Article:NCAA Baseball Super Regionals Recap

Six of the eight teams have clinched a spot in the College Baseball World Series, and to play for the National Championship. The CWS is set to begin on June 14th, and boy are we in for a good one this year. The Stanford Cardinals (40-22-2), North Carolina Tar Heels (51-12), Florida State Seminoles (54-12), Georgia Bulldogs (40-23-1), Miami Hurricanes (53-8), and the Rice Owls (47-13) are the six teams that have already punched their ticket to Omaha. A total of ten (out of fifteen games played) have featured the winning team scoring 10+ runs, which includes a 17-8 victory, which allowed Georgia to advance to the CWS on Sunday.

The most intriguing matchup of the Super Regionals has been the Nation's number 1 ranked Miami Hurricanes facing off against the Arizona Wildcats. The best-of-three series took all three games to complete. After Arizona pulled off a game one upset in a 6-3 victory, Miami came back with two straight wins (outscoring Arizona 18-12 in the process). If Arizona had pulled off the upset, it wouldn't have even been the first team of the Top 8 in the Nation to lose in the Super Regionals. Stanford swept the favored #5 Cal State Fullerton Titans. The cards' 8-5 series clincher was led by starting pitcher Austin Yount, who went 5.1 IP with just one earned run, and three K's. He picked up the win, and the thrill of advancing to the College World Series.

Tonight, the UC Irvine Ant Eaters will try to wrap up the upset over the seventh ranked team in the Nation, the LSU Tigers, in game 3, at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge. Power-hitter Sean Madigan, who hit a three-run HR in UC's 11-5 game one win over LSU, will lead a very powerful UC Irvine lineup. Also playing tonight at 7 PM (ET) on ESPN2, the Arizona State Sun Devils, and Fresno State Bulldogs clash. With the series tied at one win a piece, the winner will advance to the CWS, like the UCI/LSU matchup. The ASU Baseball team is looking to follow in the footsteps of this year's Softball team, which won the National Title by sweeping Texas A&M's Softball team, two games to none. But, the odds are against them. I don't see this team, which was 45-11 in the regular season, knocking off the likes of UNC, Miami, and FSU, despite their ranking of third in the Nation.

Teams to watch in the CWS:
*North Carolina- UNC rolled through the Regionals, I don't even think the Tar Heels had a shot at losing in the Regionals against teams like UNC-Wilmington, Elon, and Mount St. Mary's. The 'Heels outscored Coastal Carolina 23-8 in the Super Regionals on their way to a short, two game sweep, and another CWS appearance. UNC was the second team to clinch a spot in the eight-team pool.

*Miami (FL.)- Obviously the Nation's number 1 team is going to be on the list, but don't even think about this team going unbeaten in the Series. Miami already proved their beatable by beating Bethune-Cookman by just three runs, and Missouri by one in the first and second games of the Regionals, though they did win, and move on to the Super Regionals. In the best-of-three series against the Wildcats, Miami did outscore Arizona 24-15, but they lost game one, and had to come from behind to advance. In game three, the 'Canes held on with a two-run win. So, this team is beatable.

*Stanford- The first to clinch, the Cardinals swept the fifth ranked Titans, though the scores were close. This team is looking as dangerous as anyone on the baseball diamond. I don't care where you play, if you can beat CSF, you're a force to be reckoned with.

*Florida State- Though they lost, well actually got shut the fack down, in the first game of the Regionals (lost 7-0 to the 4th seeded Bucknell team), FSU is a dangerous team. They may have the most dangerous offense in the CWS this year. In four of their five Regional games, the FSU offense produced 10+ runs, in fact, they scored at least 16 runs on their way to a Regional win. This binge of runs included a 24-run game in their rematch against the Bucknell Bison. In the Super Regionals, the Witchita Sate/FSU series went into three games, but in games two and three, the Seminoles scored 10+ runs again, and reserved their spot in the CWS. They were the third team to clinch, and now await the result of the Fresno State/Arizona State, and UC Irvine/LSU matchups.

Who will win the Men's College World Series this year??:
My money is on the North Carolina Tar Heels, led by pitchers Adam Warren, and Alex White, taking down the powerful FSU offense in all three games.