#3 Appalachian State 5, #2 Oklahoma 4
Charlottesville Regional
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Ryan Arrowood (Rutherfordton, N.C./R-S Central) took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, the bottom three hitters in Appalachian State University's batting order combined to go 7-for-10 and the Mountaineers' bullpen didn't let a 5-1 ninth-inning lead completely dissipate in Appalachian's 5-4 win over Oklahoma in the opening round of the 2012 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship's Charlottesville Regional on Saturday night at Davenport Field.
With its first NCAA postseason victory since 1973, Appalachian (40-16) moves on to play host and top-seeded Virginia (39-17-1) on Sunday at 3 p.m. No. 2-seed Oklahoma (38-23) plays Army (41-14) in an elimination game on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Arrowood was the hero of the Mountaineers' first regional triumph in 14,252 days. The right-handed senior had his no-hitter broken up on Caleb Bushyhead's single up the middle with one out in the seventh and left the ballgame after Evan Mistach singled through the left side with two outs in the bottom of the eight to plate the only run the Sooners would manage against Arrowood and cut the Mountaineer lead to 3-1.
Oklahoma only managed two real threats in 7.2 innings against Arrowood and sterling defensive plays squelched both opportunities. With the Mountaineers up 2-0 in the sixth, Arrowood hit two batters to put the tying run on base with one out and all-Big XII center fielder Max White coming to the plate. White ripped a 2-1 pitch into left field but Preston Troutman (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan) made a spectacular running catch just a few feet in front of the left-field wall then turned and fired the ball back into the infield to keep the runners on first and second. Two pitches later, Mistach grounded out to keep the 2-0 lead and no-hitter intact.
Appalachian extended the lead to 3-0 on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Kassouf (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson) in the top of the eighth and it looked as though Arrowood would cruise through the bottom of the frame when he retired the first two batters. But with well over 120 pitches on his ledger, Arrowood issued a pair of two-out walks, pushing his pitch count to 137 and forcing head coach Chris Pollard to remove his senior ace, who walked off the field to a standing ovation from the crowd of 2,804.
Closer Nathan Hyatt (Brevard, N.C./Brevard) replaced Arrowood and got Jack Mayfield to hit a soft fly ball into shallow right field. It looked as though the looper might fall in for a hit but right fielder Tyler Tewell (Charlotte, N.C./Butler) made a terrific sliding catch in fair territory, his momentum carrying him into the ASU bullpen with the Apps' 3-1 lead still intact.
Appalachian tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth to take a seemingly safe 5-1 lead. Seniors Jeremy Dowdy (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) and Trey Holmes (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan) led off the stanza with back-to-back doubles down the right-field line to stretch the lead to 4-1 and Holmes came home on his brother Noah's sacrifice fly to center field to make it 5-1.
It turned out that the Mountaineers would need every bit of the insurance in the bottom of the ninth. Hyatt, Appalachian's single-season record-holder with 15 saves on the campaign, threw 11-straight balls to open the frame and loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a hit batter. Hyatt was removed from the game when he balked in a run that cut the Mountaineer advantage to 5-2.
Ryne Frankoff (Apex, N.C./Apex) replaced Hyatt and allowed an RBI groundout and a run-scoring wild pitch to cut the ASU lead to 5-4. After striking out OU leadoff hitter Erik Ross for the second out of the inning, Frankoff walked Cody Reine to bring White to the plate as the winning run. However, on a 1-1 pitch, Frankoff induced a lazy fly ball to right field that Tewell hauled in for the final out.
Despite the late drama, the story of the day was Arrowood. He wound up allowing just one run on two hits over 7.2 innings, walking three and striking out nine. In the process, he moved to 11-0 on the season and became Appalachian's all-time leader in single-season (93) and career (252) strikeouts.
Trey Holmes (3-for-4, RBI, two runs), Troutman (2-for-3, sacrifice bunt) and Noah Holmes (2-for-3, two RBI, run) - Appalachian's No. 7, 8 and 9 hitters - led the Mountaineers' 10-hit attack off Oklahoma ace Jordan John (8-7).
#3 College of Charleston 8, #4 Bethune-Cookman 2
(Bethune-Cookman eliminated)
Gainesville Regional
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - College of Charleston starting pitcher Matt Pegler pitched his first career complete game and did not allow a hit until the sixth inning as the Cougars defeated Bethune-Cookman, 8-2, in an NCAA Gainesville Regional elimination game.
Pegler (10-2) won his 10th game of the season as he allowed two hits and two runs while striking out a career-best nine Wildcats in his first career complete game. Pegler did not allow a walk in the contest as he went into the sixth inning before allowing a hit.
The Cougars have now won eight straight games with Pegler on the mound, as the junior from Greenville, S.C., has posted a 7-0 record in those games. On the season, CofC is 7-0 when Pegler pitches on the day after a loss.
