2021 NCAA Baseball Tournament Sunday Regionals Schedule, Scores Analysis, TV & More — College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects

We’re onto Sunday of regionals.

Want to catch up on the first two days of action?

Sunday schedule + analysis is below and will be updated as the game progresses.

TIME (ET)	MATCHUP	WINNER	Regional	TV
12 p.m.	(2) UConn vs. (4) Central Michigan	CMU, 14-9	South Bend	ESPN3
12 p.m.	(2) Charlotte vs. (3) Maryland	UMD, 2-1	Greenville	ESPN3
12 p.m.	(2) Miami vs. (3) South Alabama	USA, 7-2	Gainesville	ESPN3
12 p.m.	(2) South Carolina vs. (3) Virginia	UVA, 3-2	Columbia	ESPNU
2 p.m.	(2) Arizona State vs. (3) Fairfield	FFD, 9-7	Austin	ESPN3
2 p.m.	(2) Southern Miss. vs. (3) Florida State	USM, 7-4	Oxford	ACCN
2 p.m.	(2) Duke vs. (3) Liberty	LU, 15-4	Knoxville	ESPN3
2 p.m.	(1) TCU vs. (2) Oregon State	OSU, 3-2	Fort Worth	ESPN3
3 p.m.	(1) Louisiana Tech vs. (3) Alabama	LT, 10-8	Ruston	SECN
3 p.m.	(2) VCU vs. (3) Campbell	CU, 19-10	Starkville	ESPN3
3 p.m.	(2) Georgia Tech vs. (3) Indiana State	GT, 9-0	Nashville	ESPN3
3 p.m.	(2) Nebraska vs. (4) NJIT	NEB, 18-4	Fayetteville	ESPN3
3 p.m.	(2) UCLA vs. (3) North Carolina	UCLA, 12-2	Lubbock	ESPNU
3 p.m.	(2) Oklahoma State vs. (3) UC Santa Barbara	UCSB, 13-3	Tucson	ESPN3
4 p.m.	(2) UC Irvine vs. (4) North Dakota State	UCI, 18-3	Stanford	ESPN3
6 p.m.	(1) Notre Dame vs. (4) Central Michigan	ND, 14-2	South Bend
6 p.m.	(1) Old Dominion vs. (3) Virginia	UVA, 8-2	Columbia	ESPN3
6 p.m.	(4) South Florida vs. (3) South Alabama	PPD	Gainesville
6 p.m.	(1) Tennessee vs. (3) Liberty	TENN, 3-1	Knoxville	SECN
6 p.m.	(2) Gonzaga vs. (3) LSU	LSU, 9-4	Eugene	ESPN3
7 p.m.	(3) Dallas Baptist vs. (2) Oregon State	OSU, 5-4	Fort Worth
7 p.m.	(2) NC State vs. (1) Louisiana Tech	NCSU, 14-7	Ruston
7 p.m.	(1) Texas Tech vs. (2) UCLA	TTU, 8-2	Lubbock
7:30 p.m.	(1) Mississippi vs. (2) Southern Miss	USM, 10-7	Oxford
8 p.m.	(1) Mississippi State vs. Campbell	PPD	Starkville
8:30 p.m.	(1) East Carolina vs. (3) Maryland	ECU, 9-6	Greenville
9 p.m.	(1) Arizona vs. (3) UC Santa Barbara	ARIZ, 5-2	Tucson
9 p.m.	(1) Arkansas vs. (2) Nebraska	NEB, 5-3	Fayetteville
9 p.m.	(1) Stanford vs. (2) UC Irvine	UCI, 8-4	Stanford
9 p.m.	(1) Texas vs. (3) Fairfield	UT, 12-2	Austin
9 p.m.	(1) Vanderbilt vs. (2) Georgia Tech	VU, 14-11	Nashville
10 p.m.	(1) Oregon vs. (3) LSU	LSU, 4-1	Eugene

Teams Eliminated Sunday

Connecticut
Charlotte
Miami
South Carolina
Arizona State
Florida State
Duke
Texas Christian
Alabama
Indiana State
NJIT
North Carolina
Oklahoma State
North Dakota State
Gonzaga
Virginia Commonwealth
Central Michigan
Liberty
UCLA
Louisiana Tech
Fairfield
UC Santa Barbara
Georgia Tech

ANALYSIS

Advancing to Super Regionals

– Notre Dame punched its ticket to its first super regional since 2002 with a 14-2 win over Central Michigan. Over three games in South Bend this weekend, the Irish outscored the opposition 50-5, further suggesting that they were more than deserving of being a top-eight seed. In Sunday’s game, Aidan Tyrell was great on the mound, giving up eight hits and two runs in eight innings and the lineup slugged five home runs, two of them by DH Carter Putz.

