The NCAA Baseball Tournament resumed Friday with the start of the Super Regionals. The round of 16 continues Saturday with eight games, and at least four games are scheduled for Sunday, although there could be more depending on Saturday’s results in the best-of-three series.
Arkansas, which won the Stillwater Regional, took on Springfield Regional champion Missouri State on Friday. Maryland and Virginia, who won their respective regionals as No. 3 seeds, played in Charlottesville, Va.
Arkansas Razorbacks (Getty Images)MORE: Super Regional dates, times, TV | College World Series dates, times, TV
Miami, the No. 5 overall seed, stayed at home after winning its own regional to face VCU, which came out of the Dallas Regional as a No. 4 seed. Florida and Florida State, who won their respective regionals as hosts, faced off in Gainesville.
Because it shares a stadium with the Double-A affiliate of the Cardinals, Missouri State couldn’t host its Super Regional. The Bears had to travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on the Razorbacks. Missouri State, the No. 8 national seed, was the home team in Arkansas’ home stadium, but the Razorbacks fed off their home crowd.
Arkansas (39-22) broke open a close game with six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and cruised to an 18-4 win over the Bears (48-11). SEC Player of the Year Andrew Benintendi led off the inning with a home run.
Left fielder Joe Serrano and first baseman Clark Eagan each drove in four runs for the Razorbacks, who will try to wrap up their series Saturday and advance to the College World Series.
In Coral Gables, Fla., the Hurricanes (48-15) moved one step closer to a berth in the College World Series with a 3-2 win over VCU (40-24). After a 90-minute rain delay, Miami scored three runs in the second inning and held on for the win. Jacob Heyward, the younger brother of Cardinals outfielder Jason Heyward, drove in two runs for the Hurricanes.
“Huge win,” Miami coach Jim Morris said. “We need one more (win) . . . one more to get back to the Promised Land.”
Virginia (38-22) rallied for a 5-3 win over Maryland (42-23). The Cavaliers scored all their runs in the eighth inning as they chased Terrapins ace Mike Shawaryn, capped by Kevin Doherty’s bases-loaded double.
The Gators (48-16) had no problems with the Seminoles, rolling to a 13-5 victory. Florida State (44-20) managed just four hits against Florida pitcher Logan Shore, who struck out five over 5 2/3 innings. The Seminoles trailed 13-0 before finally scoring in the eighth inning. D.J. Stewart finished a 12-pitch at-bat with a two-run homer to right. Four errors also doomed the Seminoles, helping the Gators score five unearned runs.
Mike Rivera and Josh Tobias each drove in three runs for the Gators, who will go for a series sweep Saturday.
