Illinois LHP Kevin Duchene looks forward to the showdown with Carson Fulmer. (Kendall Rogers)

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Rogers: Regional Takes And Looking Ahead

1. Texas makes history, and not in a good way

Texas is the most historic program in college baseball history, so what they do in the postseason is always news. Even when it’s bad news. The Longhorns had their season end at the hands of Dallas Baptist Sunday afternoon, going 0-2 in the Dallas Regional. With that, it marks the first time since 1971 the Longhorns have failed to win a postseason game. That’s impressive to go that long without going 0-2, but also magnifies what, overall, was a very disappointing season for a preseason top-10 club. It also makes you ponder if there might be changes on the horizon in Austin after Big 12 rival Baylor parted ways with long-time coach Steve Smith last week, thus perhaps putting a twinkle in the eye of Texas athletic director Steve Patterson. Time will tell, but I think Augie Garrido, a college baseball legend, gets another season. On the other hand, the Texas job would attract the who’s who of college baseball coaches. I’d expect to see more of Garrido next season, and he’s earned that right with the amount of success he’s had.

Tres Barrera gives the Longhorns an anchor going into 2016. (Texas)

As for the Longhorns and looking ahead to next year, there are plenty of reasons for optimism in Austin. The Longhorns will likely lose outfielder Ben Johnson and shortstop CJ Hinojosa to the draft, but Bret Boswell, Zane Gurwitz, Tres Barrera and Michael Cantu, among others, will be back. And on the mound, the Longhorns should be better with righthander Morgan Cooper returning from an injury and Connor Mayes and Kyle Johnston giving the Longhorns two high quality sophomore arms. We still need to see how the summer and fall transpires for Garrido’s club, but again, there’s reason to believe they’ll be much improved. But then again, we also thought this was a top-10 team going into 2015.

2. South Florida eliminated, but the future is bright

When the Bulls hired Mark Kingston as their head coach last summer, we hailed that hire as an absolute home-run for good reason. Kingston experienced a great deal of success at Illinois State, a place that can be difficult to do so. Kingston and his talented coaching staff immediately worked their magic, leading the Bulls to a 34-26 overall record and making the program’s first NCAA regional appearance since 2002. The Bulls are highly likely to lose junior righthander Jimmy Herget and some others, but the future is bright with the Bulls possessing highly ranked 2015 and ’16 recruiting classes, respectively. This season was a step forward for USF, but it certainly wasn’t the finished product.

3. Virginia’s Brian O’Connor is just terrific

Everyone knows what we think about O’Connor as a coach. Perhaps no coach has been on as incredible of a run as the Cavaliers — once a much maligned program — during the O’Connor era. O’Connor has never missed the NCAA postseason, and though things looked bleak in the middle of the season for getting a berth, the long-time Cavaliers skipper rallied his players and they finished strong enough to make it into the field. Now, even without ace lefthander Nathan Kirby this past weekend in the Lake Elsinore Regional, the Cavaliers still managed to advance to the super regional round, where they’ll face Maryland in a rematch of last year’s Charlottesville Super Regional. O’Connor is in the mix for National Coach of the Year thanks to his patience and end of the season success.

4. Big Ten has successful performance

After earning a lot of headlines during the regular season, a lot of eyes this past weekend were on the Big Ten Conference and how it fared in the regional round of the postseason. Well, the conference passed a bevy of tests. Illinois, which tallied the nation’s longest winning streak this spring, rolled through the Champaign Regional in impressive fashion, Michigan reached the Louisville Regional title game against host Louisville, Iowa reached the Springfield Regional title game against host Missouri State, Maryland knocked off top national seed UCLA in the Los Angeles Regional title game, and even Indiana, the only Big Ten team not to reach a regional final, gave defending champion Vanderbilt much trouble in Saturday’s winners’ bracket game. We’ll see how many teams the Big Ten gets to the College World Series, but there’s no doubt the league passed a big set of tests in the first round of the postseason.

5. California will be a beast in 2016

I had the pleasure of seeing the Golden Bears in College Station this past weekend for three games, and I came away extremely impressed with Dave Esquer’s club, which finished the season with a 36-21 overall record and almost found a way to eliminate the hard-hitting Aggies. Upon further review, this is going to be a really, really good team in 2016, and perhaps one of those West Coast teams we have knocking on the door for the top 10. The Golden Bears will miss the big bat of first baseman Chris Paul, and potentially outfielder Devin Pearson, who showed a very good approach much of the weekend, but could opt to leave after getting drafted this summer. There are more juniors to watch, such as catcher Mitchell Kranson, who might’ve worked his way into the discussion with scouts after a strong weekend in College Station, and righthander Ryan Mason, who won’t be a high-round pick, but has enough quality attributes to get drafted in a decent round. Otherwise, the Bears have everyone back, including very talented young arms such as Jeff Bain and Daulton Jefferies, along with Alex Schick, Matt Ladrech and others. And in the field, the middle infield combo of Preston Grand Pre and Robbie Tenerowicz will be one of the nation’s best for the next couple of seasons. I thought California coach Dave Esquer wrapped up his team’s lessons from the College Station Regional in perfect fashion.

