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Florida downs Texas Tech 6-0 and wins the Gainesville Regional

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By Jerry Briggs
For the JB Replay

Ryan Slater pitched five shutout innings, BT Riopelle crushed a couple of two-run homers and the host Florida Gators won the NCAA Gainesville Regional title with a 6-0 victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Slater allowed three hits and walked two but kept the Red Raiders off balance in key moments and off the scoreboard completely, setting the tone for the Gators, who qualified for the Super Regional round of the playoffs.

Riopelle hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning that boosted the Gators into a 3-0 lead. A few minutes later, he added another two-run shot in a three-run fifth. After Riopelle’s fireworks display, Florida was on top 6-0 and cruising.

NCAA regionals
How the Texas teams have fared

Texas: (41-20) Beat host Miami for the title on Sunday in Coral Gables, Fla.
Texas Tech: (41-23) Lost to host Florida in the title game Monday in Gainesville, Fla.
TCU: (39-22) Scheduled to meet host Arkansas in the finals at Fayetteville on Monday afternoon.
Texas A&M: (38-26) Scheduled to play in California against host Stanford in the title game Monday night.
Dallas Baptist (47-16) Lost to Oral Roberts in the finals Sunday at Stillwater, Okla.
Sam Houston State: (39-25) Eliminated after three games at Baton Rouge, La.

Texas Tech, TCU and Texas A&M to play for regional titles today

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One team from the state of Texas has advanced to the Super Regional round and three others remain in the hunt leading into Monday’s games in the NCAA baseball tournament.

Here are the details:

Gainesville Regional — Texas Tech (2-1 in the regional) plays host Florida (3-1) at 11 a.m. in the championship game. How did Tech get here? Florida beat Tech 7-1 Saturday night to force a deciding game. What’s next? The winner will move on to the Super Regional round against South Carolina.

Fayetteville Regional — Undefeated TCU (2-0 in the regional) and Arkansas (2-1) play at 2 p.m. in the finals. Another game will follow at 8 p.m., if necessary. TCU needs to win one game to claim the title. Arkansas needs to win twice. How did TCU get here? The Frogs beat the Razorbacks 20-5 Saturday to remain undefeated. Later, Razorbacks beat Santa Clara 6-4 to reach the finals. What’s next? The winner will advance to the Super Regional round against Indiana State.

Stanford Regional — Texas A&M (2-1 in the regional) and host Stanford (3-1) play at 8 p.m. in the championship game. How did A&M get here? Stanford downed the Aggies 13-5 Saturday night to force a deciding game. What’s next? The winner will play the Texas Longhorns in the Super Regional round.

Notable

The Longhorns completed a 3-0 sweep to the Coral Gables Regional title Saturday afternoon when they downed the Miami Hurricanes, 10-6. Texas has advanced to the Super Regionals. Both the Dallas Baptist Patriots and Sam Houston State Bearkats were eliminated Saturday night. Oral Roberts won the Stillwater Regional title with a 6-5 victory over Dallas Baptist (2-2) in the finals. Oregon State downed Sam Houston State (1-2) in an elimination game at the Baton Rouge Regional.

Eye on S.A.-area talent

Dominic Tamez, a junior at Alabama from San Antonio’s Johnson High School, produced two hits, two runs scored and an RBI on Sunday night as the Crimson Tide shut out Boston College 8-0 to win the Tuscaloosa Regional. Tamez also had two hits and two RBIs in an 11-8 victory over Troy on Saturday night. By winning the Tuscaloosa Regional, Alabama will advance to face national No. 1 seeded Wake Forest in the Super Regional round.

Eye on teams from Texas

Texas: 41-20
Texas Tech: 41-22
TCU: 39-22
Texas A&M: 38-26
Dallas Baptist: 47-16
Sam Houston State: 39-25

Texas Tech knocks off national No. 2 seed Florida at NCAA Gainesville Regional

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By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

Gavin Kash homered twice and San Antonio’s Brandon Beckel earned a two-out save, propelling the Texas Tech Red Raiders to a 5-4 victory Saturday over the national No. 2-seeded Florida Gators in the NCAA Gainesville Regional.

