Roundup: Arizona headed to CWS

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Konner Wade tossed a six-hitter and Arizona earned its first trip to the College World Series since 2004 by beating St. John's 7-4 on Saturday to complete a two-game sweep.

A three-time national champion, Arizona (43-17) earned a share of the Pac-12 championship for the first time since 1993 and is headed back to Omaha for the 16th time after finishing off the Red Storm.

The Wildcats rallied from five runs down to win the first game of the super regional on Friday and jumped on St. John's (40-24) early in Game 2, scoring three runs in the first inning off Sean Hagan (8-3).

Wade (9-3) allowed four runs, and Bobby Brown had two RBIs to set off raucous celebration at Hi Corbett Field.

Arizona had a dramatic win in the series opener Friday, fighting back from the big deficit and down a run in the 10th inning to win 7-6 on Trent Gilbert's game-ending RBI single.

The Wildcats got out to the early lead this time, thanks to a mistake by Danny Bethea.

With two outs in the first inning, the St. John's catcher was called for interference when his glove got in the way of Robert Refsnyder's swing on a grounder up the middle. Instead of going off with the third out, St. John's had to stay out and watch Seth Mejias-Brean, Brown and Joseph Maggi each hit run-scoring singles that put Arizona up 3-0 before the Red Storm came to bat for the first time.

Mejia added a run-scoring single in the second inning after Joey Rickard worked a walk for the second straight at-bat, giving Wade a nice early cushion.

Arizona's lanky right-hander was good early, needing just six pitches to get through the first inning. He got some help in the second, when Mejia made a sliding grab at shortstop to throw out Frank Schwindel, and Maggi dived to smother a ball down the line at first to rob Sean O'Hare.

Wade retired the first nine batters until Kyle Richardson's leadoff single in the fourth inning, but Mejia erased him with another spectacular stop, diving up the middle and flipping the ball to second baseman Gilbert to start a double play.

St. John's got an unearned run off Wade in the fifth inning, when Bethea lined a run-scoring single to left after Gilbert was charged with a throwing error on O'Hare's grounder. Another error by Gilbert, this one on a squirrely grounder by Richardson, and a passed ball by Riley Moore set up an RBI groundout by Matt Wessinger in the sixth that cut Arizona's lead to 4-2.

That would be as close as the Red Storm would get to forcing a third game.

Mejias-Brean chased Hagan with a leadoff double in the seventh inning and scored on Brown's run-scoring double off James Lomangino. Brown followed with a run-scoring single that made it 6-2.

Hagan allowed five runs -- four earned -- on six hits in six innings, with seven walks.

St. John's Zach Lauricella followed Jeremy Baltz's leadoff double with a run-scoring single in the seventh inning off Wade, but Johnny Field had a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning that pushed Arizona's lead to 7-3.

Wade induced a double play that gave up a run and then finished off his fourth complete game of the season by getting O'Hare on a nubber to second, sending the Wildcats into each other's arms and on to Omaha.

Baton Rouge Super Regional

• Stony Brook 3, LSU 1 -- Tyler Johnson threw a three-hitter and allowed an unearned run, and Stony Brook evened its super regional series at one game each.

LSU (47-17) could not muster the late-inning magic of the series opener, when the Tigers hit three game-tying homers before winning a rain-postponed game in the 12th inning Saturday morning.

Johnson improved to 12-1, and now Stony Brook (51-13) is one victory from its first College World Series, with the final game of the best-of-three series slated for Sunday. LSU, a six-time national champion, will be seeking its 16th trip to Omaha.

Kevin Courtney was 3-for-3 with a homer for the Seawolves.

LSU starter Kevin Gausman (12-2), who won Game 1 by pitching the last inning, lasted seven innings in Game 2, giving up three runs on six hits and striking out six.

The loss was LSU's first in 10 NCAA home games in their 10,000-seat stadium since it opened in 2009.

Saturday's action started at 10:05 local time, when Friday's thrilling first game of the series was resumed in the top of the 12th.

• LSU 5, Stony Brook 4, 12 innings -- LSU coach Paul Mainieri elected to put Gausman, the Game 2 starter, on the mound for the resumption of Game 1. The move played out ideally for the Tigers when Gausman retired the side in order and LSU's Mason Katz singled home Tyler Moore in the bottom of the inning to cap a victory that took two days to complete.

The fact that Katz and Moore, who led off with a single, both had key hits in the winning rally was fitting. They each had crucial home runs Friday as LSU prolonged its wild super regional opener with the Seawolves with game-tying homers in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings.

