Regional Baseball Capsules

NCAA Capsules

Eds: UPDATES with late game.

By The Associated Press

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - Garrett Wittels extended his hitting streak to 56 games Saturday, but Florida International was eliminated from the NCAA tournament by Dartmouth with a 15-9 loss in the Coral Gables Regional.

Zack Bellenger hit two homers for Dartmouth (27-18), which next faces the loser of the game between Texas A&M and Miami.

Wittels hit an RBI double in the top of the first inning, leaving him two games shy of the Division I record set by Oklahoma State's Robin Ventura in 1987. Wittels' attempt to break the mark will resume next season. He went 3 for 5 and finished with a .417 average and a school-record 100 hits.

Jason Brooks hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the sixth inning to put Dartmouth ahead of FIU (36-25) 12-8.

Miami 14, Texas A&M 1

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - Scott Lawson homered three times to tie a school postseason record and had six RBIs as Miami cruised into the regional final.

Miami (42-17) finished with a season-high 20 hits, including homers by Chris Pelaez and Stephen Perez, against five Texas A&M pitchers.

Lawson's first homer gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead in the first against Ross Strippling. In the third, Lawson again connected off Strippling (6-4) with a leadoff home run for a 4-0 Miami lead. His third homer, a three-run shot, came in the fifth off Texas A&M reliever Estevan Uriegas.

Chris Hernandez (9-3) allowed three hits in six innings against Texas A&M (41-20-1).

Austin Regional

Texas 4, Louisiana-Lafayette 2

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Kevin Keyes and Kevin Lusson hit solo home runs in the fourth inning as Texas defeated Louisiana Lafayette to take control of the Austin Regional.

Lusson and Keyes combined for five hits and drove in three of Texas' four runs. Starter Cole Green (11-1) gave up two earned runs on six hits while striking out five.

Louisiana-Lafayette (38-21) cut the lead for Texas (48-11) to one with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. But with runners on first and second and one out, Chance Ruffin (6-1) got back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.

Rice 19, Rider 1

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Anthony Rendon hit three home runs to lead Rice over Rider in the first game of the loser's bracket in the Austin regional.

After striking out looking and grounding out in his first two at-bats, Rendon hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, a three-run homer in the seventh and another two-run shot in the eighth for Rice (39-22). He had seven RBIs and set a record for home runs by one player in a game at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

The loss eliminated Rider (36-23), which was outscored 30-1 in two games.

Charlottesville Regional

Virginia 13, Mississippi 7

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - John Barr had four RBI hits to highlight a 17-hit attack and Virginia beat Mississippi 13-7 in the winner's bracket of the Charlottesville Regional.

The Cavaliers (49-11) matched their single-season record for victories and will play St. John's or the Rebels on Sunday night with a chance to win the regional.

Danny Hultzen (10-1) earned the victory despite one of his worst performances of the season. The top pitcher in the Atlantic Coast Conference allowed seven hits and a season-high six runs, all earned, in six innings.

St. John's 8, Virginia Commonwealth 6

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Matt Wessinger homered twice and drove in four runs as St. John's beat Virginia Commonwealth in an elimination game.

The Red Storm (35-25-1) hit three consecutive home runs in the bottom of the first against Rams starter Blake Hauser, who lasted two innings and allowed four homers and five runs.

The Rams (40-20) got a two-run home run from Brent Mikionis in the first and an RBI grounder by Taylor Perkins in the second, but didn't score again until the ninth inning.

St. John's starter Sean Hagan (5-1) went five innings, allowing five hits and three runs.

Louisville Regional

Louisville 7, Vanderbilt 1

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Phil Wunderlich homered and drove in four runs to lead Louisville over Vanderbilt in the winners' bracket of the Louisville Regional.

The top-seeded Cardinals (50-12) advanced to Sunday's regional final against the winner of the elimination game between the Commodores (42-18) and Illinois State (32-23).

Wunderlich's team-leading 21st homer in the first off Vanderbilt starter Sonny Gray (9-5) gave Louisville a quick 3-0 lead. Louisville freshman Matt Koch (3-0) gave up one run, three hits in six innings. Neil Holland pitched the final three innings for his 17th save.

Illinois St. 8, Saint Louis 3

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Evan Kohli hit two of Illinois State's five home runs to help the Redbirds eliminate Saint Louis.

Chad Hinshaw went 4 for 4 and Kevin Tokarski had four RBIs for third-seeded Illinois State (32-23).

