SEC Baseball Regional Notebook: 7 Teams Advance to Super Regionals

Regional weekend of the 2026 NCAA Tournament delivered complete and utter carnage.

Of the 16 regional hosts, seven were eliminated, including four national seeds. UCLA and Georgia Tech, the No. 1 and 2 overall seeds, are out. For the first time ever, a pair of four-seeds — St. John’s and Little Rock — have advanced to super regionals. None of the eight teams that made it to Omaha in 2025 will return later this month.

Having said that, it was a respectable showing for the SEC, which led all conferences with 12 selections to this year’s Field of 64. Seven SEC teams — Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Texas — are alive and will play in super regionals this weekend.

Two SEC hosts — Florida and Texas A&M — saw their seasons end on their home field. Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee each fell on the road.

Parity is alive and well in college baseball, but the SEC will send at least two teams to Omaha as it chases a seventh-straight College World Series crown. Let’s talk about one of the more memorable weekends this great sport has seen in some time.

Oklahoma’s Stunning Upset of Georgia Tech

The Ride

• Saturday: 15-5 W vs. The Citadel
• Saturday: 9-3 L vs. Georgia Tech
• Sunday: 15-5 W vs. The Citadel
• Sunday: 15-8 W vs. Georgia Tech
• Monday: 8-7 W (10) vs. Georgia Tech

The Skinny: Oklahoma senior first baseman Dayton Tockey blasted a no-doubt, 454-foot home run to dead center off of Georgia Tech ace Tate McKee in the bottom of the 10th inning on Monday to send the Sooners to their first super regional appearance since 2022. It’s the second supers berth for OU under longtime head coach Skip Johnson. The Sooners sent the tournament’s No. 2 overall seed packing on their home field in Atlanta, beating the Yellow Jackets in back-to-back games.

I’ll be the first person to admit that I thought Oklahoma had next to no chance of defeating this Georgia Tech team twice. Unlike No. 1 overall seed UCLA, Tech hadn’t been flying close to the sun. It just ran roughshod through the ACC Tournament, and its lone series loss of the season came against North Carolina — now the lone ACC team standing after the weekend carnage.

I felt even stronger about that opinion after watching OU fade late in game one against the Jackets on Saturday night. But no. An eight-run inning paced an 18-hit performance the following night, erasing an early five-run deficit to set up a rubber game on Monday.

Since the beginning of March, Tockey had just five hits heading into the weekend. The walk-off homer was his seventh hit of the Atlanta regional. That’s the kind of performance it takes for upsets to occur. What a weekend for the second-year Sooner.

It might not feel like that large of an upset considering what else occurred around the country, but make no mistake, Oklahoma knocking out one of the best lineups college baseball has seen in the last few seasons is an incredible accomplishment. If it can beat Georgia Tech, it can beat anyone.

What’s Next: How about an old-school Big Eight matchup? Oklahoma will head to Lawrence for a date with Kansas. The Jayhawks won the Big 12 regular season title, swept through the Big 12 Tournament, then rolled through the Lawrence regional, defeating Arkansas twice in the process.

A Fitting End to Florida’s Erratic Season

The Ride

• Friday: 8-7 W vs. Rider
• Saturday: 22-10 W vs. Miami
• Sunday: 16-11 L vs. Troy
• Monday: 10-2 L vs. Troy

The Skinny: An incredibly odd 2026 campaign for Florida was encapsulated in four games at Condron Ballpark in Gainesville. After dodging an upset in game one against Rider, the Gators pulverized rival Miami to put themselves in the catbird seat in their home ballpark. Naturally, it was Troy, the regional three-seed and one of the last four teams in the field, that proceeded to completely outplay Kevin O’Sullivan’s crew on back-to-back days to punch a ticket to supers. It’s the second year in a row that UF’s season has come to an end in a regional. Of the last four Gainesville regionals, the Gators have advanced just once.

In hindsight, it’s easy to claim Florida’s final plunge as something we all should’ve seen coming. In reality, the Gators had mostly pooh-poohed the topsy-turvy narrative entering the postseason, winning their final three SEC series and winning a pair of games in the SEC Tournament.

UF looked damn good in May and played its way into a national seed. The Rider game was nervy, but it never wavered and swung its way to a win. It then thwacked seven home runs in a total of bludgeoning of Miami. A flawless weekend looked to be in the cards.

