1 Louisville Cardinals
Louisville, Kentucky
At-large bid from ACC
2017 record: 23-6 (ACC), 47-10
Head coach: Dan McDonnell (The Citadel, 1992)
Record at school: 503-201 (11 years)
Overall record: 503-201 (11 years)
Assistant coaches: Roger Williams, Eric Snider, Adam Vrbale, Brian Mundorf
Team offense: .289 BA, 411 R, 65 HR, .464 SLG%, .385 OBP%, 85-107 SB
Team pitching: 2.82 ERA, 514 IP, 414 H, 185 BB, 532 K
Top hitters: Drew Ellis (.376 avg/17 HR/ 53 RBI), Brendan McKay (.363/17/52), Devin Hairston (.309/3/50)
Top pitchers: Brendan McKay (9-3, 2.37 ERA, 91 IP, 58 H, 31 BB, 124 K), Nick Bennett (5-0, 2.47 ERA, 58.1 IP, 49 H, 12 BB, 55 K), Kade McClure (7-3, 3.24 ERA, 86 IP, 70 H, 32 BB, 89 K), Lincoln Henzman (2-0, 1.41 ERA, 16 SV, 32 IP, 17 H, 8 BB, 32 K), Sam Bordner (1-0, 0.55 ERA, 2 SV, 33 IP, 16 H, 8 BB, 26 SO)
Last NCAA appearance: 2016 (3-0 at Louisville Regional; 0-2 at Louisville Super Regional)
Notes: The Cardinals swept through their home regional in 2016, allowing only 5 runs in 3 games. However, they lost the first two games of their home Super Regional to UC-Santa Barbara, including game 2 on a walk-off grand slam by the Gauchos. Louisville has made the NCAA Regionals 10 times in McDonnell’s 11 years at the helm reaching the College World Series in McDonnell’s first season 2007 as well as 2013 & 2014. Despite playing the ACC tournament in their hometown, the Cardinals did not advance out of pool play defeating Notre Dame before losing to Florida State. U of L’s 46 regular season wins matched a school record from 2010, 2013 and 2016. The win total includes a 19 game win streak to start the season and a 15-game streak from April 22 to May 16 with wins in 12 of their 13 weekend series (dropping two games to Florida State in regular season finale). The Cardinals again boast one of the best pitching staffs in the country. Their unit ranks 3rd nationally in ERA (2.82), 4th in WHIP (1.17) & 15th in K/9 (9.3). Two way standout Brendan McKay was named ACC Player of the Year and ranks in the top 25 nationally in slugging percentage (14th) and on base percentage (19th) as a hitter and strikeouts (9th) and WHIP (21st) as a pitcher. Closer Lincoln Henzman also was named first-team All-ACC and leads the country with 16 saves. Shortshop Devin Hairston was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year after committing only 2 errors all season with a .990 fielding percentage while also one of the team’s leaders in batting average and RBIs. First baseman/third baseman Drew Ellis was also named first-team All-ACC and ranks in the top 20 nationally in slugging (6th), on-base (16th), batting average (19th) and home runs (19th). Ellis and McKay have both been named semi-finalists for the Dick Howser Award. Dan McDonnell was honored as the ACC’s Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season. U of L has won 40-plus games in 10 of his 11 seasons and has won six straight divisional championships (2015-17ACC Atlantic, 2014 AAC, 2012-13 Big East).
2 Oklahoma Sooners
Norman, Oklahoma
At-large bid from Big 12
2017 record: 12-11 Big 12, 34-22
Head coach: Pete Hughes (Davidson, 1990)
Record at school: 127-105-1 (4 years)
Overall record: 651-490-3 (21 years)
Assistant coaches: Mike Anderson, Skip Johnson, Roberto Gallegos
Team offense: .274 BA, 361 R, 51 HR, .419 SLG%, .379 OBP%, 37-67 SB
Team pitching: 4.27 ERA, 499 IP, 463 H, 262 BB, 521 K
Top hitters: Steele Walker (.336/8/51/15 2B), Renae Martinez (.326/7/37), Austin O’Brien (.304/8/39), Brylie Ware (.303/5/31), Ben Hollas (.291/3/20), Kyler Murray (.122/0/6/12-13 SB)
Top pitchers: JB Olson (5-1, 1.60, 8 SV, 45 IP, 43 H, 13 BB, 46 K), Devon Perez (6-2, 3.50, 64.1 IP, 66 H, 11 BB, 81 K), Jake Irvin (6-2, 3.50, 64.1 IP, 61 H, 27 BB, 71 K)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2013 (3-0 at Blacksburg Regional, 0-2 at Baton Rouge Super Regional)
Notes: Head coach Pete Hughes is making his third NCAA Tournament appearance. He took Virginia Tech to regionals in 2010 and 2013. Hughes was also head coach at Trinity (Texas) and Boston College. The Sooners are making their 37th NCAA tourney appearance. OU has never played Xavier, Louisville or Radford.
