San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Bulldogs edge Huskies 1-0 in bottom of the 9th
OMAHA, Neb. — Luke Alexander’s drive to right field got past Christian Jones in the bottom of the ninth inning, allowing Hunter Stovall to score from second base to give Mississippi State a 1-0 victory over Washington in the College World Series on Saturday night.
It was the Bulldogs’ third walkoff win, and fourth in their final at-bat, in their past eight NCAA tournament games.
Stovall and Elijah MacNamee singled leading off the ninth against Andy Hardy before Alexander hit an 0-2 pitch deep to right. Jones was playing shallow and gave chase, but he couldn’t catch up to the ball as it bounced to the wall. Alexander easily scored. Players poured out of the Mississippi State dugout and celebrated on the grass behind third base.
Starters Ethan Small of the Bulldogs (38-27) and Joe DeMers (College Park-Pleasant Hill) of Washington (35-25) traded zeroes through seven fast-paced innings.
DeMers threw strikes on 19 of his first 22 pitches and held the Bulldogs scoreless even though their leadoff man reached base in four of the first five innings. DeMers was helped by two double plays and some sharp fielding by shortstop Levi Jordan.
North Carolina 8, Oregon St. 6: North Carolina knocked out Oregon State ace Luke Heimlich in a five-run third inning and went on to beat the Beavers in the opening game of the College World Series.
The Tar Heels (44-18) used six pitchers in a 4-hour, 24-minute slog in 95-degree heat that was the longest nine-inning game in CWS history. They turned back threats from one of the nation’s most potent offenses in the sixth and seventh innings and prevailed against an opponent they hadn’t faced since losing to the Beavers in the 2006 and ’07 CWS finals.
Oregon State (49-11-1) was uncharacteristically sloppy while losing its third straight game over two years in Omaha. Carolina scored on a passed ball, and the Beavers committed three errors after making one in their first five NCAA Tournament games.
Then there was Heimlich (16-2), the two-time Pac-12 pitcher of the year who lasted just 21⁄3 innings — his shortest start in two years. Last year, Heimlich left the team for super regionals and the CWS after it was revealed he had pleaded guilty to molesting a young relative when he was 15. The university allowed him to play this year.