Regional Snapshot

Over at Baseball Analysts, Rich Lederer has a brief look at each of the 16 tournament regionals:

Raleigh Regional

#1 North Carolina State (38-20) vs. #4 James Madison (38-17)
#2 South Carolina (38-21) vs. #3 Charlotte (43-14)

Top Prospects: 1B Justin Smoak, South Carolina (#8); SS Reese Havens, South Carolina (#29); 3B-OF James Darnell, South Carolina (#58); RHP Clayton Shunick, North Carolina State (#170).

Outlook: North Carolina State finished second in the ACC Atlantic with an 18-11 record, then went 1-2 in pool play and was bounced from the conference tournament. Led by junior Clayton Shunick (7-5, 2.12 with 100 SO and 21 BB in 89.1 IP), the Wolfpack is 26-8 at home and figures to be a marginal favorite over South Carolina. The Gamecocks are spearheaded by juniors Justin Smoak (.377/.502/.745 with 21 HR), Reese Havens (.363/.490/.637 with 16 HR), and James Darnell (.310/.385/.584 with 18 HR). North Carolina Charlotte (Atlantic 10) and James Madison (Colonial) possess outstanding records but come from weak conferences and were automatic invites.

The winner of the Athens Rouge Regional will face the winner of the Raleigh Regional in the Super Regionals the following week.

The numbers in parentheses in the prospects section are Baseball America's draft prospect rankings.