#3 Appalachian State 6, #1 Virginia 5
Charlottesville Regional
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Appalachian State University baseball scored six runs in the first two innings then received clutch pitching and fielding performances the rest of the way to defeat top-seeded Virginia, 6-5, on Sunday in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Charlottesville Regional.
With the victory, third-seeded Appalachian (41-16) advances to Monday's regional championship round. The Mountaineers play the winner of Sunday night's losers' bracket contest between top-seeded Virginia (39-18-1) and No. 2-seed Oklahoma (39-23) on Monday at 4 p.m. If Appalachian loses Monday's first game, it will play a second game against the same opponent immediately after. Whoever prevails will advance to the Super Regional round at No. 8 national seed South Carolina (41-17), the winner of this weekend's Columbia Regional.
Appalachian exploded out of the gates against Virginia on Sunday afternoon, scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning and five more in the second to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
The Mountaineers benefitted from a bit of good fortune to kickstart the six-run outburst. Leading off the game, Appalachian's Hector Crespo (Miami, Fla./Florida Christian) hit what appeared to be a routine popup to shallow left field. However, UVa shortstop Chris Taylor lost the ball in the sun and it dropped to the field. Crespo, who never stopped hustling after making contact, slid easily into second base for a leadoff double. Two batters later, Will Callaway (Greenville, S.C./Eastside) ripped a double down the left field line to drive in Crespo and give the Apps a 1-0 advantage.
After starting pitcher Seth Grant (Etowah, N.C./West Henderson) wiggled his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the second, the Mountaineer offense ripped UVa's Artie Lewicki for five hits and plated five runs to take the six-run lead. ASU cleanup hitter Daniel Kassouf (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson) delivered the biggest hit of the five-run frame, a two-run single through the right side of the infield that came after Virginia elected to walk Callaway to load the bases for Appalachian's home run and RBI leader.
From there, Appalachian certainly didn't play its sharpest baseball of the season but made enough plays to never relinquish the advantage. The Mountaineers committed four errors, issued four walks and hit two batters, were called for two run-scoring balks and had a base-running blunder that likely cost them a run. However, they also banged out 11 hits against a Virginia pitching staff that ranked 18th nationally with 8.01 hits allowed per nine innings this season and forced the Cavaliers to leave 12 men on base, including seven in scoring position.
Appalachian was particularly clutch after Virginia sliced the lead to 6-5 in the seventh inning, as the Mountaineers forced UVa to strand runners over the final three stanzas, four of which were left in scoring position.
The Cavaliers pulled within a run after Ryne Frankoff (Apex, N.C./Apex) was called for a run-scoring balk two outs in the seventh and had two runners on base when Frankoff got out of the inning by inducing a routine fly out to right field.
Big defensive plays highlighted the Apps keeping Virginia off the board in the eighth inning. Second baseman Kevin Werman led off the eighth by smoking a hard-hit ground ball towards the hole between first and second base but Crespo made a spectacular diving stop to his left and recovered in time to throw out the speedy Werman for the first out of the inning. Later in the frame with a runner on first base and two outs, .380 hitter Stephen Bruno roped a double off the wall in left field. However, freshman left fielder Brandon Burris (Concord, N.C./Mount Pleasant), who was only in the game because of an injury to regular starting outfielder Tyler Zupcic (Charlotte, N.C./Providence), hustled to the ball and got it back into the infield in time to keep Taylor from scoring the tying run. The play proved to be a game-saver when Frankoff got the next batter, Derek Fisher, to fly out to center on a 3-2 pitch for the final out of the inning.
Closer Nathan Hyatt (Brevard, N.C./Brevard) issued a one-out walk in the ninth but got back-to-back grounders to end the frame with yet another runner in scoring position and send the Mountaineers to the regional championship.
Despite not having command of his breaking ball all afternoon, Grant gutted out six-plus innings and allowed just five runs (four earned) on six hits while striking out four to move to 7-3 on the season. Hyatt added to his own school record with his 16th save of the year.
