SUPER REGIONALS ROUNDUP: ARIZONA COMPLETES SERIES COMEBACK AGAINST NO. 5 NORTH CAROLINA
ARIZONA 4 NORTH CAROLINA 3
A pivotal eighth inning gave the Arizona Wildcats (44-19) a comeback 4-3 victory over the No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels (46-15) in the decisive Game 3 of the Chapel Hill super regional.
Garen Caulfield hit a solo shot in the second inning to notch Arizona’s first run of the game. North Carolina infielder Jackson Van De Brake responded with a three-run homer in the third to give North Carolina an early lead.
Both teams were scoreless over the next four innings, until the Tar Heels’ defense and bullpen faltered in the eighth. An error put runners on first and second, then an Easton Breyfogle bunt drove in a run to make the game 3-2.
Mason White hit a 2-RBI single with the bases loaded to put the Wildcats up 4-3 for good. Arizona’s bullpen was lights out late, tossing three innings without surrendering a hit.
LOUISVILLE 3 MIAMI 2
Eddie King Jr.’s RBI double in the seventh inning pushed the Cardinals (40-22) past the Hurricanes (35-27) in a Game 3 win at the Louisville super regional.
Max Galvin hit a two-run shot to right field in the third inning for Miami’s only runs of the game. The Hurricanes tallied eight hits, but failed to go for extra bases and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. Miami starting pitcher was pulled after only 3 2/3 innings, forcing the Hurricanes to use five pitchers in the game.
Louisville tied the game at 2-all in the fourth inning after a Zion Rose RBI double and a Bayram Hot grounder drove in Rose on a fielder’s choice.
With two outs in the seventh frame, Cardinals infielder Jake Munroe singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. King Jr. then drove in Munroe for a 3-2 lead that Louisville would not relinquish.
MURRAY STATE 19 DUKE 9
The Racers (43-15) exploded for 17 hits, four home runs and a nine-run seventh inning in a blowout 19-9 win against the Blue Devils (41-20) in Game 2 of the Durham super regional to force a Game 3.
Duke used eight pitchers in the contest, including starter Kyle Johnson, who was pulled after allowing six runs in only three innings.
The Blue Devils scored first with back-to-back solo homers to right center in the first inning from AJ Gracia and Ben Miller. Murray State one-upped them with a Jonathan Hogart solo shot, followed by back-to-back walks and consecutive RBI singles with the bases loaded to go up 3-2.
Murray State struck again in the second inning when Carson Garner hit a two-run shot. The Racers reached double-digit runs with a five-run fourth inning. Macon Winslow hit a two-run homer to cap a five-run sixth inning for Duke and narrow the score to 10-8.
The Racers put an exclamation point on their offensive outburst with a nine-run seventh inning, featuring two-run homers by Dan Tauken and Conner Cunningham.
OREGON STATE 14 FLORIDA STATE 10
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State hit five home runs and advanced to its eighth Men’s College World Series with a 14-10 win over Florida State Sunday in front of 4,380 fans at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.
Canon Reeder and Carson McEntire hit back-to-back home runs in a seven-run first inning and Trent Caraway hit a grand slam in the Beavers’ six-run third. Gavin Turley also hit a two-run home run, his 19th of the season, as OSU (47-14-1) pushed ahead to a 13-3 lead.
Tyce Peterson hit the Beavers’ last long ball of the day, a solo shot in the fourth.
Florida State (42-16) went on to score the next six runs but Nelson Keljo slammed the door on a 3-2 strikeout of Alex Lodise to end the game.
Zach Kmatz was stellar in relief, striking out two in 2 2/3 innings. He picked up the win to improve to 2-0 on the year.
Wes Mendes went just 2/3 of an inning for the Seminoles, and allowed five hits and seven runs. He took the loss to drop to 7-3 on the year.
Next Up
The full brackets for the World Series will be announced on Monday.
ARKANSAS 11 TENNESSEE 4
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The OmaHogs are back!
Arkansas (48-13) is headed back to Omaha for the 12th time in program history after an 11-4 victory over Tennessee (46-19) in game two of the NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional.