Frankie Vanderka (2-3) took the loss for Stony Brook.

Columbia Super Regional

• South Carolina 5, Oklahoma 0 -- South Carolina ace Michael Roth closed his home career in style and the two-time defending national champion Gamecocks won their 20th straight NCAA tournament game with a victory over Oklahoma.

South Carolina (44-17) needs to defeat the Sooners (42-24) once more to reach its third consecutive College World Series.

LB Dantzler's RBI double keyed a three-run second inning that was all Roth (7-1) needed. The senior worked 7 2/3 innings, giving up six hits.

Eugene Super Regional

• Kent State 7, Oregon 6 -- Jimmy Rider set a school record with his 100th hit of the season and drove in two runs as Kent State extended its winning streak to 21 games with a over Oregon to open their NCAA super regional series.

Left-hander David Starn scattered four runs and five hits over 6 1/3 innings for the Golden Flashes (45-17), who are making their first-ever appearance in a super regional.

Oregon, the No. 5 national seed, rallied with two runs in the bottom of the ninth but couldn't overcome earlier mistakes. Senior Alex Keudell allowed two earned runs and nine hits over 7 1/3 innings for the Ducks (45-18).

Oregon is making its second trip to the postseason since it reinstated baseball in 2009. The Ducks advanced out of their double-elimination regional for the first time since 1954, when the team made its lone trip to the College World Series.

Gainesville Super Regional

• Florida 4, N.C. State 1 -- Mike Zunino homered and drove in three runs, Hudson Randall pitched seven scoreless innings and Florida beat North Carolina State in the opener of their super regional series.

The top-seeded Gators (46-18) improved to 9-0 against Atlantic Coast Conference teams this season and need one more win to advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., for the third consecutive year.

Florida and North Carolina State play Game 2 on Sunday.

Not even two rain delays totaling nearly 3 hours slowed Florida. The Gators led 5-0 behind Randall's gem when heavy rain halted the game in the bottom of the seventh.

The pause sent Randall (9-2) to the bench, but did little to spark the Wolfpack (43-19). North Carolina State finally scored with two outs in the ninth.

Los Angeles Regional

• UCLA 4, TCU 1 -- Nick Vander Tuig allowed one run in six innings to lift UCLA to a victory to win the NCAA Super Regional and advance to the College World Series.

Vander Tuig (10-3) gave way to David Berg after walking the leadoff hitter in the seventh. Berg retired the side in order and finished off the Horned Frogs in the eighth and ninth to earn his first save. Preston Morrison (9-2) took the loss for the Horned Frogs (40-22).

The Bruins (47-14) advanced to the CWS for the fourth time in the school's history and first time since 2010.

UCLA has won nine straight games, including five consecutive postseason games, and 16 of its past 17 games.

Trevor Brown tripled with one out in the second and scored on Pat Valaika's sacrifice fly to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. UCLA made it 2-0 on a well-executed squeeze bunt by Tyler Heineman that scored Kevin Kramer.

Brance Rivera's solo homer in the third cut the UCLA lead to 2-1. The Horned Frogs have homered in 11 consecutive games.

The Bruins added runs in the sixth and seventh innings to build a 4-1 lead.

Berg moved into a tie for second place for single season NCAA Division I appearances (47) for a pitcher when he entered the game in the eighth inning.

The record is 51 appearances.

Tallahassee Super Regional

Florida State and Stanford had the second game of their super regional series postponed because of rain.

It was rescheduled for 7 p.m. EDT Sunday.

The Seminoles (47-16) have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Stanford (41-17) needs to win the second game to force a deciding third game on Monday.

NCAA officials waited roughly 90 minutes Saturday as a steady rain fell and the weather radar showed little letup for the next several hours.

Waco Super Regional

• Baylor 8, Arkansas 1 -- Logan Vick homered twice and Trent Blank scattered seven hits over eight innings as Baylor beat Arkansas in Game 1 of their super regional.

The Bears (49-15) can earn their first trip to the College World Series since 2005 with a win over the Razorbacks (42-20) on Sunday.

Josh Ludy added a home run, while Max Muncy and Cal Towey each had two doubles and a single as Baylor racked up 12 hits against three Arkansas pitchers.

The Bears gave Blank (11-1) an early lead when Razorbacks starter DJ Baxendale (7-5) hit Nathan Orf -- the leadoff hitter's school-record 35th hit by pitch this season -- and Vick followed with a two-run homer.

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