The Cougars (38-21) staved off elimination by holding Bethune-Cookman (34-27) to eight hitless innings with the only blemish coming on a sixth-inning infield single by Carlos Delgado and a two-run home run by Josh Johnson in the next at-bat. The Wildcats had been hitless for 14.2 innings after Florida's Jonathon Crawford pitched a no-hitter in the first game of the Gainesville Regional.
Offensively, the Cougars were led by Daniel Aldrich who finished with a home run and double, driving in two and scoring two runs. Aldrich's solo homer in the fourth inning was his 11th of the season as he cleared the scoreboard in right field.
Marty Gantt extended his hitting streak to 10 games, his third streak of that length this season, as he finished with a double and two runs while also stealing his team-leading 27th and 28th bases of the season.
Brandon Murray, Rob Harding and Brandon Glazer all tallied an RBI and run scored, while Devon Reed knocked a double and scored a run.
"Obviously, it was a really good game for us," head coach Monte Lee said. "It was tough being an elimination game and we needed to play our best game. It all started with Matt Pegler who gave us an outstanding start and threw a complete game. He was the reason that we won today. We also swung the bats well and played really good defensively."
Gantt opened the game with a double and then stole third base, eventually coming home on a double-play grounder from Harding.
The Cougars extended the lead in the fourth inning when Aldrich launched a ball over the right field scoreboard for a solo home run that made it 2-0. Glazer extended the inning with a walk and Cody Martin eventually drove him in with an RBI single.
College of Charleston blew the game open in the fifth inning, led by a leadoff double from Reed. CofC followed it up with consecutive singles from Gantt, Murray, Harding, Aldrich and Glazer, scoring five runs in the inning and pushing the CofC lead to 8-0.
Bethune-Cookman broke up the no-hit bid in the top of the sixth inning when Delgado hit a ball up the middle and bounced off second base. Johnson followed it up with a two-run homer to left field to pull the margin to 8-2.
Pegler continued to be dominant through the final three innings as he finished with just 92 pitches and a career-best nine strikeouts. His performance was even more important in the tournament format as it kept the CofC bullpen rested for a run out of the loser's bracket.
College of Charleston will face the loser of the Florida/Georgia Tech game at noon tomorrow on ESPN2.
#1 Florida State 8, #3 Samford 1
Tallahassee Regional
TALLAHASEE, Fla.-The third-seeded Samford baseball team dropped an 8-1 decision to top-seeded and third-ranked Florida State Saturday night in a winner's bracket game at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional at Dick Howser Stadium.
Samford will now take on second-seeded Mississippi State in an elimination game Sunday at 11 a.m. (CT). The winner of that game will then take on Florida State at 5 p.m. (CT).
Florida State pitcher Brandon Leibrandt (7-2) pitched 8.0 impressive innings, giving up no runs on three hits to earn the win. Leibrandt struck out a career-high 10 batters and allowed no walks in the win.
"Obviously, the story of the night was the Leibrandt kid," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "I thought he got us really out of sync and out of rhythm early on, and he really did a great job of pitching both sides of the plate. Obviously, that was the story of the night."
Samford's Josh Martin (12-2) pitched 6.2 innings, giving up seven runs on seven hits to take the loss. Martin struck out five batters and walked four. Joseph Burns, Lex Rutledge and Gil Walker also saw time on the mound for Samford.
For Samford at the plate, C.K. Irby drove in the Bulldogs' lone run of the night, going 1-for-4. Brad Moss, Saxon Butler, Phillip Ervin, Matt Frederick and Tyler Filliben also had one hit each for the Bulldogs.
Florida State was led at the plate by James Ramsey, going 2-for-4 with his first career grand slam and four RBI. Jayce Boyd went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Sherman Johnson went 2-for-4 with a home run and one RBI for the Seminoles.
Florida State put the first run on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Johnson hit a home run to right-center field on the second pitch of the game for a 1-0 Seminole lead.
The Seminoles added three runs in the top of the sixth inning to push their lead to 4-0. Boyd drove in two runs with a single, while Stephen McGee drove in one run in the inning for Florida State.
Florida State added four more runs in the seventh inning to make the score 8-0. Ramsey hit a grand slam to right field with Devon Travis, Johnson and John Holland on base for an eight-run FSU lead.
Samford put its lone run of the game on the scoreboard in the bottom of the ninth inning. Pinch-hitter Frederick singled to lead off the inning. With one out, Filliben singled to left field. With two outs, Irby singled to left field to drive in Frederick to make the final score 8-1.
Samford drops to 40-22 with the loss. Florida State improves to 45-15 with the win.
Sunday's games can be seen live on ESPN3.com. Any game involving Samford can be heard in the Birmingham area on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.