April 26, 2008

Rankings are from CBI Composite Poll

No. 3 North Carolina 11, No. 2 Florida State 4

No. 12 San Diego 11, Loyola Marymount 4

Around the Bases
Walk-off balk lifts No. 8 Texas A&M over No. 6 Missouri

No. 1 Miami blanks No. 20 Virginia; UCF upsets No. 5 Rice

In College Station, Texas, Kirkland Rivers scored the game-winner on a balk in the bottom of the ninth as No. 8 Texas A&M nipped No. 6 Missouri 9-8 in Big 12 play in front of 4,668 fans at Olsen Field. The Aggies (16-3, 35-7) trailed 8-1 in the sixth and pulled to within one after eight. Brian Ruggiano’s RBI double in the ninth followed a single and a walk to knot the score at 8-8 and put the winning run on third with no outs. After an intentional walk, the home plate umpire called a balk, bringing in Kirkland as A&M set a school record and tied a Big 12 mark with its 13^th consecutive conference win.  Ruggiano finished with three hits and three RBI for the Aggies. Ryan Lollis had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and two RBI for the Tigers (9-7, 29-12).

No. 1 Miami (Fla.) 1, No. 20 Virginia 0

In Coral Gables, Fla., Chris Hernandez matched his career high with 11 strikeouts in eight innings as Miami edged Virginia at Mark Light Field in the opener of their ACC series. Hernandez (7-0) fanned six of the first seven batters he faced. He allowed two hits and one walk. Carlos allowed one hit in the ninth in earning his 10^th save for the Hurricanes (18-2, 34-5). Blake Tekotte’s two-out single in the sixth plated Joey Terdoslavich with the game’s lone run. Pat McAnaney (4-2) went the distance for the Cavaliers (13-9, 32-13) with six hits, one walk and six strikeouts in eight innings.

UCF 4, No. 5 Rice 2

In Orlando, Fla., Kyle Sweat worked 7.1 strong innings as UCF upset Rice in the opener of their Conference USA series in front of 1,309 fans at Jay Bergman Field. Sweat (5-2) allowed five hits and two runs with five strikeouts. Justin Weiss pitched a scoreless ninth for his sixth save. Kiko Vazquez went 3 for 4 with two runs for the Knights (5-11, 27-16). He homered in the second to tie the game at 1-1. Diego Seastrunk went deep in the top of the third to give the Owls (13-3, 32-11) a 2-1 advantage. Vazquez doubled and scored in the fourth to knot it at 2-2. Eric Kallstrom singled and scored in the seventh to give UCF the lead for good. Tyson Auer had a double in the seventh and scored on a wild pitch to give the Knights an insurance run.

No. 4 Arizona State 11, No. 13 California 7

In Tempe, Ariz., Mike Leake went the distance for his 20^th career victory as Arizona State outscored California in front of 2,784 fans at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. Leake (7-1) allowed five earned runs and fanned six. Matt Newman’s two-run single capped a three-run first for the Sun Devils (8-5, 33-7). After scoring one in the top of the first, the Golden Bears (7-6, 27-11-2) rallied for four in the top of the second for a 5-3 advantage. Cal led 7-4 in the middle of the fifth before Brett Wallace went deep in the bottom of the fifth to make it 7-5. ASU took the lead for good in the sixth as Kiel Roling’s two-run single capped a four-run rally to give the Sun Devils a 9-7 lead. ASU added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings.

LSU 11, No. 10 South Carolina 3

In Baton Rouge, La., Blake Martin fanned seven in 8.1 innings as LSU surprised South Carolina at Alex Box Stadium. Martin (2-3) allowed seven hits and two runs. Michael Hollander went 3 for 5 with a home run and three RBI for the Tigers (7-11-1, 26-16-1). Matt Clark also went deep for LSU. Whit Merrifield had an RBI single in the first and added a run-scoring double in the second as the Gamecocks (11-8, 31-12) took a 2-0 lead. Hollander’s two-run homer capped a five-run second as the Tigers took the lead for good.

