On the first elimination day of the 2015 NCAA Baseball Tournament, Mother Nature ensured that several schools would live to play another day.
Rain forced the postponement of multiple games and affected the regionals in Baton Rouge, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, College Station, Texas, Nashville, Springfield, Mo., and Champaign, Ill. All of the games in the Dallas and Champaign regionals were pushed to Sunday.
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UC-Santa Barbara, which was hosting the regional in Lake Elsinore, Calif., was the first No. 1 seed to be eliminated following a blowout loss to USC. The Gauchos were just the ninth regional No. 1 seed to go 0-2 in the tournament since it expanded to 64 teams in 1999.
Later in the day, TCU — the No. 7 national seed — lost for the first time, dropping a one-run game to North Carolina State. The biggest upset of the day may have been Maryland knocking off No. 1 overall seed UCLA.
East Carolina, the No. 2 seed in the Coral Gables Regional, was the first two-seed to be eliminated. Also sent home Saturday were Texas Southern, Florida A&M, Morehead State, Oral Roberts, Mercer, Sacred Heart, Ole Miss, Lipscomb, Canisius and Clemson.
The Big Ten had a strong opening day on Friday, going 5-0. The conference tasted defeat for the first time on Saturday with Michigan dropping a 4-3 contest to No. 3 national seed Louisville, Indiana falling 6-4 to defending national champion Vanderbilt and Iowa losing to No. 8 national seed Missouri State, 5-3. Maryland was the lone Big Ten team to win Saturday, but all five teams are still alive.
The best two games of the day were a pair of 14-inning epics in College Station, Texas and Fullerton, Calif.
Since the NCAA expanded the tournament field, 81 percent of the teams that won their first two games of the regional advanced to the Super Regional.
Listed below are Saturday’s recaps from each of the 16 four-team regionals (all times Eastern).
Los Angeles Regional
The host Bruins (43-15) got all they could handle from the third-seeded Terrapins (41-21). Maryland scored twice in the second and third innings and shut down the Bruins bats for a 4-1 victory. Four Maryland pitchers held UCLA to just five hits and one run, scored in the first inning.
CSU Bakersfield (37-23-1) won its first-ever NCAA baseball tournament game, a 2-1 victory over Mississippi to eliminate the Rebels (30-28). Hayden Carter threw a complete game for the Roadrunners, who will play UCLA on Sunday. UCLA beat Bakersfield on Friday.
Lake Elsinore Regional
No. 1 seed UC-Santa Barbara (40-17-1) was upset Friday by San Diego State and did not rebound well Saturday against No. 2 USC. The Trojans (38-20) pounded the Gauchos, eliminating the host team with a 12-3 drubbing. USC got stellar production at the top of the lineup with leadoff hitter Bobby Stahel and two-hole hitter Garrett Stubbs each collecting three hits and combining for three RBIs. The game got away from the Gauchos in the ninth inning as the Trojans scored seven runs, all of them unearned.
No. 3 Virginia (36-22) handed the Aztecs (41-22) their first loss of the tourney. Brandon Waddell scattered just four hits over 7 1/3 innings while Ernie Clement and Joe McCarthy both went yard in Virginia’s 3-1 victory.
Stillwater Regional
No. 1 Oklahoma State (38-19) was dealt its first loss of the tourney by No. 2 Arkansas (37-22), which used a five-run eighth to beat the Cowboys 7-5. A pair of OSU errors, including a botched pickoff throw to third, led to the Razorbacks rally. Oklahoma State will play St. John’s on Sunday. The Cowboys were 5-4 winners over the Red Storm on Friday.
No. 3 Oral Roberts (41-16) saw its season come to an end with a 10-4 loss to No. 4 St. John’s. The Red Storm (40-15) got a four-RBI day from first baseman Matt Harris.
Springfield Regional
No. 1 Missouri State (47-10) proved worthy of the eighth-overall national seed with a 14-1 thumping of No. 4 Canisius (34-30). The Golden Griffins then had to turn around and play an elimination game against No. 3 Oregon. The Ducks (37-24) stayed alive with a commanding 12-6 win, highlighted by a two-run Shaun Chase home run in a four-run first inning.
