Tag: super regionals

Three factors for Notre Dame Baseball to return to College World Series

Can the Irish return to Omaha next season?

The bar has been set for Irish baseball and it’s high. In the two full seasons that [autotag]Link Jarrett[/autotag] has been at the helm, Notre Dame has made it to the Super Regionals last year and this year the College World Series. Although neither trip resulted in hardware being brought back to South Bend, the play has set a standard for the Irish. Here are three factors for the Notre Dame Baseball team to make a return to Omaha next season.

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Notre Dame out of College World Series after loss to Texas A&M

The ride is over.

Even when you do much better than what was expected from you, the end never is easy. Notre Dame stunned the baseball world when it eliminated top-ranked Tennessee in the Super Regional. A win over Texas in their College World Series opener gave people more reason to believe. However, that was as good as it got as the Irish then lost to Oklahoma and now, their season is over after losing an elimination game to Texas A&M, 5-1.

The Irish were undone by a sloppy defensive third inning that led to three Aggies runs, two of which were unearned. That was all the Aggies needed as Nathan Dettmer stymied the Irish’s bats for seven shutout innings while allowing only three hits. The Irish made some noise in the eighth with a leadoff home run by [autotag]Brooks Coetzee[/autotag] and even brought the tying run to the on-deck circle with no outs. But a strikeout and double play ended the only real threat they had all afternoon.

Here are some images from the Irish’s final game of the 2022 season:

Reaction to Notre Dame’s upset of No. 1 Tennessee

Next stop Omaha!

Notre Dame is headed to the College World Series for the first time since 2002 and for just the third time in program history after taking the decisive game three at Tennessee on Sunday afternoon.  Notre Dame rallied in the seventh inning for three runs to take a 4-3 lead and added three more in the eighth to stretch things to 7-3.

Related: Game story and photo gallery from Notre Dame’s upset win

Notre Dame knox off Vols and heads to CWS

Freshman sensation Jack Findlay went the final five innings, allowing just one hit, against the stellar Tennessee lineup.  Notre Dame’s means this will be the 22nd straight NCAA baseball tournament where the top overall seed doesn’t win the crown.

See the best Twitter reactions to Notre Dame’s upset of Tennessee and their College World Series berth below:

Auburn bullpen uses ‘next man up’ mentality in win over Oregon State

After Trace Bright’s early departure from game one against Oregon State, the Auburn bullpen stepped up to aid in victory.

Prior to Auburn Baseball’s departure for Corvallis, Oregon, on Thursday, head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] told reporters that this year’s squad was special, citing that the players have meshed well with one another, which has formed a healthy clubhouse.

Auburn’s “got your back” mentality was on full display during game one of the Corvallis Super Regional, in the form of the bullpen, which was instrumental in Auburn’s 7-5 win over Oregon in game one of the best-of-three series.

Auburn starting pitcher [autotag]Trace Bright[/autotag]’s night unfortunately ended after recording just two outs on 47 pitches. Thompson called on [autotag]John Armstrong[/autotag] to dig them out of a hole, before handing the baseball to [autotag]Tommy Sheehan[/autotag]. That is where the Tigers began finding success on the mound.

Sheehan took control of the game on the mound by tossing 3.1 innings of shut-out baseball, striking out three batters and allowing two hits. Sheehan’s confidence grew with every pitch, which erased the pressure that his team felt early on.

“We have had a ‘next man up’ mentality all year, and we just tried to stick with that, not try to do too much out there in a big spot,” Sheehan said in a postgame interview with the Auburn Sports Network. “(I just) tried to be myself and stick to the game plan and let the guys field behind me.”

Sheehan exited the game after the 5th inning, turning the keys over to [autotag]Carson Skipper[/autotag] and [autotag]Blake Burkhalter[/autotag] to close the game. Their outings were just as successful as Sheehan’s, which helped Auburn grab that valuable game one victory. Skipper struck out five batters in 3.0 innings of relief, which set up Burkhalter to grab his SEC-best 14th save of the season after allowing a run on two hits in the 9th inning.

“Those are the guys we want to get (the ball to), they have been our guys all year,” said Sheehan. “My motto has been ‘get the ball to (Burkhalter)’ all year. That’s what we did and it worked out for us.”