Beckel, from Antonian High School, faced a stressful situation in the ninth inning with Tech leading by the eventual final score, with a runner on first base and with Florida star Jac Caglianone at the plate.

Caglianone entered the at bat with 29 home runs on the season, including a two-run shot in the sixth inning, but Beckel got him to pop up to the infield for the last out of the game.

With the victory, the Red Raiders improved to 2-0 in the regional and moved into the finals with high hopes of advancing to next week’s Super Regional round.

On Sunday afternoon, Florida will take on Connecticut in a battle of once-beaten teams. The loser is out, and the winner will play Texas Tech in the finals Sunday night. Tech needs to win only once for the regional title. Its opponent would need to win Sunday and Monday to advance.

“It’s definitely a lot easier to win (a regional) when winning the first two than losing the second or first one,” Texas Tech coach Tim Tadlock said in comments published on the school’s athletics website. “It’s very hard to do it the other way. Definitely puts you in a good spot.

“At the same time, I think we got a group that has the utmost respect for the other teams and the game. We’ll go eat dinner. Enjoy it for a little bit, and then get ready to go tomorrow.”

For Texas Tech, Austin Green hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning. Kash, a transfer from Texas, hit a solo shot in the fifth inning and a two-run blast in the eighth.

In the eighth-inning uprising, San Antonio’s Zac Vooletich from Brandeis High School singled to center. Kash followed by smashing a ball to center that made it 5-3.

The top of the ninth was tense, with Florida fans on edge. Tech reliever Derek Bridges got the first out, getting Colby Halter on a ground ball. The next batter up, pinch hitter Dale Thomas, tripled into the gap in right center. At that point, Texas Tech brought in Beckel, who had pitched two innings of scoreless relief in Friday’s victory over Connecticut.

Cade Kurland, Florida’s leadoff man, grounded to second base on a play that brought Thomas home. Trailing by one, Florida needed only a few more positive things to happen to pull off the comeback.

Florida fans got one of the two. Wyatt Langford beat out an infield single, but Caglianone popped up on an 0-1 count for the final out. With the victory secured, Beckel earned his seventh save of the season.

Kyle Robinson, Ryan Free, Ethan Coombes (the winner, who improved to 4-0), Bridges and Beckel combined to hold the Gators to eight hits. Tech pitching struck out 10 and walked three. Langford led the Gators with two hits and two runs scored.

Caglianone was one for five with the two-run homer off Free, which tied the game, 3-3.

In the day’s earlier game, Connecticut eliminated Florida A&M, 9-6.

Pitching, highlight-reel defense lift Texas to victory in the Coral Gables Regional

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By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

Outfielders Eric Kennedy and Dylan Campbell made highlight-worthy defensive plays to back the pitching of lefthander Lucas Gordon on Friday as the Texas Longhorns downed the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 4-2 in the opening game of the NCAA Coral Gables Regional.

In addition, Campbell had two hits and two RBIs and set the Big 12 record by hitting safely in his 36th straight game. Texas (39-20) advances in the regional to play Saturday night against the regional’s host team, the Miami Hurricanes (41-19).

Miami hit three home runs and downed the Maine Black Bears, 9-1, in the late game Friday night. The Hurricanes are the No. 9 seed nationally and the region’s No. 1. The Longhorns are seeded No. 2 in the region.

Locked in a scoreless defensive battle through five innings, the Cajuns and the Longhorns both started to score in the sixth. In the top half, a double by Heath Hood, followed by an RBI single from Connor Higgs, lifted the Cajuns into a 1-0 lead. Texas added two in the bottom half.

For the Longhorns, Mitchell Daly led off the inning with a solo homer to left. Later, San Antonio’s Porter Brown produced the go-ahead run with an RBI single to right. Texas was up 2-1 at that point and would not relinquish the lead. Kennedy added a two-run double in the seventh for a 4-1 spread.

