Four Atlantic Coast Conference teams, No. 1 national seed Tennessee and Kansas State won their regionals in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday and will take the next step in their attempts to reach the Men's College World Series.
Tennessee hit five home runs in a 12-3 win over Southern Mississippi and will head to the super regionals for the fourth straight year.
The best-of-three supers begin Friday and Saturday and will determine the eight teams that advance to the MCWS, which begins June 14 in Omaha, Nebraska. The NCAA will announce the super regional sites on Tuesday, but it's rare for the highest-ranked team not to host.
The Volunteers will play either East Carolina or Evansville with a third trip to the CWS in four years, and second in a row, on the line.
No. 6 Clemson beat Coastal Carolina 12-5 in its regional final to reach the supers for the first time since 2010 under second-year coach Erik Bakich. The Tigers will likely host either Oklahoma State or Florida in the next round.
No. 8 Florida State defeated UCF 12-4 and is in the super for the first time since 2019 under second-year coach Link Jarrett. The Seminoles will play either Oklahoma or UConn.
No. 10 North Carolina State beat James Madison 5-3 to make its deepest run in the tournament since 2021, when the Wolfpack was eliminated from the MCWS due to a COVID-19 outbreak on the team. NC State will face either West Virginia or Grand Canyon.
No. 12 Virginia is in the super regionals for the third time in four years after a 9-2 win over Mississippi State. The Cavaliers are on track to host Kansas State, the third regional seed that beat Southeast Missouri State 7-2 to reach its first super regional since 2013.
The regional finals were played at eight other regional sites on Sunday night.
There will be at least two winner-take-all finals on Monday. Defending national champion LSU forced a second final against No. 4 North Carolina with an 8-4 victory over the Tar Heels. East Carolina and Evansville will meet again after the Pirates defeated the upstart Purple Aces 19-6.
STUDENT BEATS THE TEACHER
No. 5 Arkansas became the highest-ranked team eliminated with its 6-3 loss to Southeast Missouri State.
The Redhawks have reached three of the last four NCAA tournaments, but reached a regional final for the first time. To get there, coach Andy Sawyers beat out one of his mentors at Arkansas, coach Dave Van Horn.
Sawyers was a backup catcher on Van Horn's first team at Nebraska in 1998 and was his volunteer assistant in 2000. He said he thanked Van Horn after the game for modeling how to be a good coach.
“I was a little excited,” Sawyers said. “I had some tears in my eyes behind my sunglasses because I got to beat my coach today, and that doesn't happen very often, so it was a cool moment.”
The Razorbacks' stay in the tournament was their shortest in 14 appearances since 2008, when they finished 0-2. Arkansas won the SEC West, had the first pitcher projected to be selected in the amateur draft in Hagen Smith and an elite defense. The Razorbacks also had one of the best home-field advantages in the country, having entered the regional 33-2 at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Charm was not good at the end of the season. They entered the regionals after three straight losses and finished 4-9 since May 3. Van Horn said a season filled with close games, inconsistent offense and fatigue took a toll on his team.
“I think it hit us mentally,” he said. “We played the bats very well on Friday and yesterday we did well. Today we seemed exhausted. I didn't know what to do or what to say.”
SPIN IT WELL
Louisiana-Lafayette's Jose Torres delivered one of the biggest bat flips of the year when he hit a home run into left-center field in the eighth inning of the Ragin' Cajuns' 10-2 win over Texas.
As Torres finished his swing, he dropped the bat in the same motion and sent it flying along the third base line. He spat, took a couple of steps as he admired what he had done, and took off at a trot.
BIG BATS
Cal Stark hit a pair of home runs against Southern Miss, and his ninth-inning blast gave Tennessee a program-high 159 for the season. … Tom Poole homered for the third time in two games and Grand Canyon rallied to reach its first regional final with a 12-10 victory over Dallas Baptist. … Jac Caglianone's second home run in two games, a three-run shot in the second inning, gave Florida the lead for good in a 17-11 victory over Nebraska. … Ozzie Pratt, Slade Wilks and Matthew Russo each drove in three runs as Southern Miss stayed alive with a 15-3 victory over Indiana. It was the Golden Eagles' ninth straight win in a regional elimination game since 2022. …Dakota Jordan went 5-for-5 with a three-run homer and four RBIs in a 13-5 win over St. John's. … Jack Zyska homered in a three-run seventh inning to lead UCF past Stetson 5-2. … Caden Bodine's seventh-inning home run sent Coastal Carolina past High Point 6-5. …Mike Sears' grand slam in the eighth highlighted Indiana State's 13-2 victory over Illinois.
WONDERS OF THE MOUND
Jay Woolfolk, making his first start since March 17, pitched eight innings in the longest outing of his career and allowed two runs in Virginia's 9-2 win over Mississippi State. Woolfolk also had a career-high seven strikeouts. … Casey Smith and Donovan Burke combined for a five-hit shutout in James Madison's 2-0 win over South Carolina. … Mike Gutierrez improved to 10-0 for UC Santa Barbara, allowing two runs in six innings in a 4-2 win over San Diego. … LSU's Griffin Herring, who struck out a perfect ninth against Wofford on Friday, replaced Nate Ackenhausen and allowed one run in 6⅓ innings as the Tigers advanced to their regional final with a 13-6 victory over the terriers. … Cam Jones allowed one run and seven hits in Georgia Tech's 3-1 win over UNC Wilmington.
