Monthly Archives: June 2023

Haas-led Texas A&M rallies to beat Stanford, stays undefeated in NCAA regional play

Posted on by
Reply

By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

Hunter Haas delivered with a two-run double in the sixth inning and a three-run double in the eighth in rallying the Texas A&M Aggies past the national No. 8-seeded Stanford Cardinal, 8-5, on Saturday night in the NCAA Stanford Regional.

Falling behind 4-1 in the early going, the Aggies scored one run in the fourth, two in the sixth, three in the eighth and one in the ninth to win going away on their opponents’ home field in California.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Cardinal made things interesting, scoring a run, forcing a pitching change and bringing the potential winning run to the plate in a bases-loaded situation. But A&M lefthander Troy Wansing shut down the threat, getting a fly ball to right field to end it.

With the win, A&M improved to 2-0 in the regional as they advance into the finals. On Sunday, Stanford will play Cal State Fullerton in an elimination game. The loser is out of the tournament, and the winner will advance to play a night game against the Aggies.

A&M needs to win only once to claim the regional title. Its opponent would need to win Sunday and Monday.

Johnson’s complete game keeps Texas undefeated at the Coral Gables Regional

Posted on by
Reply

By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

Texas Longhorns pitcher Lebarron Johnson Jr. barely could find the words to describe what it felt like to throw a complete game in the NCAA tournament. To fire a season-high 129 pitches and to beat the national No. 9-seeded Miami Hurricanes, 4-1, on their home field.

“It was surreal, honestly,” Johnson, a redshirt sophomore from Jacksonville, Fla., told ESPN. “I just knew I had to keep going for my team, for my pen, for my offense. I just tried to dig deep. I thank the Lord for allowing me to get through it.”

The Longhorns, likewise, are thanking Johnson for a sterling performance that allowed them to improve to 2-0 in the NCAA Coral Gables Regional.

With the win, they’ll play Sunday night for the regional title. In the first game Sunday, the Hurricanes will face the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in a battle of once-beaten teams. The loser will be eliminated, while the winner will move into the title round against the Longhorns.

Texas’ opponent will need to win Sunday night and again on Monday to claim the regional title. Meaning, of course, that the Longhorns like their chances of playing next week in the Super Regional round.

In the aftermath of the victory, Johnson spoke to ESPN television broadcasters on the field, still wide-eyed about what he had done.

“It’s surreal, honestly,” he said. “I’m still trying to process this.”

In completing nine innings, he allowed seven hits, one earned run and walked three while striking out eight. In one stretch, from the fourth through the seventh innings, he retired 11 straight. Johnson, who improved to 8-3 on the season, said Texas coach David Pierce approached him after the eighth inning to ask him how he felt.

“He came to me,” Johnsons said. “He said, ‘Do you want it? I said, ‘Yes, sir. I’ll try my best.’ ”

To start the game, the Longhorns jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Dylan Campbell supplied the fireworks with a two-run homer.

Johnson, in turn, endured a rough go of it. He loaded the bases on a walk, a single and another walk. Luckily for him, the Hurricanes couldn’t get anything out of it.

“I had to get my nerves out of the way, honestly,” he said. “I was nervous coming in, with the rain delay and all that. I just knew that I had to trust my work. Trust my coaches. Trust my ability to go out there and do my job. I just had to pull through for my team.”

The Longhorns added single runs in the second and third, pushing out to a 4-0 lead. San Antonio’s Jalin Flores, a freshman from Brandeis, figured in the scoring with an RBI single in the third.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Hurricanes finally broke through. Dominic Pitelli led off with a solo home run. That, however, is all that they would get the rest of the way.

The Hurricanes threatened in the eighth and ninth, but came up empty each time.

Statistics would indicate that Johnson might have been building toward something like this for the past six weeks. In his last six starts, he threw 91, 85, 112, 83, 101 and 95 pitches. So, it wasn’t totally surprising to see coaches let him go out for the last inning.

“I’m from Florida, so I’m kind of used to this (heat) a little bit,” he said. “The tiredness kicked in a little bit. But I just knew I needed to dig deep … execute pitches and trust my team.”

