Oklahoma State
The Cowboys were pretty much in cruise control throughout the Stillwater Regional, going 3-0, winning by scores of 8-0 over Binghamton and 13-7 and 6-4 over a pesky Cal State Fullerton squad . Their offense hit .355 in the regional while scoring 27 runs in the three games, despite having their big stick, Zach Fish, held mostly in check throughout the regional–Fish was held to just two hits in 12 at-bats in the three games. They were paced by sophomore shortstop Donnie Walton, who tallied seven hits in 12 at-bats. They also got great performances on the mound from freshman Trey Cobb (one run over 5 1/3 innings vs. CSF) and freshman Tyler Buffett (4 2/3 scoreless innings vs. Binghamton.)
UC-Irvine
Suffice it to say, the Anteaters shocked everyone except themselves by going into Corvallis and knocking off the top-seeded Beavers in the fashion that they did. This was an offense that came in averaging less than 4.3 runs per game, but they scored 28 runs in four games, including 18 runs in their three games against the Beavers’ vaunted pitching staff, which entered the tournament with the second-best ERA (2.13) in the country. The Anteaters advanced to their fourth Super Regional since bringing the program back in 2002. The offense was sparked by Connor Spencer and Taylor Sparks, both of whom had six hits in the four games, with Sparks adding his fifth homer of the season against Oregon State. Spencer was also named the Most Outstanding Player at the Corvallis Regional. They also got great performances from ace Andrew Morales (3 ER over 11 1/3 innings vs. UNLV and OSU) and Elliot Surrey (2 ER over 7 innings vs. OSU) to push them through. Most impressive was Morales, who did what aces do– his second start was in the regional championship, coming back on just two days’ rest to shut down the Beavers’ powerful offense.
Pick: Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are absolutely rolling right now, and I look for them to get past Irvine in a dogfight. But then again, Irvine already knocked out one of my Omaha picks, so what the heck do I know?
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