Wright on target for Vanderbilt

CLEMSON VANDERBILT 9, CLEMSON 4

CLEMSON, S.C. — Top draft prospect Kyle Wright held Clemson to seven hits in seven innings and Vanderbilt took control of the NCAA Tournament’s Clemson Regional with a victory over the Tigers on Saturday night.

The Commodores (35-22-1) advanced to tonight’s regional final. The Tigers (40-20) face UNC-Greensboro in an elimination game today. That winner would have to beat Vanderbilt twice to move to the super regional round.

That could be a tall order with how the Commodores are swinging the bats. They had 16 hits, including 8 doubles, giving them 34 hits in the regional. Wright (5-5), considered among the top players available in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft, didn’t need much to lead Vanderbilt.

The right-hander struck out nine. Jeren Kendall had three RBI and Will Toffey and Jason Delay two each for Vanderbilt.

UNC-GREENSBORO 3, ST. JOHN’S 1

UNC-Greensboro right-hander Matt Frisbee worked six scoreless innings as the fourth-seeded Spartans eliminated No. 3 seed St. John’s.

Frisbee (8-4) held the Red Storm (42-13) to just three hits in six innings. Andrew Wantz pitched the final three innings for his fifth save of the season.

Caleb Webster had an RBI single in the first inning and Ben Spitznagel added a run-scoring hit in the second to put the Spartans up 2-0.

St. John starter Kevin Magee (4-1) allowed five hits and two runs.

BATON ROUGE RICE 13, TEXAS SOUTHERN 6

BATON ROUGE — Tristan Gray hit two home runs and drove in five runs to help Rice prolong its postseason with a victory over Texas Southern.

Glenn Otto (7-4), who entered a tie game to start the sixth, pitched three scoreless innings for the victory. Andrew Dunlap and Ryan Chandler also homered for Rice (32-30), which pounded out 17 hits.

Robert Loza (2-2), who allowed three runs in the seventh, took the loss for Texas Southern (20-34), which was eliminated. Christian Sanchez had three hits and knocked in three runs for TSU.

HOUSTON HOUSTON 17, BAYLOR 3

HOUSTON — Jake Scheiner hit a home run and drove in six runs while Lael Lockhart had four RBI, helping Houston eliminate Baylor.

The Cougars scored eight runs before the Bears (34-23) got an out in the seventh inning, capped by Scheiner’s three-run homer, his 18th of the season. Houston (41-20) advanced to face the Iowa-Texas A&M loser in another elimination game today.

Corey Julks and Joe Davis each had a two-run home run, with Davis’ shot starting a five-run sixth that gave top-seeded host Houston an 8-0 lead.

Scheiner, Davis, Lockhart and Connor Hollis had three hits apiece among a season-high 20 for the Cougars.

WINSTON-SALEM WAKE FOREST 4, WEST VIRGINIA 3

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Gavin Sheets singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning, and Wake Forest rallied to beat West Virginia.

Bruce Steel hit a two-run home run in the fifth to start the comeback for the top-seeded Demon Deacons (41-18), who moved to within one victory from the super regionals.

Jonathan Pryor singled to start the ninth for Wake Forest and was bunted to second. After Stuart Fairchild was intentionally walked, Pryor lofted a drive into the gap in right-center to end it.

Jackson Cramer’s two-run home run in the first inning gave second-seeded West Virginia (35-25) a 3-0 lead. Steel’s shot made it a one-run game, and the Demon Deacons tied it at 3-3 on Pryor’s RBI double in the seventh.

MARYLAND 16, MD.-BALTIMORE COUNTY 2

Kevin Smith hit two of Maryland’s four home runs and drove in six runs, and the Terrapins beat Maryland-Baltimore County in an elimination game.

Marty Costes and Justin Morris also hit home runs for third-seeded Maryland

(38-22), which held the fourth-seeded Retrievers (23-25) to two solo home runs a day after allowing West Virginia to hit six home runs in an opening-game loss.