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

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Dallas Baptist wins 18-4 to eliminate national No. 11 seed Oklahoma State

Posted on by
Reply

By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

Miguel Santos hit three home runs and Kodie Kolden smashed two on Saturday afternoon as the Dallas Baptist University Patriots registered an 18-4 victory, eliminating the NCAA Stillwater Regional host Oklahoma State Cowboys from postseason play.

Some around the nation might be scratching their heads at the final verdict.

After all, the Cowboys finished the regular season tied for first place in the Big 12 Conference’s regular-season standings. Last week, they won four games and reached the finals of the Big 12’s postseason event in Arlington.

Given all that, there wasn’t much argument that they deserved the 11th overall seed in the NCAA tournament and No. 1 in the Stillwater Regional.

But in the NCAA postseason, anything can happen, and on this weekend, it did. First, the No. 4 regional seed Oral Roberts Golden Eagles edged the Cowboys 6-4 on Friday.

Next, second-seeded Dallas Baptist of Conference USA put on a power display that left the home team’s fans totally exasperated, their dreams of a trip to the College World Series dashed.

The Patriots cranked out 19 hits, including six home runs. Santos, a junior from Fort Worth, enjoyed a four-hit day and drove in nine runs. He homered in the fourth inning, doubled in the fifth and homered again in the sixth and the seventh.

Kolden, a graduate senior from Idaho, hit home runs in the fourth and sixth innings. Not to be outdone, Nathan Humphreys hit one out in the fifth.

The Patriots, the regular-season champions over second-place UTSA and others in the C-USA, simply rolled with ease to their 46th victory of the year, scoring four runs in the fourth, six in the fifth and four more in the sixth and seventh.

At one point, it was 18-1. With the victory, Dallas Baptist stayed alive in the regional. Bouncing back from a 9-5 loss to the Washington Huskies on Friday, the Patriots moved ahead to play another elimination game scheduled Sunday. They’ll play either Oral Roberts or Washington.

NCAA baseball: Texas A&M, Stanford to meet in regional winners bracket

Posted on by
Reply

Jack Moss and Max Kaufer stroked three hits apiece as the Texas A&M Aggies overcame four errors to down the Cal State Fullerton Titans 12-4 late Friday night in the opening round of the NCAA Stanford Regional.

Jordan Thompson, a Texas A&M senior from Boerne Champion High School, walked three times and scored three runs for the Aggies.

In the first game of the day, junior Alberto Rios hit a grand slam in a six-run third inning as the region’s top-seeded Stanford Cardinal defeated the San Jose State Spartans 13-2.

Texas A&M will now meet Stanford, the No. 8 national seed, in the winners bracket Saturday night. The game between teams that made it to the College World Series last summer is set to start at 8 p.m. central time.

Cal State Fullerton will play San Jose State in the early Saturday elimination game.

TCU prepares for Arkansas after romping past Arizona in the Fayetteville Regional

Posted on by
Reply

Brayden Taylor opened his NCAA Fayetteville Regional with four straight hits on Friday, leading the TCU Horned Frogs on a 12-4 romp over the Arizona Wildcats.

Taylor went four for five on the day and produced six RBIs. Sparking an early Horned Frogs surge, he bashed a three-run homer in the first inning and a two-run single in the second. The home run was Taylor’s 22nd on the season.

San Antonio’s Anthony Silva, a freshman shortstop from San Antonio’s Clark High School, was one for four with an RBI.

With the win, the second-seeded Frogs moved into a Saturday night winners bracket game against the regional’s top-seeded host, the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Earlier Friday, Arkansas, seeded third overall in the 64-team NCAA tournament, downed Santa Clara, 13-6.

Baton Rouge Regional

The Oregon State Beavers exploded for 22 hits and broke the school’s postseason record with four home runs in rolling past the Sam Houston State Bearkats, 18-2.

In the first inning, Joe Redfield doubled and Josh Wishkoski followed with a two-run homer for the Bearkats. After that, the Beavers dominated.

Micah McDowell and Gavin Turley each homered and produced six RBIs for the Beavers.

With the win, Oregon State will play Saturday night, facing regional top seed and host LSU in the winners bracket. In the first game on Saturday, Sam Houston State will face the Tulane Green Wave in an elimination game.

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

Posted on by
Reply

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.