Mississippi State baseball players dive on each other following their 8-1 win over Stanford during Game 2 at the NCAA college baseball super regional tournament in Starkville, Miss., Sunday, June 9, 2019. They now advance to the College World Series. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.  — Arkansas secured a second straight trip to the College World Series by crushing Ole Miss 14-1 in the deciding game of its super regional Monday.

The Razorbacks (46-18) took control with a four-run second inning, scored three more in the third and added five in the sixth.

Reliever Cody Scroggins worked 4 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out eight, to earn the win. The right-hander replaced starter Patrick Wicklander with two outs and the bases loaded in the second inning with a 2-1 count on the batter.

Scroggins, who signed with Arkansas as a middle infielder before converting to pitcher in 2016, did not walk a batter and gave up two hits, one of them an infield single. He was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the ninth round of this year’s MLB draft.

Arkansas had 12 hits off four Ole Miss pitchers, including six for extra bases, and was 8-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

Right fielder Heston Kjerstad and catcher Casey Opitz each homered and combined for six hits and eight RBIs.

Kjerstad doubled in the second and scored on Opitz’s single to tie the game at 1-1. Jacob Nesbit drove in a run with a single, and Trevor Ezell singled to right to score two more.

Kjerstad doubled into the right-field corner in the third to drive in two runs, and Opitz added an RBI single for a 7-1 lead.

That was more than enough for Scroggins, who had Tommy John surgery in 2017. Monday was his longest outing since March 31, when he went four innings in a start against Ole Miss (41-27) and allowed five hits and walked five in a no-decision. 

Miss. State sweeps Stanford to advance to CWS 

Jake Mangum started the ninth inning with a sharp single that sneaked through the left side of the infield. A few batters later, Elijah MacNamee launched a three-run homer deep into the seats beyond left field.

Just like that, the celebration was on: Mississippi State’s seniors had left no doubt the Bulldogs were headed back to Omaha .

Mississippi State beat Stanford 8-1 on Sunday night to sweep the best-of-three NCAA super regional in two games. Peyton Plumlee pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Dustin Skelton had a three-run triple as the Bulldogs wrapped up a dominant weekend.

It was the Mangum-MacNamee finale that really got the 11,000-plus fans at Dudy Noble Field going. Mangum’s 378th career hit — and MacNamee’s long homer — are moments he’ll remember for a long time.

“If you think I can put that into words, you’re crazy,” Mangum said. “You can’t write it any better. My first hit at Dudy Noble was the same as my last, the six-hole, and of course it was the first pitch.”

Mississippi State (51-13) broke the game open with four runs in the third inning. Stanford pitcher Erik Miller hit a batter and walked two during the rally, including one with the bases loaded. Skelton’s bases-loaded triple was the big blow, bouncing high off the right-center field wall to make it 4-1.

Stanford’s Christian Robinson and Brandon Wulff collided while trying to make the catch in front of Mississippi State’s rowdy outfield crowd. The umpires reviewed the play to see if there was fan interference, but ruled that none had occurred.

The game stayed fairly tight until the ninth, when MacNamee crushed the three-run homer that ended any realistic hope for Stanford.

Stanford (45-14) had a great start to the game when leadoff batter Kyle Stowers hit a solo homer for a 1-0 lead. But Plumlee (7-4) was brilliant from that point forward and the senior right-hander didn’t allow another hit until the seventh innings. He struck out six and walked one.

The left-handed Miller (8-3) took the loss, giving up four earned runs over 2 2/3 innings. He gave up just two hits but walked four.

“We battled them tough,” Stanford coach David Esquer said. “We just gave them a little too much and didn’t take enough away from them. It was a classic super regional where the game is at the highest level.”

MORE HITS FOR MANGUM 

Mangum had two more hits Sunday, raising his season total to 103. The senior’s 378 career rank fifth in NCAA history. He could realistically rise as high as No. 3 if he plays well in the College World Series.

Mangum’s biggest highlight during this super regional was actually in the field. He robbed a potential grand slam in the first inning of Game 1, jumping above the fence to grab Andrew Daschbach’s drive to center.

“He’s just a star,” Lemonis said. “And what’s nice about it is he’s what Mississippi State baseball is. Tough. Hard-nosed. Play hard.”

SKELTON WITH THE GLOVE 

Skelton’s three-run triple was just the start of the highlights for the junior catcher. He had two terrific defensive plays during the fourth inning that stopped a potential Stanford rally.

The first was on a difficult bunt that dribbled down the third base line. Skelton pounced on it, spun and threw a missile to first that got Tim Tawa for the second out. Then he threw out Duke Kinamon, who was trying to steal third, for the final out of the inning.

LITTLE KEEPS IT CLOSE 

Stanford closer Jack Little came into the game much earlier than usual, taking the mound in the fourth inning to try and slow Mississippi State’s offense.

It worked for quite a while. Little went 4 2/3 innings, keeping Mississippi State scoreless until the ninth inning when the Bulldogs rallied for three.

UP NEXT 

Mississippi State will play Auburn in the opening round of the College World Series.

Stanford falls just short of making the CWS for the first time since 2008.

Auburn advances to CWS

CHAPEL HILL, N.C — Auburn scored 13 runs in the first inning to stun host North Carolina en route to a 14-7 victory Monday that sent the Tigers to the College World Series for the first time since 1997.

