1. Mississippi State Bulldogs (6)
Starkville, Mississippi
At-large bid from SEC
2016 record: 44-16-1, 21-9 (first in SEC West, regular-season title)
Head Coach: John Cohen (Mississippi State, 1990)
Sixth Super Regional Trip, last in 2013, 5-6 record, won 2 Supers (2007, 2013)
Five Things
- The Bulldogs went 8-22 in the SEC and missed the NCAA tourney a year ago; they won the SEC regular-season title and are back in the Super Regionals after sweeping three games at the Starkville Regional
- Coach John Cohen played for the Bulldogs and is one of eight coaches to play in the College World Series (1990) and lead his alma mater to Omaha; he has been a player or coach on three of MSU’s 50-win seasons
- MSU enters the Supers 15th in the nation with a .312 batting average; freshman Jake Mangum is hitting .418, fourth in the country, and six other regulars are hitting better than .300
- On the mound, Dakota Hudson (9-4, 2.62) has struck out 109 in 106.2 innings, and Austin Sexton (8-3, 3.67) has struck out 92 in 95.2 innings; Zac Houston (6-0, 1.63) has started six games among his 18 appearances
- Overall, MSU ranks fourth in shutouts and 11th in Ks per nine innings and 10th in the nation in hits
2. Arizona Wildcats
Tempe, Arizona
At-large bid from Pac-12
2016 record: 42-21, 16-14 (third in Pac-12)
Head Coach: Jay Johnson (Point Loma Nazarene)
Fourth Super Regional Trip, last in 2012, 5-3 record, won 2 Supers (2004, 2012)
Five Things
- The Wildcats are in the Supers for the fourth time after rebounding from a loss at the Lafayette Regional to win three straight games
- Coach Jay Johnson was an assistant at San Diego from 2006-13 and was the head coach at Nevada for two years
- Arizona presents an interesting case on the mound – it ranks 12th in the country in WHIP (1.21) but is 201st in strikeouts per nine innings
- Nathan Bannister (11-2, 2.63) is an exception to the rule, striking out 93 in 126.2 innings, and J.C. Cloney (6-4, 2.86) has walked only 17 in 94.1 innings
- Zach Gibbons (.380/0/39) and Cody Ramer (.359/2/39) both get on base at better than a .450 clip; Bobby Dalbec (.266/6/38) played for Team USA and followed up a huge sophomore year at Arizona (15 HR) by leading the Cape in homers