Ad Disclosure
The ACC is batting 1.000.
Three close-out Super Regional games. Three wins. Three teams heading to Omaha.
And the conference isn’t done yet.
Florida State, Virginia and North Carolina all earned their tickets to the College World Series on Saturday.
Now that the goal of sending at least one team to Omaha for the 18th straight CWS has been accomplished, the league can set its sights on challenging the record of 4 representatives from the same conference in the 8-team field.
That can happen on Sunday when NC State, which routed Georgia 18-1 in Game 1 of its Super Regional Series, takes its shot at closing out its best-of-3 series in Athens. The ACC’s fifth team, Clemson, still has work to do after losing its series opener 10-7 to Florida.
FSU became the first team to earn a spot in the CWS bracket by beating UConn for the second straight day.
This one wasn’t as easy as the opener, in which the Seminoles put a 24-4 hurting on the Huskies. It took 12 innings and 3 big swings from ACC Player of the Year James Tibbs III to come away with a 10-8 victory that completed a remarkable turnaround after missing out on the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
UVa is heading to Omaha for the second straight year after beating Kansas State 10-4 to complete its 2-game Super Regional. Although the final 6-run margin makes it sound as though the Cavaliers cruised to their series-clinching victory.
But it was anything but easy. They only led 5-4 before breaking the game open with a 5-run 9th, highlighted by a 2-run triple from Jacob Ference and a 2-run pinch-double by Luke Hanson.
UVa’s first opponent at the CWS will be a familiar one.
ACC rival UNC.
The Tar Heels went down to the wire again to outlast West Virginia.
What else is new?
Only this time, the 9th inning drama came on defense as relief ace Dalton Pence outraced runner Ben Lumsden to first to record the final out and escape a bases loaded 9th inning jam.
https://twitter.com/NCAABaseball/status/1799637238122504213
Vance Honeycutt, who ended Game 1 with a walkoff homer on Friday, started this game with a leadoff dinger. He also scored what proved to be the winning run in a 2-1 victory on a 3rd inning single by Parks Harber.
Top-seeded Tennessee was the only other team that had a chance to close out its series and get to Omaha on Saturday. But the Volunteers were surprised by Evansville and will play a deciding Game 3 on Sunday.
Fellow SEC teams Kentucky and Texas A&M will also try to earn their way to the CWS after winning their series openers.
Before we turn our attention to Sunday’s action, here are some takeaways from Day 2 of the Super Regional round:
Top seed jinx
It’s an honor to be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA baseball tournament. But it’s not necessarily an advantage. The top national seed gone on to win the championship only once since the current format was adopted in 1999. That was Miami in the very first year.
With its 10-8 loss to Evansville on Saturday, Tennessee is suddenly in danger of becoming the latest No. 1 to go down without raising a trophy. The Volunteers and Aces will play a winner-take-all Game 3 on Sunday to decide which team will head to Omaha and which will head home.
Evansville is only the ninth regional 4-seed to advance to the Supers. And it has been a thorn in Tennessee’s side so far. The Vols needed a pair of late 3-run rallies to break a tie and win Game 1 on Friday. On Saturday, they squandered an early 4-run deficit by allowing 3 home runs, then leaving the bases loaded in the ninth.
Aces coach Wes Carroll called the result “hands down the greatest win in our school’s history.” But it might only stay that way for one day.
Shutdown Cats
Besides Florida State, no one still playing has looked as strong this season than Kentucky. But while the Seminoles have done their damage with their big bats, including a 24-run explosion against UConn on Friday, the No. 2-seeded Wildcats are pitching their opponents into submission.
Kentucky dominates Oregon State in Game 1 of the Super Regional. Shoutout to Trey Pooser and Ryan Nicholson for big performances.
One more win to Omaha. Get some sleep tonight, #BBN.
Recap by @DanielHagerKSR: https://t.co/PtNYXaLVsJ pic.twitter.com/WMByWFoCvZ
— Tyler Thompson (@MrsTylerKSR) June 9, 2024
Their 10-0 Game 1 win against Oregon State on Saturday was their second straight shutout. Kentucky pitchers have not allowed a run over the past 23 innings dating back to the fifth inning of a regional victory against Illinois last weekend. Over that stretch, starting pitchers Trey Pooser and Mason Moore, along with relievers Jackson Nove, Cameron O’Brien and Ryan Hagenow have combined to strike out 23 hitters while allowing only 6 hits.
