The Stetson Hatters use the hashtag “OmaHats” on their baseball Twitter account, a nod to the city that’s home to the College World Series.
The Hatters from DeLand, Florida, are a step closer to Omaha, Nebraska, after sweeping through their regional in the NCAA Tournament and extending their win streak to a school-record 18 games. Jack Perkins threw a three-hitter as they beat Oklahoma State 11-1 on Sunday night to win a regional title for the first time in 18 tournament appearances. Next stop for the No. 11 national seed is a best-of-three super regional at No. 6 North Carolina.
Also making first appearances in super regionals will be Minnesota and Washington. The No. 14 national seed Golden Gophers beat UCLA 13-8 for their first regional title in 10 appearances since the tournament went to its current format in 1999. Washington, a No. 3 regional seed, won three straight in Conway, South Carolina, including 9-6 over UConn in the final. The Huskies will play Cal State Fullerton, which knocked out No. 2 national seed Stanford, at a site to be determined.
Kent State’s Pavin Parks (26) tags out Louisville’s Justin Lavey (16) during an NCAA college baseball tournament regional game Sunday, June 3, 2018, in Lubbock, Texas. (Brad Tollefson/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal via AP)
Three teams from the Southeastern Conference also advanced: No. 2 regional seeds Vanderbilt and Auburn and No. 5 national seed Arkansas. No. 9 national seed Texas Tech also won its regional.
Vanderbilt beat Clemson on the Tigers’ home field for the second straight year, hitting nine home runs in a 19-6 win in the final. Connor Kaiser went deep three times and tied the tournament record with 10 RBIs.
Auburn beat North Carolina State 15-7 in Raleigh, North Carolina, and made a super regional for the first time since 1999.
Arkansas is back in a super regional for the first time since 2015 after beating Dallas Baptist 4-3.
Texas Tech advanced for the third time in five years, beating Louisville 11-6.
Complete super regional pairings will be announced later.
KAISER’S KABOOMS
Kaiser came into the regional final with four home runs in 163 career games. His three homers against Clemson came in a span of four at-bats.
Kaiser’s homers were for three runs, a grand slam and two runs, and he singled for his 10th RBI. He was voted regional MVP.
WASHINGTON’S JOURNEY
The Huskies were 18-18 after losing to UT Rio Grande Valley on April 23. They’re 15-5 since. They had to travel farther than any team for a regional – 2,987 miles from Seattle to Conway – and beat UConn twice and Coastal Carolina, with Joe Wainhouse homering three times.
“With our guys, we’ve been in absolute overdrive in terms of playoff mode, for the last six weeks,” coach Lindsay Meggs said. “I’m really proud of our guys and really happy for them because they really, in my opinion, overachieved.”
BULLDOGS BLAST AWAY
No. 4 national seed Georgia has 29 runs and eight homers in its first two regional games. Nos. 3 and 4 batters Keegan McGovern and Michael Curry each went deep twice in an 11-7 win over Troy, going back-to-back in the sixth inning.
“You better believe that once he hits a home run I’m absolutely trying to do the same thing,” Curry said. “We talk about it all the time. That’s been our approach the whole season – to support our offense, continue doing what we do and pick the team up.”
MARVELOUS ON MOUND
– Stetson’s Perkins tied his career high with 13 strikeouts against Oklahoma State.
– Mississippi’s Houston Roth came on with runners on first and third with two outs after high-scoring Tennessee Tech pulled to 9-8 in the bottom of the ninth. Roth struck out Alex Junior to end the game and send Ole Miss to its regional final.
– Ryan Garcia carried a no-hitter through 6 1/3 innings as UCLA eliminated Gonzaga with a 10-4 win.
– Stanford’s Brendan Beck pitched a career-high 6 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs and four hits, to keep the No. 2 national seed Cardinal alive with a 4-2 win over Baylor.
– Johnny Piedmonte, Kent Klyman and Nolan Clenney combined on a three-hitter as North Carolina State eliminated Army 11-1.
BIG BATS
– Chris Crabtree homered twice and drove in five runs to lead Duke to a 15-6 win over Troy and the regional final against Georgia.
– Elijah MacNamee, whose walk-off three-run homer in the ninth inning eliminated No. 7 national seed Florida State on Saturday, went deep for the third time in three games to give Mississippi State the early lead in a 9-8 elimination-game win over Samford.
– Joe Davis’s tiebreaking homer to lead off a four-run eighth inning helped lift No. 3 regional seed Houston over Purdue 8-4.
– Matt Brown’s two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the ninth gave Missouri State a 9-8 win over Saint Louis in an elimination game.
– Garrett Wolforth and Tim Millard hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning to break open the game for Dallas Baptist in a 9-4 win that ousted Southern Mississippi.
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This version corrects spelling of Clemson’s Connor Kaiser.

Tennessee Tech’s Brennon Kaleiwahea, left, celebrates with teammates following a solo home run against Mississippi in the NCAA college baseball Oxford Regional in Oxford, Miss., Sunday, June 3, 2018. (Bruce Newman/The Oxford Eagle via AP)
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