College Baseball Super Regionals 2019: Louisville, Michigan Among Friday Winners
June 7, 2019
The 2019 NCAA Division I baseball tournament rolled on Friday with the first four games of the Super Regionals at host sites around the country.
Vanderbilt, listed as the favorite to capture the College World Series title entering the current round of play (+400, per Caesars Palace), headlined the contenders to take the field. Louisville, Texas Tech and UCLA were the other host squads to open their three-game series on Day 1 of the Super Regionals.
Let's check out the complete list of scores from Friday's matchups, which will be updated at the conclusion of each contest. That's followed by a recap of the action.
Friday (June 7) Schedule and Results
Louisville Super Regional: Louisville 14, East Carolina 1
Lubbock Super Regional: Texas Tech 8, Oklahoma State 6
Nashville Super Regional: Duke 18, Vanderbilt 5
Los Angeles Super Regional: Michigan 3, UCLA 2
Tournament Bracket
Louisville Cardinals 14, East Carolina Pirates 1
After three scoreless innings, the Cards offense exploded for 12 runs over the next three frames to pull away from East Carolina en route to a blowout win in Game 1.
Louisville received a well-rounded offensive output as seven different players recorded at least two hits apiece, led by shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald with four. Designated hitter Danny Oriente (three RBI), left fielder Jake Snider (three), third baseman Alex Binelas (two) and Fitzgerald (two) all drove in more than one run.
Cardinals starter Reid Detmers allowed five hits, two walks and one earned run with six strikeouts across seven innings of work to pick up the win. Most importantly, he kept East Carolina at bay early until his offense kicked it into overdrive.
Pirates first baseman Spencer Brickhouse provided the visitors' only run with a solo homer in the sixth.
Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. ET at Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville.
Texas Tech Red Raiders 8, Oklahoma State Cowboys 6
Texas Tech built an early 6-2 lead and survived some late-inning drama, including the tying run coming to the plate for Oklahoma State in the ninth, to take Game 1.
Shortstop Josh Jung and designated hitter Cody Masters each homered for the Red Raiders. Center fielder and second baseman Brian Klein drove in two runs apiece.
Reliever John McMillon allowed only one unearned run across two innings with three strikeouts to close out the Cowboys.
OSU second baseman Hueston Morrill walked with one out in the ninth, but third baseman Christian Funk and catcher Colin Simpson both struck out to end the rally.
First baseman Alix Garcia had a homer for the Cowboys.
Game 2 will take place Saturday at 6 p.m. ET at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park in Lubbock.
Michigan Wolverines 3, UCLA Bruins 2
Michigan starting pitcher Karl Kauffmann twirled 8.1 innings of two-run ball and Jesse Franklin knocked home two runners with a third-inning single as the Wolverines beat the host UCLA Bruins 3-2 to win Game 1 at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles.
Kauffmann, who was pitching a one-hit shutout through eight frames, struck out nine Bruin batters. He retired the first nine Bruins before a fourth-inning walk and didn't allow a hit until Jake Pries singled to start the fifth.
However, Kauffmann ran into some trouble in the ninth.
A walk, a single, a sacrifice fly and two more base knocks gave UCLA two runs and runners on first and third with one out. Michael Toglia came through with the big hit, scoring Chase Strumpf and Garrett Mitchell.
Jeff Criswell then closed for Kauffmann and shut the door. He induced a popout to shortstop for the second out before recording a strikeout to end game.
The Wolverines initially got on the board in the third when a Franklin two-RBI single scored Jordan Nwogu and Joe Donovan.
Ako Thomas scored Michigan's third run in the eighth after hitting a double, advancing to third on a passed ball and scoring on a Nwogu sacrifice fly.
Game 2 is Saturday at 9 p.m. ET at Jackie Robinson Stadium in L.A.
Duke Blue Devils 18, Vanderbilt Commodores 5
Duke's offense erupted with a 10-run eighth inning to put the title favorites one loss from elimination.
Left fielder Kyle Gallagher led the Blue Devils offensive charge with a home run, triple and walk en route to four RBI and three runs scored. Second baseman Joey Loperfido added three hits, while first baseman Matt Mervis and Erikson Nichols chipped in two each. Nichols also had four RBI.
Relievers Matt Dockman and Eli Herrick combined for 3.2 scoreless innings to slow Vandy's comeback before the Blue Devils' big eighth.
Commodores catcher Philip Clarke connected on his eighth homer of the season in the loss.
Vanderbilt will attempt to push the series to the distance with a win in Game 2, which is set for a 9 p.m. ET first pitch Saturday night at Hawkins Field in Nashville.