Louisiana’s Carson Roccaforte hit a solo homer in the eighth to account for the final run.

The game may have turned on two defensive plays by the Longhorns. In the fourth inning, Kennedy, playing center, ranged back and slightly into right center while tracking a drive by John Taylor. He leaped at the fence and caught the would-be, three-run homer for the third out.

In the sixth, Campbell, the UT right fielder, raced toward the foul line, dove nearly parallel to the ground and snagged a drive by Roccaforte. If he hadn’t caught it, Roccaforte would have had at least a triple and the Cajuns might have been off and running toward a big inning. The remarkable play preceded the hits by Hood and Higgs.

Gordon worked seven innings and gave up one run on five hits. He improved his record to 6-1 on the season and lowered his earned run average to 2.55. Righthander Jackson Nezue (9-6) was hard-luck losing pitcher, charged with two runs in five plus innings.

Gainesville Regional

Zac Vooletich ripped a two-run single in the fifth inning and Brandon Beckel pitched two innings of scoreless relief Friday, helping the Texas Tech Red Raiders defeat the Connecticut Huskies 3-2 in the opening game of the NCAA Gainesville Regional.

With the victory, the Red Raiders (40-21) will advance in the winners bracket to play Saturday against the regional host Florida Gators (45-14). Florida is the No. 2 national seed and the No. 1 seed in the Gainesville Regional. Texas Tech is the region’s third seed.

Vooletich, a senior from Brandeis, played as the designated hitter for the third-seeded Red Raiders. He entered the day with a .406 batting average. In the fifth inning, he came up to bat with one out and the bases loaded against UConn reliever Zach Fogell. Vooletich responded with a single up the middle to score Kevin Bazzell and Austin Green.

Beckel, a 6-foot-4 junior from Antonian, entered the game in the bottom of the seventh as a reliever for starter Mason Molina. He inherited trouble, with runners at first and second. After a wild pitch allowed the runners to move up, they both scored, one on a ground ball and another on a single.

Both runs were charged to Molina. Beckel settled down to finish two innings and keep the Red Raiders in the lead. He allowed two hits and struck out one. Molina (6-2) earned the victory and Josh Sanders, who pitched the ninth, got the save.

Stillwater Regional

Walloped by the Washington Huskies on Friday, the Dallas Baptist Patriots will play an elimination game Saturday at 2 p.m. against the regional host Oklahoma State Cowboys.

The Cowboys also lost on Friday, falling 6-4 in a stunner to the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.

Oklahoma State entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 11 national seed and the No. 1 seed in the four-team region. Dallas Baptist, the regular-season champion in Conference USA, entered the weekend as the region’s No. 2 seed, followed in order by Washington and Oral Roberts.

In Friday’s first game, the Huskies surprised the Patriots, 9-5, as they jumped all over Dallas Baptist ace righthander Ryan Johnson. Michael Snyder and Johnny Tincher hit homers in a seven-run fifth inning as Washington took an 8-1 lead.

The Patriots battled back by scoring three runs in their half of the fifth and one more in the seventh. Undaunted, Snyder answered, adding an RBI double in the eighth inning for the final run.

Texas Tech ousts Notre Dame and advances to the Sweet 16

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The Texas Tech Red Raiders are on their way to the Sweet 16.

Pushed to the limit by the 11th-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish in an NCAA tournament game played at San Diego, the No. 3 Red Raiders rallied at the end for a 59-53 victory.

With the win, the Red Raiders (27-9) will advance to play the two seed Duke Blue Devils (30-6) on Thursday in San Francisco. Texas Tech needs to win twice more in the tournament to reach the Final Four.

“I’m so excited right now I can’t put it into words,” Texas Tech’s Kevin McCullar, Jr., said. “So thankful for my brothers on the team, coach (Mark) Adams and stuff. It came down to defense. We knew we needed to get stops against a really good Notre Dame team. That’s what we ended up doing. And we hit some big free throws.”

