MISSISSIPPI STATE
hits walk-home in ninth inning, eliminates No. 7 national seed Florida State.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 3, FLORIDA STATE 2
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Elijah MacNamee hit a threerun home run to left field with two outs in the ninth, and Mississippi State beat Florida State 3-2 on Saturday to eliminate the No. 7 national seed from the NCAA Tournament’s Tallahassee Regional.
Jake Magnum and Hunter Stovall got on via walks before MacNamee hit a 1-2 pitch from Florida State’s Drew Parrish off the scoreboard. Parrish had blanked the Bulldogs for the first eight innings but came out for the ninth despite a 2½-hour rain delay after the eighth.
Parrish, a sophomore left-hander who fell to 5-1, allowed 4 hits, struck out 8 and walked 2 in 133 pitches, with 93 being strikes.
Mississippi State (32-26) will face the Oklahoma-Samford loser today. The Seminoles finish the season 43-19.
Nick Derr got Florida State’s first run in the third when he doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error by Mississippi State catcher Marshall Gilbert.
The Seminoles added a run in the fifth when Rhett Aplin’s single drove in J.C. Flowers.
Riley Self (4-0) got the win with three shutout innings.
ATHENS REGIONAL GEORGIA 18, CAMPBELL 5
Tucker Bradley hit a grand slam, and Georgia hit four home runs in beating Campbell.
Keegan McGovern, Adam Sasser and Cam Shepherd also homered to help the top-seeded Bulldogs (38-19) win a game pushed back a day due to rain and lightning Friday night.
Bradley’s grand slam keyed the seven-run fourth inning that put the Bulldogs ahead to stay.
Tony Locey (7-2) allowed two runs in four innings of relief to earn the victory. Wes Noble (7-7) allowed eight runs in 31/3 innings for Campbell.
Matthew Barefoot homered and drove in three runs for Campbell, while Christian Jones also went deep.
Duke eliminated Campbell 16-8 later in the day. The Troy-Georgia game was postponed until today.
AUSTIN REGIONAL TEXAS 8, TEXAS A&M 3
Kody Clemens homered twice, Nolan Kingham pitched into the eighth inning and Texas beat Texas A&M to stay undefeated in its regional.
Clemens hit a three-run home run in the top of the first to put the Longhorns (39-20) ahead to stay before the game’s first out. The second baseman, the Big 12 player of the year and son of seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, went deep again leading off the sixth for his 21st home run of the season.
Texas A&M (40-21), which had won 10 consecutive NCAA regional games since 2015, faces Indiana (39-18) in an elimination game today. The winner of that game plays the Longhorns later tonight.
Kingham (8-3) struck out 8 and walked 1 while allowing 3 runs, one of them unearned. Aggies starter Mitchell Kilkenny (8-5) was tagged for 5 runs in 4 innings with 5 strikeouts.
David Hamilton had three hits and scored twice for Texas, including an RBI single. DJ Petrinsky homered in his second consecutive game.
CHAPEL HILL REGIONAL PURDUE 14, NORTH CAROLINA A&T 4
Ben Nisle had four hits and drove in four runs to help Purdue beat North Carolina A&T in an elimination game.
Jacson McGowan and Skyler Hunter also drove in two runs for the second-seeded Boilermakers (38-20), who lost to Houston on Friday. Purdue trailed 3-2 after 3 innings, but scored 4 runs in the fourth then added 6 in the sixth to take control.
Trent Johnson (3-1) took the victory with a scoreless inning of work.
Forest Kimbrell, Dawnoven Smith and Greg White drove in runs for the fourth-seeded Aggies (32-25), the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions who lost to regional host and No. 6 national seed North Carolina on Friday.
Michael Johnson (7-2) took the loss, allowing 6 runs and 10 hits in 32/3 innings.
CLEMSON REGIONAL VANDERBILT 4, CLEMSON 3
Connor Kaiser’s RBI single broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth and five Vanderbilt pitchers held Clemson to two hits over the final seven innings for a victory.
