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2003 NCAA Post-Season Results
Updated June 1, 2003 At Tallahassee, Fla. Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAPS Girardeau no-hit the 'Noles into the fifth inning and had a 3-1 lead into the eighth before a bizarre inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Girardeau was called for a balk, but South Alabama coach Steve Kittrell argued the cal. The umpires cleared the field and consulted the rule book during a 25-minute delay, reversing the balk call. FSU rallied anyway with four runs in the inning thank in part to another walk, an infield error and a suicide squeeze. But Craig made it all moot with his homer off Hodges. Florida State, the top national seed in the 64-team regional field, then smashed past Rutgers with a 15-hit assault and an eight-run fifth inning. At Austin, Texas Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP The host Longhorns got another save from the impregnable Huston Street to back the solid starting work of lefthander J.P. Howell. Street went three shutout innings to finish up for Howell, who pitched into the sixth. Shortstop Omar Quintanilla went 3-for-4 with three RBIs to lead the offense. His single in the top of the sixth brought home Tim Moss, breaking a 1-1 tie, and his two-run triple in the ninth gave the Longhorns more cushion. Lamar then ended Arkansas' season when Josh Allen hit a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the 11th. The Razorbacks had rallied from deficits of 5-1 and 6-3, scoring three in the ninth to send the game to extra innings. At Wilson, N.C. Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP
The Wolfpack trailed 3-1 against VCU until Morton hit solo homers in the sixth and eighth innings to tie the game, the latter blow coming just before a rain delay. Senior DH Justin Riley then hit the game-winner in the bottom of the 10th off reliever Brian Marshall to make a winner of reliever Joey Devine. Western Carolina reached its first regional final since 1992 as sophomore lefthander Brandon McDowell pitched the gem of the tournament, a complete-game one-hitter, with the only hit coming on a leadoff single in the ninth by Eric Latura. McDowell, who also started a shutout against Georgia Southern in the Southern Conference tournament, walked three and struck out seven while throwing 120 pitches. At Coral Gables, Fla. Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP "Both pitchers pitched a great game. Randy Beam pitched great, it is a shame he was on the losing end," said FAU coach Kevin Cooney. "Cockroft is a quality pitcher. The fans witnessed a terrific college baseball game today." Florida's second win of the day wasn't as pretty as its pitchers surrendered 18 hits and four home runs, but that was better than FAU's staff. Senior catcher Brian Rose led the way for the Gators with seven RBIs while DH Mario Garza went 5-for-5 with six runs scored and five RBIs. Righthander Connor Falkenbach threw two scoreless innings to finish the victory. At Houston, Texas Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP Rice beat the Shockers on Saturday behind sophomore righthander Jeff Niemann, who won his nation-leading 15th game with seven strong innings. Niemann struck out 10 and was backed by junior left fielder Chris Kolkhorst, who had four RBIs, including a three-run homer in the second inning. Sophomore shortstop Paul Janish also added a homer, his third. Wichita State survived into Sunday as DH Drew Moffitt hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth to break a 4-4 tie. The Shockers loaded the bases with no outs on a Bryan Erstad double, a Shawn Smarsh single and an intentional walk. Ole Miss got one out with a force at home before Moffitt's deep fly to center field. Wichita had a 4-3 lead before Ole Miss freshman third baseman Brian Pettway tied the game in the eighth with a solo homer. At College Station, Texas Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP Aggies shortstop Matt Alexander, who entered the tournament struggling at the plate with an average below .240, went 3-for-5 with six RBIs as A&M exploded early to bury the Crimson Tide. Alexander had four RBIs in the first two innings as the Aggies sent 20 men to the plate and scored 10 runs. A&M had 20 hits on the day, the most since they had 22 in a super-regional win against Clemson in 1999. Houston stayed alive with a three-run eighth-inning rally to eliminate Oral Roberts in the first game. Junior first baseman Cole Bruce had the go-ahead single in that game, then came just a single shy of hitting for the cycle against Alabama while driving in four runs. Houston also got three hits on the day from junior Brad Sullivan, a likely first-round pick as a pitcher who started both games Saturday at second base. At Lincoln, Neb. Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP Senior righthander Brad Ziegler, the Bears' career wins leader, went six innings and gave up five hits as he improved to 11-1 on the season, a new single-season wins record at SMS. Reliever Shaun Marcum pitched the last three innings for his school-record 13th save and also went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Nebraska rebounded with five homers against EMU, including the second two-homer game of the regional for senior first baseman Matt Hopper, who hit two solo blasts. At Auburn, Ala. Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP The Buckeyes got three homers, including a pair from Friday's offensive hero, second baseman Drew Anderson. The sophomore has four homers in the regional and had four RBIs Saturday, while Chris Snavely and Steve Caravati added solo shots; Shavely, the team's leading hitter, has hit safely in 21 of his last 22 games. Auburn stayed alive by dominating Clemson 15-0, the largest margin of victory in the 84-game series between the two schools. The loss ended Clemson's season with 39 victories, ending its streak of 40-win seasons at 17. The Tigers had rallied earlier in the day against righthander Thomas Pauly to eliminate Princeton. At Baton Rouge, La. Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP The Seahawks advanced the hard way, giving up a run in the top of the 10th before rallying with a pair in the bottom of the inning to eliminate Tulane. Third baseman Brad Denson, the ninth-place hitter, led off with his fourth hit, a double, and scored on the fourth hit of the game by left fielder Chip Grawey, a single. After a sacrifice bunt and intentional walk, Tulane brought in ace reliever Joey Charron, but right fielder Matt Sutton greeted Charron with a run-scoring, game-winning single on the first pitch, much to the delight of the LSU fans on hand. "It was a long, tough game and it was nice to have the LSU fans behind us and we have to keep it going," Grawey said. "Especially after a long day today and the heat this morning (when UNCW eliminated Northeastern), we were pretty beat up. We had the benefit of going home and taking a little shower and we knew that they were going to be tired, and that if we just kept it up we would have a good chance of coming through." The Tigers had beaten the Green Wave earlier thanks in part to a five-run uprising in the seventh inning, spurred by back-to-back homers by sophomores Clay Harris and Blake Gill. Gill is now 7-for-9 with eight RBIs in the first two games of the regional. Third baseman Ivan Nacaratta contributed with a 4-for-5, four-runs effort. LSU ace righthander Nate Bumstead improved to 11-2 by pitching into the eighth. At Hattiesburg, Miss. Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP The Bears broke open a close game with Southern that the Jaguars led 2-1 after five innings. It was 3-3 heading into the seventh, but Baylor got single runs in the seventh and eighth before a five-run ninth that was keyed by a three-run homer by freshman second baseman Kyle Reynolds. Senior righthander Steven White struck out nine--including Rickie Weeks twice--for his eighth victory, and junior righty Zane Carlson got the last four outs for his 10th save. Southern's pitching ran out in the nightcap as USM blasted five home runs, including Nos. 23 each for outfielders Jeff Cook and Clint King. USM also had no trouble in eliminating Murray State earlier in the day, In what were likely to be his final college games, junior second baseman Weeks went 1-for-8 Saturday and was 3-for-11 in the regional with four RBIs. At Tempe, Ariz. Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP ASU's game with New Mexico State had been a pitcher's duel until the Sun Devils exploded for 12 runs in the top of the ninth. Dennis Wyrick and Andre Ethier had knocked in the team's first three runs and senior righthander Beau Vaughn struck out eight in 6.1 shutout innings until ASU's ninth-inning fireworks. The Sun Devils sent 18 men to the plate as they reached double digits in runs for the 34th time this season in 64 games; they average 10.27 runs per game. UNLV stayed alive by scoring 38 runs Saturday, pounding 25 hits against Central Connecticut State and 16 more against NMSU. Leadoff hitter Garett Shitanishi anc catcher Robert Van Kirk each had five hits and five RBIs on the day. At Fullerton, Calif. Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP "I am happy with our season, but I wish that we could have taken back the last two weekends," Arizona coach Andy Lopez said. Fullerton snuck past Notre Dame 4-3 in the second game, as third baseman Ronnie Prettyman doubled home the winning run with two outs in the top of the ninth. Notre Dame scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie it, but Chad Cordero came on to get the last out of the eighth and retire the side in the ninth for his fifth win. Notre Dame bounced back in the final game of the day for a 6-3 win over San Diego. The Irish jumped out to a 5-3 lead by scoring in the first three innings, added a run in the seventh and held off a late Toreros rally. Shortstop Matt Macri went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs, and righthander Matt Laird went 8 2/3 innings for the win. After Laird gave up a single and a walk in the ninth, closer J.P. Gagne came on and gave up an infield single to load the bases. Toreros right fielder Joey Prast worked the count full, then lined a ball that deflected off Gagne to third baseman Matt Edwards, who stepped on the bag to end the game. "J.P. is a former hockey player, so we like to call the ball off his leg 'a kick save and a beauty' because nothing could have gone better with the ball going straight off his leg to third base for the final out of the night," Notre Dame coach Paul Mainieri said. San Diego finished the season 31-30. "All that I can say is that I am in shock and totally surprised," San Diego coach Rich Hill said. "Our trademark all season was to get the tying run to the plate with a chance to make something happen. On that last play of the game nothing could have gone better for Notre Dame." At Palo Alto, Calif. Friday's Games Saturday's Games
Richmond 5, Illinois-Chicago 0, Illinois-Chicago eliminated Sunday's Games
RECAP Richmond eliminated Illinois-Chicago in Saturday's first game 5-0, as Mike McGirr scattered nine hits and shut out the Flames. It was McGirr's 10th win, first shutout and fourth complete game of the season, and his 22nd win in 24 decisions over the past two years. Catcher Adam Tidball led the offense with a three-run homer. UIC finished 39-18 after making it to regional play for the first time in school history. Stanford came back from a shaky start in the second game of the day to score 12 runs in the last six innings and beat UC Riverside 13-6. Riverside jumped on Stanford starter John Hudgins for four runs in the first, though Hudgins then settled down and ended up pitching a complete game. The Cardinal got to Highlanders ace A.J. Shappi in the fourth inning and ended up cuffing him around for 12 hits and 10 earned runs as he worked into the eighth inning. Center fielder Sam Fuld had three RBIs to lead Stanford, which also got home runs from Ryan Garko (team-high 16th), Danny Putnam and Chris Carter. Pitching was Riverside's undoing again in the final game of the day, as starter Julio Fernandez gave up seven runs in 5 1/3 innings in an 8-1 loss to Richmond. Spiders starter Jason Bolinski followed McGirr's complete game earlier in the day with one of his own, as he scattered six hits and also picked up his 10th win. It was Bolinski's sixth complete game of the year. Tidball continued his hot hitting with two RBIs, and right fielder Vito Chiaravalloti and second baseman Bobby LeNoir each had three hits. Riverside finished 41-17 and was also playing in a regional for the first time, in just its second season of Division I play. At Long Beach, Calif. Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP Minnesota got coach John Anderson his 800th win in dramatic fashion, as the Golden Gophers beat Pepperdine 7-5 in the first game of the day by scoring five runs in the ninth. Minnesota trailed 5-2 before picking up three singles and three doubles to surge ahead against three Pepperdine pitchers. Greg Ramirez had allowed just one earned run and struck out seven in 7 2/3 innings to stake the Waves to a lead. Minnesota freshman Brian Bull pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings to get the win. Pepperdine finished the season 36-24. In the matchup of Friday winners, Long Beach sophomore Jered Weaver picked up his 14th win with a complete-game 7-2 win over Washington. Weaver struck out six, walked one and allowed just five hits, one of