College World Series 2016: Friday Scores, Winners and Bracket Results
Friday is a huge day at the 2016 College World Series, as the Oklahoma State Cowboys and TCU Horned Frogs can secure their spots in the championship series with victories.
In the first bracket, Oklahoma State and the Arizona Wildcats were set to meet in a rematch after the Cowboys won Monday's contest 1-0 thanks to eight shutout innings from Tyler Buffett. The Wildcats were able to stave off elimination by defeating the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 3-0 on Wednesday.
In the second bracket, TCU and the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers were set to play in the nightcap.
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The Horned Frogs have made things look easy thus far, defeating Coastal Carolina and Texas Tech by a combined score of 11-4. They will have two opportunities to win one game to reach their first championship series in program history.
Here are the results from Friday's action at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska:
| Arizona vs. Oklahoma State | Arizona 9, Oklahoma State 3 |
| Coastal Carolina vs. TCU | Coastal Carolina 4, TCU 1 |
| Arizona (3-1) | Coastal Carolina (3-1) |
| Oklahoma State (2-1) | TCU (2-1) |
| UC Santa Barbara (1-2; Eliminated) | Texas Tech (1-2; Eliminated) |
| Miami (0-2; Eliminated) | Texas Tech (0-2; Eliminated) |
Arizona Def. Oklahoma State, 9-3
The Wildcats fought off elimination for the second straight game with a 9-3 victory over Oklahoma State.
Arizona's offense got off to a quick start against Oklahoma State starter Jensen Elliott, scoring three runs in the first two innings. Elliott threw 32 pitches in the first inning and was taken out after recording just six outs.
Zach Gibbons was terrific for the Wildcats. The senior went 3-for-5, drove in two runs, scored one and also had a nice personal accomplishment in the process, per Ari Alexander of KVOA in Tucson, Arizona:
Oklahoma State was coming off back-to-back shutouts against UC Santa Barbara and Arizona, so head coach Josh Holliday was not used to going to his bullpen early in Omaha.
It went from promising to nervous for Arizona, though. Starter Nathan Bannister's heavy workload finally caught up to him, as he was removed after 2.2 innings because of apparent arm soreness, per D1 Baseball's Aaron Fitt.
Michael Lananna of Baseball America tweeted out the number of pitches Bannister has thrown since June 3:
College baseball gets a bad rap for many reasons, but pitchers being run into the ground is one of the biggest problems.
It didn't help that after Bannister left, the Cowboys rallied for two runs in the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 4-2. After that, however, Arizona's bullpen took over to secure the win.
Kevin Ginkel and Cameron Ming combined to allow just three runs while keeping Oklahoma State's lineup at bay.
Friday's result means the two teams will meet again Saturday, with the winner advancing to the best-of-three championship series that will begin June 27.
Arizona has found its rhythm after being shut out by Oklahoma State on Monday. The Wildcats are not overpowering teams, but they are playing smart, fundamental baseball and taking advantage of opportunities on offense.
Oklahoma State needs to find a way out of its offensive funk to reach its first championship series since 1990. Friday marked the first time in Omaha that the Cowboys have scored more than one run. Yet the pitching failed early, and they couldn't claw their way back into the game.
Another similar effort Saturday will have the once-dominant Oklahoma State team heading home early.
Coastal Carolina Def. TCU, 4-1
Both brackets will be heading to a winner-take-all matchup, as Coastal Carolina continued its magical season by taking down TCU 4-1.
In a tight pitching affair, the Chanticleers used a two-run third inning to gain an early lead, one which they would not relinquish. The team added two more insurance runs in the seventh inning to secure the win despite registering just four hits.
Four runs proved to be plenty of support for Coastal Carolina starter Andrew Beckwith, as he threw a complete game to strike out five and allow six hits. He also threw an astounding 137 pitches.
Due to his unique delivery and his dominant performance, Beckwith earned some a tremendous comparison from musician David Nail:
Coastal Carolina received RBIs from Billy Cooke, Anthony Marks, Connor Owings and David Parrett. The team only had one extra-base hit, but it still generated four runs, which D1Baseball's Aaron Fitt noted:
TCU Mitchell Traver only allowed three hits in 6.1 innings, but he was still pegged with the loss.
The Horned Frogs average 7.1 runs per game, but they struggled immensely on Friday. However, they can be expected to bounce back to return to form, as it was one of the nation's top teams throughout the year. It has also been at this stage, as it plays in its third-straight College World Series.
Coastal Carolina keeps slaying giants. It beat a strong North Carolina State team in the regionals and a national powerhouse in LSU in the super regionals. To even reach this stage at Omaha, the Chanticleers downed Florida, the top-ranked team entering the tournament.
The Chanticleer's confidence against TCU's pedigree and strong personnel makes this a phenomenal matchup. Coastal Carolina seems to have the right touch at the moment, and it is a nice bet to reach the final.
Statistics are courtesy of NCAA.org.
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