The Billikens (33-29) scored a run in the bottom of the first, but Kohli hit a solo homer and Tokarski added a three-run shot in the second inning to put Illinois State in control.

JD Learnard (5-3) went 6 2-3 innings for the Redbirds, allowing three earned runs. Alex Alemann (9-6) lasted just 3 1-3 innings and surrendered four earned runs and six hits for the Billikens.

Myrtle Beach Regional

College of Charleston 16, Coastal Carolina 6

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) - College of Charleston pounded Coastal Carolina ace Anthony Meo and took charge of the Myrtle Beach Regional with its sixth straight win over the Chanticleers.

The Cougars (44-17) haven't lost to Coastal Carolina (52-8) since 2008 and weren't about to start despite the Chants' top pitcher on the mound. Charleston scored seven runs in the first inning, more than Meo (13-2) had allowed in his last four starts combined.

Meo also surrendered two-run homers to Charleston's Jamie Holler and Southern Conference player of the year Matt Leeds.

Stony Brook 6, North Carolina St. 2

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) - Tyler Johnson pitched eight innings of six-hit ball and Stony Brook used a big first inning to gain its first NCAA tournament win and eliminate North Carolina State.

The Seawolves (30-26) got six runs off first-time Wolfpack starter Anthony Tzamtzis, who gave up three hits, hit two batters and walked a third before leaving with just one out in the game.

Johnson (10-3) never let the Atlantic Coast Conference school catch up. The America East Conference champs had lost all five of their previous NCAA tournament games before knocking off North Carolina State (38-24).

Gainesville Regional

Florida 10, Oregon St. 2

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Nolan Fontana, Josh Adams and Matt den Dekker homered, lifting Florida over Oregon State.

The Gators jumped in front with Fontana's leadoff home run, pulled away with a seven-run third inning and cruised to their 30th win in 33 home games this season. Florida (44-15), the No. 3 seed nationally, remained in the winners' bracket as well as the driver's seat for a spot in the NCAA super regionals.

Oregon State (32-23) lost for just the sixth time in 17 games.

Fla. Atlantic 12, Bethune-Cookman 6

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Sean Bukovich and Anthony Mesa drove in three runs apiece to help Florida Atlantic eliminate Bethune-Cookman.

The Owls (36-23) pounded out 18 hits, including eight for extra bases.

The Wildcats (35-22), back on the field about 12 hours after losing in the opening round, stranded five runners in scoring position and hit into two double plays. They fell to 1-20 in regional play.

Norwich Regional

Florida St. 6, Oregon 4

NORWICH, Conn. (AP) - Sean Gilmartin struck out eight over seven innings and Stephen Cardullo and Sherman Johnson each hit solo home runs as Florida State defeated Oregon.

Florida State (44-17) awaits the winner of the elimination game Sunday afternoon between Oregon and Connecticut.

Gilmartin (8-7) gave up a two-out home run to Jack Marder in the first and then held the Ducks scoreless until the eighth. Geoff Parker relieved Gilmartin after KC Serna and Danny Pulfer singled to start the eighth. The Ducks (7-5) scored three runs but stranded runners at second and third when Parker struck out Andrew Mendenhall.

Connecticut 25, Central Connecticut St. 5

NORWICH, Conn. (AP) - Mike Olt homered twice and drove in eight runs as Connecticut defeated Central Connecticut State in an elimination game in the Norwich Regional.

Connecticut (48-15), which lost to Oregon 5-3 Friday, kept its tournament hopes alive with a season-high 26 hits. Olt, a junior third baseman, went 4 for 4 and became UConn's career leader in both home runs and RBI.

Sean Allaire singled to left in the sixth for his 100th hit of the season for Central Connecticut State (33-23), which committed five errors.

Columbia Regional

South Carolina 9, The Citadel 4

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina scored five runs in the seventh inning to rally for the second consecutive game and take control of the Columbia Regional.

The top-seeded Gamecocks (45-15) advanced to the winners' bracket game Sunday night, and will face the winner of the elimination game between The Citadel (43-21) and Virginia Tech.

Trailing 4-2 entering the seventh, Evan Marzilli's pinch-hit, two-run single tied it. He scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch before Adrian Morales and Christian Walker added RBI doubles.

Five of the six hits in the inning came off Bulldogs ace Asher Wojciechowski (12-3), who struck out 11. Blake Cooper (11-1) struck out a career-high 12 in 7 1-3 innings.

Virginia Tech 16, Bucknell 7

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Buddy Sosnoski homered twice and drove in six runs, and Ronnie Shaban added four RBIs as Virginia Tech eliminated Bucknell.