– Tennessee earned its first trip to a super regional since 2005 with a 3-1 win over Liberty. The duo of lefthander Will Heflin (5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R) and righthander Sean Hunley (3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R) combined to hold the Flames to one run on five hits and strike out 13 batters. Jake Rucker got the UT scoring started with an RBI single in the third inning, but the big blow came on a Drew Gilbert two-run homer in the fifth, cementing his place as the undisputed MVP of the Knoxville Regional. The Volunteers will host again next weekend and await the winner of the Eugene Regional, which will be either Oregon or Louisiana State.

– North Carolina State is in a super regional for the first time since 2013 after it clinched the Ruston Regional championship with a 14-7 win over Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs hung in with the Wolfpack, trading runs for the first four-and-a-half innings, but a six-run bottom of the fifth and a four-run bottom of the sixth for NC State were back-breakers for the host team. The Pack collected 19 hits, including three-hit games from Austin Murr, Tyler McDonough and J.T. Jarrett. Luca Tresh and Devonte Brown also had home runs, with Brown driving in five on the day. An impressive second half of the season continues for NC State. From down and out midway through the season, this team not only got into a regional, but dominated the competition in Ruston this weekend.

– As so often happens, Texas Tech made getting through a regional in Lubbock look easy. This time, it clinched a spot in super regionals with an 8-2 win over UCLA. Lefthander Mason Montgomery turned in a solid start, giving up two hits and two runs (one earned) in five innings and three relievers held the Bruins scoreless over the final four. On offense, right fielder Easton Murrell led the way with a 3-for-3 day. Even in a year when Texas Tech dealt with tons of injuries and had more questions on the mound than ever, it seemed, it’s right back on the doorstep of Omaha.

– Against a Fairfield team that simply looked out of gas, Texas advanced to a super regional with a 12-2 win. Lefthander Pete Hansen was quite good, striking out 13 and allowing six hits and two runs in 6.2 innings and the offense did enough work early, scoring 10 runs in the first three frames, to allow the Longhorns to coast in for the win. UT now awaits the winner of the regional final between South Alabama and South Florida in Gainesville.

– For the second day in a row against UC Santa Barbara, Arizona got it done on the mound, and this time, with a 5-2 victory, it pushes the Wildcats to a super regional at home in Tucson, where it will take on either Mississippi or Southern Mississippi. Righthander Chandler Murphy turned in five solid innings of work, allowing just one run, before turning the ball over to five different relievers, who combined to hold the Gauchos to one unearned run on three hits. You knew you could count on the Wildcats’ lineup going into the weekend, but coming out of it, the pitching staff has also provided plenty of new evidence that it can be trusted as well.

– East Carolina defeated Maryland 9-6 to advance to a super regional in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history. The Pirates’ lineup kept pressure on Terrapins pitching all game long, scoring in six separate innings, with a three-run eighth, capped by a two-run double from Zach Agnos, being the difference-maker. It wasn’t the prettiest game on the mound for ECU, but it flexed its bullpen muscles, leaning on six pitchers to get the job done. Now comes the hard part for the Pirates. They’ve been to super regionals a number of times before but have never been able to break through. Will this be the year?

– Vanderbilt clearly got Georgia Tech’s best shot, but the Commodores were able persevere and secure a 14-11 win and a spot in the super regionals. This was a game where the Yellow Jackets refused to go away. With Vandy up 7-3, Georgia Tech scored five in the fifth, three coming on a home run from Stephen Reid, to take an 8-7 lead. After the Commodores took control, and a 9-8 lead, in the eighth, Drew Compton homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to tie it 9-9 and send it to extra innings. But ultimately, Vandy just had one more one push left, and in the top of the 11th, Isaiah Thomas connected for a grand slam to put them up for good, closely followed by an RBI double by Jayson Gonzalez for good measure. Georgia Tech’s Kevin Parada kept things going in the bottom of the 11th with a two-run homer, but it wasn’t enough for yet another comeback. Next weekend, the Commodores will welcome East Carolina to Nashville.

