The ULL rally came and went as quickly as a southern Louisiana rain shower. A half-inning after Louisiana-Lafayette drilled a top-of-the-ninth solo shot to square things at three, LSU’s Chris Sciambra crushed one of his own to walk off for a 4-3 Tigers win in the opening game of the Baton Rouge Super Regional.
It had been a beauty of a start by LSU true freshman Alex Lange, who opened his super regional debut by giving up just eight hits and one run through seven innings. But in the top of the eighth, about the time the rain started coming down in sheets, Louisiana-Lafayette started gaining offensive momentum. Trailing by two with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, ULL used a walk, an infield single and a double to cut the lead to one.
That lead disappeared in the top of the ninth. A pinch-hitting Brenn Conrad swung at his first pitch of the night and sent it deep over the right-center fence to even the score and silence the 11,000-strong home crowd.
WE ARE TIED!!! Brenn Conrad… What a time for your first home run of the season! #RoadToOmaha http://t.co/0XlLhtsZ7L
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 7, 2015
But Sciambra didn’t wait long to answer with his walkoff.
Chris Sciambra… WALK OFF!!!! #RoadToOmaha http://t.co/za3gpzB8J9
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 7, 2015
Cal State Fullerton 3, Louisville 2
Louisville got off the mat once. They couldn’t do it twice.
Trailing 2-1 with one out in the ninth inning, the Cardinals got a solo shot from Mike White to send it into extras. But CSF answered back immediately by loading the bases in the top of the 10th. Louisville turned to fireballing closer Zack Burdi, but he plunked the first batter he faced to plate the eventual winning run.
A walk, two singles and a HBP gives Cal State Fullerton the lead in the 10th. #RoadToOmaha http://t.co/buMEAxZMdp
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 6, 2015
A Louisville reliever getting stuck with a loss (Lincoln Henzman got the L, not Burdi) is a notable occurrence, by the way. Coming into Saturday, the Cardinals bullpen was a ridiculous 22-0 with a combined ERA of 1.69.
The late-inning offensive drama overshadowed what was an incredible pitching duel between starting aces. Fullerton’s Thomas Eshelman and Louisville’s Kyle Funkhouser both pitched through the seventh, combining for 13 hits, three runs and 10 strikeouts.
Missouri State 3, Arkansas 1
How bout Missouri State? A day after getting throttled, 18-4, the Bears bounced back to hold Arkansas to a lone unearned run. Credit goes to Bears All-American ace Matt Hall, who one-hit the Razorbacks in the kind of complete-game masterpiece that they hang behind glass with a “Please no flash photography” sign.
It got a bit sketchy down the stretch for Hall. He labored through the seventh and eighth, giving three free passes in a seven-batter span and struggling to keep his fastball down. So when he walked the leadoff man in the bottom of the ninth with the heart of the Arkansas order coming up, you figured it was time to turn to closer Bryan Young and his 16 saves.
But Missouri State skipper Keith Guttin stuck with his ace (foolishly so, I thought at the time) and two batters later, Hall notched his NCAA-leading 171st strikeout of the season to force Game 3.
The final out of Matt Hall’s ONE HITTER! #RoadToOmaha http://t.co/1oskAQzY7S
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 6, 2015
Virginia 5, Maryland 4
For the second time in as many days, the Terps blew a multi-run lead with shutdown closer Kevin Mooney on the mound. On Friday, it was a five-run eighth inning that dropped them to a 5-3 loss. On Saturday, a three-run bottom of the ninth ended their season in walkoff fashion.
The Terps sat on a 4-2 lead in the ninth inning, just three outs from evening the series and forcing Game 3. But Robert Galligan, who had held Virginia off the board since making a rescue relief entrance just one out into the first inning, loaded the bases with two walks and a single. Maryland head coach John Szefc said after Friday’s loss that he hadn’t lost any confidence in Mooney, and he didn’t hesitate to call his name. But Mooney walked in one run, then gave up a two-run single to true freshman Ernie Clement for the walkoff.
WALK OFF!!! UVA to the #CWS! http://t.co/2dQDhTCfA6
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 6, 2015
That’s one tough way to go for the Terps.
The rest of the scores
– Miami 10, VCU 3 (Miami advances to the College World Series)
– Florida 11, Florida State 4 (Florida advances to the College World Series)
– TCU 13, Texas A&M 4 (TCU takes a 1-0 series lead)
– Vanderbilt 13, Illinois 0 (Vanderbilt takes a 1-0 series lead)
