TCU
The Horned Frogs (45-15) swept their way through the regional round, beating Siena (2-1) and Sam Houston State (3-2, 6-1) twice. The 3-2 win over SHSU was notable because it was the second-longest game (innings-wise) in NCAA Tournament history. Only a Texas-Boston College regional match-up back in 2009 (25 innings) has ever lasted longer. The Horned Frogs have a clear advantage here with their pitching staff, which sports an NCAA-best 2.14 ERA. All weekend that staff strength was on display, most notably in the marathon game against Sam Houston State. It started with a great performance by Preston Morrison (7 1/3 IP, 2 R), and then morphed into a clinic on damage control and great relief pitching. Trey Teakell (6 1/3 IP, 0 R) and Brian Howard (4 IP, 0 R) shined, while Brian Trieglaff pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to pick up the win. There was also the terrific complete-game performance by freshman Tyler Alexander in the regional clincher against the Bearkats. The offense, which pounded out 32 hits in three games, was led by Boomer White, who had seven hits and also drove in four runs.
Pepperdine
The Waves (41-16) will always be a tough draw for any team because of their pitching, toughness and grit. This is their first Super Regional appearance since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999. They swept their way right through the San Luis Obispo Regional, beating Arizona State (3-2) and host Cal Poly (2-1, 10-6) twice. We talked about the pitching for the Horned Frogs, but the Waves boast the 10th-best ERA in the country themselves, with a mark of 2.52 They sport a .284 team batting average, led by Aaron Barnett’s .373. They bring a fair amount of pop to Fort Worth, hitting 33 homers as a team. They are led there by senior Aaron Brown, who has hit 12 bombs to go along with a team-leading 47 RBI and a .310 batting average. Brown is also the team’s ace on the mound with 12-1 record and 2.07 ERA, including an eight-inning, one-run performance against Cal Poly. He was held relatively in check at the plate though, going 2-13 with two RBI over the weekend. The offense was led in the regional by sophomore Hutton Moyer with five hits, while redshirt junior outfielder Bryan Langlois drove in five runs.
Pick: Pepperdine
I’m gonna go with the upset pick here. The Waves come in on a bit of a hot streak. They won the West Coast Conference regular season title, and then nabbed the conference tournament title before sweeping their way through San Luis Obispo. Aaron Brown will give a dominant pitching performance to lead the pitching staff and will also wake up at the plate to lead the Waves through to Omaha.
lksportsandmore 