1 Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
At-large bid from C-USA
2017 record: 25-5, 48-14 (first in C-USA)
Head coach: Scott Berry (Southwest Missouri State, 1986)
Record at school: 297-171-1 (8 years)
Overall record: Same
Assistant coaches: Chad Caillet, Michael Federico, B.A. Vollmuth
Team offense: .311 BA, 521 R, 85 HR, .502 SLG%, .416 OBP%, 76-97 SB
Team pitching: 4.01 ERA, 560 IP, 556 H, 195 BB, 551 K
Top hitters: Matthew Guidry (.356/4/29), Dylan Burdeaux (.348/11/68/20-22 SB), Matt Wallner (.345/19/61), Mason Irby (.343/1/40), Bryant Brown (.337/5/20), Taylor Braley (.317/16/59)
Top pitchers: Matt Wallner (2-0, 3 SV, 1.84, 14.2 IP, 8 H, 7 BB, 15 K), Nick Sandlin (10-1, 7 SV, 2.16, 50 IP, 34 H, 25 BB, 72 K), Kirk McCarty (10-2, 2.96, 91.1 IP, 83 H, 19 BB, 96 K), Colt Smith (6-1, 3.08, 64.1 IP, 64 H, 15 BB, 41 K), Taylor Braley (6-2, 3.30, 76.1 IP, 73 H, 20 BB, 74 K), Hayden Roberts (4-2, 4.41, 69.1 IP, 71 H, 26 BB, 80 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2016 (1-2 at Tallahassee Regional)
Notes: Southern Miss made it back-to-back appearances in the tourney and is a No. 1 seed for the first time in school history. The Golden Eagles hosted as a No. 2 seed in 2003. USM enters the tourney winners of 18 of 20 games. Expect some scoring when the Golden Eagles play: They rank fourth in scoring (8.4 rpg), third in homers, fourth in walks and sixth in on-base percentage. Two-way player Taylor Braley ranks second in the nation in walks with 59. Dylan Burdeaux led the country with 100 hits and ranks 12th in RBI. And Matt Walner is 10thin homers – he also has helped out on the mound.
2 Mississippi State Bulldogs
Starkville, Miss.
At-large bid from SEC
2017 record: 17-13, 36-24 (third in SEC West)
Head coach: Andy Cannizaro (Tulane, 2001)
Record at school: 36-24 (1 year)
Overall record: Same
Assistant coaches: Gary Henderson, Will Coggin, Mike Brown
Team offense: .285 BA, 335 R, 51 HR, .425 SLG%, .362 OBP%, 69-104 SB
Team pitching: 4.89 ERA, 537.1 IP, 486 H, 319 BB, 512 K
Top hitters: Brent Rooker (.404/21/76/18-23 SB), Ryan Gridley (.328/6/38), Jake Mangum (.324/0/23/11-18 SB), Hunter Stovall (.313/1/15), Hunter Vansau (.301/0/12), Cody Brown (.301/7/33)
Top pitchers: Spencer Price (3-1, 2.45, 14 SV, 29.1 IP, 20 H, 19 BB, 39 K), Konnor Pilkington (7-5, 3.13, 95 IP, 68 H, 41 BB, 98 K), Peyton Plumlee (6-1, 3.44, 65.1 IP, 62 H, 28 BB, 46 K), Riley Self (5-1, 3.89, 6 SV, 44 IP, 39 H, 17 BB, 58 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2016 (3-0 at Starkville Regional, 0-2 at Starkville Super Regional)
Notes: Brent Rooker was named SEC Player of the Year, a first for the MSU program, and was selected as National Player of the Year by Collegiate Baseball. Head coach Andy Cannizaro helped Tulane reach the College World Series in 2001, the first Omaha appearance in program history. During his senior season, Cannizaro batted .395 with 118 hits, 34 doubles, 70 RBI and 52 steals. MSU has won two of three this season from South Alabama. 22 of the 35 wins for the Bulldogs this season have been come-from-behind victories.