California’s Jeff Bain is one of several talented arms back in 2016. (Kendall Rogers)

“A few years ago, when we were driving to the College World Series in 2011, I texted a former player [Mark Canha] and told him we were in Omaha because of the contributions of guys like him,” Esquer said. “I sincerely hope that next year, I’m calling a guy like Chris Paul and having the same discussion with him.

“Though we lost and there are no moral victories in this program, I do feel like this team and program grew up this weekend,” Esquer said. “Our team actually fed off the energy of the crowd, and this team showed me a lot of things that could make for an exciting future.”

6. Virginia Commonwealth makes history

The Dallas Regional was one of the toughest this past weekend, but let’s be honest, it was thought to be mainly because of the inclusion of Dallas Baptist, Oregon State and Texas, which had shown a glimmer of hope with a strong showing in the Big 12 tournament. Then, there was VCU. Shawn Stiffler’s club had put together an impressive regular season, but definitely entered the weekend under the radar. VCU, though, used strong pitching to take care of business and advance to the super regional round.

For instance, in the opening win over Dallas Baptist, JoJo Howie struck out four and allowed just two runs on six hits in 6.2 innings, in a 5-1 win over Oregon State, Heath Dwyer struck out just two but also just allowed a run on three hits in 6.1 innings. And in the regional clincher Monday afternoon, VCU’s Sean Thompson allowed just a run on three hits in 5.1 innings, while Matt Lees came out of the bullpen to toss 3.2 shutout innings.

Yes, Miami will be favored, and rightfully so in the Coral Gables Super Regional, and yes, shutting down the Hurricanes offense will be difficult for this pitching staff. But VCU showed this past weekend to not be so surprise if the opposite ends up holding true.

Super Regional Storylines To Watch

1. Can Louisiana-Lafayette do it the year after?

Let’s get two things out of the way real quick. Yes, I do give the clear edge to LSU in this series, and yes, I do feel like the Cajuns’ experiences in last year’s Lafayette Super Regional could really help them this weekend. As everyone should remember, the Ragin’ Cajuns had one of the more explosive teams in the country all of last season, and lost a hard-fought super regional series to Ole Miss at home. The atmosphere was incredible and you walked away wishing a high-octane team like the Cajuns could’ve made a run through the College World Series. After all, that offensive lineup was a real treat to watch 1-9. The Cajuns aren’t quite as offensive as they were last season, but still have some real threats with Greg Davis getting some big hits in the Houston Regional, Stefan Trosclair tallying impressive power numbers, and of course, shortstop Blake Trahan having the skill set to have a huge weekend. The one area where LSU has a big advantage is on the mound, where the Cajuns will start three freshmen and a freshman closer this weekend. But, there are enough older players on this team to potentially get the job done. How ironic would it be, after the team Coach Tony Robichaux had last season, if the Cajuns not only got to Omaha with this team and beat LSU to do it? It would be an impromptu Mardi Gras in Lafayette.

Can Greg Davis and the Ragin’ Cajuns send Lafayette into euphoria this weekend? (Kendall Rogers)

2. Vanderbilt’s Carson Fulmer vs. Illinois’ Kevin Duchene

More than any other pitching matchup in a super regional this weekend, I’m absolutely geeked about the impending matchup between Fulmer, the outstanding righthander, and for my money, the best pitcher in college baseball, and Duchene, who was terrific when I saw him at Ohio State a few weeks ago and is a slam-dunk likely first team All-American. Fulmer showcases a mid-90s fastball, and he’ll hold that velocity for all nine innings, while also possessing a big-time and hard curveball. Meanwhile, Duchene will sit more, 88-92 with his fastball, but has very good command of the plate and showcases good secondary offerings. If you needed more convincing, Fulmer has a 1.92 ERA in 107.2 innings, along with 147 strikeouts and 41 walks, while Duchene has a 1.46 ERA in 98.2 innings, along with 86 strikeouts and 15 walks. It’s also quite ironic that the darling of the 2015 season must go through the defending champs to get to the CWS. It’s almost like it was planned that way.

