1. Duke- The Blue Devils enter regional play flying under the radar having lost 8 of their last 11 including an early 0-2 exit in last week’s ACC Tournament. The overall body of work, however, suggests this is a team more than capable of reaching their 3 Super Regional appearance in the past 5 full seasons under head coach Chris Pollard. Their resume includes series wins at Boston College, Clemson, and Virginia as well as a 3 game sweep of Louisville in Durham. The pitching staff has been sensation ranking in the top 20 nationally in both ERA and strikeouts per game. The offense is more than capable of putting runs on the board ranking 34th in home runs per game at 1.7.
2. Arizona- The Wildcats come into Fayetteville red hot having won 7 out of 9 while scoring 10 plus runs in 5 of those games en route to reaching the Pac-12 Tournament Championship Game. On the season, the offense ranks 9th nationally in average, 12th in scoring, and 38th in home runs. The pitching staff, which struggled at times during the year, has been much improved as of late allowing 4 or less runs in 5 of the last 8 games. This team is battled tested having faced 42 quad 1/2 teams and 11 straight in the top 60 RPI to finish the season, which should prove beneficial entering what is arguably the toughest regional.
3. Santa Clara- The Broncos enter regional play on an 8-game winning steak capped off by a WCC Tournament Championship last weekend. They outscored their 4 opponents in Vegas by a combined score of 42-8. This is a well-rounded team that lacks any glaring weaknesses ranking in the top 60 nationally in both team batting average and team ERA. There is no question this will be a major step up in competition for 6th year head coach Rusty Filter’s squad. However, they did post an 8-6 record against quad 1/2 teams and could add to that win total if taken lightly by any of their 3 regional counterparts.
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