Good Day For Bubble Teams (5/25)

This year’s bubble for at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament is large and diverse, ranging from teams like Arizona and Florida to teams like Liberty, Southern Miss and Texas State.

The bubble teams got a break, by and large, on Saturday as teams like Creighton and Fresno State won their tournaments and UCSB captured its league title by getting a win in the final regular-season game of the year. The bubble teams will be watching tourneys like the American, A-Sun and Big Ten and pulling for teams that already are in the field.

Here’s a look at what happened Saturday and what’s to come on Sunday.

• America East – Chris Hamilton drove in two, and Michael Wilson and Brandon Alamo homered as top-seeded Stony Brook edged Binghamton 7-5 to claim the league’s automatic bid. The Seawolves return to the tourney for the first time since 2015 and sixth time overall. Shane Marshall went 3 for 4 with a homer – his fourth straight game with a homer – and two RBI for the Bearcats.
• American – Second-seeded Cincinnati and fourth-seeded Connecticut (RPI 25) will play for the title in a game with bubble implications. A Bearcats win means a stolen bid after Cincinnati dispatched of UCF in the semifinal 10-6 as AJ Bumpass homered and drove in three. Michael Chiovitti and Anthony Prato each had two RBI for the Huskies in their 8-3 win over Wichita State.
• ACC – Georgia Tech may have crashed the national seed party and is up to No. 7 in the RPI after knocking off NC State. North Carolina eliminated Boston College, and with an RPI of 14, the Tar Heels now may be hosting a Regional. Boston College (RPI 55) made a terrific run to at least get in the NCAA discussion and sits on the bubble.
• A-Sun – Liberty (RPI 42) forced the “if necessary” game by beating Stetson 6-3 Saturday. The Flames may have secured an at-large bid if they don’t win today, but bubble teams are hoping they take care of business.
• A-10 – Fordham edged Dayton 4-3 in 12 innings as Justin Bardwell walked with the bases loaded to win it. The Rams will be making their first NCAA appearance since 1998.
• Big East – Creighton (RPI 23) captured its first Big East title by beating Xavier 9-8 in the final, a win that was big for bubble teams. It capped a wild tourney for the Bluejays, who rallied late for six runs in the opener to beat Seton Hall, beat St. John’s 17-13 and won a nail-biter in the title game.
• Big South – Matthew Barefoot’s two-run homer in the seventh put Campbell ahead for good, and the Camels beat Winthrop 8-6 to return to the NCAA field for the second straight year.
• Big Ten – Nebraska awaits the winner of Minnesota and Ohio State for a championship that has bubble implications as the Golden Gophers or Buckeyes would steal a bid.
• Big 12 – West Virginia beat Texas Tech for the second time to reach the title game and jumped to No. 11 in the RPI. It awaits the winner of Oklahoma State (RPI 8) and TCU (RPI 58).
• Big West – UCSB (RPI 21) will be making its first NCAA appearance since 2000 after salvaging the last game in its regular-season series with Cal Poly.
• CAA – Elon forced the “if necessary” game as Dean McCarthy worked 6.2 innings with one unearned run and eight strikeouts in a 4-1 win over UNCW. The Seahawks are trying to take retiring coach Mark Scalf to the NCAA tourney one last time.
• C-USA – It’s a rematch of the 2018 title game as FAU (RPI 36) and Southern Miss (RPI 50) will meet Sunday. The Owls are in good shape for an at-large bid; the Golden Eagles may need to win today.
• Horizon – Ryan Hampe homered twice and drove in four as UIC beat Milwaukee 6-5 to take home the title. The Flames will be appearing in the NCAA tourney for the second time in three years and sixth time under coach Mike Dee.
• MAAC – It’s Quinnipiac, which beat Manhattan Saturday, and Fairfield, which won two elimination games against top-seeded Canisius and Manhattan, for the title today.
• MAC – Central Michigan got eight shutout innings from Jordan Patty in a 6-0 win over Ball State. The Chippewas will be making their first NCAA appearance since 1995.
• MVC – Indiana State won its first MVC title since 1995 by beating Dallas Baptist twice as Clay Dungan went 4 for 5 with a double and a solo homer to lead off the game in the title game. The Sycamores (RPI 24) return to the field for the first time since 2014 and are expected to be joined by the Patriots (RPI 26) and Illinois State (No. 27) from the MVC.
• Mountain West – Fresno State won its first Mountain West tourney title as Nate Thimjon drove in three in a 12-6 win over UNLV. It will be the Bulldogs’ first NCAA appearance since 2012. Bubble teams rejoiced as Fresno State (RPI 35) kept it a one-bid league.
• NEC – Central Connecticut forced the “if necessary” game as Mike Appel worked six strong innings with one earned run and got three innings of stellar help from Jared Gallagher in a 3-1 win over Bryant.
• OVC – Needing one win, Jacksonville State got three hits and three RBI from Devin Brown in a 10-3 win over defending-champ Morehead State. The Gamecocks won their fifth OVC title and are returning to the NCAA field for the first time since 2014.
• SEC – Vanderbilt and Ole Miss will play for the title today, with the Rebels (RPI 21) trying to steal a Regional host opportunity.
• Southern – Wofford needs one win to capture the league’s automatic bid and will meet Mercer, which won elimination games against ETSU and Samford (RPI 75).
• Southland – McNeese captured its first Southland title since 2003 by going 4-0, the last a 4-2 win over Central Arkansas. Aidan Anderson tossed 3.2 innings of relief to post his second win over the tourney. McNeese allowed a total of eight runs in its four games.
• Summit – Omaha will be on the road to Omaha for the first time after winning its first Summit tournament title. Payton Kinney (11-1) allowed one hit and struck out 10 in 7.1 scoreless innings on two days’ rest as Omaha blanked Oral Roberts 4-0 in the final.
• Sun Belt – It’s Coastal Carolina, which eliminated upstart ULM, and Georgia Southern in today’s championship.
• West Coast – Loyola Marymount edged St. Mary’s 4-2 in 10 innings as Cooper Uhl hit a two-run triple in the 10^th. The Lions will be making their first NCAA appearance since 2000. St. Mary’s RPI fell from 57 to 64, and the Gaels will be on the bubble with fellow WCC member BYU (RPI 45).
• WAC – Dylan McPhillips ripped a game-winning double to score Ryan Walstad as Sacramento State beat Grand Canyon 4-3 in 11 innings. The teams will meet again today for the winner-take-all title game.