No More Run-Rule Extravaganzas: Six Teams in Amegy Bank Showdown Show Pitching Prowess in Second Week of Division I Season

ARLINGTON, TX – It had all the makings of a NCAA Division I Super Regional or maybe even Days 1-2 of the 2026 NCAA Baseball World Series.

Yes, Friday-Sunday’s part 2 of the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series Feb. 20-22 at Globe Life Field not only featured the Nos. 2 (UCLA), 5 Mississippi State, 18 Texas A&M, and 20 Tennessee ranked teams in this week’s NCBWA poll but included Arizona State and Virginia Tech squads receiving strong consideration and votes among the nation’s Top 25.

The end results?

Mississippi State started the merry-go-round with an 8-4 decision and four RBI on home runs over ASU Friday before UCLA showed similar home run power in a 12-5 win over Tennessee and Texas area fan favorite A&M slammed Virginia Tech 10-0 in a seven-inning mercy-ending triumph to close Day 1.

MSU’s long ball power broke open a 0-0 tie with the Sun Devils in the bottom of the fifth inning as appropriately-named Gehrig Frei belted a pinch-hit three-run homer to lead to a four-run rally, and then Aidan Teel followed with an insurance solo shot in the eight to give the Bulldogs an 8-2 advantage.

Ryan McPherson, a relief specialist for the 2025 Dawgs, started and worked seven innings while allowing four hits, one run and striking out five to go 2-0 for the then-10-0 overall MSU crew. Arizona State ace lefty Cole Carlon went 4 2/3 frames and struck out seven before exiting the game in the fifth with a leg injury.

“I really wanted to get a big hit in that situation,” Frei recalled. “The pitch was up and was one that I could lift. It felt great.”

Bulldogs first-year head coach Brian O’Connor, who rolled to a 917-388-2 (.702 winning percentage) over 22 seasons at Virginia with a 2015 NCAA title over Vanderbilt, was impressed both with McPherson and the nationally-prestigious win over the Sun Devils.

“This is a great environment for college baseball,” he noted about the home of the MLB Texas Rangers. “I wanted to thank all the State fans who came and supported us. That made a difference.

“It was a real pitchers’ duel for the first four innings,” he added, “and then Frei hit that big home run. McPherson did a great job and was throwing with good velocity into the sixth and seventh innings and really has been intense in his preparations and workouts this season. He just keeps getting better.”

UCLA then exploded for five home runs and plenty of line drives against a solid Tennessee pitching staff in Friday’s second clash. Homers by Malival Levu, Roman Martin (three-run shot), Payton Brennan, and a pair of solo shots (his seventh and eight of the season) by Texas transfer Will Gasparino gave the Bruins all the cushion they needed for winning pitcher Logan Reddemann.

Texas A&M, playing in the first of three nightcap encounters for the tourney, advanced to 9-0 on the year with a victory in its first test outside comfortable Blue Bell Park in College Station. Caden Sorrell (2-for-4 with two RBI) and Chris Hapocian (solo homer) provided all the offense the Aggies needed behind the five-hit, five-whiff pitching of starting winner Shane Sdao (2-0) and one inning of shutout relief from Cole Hubert.

Game 4 Saturday morning was another nailbiter and, in this case, 5-3 win by 2024 NCAA champion Tennessee over Arizona State in another SEC-Big 12 Conference matchup. Henry Ford (Has a Better Idea from the automobile ads) and Blaine Brown provided two hits apiece as the Volunteers parlayed a four-run second inning into the lead and held off three late-inning threats by the Sun Devils.

As often is the case of invitationals with this much talent and depth on all six teams, Mississippi State outlasted Virginia Tech 15-8 in a Game 5 performance that almost produced another run-rule escapade but ended with VT scoring its last six runs on three-run base-clearer by Aiden Robertson and back-to-back-to back solo shots in the bottom of the ninth to end the four-hour-plus marathon.

