We are almost done with Regionals. Here's where it stands (National seeds in parentheses):
WINSTON-SALEM SUPER REGIONAL:
(1) Wake Forest v. (16) Alabama
SUPER REGIONAL NUMBER EIGHT:
(8) Stanford or Texas A & M v. Texas
SUPER REGIONAL NUMBER FIVE:
(5) Louisiana St. or Oregon St. v. (12) Kentucky or Indiana
SUPER REGIONAL NUMBER FOUR:
Tennessee v. So. Mississippi or Pennsylvania
SUPER REGIONAL NUMBER THREE:
Texas Christian or (3) Arkansas v. Indiana St.
EUGENE SUPER REGIONAL:
Oregon v. Oral Roberts
CHARLOTTESVILLE SUPER REGIONAL:
(7) Virginia v. (10) Coastal Carolina or Duke
SUPER REGIONAL NUMBER TWO:
(2) Florida or Texas Tech v. (15) S. Carolina
Florida beats Texas Tech 6-0 to win the Gainesville Region.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, in a classic Southwest Conference battle, Arkansas and Texas Christian are playing for the championship of the Fayetteville Region. But Arkansas would have to win twice, and the Frogs only have to win once.
ReplyDeletePenn leads Southern Mississippi 2-1 in the top of the 4th. Arkansas leads Texas Christian 1-0 in the bottom of the 2d.
ReplyDeleteLSU, which needs only one win from two games to advance, leads Oregon State 12-4 in the bottom of the 7th. Arkansas, which needs two wins from two games, leads Texas Christian 4-2 in the bottom of the 5th. Southern Mississippi leads Penn 8-5 in the bottom of the 6th in the championship of the Auburn Regional.
ReplyDeleteTexas Christian scrapes across a run, and Arkansas leads 4-3 after five. Again, Arkansas has to win this game -- and then beat Texas Christian again -- to capture the region.
ReplyDeleteIn the bottom of the 6th, Texas Christian whacks a two-run homer to take a 5-4 lead. Suddenly the Frogs have one hand on the Regional Trophy. Arkansas fans -- who have experienced some real heartbreak in recent years -- must be anxious.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Penn has scored two runs, and now trails Southern Mississippi 8-7 in the top of the 7th. The Auburn Region is going down to the wire.
ReplyDeleteThe Frogs tack on another run and Texas Christian leads Arkansas 6-4 after 6.
ReplyDelete(5) LSU beats Oregon State 13-7 to win its Region.
ReplyDeleteSouthern Miss beats Penn 11-7 to win the Auburn Region.
ReplyDeleteSouthern Mississippi will face Tennessee in the Supers. Since they were both Number 2 seeds in their respective region, the NCAA will have to decide which school gets to host. What's great about that is that Southern Mississippi and Tennessee are two of the angriest fan bases on the planet, so someone will be enraged no matter what happens.
DeleteIn the final of the Conway Region, Duke leads Coastal Carolina 1-0 in the top of the 3d. In the final of the Lexington Region, UK and IU are tied at 2 in the bottom of the 2d.
ReplyDeleteUK v. IU is usually one of the great uniform matchups in sport, and they look spectacular today. On a beautiful June afternoon in Lexington, the Cats are wearing white jerseys and white pants. They have blue stripes down each pant leg and the word WILDCATS in block capitals across their chests, along with the jersey numeral. They are wearing blue caps with a white "UK" logo. Indiana is in gray jerseys and gray pants. They have a script "Indiana" across the front of the jersey, along with the jersey numeral. They have very small pinstripes -- like the ones they use on their basketball warmups at the end of each sleeve. They have red caps with a white "IU" logo. As a fan, you couldn't ask for anything better.
ReplyDeleteUK repping Nike, as usual. IU is an Adidas school. So it's just rivalries everywhere.
DeleteWe watched that Nike/Michael Jordan movie. It was good.
DeleteThis is the biggest IU/UK game since the Hoosiers knocked UK out of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
ReplyDeleteCats and Hoosiers are still tied at 2 after 2.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, Texas Christian drubbed Arkansas 12-4 to win the Fayetteville Region. More heartache for the Razorbacks.
ReplyDeleteIn the top of the third, IU gets its leadoff batter to third with no one out, but the Hoosiers cannot bring him home. Still 2-2 after 2 1/2.
ReplyDeleteUK gets a runner on first thanks to a two-out error, but can do nothing. Still 2-2 after 3.
ReplyDeleteIU gets another leadoff hit, but strands the runner at second. Still 2-2 after 3 1/2.
ReplyDeleteIn the top of the 4th, Duke leads Coastal Carolina 4-0.
ReplyDeleteThe Cats go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fourth. IU has two runs, six hits, and one error. UK has two runs, one hit, and one error.
