Outside of Coastal Carolina’s wholesome-like victory to reach the Men’s College World Series for the first time since 2016, there wasn’t much other major movement in the 2025 NCAA tournament super regionals.
Eight teams played Game 1 of their series, while six teams prepared to play Game 3 the following day.
Day 3 was a completely different monster, where six teams secured their spot in Omaha — three for the first time in five or more years. Let’s take a look at how it happened.
Arkansas takes down reigning national champions in Tennessee
Baum-Walker was on the brink of an explosion in the fourth inning on Sunday.
Leading 3-0 with the bases loaded, Arkansas right fielder Logan Maxwell readied for a chance to break the game open. Beer hats filled the stands, and the Razorbacks faithful rose to their feet, knowing that their team was due. Seven out of the nine times Arkansas has scored four or fewer runs, they followed it up with a six-plus run performance.
Three pitches into the at-bat, Maxwell blew the hinges off the stadium’s door.
He sent his first career grand slam just inches over the left field wall to break the game open and give the Razorbacks a 7-0 lead. It set the table for an 11-4 win, sending Arkansas back to the MCWS for the first time since 2022, sweeping the reigning national champions in Tennessee in two games.
The victory reflected Arkansas’ dominant tournament run, going 5-0 in the regionals and super regionals combined and outscoring their opponents 41-13. They jumped on Volunteers ace left-hander Liam Doyle early, forcing Tennessee to turn to its bullpen in the third inning with bases loaded — two batters before Maxwell’s blast — leading to the game-changing blast.
The Razorbacks will head to Omaha as the highest-ranked national seed left standing, seeking their first national championship in their 12th appearance.
Arizona mounts late-game comeback to stun North Carolina
Arizona had every right to mail it in. Losing 18-2 in Game 1 to North Carolina and trailing in the seventh inning of Game 2 on the road, the Wildcats’ backs were against the wall.
Instead, they responded tenfold.
They fought back to beat the Tar Heels, 10-8, to even the series and stunned them in the winner-take-all affair on Sunday with a three-run eighth inning to win 4-3 and advance to the MCWS for the first time since 2021. Boshamer Stadium fell quiet, only hearing sounds from the Wildcats’ fan base and the team’s celebration on the field.
It all happened in one frame. Designated hitter Andrew Cain started the eighth off with a single, and first baseman Tommy Splaine reached on an error by UNC second baseman Jackson Van De Brake. Left fielder Easton Breyfogle bunted a single, scoring Cain due to a bad throw, and was replaced by pinch runner TJ Adams because of an injury suffered on that play, while right fielder Brendan Summerhill walked to load the bases.
North Carolina didn’t record its first out until the fifth batter.
That’s when shortstop Mason White broke the tie, hitting a two-RBI single up the middle in the most significant moment of his collegiate career, giving Arizona a 4-3 lead. Right-handers Casey Hintz and Tony Pluta slammed the door, allowing zero hits in the final two innings to send the Wildcats to Omaha.
Right-handers Casey Hintz and Tony Pluta slammed the door, allowing zero hits in the final two innings to send the Wildcats to Omaha.
Oregon State explodes for 14 runs, eliminates Florida State
With back-to-back nail-biting finishes at Goss Stadium in Games 1 and 2, the winner-take-all contest between Oregon State and Florida State was expected to be cinematic.
Both popcorn-worthy watches, no one could predict the winner until one team’s gloves were airborne and hats were scattered across the diamond.
The Beavers sped this decision, though, tilting the odds mightily in their favor, leading 13-3 by the fourth inning. Oregon State went on to beat the Seminoles to reach the MCWS for the first time since 2018 and eighth in program history. Hoping for its 25th appearance, Florida State fell a game short of its seventh back-to-back trip to Omaha.
It was a party for Oregon State at the plate, one so popular that nearly everyone got involved. After Seminoles center fielder Max Williams’ two-run blast in the first, the Beavers responded in a big way, pouring in seven runs, including back-to-back homers from center fielder Canon Reeder and right fielder Carson McEntire.
The never-ending cycle continued in the third when third baseman Trent Caraway hit a grand slam and left fielder Gavin Turley hit a two-run homer. In the first three frames, the Beavers had hit for the home run cycle, while Florida State was on its fourth pitcher and had given up 13 runs in 2.1 innings — they had allowed just 13 runs in their first five tournament games.
