It was a postseason weekend to forget for the decorated SEC in NCAA baseball regional play after top national seeds Vanderbilt and Texas were among the seven conference teams ousted from the league’s nation-leading 13 selections. The SEC tied a college baseball record with eight regional hosts, but No. 3 Arkansas and No. 4 Auburn are the only teams to advance to Supers heading into Monday.
Overall No. 1 seed Vanderbilt, one of the favorites to get to the College World Series, became the first top seed to miss a regional final since the current format began in 1999. Commodores coach Tim Corbin said he failed to properly equip his team to win after Vanderbilt cruised through the SEC Tournament en route to a title.
“I can’t pinpoint it. It’s just a feeling when I get done and I have an opportunity to process these games a little bit and write my notes down,” Corbin said, via Vandy247. “Whether it’s messaging or communicating, at this point in the course of the year too, you probably want to communicate less. But I felt like we were really, really trying. We were really trying hard, and you could tell, especially at the plate.”
No. 2 overall seed Texas ran out of gas in the Austin Regional against UTSA on Sunday evening, losing for a second time to the Roadrunners in the postseason after dispatching Kansas State, 15-8, earlier in the day. The Longhorns’ first season under Jim Schlossnagle included the program’s best 42-game start in two decades highlighted by a 19-2 run in SEC play before the team began leaking oil down the stretch.
Via Horns247, the pitching staff’s normally reliable arms struggled when it mattered most as Luke Harrison, Max Grubbs, Thomas Burns and SEC Freshman of the Year Dylan Volantis all failed to find their stuff.
Hosting in Athens, No. 7 Georgia lost on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to Oklahoma State on Sunday, another stunning setback for the SEC. Florida, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi State all failed to get out of the first weekend as lower seed at other regional sites, leaving the SEC with a maximum of six programs advancing to Supers with four facing pivotal winner-take-all games on Monday.
Three SEC hosts, Oklahoma facing Game 7s
No. 6 LSU, No. 10 Ole Miss and No. 14 Tennessee all play a single game to decide their respective regionals along with Oklahoma, which staved off elimination twice Sunday in Chapel Hill with victories over Nebraska and North Carolina. The reigning national champion Vols (45-17) suffered a final at-bat loss to the Demon Deacons after Nate Stead walked in the winning run during a 7-6 setback.
Tennessee ace Liam Doyle could start with the Vols’ season on the line after throwing 104 pitches in Friday night’s regional-opening win over Miami (Ohio). Coach Tony Vitello would not reveal his pick for Monday’s finale, but did say Tennessee had a couple “fresh” options to take the hill.
Monday’s regional final schedule
(All times ET)
- Oklahoma vs. North Carolina (Chapel Hill), 3 p.m.
- Murray State vs. Ole Miss (Oxford), 6 p.m.
- Wake Forest vs. Tennessee (Knoxville), 6 p.m.
- Little Rock vs. LSU (Baton Rouge), 9 p.m.
LSU dominated its first couple of postseason contests with elite pitching before Sunday night’s surprising loss to Little Rock. Despite entering regional play with one of the worst pitching staffs in the postseason, at least statistically, Little Rock has a chance to oust another one of the SEC’s elites. It’ll have to happen against one of the Tigers’ best pitchers in Casan Evans or Zac Cowan, however, with both available to toe the rubber in the final game.
The Sooners got two scoreless innings from Dylan Crooks for his 15th save of the season in Sunday’s late game in Chapel Hill to force the fifth-seeded Tar Heels into an extra game. Oklahoma’s red-hot after a 17-1 victory over Nebraska followed by the win over North Carolina with its back against the wall.
Tar Heels freshman pitcher Ryan Lynch is expected to get the start Monday afternoon against the Sooners.
“I told our guys after the game, ‘Every one of you got after it. It just wasn’t our night,'” Tar Heels coach Scott Forbes said, via Inside Carolina. “But we’re going to flush it quickly, because we’re going to play again tomorrow and we’re excited about it.”
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