June 7, 2010

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Around the Regionals

Witten scores game-winner in 10th for Coastal Carolina

Virginia wins Charlottesville Regional, Vanderbilt victorious at Louisville

Myrtle Beach Regional

#2 College of Charleston 10 vs. #1 Coastal Carolina 11 (10) (CofC eliminated)

Coastal Carolina wins Myrtle Beach Regional

In Myrtle Beach, S.C., Rich Witten had a leadoff double and scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the top of the 10th as Coastal Carolina edged College of Charleston to win the Myrtle Beach Regional. The Chanticleers (55-8), the No. 4 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, will host South Carolina in a Super Regional this weekend. The Cougars (44-19) tried to rally in the bottom of the frame as Cole Rakar had a leadoff single against Coastal ace Cody Wheeler. Matt Leeds drew a one-out walk to put Rakar in scoring position. Wheeler got a flyout and a strikeout to end the inning and give the win to the Chants. Wheeler (12-0) pitched three scoreless innings with three hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Tommy La Stella had a two-run double in the top of the eighth which gave Coastal a 10-8 advantage. In the bottom of the eighth, Baker Knox led off with a single and moved to third on a double by Jamie Holler. Joey Bergman brought home Knox with a groundout and Rakar’s sacrifice fly plated Holler with the tying run. Witten (2 for 5, 4 RBI) and Jose Iglesias (2 for 5, 2 R, 2 RBI) both homered for the Chanticleers. Rakar went 4 for 5 with two homers, three runs and six RBI for the Cougars (44-19). Rob Kral (2 for 5, 2 R) also went deep for Charleston.

Charlottesville Regional

#1 Virginia 5 vs. #3 St. John's 3 (St. John's eliminated)

Virginia wins Charlottesville Regional

In Charlottesville, Va., Virginia handed the ball to two of its top relievers, and Branden Kline and Kevin Arico responded by holding down pesky St. John’s as the Cavaliers set a school record with 50 wins and returned to the Super Regionals for the second straight year. Kline (5-0), who threw three innings of solid relief against Ole Miss Saturday, tossed 5.1 innings with three runs on six hits. Arico, the Cavaliers’ closer who owns 16 saves, was summoned in the sixth and shut down the Red Storm (43-20) over the final 3.2 innings. Keith Werman went 2 for 3 with two runs, and Phil Gosselin had two hits, a RBI and a steal of home when Dan Grovatt was thrown out at second in the first inning. Franco Valdes delivered a RBI single in the fourth to score John Hicks, who had walked and stolen second, to make it 4-1 Cavaliers (50-12). Jeremy Baltz produced a run on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice and Jimmy Parque had a RBI single as St. John’s cut the lead to 4-3 in the sixth.

Louisville Regional

#1 Louisville 2 vs. #2 Vanderbilt 3 (10) (UL eliminated)

Vanderbilt wins Louisville Regional

In Louisville, Ky., Connor Harrell laid down a safety squeeze between the pitcher's mound and first base which scored Curt Casali with the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning as Vanderbilt edged Louisville. The Commodores (45-18) rallied from the losers' bracket, winning twice on Sunday and beating the Cardinals a second time on Monday. Vanderbilt had lost in the elimination game each of the past two years, including a 5-3 decision to the Cardinals (50-14) last year. Louisville, the visiting team on its home field, trailed 2-1 in the ninth before Jeff Arnold singled in Drew Haynes off Sonny Gray, Saturday's loser to the Cardinals. Gray loaded the bases, and shortstop Brian Harris saved the Commodores with a leaping catch of an Andrew Clark liner to end the inning. Casali was hit by Neil Holland and moved to third on Mike Yastrzemski's roller that got past second baseman Ryan Wright. Harrell's bunt went under Clark's glove as Casali scored without a play at the plate. The Commodores can thank their pitchers, who silenced the potent Cardinals' offense to the tune of two runs in 19 innings over the past two days. In the final game, Grayson Garvin allowed one run in six innings, with Chase Reid, Sonny Gray and Taylor Hill (6-5) allowing four runs and one run in the final four innings.

Atlanta Regional

#1 Georgia Tech 8 vs. #2 Alabama 10 (GT eliminated)

Alabama wins Atlanta Regional

In Atlanta, Ga., Ross Wilson went 2 for 3 with three runs and two walks as Alabama (41-23) edged Georgia Tech (47-15) in a back-and-forth game. Jake Smith's two-RBI double gave the Crimson Tide a first-inning lead, but it didn't last long. In the bottom of the inning, Derek Dietrich tied the game with a two-run home run and Chase Burnette hit another two-run home run to put the Yellow Jackets on top. Tony Plagman, who had an RBI groundout in the second, finished his career two home runs shy of the school record. Each team scored in the third - Smith hit an RBI single for Alabama and Jacob Esch answered with an RBI single for Georgia Tech. The Crimson Tide regained the lead in the fourth inning - Josh Rutledge hit a two-RBI double and Clay Jones hit a three-run home run - making the score 8-6. Georgia Tech quickly tied the game in the bottom of the inning, off of Cole Leonida's and Thomas Nichols' RBI singles. Smith drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth to score the game-winning run. Nathan Kilcrease (8-2), the winning pitcher and the Regional's Most Outstanding Player, struck out eight, walked two, and allowed eight hits and two runs in six innings. The Yellow Jackets, who hosted a Regional for the 10th time and earned their 26th overall NCAA berth, lost in the elimination game for the third-straight year. Their other elimination losses were to Southern Miss in the 2009 Atlanta Regional and to Georgia in the 2008 Athens Regional. Alabama, which has played in the NCAA tournament 10 of the past 13 years, will play at Clemson in the Super Regional round in its first Super Regional appearance since 2006.

