The regionals have come and gone and 16 baseball programs are still in the hunt for a national championship.
Friday was the start of the super regional round, with the regional winner’s pairing up for a best two-of-three series to secure a place in Omaha for the 2024 College World Series. Half of the super regionals began on Friday, with the other half starting on Saturday.
Many national seeds had successfully defended their individual regional, but also plenty of underdogs were hoping to continue the run into Omaha. While nobody was eliminated in Friday’s action, eight teams took the upper hands while the other eight need to win two in a row to advance.
Here’s a look at the day’s action.
Knoxville Super Regional
Game 1: Tennessee def. Evansville, 11-6
Game 2: Tennessee vs. Evansville, 11 a.m. ET, Saturday, June 8
Tallahassee Super Regional
Game 1: Florida State def. UConn, 24-4
Game 2: Florida State vs. UConn, 11 a.m. ET, Saturday, June 8
Charlottesville Super Regional
Game 1: Virginia def. Kansas State, 7-4
Game 2: Virginia vs. Kansas State, 3 p.m. ET, Saturday, June 8
Chapel Hill Super Regional
Game 1: North Carolina def. West Virginia, 8-6
Game 2: North Carolina vs. West Virgina, 8 p.m. ET, Saturday, June 8
Check here for the current state of the bracket.
Tennessee 11, Evansville 6
The No. 1 seeded Volunteers had a slugfest to start the super regionals.
When push came to shove, however, Tennessee was up to the test.
HELLO WIN COLUMN!! <br><br>One win away from the CWSβ¦<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GBO?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GBO</a> // <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OTH?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OTH</a> // <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VOLSWIN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VOLSWIN</a> <a href="https://t.co/hW7a6ZWY5O">pic.twitter.com/hW7a6ZWY5O</a>
The Volunteers opponent was perhaps the best story of the super regional, as Evansville was the No. 4 seed in the Greenville regional and took down the higher-ranked teams in order to continue the season.
It looked like the Purple Aces could have fallen victim to the moment, as Tennessee went up 1-0 in the first inning. However, Evansville quickly bounced back and took a 2-1 lead. The Volunteers would respond fittingly.
That's a BAAAAAAAD MAN.<br><br>πΊ <a href="https://t.co/slhIZcBQO2">https://t.co/slhIZcBQO2</a> (ESPN2) <br><br> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GBO?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GBO</a> // <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OTH?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OTH</a> // <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeatUE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BeatUE</a> <a href="https://t.co/lM7mLfZX5n">pic.twitter.com/lM7mLfZX5n</a>
Dang Billy, that ball had a family…<br><br>πΊ <a href="https://t.co/slhIZcBQO2">https://t.co/slhIZcBQO2</a> (ESPN2) <br><br> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GBO?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GBO</a> // <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OTH?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OTH</a> // <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeatUE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BeatUE</a> <a href="https://t.co/cdMn7XOgNu">pic.twitter.com/cdMn7XOgNu</a>
Home runs from Christian Moore and Billy Amick helped push the Volunteers back ahead at 5-2. Evansville would tie it at 5-5, but that’s where Tennessee really took over.
A Hunter Ensley three-run bomb highlighted the six-run output that eventually carried the Vols to victory.
JACKED πͺ<a href="https://twitter.com/Vol_Baseball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Vol_Baseball</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/NCAABaseball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NCAABaseball</a> /ESPN2 <a href="https://t.co/XTveetkYbc">pic.twitter.com/XTveetkYbc</a>
Evansville will now need to take two in a row to advance while the Volunteers are just one victory away from advancing to Omaha.
Florida State 24, UConn 4
It’s safe to say this game was never in doubt.
Florida State scored three runs in the first and never looked back, tacking on 18 hits and 24 runs to take Game 1 24-4 over UConn.
1 down, 1 to go <a href="https://t.co/98m2uGIfIA">pic.twitter.com/98m2uGIfIA</a>
.<a href="https://twitter.com/FSUBaseball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FSUBaseball</a> is raising the bar in Supers <br><br>π Biggest margin of victory in Supers – 20 runs<br>π Most runs score in Supers – 24 runs <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToOmaha?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToOmaha</a> <a href="https://t.co/o3oKsR7E6c">pic.twitter.com/o3oKsR7E6c</a>
It was the biggest margin of victory and the most runs scored in the history of the Super Regional round.
