June 3, 2008

Texas A&M, Stanford heading to Super Regionals

Athens Regional

2 Georgia Tech 6 @ 1 Georgia 18 (Georgia Tech eliminated)

Georgia wins Regional  CBI Live

College Station Regional

3 Houston 5 @ 1 Texas A&M 13 (Houston eliminated)

Texas A&M wins Regional

Darby Brown homered to lead off the second inning then delivered a three-run double to the left-center gap later in the inning as Texas A&M exploded for seven runs in the frame and went on to eliminate Houston. After Brown (2 for 5, 4 RBI) homered, Kyle Colligan (3 for 6, 2 R, 3 RBI) ripped a two-run shot as the Aggies took an 8-2 lead. Brian Ruggiano also had a big night for A&M, going 2 for 4 with a homer, three runs and two RBI. Kyle Thebeau tossed 3.1 innings to earn the win for A&M. Jimmy Cesario went 3 for 5 with a homer and two RBI to lead the Cougars.

Fullerton Regional

2 UCLA 4 @ 1 Cal State Fullerton 5 (UCLA eliminated)

Cal State Fullerton wins Regional

Dustin Garneau drove in three, including the eventual game-winner on a bases-loaded walk in the fifth as Cal State Fullerton edged UCLA to advance to the Super Regionals. Brian Wilson (3-2) earned his second win of the regional to earn Most Outstanding Player honors. He allowed four hits and three runs in four innings with one walk and three strikeouts. Garneau's two-run double in the fourth gave the Titans (41-20) a 4-2 lead. Brent Dean had an RBI single in the top of the fifth for the Bruins (33-27) to make it 4-3 before Garneau's bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the frame pushed Fullerton's lead back to two. UCLA scored its final run in the seventh.

Long Beach Regional

2 San Diego 1 vs. 4 Fresno State 5 (USD eliminated)

Fresno State wins Regional

Holden Sprague and Brandon Burke combined on a six-hitter as Fresno State defeated San Diego to advance to the Tempe Super Regional against Arizona State. Sprague (4-2) went 5.1 innings with five hits, one run, four walks and two strikeouts. Burke worked the final 3.2 innings with one hit, no walks and two strikeouts to record his 11th save. Logan Gelbrich doubled and scored in the fifth for the Toreros (44-17) before the Bulldogs (40-28) put up a pair in the bottom of the frame on a two-run single by Gavin Hedstrom. FSU added three in the eighth to put it away. Fresno State is the second No. 4 seed to win a regional in the current postseason format, which dates back to 1999. Missouri won the 2006 Pepperdine Regional as the No. 4 seed as well.

Stanford Regional

2 Pepperdine 7 @ 1 Stanford 9 (Pepperdine eliminated)

Stanford wins Regional

Sean Ratliff blasted two homers, including a grand slam to key a six-run fifth inning, and Stanford rallied to beat Pepperdine and move on to the Super Regionals. Chase d’Arnaud (3 for 3, 3 R, 4 RBI) ripped a three-run homer as the Waves (38-21) took a 4-0 in the first. When the Cardinal (37-22-2) scored single runs in the third and fourth, Pepperdine answered with single runs of their own and led 6-2 entering the fifth. But after Jason Castro laced a two-run double, Ratliff (3 for 4, 2 HR, 5 RBI) delivered the big blow of the game. Drew Storen worked four innings of relief to post his second win of the weekend, and Austin Yount earned his first save of the year. Jake Schlander went 2 for 3 with two runs for Stanford. Donald Brown contributed two hits and a run for the Waves.

Tallahassee Regional

3 Tulane 7 @ 1 Florida State 16 (Tulane eliminated)

Florida State wins Regional

After getting blanked by Bucknell in the regional opener, Florida State scored in double figures for the fourth straight game as the Seminoles topped Tulane to win the regional. The Seminoles (52-11) tallied 74 runs in its final four regional games to muscle past the competition. Tyler Holt went 5 for 6 with four runs and two RBI to lead FSU. Jason Stidham had three hits, two runs and four RBI for the Seminoles. Warren McFadden went 2 for 3 for the Green Wave (39-22-1) with two walks, three runs and two RBI.