No. 11 Georgia 7, Florida 4

In Gainesville, Fla., Georgia scored six runs in the first three innings and never looked back as it beat Florida 7-4. The Bulldogs (15-3-1, 29-12-1) loaded the bases with one out in the first and scored on a Bryce Massanari RBI single and a Lyle Allen sac fly. In the third, Matt Olson led off the inning with a solo shot and, after successive hits, Massanari hit a three-run blast. The Gators (10-9, 25-16) scored in the fourth on a Chris Figueroa RBI single, but Georgia restored its six-run lead in the sixth on a Gordon Beckham double. The Gators scored three to cut Georgia’s lead to three in the seventh after Jon Townsend’s RBI single and Bryan Barber’s two-run homer. Then, the Gators loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but Bulldog closer Joshua Fields struck out two straight batters then had a perfect ninth to pick up his 12^th save.

No. 14 UC Irvine 5, New Mexico 3

In Albuquerque, N.M., Eric Deragisch went 3 for 4 with two RBI to lead UC Irvine past New Mexico at Isotope Park. The Lobos (27-18) got a run-scoring single by Ian Hollick in the fifth for a 3-2 lead. Deragisch had a single in the seventh to tie it at 3-3 and added an RBI double in the ninth to bring in the game-winner for the Anteaters (26-10).

No. 15 Stanford 4, USC 0

In Stanford, Calif., Austin Yount allowed three hits in 7.1 innings as Stanford blanked USC at Klein Field in the opener of their Pac-10 series. Yount (2-2) struck out one. Brent Milleville had an RBI double in the first for the Cardinal (9-4, 24-12-2). Milleville had a two-run double and scored in the third as the Cardinal led 4-0 over the Trojans (6-7, 19-21).

No. 16 Oklahoma State 6, Kansas 1

In Stillwater, Okla., Andrew Oliver struck out six in eight innings as Oklahoma State stopped Kansas at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium in the first of their three-game Big 12 set. Oliver (4-2) allowed one run on four hits. Robby Price had an RBI single in the third for the Jayhawks (5-11, 25-20). The Cowboys (12-7, 30-11) answered in the bottom of the frame as Matt Hague singled and scored. Jordy Mercer’s RBI single in the fourth put OSU on top 2-1. Neil Medchill added a three-run homer in the seventh.

No. 17 Vanderbilt 3, No. 21 Kentucky 2

In Nashville, Tenn., Pedro Alvarez hit a two-out RBI double in the eighth to lift Vanderbilt over Kentucky. The game was a pitcher’s duel until the bottom of the sixth when Brian Harris hit a solo home run to give the Commodores (11-7, 31-11) a 1-0 lead. The Wildcats (9-10, 31-11) responded in the seventh when Mike Minor walked the first two batters and then an errant throw on a sacrifice bunt allowed the runner on second to score. Vanderbilt took back the lead in the bottom half on a two-out Shea Robin double. UK answered again in the eighth when Brian Spear hit an RBI groundout.

No. 18 Cal State Fullerton 5, UC Davis 3

In Fullerton, Calif., Erik Komatsu had two hits and three RBI as Cal State Fullerton defeated UC Davis at Goodwin Field in the opener of their Big West series. Komatsu had a sacrifice fly in a two-run third for the first-place Titans (10-3, 25-14). Ty Kelly tied it with a two-run homer in the fifth for the Aggies (6-4, 25-14). Komatsu’s two-run single in the bottom of the frame gave Fullerton the lead for good at 4-2. Jeff Kaplan (7-1) struck out eight in eight innings in earning the victory.

No. 19 Coastal Carolina 5, VMI 2

In Lexington, Va., timely hitting by Coastal Carolina and a quality start from ace Bobby Gagg propelled the Chanticleers to a 5-2 victory over VMI in the first game of a series between the Big South’s top two teams. Coastal (11-2, 35-8) scored two in the third. Dock Doyle hit a sac fly to open the scoring and David Anderson came home on a passed ball. David Sappelt had an RBI single in the fifth to make it 3-0. Coastal scored two more in the sixth when David Baldridge hit an RBI double then came around to score when Jose Iglesias grounded out to short. VMI catcher Mike Roberts cut the Chanticleer lead to three when he hit a two-run homer in the eighth. Pete Andrelczyk got the last two outs of the eighth and had a perfect ninth to pick up his seventh save.