NCAA regionals: California, Oregon State, Arizona State, UCLA all victorious
The Golden Bears started off their NCAA regional with a 9-3 win over Coastal Carolina. Mitchell Kranson got Cal on the board with an RBI single in the top of the second, but the Chanticleer's tied it up in the bottom of the inning on Tyler Chadwick's solo home run. The Bears took the lead back in the fifth when Preston Grand Pre hit a one-out single before Aaron Knapp and Devin Pearson hit back-to-back doubles. They added another run in the sixth, two in the eighth, and three more in the top of the ninth. Kranson finished with three hits and two RBI, while seven of Cal's starters collected at least one hit.
Daulton Jefferies threw seven innings of one-run ball for the Bears, allowing three hits and three walks, while striking out five. Coastal Carolina made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth when G.K. Young doubled before Zach Remillard and Seth Lancaster walked. A bases loaded walk made it 9-2 and a Josh Crump groundout made it 9-3, but Jeff Bain closed it out for Cal.
Lineout to short and #Cal wins it 9-3!!!! #GoBears #RoadToOmaha pic.twitter.com/Mg9u8z9rmc
— Cal Baseball (@Cal_Baseball) May 29, 2015
[Related: 2015 NCAA baseball championship bracket (NCAA.com)]
The Ducks offense sputtered in game 1 as they fell to Iowa 3-1. Nick Day's RBI single in the bottom of the second put the Hawkeyes on the board. Singles from Tim Susnara, Jakob Goldfarb, and Austin Grebeck in the top of the third tied the game at one, but the Ducks couldn't keep Iowa off the board in the bottom of the inning, and the Hawkeyes re-took the lead on an RBI groundout from Nick Roscetti. Iowa added another run in the sixth on a fielder's choice from Roscetti. Oregon put together a two-out rally in the top of the ninth when Mark Karaviotis and Goldfarb singled, but they were unable to bring in the runners.
The Beavers topped Texas 5-4 in an exciting opener. The Longhorns got on the board first on an RBI single from Tres Berrera in the fourth, but back-to-back-to-back singles from Elliot Cary, Billy King, and Kyle Nobach gave Oregon State a 2-1 lead. An RBI single from KJ Harrison in the fifth and Michael Gretler's RBI single down the third base line to score King in the sixth made it 4-1 Beavers.
But Texas came storming back. A sacrifice fly from Ben Johnson made it 4-2 before a two-run home run from Brooks Marlow tied the game in the eighth. The blast knocked out Beavers' starter Andrew Moore, who lasted 7.2 innings and gave up nine hits, four earned runs and four walks while striking out eight. Joe Gillette led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk for OSU and Nobach delivered a single to right-center to give the Beavers the 5-4 win.
Kyle Davis took a no-hitter into the seventh against Virginia, but USC dropped the regional opener 6-1 to the Cavaliers. Davis was solid all day, but Virginia was finally able to break through in the seventh when Matt Thaiss reached on a throwing error from Trojans' third baseman Blake Lacey. Kenny Towns then singled for the Cavaliers' first hit of the game. A sac bunt moved both runners into scoring position and, after a groundout from Robbie Coman, Virginia was on the board. A wild pitch from Davis made it 2-0.
The Cavaliers added some insurance in the eighth when Adam Hasseley led off with a double and came around to score on an error from Dante Flores. The Trojans got the run back in the bottom of the inning when Garrett Stubbs worked a two-out walk, stole second and scored on a single from Jeremy Martinez. Virginia, however, put the game out of reach with three more runs in the ninth. Coman singled, Joe McCarthy doubled, and a two-bagger from Ernie Clement scored them both. A Hasseley single made it 6-1. Davis turned in a quality start for USC, going 8.1 innings, allowing seven hits. Only three of Virginia's six runs were earned.
Arizona State powered past Clemson with a 7-4 win on Friday. Clemson got on the board first when Andrew Cox hit a two-run single up the middle in the top of the fifth, but Trever Allen's solo shot for ASU in the bottom of the inning made it 2-1. The long ball helped the Sun Devils again in the seventh when Joey Bielek's two-run homer gave them the lead and Brian Serven followed it up with a home run of his own.
ASU's offense continued to roll in the eighth. Johnny Sewald led off with a walk, moved to second on a bunt, stole third, and scored on a fielder's choice from Colby Woodmansee. David Greer singled, and both advanced on a wild pitch. Allen then tripled them both home to make it 7-2.
The Tigers made it interesting in the ninth when Weston Wilson hit a one-out double and moved to third on a wild pitch. Tyler Slanton walked and stole second, and Eli White singled them both home, making it 7-4. A single from Steven Duggar brought the tying run to the plate for Clemson, but Sun Devil closer Ryan Burr closed it out for ASU.
Another strong performance from James Kaprielian gave the Bruins a win in their NCAA regional opener as they topped Cal State Bakersfield 7-2. The Roadrunners broke through against the Bruins in the top of the second after Ryan Grotjohn walked, Chance Gusbeth singled, and Logan Trowbridge singled to make it 1-0 CSUB. But UCLA came storming back. Kevin Kramer's double and Luke Persico's single tied the game at one in the third. They took the lead the next inning when Kort Peterson led off with a walk, Trent Chatterton reached on an error from pitcher James Barragan, and Christoph Bono singled. Kramer's single made it 3-1. A Chatterton groundout in the fifth, A Persico fielder's choice in the sixth, a Bono single in the seventh, and another Roadrunner error in the eighth led to four more runs for the Bruins. Kaprielian was solid again for the Bruins, tossing seven innings and allowing two runs, five hits, and one walk while striking out six.