The Hogs jumped to an early lead in the top of the third inning after a two-run blast from Charles Davalan (2-for-2, 2 RBI) got the offense started. The Volunteers, however, quickly responded by putting one across in the bottom half of the inning.
Cam Kozeal scored on a wild pitch and Logan Maxwell (3-for-5, 4 RBI) swatted his first career grand slam in the fourth to open the floodgates for the Razorbacks, who pushed their lead to 7-1. It was all the Hogs would need.
Cole Gibler entered in relief in the bottom of the fourth after Gage Wood started and tossed 3.1 innings of one-run ball. Gibler, the true freshman, cruised through 2.2 innings of work, striking out four and sitting down 8-of-10 batters faced on 45 pitches to earn his third win of the season.
The Razorback offense continued to add to their lead in the top of the seventh, scoring three more runs thanks to Kuhio Aloy’s RBI single and a pair of bases-loaded walks. Brent Iredale (1-for-4, HR, RBI) landed the final punch, belting a solo shot in the top of the ninth inning.
Aidan Jimenez (1.0 IP, 1 R, 1 SO), Parker Coil (1.0 IP, 2 SO) and Christian Foutch (1.0 IP, 2 R, 3 SO) closed out the 11-4 win to send Arkansas back to the College for the eighth time in the Dave Van Horn era.
The Razorbacks finished the season with a 37-4 record inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium. The wins and .902 win percentage are both single-season program records.
LSU 12 WEST VIRGINIA 5
TIGERS DEFEAT WEST VIRGINIA, 12-5, TO EARN 2025 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES BERTH
BATON ROUGE, La. – Shortstop Steven Milam and rightfielder Jake Brown each drove in four runs Sunday night to lead LSU to a 12-5 win over West Virginia in Game 2 of the NCAA Super Regional at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
The victory secured a berth in the College World Series for LSU, which will participate in the CWS for the 20th time in its illustrious baseball history, and for the second time in three seasons. LSU has won seven College World Series championships, most recently claiming the title in 2023.
The Tigers will face Arkansas in their opening CWS game on either Friday or Saturday at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb. The NCAA will announce dates and game times for the CWS on Monday.
LSU improved to 48-15 with Sunday’s victory, while West Virginia completed its season with a 44-16 mark.
“I told the team after the game, I’m super proud of them because the rewards of ‘tough and together’ were out there on the field tonight,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “I can’t wait to go chase a national championship with them.
“It’s so fun and exciting and rewarding to see all the people so passionate about LSU Baseball, and I’m so thankful for the effort from everybody in this program. And it was an awesome night. I have a lot of gratitude, and I’m just very thankful.”
Milam was 2-for-4 with two doubles and four RBI, and Brown was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and four RBI to highlight LSU’s offensive output.
LSU starting pitcher Anthony Eyanson (11-2) earned the win, as he worked 5.0 innings and limited the Mountaineers to four runs on five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts, firing 104 pitches.
West Virginia starter Jack Kartsonas (6-4) was charged with the loss, as he surrendered six runs on five hits in 2.0 innings with four walks and one strikeout.
LSU grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Brown delivered an RBI groundout, and the Tigers struck for five runs in the second to extend the margin to 6-0.
The second-inning rally featured a three-run double by Milam, and RBI singles by Brown and first baseman Jared Jones.
The Mountaineers narrowed the gap to 6-3 in the fourth as designated hitter Sam White launched a solo homer and first baseman Ben Lumsden unloaded a two-run dinger.
West Virginia added another run in the fifth when White provided an RBI single.
LSU, however, erupted for six runs in the seventh inning as centerfielder Chris Stanfield slapped a two-run single, Milam lined an RBI double, and Brown smashed a two-run homer – his eighth dinger of the season – to highlight the outburst.
The Tigers received outstanding relief pitching behind Eyanson from left-hander Cooper Williams and right-hander Chase Shores. Williams worked 2.2 innings and allowed just one run on one hit with one strikeout, and Shores worked 1.1 perfect innings with three strikeouts to close the game.
##################