Then came another nightmare postseason start for polarizing right-hander Liam Peterson. The junior will be a high pick in the MLB Draft this summer, but his Florida career ended with a disastrous 10-hit, nine-run pumping courtesy of the Trojans. Peterson never really found that groove this year, and it cursed the Gators.

Monday night was…drab. With the season on the line, Troy snagged an early lead, scored 5 runs in the 6th inning and put the whole thing on ice. A pair of RBI singles from center fielder Kyle Jones was all Florida could muster.

The same team that nabbed three wins over Miami and Florida State, swept Arkansas in Fayetteville and took a series from Georgia in Athens. Also the same team that lost an early home series to High Point, dropped two games to Jacksonville and one to Bethune-Cookman.

A puzzling, but ultimately fitting end to a season that had most in The Swamp scratching their head at every turn.

Auburn Flips the Switch

The Ride

• Friday: 13-8 L vs. Milwaukee
• Saturday: 17-13 W vs. NC State
• Sunday: 9-3 W vs. UCF
• Sunday: 8-1 W vs. Milwaukee
• Monday: 8-3 W vs. Milwaukee

The Skinny: Auburn looked royally out of sorts in its first two games, falling into the loser’s bracket after a stunning loss to Milwaukee on Friday. Facing elimination early and often while simultaneously battling Mother Nature, the Tigers leaned on Plainsman Park as their pitching staff came back to life. Allowing just 7 runs in its final three games, AU left no doubts, crushing another Cinderella story. For the second year in a row, it is hosting a super regional. This is the Tigers’ fifth supers berth under Butch Thompson.

I was at a loss for words after watching Milwaukee chase Auburn left-hander Jake Marciano in the second inning on Friday. The Panthers hung 6 quick ones on the Tigers’ ace, then put up 4 more on RHP LJ Cormier. This was not a string of wonky outcomes; UWM straight-up torched baseballs, while its pitching bent a touch but never really came close to breaking.

“Sure, an early loss is far from ideal, but if any team has the pitching to make four wins in a row feel like a breeze, it’s Auburn,” I thought. Auburn then proceeded to trudge past NC State in a 30-run marathon, which again saw its pitching look like a shell of the staff that had emerged as the best in the SEC for much of the season.

Point blank, if Auburn would’ve bowed out of its home regional because its pitching staff completely screwed the pooch, it would’ve been the biggest head-scratcher of the weekend, at least as far as SEC teams were concerned.

As it turns out, that group remembered that it’s an elite arm barn. Alex Petrovic and Ryan Hetzler did their part in the UCF win, but Hetzler, who threw three scoreless to close that one out, was not done late Sunday night. He rolled right back out to the mound and started in the 8-1 win vs. Milwaukee, firing 67 more pitches across four more innings. His final pitch count read 104 — he had thrown 40-plus pitches in an outing just once, during the SEC Tournament.

Marciano then fared much better the second time around on Monday, but it was lefty Jackson Sanders who really shined in relief, hurling five innings of one-run ball to clinch it. Oh, and how about catcher Chase Fralick, who casually hit a home run in each of the five games, totaling six in a mammoth showing. He’s the first catcher in program history to put together a 20-homer season. He had the best weekend of anyone in the tournament with the bat.

What’s Next: One of two All-SEC super regionals, Auburn will host Ole Miss. The two did not face each other in league play during the regular season. The Rebels went to Lincoln and ousted host Nebraska, but the highlights were a pair of gutsy extra-inning wins over Arizona State.

Kentucky’s Crash on Country Roads

The Ride

• Friday: 6-5 W vs. Wake Forest
• Saturday: 11-9 W vs. West Virginia
• Sunday: 11-9 L vs. West Virginia
• Monday: 6-5 L (10) vs. West Virginia

The Skinny: Kentucky and West Virginia waged war upon each other, trading blows over 28 grueling innings of emotional, high-intensity baseball. After a four-run eighth inning brought UK back to life on Monday night, WVU first baseman Armani Guzman delivered the walk-off winner, lining a single up the middle to send the Bat Cats home. UK also blew a three-run lead in the ninth on Sunday, making the weekend especially sour. The Mountaineers have now eliminated the Cats in regionals two years in a row.

I’ll refrain from likening this trilogy to the Hatfield-McCoy feud, only because the illustrious Tom Hart and many others online beat me to the punch. Well played, folks.

