NASHVILLE – Kyle Gallagher hit a three-run home run and totaled four RBIs as the Duke baseball team routed host Vanderbilt 18-5 in an NCAA tournament super regional opener that finished early Saturday morning.
The Blue Devils (35-25) also snapped a 12-game winning streak by Vanderbilt, the nation’s No. 2 overall seed, to move a win from their first College World Series berth since 1961. Winners of the eight best-of-three series in the super regionals round advance to the CWS, which starts next weekend in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Commodores (52-11) have lost five super regionals when dropping the opener. They had never allowed this many runs in a game in this round.
Duke and Vanderbilt waited out a 3-hour, 10-minute weather delay before finally starting Friday night at Hawkins Field, and the Blue Devils apparently handled the wait better, because they followed it by handing Drake Fellows his first loss against 12 wins this season.
Duke’s Erikson Nicols also had four RBIs, including a two-run single to open the game’s scoring in the top of the second inning. Vanderbilt’s Austin Martin tied the score with a two-run single in the bottom half.
Gallagher’s homer put Duke up 6-2 in the third. The Blue Devils turned the game into a rout by adding 10 runs in the eighth, highlighted by three batters hit by pitches and a pair of runs walked in with the bases loaded.
Ben Gross (8-4) struck out five batters in 5 1/3 innings for the win.
» Texas Tech 8, Oklahoma State 6
LUBBOCK, Texas – Josh Jung hit the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh inning over the center-field wall, and host Texas Tech held off Oklahoma State in a super regional opener.
Jung, selected No. 8 overall by the Texas Rangers in the MLB draft Monday night, gave Texas Tech a 7-5 lead with his 13th home run of the season. The Red Raiders’ Brian Klein hit a sacrifice fly to right with the bases loaded in the eighth, driving in Max Marusak to cap the scoring.
Texas Tech (43-17), which is trying to reach the CWS for the fourth time in six years, won its eighth straight game in the all-time series with Oklahoma State (39-20).
Klein’s RBI single in the fourth gave Texas Tech a 4-2 lead. Cameron Warren’s fly ball was dropped by center fielder Trevor Boone, leading to two more runs later in the inning.
Freshman pitcher Micah Dallas (7-0) struck out nine batters through five innings for the win. John McMillon picked up his third save of the season, striking out three batters over two innings.
The Sooners’ Alix Garcia hit a long solo homer in the fifth and added a check-swing RBI single in the seventh.
» Louisville 14, East Carolina 1
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Danny Oriente and Jake Snider drove in three runs apiece, and Reid Detmers held East Carolina to five hits in seven innings as the host Cardinals rolled in their super regional opener.
Hitless for 3 1/3 innings against Pirates ace Jake Agnos (11-3), the Cardinals (48-16) erupted for four runs off three doubles. Oriente’s three-run double to right made it 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth after Tyler Fitzgerald doubled in Logan Wyatt, who also doubled.
Snider’s two-run double keyed the Cardinals’ five-run fifth that broke the game open, and Louisville scored three more times in the sixth and twice in the seventh.
Detmers (12-4) worked through early trouble to shut out East Carolina (47-17) until yielding Spencer Brickhouse’s sixth-inning homer. The sophomore left-hander struck out six and walked two.
Fitzgerald had four hits, four runs and two RBIs, and Alex Binelas drove in two runs as Louisville finished with 18 hits, including five doubles.
» Michigan 3, UCLA 2
LOS ANGELES – Karl Kauffman and Jeff Criswell combined on a four-hitter as the visiting Wolverines beat No. 1 national seed UCLA in a super regional opener.
Kauffman (10-6), a junior right-hander who was drafted No. 77 overall by the Colorado Rockies on Monday, allowed one hit and one walk through eight innings before Criswell came on to hold off UCLA in the bottom of the ninth.
The Wolverines (45-19), making their first super regional appearance since 2007, are one win away from returning to the CWS for the first time since 1984.
Kauffmann issued a leadoff walk and gave up two infield singles to load the bases in the ninth. Michael Toglia, the No. 23 overall pick in the MLB draft, singled into right field to cut the lead to 3-2. Criswell came on and got Jake Pries to pop out and strike out Jack Stronach to end the game.
Jesse Franklin hit a two-out, two-run single to open the scoring in the third inning, and Jordan Nwogu’s sacrifice fly put the Wolverines up 3-0 in the eighth.
Previously unbeaten Pac-12 pitcher of the year Ryan Garcia (10-1) allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits with eight strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings.