Aggies are first to earn Omaha spot
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Dylan Rock drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh inning, and NCAA baseball tournament No. 5 overall seed Texas A&M beat 12th-seeded Louisville 4-3 on Saturday to win the College Station Super Regional and become the first team to earn a berth in this year’s College World Series.
Texas A&M (42-18), which beat the Cardinals 5-4 in Friday’s opener, is heading to its seventh CWS looking for its first championship in Omaha, Nebraska.
Louisville (42-21-1) has made five CWS appearances — four of them since 2013 — without a title but will have to wait until next year for another chance.
Jacob Palisch took the mound in the ninth for the Aggies after Brad Rudis gave up a leadoff single to Christian Knapczyk. Palisch struck out Metzinger swinging on a full count for the first out, and Dalton Rushing flied out to left field for the second. Knapczyk took second on a wild pitch, but Palisch struck out cleanup hitter Jack Payton swinging to end the game with his fifth save of the year.
Louisville jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on Rushing’s two-run homer. The Aggies pulled even in the third on Rock’s bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly by Austin Bost.
The Cardinals took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on Payton’s two-out RBI single, but Ryan Targac homered to left-center on the first pitch from Riley Phillips in the sixth to knot the score at 3.
The Aggies rallied in the ninth after Trevor Werner was hit by a pitch from Ryan Hawks (5-3) with one out. Jack Moss singled Werner to third, and Rock followed with his sac fly.
Will Johnston (3-1) worked a scoreless 1 2/3 innings to get the win.
› Ole Miss 10, Southern Miss 0
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Tim Elko drove in the first run of the game with a single and added a two-run double in a seven-run sixth to power Ole Miss to a 10-0 romp over No. 11 overall seed Southern Miss in the first game of the Hattiesburg Super Regional.
Ole Miss (36-22) and Southern Miss (47-18) will play again Sunday. Another win by the Rebels would send them to the CWS, while a Golden Eagles win would force a deciding game on Monday.
Ole Miss is aiming for its sixth CWS appearance but just its second since 1972; the Rebels have never won the event. Southern Miss has made just one appearance (2009).
The Rebels took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third on Elko’s single and a sacrifice fly by Kemp Alderman. Garrett Wood made it 3-0 with a RBI double in the fourth.
Ole Miss broke the game open in the sixth. Justin Bench was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the first run. Jacob Gonzalez singled in a run and back-to-back doubles by Elko and Kevin Graham pushed the lead to 9-0. Hayden Dunhurst singled in Graham for the final run.
› Arkansas 4, North Carolina 1
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Peyton Stoval sparked a threerun fifth with a leadoff home run, Connor Noland threw 6 2/3 shutout innings and Arkansas upset No. 10 overall seed North Carolina in the first game of the Chapel Hill Super Regional.
Arkansas (42-19) and North Carolina (42-21), both making a 10th super regional appearance, will play again Sunday. A win by the Razorbacks would send them to their 11th CWS in search of their first title. A win by the Tar Heels would force a winner-take-all game Monday. The two schools are playing for the first time in 33 years.
North Carolina has been to a super regional in three of the past four seasons. The Tar Heels have made 11 CWS appearances but never won it. They were the runners-up in 2006 and 2007. The Razorbacks have also never won the title, finishing second in 1979 and 2018. The only other time these teams played was in the 1989 CWS — a 7-3 win by the Razorbacks.
› Texas 9, East Carolina 8
GREENVILLE, N.C. — Dylan Campbell drove in the winning run on a bases-loaded single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and No. 9 overall seed Texas overcame a five-run deficit to beat No. 8 seed East Carolina and stay alive in the Greenville Super Regional.
The win by Texas (46-20) forces a Sunday showdown with East Carolina (46-20) with a CWS berth on the line. East Carolina (47-19), hosting a super regional for the first time, had won 23 of its past 24 games before faltering against the Longhorns. The Pirates beat the Longhorns 13-7 on Friday.
› Virginia Tech 14, Oklahoma 8
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Nick Biddison hit two of No. 4 overall seed Virginia Tech’s five home runs, including one to lead off the game, and the Hokies stayed alive in the Blacksburg Super Regional.
The win by Virginia Tech (45-12) forces a winner-take-all game with Oklahoma (40-22) on Sunday for a berth in the CWS. The Sooners beat the Hokies 5-4 in Friday’s opener. The Sooners are aiming for their 11th CWS appearance, having won the event in 1951 and 1994. Virginia Tech has never been to the CWS and just won its first regional.