The inclusion of Kentucky in the Field of 64 was crucified by many, but for all its flaws, it was three outs away from advancing to a super regional for the third time in four years. UK forced Wake Forest and WVU into myriad mistakes with its aggressive style, riling everyone up in the process. It’s what Nick Mingione teams do, and they did it quite well over the first three days of the regional.

Sunday’s blown ninth inning will haunt, obviously. It began with an error from third baseman Caeden Cloud. It ended with a to-run blast via WVU center fielder Paul Schoenfeld. Kentucky never had enough pitching this season. It sent eight arms to the bump in that loss, and five gave up a run.

Mingione and WVU skipper Steve Sabins both pushed all their chips in the middle on Monday. One day after throwing 122 pitches, Mountaineers righty Dawson Montesa got what turned out to be WVU’s final two outs. All three of its weekend starters threw in the win. Kentucky turned to lone horse Jaxon Jelkin for the second time in the regional, but the ace righty quickly ran out of gas, surrendering 3 earned on five hits in 2.2 IP.

No lead was insurmountable between these two. They went blow for blow, but also meltdown for meltdown. For every big swing and highlight-reel moment, there was a blunder on the bases or an error that sparked another rally. It was a heavyweight fight, but there was no title on the line. This was more of a mid-card bout between a pair of journeymen just scrapping to get to whatever may come next.

One more nod to Sabins and his WVU team, which has made supers for the third year in a row — a remarkable accomplishment for that program. For Kentucky, while it’s easy to dwell on how the last two seasons have ended, this is still a program riding a four-year postseason streak, which is something not many saw in the cards following the 2022 season.

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Who Will Win the 2026 College World Series?

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MLB Draft Notebook: ACC Tournament

Get the Brooms Out

Five SEC teams swept their respective regionals. Some looked dominant, and some had to really grind for it. The league is guaranteed to send two teams to the College World Series, but it could end up with as many as five representatives in Omaha.

Alabama Sheds Doubt Once More

The Ride

• Friday: 21-3 W vs. Alabama State
• Saturday: 7-5 W vs. USC Upstate
• Sunday: 9-7 W (11) vs. Oklahoma State

The Skinny: It was a three-run home run from senior catcher Brady Neal in the top of the 11th inning that propelled Alabama past Oklahoma State to its first super regional berth since 2023. The Tide got big outings from each member of its rock-solid starting trio and simply got the job done. While not considered a favorite to win the CWS, Bama is among the final 16 teams standing, and it continues to silence critics. Anything is possible at this juncture.

What’s Next: More baseball at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Alabama will host the mighty St. John’s Red Storm, which stormed through the Tallahassee regional as the four-seed, defeating Florida State twice. This is the Johnnies’ first supers appearance since 2012.

Georgia Rolls in Athens

The Ride

• Friday: 18-2 W vs. Long Island
• Saturday: 6-2 W vs. Liberty
• Sunday: 6-1 W vs. Liberty

The Skinny: Liberty put up a great fight and limited the potent Georgia offense on back-to-back days, but the Bulldogs’ pitching staff was the story of the weekend at Foley Field. Right-hander Matt Scott fired five scoreless on Saturday to lead the way, while RHP Caden Aoki gave up 1 run and struck out 11 over six terrific innings on Sunday. UGA will now host a super for the second time in three years under Wes Johnson.

What’s Next: Georgia will take on Mississippi State, a team that it has already defeated on four occasions this season. It went to Starkville and swept State in early April, then beat it again in the SEC Tournament. All four games were decided by three runs or fewer.

Mississippi State Handles Business

The Ride

• Friday: 10-1 W vs. Lipscomb
• Saturday: 10-5 W vs. Cincinnati
• Sunday: 19-5 W vs. Louisiana

The Skinny: Not many teams looked more in control of their home regional than Mississippi State. The Bulldogs received contributions from all the usual suspects, pitched it well and thrived from a raucous atmosphere at Dudy Noble Field. Phenom freshman outfielder Jacob Parker took home regional MVP honors after a seven-hit weekend. It’s the first time MSU has made it out of a regional since winning its first national title in 2021.

What’s Next: State now gets a chance to slay the giant that is Georgia. While it is yet to defeat UGA this season, State has been a couple plays away from winning a couple of those games. Perhaps a trip to Foley Field will be what the doctor ordered for Brian O’Connor’s club.