LOUISVILLE LOUISVILLE 11, OKLAHOMA 1

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Logan Taylor, Colby Fitch and Colin Lyman each had two-run hits during Louisville’s seven-run eighth as the Cardinals scored 10 runs in the final two innings for a rout of Oklahoma.

With the game tied at 1-1, Taylor smacked a one-out single off J.B. Olson — who relieved starter Jake Irvin (6-3) — before Fitch tripled to make it 5-1. Devin Hairston was hit by a pitch to force in another run before Lyman knocked in two more to cap the big inning. Top-seeded Louisville (49-10) scored three more times in the ninth.

Taylor also had a game-tying sacrifice fly in the sixth for Louisville.

XAVIER 3, RADFORD 1

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Garrett Schilling and Trey Schramm combined to hold Radford to two hits and a run, and Nate Soria had an RBI as Xavier remained in the NCAA Tournament.

Schilling (6-4) struck out five with a walk in seven innings, yielding Radford’s lone run on Kyle Butler’s game-tying sacrifice fly in the third inning. The fourth-seeded Highlanders (27-32) were shut out the rest of the way as Schramm came on to record his fourth save.

The third-seeded Musketeers (33-26) managed five hits but got a run out of one of them behind Soria’s second-inning single. Two Radford errors in the fourth resulted in another run, while Conor Grammes scored on a wild pitch in the fifth by loser Kyle Zurak (4-4).

LEXINGTON NORTH CAROLINA STATE 5, KENTUCKY 4

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Evan Mendoza hit a two-run triple and scored on Andy Cosgrove’s single in the fifth inning, and Sean Adler allowed 2 runs and 6 hits in 72/ innings of relief as North Carolina 3 State held off Kentucky to move within a game of clinching the regional.

Evan White’s one-out home run in the top of the ninth inning brought the top-seeded host Wildcats (40-21) within a run. But Wolfpack reliever Austin Staley regrouped to get the final two outs for his fifth save and give third-seeded North Carolina State its second consecutive one-run tournament victory.

Adler (6-6) relieved Michael Bienlein in the first inning and struck out 5 for the victory, allowing 2 runs and 3 walks. Back-to-back first-inning home runs by Stephen Pitarra and Josh McLain keyed North Carolina State’s nine-hit effort.

INDIANA 11, OHIO 2

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Logan Sowers knocked in five runs with three home runs, including a three-run shot in the eighth inning, and Jonathan Stiever pitched a complete-game seven-hitter as Indiana routed Ohio to remain alive in tournament.

Just over 12 hours after a 7-6, 12-inning loss to North Carolina State, the second-seeded Hoosiers bounced back behind their junior right fielder, who twice hit opposite-field solo home runs before his blast to left during a fourrun eighth. Center fielder Craig Dedelow also hit a home run for Indiana (34-232), which collected 14 hits.

Sophomore right-hander Stiever (44) posted his career-best outing with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks on 119 pitches.

STANFORD STANFORD 9, BYU 1

STANFORD, Calif. — Chris Castellanos threw a complete game four-hitter and Stanford beat BYU to eliminate the Cougars.

Daniel Bakst had three RBI for the Cardinal (42-15), which played Cal State-Fullerton (36-21) later Saturday needing a victory to force a regional final.

Castellanos (9-3) and Maverik Buffo (7-7) each carried shutouts into the fifth inning, when BYU’s Colton Shaver hit a solo home run to open the scoring.

Stanford’s Jack Klein answered with a two-run homer to help the Cardinal jump ahead 3-1, and back-to-back home runs from Quinn Brodey and Bakst put Stanford up 6-1.

TALLAHASSEE AUBURN 5, TENNESSEE TECH 3

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Casey Mize tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts in a complete game and Auburn advanced to the finals of the regional with a victory over Tennessee Tech.

