1 Long Beach State Dirtbags
Long Beach, California
Automatic Bid from Big West
2017 record: 20-4, 37-17-1 (first in Big West)
Head coach: Troy Buckley (Santa Clara, 1990)
Record at school: 223-172-7 (7 years)
Overall record: Same
Assistant coaches: Greg Bergeron, Dan Ricabal, Zach Miller
Team offense: .273 BA, 286 R, 29 HR, .387 SLG%, .356 OBP%, 66-100 SB
Team pitching: 3.44 ERA, 483.1 IP, 452 H, 158 BB, 390 K
Top hitters: Ramsey Roman (.338/2/36), Lucas Tancas (.312/9/34), David Banuelos (.303/7/28), Laine Huffman (.296/2/25), Jarren Duran (.292/0/21/15-22 SB), Daniel Jackson (.278/4/33)
Top pitchers: Dave Smith (8-1, 1.55, 75.1 IP, 81 H, 9 B, 37 K), Josh Advocate (3-1, 1.91 4 SV, 33 IP, 26 H, 4 BB, 32 K), Chris Rivera (1-1, 2.51, 28.2 IP, 18 H, 11 BB, 41 K), Darren McCaughan (8-2, 2.66, 108.1 IP, 75 H, 16 BB, 94 K), John Sheaks (7-3, 3.97, 77 IP, 74 H, 25 BB, 46 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2016 (2-2 at Coral Gables Regional)
Notes: The Dirtbags are in the tourney for the second straight year and third time since 2014. Long Beach won its first Big West title since 2008, the last time it hosted a Regional. The Dirtbags play in a big park, but Lucas Tancas and David Banuelos have pop, combining for 16 of the team’s 29 homers. Opponents hit just .193 off Darren McCaughan, who has all four of the team’s complete games, and only .175 off Chris Rivera. McCaughan played for Team USA and is 22-5 with a 2.36 ERA in his career. Dave Smith was 3-3 with a 6.86 ERA as a part-time starter a year ago before becoming a splendid starter this year.
2 Texas Longhorns
Austin, Texas
At-large bid from the Big 12
2017 record: 11-12, 37-22 (sixth in Big 12)
Head coach: David Pierce (Houston, 1988)
Record at school: 37-22 (1 year)
Overall record: 197-109 (6 years)
Assistant coaches: Sean Allen, Philip Miller, Phil Haig
Team offense: .256 BA, 309 R, 48 HR, .392 SLG%, .365 OBP%, 68-85 SB
Team pitching: 3.20 ERA, 522.1 IP, 441 H, 219 BB, 445 K
Top hitters: Kacy Clemens (.319/11/48), Austin Todd (.296/1/19), Zane Gurwitz (.292/2/13), Michael McCann (.280/0/16), Bret Boswell (.269/5/29), Patrick Mathis (.258/7/19)
Top pitchers: Beau Ridgeway (1-2, 11 SV, 1.90, 47.1 IP, 30 H, 12 BB, 35 K), Morgan Cooper (6-3, 2.32, 81.1 IP, 60 H, 32 BB, 103 K), Nick Kennedy (8-1, 2.82, 51 IP, 47 H, 19 BB, 57 K), Nolan Kingham (9-4, 2.99, 84.1 IP, 74 H, 24 BB, 62 K), Kyle Johnston (3-2, 3.53, 66.1 IP, 35 BB, 48 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2015 (0-2 at Dallas Regional)
Notes: After a one-year hiatus, Texas is back in the tournament as first-year coach is now 6 for 6 in leading his teams to the tournament (three times with Sam Houston State, twice with Tulane and now once with Texas). Senior Kacy Clemens, son of Roger Clemens, had his most productive year, hitting .319 with 11 homers, 48 RBI and a .549 slugging percentage. Beau Ridgeway took over the closer’s role as a sophomore and responded with 11 saves. Morgan Cooper had 111 strikeouts in 123 innings his first two years before totaling 103 in 81.1 IP this year.
