The regional round of the 2025 ɬַ baseball tournament was unforgettable. The word ‘historic’ wouldn’t fully encapsulate the greatness of it all.
As a result, it has created an exciting super regionals field, featuring national seed battles, first-ever program appearances, and team trips across the country.
Among the 16 teams competing, a few trends are worth following before play starts on Friday afternoon.
Here are seven storylines to keep in mind.
Four SEC teams remain, ACC ties record
Less than two weeks ago, the SEC was celebrating history.
The conference popped champagne bottles and cheered as 13 teams made the ɬַ baseball tournament, the most in SEC history, and eight teams were named national seeds and regional hosts, another record. On paper, it seemed the Men’s College World Series could field the most SEC teams than it ever has before.
However, after Monday, that possibility had officially left the station. Only four teams from the conference had made it to the super regionals. Four No. 1 seeds lost, including the top two national seeds in Vanderbilt and Texas.
The ACC is a different story, tying the conference record (five) set in 2024 for the number of teams that reach the supers. Only three teams were eliminated in the regionals.
Here’s a look at all 13 SEC teams' schedules. Bold indicates they reached the super regionals.
(Readers may have to scroll to read the entire table)
| Team | Regional host | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt | W, 4-3 — Wright State | L, 3-2 — Louisville | L, 5-4 — Wright State | ||
| Texas | Texas | W, 7-1 — Houston Christian | L, 9-7 — UTSA | W, 15-8 — Kansas State | L, 7-4 — UTSA | |
| Arkansas | Arkansas | W, 6-2 — North Dakota State | W, 12-1 — Creighton | W, 8-3 — Creighton | ||
| Auburn | Auburn | W, 9-5 — Central Connecticut State | W, 8-5 — Stetson | W, 11-1 — NC State | ||
| LSU | LSU | W, 7-0 — Little Rock | W, 12-0 — Dallas Baptist | L, 10-4 — Little Rock | W, 10-6 — Little Rock | |
| Georgia | Georgia | W, 20-4 — Binghamton | L, 6-3 — Duke | L, 11-9 — Oklahoma State | ||
| Ole Miss | Ole Miss | L, 9-6 — Murray State | W, 8-6 — Western Kentucky | W, 11-9 — Georgia Tech | W, 19-8 — Murray State | L, 12-11 — Murray State |
| Tennessee | Tennessee | W, 9-2 — Miami (OH) | W, 10-6 — Cincinnati | L, 7-6 — Wake Forest | W, 11-5 — Wake Forest | |
| Alabama | Southern Miss | L, 5-3 — Miami (FL) | L, 6-5 — Southern Miss | |||
| Florida | Coastal Carolina | L, 11-6 — East Carolina | W, 17-2 — Fairfield | L, 11-4 — East Carolina | ||
| Kentucky | Clemson | L, 4-3 — West Virginia | W, 7-3 — USC Upstate | W, 16-4 — Clemson | L, 13-12 — West Virginia | |
| Mississippi State | Florida State | W, 11-2 — Northeastern | L, 10-3 — Florida State | W, 3-2 — Northeastern | L, 5-2 — Florida State | |
| Oklahoma | North Carolina | W, 7-4 — Nebraska | L, 11-5 — North Carolina | W, 17-1 — Nebraska | W, 9-5 — North Carolina | L, 14-4 — North Carolina |
A successful super regionals showing for the ACC could mean another strong turnout at the MCWS, sending four of five super regional participants to Omaha in 2024. The SEC has sent at least three teams each year to the MCWS since 2016, and since either Arkansas or Tennessee will be eliminated, it's up to LSU and Auburn to keep the streak alive.
Liam Doyle seeks revenge in Fayetteville
There wasn’t a player who wanted the ball in his hands more than left-hander Liam Doyle in Tennessee’s Game 7 against Wake Forest in the regionals.
The fiery celebrations, smirks before facing batters and running off the mound and into the dugout, Doyle made his second outing of the regionals count. If it wasn’t clear before, the Golden Spikes award finalist proved why he was one of the best pitchers in the country.
"LIAM DOYLE'S A MAD MAN!"
— MLB (@MLB)
The team that drafts Liam Doyle is getting one fiery dude 🔥
(️: )
But now, he and the Volunteers have to face the highest-ranked national seed left in Arkansas — a team that dismantled Doyle during the regular season. He gave up a season-worst of eight runs, 11 hits and three home runs across 4.2 innings.
Doyle will start at least one game for Tennessee in Fayetteville, and like regionals, could come out of the bullpen in crunch time, making his success even more important for the Vols.
Tennessee’s chances of keeping alive its back-to-back national championship hopes will largely rely on its ace’s success on the mound.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: ɬַ baseball tournament scores, super regionals schedule
UTSA and Murray State make first-ever supers appearance
The super regionals isn’t uncharted territory for most of the teams remaining; only three of them haven’t reached the MCWS in the last 15 years.
And for two of those programs in No. 2 UTSA and No. 4 Murray State, the supers are foreign ground. This is each team’s first-ever super regionals appearance.