All-Tournament Team: Alex Swim, C, Elon; Tony Plagman, 1B, Georgia Tech; Jacob Esch, 2B, Georgia Tech; Josh Rutledge, SS, Alabama; Jake Smith, 3B, Alabama; Taylor Dugas, OF, Alabama; Chase Burnette, OF, Georgia Tech; Billy Burns, OF; Mercer; Nathan Kilcrease, P, Alabama (Most Outstanding Player); Deck McGuire, P, Georgia Tech.

Auburn Regional

#2 Clemson 13 vs. #1 Auburn 7 (Auburn eliminated)

Clemson wins Auburn Regional

In Auburn, Ala., Jeff Schaus went 3 for 5 with two RBI and two runs and Clemson (41-22) beat Auburn (43-21). Kyle Parker, the Colorado Rockies first-round pick in Monday's MLB draft, hit a three-run home run in the first inning to give Clemson an early lead. Parker, who also plays quarterback for the Clemson football team, is the first Division I athlete to throw 20 touchdown passes and hit 20 home runs during a collegiate career. Down 6-0 in the second, Auburn cut that lead in half when Justin Bryant and Justin Fradejas hit RBI singles and Dan Gamache drew a bases-loaded walk. In the third, John Hinson hit a solo home run for Clemson and Auburn got an RBI double from Casey McElroy and an RBI single from Bryant, making the score 7-5 Clemson. Each team scored again in the fifth - Brad Miller hit an RBI single for Clemson and Auburn's Trent Mummey had a solo home run. Richie Shaffer's three-RBI double in the seventh gave Clemson a five-run lead. McElroy led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run, and Auburn had runners on first and third, but an inning-ending double play kept Auburn from getting any closer. Boyd's RBI double in the ninth put Clemson up by six, its biggest lead of the game. Alex Frederick (7-2) struck out five batters, allowing six hits and two runs in three innings to earn the win. Auburn, which earned its 18th Regional berth and hosted for the first time since 2003, lost at home for just the ninth time in 38 games and is now eliminated from the NCAA tournament. Clemson, making its 35^th postseason appearance, will host Alabama, the winner of the Atlanta Regional, in the Super Regional Round. Clemson is the third ACC team (Virginia and Florida State) and the third No. 2 seed (Vanderbilt and Alabama) to win a Regional.

All-Tournament Team: Ryan Jenkins, C, Auburn; Hunter Morris, 1B, Auburn; Mike Freeman, 2B, Clemson; B.A. Vollmuth, SS, Southern Miss; John Hinson, 3B, Clemson (Most Outstanding Player); Wilson Boyd, OF, Clemson; Justin Fradejas, OF, Auburn; Jeff Schaus, OF, Clemson; Casey Harman, P, Clemson; Scott Weismann, P, Clemson; Trent Mummey, DH, Auburn.

Coral Gables Regional

#1 Miami 3 vs. #2 Texas A&M 2 (suspended bottom 2, resume Tue. 1 pm)

In Coral Gables, Fla., the Regional finale between Miami and Texas A&M was suspended due to rain and will be resumed on Tuesday afternoon at 1 p.m. There was a delay of 1:36 at the start of the game. When play was halted, the Hurricanes led 3-2 with the Aggies batting in the bottom of the second. The winner will play at Florida for its Super Regional beginning Saturday evening at 7 p.m.

Fayetteville Regional

#1 Arkansas 7 vs. #2 Washington State 2 (WSU eliminated)

Arkansas wins Fayetteville Regional

In Fayetteville, Ark., TJ Forrest fanned four in 5.1 innings as Arkansas downed Washington State to capture the Fayetteville Regional in front of 6,774 fans at Baum Stadium. Forrest (8-0) allowed four hits, one walk and two runs (one earned). Drew Smyly pitched 2.2 scoreless innings with two hits and three strikeouts, while Brett Eibner fanned two in the ninth to secure the win. Eibner and James McCann had RBI singles in a three-run first for the Razorbacks (43-19). Matt Fanelli homered in the bottom of the second for the Cougars (37-22). Collin Kuhn had a two-run double in a three-run third as Arkansas built a 6-1 lead. Arkansas will play at top-seeded Arizona State in the Super Regional. It will be the fourth Super Regional appearance for the Hogs.

Fullerton Regional

#4 Minnesota 5 vs. #1 Cal State Fullerton 9 (UM eliminated)

Cal State Fullerton wins Fullerton Regional

In Fullerton, Calif., Christian Colon went 3 for 4 with three RBI as Cal State Fullerton outscored Minnesota to win the Fullerton Regional. Nick Ramirez belted a two-run homer in the fifth to put the Titans (45-16) on top for good at 6-4. Corey Jones, the Most Outstanding Player in the regional, also homered and knocked in three for Fullerton to extend his hit streak to 24. Michael Kvasnicka went 3 for 5 with two RBI for the Golden Gophers (32-30). The Titans will play at UCLA in the Super Regional.