2015 NCAA Baseball Tournament: Super Regionals Day 1 Scores

Arkansas 18, Missouri State 4

It took a little while for things to get going for the Razorbacks. The early innings were not kind to them as the Bears' Jon Harris dismissed Hog after Hog while Trey Killian had issues getting Bears back to the bench.

The fourth inning was when the Razorbacks managed to break through, and break it open they did:

Joe Serrano led off the fourth with a double down the third base line. Bobby Wernes singled and they intentionally walked Andrew Benintendi to load the bases with no outs for Tyler Spoon, and Spoon made them pay with a 2-RBI single. The dam broke at that point. The Razorbacks added a third run in the inning when Clark Eagan hit a sac fly to score Benintendi. In the 5th inning, Tucker Pennell scored from first when Serrano doubled to left field.

In the 6th, Arkansas did serious damage with six runs. Benintendi led the inning off with a solo home run, his 19th of the year, with a shot over the Farm Bureau sign. Brett McAfee successfully laid down a suicide squeeze to score Spoon. Pennell had an RBI single, and then Serrano hit a 3-run home run to make it a 10-1 game. Missouri State would go on to score two more in the 6th, but at that point, the capacity crowd at Baum was in full celebration mode.

Serrano was the singular star of the game, going 3-for-4 with four RBI and a pair of runs scored. Andrew Benintendi didn't get much of a chance to match Serrano, as Missouri State pitched gingerly to him and walked him in three of his five trips to the plate. He did get that dinger in the sixth that set the tone for a six-run inning though. Killian may have thrown a few more pitches than would be strictly optimal, throwing 95 in six frames with eight hits and three walks, but he kept the damage down to a single run until the game was well out of hand.

This was Missouri State's first loss in 20 games, and perhaps it was a case of built up pressure relieving itself that the game got so out of hand. With the country's leading strikeout man Matt Hall facing them next, they'll need to prove they didn't use up all their offense in this one.

Florida 13, Florida State 5

The Gators set the tone early in their Super Regional game on Friday. After giving up a single to start the game, Logan Shore sat down three straight Seminoles to get out of the first without damage. Four of the first five Gators to the plate singled, with leadoff man Harrison Bader getting to second on an error. That hit parade gave them a 2-0 lead before the second out came. Jeremy Vasquez walked to load the bases, and a Mike Rivera single knocked two more runs in. The inning would end on the next batter, but UF had what felt like a commanding 4-0 lead through only the first frame.

The Gators chased FSU starter Boomer Biegalski before the third was even over, and a steady stream of runs—never more than four in an inning, never consecutive innings with a goose egg—kept the game out of hand. The Seminoles tried to make it interesting late against a faltering UF bullpen, but they couldn't do it:

Despite the late drama — FSU left the bases loaded in the top of the ninth — this game was effectively over when Seminoles starter Boomer Biegalski left in the third, having allowed five earned runs and recorded six outs. And the only things spoiled by FSU's late outburst were chances at history: Florida was in line for its biggest Super Regional win ever, and on pace to hand the 'Noles their worst shutout loss in NCAA Tournament play, before the five runs over the final two frames.

Florida simply overpowered Florida State, and despite some garbage time runs, it was a commanding performance for the Orange and Blue. Two SEC teams are now a single win away from Omaha thanks to an overpowering kind of Friday.