Indiana State's Adam Pottinger rounds third base after hitting a home run in the sixth inning against Wright State in the NCAA college baseball regional tournament, Friday, June 2, 2023 at Bob Warn Field in Terre Haute, Ind. (Joseph C. Garza/The Tribune-Star via AP)

NCAA Baseball Super Regionals Set to Begin Friday

The 2023 NCAA Baseball Super Regionals are set and will begin Friday. The SEC is the most abundant conference in the playing field with six teams. The ACC sent in three teams, while the Big 12 and Pac 12 both have two teams. Now, all 16 teams who qualified will compete in a three-game series in their respective Super Regional with a chance to advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

Upsets In the NCAA Regionals

The two biggest upsets in the regional round of the NCAA tournament came in the SEC. Vanderbilt, the SEC Tournament champions, was bounced in their own regional. The Commodores were a team that had an impressive regular season but an even better tournament. Additionally, they wound up beating Florida in the semifinals and Texas A&M in the championship game.

Though, everything fell apart when they faced Oregon and Xavier. These two games finished with the Commodores losing by one run and the pitching wasn’t as consistent as they would’ve hoped.

D1 Baseball’s Mark Etheridge joined Sport Scene Wednesday and said the biggest surprise was the Commodores.

Moreover, Arkansas was another SEC team to be upset. The Razorbacks shared the SEC regular season title with the Gators and this was a team that had extremely high expectations, ending the season on top of the conference.

The Razorbacks had trouble with a tough TCU team who beat them twice. The Horned Frogs finished the regular season ranked 17th in the nation and won the Big 12 regular season and conference tournament title.

Ethridge said the main turning point for the Razorbacks was their Sunday matchup with the Horned Frogs.

Florida vs. South Carolina

The Gators faced off with the Gamecocks in only one series this season and South Carolina swept Florida in Columbia. Thus, this was a very low moment for the team and gave fans real doubt about how this season would end up.

However, Florida would go on to finish the season with the regular season title and had a gritty comeback performance in its regional. Therefore, the team now has their eyes set on getting revenge for the embarrassing series just a few months ago.

Ethridge said he was surprised to see the Gamecocks roll through the competition in their regional.

A major key to the Gators’ success will be Jac Caglionone, who was recently named one of the three finalists for the Golden Spikes Award. He was terrific both as a pitcher and hitter this season, breaking the Gators’ single-season home record.

https://twitter.com/SECNetwork/status/1666594069814943749

About Daniel Haviv

Hello, my name is Daniel Haviv and I'm a junior sports journalism student at the University of Florida. As a sports writer, I have published content on a multitude of different sports across all levels. Additionally, I was a beat reporter for the Gators Men's Basketball team for the 2022-2023 season. Game-day previews and post-game articles are featured.

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