Baseball 2015 NCAA Tournament Super Regional Overview
With the increasing amount of parity in college baseball one thing is for certain, and that is the Regional round of the NCAA Baseball Tournament is going to be dramatic. The 2015 edition of the NCAA Baseball Tournament’s Regional round did not disappoint as top-seeded UCLA was upset by Maryland. The Terrapins did a tremendous job of attacking the Bruin hitters in both victories over UCLA. Virginia had many ups and downs throughout the regular season, but they dug down as the number three seed. In the Lake Elsinore Regional UVA got great pitching from Connor Jones, Brandon Waddell and Josh Sborz out of the closer role to beat a very good USC team twice, and a tough San Diego State team to once again get back to the Super Regional.
The other great stories from the Regional round include TCU’s ability to show incredible resilience by not folding when they trailed NC State 8-1 late in the decisive game seven on Monday night. Wolfpack fans are going to howl all summer long about a controversial balk which did not have any business being called. But what about the other defensive mistakes by North Carolina State? You can’t commit six errors in a winner take all Regional Final and expect to get away with it and win against a disciplined Horned Frogs team. VCU became the latest number four seed to advance on to the Super Regional round as they won the Dallas Regional by riding great pitching to eliminate Dallas Baptist 3-1 in the decisive game seven on Monday.
The Super Regionals are going to provide a great cross section of in-state, regional rivalries and chances for teams like Illinois to break through against defending champion Vanderbilt. Here is a quick look at a couple of intriguing story lines for this weekend's Super Regional round.
TCU and Texas A&M should be an epic three game war in Fort Worth. Both teams have been very rock solid all year long and are battle tested from last weekend's regional round. For the Horned Frogs, it's critical that they get game one and put the pressure on the Aggies. If TCU creates a similar hole for themselves like they did against NC State, they will not get the benefit of an implosion by Texas A&M like the Wolfpack did on Monday night. Maryland and Virginia, while unlikely winners of their respective regionals, are getting hot at the right time. The Cavaliers should have a raucous Davenport Field and Nathan Kirby back in some capacity to set up an epic series.
Florida and Florida State along with Illinois and Vanderbilt should be three game battles as well. The Illini have been arguably the best story in college baseball with 50 wins and have that look of a team that won't fear Vanderbilt. That fearless approach is going to be critical when playing a loaded team like the Commodores. The task of eliminating a reigning champion is always difficult but it's more of a challenge considering Vanderbilt's pitching, led by Carson Fulmer and Walker Buehler, is stacked. Also, the clutch play of Dansby Swanson creates an air of invincibility about the Commodores in the postseason.
Finally, Miami is going to be a heavy favorite over VCU as they are loaded offensively. The Rams are going to have be on point pitching wise to have a shot for the upset. Louisville should get by Fullerton as the Cardinals have been outstanding all year in weekend series. They won ten ACC series out of ten. Louisiana-Lafayette and LSU should be a fun little donnybrook at Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers have a wide open opportunity with UCLA eliminated to embrace being the favorite for the national title, but will have to take down a Ragin’ Cajun starting rotation with three freshmen that have nothing to lose. The Battle of the Ozarks between Missouri State and Arkansas is going to be fascinating. Playing at home and with their play as a whole clicking on all cylinders, Arkansas should have enough to get past the Bears.