State received yet another pinch-hit homer to plate three runs by Jacob Parker in the hello end of the eighth inning to extend an early 5-2 MSU lead to 13-2 as the 11-0 Bulldogs continued their best start since the 2013 squad opened the year at 17-0 and later fell to UCLA, of all programs, in the Bulldogs first trek to the NCAA World Series championship round. Former walkon Bryce Chance (.452 batting average) and Ace Reese (.444 average with four homers and 18 RBI) had a combined 34 hits in their first 11 outings after the slugfest.

Starting pitcher Tomas Valincius 3-0, 1.08 earned run average), a first-generation citizen from the Chicago area via Ukraine, worked 5-1/3 innings and struck out seven to gain the mound victory in game using 30-plus total position players and designated hitters as well as 13 different pitchers. The mass substitutions even caused the tracker used for live game statistics to crash in the final frames.

“You have to take advantage of the opportunities,” related MSU’s O’Connor who became the first Bulldogs diamond coach to start his tenure at 11-0. “We need to continue to be aggressive at the plate and in the field, and we have been fortunate to use a lot of players in the early going because of this team’s depth.”

The Aggies were not so fortunate against No. 2 UCLA in Game 6 of the meet as the Bruins ended the Ags nine-game winning streak in 11-1 fashion in another run-rule outing of seven innings. Pitchers Michael Barnett (3-0) and Wylan Moss combined on a two-hitter with seven strikeouts in the most efficient game hurled against A&M to date. The red-hot Gasparino continued his skein with two hits in four trips, a homer and three RBI against his former SEC and cross-state rivals.

In Sunday’s Game 7 Tennessee gave Southeastern Conference entries a 4-1 mark through five contests with a 3-1 win over Virginia Tech. The now-8-3 Volunteers closed 2-1 here with an 11-strikeout, three-hit pitching clampdown on the Hokies.

Game 8 between No. 2 UCLA and No. 5 Mississippi State definitely was the most dramatic tussle over the weekend with tourney champion UCLA (9-2 overall, 3-0 sweep) outlasting Mississippi State and weathering a 15-hit Bulldogs (11-1, 2-1 in tourney) barrage to score an 8-7 thriller in 10 innings.

State appeared headed for an upset triumph after carving out a 5-3 lead heading the ninth inning.

Then 2024 Dick Howser Trophy presented by The Game Headwear finalist and consensus All-America Bruins SS Roch Cholowsky went to work with a 420-foot two-run homer with two gone to tie the contest and to send the clash into extra innings later at 5-5.

UCLA added three runs in the top of the 10^th after shutting down a MSU rally with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth before the Bulldogs battled back again with two runs and left the tying run at first base to end the marathon.

“I just got a good pitch up in the zone,” Cholowsky said afterward, “and I knew we needed those two runs. It had a good feeling when the ball left the bat.”

MSU’s O’Connor was philosophical about the hard-fought but not happy with the outcome.

“I’m proud of the team from coming back to battle early and late in the game,” he noted, “but I don’t take losses very well. We will go back and get to work to play Southern Miss Tuesday and then get ready for three games at home next weekend.

In an almost anticlimactic Game 8, Texas A&M (10-1) topped Arizona State 9-3 in just the fourth all-time encounter between these powers since 2007 (all in tournaments – the Aggies hold a 3-1 series edge) to give the three SEC teams a composite 6-3 mark for the three-day meet. UCLA defended Big Ten Conference honor at 3-0 while the ACC’s Tech (0-3) and Big 12’s Arizona State (0-3) went home empty-handed.

The six competing powerhouses entered the tournament with a composite 45-6 mark through just under three weeks of 2026 NCAA Division I activity.

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Bo Carter is the Executive Director of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and is a long time professional in sports media and information. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and has plied his trade in the Southeastern Conference, the Southwest Conference, and the Big 12 Conference.

In addition to his NCBWA duties, he also serves as a consultant and columnist for the National Football Foundation. Follow the NCBWA, which produces ranking polls for D1, D2, and D3, as well as naming All America teams at both the D1 and D2 levels and the Dick Howser Trophy (presented each year in Omaha at the Men’s College World Series) at @NCBWA. If you’re a college baseball fan, you don’t have to be media to be a member, check them out at ncbwa.com and join today!