ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia and North Carolina State will have the college baseball spotlight all to themselves Monday night in their finale to the Athens Super Regional.
With the best-of-three series tied 1-1 and a spot in the College World Series at stake in the 7 p.m. matchup at Foley Field, which will be televised by ESPN, both the Bulldogs and the Wolfpack should be highly motivated.
If any extra push is needed, though, there is that matter of conference bragging rights.
With seven of eight spots already locked up for the College World Series that starts Friday in Omaha, Nebraska, the Southeastern Conference, which has Georgia among its membership, already has four teams in the final phase of the NCAA tournament: overall No. 1 seed Tennessee, No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Texas A&M and Florida, which was not among the top 16 national seeds this year after a national runner-up finish to fellow SEC program LSU last year in Omaha.
The Atlantic Coast Conference, which is N.C. State’s league, locked up this year’s first three CWS berths on Saturday as No. 4 North Carolina, No. 8 Florida State and No. 12 Virginia completed sweeps. However, the ACC’s effort to add to that number was denied on Sunday, when No. 6 Clemson was eliminated as Florida swept on the Tigers’ turf, and No. 7 Georgia bounced back to beat the 10th-seeded Wolfpack and force a third game in Athens.
N.C. State coach Elliott Avent summed up the appeal of Monday night’s rubber match even for those without a dog in the fight.
“That’s why everybody watches sports,” Avent said. “You may not watch the NBA, but you’re going to watch Game 7 of the Finals, right? You may not watch hockey, but you’re going to watch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup. You may not watch football, but you’re probably going to a Super Bowl party, right? So everybody’s watching Game 3.
No matter what happens Monday, this will be the first time since the CWS went to an eight-team format in 1950 that only two conferences will be represented. The only question is whether the representation score going to Omaha will be SEC 5, ACC 3, or all tied up.
Sunday marked the end of an era for another league, with a wave of conference realignment set to kick in this summer and drastically change the landscape of major college sports again.
With Texas A&M sweeping Oregon and Kentucky doing the same against No. 15 Oregon State, the Pac-12 went dark — at least when it comes to the version that made it one of the most powerful conferences in the country and helped it win a record 29 national titles in baseball.
Ten of the current dozen schools in the Pac-12 are moving to other leagues ahead of the next school year, with only Oregon State and Washington State left to figure out what’s next for the conference, and baseball is the only NCAA Division I sport still on the field for the 2023-24 school year.
Oregon State will play as independent during the 2025 baseball season, when Washington State will compete in the Mountain West, the start of a two-year run of affiliate membership for the Cougars, who haven’t made the NCAA tournament since 2010. Oregon State has won the CWS three times, including in 2018 in the Beavers’ most recent trip to Omaha.
Oregon, which has made four straight NCAA tourney appearances and won two consecutive region titles, is moving on to the Big Ten. The Ducks still haven’t made the CWS since the program’s lone appearance in 1954.
“We gave it our best shot,” Ducks coach Mark Wasikowski said. “We came up short, and we’re not disappointed about it whatsoever. Very proud of the effort these guys made. We came into a really tough environment, and obviously we have a formidable ballclub that was ready to play. We came up a tick short, but we’re excited about our future.”
AP file photo by Jason Allen / Georgia freshman Tre Phelps had four RBIs in the Bulldogs' 11-2 win against N.C. State on Sunday to tie up the best-of-three Athens Super Regional and force a Monday night finale that will be televised by ESPN.Georgia 11, N.C. State 2
Georgia freshman Tre Phelps drove in four runs, Leighton Finley took a shutout into the seventh inning, and the Bulldogs (43-16) got even with the Wolfpack (37-21).
After N.C. State’s stunning 18-1 victory on Saturday in Athens, Georgia bounced back by striking early in the rematch.
“I thought we played OK,” N.C. State’s Avent said. “But it comes down to game three, which is where two great teams probably should come down to.”
Slate Alford hit a two-run homer in the first inning Sunday, while Phelps went deep over the batter’s eye in center field for three runs in the third. Phelps picked up another RBI when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded during Georgia’s three-run fourth. Earlier in the inning, Kolby Branch doubled for one run and Corey Collins had an RBI groundout.
