Bears squeak by Hogs to advance
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.— Jeremy Eierman’s two-run home run in the sixth inning lifted Missouri State to a 3-2 win over Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament on Monday night, earning the Bears their third super regional appearance in school history.
Missouri State (43-18), the second seed, last reached a super regional in 2015—losing in three games to the Razorbacks. The school also advanced in 2003, when it made its only appearance in the College World Series.
Doug Still (8-2) started and allowed one run in five innings to earn the win for the Bears, pitching just three days after Missouri State’s opening win over Oklahoma State.
Jared Gates homered and went 2 for 4 for top-seeded Arkansas (45-19), while Eric Cole had three hits in the loss.
Kacey Murphy (5-1) took the loss while pitching for the second straight day, allowing two runs and striking out eight in five innings.
Mississippi State 8, Southern Miss 1
HATTIESBURG, Miss.— Jacob Billingsley allowed one
run in his first career complete game, Josh Lovelady highlighted a four-RBI performance with his first home run of the season, and Mississippi State beat Southern Miss 8-1 to force a winner-take-all game late Monday night in the NCAA tournament’s Hattiesburg Regional.
Mississippi State (39-25) won a third straight game while facing elimination. The Bulldogs erupted for five runs in the third—four with two outs. One came on a balk by reliever J.C. Keys, who then gave up a threerun homer to Lovelady, making it 5-1.
MSU’s Brent Rooker added a towering two-run homer toward center in the sixth.
Billingsley (2-3) worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth. He threw 124 pitches, scattered six hits and struck out five.
It was the first defeat in the regional for host Southern Miss (50-15), whose starter, Colt Smith (6-2), took the loss after leaving the game in the third.
The start of the game was delayed nearly five hours by rain.
Sam Houston St. 4, Texas Tech 3.
LUBBOCK, Texas—Hunter Hearn scored twice and drove in two more runs to lead Sam Houston State to a 4-3 victory over host Texas Tech, and the Bearkats are going to an NCAA super regional for the first time.
After Hearn reached on a fielder’s choice in the sixth inning to drive in a run and tie the game at 3-all, he scored from first on second baseman Brian Klein’s throwing error that ricocheted down the right field line.
Sam Houston State (44-21), the Southland Conference tournament champ, will play Florida State in the super regional.
The Bearkats dropped into the loser’s bracket after a 6-0 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday night. But the Bearkats then beat Arizona for the second time in the Lubbock Regional and won twice against the Red Raiders (45-17), the No. 5 national seed and a College World Series team last season.