HOOVER, Ala. — Brodie Johnston hit a two-run home run in the first inning, Jacob Humphrey added a solo shot in the fifth, and fourth-seeded Vanderbilt beat seventh-seeded Ole Miss 3-2 on Sunday to win the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament and clinch an automatic berth in the NCAA Division I tourney.
Not that the Commodores (42-16) needed it; they were headed there anyway and learned Sunday night that they’re among the eight SEC teams that will host the 16 NCAA regionals being held later this week.
Vanderbilt received a bye into the SEC quarterfinals and won three games in as many days to win the tournament.
Luke Guth (4-0) pitched 1 2/3 innings with three walks and three strikeouts in Sunday’s finale. Sawyer Hawks worked two innings and gave up a solo homer in the ninth to earn his seventh save of the season.
Vanderbilt, which has advanced to the NCAA’s 64-team postseason field for 19 tournaments in a row, has won eight games in a row. The Commodores, who are a possible No. 1 overall seed, await the selection show at noon Monday on ESPN2.
Despite the loss, Ole Miss (40-19) is also among the regional hosts.
After Rustan Rigdon flied out and RJ Austin grounded out, Riley Nelson was hit by a pitch before Johnston’s homer opened the scoring in the first inning. Johnston was a prep standout at Chattanooga’s Boyd Buchanan.
Hayden Federico scored on a single by Mitchell Sandford in the fifth inning, but Humphrey’s homer made it 3-1 going into the sixth.
Isaac Humphrey hit a solo shot to make it a one-run game in the ninth, and Austin Fawley and Federico each drew a two-out walk before Hawks got Brayden Randle to pop out and end the threat.
ACC: Tar Heels tear through Tigers
DURHAM, N.C. — Jackson Van De Brake drove in five runs, including a three-run homer in an eight-run fifth inning, highlighting the University of North Carolina’s 14-4 victory over Clemson on Sunday in Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title game.
Hunter Stokely and Tyson Bass hit two-run homer with one out in the fifth, giving third-seeded North Carolina an 8-0 lead, but the Tar Heels weren’t done. Kane Kepley delivered an RBI single and Van De Brake followed with his blast to left-center field, making it 12-0.
North Carolina added two runs in the sixth on a fielder’s choice and a groundout.
Tar Heels starter Ryan Lynch pitched four scoreless innings, allowing two hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. Clemson loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth, but Lynch got out of the jam with two strikeouts and an inning-ending grounder to second.
Cam Cannarella hit a two-run homer for fifth-seeded Clemson in the seventh, and the Tigers added single runs in the eighth and ninth.
The Tar Heels scored in each of the first three innings. In the first, Gavin Gallaher laced an RBI double; in the second, Kepley’s sacrifice fly scored one run and Van De Brake added a run-scoring single; in the third, Alex Madera drove in Gallaher with a single.
Olin Johnson (2-0) was credited with the win on the mound, while B.J. Bailey (2-5) took the loss.
Gallaher and Madera had three hits each.
The Tar Heels (42-12) will be making their 37th appearance in the NCAA tournament. They won the conference tournament for the third time since 2019.
The Tigers (44-16), seeking an at-large bid in the 64-team field, would be making their 47th appearance.
Big Ten: No. 8 great for Nebraska
OMAHA, Neb. — Ty Horn threw eight scoreless innings, Devin Nunez hit a two-run homer, and eighth-seeded Nebraska defeated Big Ten regular-season co-champion UCLA 5-0 on Sunday to win the league tournament title.
The Cornhuskers (32-27) have won back-to-back conference tournaments for their only championships since joining the Big Ten in 2011.
Dylan Carey’s RBI double in the second opened the scoring. Later in the inning, Case Sanderson scored on a passed ball and Carey scored on a single by Rhett Stokes.
Nunez’s homer in the third made it 5-0, and Horn (3-4) continued to shut down the second-seeded Bruins. His toughest inning was the sixth, when a double by Mulivai Levu gave UCLA runners on second and third with one out. Horn responded by striking out the next two batters to end the threat.
Horn went eight innings, allowing three hits with six strikeouts, three walks and one hit batter. Casey Daiss pitched the ninth, allowing one hit and striking out two baters.
UCLA starter Landon Stump (6-1) took the loss. He was charged with three runs in 1 1/3 innings.
UCLA (42-16) tied for first place with Oregon in the first season in the Big Ten for the former Pac-12 programs. Fellow newcomers Southern California and Washington finished fourth and fifth, respectively, but it was Nebraska that came from further back in the seedings to win the tournament.
The Cornhuskers defeated Purdue and Michigan State in pool play, then defeated top-seeded Oregon and Penn State on Saturday to reach the championship game
Big 12: Arizona wins in 10th
ARLINGTON, Texas — Maddox Mihalakis drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning, leading No. 4 seed Arizona a 2-1 victory over third-seeded TCU on Saturday night to win the Big 12 tournament championship and clinch the Wildcats’ 40th trip to the NCAA tournament.
In the top of the 10th inning, Mason White was hit by a pitch with one out and took third base on a single by Adonys Guzman. Mihalakis drove the first pitch into center field for the go-ahead run.
Arizona (39-18) had only three hits and stranded nine runners through the first eight innings before Andrew Cain’s home run to right field tied the game 1-1 in the ninth.
The Horned Frogs (39-18) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Sawyer Strosnider scored on a groundout by Noah Franco. Strosnider had drawn a one-out walk and advanced to third on a double by Cole Cramer.
No player for TCU reached third base the rest of the game.
Arizona had runners on second and third in the sixth and eighth innings but did not score.
Arizona freshman starter Smith Bailey pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run and four hits. He struck out five batters with no walks.
Tony Pluta (2-0), the fourth pitcher used by the Wildcats, pitched the last two innings and got the victory.
Four TCU pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts, with three walks and three batters hit by pitch. Braeden Sloan (3-4) allowed both Arizona runs and took the loss.
NCAA: Full field revealed Monday
INDIANAPOLIS — SEC programs will host half of this week’s NCAA regionals, tying the record the conference set in 2023 with eight home berths.
The rest of the 64-team field and first-round matchups will be announced Monday by the Division I Baseball Committee.
The SEC will have Arkansas (43-13), Auburn (38-18), Georgia (42-15), LSU (43-14), Ole Miss (40-19), Tennessee (43-16), Texas (42-12) and Vanderbilt (42-16) playing at home to start the national tournament.
Three Atlantic Coast Conference teams are hosts: Clemson (44-16), Florida State (38-14) and North Carolina (42-12).
First-year Big Ten schools Oregon (42-14) and UCLA (42-16) are hosts, as are Sun Belt Conference schools Coastal Carolina (48-11) and Southern Miss (44-14), as well as independent Oregon State (41-12-1).
Florida State is hosting a regional for the 37th time overall, most by any school. The Seminoles, Georgia, North Carolina, Oregon State and Tennessee all hosted regionals last year, and Arkansas and Clemson are hosting for a third straight year.
There are 29 conferences that will receive an automatic berth in the field of 64, along with 35 at-large selections.
Each regional will include four teams playing in a double-elimination format. Regionals start Friday and Saturday and run through June 2, with the winners meeting in best-of-three super regionals the following week. Selection of the eight super regional hosts will be announced June 3.
The eight super regional champions advance to the College World Series, which begins June 13 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.