3 South Alabama Jaguars
Mobile, Alabama
Automatic bid from Sun Belt
2017 record: 22-8, 39-19 (second in Sun Belt)
Head coach: Mark Calvi (Nova Southeastern, 1991)
Record at school: 206-149 (6 years)
Overall record: Same
Assistant coaches: Bob Keller, Alan Luckie, Chris Prothro
Team offense: .308 BA, 476 R, 73 HR, .484 SLG%, .417 OBP%, 64-94 SB
Team pitching: 4.57 ERA, 510 IP, 531 H, 186 BB, 459 K
Top hitters: Travis Swaggerty (.361/10/56/19-25 SB), Dylan Hardy (.358/4/28/18-25 SB), Brendan Donovan (.338/9/46), Jared Barnes (.320/13/50), Drew LaBounty (.308/4/41), Wells Davis (.290/12/55)
Top pitchers: Matt Peacock (3-3, 10 SV, 2.88, 50 IP, 41 H, 17 BB, 55 K), Randy Bell (6-3, 3.75, 98.1 IP, 108 H, 19 H, 93 K), Tyler Carr (7-1, 4.46, 74.2 IP, 79 H, 24 BB, 66 K), Thomas Huston (5-3, 4.50, 68 IP, 68 H, 27 BB, 54 K), Andy Arguelles (3-2, 4.78, 52.2 IP, 57 H, 24 BB, 49 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2016 (2-2 at Tallahassee Regional)
Notes: USA is in the mix for the third time in Mark Calvi’s six seasons and second straight year. The Jaguars are familiar with two of their foes in Hattiesburg – they’ve played Mississippi State three times this season and Southern Miss twice and they faced Southern Miss twice in last year’s tournament, splitting games at the Tallahassee Regional. Travis Swaggerty does a little of everything for the Jags, hitting for pop, stealing bases and playing a fantastic center field. Junior catcher Jared Barnes has 19 homers and 84 RBI the past two seasons. Matt Peacock has had a breakout senior season after totaling 14 innings his previous three years – although he’s a closer, it’s not uncommon for him to enter in the seventh or eighth inning.
4 UIC Flames
Chicago, Illinois
Automatic bid – Horizon League Champs
2017 record: 22-8 (Horizon), 38-15
Head coach: Mike Dee (Wisconsin-LaCrosse, 1979)
Record at school: 586-458-2 (19 years)
Overall record: 586-458-2 (19 years)
Assistant coaches: Sean McDermott, John Flood, Brian Harris
Team offense: .288 BA, 328 R, 39 HR, .413 SLG%, .375 OBP%, 52-76 SB
Team pitching: 2.57 ERA, 479.1 IP, 365 H, 155 BB, 383 K
Top hitters: Rob Calabrese (.357/7/48), David Cronin (.320/6/31 14 SB), Cody Bohanek (.302/7/46), Ricardo Ramirez (.290/9/40)
Top pitchers: Jake Dahlberg (10-2, 2.09 ERA, 99 IP, 55 H, 29 BB, 75 K), Reid Birlingmair (7-4, 2.75 ERA, 88.1 IP, 66 H, 23 BB, 74 K), Jack Andersen (5-2, 3.30 ERA, 71 IP, 69 H, 18 BB, 51 K), Alex Padilla (2-1, 0.49 ERA, 10 Sv, 37 IP, 24 H, 11 BB, 32 K), Jacob Key (6-0, 2.44 ERA, 51.2 IP, 45 H, 23 BB, 31 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2008 (1-2 at College Station Regional)
Notes: The top-seeded Flames swept through the Horizon League tournament winning 3 games including two against Wright State avenging a series loss a week earlier. UI-C features one of the top pitching units in the nation ranking 2nd in the NCAA behind Oregon State in several categories including ERA (2.57), WHIP, Hits/9 innings allowed & shutouts. The Flames were 31-3 in games this year when allowing 3 runs or fewer. Dahlberg was named Horizon League Pitcher of the Year for the second time in his career. Padilla was named Horizon League Reliever of the Year after not allowing a run in 15 conference appearances. They were also one of the nations’ top defensive units with the fewest errors committed (31) and the top fielding percentage (.984). The Flames had 8 first or second team all-Horizon selections including Player of the Year Calabrese, who batted .383 in league games and also reached base safely in 42 consecutive games. Dee was named Horizon League Coach of the Year for the 10th time. UI-C went 5-5 vs. Power 5 teams taking 2-of-3 from Vanderbilt, winning twice versus Northwestern, splitting with Georgia Tech and being swept in three games by Missouri.