We are one of the 30 teams that have made the NCAA Championships that will be played at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona May 28th-June 2nd.
The format is the first 3 days are stroke play May 28th, 29th and 30th. After the third round, the field will be cut down to the 15 lowest scoring teams. Those top 15 will play another round of stroke play on Monday, May 31st, with the top 8 finishers qualifying for the match play. Those eight teams will play quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Tuesday, June 1st. The two winners of the match play competition will play for the national championship on Wednesday, June 2nd, probably teeing off around 10 AM or so, will know more closer to the start of the competition. Golf Channel will televise. Will have details on TV coverage next week.
Stanford is the defending national champion, but did not make the field this year. They defeated us in 2019 in the Final Four. No tournament last year due to COVID.
Huge stuff for the team. I like where we are and where we’re headed. Quite a challenge in front of us, but we’re up for it.
Sophomore shortstop Carter Young dislocated his left shoulder sliding headfirst into second base Tuesday Night against Florida International. No timetable is set for his return. They are doing an MRI today to find out the extent of the injury. We will surely miss Carter, but he could be back sooner rather than later. Tate Kolwyck will take over at short, and Tate is highly capable to fill Carter’s shoes for as long as necessary. Tate was a shortstop in high school and practices a lot at short during the season. Jayson Gonzalez will play third and Parker Noland will move over to second. Carter has hit 15 homers and 47 RBIs, which both lead the team, so our other guys will have to step it up at the plate.
Kumar on the hill tonight at 6:30 PM CT on ESPN+. Kumar is 11-2, leading the nation in victories, and features a 2.44 ERA with 25 walks against 118 K’s. Jack Leiter, who will start tomorrow night with first pitch at 6:30 CT, has one more strikeout than Kumar at 119. That total leads nationally, so interesting little friendly competition going on. Patrick Reilly will be our starter Saturday. First pitch for Saturday’s game is at 2 PM CT. All 3 games will be on SEC Network+. I’m guesstimating that Kentucky right hander Cole Stupp will get the start tonight. He is 4-5 with a 4.98 ERA. Kentucky is 11-16 in the SEC and 28-20 overall, so this is a critical series for both teams.
We are now 17-9 and 37-12. Arkansas is 19-8 and Tennessee is 18-9 with Florida and Miss. State at 17-10. Ole Miss is at 16-11. So we need to do well tonight and throughout the weekend.
Other series in the SEC this weekend.
No.9 Florida @No.1 Arkansas
No.4 Tennessee @ No.21 South Carolina
No.13 Ole Miss @Georgia
And we’re No.3 in the country.
We just need to be successful tonight and not look ahead. Big implications for the SEC Tournament and for the national tournament, so the old saying of one at a time is applicable in a major way this weekend.