Bethune Cookman, Florida set for final
BETHUNE-COOKMAN 6, FLORIDA 2
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Nate Sterijevski had four hits and Bethune-Cookman forced a deciding game in the Gainesville Regional with a 6-2 victory over Florida on Sunday.
Three of Sterijevski’s hits resulted in four RBI for the Wildcats, including a two-run single in the eighth that extended their lead to 5-2.
Bethune-Cookman (36-24) came into the NCAA Tournament with only two victories in 15 appearances, but it has won three games over the weekend. No. 3 national seed Florida (44-17), which had won eight consecutive regional games dating back to 2015, is trying to advance to the Super Regional for the third year in a row.
HATTIESBURG REGIONAL
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Cody Brown’s three-run home run highlighted a threehit performance, and Mississippi State defeated South Alabama in an elimination game.
The Bulldogs (38-25) scored for five runs in the third, all with two outs. Hunter Stovall’s two-run homer scored the Bulldogs’ first two runs. Brown then followed Brent Rooker’s walk and Ryan Gridley’s single with his blast over the wall in right-center.
MSU starter Denver McQuary (3-3) pitched five innings, allowing two runs, for the victory. Reliever Peyton Plumlee allowed one run over the final four innings for his first save. Cole Gordon added a late homer for the Bulldogs, who are slated to face host Southern Miss today.
CHAPEL HILL REGIONAL
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Will Robertson hit a two-run single in the fifth inning, and Davidson held on for its second upset of North Carolina in three days.
The fourth-seeded Wildcats (35-24) advanced to a best-of-three super regional series next weekend and sent the top-seeded Tar Heels (49-14), the tournament’s No. 2 overall seed, into an earlier-than-expected offseason.
Michael Busch hit a solo home run in the fifth for North Carolina.
In other NCAA Tournament games Sunday Stuart Fairchild hit two home runs and drove in six runs, and Wake Forest advanced to the NCAA Tournament super regionals by beating West Virginia 12-8 in the Winston-Salem Regional. Fairchild hit a grand slam to highlight a six-run fourth inning, then added a two-run shot an inning later. … Zach Reks and Riley Mahan each had two RBI, Tristan Pompey had three hits and Kentucky forced a deciding game in the Lexington Regional with an 8-6 victory over North Carolina State. Facing its second NCAA Tournament elimination game of the day, the top-seeded Wildcats (4221) broke a 3-3 tie with Marcus Carson’s solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning. … Josh Stowers hit a three-run home run before delivering a game-tying RBI double in the seventh inning, and Logan Taylor knocked in the go-ahead run as Louisville edged Xavier 8-7 to clinch the Louisville Regional. … Logan Davidson hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning to lift Clemson to a 6-3 victory over UNC Greensboro and eliminate the Spartans from the NCAA Tournament’s Clemson Regional. … Florida State forced a deciding game in the Tallahassee Regional after rallying for an 8-7 victory over Auburn in 10 innings on Sunday night. The winning run was scored when JC Flowers was hit by a pitch by Auburn’s Calvin Coker on a 0-2 count with the bases loaded. … Eric Walker took a shutout into the ninth inning, and LSU won its 23rd NCAA regional title with a 5-0 victory over Rice. … Austin Listi hit two of Dallas Baptist’s five home runs and the Patriots beat Central Connecticut State 6-5 in an elimination game at the Fort Worth Regional. … Clayton Harp drove in four runs, Taylor Beene had two run-scoring groundouts and Sam Houston State held on to beat Texas Tech 9-8, forcing a deciding game in the Lubbock Regional. … Alex Stiegler went 3-for-3 and drove in five runs and Yale stayed alive in the Corvallis Regional with a 9-5 victory over Holy Cross. The Bulldogs (34-17) set a school record for victories in a season and will face No. 1 national seed Oregon State in the regional final.. … Jarren Duran’s two-run single touched off five unanswered runs for Long Beach State in a 7-4 victory over San Diego State in the Long Beach Regional.