them a two-run homer to Huskies freshman Brent Lillibridge. After Lillibridge's 13th home run in the third gave Washington a 2-0 lead, Long Beach came back to tie it in the fourth, went ahead with a run in the seventh, then put the game away with four runs in the eighth. Right fielder Brad Davis led the way with two two-run doubles for the Beach. Washington turned around in the final game of the day to beat Minnesota 4-1. Sophomore David Dowling made his first start of the season for the Huskies and pitched into the seventh, allowing only an unearned run. Relievers Trent Baysinger and Will Fenton gave up one hit the rest of the way, and when Fenton recorded the final two outs to pick up his 12th save, it extended his season-long scoreless streak to 33.1 innings. Washington got all the offense it needed in the third, as catcher Aaron Hathaway hit an RBI double and left fielder Chad Boudon hit a two-run homer, his 22nd of the season. Minnesota finished the season 40-22, its first 40-win season since 1999. At Starkville, Miss. Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP Saturday's action got under way with Missouri beating Middle Tennessee State 13-7, after jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the first three innings. Missouri starter Danny Hill recorded 11 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings to get the win, Missouri's first in regional play since 1991. Center fielder Jayce Tingler--the school's career leader in hits, walks and runs--led the offense, going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Middle Tennessee finished the season 33-27. North Carolina won its way into the final by beating Mississippi State 10-5 in the matchup of Friday winners. Sophomore second baseman Greg Mangum hit a grand slam in the fourth inning to break the game open, and the Tar Heels' bullpen kept the Bulldogs from getting back into it. Starter Adam Kalkhof was yanked after 1 2/3 innings as he gave up two runs, three hits and four walks, but Matt Danford came in and took the game into the ninth, allowing just two runs on three hits and one walk. Mississippi State got a rally going and scored three runs in the ninth, but two relievers came in to close out the game. Mississippi State ended up on the right end of a 10-5 score in the nightcap, eliminating Missouri to earn a rematch with North Carolina. Freshman Jamie Gant gave up one run in 6 1/3 innings of relief to get his third win of the postseason, and the Bulldogs' bats woke up in the sixth and seventh to turn a 5-4 deficit into a 10-5 lead. Third baseman Steve Gendron went 4-for-4 with a walk to lead the Bulldogs' offense. Missouri finished the season 36-22. The last time North Carolina won a regional was in Starkville in 1989, albeit under a different tournament format that meant the Tar Heels went to Omaha. They went into a Sunday regional final undefeated in 2000 in the current format and lost twice to Penn State. At Atlanta Friday's Games Saturday's Games Sunday's Games
RECAP The Yellow Jackets, the No. 3 national seed, took an early 3-0 lead against ECU, then didn't score again as reliever Glenn Tucker entered the game in the first inning and went the rest of the way for the Pirates, pitching 8.1 scoreless innings. Shortstop Darryl Lawhorn broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh with a grand slam as the Pirates scored 10 unanswered runs. Georgia Tech had won three straight games last Sunday to win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament but couldn't stay hot in regional play. "There's not a lot to say except we didn't play good enough to win," Jackets coach Danny Hall said. "East Carolina got some big hits when they needed them and their relief guy (Tucker) put a lot of zeros on the board after we scored three early. We couldn't mount any offensive threat against him and they beat us--period." Stetson advanced to Sunday's championship day with seven runs in the first two innings and held on when East Carolina rallied. They will face a rested Gamecocks team that won with another complete game Saturday, a 7-2 win against the Hatters by junior lefthander David Marchbanks. The SEC pitcher of the year, Marchbanks scattered 11 hits and didn't walk anyone while throwing 133 pitches and improving to 14-2, 2.36. "South Carolina has got their entire pitching staff ready to go," Hatters coach Pete Dunn said. "It's going to be an uphill battle for us, but we will find a way to piece it together." |
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