We're almost done with the Regional round of the D1 Baseball tournament — a good time to take a look at some of the big-time performers so far. The entire field deserves a look, so we split the bracket down the middle to better cover it. This post covers Bracket 2 (Louisville, Nashville, Columbia, Clemson, Starkville, Lafayette, Coral Gables, And Oxford regions) which we recapped here. There's also a vote for Bracket 1 (the Gainesville, Tallahassee, Lubbock, Charlottesville, Fort Worth, College Station, Raleigh, and Baton Rouge regions).
But let's get to it. Vote for one offensive player and one pitcher per post. The poll will close Friday at noon Eastern time, so be sure to get your vote in on time and share with friends so they can vote as well. Let's get to it — the D1 Baseball Regional MVPs:
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Offense
Brendan McKay, DH/P
BR-1 Louisville: McKay went 5-for-11 in the Louisville Regional while knocking in three runs in the Cardinals’ three-game sweep through the regional tourney.
Austin Bush, 1B/DH
BR-56 UC Santa Barbara: Bush hit a home run in each of UCSB’s wins in the Nashville Regional, including a game-winner in the bottom of the 14th vs. BR-59 Washington, to lead the Gauchos into their first ever Super Regional.
Gene Cone, RF
BR-15 South Carolina: In four games at the Columbia Regional, Cone went 9-for-16 in leading South Carolina into Tuesday’s regional finals.
Corey Hassel, RF
BR-17 Oklahoma State: Hassel went 4-for-10 in the Clemson Regional and hit the decisive grand slam in the bottom of the fifth of the Cowboys’ upset win over BR-18 Clemson in the regional final..
Brent Rooker, DH
BR-8 Mississippi State: Went 4-for-10 at the Starkville Regional, including two homers vs. BR-43 Southeast Missouri to help lead the Bulldogs into Super Regionals.
Bobby Dalbec, 3B/P
BR-19 Arizona: Went 6-for-13 at the plate with a home run and 2 RBIs in four games at third base and pitched Arizona to a win over BR-52 Sam Houston State in the Lafayette Regional.
Carl Chester, CF
BR-5 Miami (Fla.): Went 5-for-14 at the Coral Gables Regional, including a 3-for-5 effort and the game winning run in the ‘Canes’ 4-3 extra inning thriller over BR-35 Long Beach State on Saturday.
Johnny Adams, SS
BR-54 Boston College: Went 7-for-12 in the Oxford Regionals, inlcuding a perfect 4-for-4 from the plate in the regional final vs. BR-32 Tulane as BC clinched their first Super Regional bid in program history.
Who was the Offensive MVP of the Regional Round (Bracket 2)?
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Pitching
Drew Harrington
BR-1 Louisville: Threw 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball as he scattered five hits and struck out five in the Cardinals’ Louisville Regional final win over BR-29 Wright State.
Justin Kelly
BR-56 UC Santa Barbara: Struck out 10 while allowing just one hit and no walks in two relief appearances over four innings, earning a win and a save during the Nashville Regional.
Tyler Johnson
BR-15 South Carolina: Earned two wins (to date) in the Columbia Regional, including a complete game in Monday’s 10-1 win over BR-30 UNC Wilmington.
Thomas Hatch
BR-17 Oklahoma State: Struck out 10 over seven shutout innings in OSU’s 6-0 win over BR-64 Nebraska in the Clemson Regional opener on Friday.
Zac Houston
BR-9 Mississippi State: Struck out 10 and allowed just two hits over six shutout innings in the Bulldogs’ 4-0 win over BR-31 Louisiana Tech in the Starkville Regional finals.
Nathan Bannister
BR-19 Arizona: Three days after throwing seven shutout innings against Sam Houston State, Bannister threw seven solid innings in picking up his second win of the Lafayette Regional in a 6-3 win over BR-21 Louisiana-Lafayette.
Tanner Brown
BR-35 Long Beach State: Held BR-36 Florida Atlantic to four hits while striking out seven over eight innings in the Dirtbags’ 5-1 elimination game win at the Coral Gables Regional.
Justin Dunn
BR-54 Boston College: Struck out 11 batters over seven innings while only allowing five hits an one walk in BC’s 7-2 win over Tulane in the Oxford Regional opener.