The Hokies (39-21) had 16 hits against six Bison pitchers, scoring nine runs in the first two innings to take control. Austin Wates, Shaban, Sosnoski and Andrew Rash drove in runs in the five-run fifth inning.

Starter Trey Frahler couldn't get out of the second inning for Bucknell (25-35).

Atlanta Regional

Georgia Tech 5, Alabama 2

ATLANTA (AP) - Deck McGuire pitched eight strong innings, Jacob Esch had three RBIs and Tony Plagman drove in the go-ahead run to help Georgia Tech beat Alabama.

Georgia Tech (47-13) likely will play for a chance to host a super regional next week when it faces the Alabama-Mercer winner Sunday night.

Alabama (38-23) has lost two of three after playing its way into an at-large bid with an eight-game winning streak that ended in the Southeastern Conference title game.

McGuire (9-4) allowed eight hits, two runs, two walks and struck out six. The right-handed ace is projected as a high pick in the upcoming baseball draft.

Mercer 13, Elon 7

ATLANTA (AP) - Thomas Carroll and Joe Winker drove in four runs apiece and Mercer used six pitchers to beat Elon 13-7 in the losers' bracket of the Atlanta Regional.

Winker's two-run doubles in the first and third helped the Bears (38-23) take a 6-1 lead. Carroll's ninth homer, a three-run shot, fueled a four-run fourth that put Mercer ahead 10-1.

Reliever David Teasley (6-1) earned the win, giving up one hit, one run, one walk while striking out one in 1 2-3 innings. Starter Ken Ferrer (9-6) took the loss for Elon (38-24).

Auburn Regional

Clemson 5, Auburn 2

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) - Casey Harman pitched a five-hitter to lead Clemson past Auburn.

Clemson (40-21) got its second straight dominant pitching performance to follow Scott Weismann's strong outing.

Auburn (41-20) got its second solo home run of the night when Hunter Morris drove the ball over the left-field fence to open the bottom of the ninth. Harman then gave up a single to Tony Caldwell - who had the first solo shot - but got Dan Gamache to ground into a double play. Ryan Jenkins popped up to end it.

Southern Miss 19, Jacksonville St. 6

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) - Taylor Walker, Adam Doleac and B.A. Vollmuth each hit three-run homers and drove in at least four runs to help Southern Miss stay alive in the NCAA regionals.

The Golden Eagles (36-23) scored multiple runs in six innings to eliminate the Gamecocks (32-26).

Walker went 4 for 4 with four runs, four RBIs and two stolen bases. Vollmuth's three hits included a blast over the centerfield scoreboard in the seventh, and he drove in five runs. Leadoff man Kameron Brunty scored five times.

Fayetteville Regional

Arkansas 6, Washington State 4

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) - Jordan Pratt helped Arkansas escape a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the eighth inning, and the Razorbacks held on for a win over Washington State.

Washington State (35-21) will play Kansas State on Sunday, with the winner of that game facing Arkansas and needing to beat the Hogs (42-18) twice to win the regional.

Pratt came in with the bases full and nobody out and the Razorbacks up 5-4. He retired Matt Fanelli on a popout, Michael Weber on a strikeout and Shea Vucinich on a flyout to preserve the lead.

Kansas State 9, Grambling State 8

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) - Nick Martini hit a three-run double in the fifth inning, and Kansas State held off a valiant Grambling State rally in an elimination game.

Martini's hit gave the Wildcats a 9-1 lead in the fifth inning, but the Tigers (22-32) rallied and had the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the eighth. Relief standout James Allen got out of that jam and then made it through the ninth for his ninth save.

The previous night, Allen allowed his first homer of the season in the eighth inning, enabling Washington State to beat the Wildcats 8-6.

Kansas State (37-21) scored in each of the first five innings Saturday.

Norman Regional

Oklahoma 7, North Carolina 6, 10 innings

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - Eric Ross hit a double in the top of the 10th inning to lead Oklahoma to over North Carolina.

Oklahoma (46-15) advanced to the winners' bracket game Sunday between North Carolina (37-21) and Oral Roberts (36-26).

North Carolina trailed 6-3 entering the bottom of the ninth, but Brian Goodwin tied it with a two-run triple after Levi Michael doubled in a run off Ryan Duke (3-1). Greg Holt (3-4) took the loss for the Tar Heels.

Oral Roberts 9, California 8

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - Tyler Garewal homered leading off the bottom of the ninth to give Oral Roberts a victory over California in a loser's bracket game at the Norman Regional.