At the plate, the bottom three hitters in Appalachian's batting order continued to be the Mountaineers' offensive catalysts. No. 7-hitter Trey Holmes (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan) led the charge by going 3-for-4 for the second-consecutive day while No. 8-hitter Preston Troutman (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan) went 2-for-4 and No. 9 Noah Holmes (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan) chipped in with a 1-for-3 effort that included an RBI single and a walk.
#1 Florida State 5, #3 Samford 2
(Samford eliminated)
Tallahassee Regional
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.-The Samford baseball team was eliminated from the NCAA Tallahassee Regional with a 5-2 loss to top-seeded and third-ranked Florida State in the championship round of the regional Sunday evening at Dick Howser Stadium.
With the loss, Samford ends the most successful season in program history. The Bulldogs earned their first Southern Conference title and NCAA Tournament bid this season. The team's final record of 41-23 gives the program its first-ever 40-win season as well.
"To begin with if you told us at the beginning of the season it would end in a regional final in Tallahassee in front of a packed house, we would've all been pretty happy," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "Obviously, when you end the season on a loss, it's pretty tough. These guys played their hearts out. I couldn't be any prouder of the way we competed."
Samford advanced to the championship round with a 3-2 win over second-seeded and 17th-ranked Mississippi State earlier in the day.
Samford was led at the plate against FSU by Tommy Corbin, driving in two runs in a 1-for-3 performance. Brad Moss, Brandon Miller, C.K. Irby and Christiaan Durdaller also had one hit each for Samford.
C.K. Irby (5-2) pitched 2.0 innings, giving up three runs on three hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford. Michael Gunter pitched the final 5.2 innings, allowing no hits and striking out six batters.
"Michael Gunter did a phenomenal job out of the bullpen to give us a shot," Dunn said. "In the end we just couldn't do enough."
For Florida State, Mike Compton (11-2) pitched 6.0 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and striking out five batters to earn the win. Robert Benincasa tossed the final inning to pick up his 15th save of the season.
Florida State was led at the plate by Josh Delph, going 2-for-3 with two RBI. Stephen McGee also drove in two runs, going 1-for-3 at the plate.
Florida State jumped on top with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Jayce Boyd led the inning off with a single. McGee then walked, moving Boyd to second base. The runners moved to second and third base on a sacrifice bunt by Justin Gonzalez. Delph then singled to drive in Boyd and McGee for the first two runs of the game. After Delph moved to third base on a single by John Holland, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Jose Brizuela for a 3-0 FSU lead.
The Seminoles added two more runs in the bottom of the third inning to push their lead to 5-0. Devon Travis led the inning off with a single. James Ramsey then walked and Boyd was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. McGee then singled to drive in Travis and Ramsey for a five-run Seminole lead.
Samford put its two runs on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Florida State lead to 5-2.
Irby reached base on an FSU error to lead off the inning. Durdaller then doubled, moving Irby to third base. With one out in the inning, Corbin singled to drive in Irby and Durdaller to pull Samford to within three runs.
With the win, Florida State (46-15) advances to next week's Super Regional, which the Seminoles will host, taking on the winner of the Palo Alto Regional.
At the conclusion of the game, the All-Regional Team was selected. Starting pitcher Charles Basford, outfielder Miller and designated hitter Irby were Samford's representatives on the team. The complete All-Regional team is listed below.
2012 NCAA DIVISION I BASEBALL
TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL/ALL-REGIONAL TEAM
POS. NAME SCHOOL
C Mitch Slauter Mississippi State
1B Wes Rea Mississippi State
2B Matthew Britton Mississippi State
3B Sherman Johnson Florida State
SS Adam Frazier Mississippi State
OF James Ramsey Florida State
OF Brandon Miller Samford
OF Josh Delph Florida State
P Brandon Leibrandt Florida State
P Charles Basford Samford
DH C.K. Irby Samford
MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER: James Ramsey - Florida State