Sixty-four teams opened the 2019 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, and only eight remain. Oregon State, last year's national champion, was among the 32 teams eliminated in the regionals last weekend. Soon thereafter their catcher, Adley Rutschman, was selected with the No. 1 pick in the MLB draft by the Orioles.
This past weekend six of the eight College World Series spots were finalized during the super regionals. The seventh spot was finalized Monday afternoon when Auburn used a 13-run first inning to blow out North Carolina. The final College World Series spot was determined Monday evening.
- Auburn 14, North Carolina 7 -- Auburn advances
- Arkansas 14, Mississippi 1 -- Arkansas advances
The super regionals are a best-of-three series and Monday's games were both a winner-take-all Game 3.
Over the weekend Vanderbilt's Kumar Rocker threw maybe the best pitched game in college baseball history. The freshman right-hander saved his team's season with a 19-strikeout no-hitter against Duke. It was the first no-hitter in super regionals history. Rocker and Vanderbilt won Game 2 on Saturday night, then finished the series comeback with a Game 3 win Sunday.
unhittable [ənˈhidəb(ə)l] - adjective
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 9, 2019
1. impossible to hit
2. Kumar Rocker tonight#RoadToOmaha | @VandyBoys pic.twitter.com/b6bcMjXN7T
UCLA, the top-ranked team in the nation, was upset by Michigan in Game 3 on Sunday night. This is Michigan's first trip to the College World Series since 1984, when their star player was Hall of Famer Barry Larkin. The Bruins are the seventh No. 1 seed to fail to reach the College World Series since the national seeding format was put in place in 1999.
Junior lefty Tommy Henry allowed two runs in seven innings and pitched the Wolverines to Omaha. The Diamondbacks selected Henry with the 74th overall pick in last week's draft. Here are the highlights of Michigan's upset win over UCLA:
Highlights: Off to Omaha! Michigan Takes Down No. 1-Ranked UCLA Again; Advances to 8th World Series #GoBlue | #RoadToOmaha pic.twitter.com/nVFp9oohsS
— Michigan Baseball (@umichbaseball) June 10, 2019
Florida State's Mike Martin, the winningest head coach in Division I history, has a chance to go out with a championship. The 75-year-old Martin announced last June that he will retire following the 2019 season, and on Sunday his Seminoles clinched a spot in the College World Series. Martin has coached Florida State since 1979 and this will be his 17th trip to the College World Series. He has yet to win a national championship, however.
The Seminoles swept LSU in Baton Rouge in their super regional matchup over the weekend. Star third baseman Drew Mendoza, the 94th overall pick in last week's draft (Nationals), provided the walk-off single in Game 2 on Sunday night. LSU elected to pitch to Mendoza with two outs, a runner on second base, and first base open.
The hit that sent the Noles to Omaha for the 24th time in program history. #Nolemaha
— FSU Baseball (@FSUBaseball) June 10, 2019
pic.twitter.com/61vO9DQmMC
Louisville, Mississippi State, and Texas Tech also punched their tickets to the College World Series over the weekend. Here are the super regional results:
- Florida State sweeps LSU (2-0)
- Louisville sweeps East Carolina (2-0)
- Michigan defeats UCLA (2-1)
- Mississippi State sweeps Stanford (2-0)
- Texas Tech defeats Oklahoma State (2-1)
- Vanderbilt defeats Duke (2-1)
- Auburn defeats North Carolina (2-1)
- Arkansas defeats Mississippi (2-1)
Michigan (1953, 1962) and Vanderbilt (2014) are the only 2019 College World Series teams to have previously won a national championship.
The College World Series consists of two double-elimination brackets and a best-of-three championship series held every June at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Nebraska. The College World Series begins Saturday, June 15, with the championship series set for June 24-26. Here is the full Field of 64.