No. 2 Iowa, which won its first NCAA tournament game since 1972 on Friday, dropped a 5-3 decision to Missouri State on Saturday. The Hawkeyes (40-17) tried to rally in the ninth, but scored just one run when they needed at least three. Bears pitcher Matt Hall struck out 11 over eight innings. Missouri State is in the regional final and will face either Oregon or Iowa.
Coral Gables Regional
No. 2 East Carolina (40-22) had won eight straight prior to the NCAA Tourmanent, but couldn’t get any offense going against either Columbia or Florida International. ECU was the first No. 2 seed to be eliminated following a 2-0 loss to FIU (30-30) on Saturday.
No. 1 Miami, the No. 5 overall seed, moved to 2-0 with an 8-3 win over Columbia (32-16). The Hurricanes (46-14) took control of the game with a four-run second and got three RBIs from designated hitter Zack Collins.
Dallas Regional
Heavy rain throughout Texas made several fields a mess and forced host school Dallas Baptist to push the games back a day.
Dallas Regional postponed until Sunday: G3: DBU vs. Texas – 1p ET G4: Oregon St vs. VCU – 5p ET G5: TBD vs. TBD – 9p ET #RoadToOmaha
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) May 30, 2015
Tallahassee Regional
No. 1 seed and host Florida State (43-19) escaped with a one-run win for the second straight night. The Seminoles got a solo home run from Quincy Nieporte in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie. Florida State then held on for the 3-2 victory over No. 2 College of Charleston (44-14).
No. 4 Mercer (35-23) suffered a 5-4, 10-inning loss to top seed Florida State on Friday and felt heartbreak again on Saturday. The Bears were 1-0 losers to No. 3 Auburn (36-25) on Saturday with the Tigers getting a sacrifice fly from Blake Logan in the sixth inning to score Jordan Ebert.
Gainesville Regional
No. 4 Florida A&M (23-25) was in the NCAA baseball tournament for the first time in school history, but its tournament ended Saturday with an 8-1 loss to No. 2 Florida Atlantic. The Rattlers lost twice by a combined score of 27-1. FAU (41-18) will play top-seeded Florida on Sunday.
The Gators (46-16) blasted their way past No. 3 South Florida Bulls (34-25-1) thanks to home runs from Harrison Bader and Buddy Reed in Florida’s 8-2 win. A.J. Puk shut down the Bulls bats with eight strikeouts over seven innings pitched.
Baton Rouge Regional
LSU (50-10) is the second overall seed, but was pushed by No. 2 UNC-Wilmington (40-17). Seahawks pitcher Evan Phillips struck out LSU first baseman Chris Chinea twice, but in his third at-bat, Chinea slapped an RBI single to right to break a scoreless tie in the seventh inning. The Tigers added an insurance run in the top of the ninth and held on for a 2-0 victory. It was the first time this season that UNCW was shut out. LSU pitcher Alex Lange struck out 12 Seahawks while throwing his first complete game.
No. 3 Tulane (35-24) led Lehigh 8-3 in the bottom of the fifth before thunderstorms caused the game to be halted. They resumed several hours later and the Green Wave rolled to a 15-3 win over No. 4 Lehigh (25-31). Tulane scored seven runs in the fourth and added five more in the seventh inning.
Houston Regional
Saturday’s game between No. 2 Rice (36-20) and No. 4 Houston Baptist (28-26) was halted with the Owls leading 1-0 with one out in the top of the fourth inning. That game will resume at noon on Sunday, followed by No. 1 Houston (43-18) taking on No. 3 Louisiana (40-21). The winner of the Rice-Houston Baptist game will face the loser of the Houston-Louisiana game at 9 p.m. Sunday.
College Station Regional
No. 1 Texas A&M (46-12) and No. 3 Cal (34-19) needed 14 innings to decide their late-night affair. The game ended when Mitchell Kranson’s line drive to left just cleared the wall for a 2-1 victory to help the Bears start the tournament 2-0. Texas A&M’s Ryan Hendrix struck out 12 in 6 2/3 innings of relief, but surrendered Kranson’s game-winning shot. The Aggies will play Coastal Carolina on Sunday in an elimination game.
