The only 3-seeds to advance to the supers will face off in Fullerton this weekend. Both teams swept their way through regionals in impressive fashion.
Cal. St. Fullerton beat Baylor 6-2 before beating No.2 Stanford twice. The first was a dramatic 2-1 walk-off as freshman pinch-hitter Jace Chamberlain clubbed a home run to right-center field to end it. The Titans then punched their ticket into the supers with a 5-2 win over the Cardinal.
Washington beat UConn 7-1 and Coastal Carolina 11-6 before finishing the regional sweep with a 9-6 victory over UConn.
Pitchers to Watch:
Washington: Joe DeMers allowed only one earned run and struck out six batters in eight innings to earn the win in regional game one against UConn. He will likely start game one of the super regional.
The bullpen allowed only two earned runs in 9.2 innings of work in the regionals. Freshman Stevie Emanuels led the relievers with 4.1 innings, three strikeouts and zero earned runs in the regionals.
Fullerton:
All three starters did well in the regionals. Colton Eastman pitched seven innings, allowed four hits, one earned run, struck out eight and earned the win against Baylor. Tommy Wilson went six innings, struck out six and allowed only one earned run. Tanner Bibee struck out 11 batters in 6.2 innings while allowing two earned runs.
The Titan bullpen didn’t allow any earned runs last weekend. Blake Workman led the group with 4.1 scoreless innings and one save. Brett Conine had five strikeouts and one win in three scoreless innings of relief.
Players to Watch:
Washington:
Second baseman AJ Graffanino led the Huskies in the regionals, going 8 for 15 with 6 RBI. Shortstop Levi Jordan went 7-14 with 2 RBI last weekend. Perhaps the best show was put on by DH Joe Wainhouse. He went 5 for 13 with 3 HR and 6 RBI in the regionals.
Fullerton:
Outfielder Ruben Cardenas was 4 for 12 with 1 HR and 3 RBI last weekend. Third Baseman Brett Borgogno went 4 for 9 with 2 RBI.
Final Thoughts and Prediction:
This is one of the most intriguing super regional matchups in my opinion. Both teams defied the odds in sweeping tough regionals as 3-seeds. Fullerton mostly got here via shutdown pitching, while Washington’s red hot bats springboarded them to this position.
Fullerton has postseason experience and home field advantage in their favor. Washington will be making their first ever super regional appearance in program history.
The teams have very similar records as Fullerton sits at 35-23 and Washington at 33-23. Washington appears to have the more potent offense, but Fullerton should have better pitching depth.
I believe that there’s a strong chance for the series to go three games, but I like Fullerton’s pitching to get the job done at home.
Winner: Cal. St. Fullerton