The Racers have trademarked the ‘Cinderella’ title for this year’s bunch, overpowering both No. 1 Ole Miss twice and No. 2 Georgia Tech while becoming the 10th-ever four-seed to start 2-0 in regional play since the tournament’s format was created in 1999. They head to Durham to face No. 2 Duke.
The Roadrunners went undefeated in Austin, beating the second-best national seed in Texas twice and No. 3 Kansas State, 10-2. They travel to the West Coast to play No. 1 UCLA.
Coastal Carolina makes first supers appearance since national championship season
This year marks the fourth super regionals appearance for the Chanticleers in program history.
The last time? 2016, when Coastal Carolina went on to win the national championship.
Of course, a lot has changed in the nine-year drought. Right fielder Connor Owings is a Player Development assistant coach and longtime coach Gary Gilmore has retired. Yet, they’ve proven to be capable of another MCWS run.
The Sun Belt’s regular season and tournament champions ride a 21-game win streak, have the second-best ERA nationally (3.22) and outscored their opponents 29-9 in the regionals.
The Chanticleers' path to Omaha won’t be easy, facing a strong Auburn team that’s reached the supers four times since 2016 and has seven players hitting over .300. A great super regionals matchup is brewing.
A RANKING REDO: Every college baseball super regional team re-ranked, 1-16
Florida State's Arnold and Volini versus Oregon State's lineup
There are endless storylines to follow ahead of Florida State and Oregon State’s matchup.
National seeds battle. Shortstops Alex Lodise versus Aiva Arquette. Northwest against Southeast. Yet, the biggest one is the Seminoles’ left-handed starting pitcher duo in redshirt junior Joey Volini and left-hander Jamie Arnold facing the Beavers’ high-powered offense.
Even though Oregon State lost its opening regional game to Saint Mary’s, the Beavers went on to outscore their opponents 50-6 and win the next four games. This included a 20-run rampage in its rematch against the Gaels and a 14-1 victory over Southern California. Sophomore third baseman Trent Caraway mashed five homers, one in each game, to highlight the weekend.
Trent Caraway has his fifth home run in the Regional, and is the first Beaver with five in an entire postseason.
— Oregon State Baseball (@BeaverBaseball)
Live on ESPNU.
However, Arnold and Volini have proven not to be the average 1-2 punch. Eight wins each, the former has 110 strikeouts under his belt, including 13 in his regional appearance, and Volini has thrown two complete games.
Florida State and Oregon State should be a great battle.
Duke’s AJ Gracia suspended for Game 1
The Blue Devils will be without one of their star players in their first game against Murray State.
Center fielder AJ Gracia, who was named to the All-ACC second team, was thrown out in the eighth inning of the regional final against Oklahoma State after bringing the team’s celebratory white construction hat onto the field after Duke scored. Per ɬַ rules, the ejection includes a one-game suspension that rolls over to the next game, resulting in Gracia being unavailable for Game 1 of the super regionals.
He was responsible for the Blue Devils' lone home run in the regional final.
LAUNCHED 😳🚀
— Duke Baseball (@DukeBASE)
B8 Duke, 1 | OSU, 2
Coach Chris Pollard disagreed with the call, emphasizing in the post-game press conference that the program uses the hard helmet every game. He added that Gracia wasn’t trying to disrespect the game or Oklahoma State.
“We deserve better than that, AJ Gracia deserves better than that, and our sport deserves better than that,” Pollard said during the post-game presser. “We have a celebration in our dugout where we give the construction helmet to the player that makes a big play. It’s a symbol of our blue-collar culture, and it’s something that we rally around.”
The suspension looms large for the Blue Devils, losing their starting center fielder and, more importantly, a key bat. Gracia has hit at the top of the lineup most of the season, batting .295 with 14 home runs and 53 RBIs. He has the second-best OPS on the team at 1.007.
Gracia’s absence will be felt more than ever, especially in a three-game series and for a Duke team that’s searching for its first MCWS appearance since 1961.
SUPER REGIONALS BREAKDOWN: Every 2025 college baseball super regional, previewed
Arizona’s wrecking crew meets red-hot North Carolina
The Wildcats bashed their way through the Eugene Regional, literally.
Although not having to face No. 1 Oregon, Arizona’s bats came alive in a major way. They scored 14 runs in their last two games and batted .395. They hit eight home runs and 14 extra-base hits in Game 2 against Utah Valley, both single-game program records.
And this wasn’t the story for the Wildcats during the season. They had four games with three or more home runs and 12 with more than five extra-base hits before the tournament.
Arizona now faces a North Carolina team with a superb pitching staff and batting lineup. Ace and graduate right-hander Jake Knapp threw 8.1 scoreless innings in the regionals against Holy Cross, while the offense hit .310 in UNC’s four contests. Third baseman Gavin Gallaher wreaked havoc all weekend, batting .722 and securing regional MVP.
The Wildcats might’ve found their new normal, but it will be put to the test against the ACC tournament champions.
