Griner-less Mercury beat Fever
Diana Taurasi scored 15 of her 26 points in the second half and the short-handed Phoenix Mercury beat the defending champion Indiana Fever 82- 67 on Saturday in Indianapolis.
DeWanna Bonner added 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Mercury (1-3), who were without leading scorer Brittney Griner. Griner, selected No. 1 overall by Phoenix in this year’s WNBA draft, was a late scratch from the lineup with a left knee sprain.
In Griner’s absence, Taurasi stepped up to help the Mercury get their first win.
C HARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Adam Frazier didn’t want to go into Mississippi State’s super regional against Virginia wondering where he’d be drafted.
The Pittsburgh Pirates took care of that on Friday, taking Frazier in the sixth round with the 179th overall selection, and a relieved Frazier gave Pirates fans a show on Saturday in leading the Bulldogs to an 11- 6 victory against the Cavaliers.
“Any time you get some stuff off your mind and some pressure off of you, it’s always more relaxing,” Frazier said after going 6-for- 6 with three singles, two doubles, a triple and three runs batted in to pace the Bulldogs’ 20-hit attack.
Frazier said it was the first six-hit game he could remember, even thinking back to Little League.
Hunter Renfroe, the No. 13 overall pick by the San Diego Padres, went 4-for-5, also with three RBIs.
“I think we’re seeing the ball great right now, laying off bad pitches, not striking out a lot,” Renfroe said.
The Bulldogs (4718) pounded Virginia pitching, scoring in six innings. They also benefited from uncharacteristic sloppiness by the Cavaliers, who made four errors that led to six unearned runs.
Virginia (50-11) had 11 hits, but also hit into four rally-killing double plays.
Kendall Graveman (75) went 5¥ innings for the Bulldogs, allowing nine hits and all six runs, just four of them earned.
In the final innings, with Virginia’s threats continually being erased, the contingent of maroon- clad Bulldogs fans began celebrating with chants and cheers, turning the finish into a virtual home atmosphere.
OTHER GAMES
Louisville 5, Vanderbilt 3 in Nashville: Matt Helms delivered a two-out, tworun pinch-hit single to lead Louisville past No. 2 overall seed Vanderbilt in their opener.
Helms had driven in only three runs all season. But with the bases loaded in the seventh, the senior stepped in and hit a 1-2 pitch from Vanderbilt closer Brian Miller down the third-base line.
The Cardinals (50-12) tied the game just three batters earlier. Zak Wasserman drove in his second run of the game with a two- out single. Louisville strung together three two-out hits and tagged Vanderbilt starter Kevin Ziomek (11-3) for three runs in the inning.
North Carolina 6, South Carolina 5 at Chapel Hill, N.C.: North Carolina again waited until its final at-bat to win an NCAA tournament game. This time, it put the No. 1 overall seed within a victory of returning to the College World Series.
Freshman Skye Bolt hit an RBI single through the right side in the ninth inning to lift the Tar Heels past South Carolina in the opener of the super regional best-of-three series.
Bolt’s two-out hit scored Parks Jordan from second for the Tar Heels (56-9), who are trying to reach Omaha for the sixth time in eight seasons. They had to regroup after a shaky start from top pitcher Kent Emanuel and rally from an early two-run deficit before winning their second straight in walkoff fashion.
North Carolina State 4, Rice 3 at Raleigh, N.C.: Jake Fincher’s two- out single in the bottom of the ninth inning capped a rally and lifted N.C. State over Rice.
Rice (44-19) had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth, but N.C. State (4814) tied it when Brett Williams slid under a tag after a bunt by Logan Ratledge. Williams singled to start the inning, stole second, and went to third on an error by pitcher Zech Lemond.
Two batters later, Fincher’s single to left scored Jake Armstrong with the winning run.
Indiana 10, Florida State 9 at Tallahassee, Fla.: Kyle Schwarber had a go-ahead two-run single in a fourrun seventh inning and Indiana went on to beat FSU.
Schwarber, who also had a two-run homer in the fourth, put Indiana up 7- 6 with his hit in the seventh.
LSU 11, Oklahoma 1 at Baton Rouge, La.: JaCoby Jones had four hits, including a homer, and drove in two runs to help LSU beat Oklahoma and advance to the College World Series for the 16th time. LSU (579), which tied a single-season school record for victories, used four pitchers, who combined to limit the Sooners (43-21) to five hits.