Auburn will turn to Joseph Gonzalez for game two of the Corvallis Super Regional against Oregon State on Sunday. The first pitch is set for 9 p.m. CDT, and can be seen on ESPN2.

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Oregon State ace Cooper Hjerpe to miss Game 1 of Corvallis Super Regional

Huge news ahead of Game 1 between Auburn and Oregon State.

The best player for Oregon State will not be playing against Auburn in Game 1 of the Super Regional.

Oregon State pitcher Cooper Hjerpe, one of the best pitchers in the country, will miss the game with an undisclosed illness, the team announced. He was scheduled to start Saturday’s game.

The Beavers will now turn to Jake Pfennings. He has made 10 starts with a 4-0 record and a 2.94 ERA.

Hjerpe has a 10-2 record and a 2.40 ERA. He leads the nation with 155 strikeouts and is averaging 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Oregon State has not yet announced if he will be available later in the series.

Trace Bright will start the game for Auburn, which will start Saturday at 9 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

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Auburn’s “prove it” mindset carries over to Super Regionals

Head coach Butch Thompson called on his team to “prove it” last weekend in the Auburn Regional, but it’s what the team has done all season long.

Prior to last weekend’s Auburn Regional, Auburn Baseball head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] challenged his team to prove why they were selected as a regional host.

“You play an entire season for moments when it’s time to prove it. You have to draw from every experience that you’ve had this entire season and put it into play,” Thompson said. “There’s no more reset. This is it. You have to prove it and play well to continue to advance.”

Auburn did way more than “prove it”, as they went 3-0 over the weekend. and did so with an all-around team effort on their way to outscoring their opposition, 51-17.

Now, Auburn prepares to appear in their third Super Regional in four NCAA Tournaments and will continue to “prove it” by traveling to Corvallis, Oregon, to face Pac-12 power Oregon State.

Auburn’s “prove it” mindset became public last weekend. But, according to outfielder [autotag]Kason Howell[/autotag], “prove it” has been the Tigers’ persona all season long, and it all started with a preseason prediction.

“It’s meant everything just because we got picked last (in the SEC West) at the beginning of the year, so to ‘prove it’ has been our identity all year,” Howell said prior to the team’s departure to Oregon on Thursday. “We’ve played with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder, so we have to ‘prove it’ again this weekend. If we ‘prove it’ then, we have to ‘prove it’ in Omaha.”

That has what Auburn has done all season. The Tigers finished the SEC season with a 16-13 record, grabbing the no. 5 seed in the SEC Tournament, and have not dropped more than two games in a row all season long. Howell says that they have been able to maintain consistency through team chemistry.

“The locker room is a great place to be for everybody, everybody gets along. We have been through a lot this year and that has brought us closer together,” Howell said. “This team is more unified than any team I’ve been apart of, so that’s a huge thing going into playing on the road when you only have each other. That’s a big deal.”

Auburn will look to continue their hot streak this weekend at Oregon State for the Corvallis Super Regional. Game one between the Tigers and Beavers is set for 9 p.m. CDT Saturday night.

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One down, one to go: Arkansas beats North Carolina in Game 1 of Supers

Connor Noland spun a gem and Peyton Stovall’s home run led the way for Arkansas in a Game 1 win over North Carolina in the Super Regionals.

Arkansas baseball is one game away from the College World Series.

The Razorbacks beat No. 10 in Game 1 of the Chapel Hill Super Regionals, 4-1, on Saturday. The victory means Arkansas needs just one more win, either in Sunday’s Game 2 or a potential Game 3 on Monday, to clinch a spot in Omaha for the third time since 2018.

The Diamond Hogs scored three runs in the fifth inning to take control. Peyton Stovall started events with a solo home run. Brady Slavens followed with an RBI single and Cayden Wallace’s sacrifice fly tacked on the final of the frame.

Meanwhile, Arkansas starter Connor Noland dazzled. He worked 6 2/3 innings, giving up six hits and a walk while striking out six.

North Carolina had its best chance against Noland in the first when a single, double and a walk loaded the bases with one out. But the Arkansas right-hander struck out Alberto Osuna and induced a come-backer from Mikey Madej to get out of the inning.

