College Baseball Super Regionals 2015: Results, Highlights, Bracket from Monday
The field for the 2015 College World Series is nearly set. Five of the eight spots have been clinched, leaving three Super Regionals left to be decided. Two of them are in a decisive third game on Monday, while weather has delayed another series.
Vanderbilt was supposed to have a chance at clinching another berth in Omaha, Nebraska, on Sunday against Illinois, but Mother Nature had other plans thanks to heavy rain in the Midwest. The Commodores got their chance on Monday and didn't waste the opportunity.
Meanwhile, TCU vs. Texas A&M and Louisville vs. Cal State Fullerton are both winner-take-all scenarios. There's no margin for error in those two games, so expect these teams to leave everything on the table as they look to secure a spot in Omaha.
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Here's a recap of all the action that happened on a huge day for college baseball.
| No. 1 Illinois vs. No. 1 Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt def. Illinois, 4-2 | Vanderbilt wins series 2-0 |
| No. 1 Cal State Fullerton vs. No. 1 Louisville | Cal State Fullerton def. Louisville, 4-3 | Cal State Fullerton wins series 2-1 |
| No. 1 TCU vs. No. 1 Texas A&M | TCU def. Texas A&M, 5-4 in 16 innings | TCU wins series 2-1 |
College World Series Teams
| No. 1 Miami Hurricanes | ACC |
| No. 1 Florida Gators | SEC |
| No. 1 LSU | SEC |
| No. 1 Vanderbilt | SEC |
| No. 1 Cal State Fullerton | Big West |
| No. 2 Arkansas | SEC |
| No. 3 Virginia | ACC |
| No. 1 TCU | Big 12 |
Recap
Cal State Fullerton def. Louisville, 4-3 (11 innings)
For the second time in three games, Cal State Fullerton and Louisville needed extra innings to decide a winner. The end result turned out to be the same, as the Titans got a 4-3 victory thanks to Davi Olmedo-Barrera.
Cal State Fullerton's designated hitter blasted a solo home run off Louisville reliever Zack Burdi in the top of the 11th. It was his second solo shot of the day and silenced the crowd at Jim Patterson Stadium, via NCAA Baseball:
With Monday being draft night in Major League Baseball, it seems fitting that Olmedo-Barrera has a connection from his high school days, as Melissa Lockard of Scout.com noted on Twitter:
All the damage for Cal State Fullerton was done by two players. Jerrod Bravo had a two-run single with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth to tie the game 2-2. Louisville had been cruising up to that point, as starter Josh Rogers allowed just three hits in seven innings.
Once Rogers started to lose steam and Cardinals head coach Dan McDonnell went to the bullpen, the door was cracked open for Cal State and they burst right through it.
Louisville is going to be frustrated looking back on the missed opportunities from this game. The Cardinals had nine hits in 11 innings and were helped by four errors from Cal State's defense, yet the best they could do was three runs after the first seven innings.
The Cardinals top four hitters went a combined 2-for-17 with one RBI, one run and three strikeouts. Ryan Summers had the biggest blunder of the game, coming in to pinch run in the bottom of the 11th with two outs and getting thrown out trying to steal second.
Cal State Fullerton somehow found a way into the College World Series despite its best efforts to get Louisville there. Now, the Titans are in Omaha for the first time since 2009 and seeking the program's first championship since 2004.
Vanderbilt def. Illinois, 4-2
The marquee matchup of Monday saw two of the top prospects in the 2015 MLB draft do battle, as Illinois sent Tyler Jay to the mound against Vanderbilt star shortstop Dansby Swanson.
In the end, Swanson and the Commodores were too strong in a 4-2 victory to secure a spot in the College World Series for the second consecutive season.
Swanson didn't disappoint on the big stage, going 2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI on this blast off Jay in the fourth inning, per NCAA Baseball:
The double would turn out to be just as important for Swanson and Vanderbilt, as he would come around to score the go-ahead run on a Bryan Reynolds single in the sixth inning off Jay.
Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com noted that Arizona, which has the No. 1 pick in the draft, had to be excited seeing Swanson hit a homer if he was going to be the team's selection:
It turns out the Diamondbacks probably were jumping around at that time, as the team made Swanson the first overall pick. That's a pretty good day for the junior star—finding out he would be going back to Omaha and after that to Arizona.
As far as how Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin kept things sane with so much going on with his players outside of Monday's game, he said it hopefully won't be a problem much longer, per David Ammenheuser of the Tennessean:
"We will, at some point (address it). I'm there with a couple of general managers of Major League Baseball, we are trying to get (the draft) moved. It's probably not good for them (MLB) either, but it's certainly not good for our (college) game when you have kids playing in the team environment trying to get to the thing that they've always dreamed about, too.
"
It didn't seem like anything going on affected Swanson, though he didn't have much time to celebrate before getting a phone call that he was the No. 1 overall pick.
Vanderbilt also got a strong pitching performance from starter Philip Pfeifer, who went 6.2 innings and gave up two runs with four strikeouts and three walks.
The Commodores were in hostile territory, as Illinois was a national seed and had home-field advantage for the series but showed no signs of intimidation with a 13-0 win on Saturday.
Monday's game was a gritty affair, with both teams needing to work for everything they got. Jay was making just the second start of his college career and had to battle, allowing four runs on 10 hits in 6.1 innings. The left-hander did have six strikeouts and no walks in defeat.
Illinois had a tremendous season, winning its first conference title since 2011 and second NCAA tournament appearance in the last three years, but Vanderbilt is at another level in terms of talent and experience on this stage.
The Commodores haven't been the best team in the nation from the beginning of the year, but they are playing as well as anyone in the country right now and show no signs that they can't defend their national title.
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