The Seminoles didn’t roll over, though, consistently chipping away at the monumental deficit. They scored two runs each in three of the next six innings, but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback.
A bittersweet way to end its season, Florida State’s Game 1 blunder looms large in the final result.
UCLA completes first shutout since 2013, cruises to 7-0 win over UTSA
Shutouts weren’t a common theme for the Bruins during the postseason. Entering Sunday, they had five to their name in 26 tournament appearances — don’t bother wondering the game total. The last time was in the 2013 MCWS championship against Mississippi State.
That all changed in Game 2 of the super regionals against UTSA, shutting them out to win, 7-0, and sending the Bruins back to Omaha for the first time since 2013.
A clinic on the mound, the historic outing marked 16 consecutive scoreless innings for UCLA.
It was a low-scoring battle for most of the contest. The Bruins led 2-0 entering the eighth inning when the bats started heating up. Right fielder AJ Salgado doubled, center fielder Payton Brennen hit a line drive single that ricocheted off the Roadrunners’ right-hander Braylon Owens’s elbow and a pitch hit designated hitter Toussaint Bythewood.
UCLA went on to score two and three more in the ninth, which led to the final score. Five Bruins combined to throw the shutout, with the last four giving up zero hits across five innings.
Catching the final out, second baseman Phoenix Call bumped his fist emphatically as soon as the pop-up hit the leather and rushed to join his teammates in a joyful group hug. With the victory, the Bruins continue their incredible run to the mountaintop led largely by underclassmen.
LSU sweeps West Virginia, scores 30 runs across two games
D1Baseball’s No. 3-ranked preseason team, not reaching the MCWS would’ve been a letdown for the Tigers, especially after not making it out of the regional round a year prior.
LSU wiped away those worries on Sunday, sweeping West Virginia with a combined 30 runs over two games to capture its 20th MCWS appearance. The Tigers handled the Mountaineers with two big innings in the clinching victory, one in the second and the other in the seventh.
Scoring one run in the first, all nine LSU batters recorded an at-bat in the second, putting five across with three consecutive walks and three straight hits from shortstop Steven Milam, right fielder Josh Pearson and first baseman Jared Jones.
West Virginia chipped away at the six-run deficit in the fourth and fifth with four runs combined, carried by two home runs.
Yet, once the Tigers sensed the Mountaineers approaching, they put the game out of reach. They scored six runs in the seventh to take a 12-4 lead, getting three hits, two hit-by-pitches and reaching on two walks. The game came to a head when Brown mashed a two-run blast to dead center, collecting his third and fourth RBIs of the game.
West Virginia had no answer for LSU right-hander Chase Shores, who pitched the last 1.1 innings. The redshirt sophomore dialed up his opponents each at-bat, reaching triple digits on multiple occasions and punching out three of the four batters he faced, including the final out.
The Tigers, who are the second-highest national seed heading to Omaha, will face Arkansas, the highest seed, in the opening round.
Louisville wins ACC battle, outlasts Miami (FL) in Game 3
The Cardinals are back in the MCWS for the first time since 2019, downing Miami (FL) 3-2 in Game 3’s down-to-the-wire battle.
Game 3 epitomized the feelings of a win-or-go-home contest, a dogfight filled with heightened emotions and no room for separation. Whenever one team punched, the other was ready to respond.
The Hurricanes scored first on left fielder Max Galvin’s two-run homer down the right field line. The Cardinals answered in the fourth with three straight — a single, double and single — to tie it at 2-2.
Louisville didn’t break the stalemate until the seventh, when left fielder Eddie King Jr. hit a soft line drive tweener into center field that was quickly dying. Attempting to make a diving play, the ball hit the tip of Miami center fielder Michael Torres’ outstretched glove, trickling away and allowing Cardinals third baseman Jake Munroe, who was on second, to score. Munroe emphatically pumped his fist while running home in celebration of taking the lead.
The one-run lead was enough wiggle room for the Louisville pitching staff to work with, allowing just one hit in the final two innings.
The super regional victory completed Louisville’s complete 180 of a postseason, losing in the first round of the ACC tournament and losing eight of its final 11 games before regionals.