Goss, Underwood prep for NCAA Clemson Regional with UNC-Greensboro
The UNC-Greensboro baseball team — with local Cartersville players Michael Goss and Jo Jo Underwood on the roster — earned its first Southern Conference Tournament title Sunday afternoon, run-ruling the Furman Paladins in the SoCon Championship Game. As a result the Spartans are an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Championship Tournament’s field of 64.
UNCG learned Monday afternoon that their Road to Omaha will go through Clemson, SC this weekend. The Spartans, host Tigers, St. John's Red Storm and the Vanderbilt Commodores are the teams placed in the Clemson Regional.
PHOTOS: (L-R) Goss, Underwood
Goss is coming off a Southern Conference Tournament performance that earned him a spot on the All-Tournament Team. In the two-game finals, Goss was 5-for-9 with a home run and six RBIs. He enters the Clemson Regional with a season .320 batting average, 8 homers, and 52 RBIs in 53 games with 194 at-bats.
Underwood did not see action in the SoCon Tourney, but has been a key contributor all season with a .314 batting average, two homers, and nine RBIs in 51 at-bats across 25 games. He has seen action at both catcher and third base.
UNCG (35-22), it the Spartans first NCAA Regional since 1997, will face off with Clemson Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at Doug Kingsmore Stadium to open play in the double-elimination tournament. St. John's will play Vanderbilt in the first game of the day.
Clemson (39-19) is the top seed but enters the NCAA Tournament having dropped both of their games in the ACC Tournament. Vanderbilt (33-22-1) is the second seed. The Commodores finished third in the SEC East at 15-13-1. St. Johns, a member of the Big East Conference, will be the three seed. The Red Storm were 42-11 this season and 13-2 in neutral site games.
2017 NCAA Baseball Tournament: Schedule, game times, TV channels
Corvallis Regional (Oregon State)
Oregon State vs. Holy Cross | 11 p.m. ET Friday | ESPNU
Nebraska vs. Yale | 4 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Clemson Regional (Clemson)
Clemson vs. UNC Greensboro | 7 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Vanderbilt vs. St. John’s | 12 p.m. Friday | SEC Network
Long Beach Regional (Long Beach State)
Long Beach State vs. San Diego State | 11 p.m. Friday | ESPN2
Texas vs. UCLA | 7 p.m. Friday | ESPN2
Stanford Regional (Stanford)
Stanford vs. Sacramento State | Thursday | WatchESPN
CSU Fullerton vs. BYU | Thursday | WatchESPN
Lubbock Regional (Texas Tech)
Texas Tech vs. Delaware | 3 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Arizona vs. Sam Houston State | 7 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Tallahassee Regional (Florida State)
Florida State vs. Tennessee Tech | 6 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
UCF vs. Auburn | 12 p.m. Friday | ESPN2
Hattiesburg Regional (Southern Miss)
Southern Miss vs. Illinois-Chicago | 2 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Mississippi State vs. South Alabama | 7 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Baton Rouge Regional (LSU)
LSU vs. Texas Southern | 3:30 p.m. Friday | SEC Network
SE Louisiana vs. Rice | 8 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Chapel Hill Regional (North Carolina)
North Carolina vs. Davidson | 6 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Florida Gulf Coast vs. Michigan | 1 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Houston Regional (Houston)
Houston vs. Iowa | 8 p.m. Friday | ESPNU
Baylor vs. Texas A&M | 3 p.m. Friday | ESPN2
Lexington Regional (Kentucky)
Kentucky vs. Ohio | 12 p.m. Friday | ESPNU
Indiana vs. North Carolina State | 7 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Louisville Regional (Louisville)
Louisville vs. Radford | 6 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Oklahoma vs. Xavier | 2 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Fort Worth Regional (TCU)
TCU vs. Central Connecticut State | 9 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Virginia vs. Dallas Baptist | 4 p.m. Friday | ESPNU
Fayetteville Regional (Arkansas)
Arkansas vs. Oral Roberts | 8 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Missouri State vs. Oklahoma State | 3 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Winston-Salem Regional (Wake Forest)
Wake Forest vs. UMBC | 7 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
West Virginia vs. Maryland | 2 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Gainesville Regional (Florida)
Florida vs. Marist | 7 p.m. Friday | SEC Network
South Florida vs. Bethune-Cookman | 1 p.m. Friday | WatchESPN
Regionals: Thursday, June 1 through Monday, June 5. The regionals will be held at 16 campus sites in four-team, double-elimination tournaments. The 16 regional winners advance to the Super Regionals. One of the regionals will start Thursday, with the other 15 starting Friday.
Super Regionals: Friday, June 9 through Monday, June 12. The eight campus sites will be home for games June 9-11 or June 10-12. Two teams will play a best-of-3 format, with winners advancing to the 2017 NCAA College World Series.
College World Series: Saturday, June 17 through Tuesday, June 27 or Wednesday, June 28. Eight teams compete in two four-team, double-elimination tournaments. The winners of the two brackets will met in a best-of-3 championship series. The College World Series Finals will have games Monday, June 26 and Tuesday, June 27. If the first two games are split, a deciding game will be on Wednesday, June 28.
2017 NCAA Baseball Tournament: Top 8 seeds
Top seeds:
Oregon State
North Carolina
Florida
LSU
Texas Tech
TCU
Louisville
Stanford
