2025 NCAA Baseball Super Regionals: Five Most Exciting Matchups of the Weekend

Wow. What a weekend of baseball. I don’t think you could ask for a better tournament than what we have got so far. We have talked about how parity in college baseball remains strong, and the Supers continued to prove that. 

You had teams like Arizona taking down North Carolina, Coastal taking down Auburn, Louisville and Miami going back and forth, and so much more. It was action-packed and a ton of fun to watch if you are just a baseball fan in general.

Let’s dive into five of the most exciting matchups from this weekend. 

Coastal Carolina Storms Into Auburn and Sweeps Their Way to Omaha

Man, what a blast it was to watch Coastal Carolina in this series. People keep calling the Chanticleers a Cinderella story, and that narrative needs to stop. This is one of the top programs in all of college baseball, and they have been for a while. 

I talked in our Super Regional preview about how Coastal had the argument as one of the best pitching staffs in all of college baseball, and they showcased that against the Tigers.

In game one, the Chants decided to go with Cameron Flukey on the bump. He didn’t have his best stuff, but he still pulled together a decent start, going five innings and giving up three earned runs. 

Outside of that, the Chants’ offense broke out. Bodine and Blagen Pado each homered twice, the first time two Chanticleers have done that in the same game since 2016, as Coastal rode a four-homer night to its 10th extra-inning win of the season. 

After a nearly two-hour lightning delay, the Chants jumped out to a 6-1 lead before Auburn clawed back, setting the stage for late-game heroics. Caden Bodine picked the perfect time to snap his home run drought, launching a go-ahead solo shot in the 10th inning to lift Coastal Carolina past Auburn, 7-6. 

Game two had more dominant pitching. Enter the ace Jacob Morrison and Hayden Johnson. Morrison delivered a steady six-inning start, allowing just one run while striking out six, and Hayden Johnson followed with three dominant shutout innings in relief. 

On offense, Walker Mitchell continued his scorching postseason, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs, including the go-ahead single in the seventh. Sebastian Alexander set the tone at the top of the lineup with two doubles, three hits, two runs scored, and a walk. 

The Chanticleers, now winners of 23 straight, are rolling into Omaha with the nation’s longest win streak and a lineup firing on all cylinders. 

Arizona Shocks the World and Takes Down #1 North Carolina

The Cardiac Cats! I love this. The Arizona Wildcats have been red-hot since the Big 12 Championship, and that has carried over into the NCAA tournament. The bats stayed red-hot in crucial situations, and the pitching staff continued to throw well. 

As for the Tar Heels, this one is tough. They came in as the #1 overall seed coming into the Super Regional, and it was tough to watch them get eliminated. This North Carolina team was so good and felt like they were destined for Omaha. 

Let’s start with game one. The Tar Heels looked like they were going to take this entire series with an insane 18-2 victory over the Wildcats. They were firing on all cylinders. 

Jake Knapp dominated, going seven innings and giving up just two runs, while the offense hit four home runs in the rout of the Wildcats. Nothing was going right for Arizona, and they took it personally as they entered day two. 

The Cats screamed “not dead yet!” in game two. Arizona kept its College World Series hopes alive with a 10-8 win over North Carolina.

In a game that saw six lead changes, Maddox Mihalakis delivered the decisive blow with a two-run single in the seventh to cap a clutch rally. 

Brendan Summerhill added a key double in the seventh, and six Wildcats recorded multi-hit games in a relentless offensive attack. On the mound, Tony Pluta was nails out of the bullpen, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings to earn the win and continue a dominant season in relief.

That led us to a decisive game three! The Tar Heels were in control most of the game, but the Wildcats ended up pulling off a gritty 4-3 win to punch their ticket to Omaha. The first under head coach Chip Hale. 

Trailing 3-1 in the eighth, the Wildcats rallied behind a leadoff single from Andrew Cain, a pair of UNC errors, and a clutch two-run single from Tucson native Mason White to take the lead. 

The bullpen trio of Julian Tonghini, Casey Hintz, and Tony Pluta slammed the door, with Pluta tossing a perfect ninth to notch his 14th save, a new Arizona single-season record. 

From an 18-2 loss in Game 1 to dogpiling on the Chapel Hill infield, Arizona’s road to Omaha was nothing short of epic. The Wildcats will take on Coastal Carolina in Omaha. 

Louisville and Miami Exchange Punches, with the Cardinals Coming Out On Top

A battle of two scrappy ACC teams was appointment viewing. We talked on the podcast about how Louisville was dangerous if their pitching could put it together, given their already stacked lineup, and they showcased that in this one. 

Another series that went three games, Louisville started off strong in this one. The Cardinals came out swinging in front of a packed crowd at Jim Patterson Stadium and took down Miami 8-1 in game one. 

The Cardinals broke it open early, with back-to-back home runs from Garret Pike and Jake Munroe in the second inning, then blew the game wide open in the third thanks to a Miami throwing error and a three-run blast by Munroe, his second of the day. 

Munroe finished 2-for-3 with five RBIs to lead the offense, while Pike chipped in with a homer and a key contact play that led to two more runs. 

On the mound, Patrick Forbes was electric, striking out nine over 5.2 innings and stranding the bases loaded in a crucial second-inning jam, and the bullpen duo of Brennyn Cutts and Justin West closed the door.