Florida State scored in six of eight offensive innings, and had 15 runs combined in the sixth and seventh innings.
Cam Smith, Jamie Ferrer and Alex Lodise had three hits each, while James Tibbs III and Marco Dinges had four RBIs each.
It would be an understatement to say the bats were explosive.
Back. To. Back!<a href="https://twitter.com/MarcoDinges?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarcoDinges</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/Ferrer1227?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Ferrer1227</a> <br><br>T2 | UConn 0, FSU 3 <a href="https://t.co/jQ77Z162b1">pic.twitter.com/jQ77Z162b1</a>
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?!?<a href="https://twitter.com/max_williams25?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@max_williams25</a> hits our 3rd HR of the day<br><br>B2 | UConn 0, FSU 5 <a href="https://t.co/g6Jyz6rf1b">pic.twitter.com/g6Jyz6rf1b</a>
How about 844' of homers for Jaime today!<br><br>His 3rd career 2-HR game<br><br>B6 | UConn 1, FSU 11 <a href="https://t.co/ZX84ufAf7O">pic.twitter.com/ZX84ufAf7O</a>
McGwire clears the bases with a 3-R double!<br><br>B7 | UConn 1, FSU 18 <a href="https://t.co/CqRtNw1MdZ">pic.twitter.com/CqRtNw1MdZ</a>
DeAmez Ross adds to HR parade<br><br>T8 | UConn 1, FSU 24 <a href="https://t.co/IN0pTxMwbz">pic.twitter.com/IN0pTxMwbz</a>
The Seminoles look like a real threat to win in Omaha, but first it needs to take care of business against a Huskies team that impressed in the regional round and is still not a push over.
North Carolina 8, West Virginia 6
Walk offs aren’t exclusive to the regional round.
North Carolina trailed for much of its game against West Virginia but the hosts managed three runs in the ninth to walk-off with a Game 1 win.
CAROLINA VICTORY.
This feeling never gets old! π <a href="https://t.co/sTw3QK93nD">pic.twitter.com/sTw3QK93nD</a>
The hero of the day was Vance Honeycutt, who delivered the two-run walk-off bomb.
DIAMOND HEELS WALK IT OFF IN GAME 1 OF SUPERS!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToOmaha?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToOmaha</a> x π₯ ESPN / <a href="https://twitter.com/DiamondHeels?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DiamondHeels</a> <a href="https://t.co/XZB6iuq54p">pic.twitter.com/XZB6iuq54p</a>
That's our home run king! π <a href="https://t.co/LJ3EsmDsqe">pic.twitter.com/LJ3EsmDsqe</a>
The win came despite a 144-pitch effort from West Virginia pitcher Derek Clark, who will end up taking a pretty undeserved loss.
West Virginia will now hope to bounce back while UNC will have a little less pressure going forward.
Virginia 7, Kansas State 4
It was a good day for the ACC.
After Florida State and North Carolina got it done earlier in the day, Virginia followed suit with a 7-4 comeback victory over Kansas State.
And a K to top it off! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToOmaha?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToOmaha</a> x π₯ ESPN2 / <a href="https://twitter.com/UVABaseball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UVABaseball</a> <a href="https://t.co/43nxMg55aT">pic.twitter.com/43nxMg55aT</a>
Kansas State quickly jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but Virginia would storm back with four runs of its own.
FAIR INDEED π<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToOmaha?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToOmaha</a> x π₯ ESPN2 / <a href="https://twitter.com/UVABaseball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UVABaseball</a> <a href="https://t.co/00NlHda9bv">pic.twitter.com/00NlHda9bv</a>
Kansas State would tie it in the seventh but Henry Godbout had no intention of letting that continue.
πππππππ'π ππππ!<br><br>Henry Godbout brings the people to their feet! <br><br>πΊ: ESPN2 | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoHoos?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoHoos</a> <a href="https://t.co/YdD3xYpMew">pic.twitter.com/YdD3xYpMew</a>
Virginia is now one game away from reaching Omaha for the third time in four seasons.
College Baseball Super Regionals 2024: Results, Highlights and Bracket from Friday – Bleacher Report
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