Moving to Game Seven

– In a dramatic, well-played regional final, Oregon State walked off with a 5-4 win over Dallas Baptist to force a game seven on Monday in Fort Worth. The Beavers just kept punching back every time DBU landed a blow. The Patriots went up 2-0 in the first, but OSU scored one in the first and one in the fourth to tie it. DBU jumped ahead 3-2 with a run in the fifth, only to have OSU score two in the sixth to take a 4-3 lead. And after the Patriots tied the game 4-4 in the top of the ninth, the Beavers walked it off in the bottom half on a Garret Forrester solo homer. Oregon State got a great team bullpen effort in a game where it was really all hands on deck with four pitchers combining to give up three hits and one run in 4.1 innings. The quality depth of pitching OSU boasts makes it feel like it’s in decent shape, even in a game seven Monday.

– It was a heck of a day for Virginia. After winning a hard-fought game with South Carolina to begin the day, it took it to Old Dominion in the nightcap for an 8-3 win, forcing a seventh game on Monday. The star of the show was righthander Brandon Neeck. After ODU scored three runs against Griff McGarry to make it a 5-3 game in the fifth, Neeck came on and ended up throwing 5.2 scoreless innings to hold the Monarchs at bay and deliver the win. DH Devin Ortiz had a big day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and a home run. Monday’s finale in Columbia, which feels like a virtual toss-up, should be wild.

– Neither team got what it wanted from the pitchers who started the game, but in a 10-7 win, Southern Mississippi found just a few more outs than Mississippi. After the first threw USM pitchers allowed seven runs in the first four innings, righthander Tanner Hall took the ball and threw five scoreless innings with just one hit allowed. That work allowed the nine runs that the Golden Eagles scored in the first two frames to stand up for the rest of the game. Second baseman Will McGillis continued his hot-hitting ways, going 2-for-3 with a home run and center fielder Reed Trimble drove in four. Neither team feels like it’s in a very good place in terms of what it has left on the mound, and that means that Monday’s game in Oxford will be all hands on deck for both sides.

– It was easy to assume coming into the weekend that Arkansas was going to waltz through its home regional, but Nebraska complicated matters on Sunday with a 5-3 win that will force an extra game on Monday. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, the Cornhuskers scored three in the frame on a Spencer Schwellenbach RBI single and a two-RBI single off the bat of Griffin Everitt. From there, Schwellenbach took it home on the mound. He threw 4.2 scoreless giving up one hit and two walks. Just in general, you have to like the Razorbacks’ chances to secure a win on Monday, especially given that Kevin Kopps did not pitch on Sunday. But game sevens are always a dicey proposition.

– Louisiana State seems intent on keeping Paul Mainieri in the coaching profession for as long as possible, as it beat Oregon 4-1 on Sunday to push the Eugene Regional to a deciding seventh game on Monday. LSU employed the opener strategy on the mound and it worked to perfection. After Trent Vietmeier started and threw one scoreless innings, lefthander Javen Coleman came on and threw six innings, giving up just one run. Whether it was the plan to really try to stretch him that long or it just worked out that way, the Tigers will take it. While Coleman was carving up the Ducks, Gavin Dugas and Dylan Crews were lifted LSU to victory at the plate. Tied 1-1 in the fourth, Dugas hit a solo homer to give his team the lead. He followed with a Little League home run (a triple and a run-scoring error) in the sixth, and Crews capped the scoring with a homer in the eighth. With the lead, Devin Fontenot closed it out with two scoreless innings.

– Thanks to a wild six-run eighth inning, UC Irvine completed a comeback and downed Stanford 8-4 to force a final game Monday. The six-run inning, which featured a Nathan Church two-RBI double, a Thomas McCaffrey RBI infield single, a Jacob Castro RBI infield single and a Connor McGuire two-run double completely changed what had been a game Stanford was fairly comfortably leading 4-2. After the Cardinal got to UCI starter Peter Van Loon for four runs in five innings, Gordon Ingebritson and Jacob King combined to throw four scoreless frames the rest of the way. UCI came into the weekend with an advantage in pitching depth, but now that it will be pushed to its fifth game of the weekend, it feels like that edge has eroded at least a little bit and Stanford’s edge offensively could be a deciding factor. Time will tell.

