NCAA Regionals - Friday Roundup
The opening round of the NCAA Baseball tournament got started on Friday and it did not disappoint per usual as 32 games featuring 64 teams got going. From four seed upsets to back and forth slug fests and pitchers duel, to extra-inning thrillers, Friday had it all, so here’s a recap on everything that went down.
Multiple Four Seed Upsets
We always see a few four seeds come through with upsets in regionals and actually win a regional bracket on occasion. We only have to go back to last year to find the last four seed to make a run to Omaha, as Murray State won the Oxford Regional as a four seed before defeating Duke in the supers en route to the College World Series. However, it’s rare that we see four seeds win in the way they did in the opening round of regionals on Friday.
The biggest story on the day to come from the #1 vs #4 match-ups is the fact that UCLA, the number one overall seed, fell to Saint Mary’s by a score 3-2 to drop into the loser’s bracket in the Los Angeles Regional. It was the first time in tournament history that a number one overall seed lost its opener to a four seed, so there’s unfortunately no historical evidence of a number one overall seed dropping their opener and still managing to advance to Omaha, let alone through their own regional. With that being said, it is up to the Bruins to decide how they may respond. This is a team that was ranked number one in the nation wire to wire throughout the season, didn’t drop a single series, and didn’t even drop consecutive games at any point in the season. Saint Mary’s right-handed senior John Damozonio certainly lived up to the moment, delivering seven innings of two-run ball for the Gaels on five hits, two walks, and six strikeouts. Sophomore Jacob Johnson was the hero for the Gaels as he hit the go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth to secure Saint Mary’s second tournament win in program history.
To UCLA’s benefit, the Bruins weren’t the only top eight host to drop their opener to a four seed. Auburn, the fourth overall seed, was stunned by four seed Milwaukee, as the Panthers ran the Tigers out of the building by a score of 13-8, and even led 10-0 at one point. Sophomore ace Jake Marciano was on the mound for Auburn after posting a 2.64 ERA in 15 starts for the Tigers, but was ambushed early as Milwaukee tagged him for six earned runs in his only inning of work. With that being said, Auburn had to use seven more pitchers out of the bullpen to complete this one, leaving them on the ropes in the loser’s bracket on Saturday. Prior to Friday, only six top eight seeds had ever lost their regional openers to four seeds in tournament history. It happened twice on Friday.
The upsets didn’t stop there as ninth overall seed Southern Miss was next on the chopping block. The Little Rock Trojans out of the Ohio Valley Conference took down the Golden Eagles by a score of 7-4, which included a ninth inning comeback as Southern Miss took a 4-3 lead into the ninth. You might be familiar with Little Rock as they were the team that had LSU on the ropes in the Baton Rouge Regional a year ago. Had Little Rock pulled out that final game over the Tigers, LSU wouldn’t have won their second College World Series in the three years. Much of that Little Rock team from last year remains, so it’s no surprise that they lived up to the moment on Friday.
Florida State was the fourth host to fall to a four seed in their opener as Saint John’s came into Tallahassee and staged a late-game comeback of their own. The Seminoles brought a 5-2 lead into the eighth before the Red Storm tied it up at 5-5 behind a Dylan Fitzsimmons solo home run and two separate wild pitches. They tacked on one more in the ninth via a Jayder Raifstanger single to give Saint John’s a 6-5 lead that they would not relinquish in the bottom half of the inning.
Two more one seeds nearly dropped their openers but managed to pull through late. Florida and Rider battled late as Rider erased a 4-0 defecit in the eighth with a six spot to take a 6-4 lead before the Gators answered right back with three more runs on long balls off the bats of Caden McDonald and Cade Kurland to take a 7-6 lead into the ninth. However, Rider answered once again with a game-tying solo home run off the bat of junior shortstop Matt Leahy. If it wasn’t crazy enough, it was the first home run of the season for Leahy, the third of his career, and his first since 2024. It wouldn’t be enough though as Florida’s Brendan Lawson followed with a walk-off solo shot in the bottom half as the Gators escaped defeat. Lamar was looking like the next four seed that was going to steal an opener, but Texas A&M managed to rally in the seventh and eighth to erase a 5-0 defecit, taking down the Cardinals by a score of 7-5.
