Michigan, Florida State, Vanderbilt and Miss. State all picked up opening round wins in the 2019 College World Series.
Michigan won its first CWS game since 1983 with a 5-3 win over No. 8 Texas Tech in the opening game on Saturday. Jimmy Kerr, a third-generation Michigan player, had a two-run triple in the third inning. Kerr’s grandfather, John (1960-62), was a member of the Wolverines 1962 CWS national championship team. His father, Derek, (1983-86), played on Michigan’s CWS teams in 1983 and 1984. Drew Parrish and J.C. Flowers combined on a 5-hit shutout in the 1-0 win over No. 5 Arkansas. Flowers scored the winning run on sac fly in the ninth inning and then closed the game with his 13th save of the year.
Austin Martin belted two home runs to lead No. 2 Vanderbilt to a 3-1 win over No. 7 Louisville in the opening game on Sunday afternoon. Martin homered in the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning and then added the go-ahead 2-run homer in the seventh. No. 6 Miss. State scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to knock off Auburn 5-4 in the final game of the first round. MSU posted its 28th come-from-behind win this season, when the inning was extended with a two-out throwing error by AU third baseman Edouard Julien. Marshall Gilbert then delivered the walk-off single.
Here are the CWS recaps and updated schedule. Continue reading “College World Series Recaps”
No. 1 seed Vanderbilt and No. 3 seed Georgia advanced to Saturday’s semifinals after starting the tournament with a pair of wins. Vanderbilt defeated Auburn (11-1) and Miss. State (1-0) in two completely different games, while Georgia has used late-inning magic for wins over Texas A&M (2-0) and Arkansas (3-1). All five of Georgia’s runs have come in the seventh inning or later in Hoover.
The final day of the 2019 SEC baseball regular season was filled with drama and the SEC Western Division champion was to be decided and the final spot for the SEC Tournament was still up for grabs.
The final Tuesday night of the regular season saw three walk-off games, one game-winning home run in the eighth inning and a slugfest between in-state foes. Auburn and South Carolina posted walk-off wins, while Arkansas State scored four in the bottom of the ninth to stun Ole Miss. Alabama senior center fielder Joe Breaux belted a game-winning two-run home run in his final career at-bat at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in the 4-2 win over Samford. Tennessee and Tennessee Tech combined for 25 runs and 28 hits and the teams used 12 different pitchers.
Tyler Gentry belted a go-ahead three-run home run in Alabama’s 7-3 win at Troy. Miss. State overcame a 7-run first inning deficit to rally past Memphis 10-9. Jacksonville State DH Alex Strachan delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning as the Gamecocks toppled No. 8 Georgia at Jim Case Stadium in Jacksonville. Strachan hit a game-tying solo home run in the ninth inning. South Carolina dropped its seventh straight loss with a 7-4 home setback to Furman.
Florida, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt picked up series wins on Saturday. The Gators got a walk-off three-run home run from Jordan Butler in the bottom of the ninth inning to each a 6-4 series-clinching win over South Carolina. Down to its final out, Florida got two-out walks from Austin Langworthy and Kendrick Calilao before Butler smacked his second home run of the game. Mississippi State got three late-inning home runs to pull away from Alabama 9-1. The MSU pitching staff has held the Crimson Tide to one run and 10 hits in the series. Vanderbilt scored seven first-inning runs and thumped Arkansas 12-2. Stephen Scott hit a first-inning grand slam and JJ Bleday hit a three-run homer in the third inning.
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