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Friedlander: Day 1 walk-offs set up SEC-ACC showdowns in NCAA baseball regionals

Brett Friedlander

By Brett Friedlander

Published:

With 19 entries in the 64-team field between the SEC and ACC, this NCAA Tournament will inevitably be looked upon as a referendum on the 2 best conferences in college baseball.

But of the 6 potential head-to-head regional showdowns between them, only 3 of them have materialized after Day 1 of the NCAA Tournament.

And it took dramatic walk-off finishes for all 3 of those to come about.

Ninth inning home runs were the rule of the day in Chapel Hill as both top-seeded North Carolina and No. 2 LSU staged late comebacks to advance into the winner’s bracket of their regional, where they’ll play at 5 pm Saturday.

The Tigers got 8th-inning homers from Michael Braswell and Jared Jones to tie Wofford before Steven Milam ended the game with a solo shot in the 9th. It was Milam’s 2nd homer of the day. He started LSU’s comeback with a solo blast in the 7th.

But that was tame compared to what the Tar Heels needed to do to hold up their end of the bargain. After squandering a lead in the top of the 9th, they rallied to score 6 in the bottom of the inning, capped by a game-ending grand slam by 3rd baseman Gavin Gallaher.

A few miles down the road in Raleigh, South Carolina was down to its last strike before extending the game on a 2-run blast by Cole Messina. The Gamecocks then won it in the 10th on a Will Tippett sacrifice fly to earn a date with host NC State at 6 pm Saturday.

The Wolfpack earned a drama-free 9-2 victory against Bryant.

Virginia also made it through the opening round with only a minimum of sweat by riding an early 3-run homer by Henry Godbout and a strong pitching effort from the duo of Joe Savino and Chase Hungate for a 4-2 win against Penn. But it took a 10th-inning homer from Dakota Jordan for Mississippi State to set up a 3rd ACC-SEC showdown.

Top seeds Florida State and Clemson also advanced into the winner’s bracket of their respective regionals, with the Tigers also walking it off against High Point on a 9th-inning single by Tristan Bissetta. Instead of facing SEC opponents Alabama and Vanderbilt, however, the Seminoles will take on Central Florida while the Tigers will face Coastal Carolina.

And a possible rivalry game between Georgia Tech and Georgia was dashed by UNC Wilmington, which put a 9-0 hurting on the Yellow Jackets.

The other 2 ACC teams in the field, Wake Forest and conference tournament champion Duke, were both beaten in their opening-round games. Top overall seed Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Florida were the other SEC winners.

Beyond the final scores, here are a few takeaways from the opening day of NCAA baseball regional play:

ACC Day 1 superlatives

  • UNC’s Gavin Gallaher, 3-of-4, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 runs.
  • NC State’s Alec Makarewicz, 4-of-5, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 2 runs.
  • NC State’s Jacob Duden, 3-inning save, 0 runs, 0 hits, 6 strikeouts.
  • Florida State’s Carson Dorsey, 8 innings pitched, 1 earned run, 7 strikeouts.
  • Virginia’s Henry Godbout 3-run HR
  • Virginia’s Chase Hungate, 3.1 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 3 strikeouts.

More SEC Day 1 superlatives

  • The SEC went 9-2 on the day, with only Alabama and Vanderbilt losing.
  • Georgia’s Charlie Condon, 3-of-3, HR, RBI, 3 runs, 3 intentional walks.
  • Arkansas’ Ben McLaughlin, 3-of-5, 2 HR, 6 RBIs, 2 runs.
  • Florida’s Liam Peterson, 5.1 IP, 7 Ks
  • Arkansas’ Hudson White, 2-of-4, 2 HR, 5 RBIs, 2 runs.
  • Tennessee’s Dylan Dreiling, 3-of-5, HR, 2 RBIs.
  • Kentucky’s Robert Hogan, 3.1 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 4 strikeouts.
  • South Carolina’s Cole Messina, 1-of-2, HR, 2 RBIs, 3 walks.
  • Mississippi State’s Dakota Jordan, 3-run walk-off HR.

 Expected matchup, unexpected round

Wake Forest will face East Carolina on Saturday with aces Chase Burns and Trey Yesavage on the mound. Both are projected top-20 picks in the upcoming MLB Draft.

Just as everyone expected.

What nobody saw coming is the top 2 seeds will count on their best pitchers to keep their seasons alive after suffering back-to-back opening-game upsets.

Burns, the ACC Pitcher of the Year, and Yesavage will have difficulty matching the performances that helped send the teams into the loser’s bracket.

Evansville freshman Kenton Deverman limited the Pirates to 1 run on 3 hits in 8 innings to lead the Aces to a 4-1 win. That was followed by an even more impressive gem by VCU’s Christian Gordon in a 1-0 win against the Deacons.

Gators show some bite

It’s still too soon to say that Florida has justified its at-large bid despite finishing the regular season only 1 games over .500 and 13-17 in the SEC. But the 3rd-seeded Gators certainly took a step in that direction Friday by grinding out a 5-2 opening win against Nebraska in the Stillwater Regional.

Florida got a homer and 3 RBIs from Ashton Wilson and broke up a close game with single runs in the 8th and 9th to earn the victory. The much-maligned Gators can make an even louder statement against host Oklahoma State at 7 pm Saturday night. And they get to do it with top pitcher Jac Caglianone on the mound.

Florida was 1 of 3 SEC teams to get into the tournament with 13-17 league records. LSU is also in the winner’s bracket after rallying late to beat Wofford while Vanderbilt took a 13-3 beatdown at the hands of Coastal Carolina.

On to Day 2 …

Brett Friedlander

Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.

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