Eliminations

– Things really opened up for Miami in the Gainesville Regional when host Florida went 0-2, but the Hurricanes weren’t able to take advantage. After dropping the winner’s bracket game to South Florida Saturday, UM was eliminated by South Alabama by a 7-2 score on Sunday. The Canes just couldn’t get much going offensively against a deep, talented USA pitching staff, scoring two runs on the day. Jags’ righthander JoJo Booker gave up two runs in 5.1 innings, with the bullpen duo of Jase Dalton and Tyler Samaniego combining to throw 3.2 scoreless innings to close it out. Miami should be ready to make more noise in 2022 and beyond, but putting itself in position for a deep postseason run this season would have been a big deal for a young team. The Hurricanes finish the season 33-21.

– Charlotte and Maryland gave us a well-pitched elimination game, the likes of which you don’t often see on regional Sunday. Both starters were excellent in what turned out to be a 2-1 Terrapins win. Charlotte’s Matt Brooks gave up four hits and one run in eight innings, with Maryland’s Ryan Ramsey allowing three hits and one run in eight innings of his own. In the bottom of the ninth, the Terps hit four singles in a row, with the winning run coming home on a Justin Vought single. With such little pitching used in an elimination game, Maryland is set up as well as it could have hoped to play East Carolina well tonight. A fantastic season for Charlotte, meanwhile, ends with a 41-20 record.

– South Carolina was eliminated from its home regional with a 3-2 loss against Virginia, which pitched extremely well. Righthander Matt Wyatt, whose numbers weren’t great coming into the game, carved up the South Carolina lineup in five shutout innings. And although the Gamecocks scratched two runs across to make it a game at 3-2, sidewinding closer Stephen Schoch came on in the seventh and went the rest of the way, tossing 2.1 shutout frames. South Carolina’s season ends with a 34-23 record.

– After being Notre Dame’s first victim this weekend, Central Michigan has bounced back nicely to win back-to-back games, this time eliminating Connecticut by a 14-9 score. CMU only scored in three separate innings, but it scored five, four and five runs in those innings, respectively. It wasn’t a pretty game for the Chippewas on the mound, as three pitchers gave up nine runs on 18 hits, but they strung together enough outs to get the job done. Winning two games against the Irish appears to be a nearly impossible task right now, but regardless, Central Michigan should celebrate being in a regional final. UConn’s season ends with a 34-19 record, but there was plenty to feel good about, with the Huskies first season back in the Big East resulting in a conference title.

– Fairfield’s magical season continued with a 9-7 win over Arizona State, moving the Stags to the regional final and eliminating the Sun Devils. ASU jumped out to a 5-0 lead in this one, but Fairfield scored all nine of its runs between the third and sixth innings, to take the lead. Lefthander Michael Sansone made sure that lead stuck, throwing three scoreless innings before John Signore got the last out of the victory. For ASU, it was a familiar bugaboo popping up again. Significant injuries sapped the team’s pitching depth this season and that weakness was on display again Sunday. But at the same time, ASU fighting through those injuries just to get as far as it got is impressive. Its season ends with a 33-22 record.

– For the second time this weekend, Liberty blew out Duke, this time by a 15-4 score in an elimination game that booted the Blue Devils from the tournament. The Flames put up eight runs in the first inning, with six of those coming home against Cooper Stinson, and they never looked back. The big blow in the first frame was a grand slam off the bat of Jaylen Guy, who had five RBI total on the day. On the mound, Liberty was able to get it done with just lefthander Mason Meyer throwing a complete game, which sets it up as well as possible to take a shot at Tennessee tonight. The magic that Duke found late in the regular season and in the ACC Tournament just didn’t translate over to regionals, and more specifically, clearly didn’t translate over to its games against Liberty. The Blue Devils end the season with a 33-22 record.

– In a tense affair Sunday afternoon, Oregon State took down Texas Christian by a 3-2 score. Tied 2-2 in the ninth inning, the Beavers pushed across the go-ahead run on an RBI single by Justin Boyd. OSU also got a great team pitching effort. Jake Pfennigs gave up two runs in five innings before the bullpen quartet of Nathan Burns, Bryant Salgado, Jack Washburn and Mitchell Verburg combined to throw four scoreless innings of relief on one hit against a mature TCU offense. The Horned Frogs enjoyed an undeniably excellent season, but they were never able to play their best baseball against the best teams on the schedule, with Oklahoma State and Liberty its only series wins against regional teams, and that trend continued this season, forcing their elimination. TCU finishes with a 41-19 record.

