NCAA Super Regionals 2017: Schedule and Game Predictions for Friday's Action
One series victory.
That is all that stands in the way of the 16 baseball teams in the super regionals portion of the NCAA Division I tournament and the sport's grandest stage. The eight winners of these best-of-three series will advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, and compete for a national championship.
Four of the super regionals begin Friday with Game 1 action. With that in mind, here is a look at the Friday schedule and broadcast information, per the NCAA's official website, as well as predicted winners for each contest.
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Friday Schedule
Louisville Super Regional: Louisville vs. Kentucky, 12 p.m. ET, ESPN2
College Station Super Regional: Texas A&M vs. Davidson, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Long Beach Super Regional: Long Beach State vs. CSU Fullerton, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Corvallis Super Regional: Oregon State vs. Vanderbilt, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Predicted Outcomes for Friday's Games and Series
Louisville over Kentucky
Texas A&M over Davidson
Long Beach State over CSU Fullerton
Oregon State over Vanderbilt
Series to Watch: Oregon State vs. Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt as a program is familiar with this stage after winning the 2014 national championship, playing in the CWS final in 2015 and competing in this year's loaded SEC that features six of the 16 teams still alive in the race for a title.
However, the Commodores have to deal with a dominant Oregon State squad that is 52-4 on the season and has the No. 1 ranking the country. The Beavers won their three regional games by a combined score of 27-3 and are looking to carry their momentum right into this series with Vanderbilt.
On the other side, the Commodores went 3-1 in regional play, dropping a contest to Clemson but bouncing back in a decisive rematch with a commanding 8-0 victory.
Vanderbilt also features the pitching duo of Patrick Raby and Kyle Wright, which Oregon State manager Pat Casey called "as good or better than anybody we've seen," per Gina Mizell of The Oregonian.
Raby features a 2.36 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 99.1 innings, while Wright sports a 2.98 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 96.2 innings.
Oregon State can counter with Jake Thompson (13-0, 1.30 ERA and 106 strikeouts) and Drew Rasmussen (0.83 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 21.2 innings since returning from Tommy John surgery in April).
The arms alone makes this the series to watch, and the fact Oregon State is the top team in the country going against a recent SEC powerhouse makes it all the more intriguing. Even with the potent pitching, Oregon State will win the series with its bats.
Nick Madrigal (.380), Steven Kwan (.341), KJ Harrison (.328), Michael Gretler (.304), Trevor Larnach (.301) and Jack Anderson (.300) all feature batting averages of .300 or better and can simply wear down opposing pitching staffs. The Beavers feature no real weak spots throughout the order, and their explosiveness was on full display with 27 runs in three games in regional play.
Vanderbilt doesn't have the depth behind Raby and Wright to silence so many formidable hitters over the course of a short series.
Between the Beavers' powerful offense and their pitching staff that leads all of college baseball with a sparkling 1.78 ERA, Vanderbilt doesn't have the talent to keep up with the Pac-12 representative.
The SEC may be the best conference as a whole, but Oregon State is the best team.
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