1. South Carolina Gamecocks
Columbia, South Carolina
At-large bid from SEC
2016 record: 46-16, 20-9 (first in SEC East)
Head Coach: Chad Holbrook (North Carolina, 1994)
12th Super Regional Trip, last in 2013, 17-11 record, won 6 Supers (2002, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012)
Five Things
- South Carolina is back in the field after a one-year absence and has made 16 of the past 17 tournaments; the Gamecocks, who won national titles in 2010 and 2011, are in the Supers for the 12th time since the format was introduced in 1999; they are 0-3 all-time against Oklahoma State, last playing in 1985
- Coach Chad Holbrook played at North Carolina, and his father Eddie was a head basketball coach at Gardner-Webb and Furman
- Gamecocks pitchers are stingy, limiting hitters to a .226 average and ranking seventh in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings and third in Ks per nine innings
- South Carolina has a pair of big guns in the bullpen, as Josh Reagan (2-2, 1.69) has 11 saves and Tyler Johnson (3-2, 2.52) has nine saves; Johnson was the Regional’s MOP after picking up two wins, including a complete-game win over UNCW
- Junior Gene Cone hit just .257 a year ago before blossoming this year, hitting a team-best .370, including a school-record 31-game hitting streak and a huge Regional
2. Oklahoma State Cowboys
Stillwater, Oklahoma
At-large bid from Big 12
2016 record: 39-20, 16-8 (second in the Big 12)
Head coach: Josh Holliday (Oklahoma State, 2004)
Fourth Super Regional Trip, last in 2014, 3-5 record, won 1 Super (1999)
Five Things
- The Cowboys made their fourth straight trip to the tourney and are in the Supers for the second time in three years; OSU went 3-0 at the Clemson Regional and stay in South Carolina to meet the Gamecocks – it is 3-0 all-time against South Carolina, all of the meetings in Omaha; The Cowboys outscored their Regional opponents 27-4
- Coach Josh Holliday’s father is longtime coach Tom Holliday, and his younger brother is Matt Holliday of the St. Louis Cardinals; he played in two College World Series and has been an assistant for Georgia Tech, Arizona State and Vanderbilt in Omaha
- OSU does the little things, leading the Big 12 and ranking 24th in the country in fielding position and also ranking 26th in sacrifice bunts
- The Cowboys also have a bevy of arms and rank in the top 35 in the nation in ERA, shutouts, hits per nine innings and Ks per nine innings; Thomas Hatch leads the way, going 7-2 with a 2.16 ERA; he has 102 strikeouts and is the 13th pitcher in school history to eclipse the century mark
- Donnie Walton, the son of assistant Rob Walton, is a four-year starter, tied for the team lead in average (.352) and made only seven errors at short all season; and Conor Costello is hitting .531 over his past eight games