Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas All Punch Their Tickets to Omaha
Six of the eight programs that will be represented in Omaha next week are now in the field as three more teams punched their tickets on Sunday. Two more spots remain as it will be one of either Oklahoma or Kansas, and Alabama or St. Johns who will finish each of their game two’s on Monday as they were both suspended due to rain on Sunday. Should a game three be necessary for either series, they will complete the third game on Monday as well. Let’s jump into the action from Sunday.
Georgia sweeps Mississippi State in two games
It was only two games, but don’t be fooled - the battle of the Bulldogs was far and away the best super regional in this tournament, and perhaps the best super regional in the history of the NCAA Baseball tournament. In two games, both Georgia and Mississippi State combined to hit 21 home runs. Who’s not to say they reach 30 if this series had reached three games? The trees at Foley Field were fed all weekend, and for their sake, Georgia was able to end the series in two games as they return to Omaha for the first time since 2008, giving the trees at Foley Field a much needed break until next spring.
Georgia took the first game by a score of 13-12, a game in which they trailed 7-0 early. MSU had their ace on the mound, sophomore left-hander Thomas Valincius. Regardless of how good your offense is, being in the hole 7-0 against an arm like Valincius is not a great recipe for success, however, we can count Georgia as the exception. Between the fourth and fifth inning, not only did Georgia manage to tie the game, but they jumped out to a 9-7 lead. It wasn’t a matter of the bullpen taking over and holding MSU scoreless so that the Georgia offense could chip away and tie the game late - no, it was an immediate ambush of Valincius as the biggest start of his career to this point ended after just 4.1 innings with seven earned runs on his line. Now by no means did MSU roll over at that point. In fact they re-tied the game later at nine before they even jumped back out to a 12-10 lead in the eighth. That was until Georgia senior first baseman Michael O’Shaugnessy hit his second big fly of the game in the bottom of the eighth to give the Dawgs a 13-12 lead that they would not relinquish in the ninth to put Mississippi State on the ropes on Sunday.
Sunday saw no lack of drama either as this one actually went to extra innings. As opposed to Saturday, MSU was the team that came back in this one, but unfortunately didn’t have quite enough as Georgia’s offense remained resilient, coming through with clutch hits late. Georgia led by as much as 7-2 early, but back-to-back-back home runs from Ace Reese, Noah Sullivan, and Jacob Parker in the seventh inning brought the score within one. It was the freshman Jacob Parker yet again in the eighth, delivering what felt like a knockout blow at the time, a two-run bomb beyond the center field batter’s eye to put MSU up by a score of 9-8. However, Georgia managed to scrape one across in the top of the ninth on a Brennan Hudson single, and then it was Daniel Jackson in extras coming through with a signature Golden Spikes moment. With one on and nobody out, Jackson sent a breaking ball that Tyler Pitzer hung in the middle of the zone out beyond the left field wall to put the Dawgs ahead. Junior right-hander Justin Byrd was one of the heroes for Georgia in this one as well as he posted two scoreless innings out of the bullpen in the ninth and tenth while surrendering just two base runners on the way to the win for the Bulldogs who are on their way to Omaha for the first time since 2008.
North Carolina walks-off USC in game three
Although USC is arguably the most storied program in all of college baseball, they are working on 25 straight seasons in which they have missed out on Omaha, and it’s going to have to last at least another year as they fell in heartbreaking fashion to North Carolina. For UNC, it’s their second trip to Omaha in the last three years.
USC jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the series, stealing the first game depsite an underwhelming performance from their ace Mason Edwards as he only lasted three innings while giving up three earned runs on four hits, four walks, and five strikeouts. North Carolina’s Ryan Lynch was excellent early, but the Trojans managed to tag him for a run in the sixth inning before relief ace Walker McDuffie took over but surrendered a back-breaking grand slam to USC’s Dean Carpentier to put the Trojans out in front. USC would pull away from there, winning by a score of 9-5.
With their backs against the wall in game two, it was all about Jason DeCaro for the Tar Heels. The junior right-hander delivered a complete game shutout in the biggest game of his life to this point, giving up just two hits and one walk with eight strikeouts on a career-high 117 pitches as North Carolina won by a score of 4-0.
The final game was the classic as North Carolina had to come back in the ninth inning and win via walk-off to put away the Trojans. Freshman right-hander Caden Glauber who had been lights out all season out of the bullpen on his way to the ACC Freshman of the Year award got the start for the Tar Heels. Glauber would actually balk in a run in the first as USC took an early lead, but from there, Glauber settled in and delivered a gem. Kevin Takeuchi and Andrew Lamb both would tag him for solo home runs in the fourth and fifth inning, but those three runs would be all Glauber would give up in 7.1 innings of work as he struck out 11 Trojans. USC’s Andrew Johnson deserves his flowers in this one although it wouldn’t matter in the end, but he threw 7.2 innings of his own, giving up just two earned runs after throwing 3.2 innings out of the bullpen just two days prior. Down 3-1 in the eighth, a Macon Winslow RBI-double brought the score within one for UNC as it was then up to the Trojan bullpen to close it out in the ninth. Sax Matson relieved Andrew Johnson in the eighth, but was removed prematurely as he couldn’t find the strike zone, which led USC to go to their closer Troy Adam to come through with the multi-inning save. He would complete the eighth, but ran into trouble in the ninth and was then removed for Chase Herrell. A Carter French single and then a Jake Schaffner sacrifice fly would tie the game, and then it was Owen Hull who had been red hot all weekend who ended it on a double that split the left-center field gap over the center fielder’s head. Hull went 4-5 on the afternoon, with all four of hits coming via double, after he went 3-4 on Saturday and 2-4 on Sunday.
Texas sweeps Oregon in two games
After sweeping the Austin Regional, Texas stayed hot in game one against Oregon, beating them by a score of 11-3. It was never particularly close in this one as the Longhorns were out to a 7-0 lead before the Ducks put their first run on the board. Sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis was excellent early, finishing with ten strikeouts as he gave up just two earned runs in his final inning of work. There were no story lines from game one other than the fact that Texas was at their best - they got a strong outing from their ace and the bats were hot - which has been the story for Texas all year.
It was the second game in which Oregon tested Texas as the Longhorns had to come back late in this one to put away the Ducks. They did jump out to a 4-0 lead early however as juniors Aiden Robbins and Carson Tinney hit back-to-back home runs to lead off the game before the offense added two more in the second. The Oregon offense would manage to piece together a few rallies as they tied the game in the fifth and then took a 5-4 lead in the seventh. With two outs and nobody on in the top of the eighth, Texas would put two runners on second and third before sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez shot a two-run double down the left field line to give Texas a 6-5 lead that they would not relinquish in either the eighth or ninth inning. Freshman right-hander Sam Cozart closed it out with two perfect innings and four strikeouts on the way to the win, and the Longhorns first trip to Omaha since 2022.
