The College World Series has arrived with Tennessee, Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, NC State, Florida, and Texas A&M all making it. The first games will be played on Friday with North Carolina and Virginia playing at 2:00 PM EST and Florida State facing Tennessee at 7:00 PM EST. On Saturday the other four teams will play with Kentucky facing NC State at 2:00 PM and Texas A&M facing Florida at 7:00 PM EST. Let’s look at each team and how they got here and a player to watch.
Tennessee Volunteers (55-12)
The Volunteers were the top seed entering the tournament finishing the regular season 46-10. They were the SEC Tournament Champions going 4-1 as they beat the LSU Tigers to secure the title. In the Regional Tournament round, they went 3-0 beating Northern Kentucky, Indiana, and Southern Miss. In the Super Regionals, they faced a Cinderella Story in Evansville, and after the Volunteers won the first game they were upset by the Aces in the second game to force a decisive Game 3 which Tennessee left no doubt and won 12-1 to advance to Omaha.
Player to Watch: INF – Christian Moore
Moore this season played in 66 games hitting .375 with a 1.249 OPS; he had 17 doubles, 32 home runs, 71 RBI, 75 runs scored, three stolen bases, and 35 walks.
Florida State Seminoles (47-15)
The Seminoles ended the regular season with a 39-14 record and then went on to go 3-1 in the ACC Tournament losing to Duke in the Championship Game. They entered the tournament as the eighth seed and swept through the first weekend going 3-0 beating Stetson and then UCF twice to advance to Super Regional Weekend. In the Super Regionals, they faced the Connecticut Huskies and dominated the first game winning 24-4 and in Game 2 in extra innings, they picked up the win 10-8 in 12 innings.
Player to Watch: OF/1B – James Tibbs
Tibbs this season played in 62 games hitting .374 with a 1.310 OPS; he has 17 doubles, one triple, 28 home runs, 94 RBI, 71 runs scored, seven stolen bases, and 54 walks.
North Carolina Tar Heels (47-14)
The Tar Heels finished the regular season with a 41-12 record entering the ACC Tournament. In the Tournament, they won their first game against Pittsburgh 12-2 before losing to Wake Forest 9-5 in 12 innings. They made the NCAA Tournament as the fourth overall seed and would go 3-1 in the Regional beating LSU twice and Long Island, the lone loss came against LSU to force a deciding game that UNC won 4-3 in 10 innings to advance to the Super Regionals where they faced off with West Virginia who the Tar Heels swept winning 8-6 and 2-1 to advance to the College World Series.
Player to Watch: OF – Vance Honeycutt
Honeycutt this season played in 59 games hitting .314 with a 1.111 OPS; he had 12 doubles, two triples, 26 home runs, 65 RBI, 85 runs scored, 28 stolen bases, and 35 walks.
Virginia Cavaliers (46-15)
The Cavaliers would finish the 2024 regular season 41-14 then in the ACC Tournament they would win their first game over Georgia Tech 13-0 before dropping the next game to Florida State 12-7. The Cavaliers were the 12th seed entering the tournament and in the Regional round they swept their way through beating Penn and then Mississippi State twice to advance to the Super Regionals where they matched up with Kansas State and Virginia swept their way through that to make the College World Series winning 7-4 and 10-4.
Player to Watch: SS – Griff O’Ferrall
O’Ferrall this season played in 61 games hitting .332 with a .838 OPS; he has 20 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 51 RBI, 64 runs scored, 17 stolen bases, and 21 walks.
Kentucky Wildcats (45-14)
The Wildcats ended the regular season with a 39-12 record entering the SEC Tournament where they went 1-2 beating Arkansas and losing to LSU and South Carolina but they would still end up being the second overall seed entering the tournament. The Wildcats would sweep through the Regional round beating Western Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana State. In the Super Regionals they swept Oregon State winning the first game 10-0 and the second game 3-2 to advance to Omaha.
Player to Watch: INF – Ryan Nicholson
Nicholson this season played in 56 games hitting .299 with a 1.080 OPS; he has ten doubles, 21 home runs, 61 RBI, 44 runs scored, three stolen bases, and 28 walks.
NC State Wolfpack (38-21)
The Wolfpack ended their regular season with a 33-19 heading into the ACC Tournament where they would go 1-1 beating Virginia Tech 19-9 and losing to Duke 8-1. They would be the tenth overall seed, they would sweep their way through the Regionals beating Bryant 9-2, South Carolina 6-4, and James Madison 5-3. In the Super Regionals, they would play Georgia going 2-1 against them winning the first game 18-1, dropping the middle game 11-2 before winning the deciding game 8-5.
Player to Watch: INF – Alec Makarewicz
Makarewicz has played in 59 games this season hitting .380 with a 1.183 OPS; he has 25 doubles, 22 home runs, 80 RBI, 64 runs scored, one stolen base, and 25 walks.
Florida Gators (34-28)
The Gators are the only team that wasn’t in the Top 16 of the tournament to make it to the College World Series. They finished the regular season at 28-26. In the SEC Tournament, they lost in the first round to Vanderbilt. In the tournament, they won their first game over Nebraska before losing to Oklahoma State and heading into the loser’s bracket. They went on to eliminate Nebraska then beat Oklahoma State twice to advance to the Super Regionals where they swept the Clemson Tigers 10-7 and 11-10 in 13 innings.
Player To Watch: P/1B – Jac Caglianone
Caglianone can make a difference on the plate and on the mound. At the plate he hit .411 with a 1.392 OPS; he has seven doubles, 33 home runs, 68 RBI, 79 runs scored, three stolen bases, and 52 walks. On the mound this season he made 15 starts going 5-2 with a 4.71 ERA, a 1.50 WHIP, and 82 strikeouts in 72.2 innings.
Texas A&M Aggies (49-13)
The Aggies finished the regular season with a 44-11 record entering the SEC Tournament where they lost both games, the first one to Mississippi State 5-3 and the second to Tennessee 7-4. They would end up being the third overall seed in the tournament, they swept the Regional beating Grambling 8-0 then Texas 4-2 in 11 innings and finally Louisiana 9-4 to advance to the Super Regionals where they faced Oregon winning both those games, Game 1 was 10-6 and Game 2 was 15-9.
Player to Watch: OF – Braden Montgomery
Montgomery this season played in 61 games hitting .322 with a 1.187 OPS; he has 14 doubles, one triple, 27 home runs, 75 RBI, 65 runs scored, five stolen bases, and 53 walks.
