The 2024 NCAA Super Regionals will begin on June 7, as the battle for the eight College World Series spots will conclude. Sixteen teams are left, including a few who pulled off major upsets. With the Super Regionals in sight, here’s a preview of what’s to come, plus our predictions for each of the eight 2024 NCAA Super Regionals.
Evansville vs. Tennessee
We’ll start our 2024 NCAA Super Regionals review and predictions guide with what will be a David vs. Goliath-type matchup. Evansville, the lone #4 seed to advance to the Super Regionals, danced through a Greenville (NC) Regional that included Wake Forest and East Carolina.
Outfielder Mark Shallenberger played a massive role for Evansville, as the 23-year-old belted his 17th home run in the Purple Aces’ clinching game against ECU, while Kip Fougerousse added one, as well.
Evansville can hit but they’ll get the top-ranked Volunteers, who stormed through the Regionals. Tennessee bounced Southern Miss yet again, and their big boys played a huge role. With a loaded lineup that includes Christian Moore, Blake Burke, and Regional heroes Kavares Tears and Dylan Dreiling, expect the Vols to go back to Omaha.
Predicted Winner: Tennessee
Florida vs. Clemson
We noted in our Regionals preview that Florida was the big wild card in this tournament. The Gators proved that to be true in Stillwater, as Florida moved on despite losing Jac Caglianone‘s lone start against OK State. The bats played a key role, as Luke Heyman, Colby Shelton, and Caglianone played key roles for the Gators.
Florida has a chance to get back to the College World Series yet again but the Gators will need to go through Clemson first.
Clemson swept their way to the Super Regionals, as the Tigers knocked off High Point and Coastal Carolina twice. In the Regionals-clinching game, Jimmy Obertop and Cam Cannarella, one of the best players in all of the NCAA, each hit home runs.
Aside from their big boppers, a deep pitching group that includes two of the better pitchers in college baseball, Tristan Smith and Aidan Knaak, can be major difference-makers in this series, especially against a less-than-stellar Gators pitching staff.
Predicted Winner: Clemson
Kansas State vs. Virginia
Arguably the biggest disappointment in the Regionals came in Fayetteville, as Arkansas failed to move on. Kansas State, who knocked off the Hogs on June 2, did.
Kansas State’s offense played a key role in the Regionals, as the Wildcats put up 19 against Louisiana Tech and an additional 14 over their final two games. The trio of Brady Day, Kaelen Culpepper, and Jaden Parsons all played a major part.
However, the Wildcats will get a deep Virginia team that played strong baseball in their regional, which included a couple of wins against a good Mississippi State team.
Predicted Winner: Virginia
NC State vs. Georgia
The NC State Wolfpack shut down South Carolina and the rest of the teams in Raleigh to move on to the Supers.
Catcher Jacob Cozart and infielder Alec Makarewicz, the latter of whom hit 20 home runs for the Wolfpack, played key roles in NC State’s success this past weekend.
The big issue, though, with NC State is that the Wolfpack’s pitching isn’t exactly deep, or at least the kind of staff that could shut down the likes of Tre Phelps and Charlie Condon. Condon posted five hits and nine total bases during the Athens Regional.
If the likely top pick in the 2024 MLB Draft does the same against NC State, it could be a long weekend for the Wolfpack.
Predicted Winner: Georgia
Oregon vs. Texas A&M
Two Oregon schools moved on to the Super Regionals, one of those being the Ducks. R.J. Gordon and the Ducks’ pitching staff was excellent this past weekend, as the Ducks gave up five earned runs over their three games.
Oregon will face their toughest test to date, though, in Texas A&M. The Aggies rolled through the Regionals, thanks to strong pitching from Ryan Prager and strong performances from Jace LaViolette and Braden Montgomery.
Texas A&M is the deeper team and the clear favorite in this matchup.
Predicted Winner: Texas A&M
Oregon State vs. Kentucky
Out of all the eight Super Regionals, this matchup feels like the most likely to be an upset.
Oregon State toppled UC Irvine to move on. The Beavers were one of the most dangerous teams in all of college baseball this season, thanks to an elite offense led by Dallas Macias, Gavin Turley, and Travis Bazzana. Those three had a combined eight total bases in the Beavers’ 11-6 clinching victory over Irvine.
The Wildcats, meanwhile, were perfect in Lexington last weekend. Kentucky took down Western Michigan on May 31 and then shut down Illinois and Indiana State the next two nights.
Kentucky proved this group has the arms to compete in a three-game Super Regional series all year. However, it’s hard to doubt the Beavers’ deep group.
Predicted Winner: Oregon State
UConn vs. Florida State
The Norman Regional featured two uber-talented squads in Duke and Oklahoma, yet neither moved on. UConn, an older team with several impact upperclassmen and grad students, beat Oklahoma on June 3 to move on.
UConn doesn’t have an impressive lineup on paper. However, the Huskies are a polished team with three talented college starters: Ian Cooke, Garrett Coe, and Stephen Quigley.
The Huskies will need their pitching to hold off a dominant Florida State offense. The Seminoles put an exclamation point up on June 2, when FSU scored 12 against UCF to move on. Max Williams and Marco Dinges each had two hits in that game.
Those are just two players who can do damage. FSU has arguably the deepest lineup among the 16 teams left, giving the Seminoles a clear edge heading into the weekend.
Predicted Winner: Florida State
West Virginia vs. North Carolina
We’ll end our 2024 NCAA Super Regionals preview and predictions with a battle between West Virginia and an ACC powerhouse.
The Tuscon Regional was, at least on paper, arguably the most interesting one. All four teams had a reasonable chance of moving on and West Virginia was that team.
It wasn’t exactly the JJ Wetherholt show, even though the likely top-five pick did pick up three hits in the clincher against Grand Canyon. Their pitching staff did, however, as the Mountaineers gave up two or fewer runs in their first two games.
Meanwhile, North Carolina fended off a massive scare over the past weekend. UNC nearly lost to Long Island University but the Tar Heels were bailed out by a Gavin Gallaher walk-off grand slam. Three days later, North Carolina again staved off elimination, as the Tar Heels won in extra innings against reigning champion LSU to move on.
UNC didn’t have its best weekend. However, a deep lineup and a very good pitcher in Jason DeCaro, who’s emerged as the ace of the Tar Heels, can take down the Mountaineers.
Predicted Winner: North Carolina