No. 2 Coastal Carolina (39-20) stayed alive with a 4-1 win over Texas Southern (31-19). The Chanticleers got on the board in the third with a solo homer from shortstop Michael Paez, then added three runs in the fourth inning.
Forth Worth Regional
No. 2 N.C. State (36-21) rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth inning to hand host and top seed TCU its first loss. Chance Shepard blasted a two-run homer for the Wolfpack, who became the first team this tournament to defeat one of the eight national seeds. The Horned Frogs (44-12) will play an elimination game on Sunday against Stony Brook.
Third-seeded Stony Brook (35-15-1) scored five runs in the first inning and got four RBIs from Casey Baker in an 11-6 victory to send No. 4 Sacred Heart (23-32-1) home.
Champaign Regional
They weren’t even able to get through three innings before rain halted the action with No. 3 Wright State (41-16) leading No. 4 Ohio (36-20) 5-2 in the top of the third. All games in Champaign were postponed until Sunday.
Champaign Regional postponed until Sunday: G3: WSU v Ohio – 12p ET G4: Illinois v Notre Dame – 4p ET G5: TBD – 55 min after G4 #RoadToOmaha
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) May 30, 2015
Nashville Regional
No. 2 Radford (43-15) entered the NCAA Tournament riding a 15-game winning streak. Following Friday’s 7-1 loss to Indiana, the Highlanders (44-15) stayed alive with a 5-2 win over Lipscomb. The Bisons (39-20) were eliminated after Radford broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the sixth.
Following a lengthy rain delay, Indiana and Vanderbilt played late into the night. The top-seeded Commodores (44-19) were able to get by No. 3 Indiana (35-23) thanks to a Dansby Swanson two-run shot in the top of the ninth. Vandy also got a boost from Rhett Wiseman, who scored twice during a 3-for-5 day. Vanderbilt starter Philip Pfeifer got a no-decision, but struck out 10 Hoosiers in six innings.
Fullerton Regional
The last game to start Saturday night was No. 2 Arizona State (35-22) and No. 1 Cal State-Fullerton (36-22). The Titans got an RBI single by Davi Olmedo-Barrera in the sixth inning to tie the game 2-2. The two teams played well into the early morning hours and the game finally ended when Jerrod Bravo drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 14th inning. Fullerton pitcher Thomas Eshelman threw nine innings, striking out 14 batters without a walk. The Titans turned the ball over to Tyler Peitzmeier, who struck out another six batters in five innings.
No. 4 Pepperdine (31-28) eliminated Clemson (32-29) with a 10-8 victory. Junior Chris Fornaci led the Waves with a four-hit, two-RBI, two-run day.
Louisville Regional
No. 1 Louisville, the third-overall seed, and Big Ten tournament champion Michigan played a sloppy, yet exciting, game Saturday. The Wolverines (38-24) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fourth, but the Cardinals (45-16) got a two-run homer from Danny Rosenbaum in the seventh for a 2-1 advantage. Louisville got an insurance run in the top of the eighth before No. 3 Michigan tied it in the bottom half on a Kyle Jusick two-run single. But the Cardinals went up again in the ninth following Devin Hairston’s sacrifice fly.
Michigan right fielder Johnny Slater made a diving catch in foul territory for the second out of the inning, but Colin Lyman easily tagged up from third. The Wolverines were then held scoreless in the bottom of the ninth by Louisville closer Zack Burdi.
No. 2 Bradley (36-20) won its first NCAA tournament game since 1956 with a 9-4 win over Morehead State (39-21). The Braves had lost 10 straight tournament games, but scored three times in the first inning on Saturday to set the tone and never looked back. Spencer Gaa and Paul Solka had three hits apiece for Bradley with Solka blasting a solo homer to lead off the fifth. Michigan and Bradley will play in an elimination game Sunday at noon.