Miami didn’t let game one kill all their hopes, though, as they bounced back to take game two from the Cardinals 9-6. 

The Hurricanes bounced back from an early 4-1 deficit, sparked by a four-run fourth inning and clutch performances from Jake Kulikowski and freshman Michael Torres, who combined for key RBIs throughout the afternoon.

Louisville’s Eddie King Jr. crushed a two-run homer and Jake Munroe added a solo shot to build the early lead, but Miami’s bullpen shut the door, with Carson Fischer throwing 3.1 innings of one-run ball and Brian Walters locking down the final six outs for his 11th save. 

Kulikowski led the offensive charge with multiple hits, including a game-tying single, while Tanner Smith set the tone with a patient eight-pitch walk to open the scoring. 

That led to another series with a decisive game three on the line. And the battle between Louisville and Miami in game three was epic. 

After falling behind 2-0 on a third-inning homer, the Cards responded with a two-run fourth, featuring an RBI double from Zion Rose and a game-tying groundout by Bayram Hot. Jake Munroe sparked the go-ahead rally in the seventh with a two-out single, later scoring on a clutch knock from Eddie King Jr. 

Awesome stuff for the Cardinals and Head Coach Dan McDonnell, as everyone seemed to doubt them all year long. 

Oregon State and Florida State Go Back and Forth with the Beavers, Punching Their Ticket to Omaha

Everyone will say the Arkansas vs Tennessee matchup was to watch this weekend, but I’d argue that Oregon State vs Florida State was easily the matchup to watch. And both teams played like it was.

Game one was an extra-innings thriller, where the Beavers squeaked out a 5-4 victory over Florida State to give themselves a 1-0 lead in the series. 

Down 4-1 entering the ninth, the Beavers rallied behind a wild pitch and a clutch two-run single from Jacob Krieg to tie it up. In the 10th, AJ Singer played hero, driving in Gavin Turley with a first-pitch single to cap the comeback and send the Goss Stadium crowd into a frenzy. 

Freshman Dax Whitney was electric on the mound and struck out 10 in 4.2 innings to start the game, and the bullpen trio of Nelson Keljo, AJ Hutcheson, and Kellan Oakes (now 4-0) held it down the rest of the way. 

Florida State wasn’t ready to give up just yet, and they had ace Jamie Arnold toeing the rubber in game two. They battled back to even the Corvallis Super Regional, taking down Oregon State 3-1 in a tense Game 2 to force a winner-take-all showdown on Sunday. 

The Seminoles erased an early 1-0 deficit with three unanswered runs, all coming with two outs and two strikes, including a game-tying RBI single from Max Williams in the third and a go-ahead knock from Gage Harrelson in the seventh. 

Jamie Arnold was dominant on the mound, striking out nine over 6.2 innings of one-run ball, while Maison Martinez and Peyton Prescott combined for 2.1 hitless frames to close it out, with Prescott striking out the side in the ninth to earn the save, forcing a winner-take-all on Sunday.

The Beavers came out swinging.  They launched five home runs, including back-to-back blasts from Canon Reeder and Carson McEntire in a seven-run first and a grand slam by Trent Caraway in the third, to race out to a commanding 13-3 lead. 

Gavin Turley added his 19th homer of the year, and Tyce Peterson capped the power display with a solo shot in the fourth, setting a program postseason record with five homers in a single game. 

Florida State clawed back with six unanswered runs, but Nelson Keljo struck out Alex Lodise to end the game and punch OSU’s ticket to its eighth College World Series. Just an incredible back-and-forth series. 

Arkansas Comes Out On Top in the Marquee SEC Matchup

Tennessee. Arkansas. The teams were ready. The players were ready. Liam Doyle, Zach Root, Andrew Fischer, Charles Davalan. Competitors who were looking to punch their ticket to Omaha. 

Yeah, it seemed like a lot of hype for a series, but the Razorbacks made a statement in this series and didn’t really let Tennessee even have a chance, sweeping them in two. 

Arkansas leaned on stellar pitching and timely hitting to take Game 1, edging Tennessee 4-3 to move within one win of Omaha. Zach Root was brilliant for the Hogs, tossing seven innings of two-hit ball (one earned run) with six strikeouts, while Gabe Gaeckle closed the door with a two-inning save. 

Tennessee’s only hits were a pair of home runs, including a ninth-inning solo shot, but Arkansas never let the lead slip away. 

Ryder Helfrick delivered the go-ahead blow with a two-run homer in the fifth, his third straight postseason game with a long ball, and Charles Davalan added insurance with an RBI single in the sixth. 

Game two was an even more dominant showing from the Razorbacks. Arkansas punched its ticket to the College World Series with an 11-4 win over Tennessee, locking up the program’s 12th all-time appearance and eighth under Dave Van Horn. 

Charles Davalan set the tone with a two-run homer in the third, and Logan Maxwell broke things wide open in the fourth with a grand slam, part of a 3-for-5, 4-RBI day. Cam Kozeal scored on a wild pitch, and Brent Iredale added a solo shot in the ninth as the Hogs piled up 11 runs behind a relentless offense. 

Freshman Cole Gibler was lights-out in relief, retiring 8 of 10 batters and striking out four in 2.2 innings to earn the win. Arkansas capped a dominant season at Baum-Walker Stadium with a 37-4 home record and now sets its sights on Omaha.