Oklahoma State continued its hot postseason play with a Super Regional opener win at South Carolina on Saturday, while TCU and Texas Tech take 1-1 series into decisive game threes on Sunday as league teams continue NCAA Baseball Super Regional action. The Red Raiders forced a game three with a 13-inning victory over East Carolina, while Texas A&M came back to win game two over the Frogs in College Station. Oklahoma State moved to 4-0 in the NCAA postseason with its win.
Sunday’s Schedule (June 12)
Oklahoma State at South Carolina, 2:00 p.m., ESPN2
East Carolina at No. 5 Texas Tech, 2:00 p.m., ESPNU
TCU at No. 4 Texas A&M, 8:00 p.m., ESPN2
Saturday’s Results (June 11)
Oklahoma State 5, South Carolina 1 | Columbia Super Regional
The Cowboys find themselves within one victory of a College World Series berth after knocking off South Carolina, 5-1, in Saturday’s NCAA Columbia Super Regional opener at Founders Park.
The win, Oklahoma State’s fourth in as many NCAA postseason games, also marked OSU’s first Super Regional win since 2007 when the Pokes won the second game of the NCAA Louisville Super Regional as the Cowboys have now won at least 40 games in three of head coach Josh Holliday’s four seasons at the helm.
Thomas Hatch continued his dominance on the mound as he hurled seven shutout innings against the Gamecocks, allowing just four hits – all singles – and improving to 8-2 on the season. Trey Cobb allowed USC’s lone run over the final two innings but earned his fourth save.
Offensively, a pair of home runs sparked the Cowboys. Ryan Sluder led off the third inning with his fourth round tripper of the season to give OSU an early lead, and Collin Theroux helped seal the win with a three-run blast in the ninth.
No. 5 Texas Tech 3, East Carolina 1 (13 innings) | Lubbock Super Regional
Big 12 Player of the Year Eric Gutierrez delivered a clutch two-out, two-run single in the 13th inning, and Ryan Dugger fired five innings of shutout relief to vault Texas Tech to a dramatic 3-1 victory over East Carolina on Saturday as a program record 4,817 fans gathered at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.
The victory enabled Texas Tech (45-18) to force a winner-take-all game three with the Pirates (38-22-1). The 13-inning game was the longest in Tech postseason history and tied for fourth-longest in the NCAA Super Regional Round.
The Red Raiders put together some two-out magic in the 13th inning. Tyler Floyd battled back from a 1-2 count to draw a walk. He advanced to third base courtesy of an Orlando Garcia single through the right side. Stephen Smith kept the frame alive and coaxed a five-pitch walk to load the bases. Gutierrez provided the heroics and ripped a two-run single through the middle on a 1-0 offering for his first hit of the super regional.
Robert Dugger (5-0) worked a 1-2-3 home half of the 13th inning, the final two outs coming on ground balls to second baseman Michael Davis. He logged five innings of two-hit relief and posted a career-high tying five strikeouts against two walks. Dugger entered the contest with the score tied at 1-1 and ECU runners on first and second base with no outs in the ninth inning. He induced a pair of fly outs and got a strikeout looking to end the Pirates threat. The junior right-hander hasn’t surrendered a run in eight of his last 10 appearances out of Tech bullpen.
ECU stranded six of its 14 runners left on base in the ninth inning on as the Pirates left the winning run on third in the 11th and then the bases loaded in the 12th. The Red Raiders also struggled to score runners as Tech left a season-high 15 on base.
The Red Raiders opened with an early one-run lead on a Michael Davis RBI infield single in the fourth inning. He scored Tyler Neslony on the sharply hit ball up the middle after Neslony connected on a one-out double earlier in the frame. The Pirates tied the game in the sixth with the 1-1 deadlock sticking for six more innings before Tech broke through in the top of the 13th.
No. 4 Texas A&M 7, TCU 1 | College Station Super Regional
TCU was stymied to just one run as Texas A&M used a superb performance from starter Kyle Simonds and three home runs from its offense to even the College Station Super Regional series with a 7-1 win Saturday night at Blue Bell Park.
Simonds went 7.2 innings with just four hits allowed while striking out six to pick up the win. The Frogs would get on the board following his exit as Evan Skoug drove in one of Simond’s TCU baserunners with a single to prevent the shutout. Skoug was one of only two Frogs with multiple hits on the night.
A&M set the tone early with three runs in the first inning, including a solo home run from its leadoff hitter. The Aggies would use the long ball in the other two innings they scored, plating two runs in the sixth and eighth innings with solo shots in both frames.
Mitchell Traver took the loss for the Frogs allowing five runs, three earned, in his 5.2 innings of work.
Friday’s Results (June 10)
East Carolina 8, No. 5 Texas Tech 6
TCU 8, No. 4 Texas A&M 2