Noles rally to win opener

Florida State can clinch berth in CWS with a win today.

Jackson Lueck had four hits, including the winner in the ninth inning, and four RBIs as Florida State rallied from a four-run, second-inning deficit to defeat Sam Houston State 7-6 on Saturday in Game 1 of the Tallahassee Super Regional.

Taylor Walls opened the ninth with a single and advanced to second after Dylan Busby was hit by a Nick Mikolajchak (0-4) pitch. Lueck then got his third walkoff hit of the season with a single to right-center to score Walls.

Lueck, a sophomore right fielder, is 10 for 24 with eight RBIs in six NCAA Tournament games this season.

Sam Houston State (4422) scored four runs the first two innings off two errors by FSU starter Tyler Holton. Hunter Hearn, who went 2 for 4, had the key hit in the first with a two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded.

The Seminoles (44-21) trailed 6-3 in the seventh but rallied to tie on RBI singles by Lueck, Quincy Nieporte and Cal Raleigh.

Drew Carlton (5-4), who was FSU’s third pitcher, got the win with 1⅓ scoreless innings.

Jaxxon Grisham also drove in two runs for the Bearkats.

Louisville beats Kentucky, advances

Drew Ellis homered twice, Josh Stowers and Logan Taylor each delivered extra-base RBI hits, and left-hander Brendan McKay scattered eight hits and two runs as host Louisville topped rival Kentucky 6-2 on Saturday and become the first school to clinch a berth in the College World Series.

A day after hitting a threerun homer in Louisville’s 5-2 opening-game win, the junior first baseman hit solo shots in the second and sixth innings to spark a super regional sweep that returned the Cardinals (52-10) to the CWS for the third time in five seasons and first since 2014. Stowers added an RBI triple, and Taylor delivered the first of two eighth-inning insurance runs as Louisville remained unbeaten in the NCAA Tournament.

McKay (10-3) had to work at times but was effective, striking out nine in 6⅔ innings to win a showdown with Kentucky ace Sean Hjelle (11-4).

Marcus Carson and Tristan Pompey knocked in runs for Kentucky (43-23), which made its first super regional appearance.

Cal State Fullerton 12, Long Beach State 0: John Gavin pitched a seven-hit shutout, leading the Titans to a victory over host Long Beach State in the second game of their super regional.

The teams meet again in the final game of the best-ofthree series today to determine a spot in the College World Series. Long Beach State (42-19-1) will play its fourth elimination game of the postseason.

Cal State Fullerton (38-22) scored seven runs on eight hits in the third inning to break open the game.

Late Friday

Oregon State 8, Vanderbilt 4: KJ Harrison hit a three-run home run, and Nick Madrigal added a two-run double to lead the host Beavers. Oregon State, ranked No. 1 in the nation, is the top national seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Beavers have won 20 straight games.

Long Beach State 3, Cal State Fullerton 0: Darren McCaughan pitched seven scoreless innings and Luke Rasmussen went 2 for 3 with an RBI for host Long Beach State.