COLLEGE WORLD SERIES ROUNDUP
Texas Tech 6, Duke 2
Michael Davis and Texas Tech are going back to Omaha. Davis hit the biggest of the Red Raiders' three home runs, a tiebreaking two-run shot that put them ahead to stay, in a win over Duke on Monday to send them to the College World Series for the third time in five seasons. “Just kind of coming out and having fun, taking in every moment,” said Davis, a senior shortstop playing at home for the last time. “That final out, that's probably the most enjoyable thing I've got to do since I got here.” The Red Raiders (44-18) led for good after Davis' homer in the fourth made it 3-1 in the deciding game of the best-of-three NCAA super regional. It was the 12th homer of the season for Davis, the only current position player for the Red Raiders who got in the lineup when they were in Omaha two years ago. He was playing second base then. Gabe Holt and Brian Klein also homered for Texas Tech. Klein went deep in the seventh to make it 4-2. Holt's solo shot in the third started the scoring, and he added an RBI single in the eighth. Jimmy Herron had three hits and both RBIs for Duke (45-18), which was in its first super regional. He had an RBI infield single in the fourth, and a run-scoring triple in the sixth. Ty Harpenau (7-2) allowed one run while working three innings in relief, striking out three and walking one. Dylan Dusek, the fifth-year senior who has been dealing with a blistered finger, took over with a runner on and no outs in the ninth. He finished for his first save. Matt Dockman (0-1), the third of six Duke pitchers, gave up hits to the only two batters he faced, including Davis' home run. The Blue Devils had 10 hits, along with six walks and a hit batter. But they left 14 runners on base, including the bases loaded in the eighth without scoring.
Texas 5, Tennessee Tech 2
Relying on strong pitching and sufficient hitting, Texas advanced to the College World Series. Kody Clemens and DJ Petrinsky hit home runs, Matteo Bocchi was effective in a rare appearance as a starting pitcher, and Texas defeated Tennessee Tech. Texas (42-21) returns to the CWS for the first time since 2014. “It feels awesome,” Pierce said. “We're not always. A lot of times we're ugly. But we just figure out how to keep playing. That's what so special about this group.” Texas took the super regional series by winning the last two games after losing the first on Saturday. Clemens hit his 24th home run of the season — one less than the national leader Spencer Torkelson of Arizona State. Clemens has 11 home runs in his last 15 games. The matchup of starting pitchers seemed to favor Tech. But left-hander Alex Hursey (8-5), the No. 3 starter for Tech (5312), lasted just three innings, allowing four runs. Pierce used his No. 3 starter, Blair Henley, in relief on Sunday. So Bocchi (4-1) made only his fourth start of the season and allowed one run in a season-high five innings. Nolan Kingham, the Game 1 starter on Saturday and the sixth pitcher for Texas on Monday, came on in the ninth, walking one to load the bases but inducing Brennon Kaleiwahea to ground out and end the game. Parker Joe Robinson pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for Texas. Tech leads the nation with 135 home runs, but the Golden Eagles hit only one in the series. They also lead the nation in batting average but had just five hits on Monday, matching their season-low.