Notre Dame’s Blake Wesley hit one of two free throws with 2:09 remaining to give the Fighting Irish a 52-49 lead.

From there, Texas Tech surged on a 10-1 run to the final buzzer.

A key play came with less than a minute remaining when forward Marcus Santos-Silva blocked a layup attempt by Wesley that would have given the Irish a one-point lead.

Instead, the Red Raiders gained possession, Santos-Silva was fouled, and he hit two free throws for a 55-52 lead.

Later, McCullar, Jr., from San Antonio’s Wagner High School, hit two free throws. After a Notre Dame turnover, McCullar dunked in transition to make it 59-52.

Forward Kevin Obanor led the Red Raiders with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Bryson Williams and McCullar added 14 apiece.

Off the bench, Santos-Silva was big. He had four points, five rebounds and two blocked shots. A left-hander, he made two free throws right handed.

“How about that?” first-year Texas Tech coach Mark Adams said. “Here’s a guy who changes his shot. I’d like to take credit for it. But I think he did that on his own about a month ago … He looks a whole lot better. But quite honestly (it) still hadn’t been going in, in practice. We were crossing our fingers.”

Dane Goodwin led the Irish with 14 points and eight rebounds. Wesley had 11 points and eight boards. Goodwin knocked down three of Notre Dame’s nine 3-pointers.

‘The first time I’ve seen my play card all night’

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Here we are, on Saturday morning, and I’d like to throw out some NCAA tournament ‘Best of the Round of 64’ awards.

First, the best quote:

“I mean this is the first time I’ve seen my play card all night. It felt like they were guarding me. I couldn’t even see my play card.” — Montana State coach Danny Sprinkle, commenting on the defensive performance by the Texas Tech Red Raiders against his Bobcats in a Round of 64 game Saturday in San Diego.

Third-seeded Texas Tech won in a rout, 97-62, and advanced to the West Region’s R32 to meet the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Red Raiders and Irish will play Sunday.

Next, best performance by a player from San Antonio:

Arkansas senior Stanley Umude, from Warren High School, a grad transfer from South Dakota. Umude, who had 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and zero turnovers in a 75-71 victory Thursday night against Vermont.

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman on Umude’s zero turnovers:

“It’s hard to turn it over when you shoot it when you got it,” Musselman joked.

Asked to elaborate on Umude’s game, Musselman said, ‘Stan was awesome. He keeps getting better and better and better with each game.”

Musselman said he remembered the 6-foot-6 Umude doing ball-handling drills all summer after he arrived on campus.

“He has basically gone from a power forward/small ball five to playing the two-three for us. He has improved so much defensively and improved on valuing the basketball as well. He has become a complete player,” the coach said.

Arkansas plays New Mexico State Saturday in Buffalo Saturday for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16 in the West region. Tipoff is at 7:40 p.m. on TNT.

And, finally, the best in Texas:

Five teams from the state of Texas remain in the tournament. Baylor plays North Carolina today at 11:10 a.m. in Fort Worth.

On Sunday, TCU will take on Arizona and Texas Tech will meet Notre Dame in San Diego. Also Sunday, Houston will battle Illinois in Pittsburgh and Texas will take on Purdue in Milwaukee.

Both TCU and Houston, bracketed in the South region, are looking to play next week in San Antonio. The South region Sweet 16 is next Thursday at the AT&T Center. The Elite Eight game is next Saturday.

Seven teams from Texas make the NCAA tournament

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A few nights ago, it appeared that the state of Texas might have a chance to get as many as 10 teams in the NCAA tournament. By the time the field of 68 was unveiled on Sunday night, the state had seven representatives in the Big Dance.

Here’s a quick glance:

Baylor — The Scott Drew-coached Bears (26-6) enter March Madness as the top seed in the East Regional, trying to win back-to-back national championships. Baylor will play Virginia-based Norfolk State (24-6) on Thursday at Dickie’s Arena in Fort Worth. Baylor, playing without injured big man Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, who is out for the season, finished 14-4 and shared the Big 12 regular-season title with Kansas. The Bears lost to Oklahoma in the Big 12 quarterfinals.