Back and Forth Battles
Beyond just the four seed upsets, multiple match-ups on Friday really delivered when it came to classic postseason college baseball. No match-up delivered quite like East Carolina and Tennessee in the Chapel Hill Regional as it took 14 innings to decide a winner. East Carolina ended up coming out on top by a score of 7-3, but not before they had three different lead changes from the ninth inning on. East Carolina’s Davin Whitaker and Tennessee’s Henry Ford traded solo home runs in the top of the ninth before East Carolina re-took the lead in the 13th inning in which Tennessee answered yet again. The Pirates managed to put up four runs in the top of the 14th, which was enough to hold off the Vols and advance into the winner’s bracket.
On the other side of the schedule 12 hours later, Arizona State and Ole Miss went 14 innings as well, and this was a finish you would have only seen if you were awake into the wee hours of the morning as it didn’t finish until 1:18 AM central time. ASU and Ole Miss was one of the most anticipated 2 seed vs 3 seed match-ups, and it certainly delivered as lefty aces Cole Carlon and Hunter Elliot both toed the slab. However, it was the offense that showed up early as each offense had two home runs of their own against each starter. The Rebels held a 6-4 lead into the seventh before ASU junior Nu’u Contrades launched his second home run of the game to tie it up at six. The bullpens battled late into the night until the next run wasn’t scored until junior shortstop Brayden Randle ended it on a single to send Ole Miss into the winner’s bracket.
Boston College and Liberty had a late-inning bout of their own in Athens as Liberty managed to score two in the ninth to beat the Eagles by a score of 4-3. Liberty jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first, and their ace Ben Blair followed with four scoreless innings before the Eagles added one in the fifth and the seventh, and took the lead in the eighth on a solo home run off the bat of senior Jack Toomey. A single and a double to leadoff the top of the ninth for Liberty was followed by a pair of sacrifices which ultimately put the Flames on top as they held on to the lead in the bottom half to advance into the winner’s bracket.
Although it wasn’t a four seed vs one seed upset, Washington State taking down Oregon State in a battle of former PAC-12 programs felt like an upset in its own right. In a low-scoring pitching duel, Washington State tacked on one in the eighth on a double off the bat of sophomore outfielder Dustin Robinson to take a 3-2 lead the Cougars would not relinquish. Rather than having a reliever close it out, Cougars ace, sophomore left-hander Nick Lewis went the distance, finishing with two earned runs on six hits and no walks, definitely earning the top pitching performance of the day.
Three seed Texas State and two seed USC battled late in the College Station Regional. In a game tied 3-3 headed into the bottom of the eighth, junior first baseman Adrian Lopez put USC up 4-3 on an opposite field solo shot that snuck right inside the right field foul pole. Unfortunately for USC however, a fielding error to lead off the top of the ninth was followed by a two-run home run off the bat of senior third baseman Chase Mora to put the Bobcats out in front. USC threatened in the bottom half, but ultimately didn’t have an answer and are headed to the loser’s bracket.
Top Saturday Match-ups
#2 Coastal Carolina vs #1 Florida State (elimination game), 2 PM ET
#2 Virginia vs #1 Southern Miss (elimination game), 4 PM ET
#2 Virginia Tech vs #1 UCLA (elimination game), 4 PM ET
#3 East Carolina vs #1 North Carolina, 5 PM ET
#2 Arkansas vs #1 Kansas, 6 PM ET
#2 Miami vs #1 Florida, 8 PM ET
#2 Ole Miss vs #1 Nebraska, 8 PM ET
#2 Cincinnati vs #1 Mississippi State, 8 PM ET
