It’s already been a remarkable first day of the NCAA tournament, and there are a lot of games left to be decided. Here’s a quick roundup of some of the day’s memorable upsets instant classics:

• Lipscomb stunned top-seeded Georgia 10-7 in the Athens regional. The Bisons pounded three home runs–including catcher Caleb Joseph’s 17th of the year–and scored nine runs over 4 2/3 innings against Bulldogs starter Stephen Dodson. Georgia has enough arms to make a run through the loser’s bracket, but its starters have faltered down the stretch, and that flaw was very costly today.
• We told you St. John’s was dangerous. The Red Storm upset second-seeded Texas 2-1 in the Houston regional. Ace lefthander Scott Barnes allowed just one run on six hits over 7 2/3 innings for the Red Storm, who broke a 1-1 tie with an unearned run in the ninth.
• Oklahoma is surely eager to show the nation it belongs in the NCAA tournament, and the Sooners got off to a good start today, toppling Vanderbilt 8-5 in the Tempe regional. Oklahoma led 3-2 before breaking the game open with four runs in the sixth off Vandy starter Caleb Cotham. The Commodores would have loved to throw ace lefthander Mike Minor against Arizona State, but coach Tim Corbin will likely be obliged to start him in an elimination game tomorrow.
• San Diego beat California 5-0 in the Long Beach regional behind a gem from ace lefthander Brian Matusz, who struck out 10 and walked one in a complete-game, three-hit shutout. BA’s Dave Perkin reports that Matusz held his 89-92 mph fastball deep into the game and showed exceptional command of that pitch and his three plus offspeed offerings. Cal starter Tyson Ross held USD scoreless into the sixth before beginning to tire, allowing one in the sixth and four in the seventh–three of them unearned. Perkin said Ross threw almost exclusively fastballs and sliders, throwing only a handful of changeups and not commanding them well.
• A gargantuan upset is brewing in Tallahassee, where top-seeded Florida State trails fourth-seeded Bucknell 7-0 in the seventh. All-world two-way player Jason Buursma has two hits for Bucknell and looms in the bullpen for the late innings, though the Bison haven’t needed him yet thanks to six innings of scoreless, four-hit work from starter Mathew Wilson.
• Another top seed is being pushed here in Raleigh, where James Madison and North Carolina State were tied 2-2 in the seventh before Ryan Pond delivered a two-run double down the left-field line on a hanging 3-and-2 breaking ball a moment ago. The ‘Pack now leads 4-2 heading into the eighth.

NCAA Blog Central.