The Texas Tech Red Raiders will need to beat the No. 1-seeded team in the NCAA baseball tournament for the second time in five days Thursday night to stay alive at the College World Series.
Tech plays Florida at 7 p.m. at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. The winner advances to meet Arkansas on Friday but must beat the Razorbacks twice to reach the best-of-three CWS finals, which start Monday.
The Red Raiders opened the tournament Sunday with a 6-3 victory over the Gators. Since then, the Gators stayed alive by knocking off the Texas Longhorns. Texas Tech lost, falling 7-4 to Arkansas Wednesday afternoo.
On the other side of the bracket, only two teams remain. The Oregon State Beavers and undefeated Mississippi State Bulldogs play Friday with the Bulldogs needing just one win to advance and the Beavers two.
Oregon State remained in contention, knocking off North Carolina 11-6 late Wednesday night.
The Beavers trailed 6-3 after seven innings, but scored four runs in the eighth and four more in the ninth to take control.
Teams already eliminated from the CWS include Washington, Texas and North Carolina.
In Thursday’s game, Texas Tech is expected to start Caleb Kilian (9-2, 3.04) against Florida.
Red Raiders sophomore Josh Jung, who played his high school ball in San Antonio at MacArthur, has produced three hits in nine at bats in the CWS.
Texas Tech’s batting leader was 1 for 4 on Wednesday to give him 100 hits on the season.
It is the first time a Texas Tech player has had a 100-hit season since Josh Bard in 1998, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
For the season, Jung has produced 100 hits in 258 at bats for a .388 average.
Schedule
Thursday
Bracket 2: Texas Tech (1-1) vs. Florida (1-1), 7 p.m.
Friday
Bracket 1: Oregon State (2-1) vs. Mississippi State (2-0), 2 p.m.
Bracket 2: Arkansas (2-0) vs. Florida/Texas Tech, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Bracket 1: If necessary, 2 p.m.
Bracket 2: If necessary, 7 p.m.
Monday
Championship round: Bracket 1 vs. Bracket 2 winners, 6 p.m.
Tuesday
Championship round: Bracket 1 vs. Bracket 2 winners, 6 p.m.
Wednesday
Championship round: Bracket 1 vs. Bracket 2 winners, 6 p.m. (if necessary)