Clemson opened a 3-0 lead with 4 hits, including 3 that scored runs, through the first 2 innings. That’s when Vanderbilt’s pitchers took over, permitting just two more hits the rest of the way.
Vanderbilt’s final pitcher, Chandler Day, got Atlantic Coast Conference home run leader Seth Beer on a fly out to center with a runner on in the ninth to end the game.
It was the second consecutive season the Commodores (33-25) won a winner’s bracket matchup against the Tigers on their home field on their way to winning the regional.
Vanderbilt needs only to defeat either the Tigers or St. John’s tonight to advance.
Clemson (46-15) will play the Red Storm (40-16) in an elimination game earlier today.
GAINESVILLE REGIONAL FLORIDA 3, JACKSONVILLE 2
Brady Singer allowed two runs in seven solid innings, returning after three weeks off, and overall No. 1 seed and defending national champion Florida edged Jacksonville.
Singer (11-1) missed two starts while recovering from a strained left hamstring, but looked a lot like a guy projected to be a top-five draft pick. The junior right-hander gave up 5 hits, plunked 2, walked 1 and struck out 6.
All of his support came on long balls, something rare for Jacksonville’s Spencer Stockton (8-6). Stockton entered the regional having given up 4 home runs in 852/3 innings, but he allowed 3 — nearly 4 — to the Gators (44-17).
Jonathan India and Wil Dalton crushed consecutive home runs in the fourth. Jonah Girand’s solo shot in the seventh gave Florida some cushion, which was needed after Franco Guardascione homered for Jacksonville in the bottom of the inning.
The Dolphins (40-20) had a great chance to tie the game in the eighth off closer Michael Byrne, but stranded Ruben Someillan after a leadoff triple. Byrne escaped the jam and then pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save.
Jacksonville will play Florida Atlantic in an elimination game today.
LUBBOCK REGIONAL TEXAS TECH 10, LOUISVILLE 4
Josh Jung hit a two-run home run as each of the top four batters in Texas Tech’s lineup had two RBI in a victory over Louisville.
Jung’s 12th home run put the Red Raiders (41-17) up 10-2 in the seventh. They are one victory from their third Super Regional berth in five years.
Louisville (44-18), which had won 16 NCAA regional games in a row since their last such loss in 2012, plays Kent State (40-17) in an elimination game today. The winner then plays Texas Tech tonight.
Red Raiders starter Caleb Kilian (91) struck out 4 and allowed 2 runs in 51/3 innings. Cardinals lefty starter Nick Bennett gave up 6 runs in 31/3 innings with 4 strikeouts and 5 walks.
The Red Raiders went ahead to stay with a three-run third when their runs came on a sacrifice fly, a bases-loaded walk and a balk for a 3-1 lead. Brian Klein had three hits, including a two-run single in a three-run fourth.
OXFORD REGIONAL MISSISSIPPI 9, SAINT LOUIS 2
Ryan Rolison had a career-high 13 strikeouts in seven innings and Ole Miss got two-run home runs from Cole Zabowski and Tyler Keenan to beat Saint Louis.
The Rebels (47-15), the No. 4 national seed, fell behind 2-0 early in their regional opener that came a day later than scheduled because of flooding rains Friday.
Rolison (10-4), a sophomore lefty, allowed 4 hits, walked 3 and hit 2 other batters.
Zabowski hit a tying home run, his 10th, in a six-run second inning that put Ole Miss ahead to stay. An inning later, Keenan hit his ninth home run to make it 8-2.
Billikens starter Miller Hogan (10-4) allowed 9 runs, 3 of them unearned, in 3 innings.
Nick Reeser had two hits, including an RBI double that put Saint Louis (38-19) up 1-0 in the first inning.
Ole Miss plays Tennessee Tech (49-9) today, and Saint Louis faces Missouri State (39-16) in an elimination game.