No. 1 NC State (40-16)
No. 2 Auburn (39-21)
No. 3 Northeastern (36-19)
No. 4 Army (36-22)
NC State
At times, the Wolfpack looked like a national seed. And State can flat out mash, with five players with 11 or more homers. Brett Kinneman only hit .278, but his 34 extra-base hits, including 17 homers, lead the team. Will Wilson (.303/14/50), Patrick Bailey (.316/11/33) and Brock Deatherage (.305/14/37) can turn a game around at any time. One issue could be strikeouts – three regulars have 60 or more strikeouts. On the mound, Brian Brown (6-2, 2.71) has been consistent, and Joe O’Donnell (1-2, 0.96, 11 SV, 37 K in 28 IP) has been great out of the pen for a team with a 3.43 ERA.
Auburn
The Tigers are making their second straight trip to Regionals, the first time they’ve done that since 2002-03. Casey Mize is as good as they come on the mound, going 9-5 with a 3.07 ERA and 140 Ks and only 10 BBs in 102.2 innings. He threw a no-hitter against Northeastern, but Tanner Burns (6-4, 3.13) is expected to start against the Huskies on Friday. Will Holland (.315/11/46) and Brendan Venter (.308/12/43) have had solid years, and Edouard Julien (.266/15/62) has been hot of late. Watch out… the Tigers like to get plunked quite a bit (77 times).
Northeastern
The Huskies, coached by Mike Glavine, the brother of Tom Glavine, were one of the last teams selected for the field. They’re making their first trip since 2003 and first as an at-large since 1973. Sean Mellen (10-3, 2.28) strikes out just more than one per inning, and Friday starter Tyler Brown (8-3, 4.20) led the team in innings. Jake Farrell is the big bat, hitting .341 with 15 doubles, seven triples, 11 homers and 61 RBI – all team bests. Charlie McConnell (.335/1/26) leads the team with 45 runs and is 37-42 on stolen base attempts. Northeastern went 22-15 away from home this season.
Army
The Black Knights, who won 20 games away from home, were champs of the Patriot League, rallying from a game down to Bucknell to win the three-game series before sweeping Navy in the final. Coach Jim Foster has used a bunch of arms led by Daniel Burggraaf (7-2, 2.34, 78 K in 57.2 IP), Matt Ball (7-2, 3.33) and Tyler Giovinco (8-5, 3.39). Cam Opp and Jacob Carte have been steady out of the pen. Jacob Hurtubise (.284) has walked 46 times and stolen 40 bases, leading the team with 54 runs. Jon Rosoff leads the offense with a .351 average and 45 RBI.