Will Vanderbilt RHP Carson Fulmer out-duel Kevin Duchene this weekend? (Kendall Rogers)

3. Florida vs. Florida State: What else is there to say?

Does it really get much better than two hated rivals facing off in a super regional? The Gators and Seminoles aren’t strangers having faced each other several times this season, with the ‘Noles taking the season series, albeit all midweek games. But the drama surrounding this series is outstanding. Though we’ve seen how the two teams face off against midweek pitchers, we now get to see how the red-hot Gators and Seminoles square off with the weekend starters, which only adds to the element of intrigue. Florida’s Logan Shore and AJ Puk have been terrific the past few weeks, while Alex Faedo had a strong start against Florida Atlantic in the Gainesville Regional title game, striking out six, walking just one and allowing a run on three hits in six innings. An interesting note, however is that Faedo started against the Seminoles in late March and allowed three runs on six hits in four innings. Just something to file away going into the weekend. As for the Seminoles, Drew Carlton had a very strong performance in the Tallahassee Regional title game against College of Charleston, striking out nine, walking one and allowing just six hits in 6.2 shutout innings, and FSU as a whole pitched well throughout the weekend. This series should be a dandy, and in the overall series, FSU holds a 127-105-1 advantage. However, UF holds a 55-47 advantage in Gainesville, and Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan is 13-15 against legendary FSU head coach Mike Martin.

4. We get the much-wanted Lone Star Showdown

For most of the game between NC State and TCU on Monday night, it looked like we were destined to see a Wolfpack-Aggies super regional in College Station, but thanks to one of the more insane meltdowns in college baseball postseason history, the Horned Frogs advanced and will now host the Aggies this weekend. And let’s be honest, that’s the super regional that intrigued us the most when given the option. The Horned Frogs are known for their incredible pitching depth and big-time arms, while the Aggies, though they hit in the .270s in the College Station Regional, have a potent offensive lineup and finally seemed to find a groove from a pitching standpoint with Grayson Long, Matt Kent, Ryan Hendrix and Andrew Vinson leading the charge. Anyone that saw TCU’s rally on Monday knows that Lupton Stadium provides a very good home field advantage with the Horned Frogs fans clearly rattling NC State’s pitching staff, but also look for a heavy influx of maroon this weekend as well, setting the stage for what should be a tremendous atmosphere. The Aggies have the edge in this series, but it’s ultimately very close to a toss-up, as Jim Schlossnagle will have his Frogs ready to roll this weekend.

5. Maryland looking for redemption

The Terrapins made waves last postseason when they stormed through the Columbia, S.C., Regional, only to stumble against Virginia in the Charlottesville Super Regional, losing in ugly fashion in the series finale with an 11-2 loss. Now, after winning the Los Angeles Regional with a win over top national seed UCLA, the Terps hope to avenge last year’s series loss to the Cavaliers. While the Terps used a Johnny Wholestaff approach to beat the Bruins the first go-round in regional action, the title game was headlined by Maryland starting pitcher Taylor Bloom, who struck out two, walked one and allowed just one hit in six innings. The Maryland coaching staff just continues to do an incredible job with this program, and it wouldn’t be surprising if a perceived “bigger” program comes after head coach John Szefc. If he can accomplish what he is at Maryland, imagine what he could do at some bigger programs with unlimited budgets. Pretty scary thought, I’d say.

Ranking The Super Regionals

1. Vanderbilt at Illinois — The drama in this one is just fabulous with the defending champions needing to get past darling Illinois on the way to a possible repeat in the College World Series.

2. Florida State at Florida — Sure, the Seminoles and Gators have already met a few times this season. But now it’s weekend starter vs. weekend starter, and let’s face it, the stakes are much higher.

3. Texas A&M at TCU — The Aggies and Horned Frogs have been two of the more consistent teams this spring, and it’s only fitting the two will meet this weekend to decide Lone Star State supremacy.

4. Louisiana-Lafayette at LSU — Remember when the Cajuns almost beat Ole Miss to get to the College World Series last season? Well, if you thought the Cajuns were pumped up about that possibility, imagine the feeling of euphoria if they can send the high-octane Tigers packing for the postseason.

5. Missouri State at Arkansas — This super regional might not be the national leader, but it’s going to be a terrific series with the Bears possessing two outstanding starting pitchers in Matt Hall and Jon Harris, among other key cogs. Still, the Hogs, at home, in front of a massive set of crowds is a daunting task for Keith Guttin and the Bears.

6. Maryland at Virginia — Now that the Terps are in the Big Ten Conference, this suddenly turns into a terrific ACC vs. Big Ten bout this weekend at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers, who have played very well over the past week, are red-hot, while the Terps are back to their old ways here recently, putting on an impressive display in the Los Angeles Regional.

7. Cal State Fullerton at Louisville — Usually, this series would be of high acclaim, but it’s behind in the pecking order because of just how terrific some of these matchups are this weekend. Fullerton is pushing all the right buttons right now, while the Cards have been incredibly consistent the entire season, and put on a show in the Louisville Regional.

8. Virginia Commonwealth at Miami — This could still end up being one of the more intriguing super regionals, but it definitely lacks some glamour. VCU made an impressive statement this past weekend by winning the Dallas Regional, and could become this year’s Omaha darling by taking care of business against the Hurricanes this weekend.