Seven Southeastern Conference baseball teams made the NCAA Tournament, and five of them advanced to the Super Regionals. LSU, Florida, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Arkansas all won their respective regionals and will each play in best-of-three series this weekend.
LSU went 3-0 in its regional and host Louisiana-Lafayette in Baton Rouge. The Tigers entered the tournament as the second overall seed but are the highest seed remaining after top seed UCLA was eliminated in its regional.
SEC Tournament champion Florida cruised through its regional, and the Gators will host in-state rival Florida State in Gainesville. The Seminoles defeated the Gators in two out of three meetings this season.
Defending national champion Vanderbilt won its regional final 21-0 over Radford, and the ‘Dores are starting to play like the team that won it all last season. The Commodores face Illinois on the road this weekend.
Texas A&M’s chances of reaching the Super Regionals looked slim after a second round loss to California, but the Aggies responded with three straight victories to clinch their regional. After losing to the Golden Bears, the Aggies defeated Cal two straight games by a total of three runs. Texas A&M travels to take on TCU in the Super Regionals.
Arkansas was a No. 2 seed in Oklahoma State’s regional, but the Razorbacks prevailed and finished 3-0 to advance to the Super Regional. The Hogs travel to Missouri State.
Two SEC teams were eliminated in the regionals. Ole Miss, who made it to the College World Series a year ago, scored only two runs in its two losses. Auburn also was eliminated, and the Tigers lost twice to College of Charleston.
SEC softball
Florida won the national title in softball, defeating Michigan in two out of three games in the championship series. The Gators now have won back-to-back national titles.
Auburn made the semifinals of the College World Series, and despite a 3-2 loss to Florida, it was still the most successful season in school history.
The Tigers finished the year 56-11 and won the SEC Tournament for the first time in school history.
Alabama made the College World Series for the 10th time in school history, but the Crimson Tide fell just short of reaching the semifinals. UA lost to SEC rival LSU, 5-3, in an elimination game and finished the season at 48-15.