The Tucson Regional is one of the most interesting brackets in the field. Arizona is coming off of a PAC 12 conference tournament championship and is well familiar with two of their other opponents in Grand Canyon and Dallas Baptist. With West Virginia thrown into the mix as well this will undoubtedly make for a great Regional. Here’s a brief overview of each team along with a prediction for who will advance to the Super Regionals.
#1 Arizona Wildcats
This is the third time that Arizona will host the Regional in Tucson. They come into the NCAA Tournament with a 36-21 record and are hot coming off of their PAC 12 tournament championship. Their experience against teams like Grand Canyon and Dallas Baptist should be helpful, and hopefully it can be the difference in making the Super Regional.
Players to Watch | Season Stats
Brendan Summerhill – .329 BA, .964 OPS, 8 HR, 58 RBI
#2 Dallas Baptist Patriots
Dallas Baptist has been one of college baseball’s best mid-major programs in recent years. This year has been no different. In Conference-USA they not only won the tournament but went 17-7 with a target over their head the whole season. They went 44-13 overall and should be one of the more feared teams traveling to a Regional.
Players to Watch | Season Stats
Ryan Johnson – 1.98 ERA, .89 WHIP, 2 CG, 100.0 IP, 147 K, .211 B/AVG
Chayton Krauss – .352 BA, 1.042 OPS, 82 H, 16 HR, 64 RBI, .631 SLG
#3 West Virginia Mountaineers
West Virginia has their work cut out for them with Dallas Baptist in this Regional. Going 33-22 and 19-11 in the Big 12, they need to use their power five experience against a well established mid-major. Led by their first round potential draft pick JJ Wetherholt, they look to advance into the Supers.
Players to Watch | Season Stats
JJ Wetherholt – .356, 1.163 OPS, 37 H, 8 HR, 30 RBI, .663 SLG
#4 Grand Canyon Antelopes
GCU is another mid-major program that is well established among the college baseball world. Known recently for producing prospects like Jacob Wilson, the WAC champions played great competition outside of their conference and totalled a 34-23 record this season. They’re familiar playing Arizona, and it makes for an interesting opening matchup.
Players to Watch | Season Stats
Tyler Wilson – .381 BA, 1.129 OPS, 83 H, 16 HR, 63 RBI, .693 SLG
Predicted Winner: #2 Dallas Baptist
This is fairly evenly matched Regional and Dallas Baptist has the recent success instilled in their program’s culture already. They played great throughout the season and are clicking as a unit right now. If they stay hot they’re going to be a hard team to stop from advancing to the Supers.