The Clemson Tigers missed out on a national seed, but they will at least host a regional this year hosting Vanderbilt, St. John’s, and Morehead State.
We’ll take a quick look at each team and then give our prediction.
- Clemson 45-14 (22-8)
The Clemson Tigers got off to a slow start this year but wound up being one of the best teams in the country. I thought they deserved a national seed over North Carolina, but the committee did not, so here we are. Shortstop Logan Davidson is one of my favorite players in the country to watch and he hit .298 this year with 15 home runs and 45 RBI. Seth Beer led the team with a .316 average, 20 home runs as well as 52 RBI. As an offense they hit just .261, but averaged 6.5 runs per game. They have three starters with an ERA between 3.27 and 3.26. Jake Higginbotham leads that staff with a 3.27 ERA in 77 innings pitched with 62 strikeouts. Ryley Gilliam had a 0.99 ERA in 36.1 innings pitched 53 strikeouts. Their pitching staff posted a 3.36 ERA in 535.2 innings pitched with 489 strikeouts.
- Vanderbilt 31-25 (16-15)
For the second straight year the Commodores had a subpar season, but still ended up earning a two-seed in this regional. Austin Martin led the team in hitting with a .332 average to go along with 39 runs scored. JJ Bleday has missed some time, but has hit .374 in 107 at-bats this year. As an offense they hit .264 and scored 6.1 runs per game. The pitching staff was not as good as in the past with an ERA of 4.17 with 515 strikeouts in 485.1 innings pitched. Patrick Raby and Drake Fellows will lead this staff. Fellows struck out 94 batters in 85 innings this season.
- St. John’s 39-15 (15-3)
St. John’s was on the bubble as an at-large team, but they went ahead and won the Big East to punch their automatic ticket. John Valente led the offense with a .356 average and 51 runs scored. They hit .297 as a team and averaged 6.4 runs per game. Their pitching staff was absolutely dominate with a 2.95 ERA in 476.2 innings pitched with 465 strikeouts. Sean Mooney is the ace of this staff with a 2.52 ERA in 89.1 innings pitched with 100 strikeouts. Kevin Magee is right there with him posting a 2.48 ERA in 72.2 innings pitched with 90 strikeouts.
- Morehead State 37-24 (19-12)
Morehead State shocked the college baseball world by beating Tennessee Tech twice to win the OVC Tournament and earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. This offense can absolutely mash hitting .318 as a team this year and scoring 8.5 runs per game. Niko Hulsizer has missed some time this year but is a beast in the middle of this lineup. Braxton Morris leads the team with a .374 average to go along with 63 runs scored and 59 RBI. Reid Leonard is hitting .347 with 65 runs scored. Trevor Snyder is hitting .337 with 54 runs scored, 18 home runs and 69 RBI. I could go on – this lineup is stacked with good hitters. The pitching hasn’t matched that production with a 5.89 ERA in 542.1 innings pitched with 554 strikeouts.
Prediction:
This regional is pretty stacked with some really good teams. If Morehead State can survive through their first couple of games, they could make some noise once the top teams run out of pitching. I don’t trust Vanderbilt even though they got the job done here last year after a mediocre regular season. St. John’s has the pitching to stay in games.
I’ve loved the Clemson offense all year, and I think they have just enough pitching to get them through this regional.
Winner: Clemson
