Arizona comes back, wins in 10
TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona kept its cool when St. John’s took a big lead. Now the Wildcats are one victory away from the College World Series.
Trent Gilbert hit a gameending RBI single with one out in the 10th inning and Arizona erased a five-run deficit on its way to a 7-6 victory over St. John’s in the opening game of their super regional series Friday.
“We’ve been down quite a bit this year, but we always have the confidence that if we’re down we’re going to come back,” Arizona senior Bobby Brown said. “We’re a good offensive team.”
St. John’s (40-22) scored five times in the fourth inning, but Arizona scored runs in the fourth and fifth and tied it at 5-5 with three runs in the sixth. The Wildcats (42-17) have trailed in 22 of their 42 victories this season, including every game of the postseason.
“That’s a great one to win and a tough one to lose,” Arizona Coach Andy Lopez said. “It’s a lot nicer feeling when you come out on top. I thought they did a marvelous job. St. John’s was outstanding.”
Florida State routs Stanford
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Devon Travis homered twice and drove in six runs as Florida State pounded Mark Appel on its way to a 17-1 victory over Stanford in the opener of their best-of-3 NCAA super regional.
Florida State (47-15) led 11-1 after five innings. Travis singled in a run in the fourth, hit a two-run home run in the sixth and belted a three-run shot in the seventh.
Appel (10-2) took the loss. Freshman left-hander Brandon Leibrandt (8-2) pitched six innings before leaving with a 14-1 lead. It was the worst loss of the season for Stanford (41-17).
Bruins top Frogs
LOS ANGELES — Cody Regis had a three-run double in UCLA’s five-run sixth inning and Adam Plutko pitched seven solid innings in the Bruins’ 6-2 victory over TCU on Friday night in Game 1 of the NCAA Super Regional.
Regis’ double to left-center off reliever Justin Scharf gave the Bruins (46-14) a 6-2 lead.
Plutko (11-3) limited TCU (40-21) to seven hits and two runs. David Berg picked up the final six outs after replacing Plutko in the eighth with no outs and one on.
Brandon Finnegan (4-5) was the loser.
Josh Elander hit his 11th home in the first to open the scoring for TCU.
Stony Brook-LSU postponed
BATON ROUGE — LSU hit tying home runs in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings, prolonging a super regional game with Stony Brook long enough for a downpour to postpone it until today, tied at 4-4.
Sal Intagliata’s two-run home run in the second gave the Seawolves (50-12) a lead that lasted until Jacoby Jones’ home run off reliever James Campbell tied it at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth.
Stony Brook left fielder Steve Goldstein homered in the 10th, but missed a chance to end it when he overran Tyler Moore’s two-out foul popup, giving Moore the extra swing he needed to hit his tying home run.
After Stony Brook scored on a sacrifice fly in the 11th, LSU (46-16) tied it at 4-4 on Mason Katz’s home run.
“This is a credit to both teams and how badly they want this, how mentally tough both teams are,” Stony Brook Coach Matt Senk said.
The opener of the best-of-3 series was scheduled to resume at 10:05 a.m., Central, with Game 2 starting 50 minutes after the first game ends.