No. 13 Coastal Carolina scored three runs in the seventh inning to take the lead en route to eliminating No. 4 Auburn 4-1 on Saturday in the Auburn super regional and earning a berth in the Men’s College World Series.
The Chanticleers (53-11), who had beaten the Tigers 7-6 in 10 innings on Friday night, completed the best-of-three sweep behind stellar pitching in posting their 23rd consecutive victory. Starter Jacob Morrison allowed one run on six hits and three walks with six strikeouts in six innings. Reliever Hayden Johnson (5-0) collected the win after three scoreless innings, in which he yielded two hits and one walk with five strikeouts.
The Tigers (41-20) used five pitchers, with Cade Fisher (1-3) taking the loss after allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk with four strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings.
Auburn was ahead 1-0 when Coastal Carolina’s Sebastian Alexander, who went 3-for-4, doubled off Fisher to open the bottom of the seventh. The Chanticleers used a sacrifice bunt, two singles, an error, a walk and a bases-loaded hit batsmen to score three runs. CCU added a fourth run in the eighth.
Miami 9, Louisville 6
Jake Ogden and Daniel Cuvet drove in three runs apiece as the Hurricanes evened the series by winning Game 2 of the Louisville super regional.
Ogden, who also singled and doubled, was 3-for-5 with a three-run home run in Miami’s four-run fourth inning when the Hurricanes (35-26) took a 5-4 lead. Cuvet hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning to stretch the advantage to 9-5.
The Cardinals (39-22), the visiting squad in Game 2, had built a 4-1 lead after the top of the fourth. Eddie King Jr. homered twice and went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, and Jake Munroe, who homered twice in Louisville’s 8-1 win Friday, also went deep.
Arizona 10, No. 5 North Carolina 8
Maddox Mihalakis delivered a two-out, bases-loaded, two-run single in the seventh that proved to be the difference as the Wildcats won Game 2 to even the series at the Chapel Hill super regional.
Tony Pluta (3-0), the last of four pitchers for Arizona (43-19), didn’t give up a run while allowing two hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. The Wildcats had 16 hits; every batter had at least one, including Aaron Walton (3-for-5, RBI) and Tommy Splaine (2-for-4, solo home run, two RBIs).
The Tar Heels (46-14) collected 12 hits, including home runs from Tyson Bass (three-run shot in the seventh) and Sam Angelo (two-run shot in the second). North Carolina trailed 6-4 going into the top of the seventh, when it pushed across four runs on four hits, a hit batter and two walks — including one to Jackson Van De Brake, his fourth of the game — with the bases loaded for an 8-6 lead.
Duke 7, Murray State 4
Kyle Johnson went 4-for-4 and drove in five runs as the Blue Devils took the first game of the super regional in Durham, N.C.
Johnson, the No. 9 batter for Duke (41-19), hit a two-run homer in the third inning, a two-run, ground-rule double in the fourth and an RBI double in the sixth. The Blue Devils, who totaled only six hits, scored seven consecutive runs to rally from an early 2-0 deficit.
Duke starter Owen Proksch (4-3) allowed two runs on six hits and two walks while fanning seven in 5 2/3 innings. Reid Easterly pitched the final three innings and didn’t give up a run in earning his fifth save.
The Racers (42-15), which totaled nine singles and no extra-base hits, got four hits from Dom Decker. He drove in a run in the third and another in the seventh. Murray State starter Nic Schutte (8-4) took the loss after yielding five runs on two hits, five walks and two hit batters with three strikeouts.
No. 6 LSU 16, West Virginia 9
The Tigers’ Derek Curiel homered and drove in five runs and Josh Pearson and Steven Milam each hit grand slams in a rout of the Mountaineers in Game 1 of the super regional in Baton Rouge, La.
LSU (47-15) totaled only eight hits to 11 for the Mountaineers (44-15), who led 1-0 through three innings on a run in the second. Then the Tigers took the lead in the fourth on Curiel’s three-run homer, and added seven runs in the fifth, when Milam went deep, and six runs in the sixth. Curiel went 3-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored.
Tigers starter Kade Anderson (10-1) got the decision despite allowing seven runs (six earned) in seven innings. He gave up nine hits and two walks with seven strikeouts on 113 pitches.
West Virginia pitchers walked eight and hit five batters. Starter Griffin Kim (5-3) took the loss after yielding four runs on two hits and one walk while fanning three in four innings. Sam White (3-for-5, three runs), Kyle West (2-for-5, two-run homer, two runs) and Gavin Kelly (3-for-4, two-run homer) led the Mountaineers’ offense.
No. 3 Arkansas 4, No. 14 Tennessee 3
The Razorbacks’ Zach Root and Gabe Gaeckle combined on a two-hitter and Charles Davalan drove in the eventual winning run in the sixth inning as the Razorbacks won the opener of the Fayetteville (Ark.) super regional.
Root (8-5) started for Arkansas (47-13) and yielded only Dean Curley’s two-run home run in the fifth while walking two and fanning six in seven innings. Gaeckle collected his second save with a two-inning outing in which he allowed only Andrew Fischer’s solo shot in the ninth for the Volunteers (46-18).
Ryder Helfrick hit a two-run homer to give the Razorbacks a 3-2 lead in the fifth. Davalan delivered a two-out hit — the third single of the inning — to score Brent Iredale for a 4-2 advantage in the sixth.
No. 15 UCLA 5, Texas-San Antonio 2
The Bruins spotted the Roadrunners an early two-run lead then monopolized the scoring the rest of the way in capturing Game 1 of the super regional in Los Angeles.
Mason Lytle led off the game with a home run for UTSA (47-14), and teammate Caden Miller singled and stole home in the second inning for a 2-0 advantage. But that was it as the Roadrunners were limited to six hits and did not walk once. Starter Zach Royse (9-4) allowed three runs, nine hits and three walks with three strikeouts in five innings in taking the loss.
Michael Barnett (12-1) started for UCLA (46-16) and collected the win after yielding two runs on six hits with one strikeout in six innings. Jack O’Connor, August Souza and Easton Hawk (seventh save) combined for three perfect innings. The Bruins’ Roman Martin hit a two-run triple in the eighth and went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
No. 9 Florida State 3, No. 8 Oregon State 1
Needing a victory to keep their season alive, the Seminoles broke a seventh-inning tie on Gage Harrelson’s two-out RBI single and forced a decisive third game against the Beavers at the Corvallis (Ore.) super regional.
Jaxson West, who scored the first run for Florida State (42-15) on Max Williams’ game-tying RBI single in the third, drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth. Starter Jamie Arnold gave up one run on six hits and one walk with nine strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. Winning pitcher Maison Martinez (1-2) recorded the final out of the seventh before Peyton Prescott tossed two scoreless innings for his third save.
Oregon State (46-14-1) got a gem from starter Ethan Kleinschmit, who struck out 11 over six impressive innings, but scored its only run in the first on Wilson Weber’s RBI single. Weber and Jacob Krieg each had two hits. Kleinschmit (8-4) held the Seminoles to two runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks but took the loss.
–Field Level Media
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