Pooser, with 7 strong innings, and Nove combined to throw a 1-hitter against the Beavers. Their job was made easier by a 7-run 7th inning that broke open a close game and put Kentucky’s first-ever CWS appearance within reach.
Too much Cags for Clemson
Clemson got to see the best of Florida’s Jac Caglianone at the plate on Saturday. In order to stay alive and keep their hopes for a first College World Series trip since 2010, the Tigers are going to have to hope they don’t see the best of the 2-way star on the mound on Sunday.
With his team trailing 4-2 in the top of the 5th, Caglianone unloaded a 3-run homer to give the Gators their first lead of the game. It sparked a 7-run rally that sent last year’s national runnerup on to a 10-7 victory and an improbable return to Omaha.
Caglianone went 2-for-4 in the game to raise his season average to .412. The homer was his 32nd.
If Clemson didn’t already have its work cut out for it, the task of climbing out of its 0-1 hole will get even tougher against the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award finalist. Caglianone will be on the mound for Game 2 in search of his 6th and most important win of the season.
They call him Mr. Tibbs
It’s one thing to be a great player. And James Tibbs III is. The Florida State right fielder earned his ACC Player of the Year award by hitting .362 with 25 homers and 88 RBIs coming into Saturday’s games.
But it’s something even more special when a great player knows when his team needs him most and raises his game even higher in the clutch.
As Tibbs did in the Seminole’s Super Regional clincher against UConn.
The FSU star had already hit 2 home runs before coming to the plate in the top of the 12th with a runner on first and one out in an 8-8 game. Before leaving the dugout for the at bat, he told teammates “I’m going to end it.”
And then he did. Though not immediately.
https://twitter.com/accnetwork/status/1799517470333509922
His third homer of the game put the Seminoles ahead 10-8. But because they were the visiting team in the game, they still had to get three more outs to finish off the Huskies. Conner Whitaker did to close out the victory and send FSU to Omaha for the first time since 2019.
Wolfpack feeding frenzy
If hitting can be contagious, then consider the 2nd inning NC State put together at Georgia on Saturday an epidemic.
The Wolfpack sent 15 batters to the plate in a half inning that took 38 minutes to complete, the first 10 of which reached base safely against Bulldogs ace Kolten Smith. When it was all over, State had scored 11 runs on 11 hits to all but decide the first game of their best-of-3 series.
Luke Nixon and Noah Soles had 2 hits each in the inning, combining to drive in 8 of the runs. Eli Serrano III also homered in the most productive inning in school postseason history.
UGA ranks third in the nation with 145 home runs, including 36 by star third baseman Charlie Condon. But on this day it was State that put on the power show with Jacob Cozart hitting 2 out of Foley Field and Alec Makarewicz and Garrett Pennington adding one each.
Sam Highfill, the only remaining player from the Wolfpack’s most recent trip to Omaha, helped them take a big first step toward another College World Series appearance by holding down the Bulldogs in an 18-1 rout.
But there’s still work to do. Nobody knows that better than State coach Elliott Avent. Back in 2021, his team lost Game 1 of its Super Regional to Arkansas by an equally lopsided 20-2 score. But it bounced back to win the next 2. Now he’s hoping not to be on the other side of that equation.
Aggie injury
Texas A&M beat Oregon 10-6 to take Game 1 of their Super Regional series. But the news wasn’t all positive for the Aggies.
Star right fielder Braden Montgomery left the game in the first inning after injuring his ankle while trying to score from second base on a single by teammate Ted Burton. The projected first-round MLB Draft pick walked in his only at bat. After advancing to second on a single by Jackson Appel, he stumbled as he tried to slide head-first into the plate and was tagged out.
Doesn't look great for Texas A&M's Braden Montgomery. He planted his leg awkwardly as he was starting his slide into home pic.twitter.com/XoW44Z82rQ
— Tyler Shaw (@TylerShawSports) June 8, 2024
Montgomery immediately grabbed his right leg and was unable to put any weight on it. His ankle was placed in a walking cast and he was helped off the field by trainers. His availability for the remainder of the series is still uncertain. But judging from the looks of his injury, his return to the lineup is doubtful.
Montgomery is hitting .322 with 27 homers and 85 RBIs.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