Noland retired 14 of the next 16 batters he faced. He was lifted with two outs in the seventh after giving up a single. By that point, he had another run of insurance thanks to another RBI single from Slavens in the half-inning before. Evan Taylor needed just one pitch to finish the frame.

North Carolina freshman Vance Honeycutt pulled the Tar Heels within striking distance heading to the ninth with a solo home run. Hagen Smith, Arkansas’ freshman who was the Razorbacks’ Saturday starter for most of the season, replaced Taylor for the final outs.

Smith gave up a single, but the Heels never had a chance to bring the tying run to the plate as the lefty recorded a strikeout and a flyout to end things.

Arkansas will look to clinch its spot in Omaha on Sunday at noon CT.

Auburn Baseball: How to watch and listen to game one of the Corvallis Super Regional

Here’s how you can keep up with Auburn’s first game against the Beavers:

The No. 14 Auburn Tigers are set to play in their third Super Regional in four NCAA Tournaments beginning Saturday night in Corvallis, Oregon, against the No. 3 Oregon State Beavers.

The Tigers dominated their competition during last week’s Auburn Regional, outscoring their opponents 51-17 over three games. Head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] says that it will be key for his team to maintain the persona that they displayed last weekend, and to keep riding momentum.

“Most of our talks will be about doubling down on our identity, who we are,” Thompson said. “We can’t play better than we did last weekend. The biggest challenge for us is trying to maintain and stay there.”

What Auburn won’t have on their side this weekend, however, is home field advantage. The Tigers fed off of the energy of their home fans last weekend, and will now have to compete in an electric environment, across the country. Thompson believes that as long as his squad does their job, and plays to the best of their abilities, distance and environment should not dictate their success.

“The score will take care of itself, and this will come down to execution,” Thompson said. “Whether we’re playing at Plainsman Park or a 41-hour drive away, this thing will come down to execution.”

The Beavers went 3-1 in the Corvallis Regional last weekend, defeating Vanderbilt in the regional championship game to move on to the Super Regionals.

Oregon State shares two mutual opponents with Auburn, Vanderbilt and UCLA. The Beavers went 1-1 against the Commodores in last weekend’s Corvallis Regional, while Auburn defeated UCLA in the Auburn Regional final.

During the season, Auburn took two-of-three from Vanderbilt at Plainsman Park. Oregon State dropped two-of-three games to UCLA in the final Pac-12 series of the season, and went 1-1 against the Bruins in the Pac-12 tournament.

Bright welcomes the challenge of being game one starter

Trace Bright felt untouchable in his last start, and hopes to keep riding that momentum into game one against Oregon State.

Junior right-hander [autotag]Trace Bright[/autotag] felt untouchable in his last start on the mound.

He got the nod to start game one of the Auburn Regional against Southeastern Louisiana where, after one inning, he had an 11-run cushion. Through his five total innings of work, he would strike out ten batters while issuing just two walks and allowing four earned runs in Auburn’s 19-7 win over the Lions.

Auburn head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] has preached “trust” and “confidence” in the past week, and it appears to be bleeding over to pitching strategy, as Bright has gotten the call to start on the mound against Oregon State in game one of the Corvallis Super Regional beginning Saturday night.

It’s a role that Bright has embraced, and he will enter the game with plenty of faith in his teammates.

“It’s a huge honor. We want to go out and set the tone early like we did this past weekend and try to get a win in that first game,” Bright said prior to Auburn’s departure to Corvallis, Ore. on Thursday. “Knowing that ([autotag]Joseph Gonzalez[/autotag]) is right behind me for game two, we will have obviously a full bullpen. Scoring 51 runs in three games this past weekend, hopefully we continue that because it takes the pressure off the pitcher.”

However, every aspect of his last start will be completely different as he prepares for his next outing, from the environment to the caliber of opponent. Bright feels that he has a great approach to attacking Oregon State, a team that relies heavily on finding ways to get on base.

“Trying to throw strikes. It’ll be a different environment, but getting ahead and being able to control the running game, and try to keep them off the bases as much as possible,” says Bright. “Just try to keep them from playing their game.”

Auburn battles Oregon State in game one of the Corvallis Super Regional Saurday night. First pitch is set for 9 p.m. CDT.

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