ReplyDeleteFor the fifth inning in a row, IU gets the leadoff runner on base. This time, they follow up with a double play and a groundout. Still 2-2 after 4 1/2.
ReplyDeleteIU's pitcher is Ty Bothwell. He's a lefthanded redshirt senior who went to Boone Grove H.S. in Valparaiso, Indiana, and he is mowing down the Cats. But with two outs in the fifth, he hits a batter.
ReplyDeleteOne of my nephews was a starter on an Indiana high-school baseball state champion, and I do believe that might be the most celebrated sports achievement from the branch of my paternal family tree that begins with my grandparents.
DeleteUK specializes in getting hit by pitches. They've had 22 HBP's in this regional, which seems impossible to me.
ReplyDeleteBut I read this morning that their trademark this season was "fight."
DeleteThe hit batsman does no good, as the next batter flies out to right. Still 2-2 after 5.
ReplyDeleteUK scores two runs in the bottom of the 6th to take a 4-2 lead.
ReplyDeleteKentucky has turned to Mason Moore, a sophomore who went to Rowan Co. H.S. He pitches FIVE INNINGS OF SHUTOUT BALL, and the Cats WIN THE LEXINGTON REGION with a 4-2 victory over Indiana.
ReplyDeleteThis is so outstanding.
DeleteAfter losing to Indiana 5-3 on Saturday night, Kentucky beat West Virginia 10-0, beat Indiana 16-6, and beat Indiana 4-2 to win the Region. Watching the Cats win three win-or-go-home games, in Lexington, against two ancient rivals, is a tremendous thing to see. And after many years in which Indiana, Louisville, Vandy, and Tennessee have all had tremendous success in baseball, it's great to see UK getting its day in the sun.
ReplyDeleteHear, hear!
DeleteSpeaking of ancient rivals, the Cats will next go to Baton Rouge, where they will play best two out of three against LSU.
ReplyDeleteBut there's no reason to worry about that today. This is a day of celebration for the Big Blue.
ReplyDeleteOf course the stadium in Lexington was packed, and of course they're all going nuts -- as they should.
ReplyDeleteIndiana: two runs, TEN hits, one error
ReplyDeleteKentucky: four runs, six hits, one error
The Indiana players look absolutely wrecked, as they should. After they had so many chances to blow the game open early on, the Cats made them pay. You almost always seem to lose when you leave that many men on base, and that's what happened to the Hoosiers.
ReplyDeleteI'm really surprised to learn this morning that the 1976 Reds are the National League record holder for most players left on base in a season. Meanwhile, shoutout to my 1957 Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland/Denver/Oakland/San Jose/Oakland/Nashville/Oakland/Las Vegas/Future City/Mars A's for their A.L. record for fewest players left on base in a season.
DeleteAfter the game, the UK players went to shake hands with the Hoosiers, but of course the Hoosiers declined -- they are still angry about all the hit batsmen. So the UK players circled the park, celebrating with their own fans.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Indiana State just announced that they will not be able to host the Super Regionals with Texas Christian because they will be welcoming the Indiana Special Olympics for the 51st year. They say there is a lack of hotel space.
ReplyDeleteTerre Haute is only 150 miles from our house, and we could've comfortably taken in two visitors.
DeleteBy contrast, UK faced a lack of hotel accommodations this week -- but they made up for it by simply putting their opponents in dorm rooms.
ReplyDeleteUK also kicked the KHSAA off of UK's field and had them play on the minor league field instead.
DeleteBut that's the difference between Kentucky and Indiana. I think each state gets the type of outcomes that it prefers.
DeleteDuke crushed Coastal Carolina 12-3 to win the Conway Region, so they will face Virginia in the Supers.
ReplyDeleteSo now all the Super matchups are set except for one:
ReplyDelete(1) Wake Forest v. (16) Alabama
(8) Stanford or Texas A & M v. Texas
(5) Louisiana St. v. Kentucky
So. Mississippi v. Tennessee
(2) Florida v. (15) S. Carolina
(7) Virginia v. Duke
Oregon v. Oral Roberts
Texas Christian v. (14) Indiana St.
Correction:
Delete(5) Louisiana St. v. (12) Kentucky
So it's down to Stanford and Texas A & M in the last regional game. The winner gets Texas in the Supers.
ReplyDeleteStill no word on who will host between Southern Miss and Tennessee. My guess is that neither team will turn it down due to prior commitments and lack of hotel rooms.
ReplyDeleteThis will be the second time Kentucky has reached the Super Regionals. The last time was in 2017. Back then, they hosted the regional in Lexington. They beat Ohio, lost to NCSU, and then came back through the loser's bracket, beating Indiana 14-9 and sweeping NCSU 8-6 and 10-5.
ReplyDeleteThey then had to go to Louisville for the Supers, and U of L beat the Cats 5-2 and 6-2.
ReplyDeleteBut we will hope for a better result in Baton Rouge.
ReplyDelete