NCAA baseball super regionals take shape, and UCLA ousted

OMAHA, Neb. – Seven of the eight national seeds in the NCAA baseball tournament advanced to super regionals, but the one that didn't advance is a big one:

No. 1 overall seed UCLA.

The Bruins fell 2-1 to Maryland late Monday night in Los Angeles, the biggest upset of the tournament so far.

Also advancing to the round of 16 were No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Louisville, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Miami, No. 6 Illinois, No. 7 TCU and No. 8 Missouri State.

Winners of the best-of-three super regionals go to the College World Series in Omaha, starting June 13.

In Los Angeles, freshman Taylor Bloom gave up one hit and one unearned run in six-plus innings and as the Terrapins stunned UCLA.

Kevin Martir had three hits and scored a run and closer Kevin Mooney pitched three scoreless innings to lift Maryland (42-22) into a super regional against Virginia, a rematch of the series Virginia won in three games last year.

Bloom did not have a three-ball count until he walked No. 3 hitter Ty Moore to lead off the seventh inning, when Mooney entered. Kort Peterson's one-out single after an infield error drove in Moore to make it 2-1, but Mooney struck out the final two batters of the inning.

Mooney struck out Darrell Miller Jr. with runners on first and third with two outs in the ninth inning. Mooney had three saves in the regional and struck out 10 of 19 batters.

UCLA finished 45-16.

The Super-regional matchups Friday through Sunday: Florida State at Florida, Virginia Commonwealth at Miami, Missouri State at Arkansas and Maryland at Virginia.

Matchups Saturday through Monday: Louisiana-Lafayette at LSU, Vanderbilt at Illinois, Cal State Fullerton at Louisville and Texas A&M at TCU.

The surprise team so far is Virginia Commonwealth, which became the fifth No. 4 regional seed to reach super regionals since the tournament went to its current format in 1999. The Rams (40-23) lost seven of their first 10 games and finished fourth in the Atlantic 10.

The Rams won the conference tournament to gain entry to regionals, where they beat Oregon State and won two of three over host Dallas Baptist. They are 14-1 in their last 15 games and are in their first super regional.

Virginia, the 2014 national runner-up, and Louisiana-Lafayette reached super regionals for the second straight year, this time as No. 3 regional seeds.

The Cavaliers (37-22) had lost three straight in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament before winning three in a row in the Lake Elsinore Regional. They have overcome a season-long run of injuries to make super regionals for the sixth time in seven years.

Lafayette (42-21) went 3-0 in the Houston Regional and has won eight straight.

"I don't think people understand how difficult it is to, No. 1, make the NCAA tournament, but then to be a national seed and now to win a regional, those are great accomplishments," Illini coach Dan Hartleb said. "This group has been outstanding because of what their vision is, and their vision is not just to win a regional."