He’s been outstanding in his last two starts, going a combined 13.1 innings with two runs on four hits allowed while striking out 18. It starts with his changeup, one of the better pitches in the country. In those two starts, opponents were just 1-for-17 against it with 11 strikeouts. He’s made 30 starts in two years for Clemson, including a pair in the postseason last year, so he’s no stranger to the big moment.
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