Paul Toetz homered in the sixth, Fernando Gonzalez added an RBI single in the seventh, and Collins belted a solo homer in the eighth for the Bulldogs.
Finley scattered five hits through the first six innings but got into trouble in the seventh when he allowed two singles, an RBI groundout and another single. Brian Zendin entered with two out and two men on base, but the Georgia reliever induced a popup to get out of the jam.
Finley (6-1) went 6 2/3 innings on the mound, allowing one run and eight hits. Zendin finished, allowing only Jacob Cozart’s eighth-inning home run.
“I try to always think of this as just another game and never forget to have fun,” Finley said. “It was like almost every other series, game two, trying to win this to win the series. I try not to overthink things.”
N.C. State left-hander Dominic Fritton (3-6) took the loss after giving up seven runs and seven hits in three-plus innings.
AP file photo by Tyler Kaufman / Kentucky's Nolan McCarthy (19) made a big play running the bases to lead the Wildcats' to a 3-2 win against Oregon State on Sunday in the NCAA tournament's Lexington Super Regional. The victory secured the first College World Series berth in Kentucky history.Kentucky 3, Oregon State 2
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Nolan McCarthy doubled and scored the go-ahead run from second base on a wild pitch in the seventh inning, and the Wildcats held on for the close victory, sweeping the Lexington Super Regional and earning the first CWS berth in program history.
Kentucky (45-14) finished off its first super regional championship after winning the opener 10-0 with a one-hitter on Saturday for the school’s first victory in this round of the postseason. The Wildcats had never even had the lead in a super regional game in two previous appearances.
It was just the second time Oregon State (45-16) has been shut out in 128 NCAA tournament games. The only other time the Beavers were shut out in NCAA tourney play was a 14-0 loss to Stanford in 1983.
Kentucky also shut out Indiana State in a regional victory — the Sycamores had not been blanked in 138 straight games — while going 3-0 in that round last weekend in Lexington.
“It’s been the best two weeks of my life,” Wildcats coach Nick Mingione said. “I just want to keep it going.”
On Sunday, the Wildcats grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Ryan Nicholson singled with two outs and scored all the way from first on a double down the left-field foul line by McCarthy.
Oregon State trailed 2-0 before pulling even in the bottom of the fourth on bases-loaded walks to Wilson Weber and Brady Kasper.
The Wildcats took the lead for good in the seventh. McCarthy again doubled down the left-field line, then scored when Grant Smith struck out on a wild pitch.
“I was probably 10 to 15 years old in summer ball at a hotel somewhere just watching the College World Series,” McCarthy said. “And it’s just amazing. And it’s been my dream ever since then, being able to have this opportunity, it’s just awesome.”
The Beavers brought the winning run to the plate in the bottom of ninth after No. 9 batter Mason Guerro drew a two-out walk from Wildcats reliever Robert Hogan.
Ryan Hagenow replaced Hogan to face leadoff hitter Travis Bazzana, sporting a .404 batting average with 28 homers. Bazzana singled to right field, sending pinch-runner Dawson Santana to third. Johnny Hummel entered to face Micah McDowell. Hummel struck out McDowell looking on three pitches to end the game with his seventh save of the season.
Cameron O’Brien (3-0) earned the win for the Wildcats, allowing one hit and striking out five batters in three scoreless innings in relief of starter Mason Moore, who did not surrender a hit in 3 1/3 innings but walked six batters and gave up both runs (one earned).
Kentucky has won two of its three regional titles in the last two seasons, with the first one coming in 2017.
Mingione took over at Kentucky prior to that season, having been an assistant for the Wildcats in 2006-07, but from 2009 to 2016, he was an assistant at Mississippi State, where he met his wife, Christen.
He shared part of that story after Sunday’s win.
“I said, ‘Where were you born?'" Mingione recalled. “She said, ‘Omaha.’ And it was, it’s meant to be. It was meant to be.