– Louisiana Tech did what it does best by winning a 10-8 slugfest against Alabama to advance to the regional final against North Carolina State and send the Crimson Tide packing. The teams traded blows all game long, but the Bulldogs’ early salvos, with nine runs scored in the first four innings, ended up making the difference. Four different La Tech hitters had homers, and three, Steele Netterville, Cole McConnell and Philip Matulia had three RBI. The Tide had a trying season and for that reason, just getting to a regional for the first time since 2014 has to be considered a big success.

– Nebraska brought NJIT back down to earth on Sunday with an 18-4 blowout. The Highlanders held the Cornhuskers at bay fairly well early, but an eight-run fourth and a six-run fifth ended all hope of an upset. Right fielder Joe Acker led the Nebraska lineup out of the leadoff spot, going 4-for-5 with a triple and a home run, making him one of four Huskers with a round-tripper. RIghthaner Shay Schanaman also did a nice job of denying NJIT much belief when it was on offense, allowing two runs (one earned) in seven innings. NJIT’s first season in the America East was an unmitigated success as it not only secured its first postseason bid but also the first NCAA Tournament win for any NJIT team since the school joined Division I. It finishes the season with a 27-24 record.

– Southern Mississippi beat Florida State 7-4 to secure a spot in the Oxford Regional final. The Golden Eagles fell behind 4-1 early, but rallied back to tie it 4-4 in the seventh on a Will McGillis solo homer, take a 6-4 lead in the eighth and then push it out to a 7-4 advantage with a run in the ninth. Ryan Och was the hero on the mound for USM. After getting just 2.2 innings out of starter Drew Boyd, Och threw 4.2 shutout innings with 11 strikeouts to give the offense time to work. The Seminoles end the season with a 31-24 record, which ends its decades-long streak of 40-win seasons.

– Georgia Tech took care of business against Indiana State with a 9-0 win. Righthander Andy Archer threw a shutout, giving up four hits and three walks along the way, and Drew Compton paced the offense with a three-hit day that included two home runs. Indiana State’s season, which resulted in its first back-to-back postseason appearances since 1986-1987, ends with a 31-21 record.

– UCLA took advantage of a North Carolina pitching staff that didn’t have a ton left in the tank on the way to a 12-2 win in Lubbock, moving the Bruins to the final against Texas Tech. UCLA was on top 5-0 in the first, and by the end of the fourth, it was leading 10-2. Righthander Zach Pettway also gave the team just what it needed by throwing a complete game, saving the rest of the pitching staff for the tall task of trying to beat Texas Tech tonight. UNC’s season ends with a 28-27 record.

– For the second time this weekend, UC Santa Barbara handed Oklahoma State a blowout loss. This time, the Gauchos claimed a 13-3 win. The rout was on early, as UCSB jumped out to a 12-0 lead after the fourth, thanks in large part to a six-run second inning. Cory Lewis was excellent on the mound as well, giving up four hits and one run in eight innings, putting UCSB in the best possible pitching position heading into the regional final against Arizona tonight. Oklahoma State wasn’t able to keep up the momentum from getting to the Big 12 Tournament final and exits 1-2 in the regional and 36-19-1 for the season.

– North Dakota State saw its season come to a close on Sunday with an 18-3 loss to UC Irvine. The Anteaters blitzed the Bison with nine runs in the first two frames, and righthander Trenton Denholm threw the ball well, giving up six hits and one run in 7.1 innings. NDSU is undoubtedly disappointing to have its season end like this, but it’s certainly a season worth celebrating. It finished with a 42-19, which is a program record for wins in a single season.

– With a 9-4 win, Louisiana State extended coach Paul Mainieri’s career for at least one more game and sent Gonzaga home. The Zags took a 2-0 lead in the first, but LSU responded with four runs of its own in the bottom half and then added two more in the second, chasing Gonzaga starter Alec Gomez after just one-plus inning. A.J. Labas wasn’t perfect for the Tigers, but he gave them the length that they needed, throwing eight innings. The Bulldogs’ season ends with a 34-19 record and some what-ifs. Had Gonzaga won its season-ending series with San Diego, perhaps it’s hosting a regional and things turned out a little differently.

– In a game that took more than four-and-a-half hours, Campbell outlasted Virginia Commonwealth by a 19-10 score to advance to the Starkville Regional final, which was moved to Monday due to inclement weather. The Camels scored 19 runs on just 14 hits because VCU pitchers also issued 14 walks and hit two batters. The teams were going back and forth for much of the game, but Campbell bringing in righthander Ty Cummings was a game-changer. He threw 3.1 scoreless to keep the Rams at bay and close out a marathon win.