Super Regional Preview

The field of 64 has been trimmed to 16. Some major upsets were in the works, as only 3 of the top 8 national seeds advanced to super regional play, and it's possible that we could have no national seeds in Omaha. We'll preview the left side of the bracket today and the other side either tomorrow or on Thursday.

Corvallis Super Regional
2. Michigan at 3. Oregon State

How They Got Here- Oregon St. defeated Virginia today to advance to the Super Regional. This is their third straight year hosting a Super Regional. Michigan defeated suprise tourney team Memphis, along with #1 national seed Vanderbilt twice to earn the trip to Corvallis

Players to Watch- Michigan 2b/SP Zach Putnam is one of the best two way players in the entire nation. The defending national champs have some key players left over, including Mitch Canham, a junior catcher who's hitting .323/.454/.535. Canham was drafted in the 41st round by the St. Louis Cardinals last season as a draft eligible sophomore, and seemingly made the right decision to return to school.

Who Will Win- I think a lot of college baseball fans will root for Michigan due to the cinderella factor. This Super Regional will mean there will be at least one northern team in the CWS, which is great for expanding the game. But in the end I think Oregon St. has too much experience and will take this series in three games.

Fullerton Super Regional

2. UCLA at 2. Cal State Fullerton

How They Got Here: UCLA won the Long Beach regional, one of the toughest in the country, with Long Beach, and maybe the best three seed in the tournament in Pepperdine. In fact, Baseball America's Aaron Fitt picked Pepperdine to get all the way to Omaha. Fullerton, while not the Fullerton of old, defeated San Diego, who was maybe the best team out West this year.

Players to Watch: UCLA IF Brandon Crawford (.338/.410/.513 7 HR, 123 Total Bases)

Fullerton SP Wes Roemer

Who Will Win: As I said above, Fullerton isn't the Fullerton of old, so it's interesting that they got to host this Super Regional. They have a lot of talent, and I think their home ballpark will give them a win, but in the end UCLA will win this series in three games.

Tempe Super Regional

1. Ole Miss at 1. Arizona State (#5 National Seeed)

How They Got Here: Arizona State powered through their regional, scoring 33 runs with a pretty weak field in their way. The Sun Devils have the best offense in the nation, and they hit extremely well in their home ballpark, where they will be this weekend. Ole Miss won their regional in Oxford. Theirs was also a pretty weak region, with Troy in there who was probably the 63rd or 64th team in the field.

Players To Watch: Arizona St. 1b Brett Wallace (.420/.500/.712 15 HR, 74 RBI, 173 Total Bases)

Ole Miss IF Justin Henry (.385/.453/.504 21 SB)

Who Will Win: This is probably the most lopsided matchup, as Arizona St. has too much offense and will sweep this Super Regional

Wichita Super Regional

2. UC Irvine at 1. Wichita State

How They Got Here: A lot of people had Arizona as a mini upset pick, but Wichita St. breezed through their regional. UC Irvine won the Round Rock Regional and sent Texas home before Super Regional play for the second straight year.

Players to Watch: Wichita St IF/P Damon Sublett (.364/.470/.510 5 HR 45 RBI)

UC Irvine Taylor Holliday (.353/.415/.571 4 HR 41 RBI)

Who Will Win: In a pretty evenly matched series, I think UC Irvine will win the series in three games

Vandy Upset

Vanderbilt lefty David Price, who is expected to go #1 overall to the Devil Rays on Thursday, took his first loss of the season when the Commodores lost 4-3 to Michigan, the #2 seed in the Nashville Regional. Price (11-1) gave up a game winning homerun to Michigan pinch hitter Alan Oaks in the top of the 10th inning. Price had previously thrown in the Commodores' first game win over #4 seed Austin Peay. Price tied a career high with 17 strikeouts in that game.

This was the second time in the regional that Michigan defeated the Commodores. Michigan will now get the winner of the Charlottesville Regional, which features Virginia and defending national champion Oregon St. playing tomorrow in the championship game. If Virginia wins they will host the Super Regional, but it will be interesting to see what happens if Oregon St. wins. Michigan is the higher seed, but the Beavers are the defending national champions and they hosted Super Regionals in the past two seasons.

Now that Vanderbilt has been eliminated, Rice becomes the highest remaining seed, and they along with North Carolina, last year's national runner-up, become the favorites. #4 National Seed Texas failed to advance out of their regional for the second year in a row. Super Regionals begin this weekend, and we'll be back with a mini-preview for each. If you want more college baseball coverage, including podcasts, go to www.baseballamerica.com