May 30, 2009

Ackley Sets Hit Mark As Tar Heels Top Dartmouth
Dustin Ackley became North Carolina's career base hit leader with a 3-for-5 effort and drove in two runs to pace No. 4 national seed North Carolina past Dartmouth, 5-2, Friday in the 2009 NCAA Chapel Hill Regional at Boshamer Stadium. The Tar Heels (43-16) move on to meet Coastal Carolina at 5 p.m. Saturday, while Dartmouth (27-17) will face Kansas in an elimination game at 1 p.m.

Ackley tied Chad Flack's record with infield singles in the first and second and broke it with an RBI double in the eighth. Ben Bunting, Mark Fleury and Jacob Stallings added two hits apiece. Stallings singled twice, walked and had a sacrifice bunt in his third career two-hit game.

Carolina right-hander Matt Harvey (7-2) worked at least six innings for the third straight start, scattering nine hits and two walks over 6 1/3. He held the Big Green to two runs, struck out three and had a Tar Heel season-best four double plays turned behind him over the first six frames. 

No. 2 Seed Miami Downs No.3 Seed Dolphins in Regional Opener, 9-4
Freshman right-hander Travis Miller tossed four strong innings and junior first baseman Jason Hagerty homered twice to lead No. 2 seed Miami to a 9-4 win over third-seeded Jacksonville Friday afternoon in the opener of the NCAA Gainesville Regional at McKethan Stadium. Miami improved to 37-20 overall and won its 12th Regional opener under head coach Jim Morris.

Hagerty blasted two home runs - his 20th and 21st career home runs - in the first and seventh innings. He finished 2-for-2 with three RBI and three runs scored. Dave DiNatale and Yasmani Grandal each added a pair of hits for the Hurricanes who tallied 10 hits in the game.

Making just his third career start, Miller (3-0) won for the second time in the last three weekends. He tossed a career-long four innings, allowing three hits, while walking just one and striking out two. David Gutierrez tossed two scoreless innings and struck out three. Michael Rudman, Rene Guerra, Daniel Miranda and Kyle Bellamy combined to toss the final three innings.

Skole's Slam Lifts Tech Past Georgia State, 9-3
Deck McGuire scattered nine hits over seven innings, and Matt Skole belted a grand slam to lead 13th-ranked Georgia Tech past cross-town neighbor Georgia State, 9-3, Friday night in a first-round game in the NCAA Atlanta Regional baseball tournament at Russ Chandler Stadium.

Ranked No. 13 in the nation and hosting a regional tournament for the ninth time in their history, the Yellow Jackets (36-17-1) won their sixth consecutive NCAA regional home game and improved to 22-13 in NCAA tournament games they have hosted.

Tech will face Southern Miss (36-23) in a winners' bracket game at 7 p.m. Saturday. Georgia State will face Elon (40-17) at 3 p.m. Saturday in an elimination game. Southern Miss defeated Elon, 17-15, in the other first-round game Friday. h

Florida State Opens NCAA Tournament With 16-4 Victory Over Marist
The Seminoles will face Georgia in a winner's bracket game on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Florida State (43-16) advanced to the winner's bracket in the 2009 Tallahassee Regional with a 16-4 victory over Marist (31-27) Friday evening on Mike Martin Field inside Dick Howser Stadium. The Seminoles broke open a 4-4 tie scoring 12 runs over the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to move to 36-11 all-time in the opening round game of the NCAA Regional.

Tyler Holt and Stephen Cardullo went a combined 5-for-11 with six runs and five RBI in leading the Seminoles to a win over the Red Foxes. FSU pounded out 16 hits, seven of which went for extra bases, including five doubles and two home runs.

Mike McGee and Jason Stidham each connected on a three-run home run in Friday night's victory. With the win, the Seminoles completed a perfect day for the Atlantic Coast Conference as all seven schools in this year's field of 64 registered a win.

Schaus' Two-Run Walkoff Double Lifts #14 Tigers to 5-4 Win Over Tennessee Tech
Relief pitcher Graham Stoneburner kept hope alive for top-seeded Clemson in a first-round struggle with underdog Tennessee Tech in Friday night's first round of the NCAA Clemson Regional. Finally, Jeff Schaus made Stoneburner's efforts pay off.

Stoneburner did his job, allowing just two hits over the final 4 2/3 innings as the Tigers rallied in the ninth for a 5-4 victory on Schaus' two-run double.

Clemson (41-19) will play Oklahoma State (33-22) in Saturday night's winners' bracket game. Tech (30-23-1) will play Alabama (37-20).

No. 7 Virginia Outduels San Diego State, Strasburg, 5-1
Virginia’s pitching staff outdueled San Diego State phenom Stephen Strasburg as the seventh-ranked Cavaliers notched a 5-1 victory Friday afternoon in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Irvine Regional at Anteater Ballpark in Irvine, Calif. The Cavaliers recorded two early runs, then rode their pitching before tacking on three runs in the eighth inning against the Aztecs’ bullpen to seal the win and hand Strasburg his first loss of 2009.

Virginia, the regional’s No. 2 seed, now will face the winner of the No. 1 UC Irvine-No. 4 Fresno State game at 11 p.m. ET Saturday. ESPNU and Comcast SportsNet each will have live coverage of the game. No. 3 SDSU will play at 7 p.m. ET against the loser of the UCI-Fresno State contest in an elimination game.

Virginia pitcher Robert Morey (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) had one of the best starts of his career, going six shutout innings and allowing just five hits and three walks while striking out nine. He improved to 3-0 with the victory. Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.), Matt Packer (Jr., Germantown, Tenn.) and Kevin Arico (So., Flemington, N.J.) allowed just one hit and one walk over the final three frames. As a staff, Virginia struck out 13 batters.

Boston College Stuns Texas State With 8-7 Comeback Win
Down three runs entering the top of the ninth, Boston College put together five-straight hits to start the inning including a go-ahead three-run homer from junior John Spatola and the Eagles took its first NCAA Baseball Championship game in 42 years, 8-7, against Texas State in front of 5,184 fans at Texas' UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

The Eagles (34-24) will face the winner of the second game of the day, either national No. 1 seed Texas or fourth-seeded Army, on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT at the Disch.

After the offense was stifled by Texas State starter Kane Holbrooks, BC exploded for six runs in the top of the ninth off of the Bobcats' bullpen. The Eagles had six hits in the first eight frames before tallying eight in the ninth. The first five BC hitters each recorded a hit.