Notre Dame surprised Tennessee, East Carolina beat Texas and Oklahoma edged Virginia Tech as the NCAA baseball super regionals began Friday with four matchups.
The Fighting Irish beat top-seeded and host Tennessee 8-6 in Game 1 of the Knoxville Super Regional, hitting three home runs off Tennessee starter Blade Tidwell to jump out to a 5-0 lead in the third inning.
Jack Brannigan then crushed a three-run homer in the fourth inning to give Notre Dame an 8-1 lead. The top-seeded Volunteers rallied with two solo homers and a two-run double to cut it to 8-5 by the bottom of the seventh. Jordan Beck belted a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth, but Tennessee couldn’t complete the comeback.
It was the first home loss in a super regional for the Volunteers, who now need to win Saturday and Sunday in the best-of-three series to reach the College World Series.
No. 8 seed East Carolina needs just one more win to advance to the CWS for the first time in program history after the Pirates downed No. 8 seed Texas 13-7 in the Greenville (North Carolina) Super Regional. The Pirates are in the NCAA tournament for the 32nd time but have never made it to the CWS.
The Sooners built a 5-0 lead before holding off the No. 4 seed Hokies 5-4 in Blacksburg, Virginia.
In Friday’s late game, No. 5 seed Texas A&M was trailing No. 12 Louisville 3-2 in the fourth inning in College Station, Texas.
Four other super regionals begin with Game 1 on Saturday: No. 2 Stanford vs. UConn; No. 10 North Carolina vs. Arkansas; No. 11 Southern Miss vs. Ole Miss; and No. 3 Oregon State vs. No. 14 Auburn.
The eight super regional winners earn spots in the CWS, set for June 17-27 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Here’s a look at Friday’s super regionals scores, along with the schedule for the rest of the weekend.
NCAA BASEBALL SUPER REGIONALS
Best of three; x-if necessary
All times Pacific
Knoxville Super Regional
At Lindsey Nelson Stadium | Knoxville, Tennessee
(1) Tennessee (56-8) vs. Notre Dame (39-14)
Game 1: Notre Dame 8, Tennessee 6; Notre Dame leads series 1-0
Game 2: 11 a.m. Saturday, June 11 (ESPN)
x-Game 3: TBD Sunday, June 11 (TBD)
Greenville Super Regional
At Clark-LeClair Stadium | Greenville, North Carolina
(8) East Carolina (46-19) vs. (9) Texas (45-20)
Game 1: East Carolina 13, Texas 7; East Carolina leads series 1-0
Game 2: 9 a.m. Saturday, June 11 (ESPN2)
x-Game 3: TBD Sunday, June 12 (TBD)
College Station Super Regional
At Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park | College Station, Texas
(5) Texas A&M (40-18) vs. (12) Louisville (42-19-1)
Game 1: 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 10 (ESPNU)
Game 2: Noon Saturday, June 11 (ESPN2)
x-Game 3: TBD Sunday, June 12 (TBD)
Blacksburg Super Regional
At English Field | Blacksburg, Virginia
(4) Virginia Tech (44-13) vs. Oklahoma (41-21)
Game 1: Oklahoma 5, Virginia Tech 4; Oklahoma leads series 1-0
Game 2: 9 a.m. Saturday, June 11 (ESPNU)
x-Game 3: TBD Sunday, June 12 (TBD)
Stanford Super Regional
At Klein Field at Sunken Diamond | Stanford, California
(2) Stanford (45-15) vs. UConn (49-14)
Game 1: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 11 (ESPNU)
Game 2: 4 p.m. Sunday, June 12 (ESPN2 or ESPNU)
x-Game 3: TBD Monday, June 13 (TBD)
Chapel Hill Super Regional
At Boshamer Stadium | Chapel Hill, North Carolina
(10) North Carolina (42-20) vs. Arkansas (41-19)
Game 1: 8 a.m. Saturday, June 11 (ESPN)
Game 2: 10 a.m. Sunday, June 12 (ESPN or ESPN2)
x-Game 3: TBD Monday, June 13 (TBD)
Hattiesburg Super Regional
At Pete Taylor Park | Hattiesburg, Mississippi
(11) Southern Miss (47-17) vs. Ole Miss (35-22)
Game 1: 1 p.m. Saturday, June 11 (ESPNU)
Game 2: 1 p.m. Sunday, June 12 (ESPN2 or ESPNU)
x-Game 3: TBD Monday, June 13 (TBD)
Corvallis Super Regional
At Goss Stadium at Coleman Field | Corvallis, Oregon
(3) Oregon State (47-16) vs. (14) Auburn (40-19)
Game 1: 7 p.m. Saturday, June 11 (ESPN2)
Game 2: 7 p.m. Sunday, June 12 (ESPN2)
x-Game 3: TBD Monday, June 13 (TBD)