Texas Tech — The Red Raiders (25-9) will play as the No. 3 seed in the West. Tech will take on Montana State (27-7) on Friday in San Diego at Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl. Tech will face its initial NCAA test under first-year coach Mark Adams, an assistant under the Red Raiders’ previous coach, Chris Beard. The Red Raiders finished 12-6 and finished third in the Big 12 regular season. They lost to Kansas in the tournament title game.

Houston — The Cougars (29-5) will compete as the No. 5 seed in the South and will meet the UAB Blazers (27-7) on Friday inside PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Houston’s coach is Kelvin Sampson, a veteran who has worked previously at Washington State, Oklahoma and Indiana. Sampson led the Cougars to the Final Four last year. Houston lost stars Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark to injury earlier in December but rebounded to win the AAC regular season (at 15-3) and tournament crowns.

Texas — The Longhorns (21-11) will move into NCAA play under first-year coach Chris Beard as the sixth seed in the East. They’ll play in Milwaukee on Friday against the No 11 seed Virginia Tech Hokies (23-12). Texas finished fourth in the Big 12 regular season at 10-8 and lost to TCU 65-60 in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Virginia Tech won the ACC tournament title as the seventh seed, routing Duke 82-67 in the championship game.

TCU — The Jamie Dixon-coached Horned Frogs (20-12) will take on the Seton Hall Pirates (21-10) on Friday in San Diego. The Pirates are the eighth seed and the Horned Frogs are ninth in the South Region. TCU beat Texas Tech and Kansas late in the regular season and the knocked off Texas in the Big 12 tournament. Seton Hall won seven straight before falling to Connecticut in the Big East quarterfinals.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi — The Steve Lutz-coached Islanders (23-12) will take on the Texas Southern Tigers (18-12) on Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio. Both teams are seeded 16th in the Midwest Region, with the winner getting a chance to take on the No. 1 seeded Kansas Jayhawks. Lutz, a San Antonio native, is in his first season as a Division I head coach. The Islanders swept three games to win the Southland Tournament, including back-to-back victories over No. 1 seed Nicholls State and No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana.

Texas Southern — The Johnny Jones-coached Tigers (18-12) scheduled their first 11 games of the season on the road. They lost the first seven before steadying the ship to finish in second place at 13-5 in the SWAC regular season. In the SWAC tournament, the Tigers beat Jackson State, Grambling and then toppled No. 1 seed Alcorn State for the conference title and their second straight trip to the NCAAs. The Tigers rely on defense and a big and talented front court to control the game.

Texas Tech wins regional; Jace Jung OK after mishap

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Texas Tech infielder Jace Jung, the Big 12 player of the year from San Antonio, shook off a first-inning injury, went on to get two hits and scored two runs Sunday night as the Red Raiders beat the UCLA Bruins 8-2 to win the NCAA Lubbock Regional.

The incident unfolded after the Bruins came to bat in the bottom of the first.

Leading off, UCLA’s Kevin Kendall doubled down the left field line. Pat Caulfield, the next batter, followed with a bunt. As a result, Texas Tech pitcher Mason Montgomery fielded it and fired to first. Jung, who plays second base, was covering on the play.

The low throw led him into the base path where he gloved the ball just as Caulfield was approaching the bag. Caulfield’s knee appeared to hit Jung in the side of the head.

Jung remained on the base path holding his head for a few moments before Tech officials came out of the dugout to see if he was OK.

Initially, it appeared that he might be coming out of the game, but after he left the field briefly with a trainer, he came back out to the applause of the home fans at Dan Law Field.

As for the outcome of the play, Kendall moved up to third base. But umpires reviewed the play and ruled Caulfield out. Kendall later scored on a sacrifice fly as the Bruins took a 1-0 lead.

In his next plate appearance, in the third inning, Jung laced a single to right field and later scored during a three-run uprising. He added a bunt single and another run scored in the fifth. Texas Tech went on to win easily for its third straight victory of the weekend.

