June 1, 2009

click here for Regional Capsules

CBI Live - #1 East Carolina 10, #2 South Carolina 9 (10)

CBI Live - #1 Rice 13, #2 Kansas State 4

CBI Live - #1 Louisville 5, #3 Vanderbilt 3

Around the Regionals

Vollmuth homers twice in Southern Miss win

Parker delivers for Clemson; Pomeranz pitches Ole Miss to victory

Atlanta Regional - #3 Southern Miss wins

#3 Southern Miss 12 @ #1 Georgia Tech 8 (Georgia Tech eliminated)

Corky Palmer, who is retiring this season after 12 seasons at Southern Miss, is taking the Golden Eagles to their first Super Regional. And he has a freshman largely to thank.

B.A. Vollmuth hit two homers and drove in five in a nine-run second inning off Deck McGuire, the ACC pitcher of the year who was throwing on two days' rest, as Southern Miss opened a big lead and held off Georgia Tech. Vollmuth, who only became USM's starting shortstop in late April, hit three homers in the Regional - all against Georgia Tech.

Bo Davis went 2 for 5 with a solo homer and two runs, and Kameron Brunty drove in a pair of runs for the Golden Eagles (38-24), who were one of the last teams selected for the NCAA tournament and now find themselves headed to Florida for the Super Regionals. Todd McInnis (9-4) entered in the second inning and tossed 4.1 innings of solid relief to post the win.

McGuire (11-2) allowed nine runs (four earned) on seven hits and struck out five in two innings. He opened the Regional with a win over Georgia State Friday. Derek Dietrich went 3 for 4 with a homer, two runs and four RBI as Tech (38-18-1) trimmed an 11-3 deficit to 11-8 in the eighth inning but could get no closer.

Clemson Regional - #1 Clemson wins

#3 Oklahoma State 5 @ #1 Clemson 6 (OSU eliminated)

Down a run with two men on and two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Clemson rested its hopes on a guy who's battling to be the Tigers' starting quarterback this fall.

Kyle Parker delivered a two-run single down the left field line as the Tigers stormed back with three runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to edge Oklahoma State to claim a berth in the Super Regionals. Clemson (44-20) will travel to Arizona State, the No. 5 national seed. The Cowboys (34-24), regarded as one of the final teams to make the NCAA tournament, were in the driver's seat but dropped two straight games to the Tigers.

Tyler Lyons, pitching on two days' rest, gutted his way into the eighth inning, allowing eight hits and six runs (three earned). He left with the lead, but Randy McCurry couldn't retire Parker, who has seen the bench at times of late.

"It was definitely tough," Parker told reporters in the postgame news conference of being benched. "It kind of puts things into perspective. I wasn't really performing as well as I needed to be. The biggest thing you have to see is that it's not about you; that's just the little picture. It's about this team and this university, and that's the bigger thing.

"I wanted to go out there no matter how difficult it was. I was able to put that into the back of my mind and say that whatever opportunity I get, I'm going to try to capitalize on it."

Matt Vaughn tossed 3.2 innings with three hits and two runs (none earned) to improve to 4-1.

Chris Epps, the Regional's Most Outstanding Player, went 2 for 4 with a homer and two RBI, and Mike Freeman went 3 for 4 with a run and a RBI for the Tigers.

Tom Belza capped a tremendous Regional by driving in two runs for the Cowboys.

 
Greenville Regional - #1 East Carolina wins CBI Live-Phil Stanton

#2 South Carolina 9 @ #1 East Carolina 10 (10) (South Carolina eliminated)

Houston Regional - #1 Rice wins CBI Live - Allen Brown

#2 Kansas State 4 @ #1 Rice 13 (KSU eliminated)

Louisville Regional - #1 Louisville wins CBI Live - Jimmy Jones

#3 Vanderbilt 3 @ #1 Louisville 5 (VU eliminated)

Oxford Regional - #1 Mississippi wins

#3 Western Kentucky 1 @ #1 Mississippi 4 (WKU eliminated)

Drew Pomeranz, pitching on two days' rest after throwing eight innings and 109 pitches, allowed two hits and no earned runs and tied a school record with 16 strikeouts as Ole Miss ended Western Kentucky's run and moved onto the Super Regional round vs. Virginia.

"I told myself I was going to stay out there as long as I could," Pomeranz told the Rebels radio broadcast team shortly after the Ole Miss players took a victory lap.
 

Added first baseman Matt Smith, who had the game-winning, two-run triple in the eighth inning: "He's awesome, what else can you say?"

The lanky lefty took a no-hitter into the seventh inning when Chad Cregar's grounder ate up first baseman Matt Smith for the first hit. Trailing 1-0, Cregar stole second and scored when Matt Hightower's grounder deflected off Pomeranz to second baseman Evan Button, who couldn't smother it. Cregar kept running as the ball bounced away and scored the tying run just ahead of the throw home.

Hilltoppers starter Matt Ridings, also pitching on short rest, departed after seven brilliant innings, allowing seven hits, one earned run and four strikeouts.

In the eighth, Smith (3 for 4, 2 R) came back in a big way in the with a two-run triple to right-center to break the 1-1 tie.

Pomeranz was named the Regional's Most Valuable Player after picking up two wins and striking out 26 batters in 17 innings.

Ole Miss improved to 43-18, while Western Kentucky finished its season at 42-20.