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College  | Story  | 6/4/2016

Saturday Regional Recap

Patrick Ebert     
Photo: Tim Casey




Friday Regional Recap | 2016 Regional Preview | College Top 25 | Video Vault


Eliminated teams

• Alabama State (Tallahassee Regional)
• Bethune-Cookman (Gainesville Regional)
• Binghamton (College Station Regional)
• Bryant (Charlottesville Regional)
• Duke (Columbia Regional)
• Fairfield (Lubbock Regional)
• Mississippi (Oxford Regional)
• Nebraska (Clemson Regional)
• Princeton (Lafayette Regional)
• Oral Roberts (Fort Worth Regional)
• Saint Mary’s (Raleigh Regional)
• Southeast Missouri (Starkville Regional)
• Stetson (Coral Gables Regional)
• Vanderbilt (Nashville Regional)
• Western Michigan (Louisville Regional)

South Alabama’s Nos. 2-4 hitters (Cole Billingsley, Travis Swaggerty and Danny Martinez) combined to go 8-for-12 with three runs scored and four RBI in their 6-3 elimination-avoiding win against Alabama State. Randy Bell went the distance in the win, allowing three runs on seven base hits while striking out eight Hornet batters.

Jordan Aboites also went the distance for Arizona State to stave off elimination in a 4-1 win over Oral Roberts as Brian Serven went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI.

The Georgia Tech bats picked up nearly where they left off on Friday and Brandon Gold pitched seven solid innings in a 12-3 elimination game win over Bethune-Cookman. While Matt Gonzalez (2-for-4, two runs, two RBI) had another good day at the plate, Wade Bailey (4-for-5), Tristin English (3-for-5) and Trevor Crapot (3-for-4) were a little better, with Bailey and Crapot each hitting a pair of doubles and English hit a three-run bomb as part of the team’s six-run ninth.

Ole Miss, who entered the tournament ranked as Perfect Game’s seventh-best team in the nation while hosting a Regional, had their season come to an end in a 6-5 loss to Tulane. The middle-of-the-order bats for the Rebels went cold and their bullpen wasn’t anywhere close to being as dominant as they were during the regular season. It didn’t help that Green Wave first baseman Hunter Williams went 3-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs in the game.

Bryant, also a Top 25-ranked team (14), saw their season come to an end at the hands of William & Mary.

After receiving the shocking and terrible news of freshman Donny Everett’s drowning death on Thursday, Vanderbilt had to wait one more day to start their tournament due to rain. They played Xavier on Saturday morning and played a tight contest until the seventh inning when the Musketeers exploded for 13 runs. Rylan Bannon, who went 2-for-4 from the leadoff spot, had a grand slam and a bases-loaded walk as part of that inning as sophomore lefthander Zac Lowther out-lasted Vandy ace Jordan Sheffield, allowing only one run on four hits and three walks while fanning eight.

And Vanderbilt was knocked out of the tournament in the very next game, a game that they took an 8-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning. Washington chipped away at that lead with two runs in the sixth, three more in the seventh (on a three-run home run off the bat of catcher Joey Morgan) and the final two deciding runs in the eighth to claim the 8-7 victory. It was Jack Meggs, son of UW head coach Lindsay Meggs, that served as the hero, hitting a two-run home run that moved the Huskies ahead of the Commodores. Spencer Jones did his best Troy Rallings impersonation by providing 3 2/3 scoreless frames.

Two-way talent Darick Hall took things into his own hands as he kept Dallas Baptist from being eliminated by providing 7 1/3 solid innings on the mound while also going 2-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs and three total runs scored.


Upset alert

Virginia was poised to win their game against East Carolina to move to 2-0 on the tournament before the Pirates stormed back for five runs in the bottom of the ninth before Travis Watkins hit a three-run bomb for the big 8-5 walkoff win. With the loss Virginia was forced to the losers’ bracket but may have another chance to take on ECU on Sunday with a win over William & Mary.

Oklahoma State jumped on Clemson early and often on Saturday, taking a commanding 8-0 lead into the bottom of the third, and scoring four more runs later in, in a 12-2 beatdown of the Tigers. Conor Costello continues to swing a hot bat for the Cowboys, going 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and one driven in. J.R. Davis and Jon Littell also had three-hit days for Oklahoma State while usual closer Tyler Buffett made only his third start of the year and looked impressive in doing so, giving up only one run over seven strong innings of work.


Big guns come out on top

Brendan McKay had himself a game in Louisville’s big 15-3 win over Ohio State, keeping the upstart Buckeyes bats at bay wth 5 2/3 shutout frames in which he struck out 10 hitters. He also helped his cause on the mound, going 2-for-4 with three RBI, two of which came on his two-run bomb in the first after he struck out the side to open the game. Danny Rosenbaum helped the cause with two two-run home runs in back-to-back innings (third and fourth).

Florida State chased Southern Miss ace Cord Cockrell from the game after only 1 2/3 innings that led to a three-run third inning and they never looked back in a 7-2 win. All three runs came courtesy of Steven Wells, Jr. who connected for a three-run home run that proved to be all of the runs they would need. Jim Voyles delivered 3 1/3 shutout innings in relief of starter Holton to secure the victory.

Although neither starter was at their best, A.J. Puk and Anthony Kay brought out a big scouting crowd as expected. Puk allowed five runs (four earned) in 4 1/3 innings while Kay also allowed five runs (four earned) in 5 2/3 frames. Both bullpens performed well, but Florida’s was a little better as Dane Dunning came in to bridge the gap to closer Shaun Anderson with 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Pete Alonso stayed red-hot at the plate with a 2-for-5 performance that included his 13th home run of the year. Jonathan India’s solo home run to lead off the eighth inning proved to be the game-winner.

Boston College may not be a household name when it comes to the big guns, but they may have received a fortuitous path to Super Regional play by letting Utah and Tulane do their dirty work for them in knocking out host Ole Miss. Now BC is one win away from advancing after beating Utah 4-3. The Eagles made the most of their seven base hits, and also took advantage of three Utah errors, scoring three runs in the seventh to pull ahead for the eventual win.

Elliott Barzilli brought home the game-tying and game winning runs on a two-run single in the top of the eighth inning as Texas Christian moved to 2-0 with a 4-3 win over Gonzaga. That inning came in response to the Zags three-run sixth, highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of Jeffrey Bohling, which gave Gonzaga a short-lived 3-2 lead.

Texas Tech received some late-inning heroics to avoid a scare by scoring three runs over the final two innings to record a 4-3 win over New Mexico. Ryan Long delivered a huge two-run, pinch-hit single in the eighth inning that tied the game 3-3 and Stephen Smith led off the ninth with a solo blast that put the Red Raiders ahead for good.

The Miami Hurricanes were also given a scare as Long Beach State scored a run in the bottom of the ninth – doing so against Miami’s all-time saves leader Bryan Garcia – that forced extra innings. Carl Chester hit the game-winning base hit to drive in Jacob Heyward, who led off the 11th with a walk, and Andrew Cabezas provided 1 2/3 scoreless innings to secure the win.

In a game that deserved the mercy rule, or a simple observation of the phrase “uncle,” Texas A&M beat Wake Forest by 20 in a 22-2 victory. As one might guess, there were no shortage of big days at the plate, as SEC Player of the Year Boomer White stood out in particular by reaching base five times by going 3-for-4 with two walks, a homer, double, four runs scored and four driven in. Jonathan Moroney had six RBI, going 2-for-4 with a home run of his own. Brigham Hill was pulled after striking out 10 batters in six innings to get some other arms some time on the mound.
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