Ole Miss Wins Hotly Contested Lincoln Regional

The Ride

• Friday: 7-6 W (14) vs. Arizona State
• Saturday: 6-3 W vs. Nebraska
• Sunday: 5-4 W (10) vs. Arizona State

The Skinny: Ole Miss was a part of some of the weekend’s best games, going toe-to-toe with Arizona State deep into the night. Brayden Randle had the game-winning single in the bottom of the 14th inning on Friday, while a Dom Decker sacrifice fly got the job done on Sunday. Right fielder Tristan Bissetta hit a towering homer in both of the wins over the Sun Devils. Each of the Rebels’ high-leverage arms was up for the task all weekend, too. Like Mississippi State, this is Ole Miss’s first trip to supers since it won the College World Series in 2022. It’s the ninth super regional berth for longtime head coach Mike Bianco.

What’s Next: The Rebels will head to The Plains to take on Auburn in another all-SEC super. The two teams did not square off in the regular season, though Ole Miss has won each of its last two series at Plainsman Park — it most recently took two of three at AU in the 2024 regular season.

Texas Coasts in Austin

The Ride

• Friday: 19-1 W vs. Holy Cross
• Saturday: 16-2 W vs. Tarleton State
• Sunday: 6-4 W vs. UC Santa Barbara

The Skinny: UCSB made it interesting at points on Sunday, but Texas was completely unfazed as it blazed through its home regional to punch a ticket to supers for the first time under head coach Jim Schlossnagle. Just Baseball SEC Freshman of the Year Anthony Pack Jr. was one of the stars of the show, clubbing three home runs in his first-ever NCAA Tournament game on Friday. He finished the weekend with four bombs, while fellow outfielder Aiden Robbins also hit four.

What’s Next: The Longhorns get to stay in Austin and will host a super regional for the first time since 2021. Oregon, which also swept through its home regional, will make the trip to the Lone Star State for a very intriguing SEC-Big Ten showdown.

The End of The Line

Tennessee Runs out of Gas

The Ride

• Friday: 7-3 L (14) vs. East Carolina
• Saturday: 5-4 L vs. VCU

The Skinny: Tennessee was the only SEC team to go winless over the weekend. ECU piled on 4 runs in the top of the 14th to ice one of the games of the tournament on Friday. The Vols got a big swing from Henry Ford to send the game into extra innings, but that was the last memorable moment to speak of. Ace righty Tegan Kuhns then fought through illness on Saturday, but the offense wasn’t there to provide any cushion, spelling the end of Josh Elander’s first campaign in charge. This is the first time Tennessee isn’t in a super regional since the 2019 season.

Texas A&M Stymied by USC Pitching

The Ride

• Friday: 7-5 W vs. Lamar
• Saturday: 17-2 vs. Texas State
• Sunday: 14-3 L vs. USC
• Monday: 7-1 L vs. USC

The Skinny: It looked like Texas A&M was going to thump its way back into supers, but its vaunted lineup fell flat in two losses to USC, which has toted an impressive pitching staff all season. The absence of right-hander Aiden Sims felt especially large for the Aggies as they ate an 11-run loss on Sunday. Closer Clayton Freshcorn went 6.2 IP and gave it all he had in the win-or-go-home bout on Monday, but nothing went right for A&M and it felt stale offensively, finishing with six hits in front of a ho-hum home crowd at Blue Bell Park. The bubbles popped quickly and Michael Earley’s second season in charge ended in a whimper.

Arkansas downright outplayed in Lawrence

The Ride

• Friday: 9-5 W vs. Missouri State
• Saturday: 5-3 L vs. Kansas
• Sunday: 10-9 W vs. Northeastern
• Sunday: 13-10 L vs. Kansas

The Skinny: Arkansas received a wicked 14-strikeout performance from ace lefty Hunter Dietz, but it still wasn’t enough to get past Kansas the first time around on Saturday. The Hogs were certainly up for the task and found their offensive footing on Sunday, but once they blew 5-run lead to the Jayhawks in the fourth inning, pressure mounted on a pitching staff that was sucking wind. Kansas pulled away to win its first-ever home regional. Arkansas was the second-best team and has now failed to make it out of a regional for the third time in the last four years.