“So the joke has always been to take her home. She was born on the Air Force base there. I’m taking you home.”
AP photo by Gary McCullough / Florida freshman pitcher Grayson Smith, a McCallie School graduate, warms up before a home game against Florida State on March 12.Florida 11, Clemson 10, 13 innings
CLEMSON, S.C. — Michael Robertson’s two-run double in the bottom of the 13th allowed Florida (34-28) to complete its sweep of the Clemson Super Regional, advancing to the College World Series for the 14th time and seeking a second title go with the program’s 2017 championship.
Florida’s roster includes two pitchers who were prep standouts in the Chattanooga area: sophomore left-hander Cade Fisher from Northwest Whitfield and freshman right-hander Grayson Smith from McCallie.
After Clemson (44-16) took a 10-9 lead in the top of the 13th, Florida’s Luke Heyman and Tyler Shelnut reached on singles in the bottom of the inning. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, Clemson intentionally walked Brody Donay to load the bases.
Robertson ripped a double to left-center field, scoring Jaylen Guy, who was a pinch-runner for Heyman, and Shelnut followed with the winning run.
The Gators, who won 10-7 in Saturday’s opener, grabbed the dramatic victory Sunday after the Tigers had delivered big play after big play to keep their season alive.
In the top of the ninth, Florida led 9-6 and was two outs from advancing when the Tigers’ Cam Cannarella stepped to the plate with runners on first and second. He laced the first pitch to right field for a tying three-run homer.
Clemson was in deep trouble again in the bottom of the 10th when Florida had runners on first and second with two outs. Ashton Wilson drove a deep fly over Cannarella’s head, but the Clemson center fielder was able to track it down in the air and make the catch at the wall with his back to home plate.
With two out and the bases empty in the 13th, Clemson’s Alden Mathes ripped an 0-2 pitch to right field for the go-ahead run.
Luke McNeillie (4-6) pitched the last two innings for the win, although he served up Mathes’ home run in the 13th.
A year after reaching the CWS finals, the Gators had to win their last regular-season series at Georgia to achieve a winning record and qualify as an at-large selection for the tournament. As a No. 3 regional seed, they went to Stillwater and beat host Oklahoma State twice to advance. Their sweep at Clemson came in the first meeting between these programs since 1983.
Kevin O’Sullivan, Florida’s head coach since 2008 after spending the nine seasons before that as a Clemson assistant, was proud to see his Gators get going at the right time.
“Going through the struggles,” O’Sullivan said, “and having every game matter the last two or three weeks of the year probably toughed us up a little bit.”
AP file photo by Gary McCullough / Texas A&M's Kaeden Kent hit a grand slam to help the Aggies to a comeback win against Oregon State in the College Station Super Regional on Sunday.Texas A&M 15, Oregon 9
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Kaeden Kent’s grand slam was just the second hit in a nine-run seventh inning for the Aggies, who trailed 7-2 after three innings but rallied to beat Oregon and sweep the College Station Super Regional.
Texas A&M, which has hit a school-record 132 homers this season, won the opener 10-6 on Saturday.
The Aggies (49-13) have played in the CWS six times before, most recently in 2022, but never won the title.
They fell behind by three runs in the first inning Sunday and trailed 8-4 heading to the top of the seventh.
Brock Moore pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Ducks starter Grayson Grinsell before the wheels fell off.
Texas A&M used one hit, five walks and a hit batter off Moore to knot the score at 8. Jaxon Jordan replaced Moore with the bases loaded and walked Ali Camarillo to give the Aggies the lead. Kent, who singled his first time up for the only other hit in the inning, followed with his bases-loaded shot on a 2-2 pitch for a 13-8 lead.
The Aggies had grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Jackson Appel led off with a single, stole second and scored on Hayden Schott’s two-out single, but Oregon (40-20) answered with four runs in the bottom half, including back-to-back home runs by Drew Smith and Anson Aroz.
Zane Badmaev (3-0) got the win for the Aggies, pitching a scoreless sixth. Evan Aschenbeck allowed one run over the final three innings to notch his ninth save this season.