Westburg drives in 7, Bulldogs beat Tar Heels
OMAHA, NEB. — Go bananas, Mississippi State Bulldogs!
You're one win away from the College World Series finals. Jordan Westburg hit a grand slam, doubled and drove in seven runs and Mississippi State continued their surprise postseason surge by beating North Carolina 12-2 on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs (39-27), with two wins at the CWS, are off until Friday.
Win then or on Saturday, and they'll be playing for the national championship next week.
This game was all about Westburg, the freshman who two weeks ago came up with the "Rally Banana" that's become the Bulldogs' good-luck charm in the NCAA Tournament.
His seven RBI, on the slam in the second inning and three-run double in the eighth, tied a CWS record.
"I think we had a good banana today. That's all I can say," Westburg said.
Westburg crushed a breaking pitch Austin Bergner left hanging, and the ball landed in the seats above the left-field bullpen for a 4-1 lead.
When Westburg returned to the dugout, a teammate handed him his Rally Banana.
Westburg came up with the Bulldogs' alternate mascot during a regional game against Oklahoma on June 3.
The Bulldogs were struggling when he went into the tunnel and grabbed a banana.
Instead of eating it, he put it on his head in hopes of turning the Bulldogs' luck. It must have worked. Mississippi State won, Westburg and his banana got some TV time, and the meme took off.
After Westburg's slam, Bergner (7-3) retired 16 in a row until the start of the eighth inning, when the Bulldogs converted six hits, a walk, a hit batter and two errors into eight runs.
Florida eliminates Texas with 6-1 win
Jackson Kowar struck out a career-high 13 in 6 2/3 innings, Jonathan India hit a three-run homer and defending national champion Florida eliminated Texas from the College World Series with a 6-1 win on Tuesday.
Kowar (10-5) held the Longhorns scoreless on five hits, mixing his changeup with a fastball still touching the mid90s deep into his season-high 121-pitch afternoon.
The Kansas City Royals' first-round draft pick struck out the side in the third and sixth innings and broke his previous high of 11 Ks he set against TCU in the CWS last year. He became the first pitcher with 13 strikeouts in a CWS game since 2010 and, according to ESPN, the first in 40 years to do it in fewer than seven innings.
India, the No. 5 overall pick by the Cincinnati Reds, singled to make it 1-0 in the first inning and he broke the game open with his three-run homer in the sixth.
Texas starter Blair Henley (6-7) struggled with his control and lasted only 2 2/3 innings, the second-shortest of his 22 career starts. He gave up four hits and walked four.
Florida (48-20) came into the game after a 6-3 loss to Texas Tech in its CWS opener.
The Longhorns (4223) struck out a season-high 15 times, the most for the program since fanning 17 times against TCU in 2017.
Arkansas-Texas Tech game postponed until Wednesday
Tuesday night's game between Arkansas and Texas Tech was postponed because of the threat of rain in the Omaha area.
The Razorbacks and Red Raiders will play their Bracket 2 winners' game on Wednesday.
The Bracket 1 losers' game between North Carolina and Oregon State will follow.
Two CWS games have had weather problems. Arkansas' win over Texas on Sunday was interrupted for 2 hours, 49 minutes. The Monday game between Oregon State and Washington had a 4-hour, 31-minute delay.
COLLEGE WORLD SERIES SCOREBOARD
NCAA
College World Series
At TD Ameritrade Park Omaha Omaha, Neb.
(Double Elimination) Saturday, June 16
North Carolina 8, Oregon State 6 Mississippi State 1, Washington 0 Sunday, June 17 Arkansas 11, Texas 5