What A Regional Weekend for College Baseball
What a spectacular start to the 2021 NCAA Tournament! There were so many amazing games and moments the last 5 days that I do not even know where to begin. The addition of lines in the Barstool Sportsbook (Thanks PENN!) was everything I hoped it would be. I received countless messages that basically said the same thing “I did not care about college baseball until you showed up and had no idea how electric it is especially when betting on it” which is 100% what I am going for!
Virginia defeated #11 Old Dominion 4-3 on this walk off homer in the 10th in a thriller earlier this afternoon to wrap up a phenomenal NCAA Regional round. The Cavaliers fought out of the losers bracket in Columbia, SC after falling to the Gamecocks Friday by winning four in a row against Jacksonville, South Carolina and beating Old Dominion twice. Their closer Stephen Schoch became a folk hero over the weekend with his antics and stepped up huge with almost 4 innings today to keep their season alive. They move on to face Dallas Baptist in a Super Regional next weekend.
The #1 seed Arkansas Razorbacks were pushed to the brink by the Big 10 Champion Nebraska Cornhuskers last night. Nebraska led 2-0 early behind their ace pitcher Cade Povich. As the Razorbacks always do, they clawed back in the later innings tying the game on this home run by Robert Moore.
Then in the bottom of the 8th, pinch hitting specialist Charlie Welch hit this 3 run homer that sent Baum Stadium into total pandemonium. The atmosphere at Baum even impressed by Dave Portnoy and Big Cat with Dave even admitting he bet $10,000 on Arkansas to win the College World Series.
Arkansas Closer Kevin Kopps came in the game in the 3rd inning and shut the Huskers down the rest of the game. Kopps is already an SEC legend for his 2021 season which is among the best ever for a closer in college or MLB. No one can touch his devastating slider. The Razorbacks won 6-2 and move on to host red hot NC State in Super Regional in Fayetteville next weekend. For the #1 overall seed, I gotta say Arkansas got a pretty tough draw with Nebraska and NC State.
#2 overall seed Texas destroyed everyone in the Austin Regional outscoring their opponents by a combined 33-5 score. The Longhorns have a deep pitching staff and the Disch was absolutely rocking in Austin! While I do think Texas has a strong squad, the Longhorns have certainly benefitted from a weak regional (Arizona St, Fairfield, Southern) and now face #4 seed South Florida who shocked everyone in the AAC Tourney and Gainesville Regional. Texas will be a massive favorite and should have no problem getting to Omaha. I am all about the Longhorns making the CWS as they will bring a ton of passionate fans.
#3 seed Tennessee got all they could handle from Wright State on Friday night. Trailing 8-5 in the 9th, Drew Gilbert obliterated this grand slam for the 9-8 walk off win. This was easily one of the most exciting moments of the weekend and the Vols fans have been going crazy since!
The Vols ended up beating Liberty twice and swept the Knoxville Regional. Their head coach Tony Vitello (NCAA Coach of Year top candidate) had this wild celebration to celebrate the historic moment! Tennessee moves on to host LSU in Knoxville in Super Regional next weekend.
#4 seed Vanderbilt won the Nashville Regional after Isaiah Thomas blasted this grand slam over the Green Monster in extra innings against Georgia Tech late Sunday night. Led by potential #1 and #2 overall picks Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, the ‘Dores are in great shape to get back to Omaha to defend their 2019 title. They host #13 seed East Carolina in Nashville in Super Regional next weekend.
#5 seed Pac 12 Champion Arizona Wildcats rolled through a pretty tough Tuscon Regional (Grand Canyon, Oklahoma State, UCSB) undefeated defeating the UCSB Guachos to close it out. Led by one of the top offenses in college baseball, the Wildcats will be tough to beat and have a good shot to make it back to Omaha where they finished national runner up in 2016. Keep an eye on Freshman Jacob Berry who is already a star. Arizona hosts #12 seed Ole Miss in what shapes up to be a wild high scoring Super Regional in the desert!