It is the fourth time this season the sophomore right-hander has had 12 strikeouts in a game. Mize (8-2) came into the game allowing just two home runs, but Tennessee Tech’s Ryan Flick and Chase Chambers each hit solo shots.

Luke Jarvis drove in two runs with a fourth-inning single and Jay Estes had two hits, including a home run in the eighth for Auburn (37-24), which is looking to advance to the Super Regional for the first time since 1999.

FLORIDA STATE 6, UCF 1

Tyler Holton pitched his second complete game of the season and Florida State defeated UCF to remain alive in the NCAA Tournament.

The sophomore left-hander allowed just one unearned run to go with 13 strikeouts. It was his sixth 10 or more strikeout game of the season, which is the first time a Seminoles’ pitcher has accomplished that in 22 years.

Jackson Lueck and Taylor Walls hit home runs for Florida State (40-21). Lueck put the Seminoles ahead in the third inning with a three-run home run and Walls, who also had two hits, had a solo shot in the fifth.

UCF, which was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012, ended the season 40-22. Brennan Bozeman had two hits and Chris Williams (5-4) allowed three runs in four innings in the loss.

GAINESVILLE BETHUNE-COOKMAN 4, MARIST 2

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Tyler Norris pitched a complete game and Bethune-Cookman beat Marist to stay alive in the tournament.

Norris, a junior right-hander, improved to 9-1. He allowed 2 runs on 6 hits with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts.

The Wildcats were held to six hits, but Nate Sterijevski had a two-run single in the first and Jameel Edney hit a solo shot to left in the fifth.

FORT WORTH VIRGINIA 6, DALLAS BAPTIST 3

FORT WORTH — Derek Casey pitched seven innings, Robbie Coman had a two-run double and Virginia beat Dallas Baptist in the opening game of the rain-delayed Fort Worth Regional on Saturday.

After the opening games on the TCU campus were rained out Friday, the start of the opening game was delayed four hours Saturday because of more rain.

Casey (5-2) struck out three and scattered six hits. Tommy Doyle worked the ninth for his 14th save.

Virginia (43-14) went ahead to stay with three runs in the third, when the Cavaliers started the inning with three consecutive singles before an outfield error and two groundouts sent runners home.

LUBBOCK ARIZONA 6, DELAWARE 5 (12)

LUBBOCK, Texas — Alfonso Rivas homered in the 12th inning and Arizona beat Delaware in an elimination game.

The Wildcats (38-20), who went to the NCAA World Series last season, blew a 5-1 lead in the eighth inning. They then had to withstand a Delaware rally, a nearly 21/2-hour rain delay in extra innings and having a runner thrown out at the plate to end the 11th.

Cesar Salazar drove in three runs for Arizona. His RBI single in the sixth produced the game’s first run and his tworun single in the seventh made it 5-1.

LONG BEACH SAN DIEGO STATE 3, UCLA 2 (13)

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Scott Burke hit Danny Sheehan with a pitch with the bases loaded in the 13th inning and San Diego State scored a victory over UCLA.

The Bruins, who won the College World Series in 2013, were eliminated with the loss and finish the season 30-27.

San Diego State (42-20) went up 2-0 in the top of the second inning on Dean Nevarez’s RBI single and Tyler Adkison’s sacrifice fly. Jake Hirabayashi’s single drove in a run in the fourth to narrow it for UCLA.

Jack Stronach’s RBI single in the eighth tied the game at 2-2.

CORVALLIS HOLY CROSS 7, NEBRASKA 4

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Austin Masel and Anthony Critelli both drove in two runs and Holy Cross stayed alive with a victory over Nebraska.

The Huskers (35-21-1) were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament with the loss. The Big Ten champions head home from their third postseason appearance in the past four seasons.

Holy Cross (24-28) goes on to face the loser of Saturday night’s late game between Yale and the No. 1 national seed Oregon State Beavers.