3 Xavier Musketeers
Cincinnati, Ohio
Automatic bid – won Big East Tournament
2017 record: 10-6 Big East, 32-25
Head coach: Scott Googins (Ohio Wesleyan, 1992)
Record at school: 339-355 (12 years)
Overall record: same
Assistant coaches: Nick Otte, Billy O’Conner, Kyle Sprague
Team offense: .272 BA, 343 R, 59 HR, .423 SLG%, .366 OBP%, 79-100 SB
Team pitching: 4.60 ERA, 505 IP, 508 H, 204 BB, 446 K
Top hitters: Conor Grammes (.336/7/40), Rylan Bannon (.330/14/46/17-18 SB), Chris Givin (.309/1/22), Will LaRue (.284/3/25/23-29 SB), Joe Gellenbeck (.276/11/56/11-11 SB), Mitch Gallagher (.271/4/30/10-12 SB)
Top pitchers: Matt Kent (5-2, 1.58, 2 SV, 45.2 IP, 46 H, 9 BB, 34 K), Zac Lowther (5-5, 2.92, 83.1 IP, 48 H, 33 BB, 123 K), Gerrett Schilling (5-4, 3.78, 78.2 IP, 77 H, 26 BB, 47 K), Brad Kirschner (4-2, 4.15, 47.2 IP, 55 H, 25 BB, 37 K)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2016 (2-2 at Nashville Regional)
Notes: Xavier is making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance, having also been in 2009, 2014 & 2016. The Musketeers are 4-6 all-time in regional play. Xavier was invited to the NCAA tourney in 1967, but was forced to decline due to final exams. Rylan Bannon was Big East Player of the Year and unanimous selection for All-Big East First Team. Zac Lowther was All-Big East First Team selection and now owns program record for strikeouts in a season. Previous record was 107 by Lou Witte in 1997.
4 Radford Highlanders
Radford, Virginia
Automatic bid – won Big South Tournament
2017 record: 11-13 Big South, 27-30
Head coach: Joe Raccuia (Radford, 1995)
Record at school: 293-269-1 (10 years)
Overall record: 351-320-1 (12 years)
Assistant coaches: Mark McQueen, Justin Willard, Brandon Costa
Team offense: .257 BA, 318 R, 44 HR, .379 SLG%, .337 OBP%, 83-119 SB
Team pitching: 4.58 ERA, 511.1 IP, 527 H, 177 BB, 432 K
Top hitters: Spencer Horwitz (.315/8/34), Kyle Butler (.313/2/32), Jonathan Gonzalez (.284/12/44), Adam Whitacre (.273/3/20), Luke Wise (.234/1/15/15-20 SB)
Top pitchers: Kyle Zurak (4-3, 2.28, 9 SV, 55.1 IP, 49 H, 17 BB, 69 K), Zack Ridgely (7-5, 2.84, 96 IP, 75 H, 12 BB, 85 K), Evan Threehouse (2-1, 3.44 1 SV, 34 IP, 29 H, 12 BB, 34 K), Ryan Sande (0-4, 3.97, 45.1 IP, 52 H, 20 BB, 31 K), Austin Gerber (4-4, 3.98, 1 SV, 54.1 IP, 53 H, 9 BB, 33 K)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2015 (2-2 at Nashville Regional)
Notes: Radford is making its second NCAA Tournament appearance and second in the past three seasons. The Highlanders were the No. 2 seed in the Nashville Regional and posted wins over No. 3 Indiana and No. 4 Lipscomb. Radford finished with a 45-16 mark, a program record for wins in a season. The Highlanders have not faced Louisville. Radford outscored its opponents 29-8 in the Big South Tournament and scored first in all four tournament games. The pitching staff had 40 strikeouts in 36 innings.