Six-run fourth sparks Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Wil Dalton drove in six runs, and overall No. 1 seed Florida began its quest for a second consecutive national championship with a victory against Columbia.

The Gators (43-17) entered regional play having lost six of their last seven games, including two in a row at the Southeastern Conference Tournament by a combined score of 19-2.

Coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s team was in trouble again early against the Lions (20-29), but Jonathan India and Dalton hit consecutive two-run doubles in a six-run fourth inning to put the Gators ahead for good. Dalton, a sophomore playing in his first NCAA Tournament game, also had an RBI double in the first, a run-scoring single in the third and a two-run home run in the eighth.

Jordan Butler (6-1) allowed two hits and a run in five innings of relief for the victory.

Ty Wiest (2-5) got the loss.

AUSTIN REGIONAL TEXAS A&M 10, INDIANA 3

AUSTIN, Texas — John Doxakis had a career-high 12 strikeouts while allowing only 1 hit over 6 innings as Texas A&M won its 10th consecutive NCAA regional game, defeating Indiana.

Doxakis (8-5) struck out the first five batters he faced. The sophomore lefthander, who had 10 strikeouts against Auburn in the SEC Tournament last week, walked 2 and gave up 1 unearned run.

Zach DeLoach and Logan Foster each had three hits for the Aggies (40-20), who are the No. 3 seed in Austin.

Luke Miller homered twice — solo shots in the seventh and ninth innings to give him 13 for the season — for second-seeded Indiana (38-18).

CHAPEL HILL REGIONAL NORTH CAROLINA 11, NORTH CAROLINA A&T 0

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Michael Busch drove in five runs to help No. 6 national seed North Carolina beat North Carolina A&T in the Chapel Hill Regional.

Busch had a two-run double in the third inning and a three-run home run in a five-run fourth for the Tar Heels (39-18). UNC finished with 10 hits and got a strong outing from starter Cooper Criswell (5-2), who allowed three hits with six strikeouts in six shutout innings.

Greg White had two hits for the fourth-seeded Aggies (32-24), who are making their second postseason appearance in program history and first since 2005. North Carolina A&T finished with just five hits and had four errors, leading to four unearned runs.

CLEMSON REGIONAL VANDERBILT 2, ST. JOHN’S 0

CLEMSON, S. C. — Drake Fellows threw seven scoreless innings to lead Vanderbilt over St. John’s (39-16) to start the NCAA Tournament.

Fellows (7-4) allowed just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8 for Vanderbilt (32-25). Reid Schaller pitched a scoreless eighth and Chandler Day finished the shutout an inning later.

St. John’s had two runners on in the eighth and a leadoff single in the ninth, but could not break through.

Philip Clarke provided the Commodores all the scoring they would need with a two-out, RBI bloop double in the first. Jayson Gonzalez hit a solo homer in the fifth.

CONWAY REGIONAL WASHINGTON 7, CONNECTICUT 1

CONWAY, S.C. — Levi Jordan and AJ Graffanino had three hits apiece, including RBI singles in a five-run eighth inning, to lift third-seeded Washington over No. 2 seed Connecticut.

Joe DeMers (7-3) held UConn (35-211) to six hits over eight innings to keep Washington (31-23) out front. He struck out six and retired 14 of 15 batters at one stretch.

Washington was clinging to a 2- 1 lead through seven when the Huskies put together a five-run rally with just three hits. UConn walked two batters, committed an error and had a passed ball to keep Washington going.

CORVALLIS REGIONAL LSU 6, SAN DIEGO ST. 4

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Jacob Maekawa hit a two-run double in the second inning and LSU went on to defeat San Diego State in the opening game of the Corvallis Regional.

The second-seeded Tigers (38-25), who are making their seventh consecutive trip to the postseason, advanced to today’s winner’s bracket.

LSU starter Nick Bush went 5 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits. Devin Fontenot (3-0) got the victory in 3 innings of relief, allowing 1 run on 3 hits with 4 strikeouts.

With the game tied at 3-3, LSU rallied with a three-run sixth inning that featured RBI singles from Jake Slaughter, Zach Watson and Antoine Duplantis.

DELAND REGIONAL OKLAHOMA STATE 9, SOUTH FLORIDA 2

DELAND, Fla. — Colin Simpson had three hits, and Oklahoma State defeated South Florida in the first game of the DeLand Regional.

The game was tied 1-1 before the Cowboys’ Carson McCusker opened the fifth inning with a home run to left center. Christian Funk extended it to 4-1 in the sixth with a two-run shot to right.

Oklahoma State (30-24-1), which will play in the winner’s bracket today, broke it open in the ninth with four runs, including a two-run double by Jon Littell.

Carson Teel (8-4) got the victoryn in relief, allowing 1 run and 5 hits in 6 innings.

GREENVILLE REGIONAL SOUTH CAROLINA 8, OHIO STATE 3

GREENVILLE, N.C. — South Carolina pushed ahead with five runs in the seventh inning to beat Ohio State.

The second-seeded Gamecocks (3424) trailed 2-0 before the big inning, which included Danny Blair’s three-run home run. Justin Row followed with a two-run single in the six-hit inning that pushed South Carolina to a 5-2 lead.

The Gamecocks added three runs in the eighth and finished with 14 hits.