The season ended for Cal (29-25), which lost to North Carolina in the first round.

Seth Furmanek hit his 24th and 25th homers of the season, and second and third in the tournament, for Oral Roberts (36-26).

Sean Johnson (3-4) pitched an inning of relief for the win. Reliever Dixon Anderson (5-4) took the loss.

Fort Worth Regional

TCU 11, Arizona 5

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Joe Weik had two home runs and six RBIs, Taylor Featherston hit a three-run homer and TCU defeated Arizona.

Weik and Jason Coats added run-scoring singles, and Bryan Holaday scored on a wild pitch for the Frogs (48-11).

Trailing by five in the fifth, Arizona (34-23) scored twice, highlighted by a solo home run from Josh Garcia. The Wildcats also scored single runs in the seventh and eighth.

TCU freshman left-hander Matt Purke (13-0) earned the victory.

Baylor 6, Lamar 4

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Logan Vick had a two-run double, Max Muncy added a two-run single and Baylor held on to beat Lamar.

Joey Hainsfurther and Gregg Glime also had run-scoring singles for the Bears (35-24).

Trailing by five runs in the ninth, Lamar (35-26) got a three-run homer from Joey Latulippe for the final margin. The Cardinals were eliminated from the tournament.

Tempe Regional

Arizona St. 12, Hawaii 1

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Seth Blair scattered three hits over seven innings as No. 1 national seed Arizona State cruised into the championship game of the Tempe Regional.

Blair (12-0) was totally in command, giving up one run, striking out eight and walking none for the Sun Devils (49-8). His only blemish was a seventh-inning homer by Jeffery Van Doornum.

The Rainbows (34-27) will face San Diego in an elimination game Sunday.

San Diego 22, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 1

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Mike Ferraro went 4 for 6 with a homer and six RBIs as San Diego crushed Milwaukee.

Nick McCoy went 4 for 5 with a solo homer, four runs scored and three RBIs, and Zack Kometani had four hits and two RBIs for the Toreros (37-21), who pounded out 25 hits.

The fourth-seeded Panthers (33-26) were eliminated.

San Diego's potent offense supported starter A.J. Griffin (8-3), who worked five innings and allowed two hits and a walk with six strikeouts.

Fullerton Regional

Minnesota 6, New Mexico 4, 10 innings

FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) - Matt Puhl and Kyle Geason hit run-scoring singles in the 10th inning to give Minnesota a victory over New Mexico in the Fullerton Regional.

Scott Matyas pitched three innings of no-hit relief, walked one and struck out the final eight for the Golden Gophers (32-28), who have won 13 of 15 games.

The Lobos (38-21) held a 3-0 lead after two innings, but Minnesota tied it at 4 when Nick O'Shea scored on a balk in the eighth.

Cal St. Fullerton 6, Stanford 5

FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) - Christian Colon hit a pair of two-run homers as Cal State Fullerton eliminated Stanford.

Noe Ramirez struck out eight in earning his 11th victory for the Titans (42-16), who have won 24 of 27 games.

Tyler Gaffney hit the second pitch of the game for a home run to put the Cardinal (31-25) ahead 1-0. With the score tied, Colon hit his first two-run homer over the left-field fence to give the Titans a 3-1 lead in the third. His second homer extended Fullerton's lead to 5-2 in the fifth.

Los Angeles Regional

UCLA 6, LSU 3

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Trevor Bauer struck out 11 in eight-plus innings to lead UCLA to a 6-3 victory over defending national champion LSU.

Bauer (10-3) had a chance to become the first pitcher this season to shut out LSU, but a dropped pop fly to open the ninth opened up a three-run inning for the Tigers. Dan Klein came on to get the final three outs for UCLA (45-13), the No. 6 national seed.

Cody Regis, Jeff Gelalich and Dean Espy homered for the Bruins, who'll play the winner of an elimination game between LSU (41-21) and UC Irvine (38-20) on Sunday night.

LSU ace Anthony Ranaudo (5-3) allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings.

UC Irvine 19, Kent St. 9

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Francis Larson homered and had his second four-RBI game in as many days, and Casey Stevenson had five hits as UC Irvine cruised past Kent State.

UC Irvine (38-20) will play the loser of the late game between defending national champion LSU and top-seeded host UCLA in an elimination game. UCI scored in every inning and had 21 hits, giving the Anteaters 39 in two games.

For the second straight game, Kent State (39-25) fell behind 15-1 but scored eight runs in the sixth inning before being eliminated.

END Capsules