Dallas Baptist shocked a lot of people to win the Fort Worth Regional. I was not one of them as I had bet on them at +500 to win. #6 overall national seed TCU seemed vulnerable and was eliminated before the Regional Final. The final against Oregon State started poorly as DBU had to fight back from a 5-0 deficit. Trailing 5-2 in the 7th, this dramatic grand slam won the game for DBU
#7 seed Mississippi State rolled through a weaker regional at Dudy Noble Field without a blemish beating Sanford, VCU and Campbell. Star closer Landon Sims was able to finish the final 3 innings on Monday against Campbell in 6-5 win. The Bulldogs move on to host #10 seed ACC Champion Notre Dame next weekend in a fantastic Super Regional matchup. The Dude will be rocking and the cowbells will be clanging.
#8 seed Texas Tech rolled through the Lubbock Regional. The Red Raiders have one of the best home field advantages in the country and I even bet on them at crappy -275 odds on the Barstool Sportsbook to win I was so confident. They defeated UCLA in the final and will take on #9 seed Stanford in Lubbock next weekend. Dalles Braden of the Barstool Starting 9 Podcast is an alum and is super fired up about Texas Tech making an Omaha run. Head Coach Tim Tadlock recently signed a lifetime contract too and the Red Raiders baseball program will be stout for years to come.
#9 seed Stanford was pushed to the brink in the Palo Alto Regional but defeated Cal-Irvine 11-7 in Game 7 sudden death championship game to advance to Super Regional in Lubbock. I was honestly bummed as I had Cal-Irvine +450 ticket to win the regional and the Anteaters were actually favored last night. The Cardinal finished runner up in the Pac 12 to Arizona. They will have a tough assignment winning on road next weekend in West Texas.
I made a big mistake underestimating the #10 seed ACC Champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish. I actually bet on Michigan +600 to win this regional as I overrated their run to the national title game in 2019. They absolutely obliterated everyone in their path in South Bend Regional outscoring their opponents by a WHOPPING 50-5! They were the most dominant team in the nation in Regional Round by far even beating UCONN 26-3 on Saturday. They also defeated Central Michigan 10-0 Friday and 14-2 Sunday. The Irish are led by slugging 1st baseman the Greek Niko Kavadas who is not afraid to hit some bombs. Notre Dame will take on #7 seed Mississippi State in what shapes up to be one of the top Super Regional matchups next weekend in the raucous Dude.
My alma mater #12 seed Ole Miss survived the tough Oxford Regional with a 12-9 Game 7 win over Southern Miss on Monday afternoon. I was going nuts in the Barstool Sports gambling cave during this one ESP when I said “I am Babe Ruth calling my shot that Tim Elko is about to hit a grand slam” and he LITERALLY HIT THE NEXT PITCH over the left field wall for the grand slam! I have been alive 38 years on earth now and have never called anything like that.
Tim Elko ended up hitting a 2nd home run later in the game to add to his Friday night grand slam. He tore his ACL in an early April midweek game against North Alabama and has somehow returned a month later to hit .302 with 7 homers since! He rightfully won the Oxford Regional MVP and is the top story in college baseball right now in my biased Rebel mind.
Ole Miss ace Doug Nikhazy tied a school record with 16 strikeouts in 7 innings against Florida State Saturday night on 119 pitches. He managed to come out of the bullpen on Monday to give the Rebels a couple of needed innings in this shootout recording this strikeout to leave the bases loaded in the 5th. He is 10-2 on the season and has carried the Rebel pitching staff. He has vaulted into my favorite Ole Miss starting pitcher ever over the last 20 years.
Closer Taylor Broadway had 3 saves and was dominant pitching 2 scoreless innings against Southern Miss to close out the wild Regional. Ole Miss will be traveling out to the desert to take on the high powered Arizona Wildcats in what promises to be a high scoring Super Regional. These will be the late night matchups all weekend too as this is the only Super Regional on the West Coast. Nothing would make me happier than an Ole Miss Omaha trip the first year I will be covering the College World Series for Barstool Sports. My mind is melting at the possibility! I am so hot in life right now why can’t this dream become a reality?!?! If you believe, they already put a man on the moon so why not an Ole Miss Omaha trip?!?!
