16 Teams Harbor Title Hopes at Start of NCAA Super Regionals

Will a Texas team take home the trophy?

Super regionals are the next stop on the road to Omaha. The eight best-of-three series starting Friday and Saturday will determine the field for the College World Series.

Friday openers: Vanderbilt (36-23-1) at No. 1 national seed Oregon State (52-4); Cal State Fullerton (37-21) at Long Beach State (41-18-1); Davidson (35-24) at Texas A&M (39-21).

Saturday openers: Sam Houston State (44-21) at Florida State (43-21); Mississippi State (40-25) at No. 4 LSU (46-17); Missouri State (43-18) at No. 6 TCU (45-16).

Some things to know:

------

LET'S DO IT AGAIN

TCU is in super regionals for the fourth year in a row and going for a fourth straight trip to the CWS.

GOING IN STYLE

Sam Houston State achieved a first by making super regionals . Other milestones for a school that's been playing baseball since 1906: the 740-mile trip to Florida State is the farthest the Bearkats will have traveled for a game, and the journey to Tallahassee is their program's first by airplane.

HE'D GIVE HIS RIGHT ARM

Davidson senior ace Durin O'Linger got straight-A's last semester, is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and plans to go to pharmacy school. The super regional at Texas A&M , or the CWS, will be the end of his career. All that makes his pitch count irrelevant the rest of the way. He proved as much in the Atlantic-10 Tournament, when he threw 236 pitches, and last weekend when he threw 128 more while earning a win and save in regional wins over No. 2 national seed North Carolina.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us