San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Texas Tech holds off UNC-Greensboro to stay alive
STATESBORO, Ga. — Brandon Birdsell threw seven shutout innings and Texas Tech used a wild pitch and a throwing error to score two runs on the same play as the Red Raiders defeated UNC Greensboro 2-0 in an elimination game of the Statesboro Regional on Saturday.
Texas Tech (38-21) will play the loser of Saturday's nightcap between No. 16 overall seed Georgia Southern and Notre Dame in an elimination game Sunday morning.
Birdsell (9-3) allowed five hits and two walks, striking out four. Andrew Devine followed Birdsell and retired all four batters he faced, striking out a pair. Derek Bridges got the final two outs, striking out Zack Budzik on three pitches with two runners on base to end the game for his first save of the season.
The Red Raiders scored both their runs in the top of the eighth inning. No. 9 batter Dillon Carter led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Easton Murrell. Carter advanced to third on Cole Stilwell's flyout to center field. Jace Jung was intentionally walked to put runners at the corners.
Jung stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Alex Hoppe, who entered the game after Murrell's bunt. Carter scored on the errant pitch and Jung followed him home after a throwing error by catcher Dallas Callahan.
Greg Hardison had two of six hits by the Spartans (34-30).
TCU 3, ORAL ROBERTS 1
Back-to-back home runs from Brayden Taylor and Kurtis Byrne proved to be the difference as the Horned Frogs staved off elimination with a win over the Golden Eagles at Olsen Field in the College Station Regional.
Garrett Wright recorded the final eight outs for his fifth save of the season.
A quintet of pitchers held Oral Roberts to just a run on seven hits. Marcelo Perez started and allowed a run on five hits, walked one and struck out five over 4 2⁄3 innings. Caleb Bolden (5-2) picked up the win in relief after tossing 1 1⁄3scoreless.
TCU opened the scoring with two hits in the third. With two outs, Elijah Nunez swiped second and scored easily on a Tommy Sacco double.
Oral Roberts flirted with tying the game in the fourth with two on and one out, but Perez got an infield fly and strikeout to end the inning. TCU was not able to escape the jam in the fifth. With two outs, two hits and a walk loaded the bases. A wild pitch tied the game.
TCU will next face the loser of Saturday night's Texas A&M vs. Louisiana game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Horned Frogs (37-21) beat Louisiana 7-6 on Friday night as CJ Willis went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored and Will Veillon hit a two-run home run.
Louisiana-Lafayette's Heath Hood drew a two-out walk in the top of the sixth inning, stole second and then scored when Julian Brock singled to right.
David Bishop went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and Porter Brown hit a solo homer for TCU.
AIR FORCE 5, DALLAS BAPTIST 1
Sam Kulasingam and Paul Skenes hit home runs in a fourrun third inning, Doyle Gehring pitched seven strong innings and the Falcons defeated the Huskies in an elimination game of the Austin Regional.
Kulasingam's leadoff home run in the third put the Falcons up 2-0. Skenes, the Mountain West co-Pitcher of the Year, had a two-run shot after Blake Covin singled. Jay Thomason plated another run when his single drove in Jake Greiving.
That was plenty for Gehring, who limited the Huskies to three hits and a seventh-inning run. He struck out seven and walked two.
Two of the three hits for Dallas Baptist (34-24-1) came in the seventh with Cole Moore scoring on Luke Heefner's sacrifice fly.
Air Force (31-28) plays again on Sunday against the loser of Louisiana Tech and Texas.
UCLA 16 SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 2
Ethan Gourson and Carson Yates hit home runs, catcher Darius Perry went 4-for-4 and the Bruins cruised in an elimination game of the Auburn Regional.
UCLA (39-23) will play another elimination game on Sunday morning against the loser of Saturday's nightcap between No. 14 overall seed Auburn and Florida State.
Gourson had an RBI double to spark a three-run first inning and Perry's two-run single came in the middle of a four-run fourth that gave the Bruins a 7-1 lead. Yates hit a two-run homer in a three-run sixth and Gourson hit a solo shot in the ninth to cap the scoring. UCLA scored multiple runs in five different innings.
Ethan Flanagan went four innings in a start for the Bruins, allowing an unearned run on two hits and three walks. Jake Saum (4-0) relieved Flanagan and picked up the win with a scoreless inning of work.
Tyler Finke had a double as the Lions (30-31) managed just three hits.