#13 seed East Carolina won the Greenville Regional behind the support of their strong home crowd. The AAC Champion Pirates went undefeated and advanced to Super Regional after beating Maryland 9-6 on Sunday. They will be taking on #4 seed Vandy and their dominant 1-2 stating pitchers Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter. I will be on radio show in Greenville on Wed at 4pm EST on 92.7 FM to preview the Super Regional matchup in Nashville.
The LSU Tigers fought out of the Losers Bracket to win 4 in a row in Eugene Regional to advance to the Supers. The Tigers defeated Oregon 9-8 in a thriller after midnight Monday night! Oregon’s closer made this monumental mistake balking in the leading run in the bottom of the 8th. This is the early favorite for the Boner of the Year award considering how big the situation was.
Gavin Dugas and superstar Freshman Dylan Crews went crazy carrying the LSU offense to this regional title. Dugas hit 2 homers in Monday night’s title game.
LSU Head Coach Paul Mainieri has already announced his retirement after the season and this is his Last Dance. The Tigers are more than known for creating postseason magic and will play #3 seed Tennessee in Knoxville in Super Regional. These two teams met in a hotly contested series the 2nd weekend of SEC play that the Vols swept winning two games on walk offs. Mainieri had lots of contentious words towards the Vol fans after the series. This one is going to be wild must see TV.
I have seen the LSU postseason heaters my entire life and was all over LSU on the Barstool Sportsbook. I had them +200 to win Eugene Regional,. +160 to win Game 7 and +285 parlay with Arkansas last night. I was fired up after this one and either LSU or Tennessee going to Omaha will be huge for the atmosphere with their rowdy and large fan bases.
All hell broke loose in the Gainesville Regional. The #15 seed Florida Gators had a full blown meltdown going 0-2 losing 5-3 to AAC Tournament Champion South Florida Friday then a ridiculous 19-1 to Sun Belt Champion South Alabama Saturday. Then South Alabama got hot from the Losers Bracket eliminating Miami. The #3 and #4 seeds ended up playing in the Championship with South Florida shocking the college baseball world at +1500 to win the Gainesville Regional. I do want to give a shout out about this amazing catch by South Alabama in the game to rob a home run. South Florida will go to Austin to face #2 seed Texas. The Bulls had zero shot to make the Tourney until they won the AAC Tourney and are playing with house money.
Finally, the red hot North Carolina State Wolf Pack rolled through the Ruston Regional. They started the season 1-8 in ACC play and got so hot they finished 2nd in the regular season. They then finished runner up to Duke in the the conference tournament. I would be lying if I said I was surprised they won and am mad at myself I did not take them at +165 on the Barstool Sportsbook. The Wolf Pack will travel to Fayetteville to take on #1 seed Arkansas in what should be a really good Super Regional matchup.
#1 seed Louisiana Tech still showed well in their first time to host an NCAA Regional in school history. The Bulldogs hammered Rider 18-2 Friday and beat Alabama 10-8 on Sunday to knock the Tide out. NC State outscored Tech 22-10 in their two meetings and ultimately the Bulldogs ran out of pitching arms. There’s no shame in this defeat and congrats again to LA Tech on bouncing back from 2019 tornado that destroyed their old stadium. This was one of the best stories of the 2021 season and I am happy for my old stomping grounds in North Louisiana (Covered LA Tech from 2016-19).
I went on a big gambling heater over the weekend on the NCAA Tourney culminating in a 4-0 Monday plus I hit 2 futures bets and a parlay. I got a lot of positive feedback from Stoolies who enjoyed betting on the games in the Barstool Sportsbook in Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Michigan. I am thrilled with the response and will be back with an extensive Super Regional gambling preview in the next couple of days.
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