Judd Ward hit a three-run homer and Edouard Julien and Matt Scheffler each had two-run singles in the Tigers’ overwhelming opening act, which turned the rest of the deciding game in the best-of-three NCAA super-regional series into a formality.

The Tigers (38-26) finished with the second most runs in an inning of an NCAA Tournament game. The barrage began when UNC starter Joey Lancellotti walked the game’s first four batters, the first sign of trouble for the Tar Heels’ normally reliable pitching staff.

Auburn had nine first-inning hits while UNC needed 65 pitches to record three outs before the Tar Heels (46-19) had even sent a batter to the plate.

It took almost three more hours before Auburn could finally celebrate, with the Tigers sprinting out of the dugout at the final out and flinging water in the air before a meet-in-the-infield pileup.

The Tigers won all three games in last week’s Atlanta Regional, including a sweep of No. 3 national seed and host Georgia Tech, to return to the super regionals for the second straight season. Then the Tigers rallied to beat the Tar Heels in Saturday’s Game 1 — pouncing when the Tar Heels’ bullpen foundered — before losing 2-0 in Sunday’s Game 2 to force the series clincher.

Things were much easier Monday after jumping to a huge lead and easing any significant pressure on the Tigers’ pitching staff. Tanner Burns started and pitched two scoreless innings before Richard Fitts (5-3) followed with 5 1/3 innings of work for the win.

Auburn added only an RBI single in the seventh by Rankin Woley after its first-inning tear but finished with 18 hits.

Ashton McGee hit a three-run homer to right-center for the Tar Heels in the bottom of the fourth, while Aaron Sabato hit a two-run shot in the seventh and a solo one in the ninth. But any home-field energy had long since evaporated before McGee’s blast, along with the chance for the Tar Heels to make it back to Omaha for a second straight season and eighth time under longtime coach Mike Fox.

Lancellotti (6-4) took the loss after throwing just four strikes among his 20 pitches while failing to secure an out.

 

Vanderbilt blows out Duke, earns CWS berth

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  — The Vanderbilt Commodores finally are headed back to Omaha and the College World Series for the first time since stringing together a national title in 2014 and a runners-up finish in 2015.

The wait hasn’t been easy, especially after losing the super regional on their field a year ago.

That makes this berth even sweeter.

“It’s a very proud and joyous moment when you get to see your players celebrate something like this at the end, particularly for what they’ve been through over the years,” Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said.

Austin Martin drove in three, hitting two of Vanderbilt’s five home runs, and the Commodores advanced to their fourth College World Series overall by routing Duke 13-2 Sunday to clinch the Nashville Super Regional.

Vanderbilt lost the 2017 super regional in Corvallis, Oregon, to Oregon State, and then battled Mississippi State through three games before losing in 11 innings in Nashville.

These Commodores won the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament title, and the nation’s No. 2 overall seed matched the program record for most wins in a season with a nation’s best 54 victories. The Commodores, who have won 14 of 15, will play Louisville to open the College World Series.

“I said before the Super Regional started, that I thought they were a historically good team, meaning they’re one of the best teams in college baseball in the last 5 to 10 years,” Duke coach Chris Pollard said. “They have a team that can go to Omaha and win it.”

Duke won the opener 18-5. Then the Commodores struck out 35 over the next two games behind Kumar Rocker’s no-hitter Saturday night before Mason Hickman led four pitchers Sunday with nine of a combined 16 strikeouts.

“Some of that was still a funk of what we had to go through last night,” Pollard said.

Martin led off with a home run to left-centerfield, giving Vandy a 1-0 lead. Ethan Paul reached base on an infield single, then stole second and third with Bill Chillari walking Philip Clarke with one out. Pat DeMarco hit a 3-run home run that hit Memorial Gym beyond the 32-foot-high wall in left.

Patrick Raby (10-1) got the win, striking out four in two innings of relief.

Chillari (2-4) walked the first batter he faced in the second before being pulled. Martin hit his second home run in as many at-bats, a two-run homer to left for a 6-0 lead. Ty Duvall made it 7-1 with an RBI double in the third, and he scored on Julian Infante’s liner down the third base line.

Stephen Scott added a solo homer in the fourth, and Infante hit one in the fifth.

Duke avoided being shut out for a second straight game when Rudy Maxwell, from Brentwood, Tennessee, hit a home run in the third. Michael Rothenberg added a solo homer in the fourth. Duke also got centerfielder Kennie Taylor back in the lineup after being hit by a Rocker pitch near his left eye in his first at-bat Saturday night. He struck out his first four at-bats.

VANDY’S HOMERS

The Commodores just keep adding to the school record for home runs in a season. They set the mark at 87 in the regional and added one in the super regional opener before hitting five more Sunday for 92. The previous mark had been 86 set in 1985. Vanderbilt last hit five homers in a game April 20 against Alabama.

ANOTHER DORE

Infante was the MVP of the regional with three home runs. Martin drove in six runs in this super regional.

LIGHTNING DELAY 

These teams waited out a 3-hour, 10-minute delay before Game 1 Friday night, then sat through a 2-hour, 36-minute delay for lightning with one out in the bottom of the sixth with only a few drops of rain. “It was like, ‘All right we’re going now. We’re not,’” Raby said. “It just seemed like it was never going to get going again.”

UP NEXT

Duke: The Blue Devils (35-27) finish still looking for their first College World Series berth since 1961 after their second straight super regional berth.

Vanderbilt: CWS opener against Louisville in Omaha, Nebraska.