3 UCLA Bruins
Los Angeles, California
At-large bid from Pac-12
2017 record: 19-11, 30-25 (third in the Pac-12)
Head coach: John Savage (Nevada, 1991)
Record at school: 449-326-1 (13 years)
Overall record: 535-407-2 (16 years)
Assistant coaches: Rex Peters, Bryant Ward, Niko Gallego
Team offense: .260 BA, 290 R, 43 HR, .388 SLG%, .347 OBP%, 45-64 SB
Team pitching: 3.49 ERA, 493 IP, 435 H, 197 BB, 461 K
Top hitters: Sean Bouchard (.305/9/43), Daniel Amaral (.286/1/21/16-24 SB), Brett Stephens (.279/2/21), Michael Toglia (.263/8/33), Chase Strumpf (.244/7/30), Kyle Cuellar (.327/1/20)
Top pitchers: Griffin Canning (7-3, 2.34, 111.1 IP, 87 H, 30 BB, 134 K), Scott Burke (0-3, 5 SV, 2.55, 42.1 IP, 36 H, 18 BB, 46 K), Jon Olsen (7-1, 2.91, 77.1 IP, 57 H, 30 BB, 77 K), Jake Bird (5-4, 3.00, 51 IP, 43 H, 22 BB, 39 K), Ceja Moises (2-5, 3.52, 61.1 IP, 62 H, 20 BB, 42 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2015 (3-2 at Los Angeles Regional)
Notes: After missing last year, UCLA is back in the field and will be on the road in a Regional for the first time since 2008. Coach John Savage will coach Team USA in 2017. Griffin Canning ranked fifth in the nation with 134 strikeouts and needs five strikeouts to become the sixth pitcher in program history to top 300 Ks in a career. Daniel Amaral’s brother Beau and father Rich played for the Bruins.
4 San Diego State Aztecs
San Diego, California
Automatic bid from Mountain West
2017 record: 20-10, 41-19 (second in Mountain West)
Head coach: Mark Martinez (Mesa State, 1984)
Record at school: 103-60 (3 years)
Overall record: Same
Assistant coaches: Sam Peraza, Joe Oliveira, Joey Centanni
Team offense: .321 BA, 414 R, 61 HR, .481 SLG%, .395 OBP%, 59-78 SB
Team pitching: 3.49 ERA, 493 IP, 435 H, 197 BB, 461 K
Top hitters: David Hensley (.376/3/31), Danny Sheehan (.354/6/51), Tyler Adkison (.349/15/62), Alan Trejo (.336/4/35), Andrew Brown (.333/3/37), Andrew Martinez (.328/8/35), Chase Calabuig (.310/7/38)
Top pitchers: Jorge Fernandez (3-1, 2.66, 44 IP, 38 H, 15 BB, 32 K), CJ Saylor 2-0, 13 SV, 2.78, 35.2 IP, 29 H, 13 BB, 47 K), Marcus Reyes (4-2, 2.98, 51.1 IP, 48 H, 13 BB, 37 K), Jacob Erickson (5-2, 3.69, 46.1 IP, 48 H, 9 BB, 33 K), Brett Seeburger (10-2, 4.21, 87.2 IP, 92 H, 28 BB, 64 K), Dominic Purpura (6-3, 4.36, 84.2 IP, 105 H, 17 BB, 44 K)
Last NCAA appearance: 2015 (1-2 at Lake Elsinore Regional)
Notes: San Diego State is making its fourth appearance in five years and 13th overall. Mark Martinez, who took over for Tony Gwynn, has guided the Aztecs to two tourneys in three years. CJ Saylor came to SDSU as a catcher, became the closer in 2015 with 11 saves, caught again in 2016 and returned this year as the closer, finishing with 13 saves. Tyler Adkison had five career homers entering the season and piled up 15 this season.