Jung, a redshirt freshman from San Antonio’s MacArthur High School, finished the night 2 for 5 at the plate. He entered the NCAA playoffs as one of the nation’s leaders in home runs and RBIs.

NCAA results

Lubbock Regional — Texas Tech wins the regional. The Red Raiders, top seeded in Lubbock and No. 8 in the nation, beat the Bruins behind five innings of two-run, two-hit pitching from Montgomery. Texas Tech will host either Stanford or UC Irvine in the Super Regional next week.

Fort Worth Regional — Oregon State eliminated TCU 3-2 in an afternoon game and then beat Dallas Baptist 5-4 in the nightcap. The win in the second game came on a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth by Garret Forrester. Oregon State and Dallas Baptist will play for the regional title Monday. TCU was the No. 1 seed in the region and No. 6 in the nation.

Austin Regional — Fairfield stayed alive in the tournament by defeating Arizona State 9-7 in a Sunday afternoon game. Texas downed Fairfield 12-2 in the nightcap to complete a 3-0 sweep and the title. The Longhorns, top seeded in the region and No. 2 in the nation, scored in double digits in each of its three games in the playoffs. UT host the Super Regional next week against either South Alabama or South Florida.

Texas Tech defeats the No. 1 Louisville Cardinals, 70-57

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Texas Tech coach Chris Beard walked off the court at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night, waving his arms and hailing fans who made the trip from Lubbock to New York City.

It was a good night to be a Red Raider.

Texas Tech broke a three-game losing streak by knocking off the No. 1-ranked Louisville Cardinals, 70-57, at the Jimmy V Classic.

A relentless Red Raiders’ defensive effort helped to hold the prolific Cardinals to 34 percent shooting and only 17.6 percent from the 3-point arc.

Louisville forward Jordan Nwora, who entered averaging 21.6 points, scored 14 points on 16 shots.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the floor, guard Davide Moretti scored a team-high 18 points to lead three players in double figures.

Playing without high-scoring freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey, the Red Raiders also got 13 points from freshman Terrence Shannon, Jr., and 10 from Avery Benson.

Ramsey, who made the trip to New York, has been out three games with a hamstring issue.

Last year, the Red Raiders made a memorable run to the NCAA title game. In the aftermath, the transition has been a bit of a struggle.

They lost several key players, including Jarrett Culver, Matt Mooney, Tariq Owens and Brandone Francis.

After a 5-0 start, they lost consecutive games to Iowa, Creighton and DePaul, the last two in overtime.

After beating Louisville, the Red Raiders will return home to play Southern Miss, UT-Rio Grande Valley and CSU Bakersfield.

Tech’s Big 12 opener is Jan. 4 at home against Oklahoma State.

Records

Texas Tech 6-3
Louisville 9-1

Final Four-bound Texas Tech stuns Gonzaga, 75-69

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The Texas Tech Red Raiders will play in the NCAA Final Four for the first time in school history.

Third-seeded Texas Tech, led by third-year head coach Chris Beard, earned the trip by surprising No. 1 Gonzaga 75-69 Saturday afternoon in the West Regional Finals.

As a result, the Red Raiders will play in the NCAA semifinals a week from today in Minneapolis.

They’ll take on either Duke or Michigan State, who play Sunday in Washington, D.C., for the East Regional title.

In the game played at Anaheim, California, the Red Raiders shut down one of the nation’s most explosive offensive teams with a relentless defensive effort.

They held the Bulldogs to 20 points below their average and to 42.4 percent shooting from the field.

Records

Texas Tech 30-6
Gonzaga 33-4

Individuals

Texas Tech — Jarrett Culver, 19 points, five rebounds, two assists, three steals. Tariq Owens, 9 points, five blocked shots, seven rebounds. Matt Mooney, 17 points. Davide Moretti, 12.

Gonzaga — Rui Hachimura, 22 points, six rebounds. Brandon Clarke, 18 points, 12 rebounds.