KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Drew Gilbert homered for the third consecutive game and No. 3 overall seed Tennessee beat Liberty 3-1 in the Knoxville Regional final on Sunday night.
The Volunteers (48-16) beat Liberty twice during the regional and advanced to their first Super Regional since 2005. They will host a best-of-three series next weekend against the Eugene Regional's Oregon-LSU winner.
Gilbert's two-run home run in the fifth inning made it 3-0 for Tennessee. He was named the Most Outstanding Player for the regional with his walk-off grand slam in a 9-8 win against Wright State on Friday night helping the Vols avoid a difficult path through the losers bracket.
Tennessee starter Will Heflin (3-3) allowed 1 run and 4 hits in 5 1/3 innings. Sean Hunley took it from there, allowing one hit for his eighth save of the season.
Fraser Ellard (0-1) got the loss for the Flames (41-16).
SOUTH BEND REGIONAL
NOTRE DAME 14,
CENTRAL MICHIGAN 2
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Carter Putz's grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning broke it open and Notre Dame went on to beat Central Michigan to send the Irish to the Super Regionals for the first time since 2002.
Putz added a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth and left the park six times in three games at the South Bend Regional. Notre Dame (33-11) outscored its opponents 50-5 with 15 home runs during the weekend.
The Chippewas (42-18) took a 1-0 lead an inning earlier when Griffin Lockwood-Powell hit a home run on a 1-1 pitch. Notre Dame took the lead for good in its half of the fourth when Niko Kavadas hit a solo shot, and Putz later scored from third on a throwing error by CMU shortstop Justin Simpson.
Ryan Cole hit a three-run home run for Notre Dame in the seventh and Brooks Coetzee hit a two-run home run in the eighth.
Lockwood-Powell, Simpson and Jakob Marsee each collected a pair of hits for CMU.
FORT WORTH REGIONAL
OREGON STATE 5,
DALLAS BAPTIST 4
FORT WORTH -- Garret Forrester homered down the right-field line leading off the bottom of the ninth inning after Dallas Baptist had tied the score in the top half of the inning and Oregon State staved off elimination.
Jake Mulholland came on in the ninth to try to preserve a 4-3 lead for the Beavers, but No. 9 hitter Ryan Wrobleski hit a one-out double. Mulholland, a left-hander, retired the next batter before yielding way to right-hander Mitchell Verburg (2-0) to face the right-handed-hitting Jackson Glenn, who singled to knot the score.
Austin Bell hit a two-run home run in the first inning for the Patriots (39-16) after Jace Grady reached base on a two-out error by OSU third baseman Jake Dukart. The Beavers got a run back in their half of the first when Justin Boyd doubled, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Troy Claunch. Ryan Ober homered to pull OSU even in the fourth, but the Patriots retook the lead when Wrobleski, who finished with three hits, led off the fifth with a home run.
The Beavers grabbed the lead in the sixth off DBU starter Ray Gaither. Andy Armstrong and Dukart had back-to-back singles with one out and Gaither's day was done after issuing walks to Kyle Dernedde and Wade Meckler, respectively, to force in the tying run. Kragen Kechely came on in relief and walked Boyd to score the go-ahead run before retiring the next two hitters. Kechely (3-4) surrendered Forrester's home run.
Oregon State and Dallas Baptist will play an elimination game today for a berth in the Super Regionals.
EUGENE REGIONAL
LSU 9, GONZAGA 4
EUGENE, Ore. -- Dylan Crews had three hits, including an RBI double, stealing a base and scoring twice to spark LSU to a victory over Gonzaga in an elimination game.
AJ Labas (4-2) went eight innings in a start for the Tigers (36-23), yielding 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. Labas struck out eight, throwing 123 pitches.
The Bulldogs (34-19) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on RBI groundouts by Andrew Orzel and Grayson Sterling, but Tre' Morgan had an RBI double, Gavin Dougas followed with a two-run triple and LSU scored four times in its half of the first and never looked back.
RUSTON REGIONAL
N.C. STATE 14,
LOUISIANA TECH 7
RUSTON, La. -- Devonte Brown hit a grand slam to cap North Carolina State's six-run fifth inning and the Wolfpack beat Louisiana Tech to advance to the Super Regionals.
Parker Bates hit two-run home runs in the first and third innings to give Louisiana Tech (42-20) but the Wolfpack (33-17) scored in each of the next four innings to take a 13-5 lead.
Terrell Tatum went 3 for 5 with a two-run single in the bottom of the third, Luca Tresh hit a home run in the fourth and Jonny Butler singled to right to make it 5-all before Brown's slam gave the Wolfpack the lead for good.
Bates added an RBI triple in the fifth inning and Hunter Wells went 3 for 4 with a two-run home run in the seventh and three runs.
OXFORD REGIONAL
SOUTHERN MISS 7,
FLORIDA STATE 4
OXFORD, Miss. -- Reece Ewing's single to score Reed Trimble in the top of the eighth broke a 4-all tie and Southern Miss went on to eliminate Florida State.
Later in the eighth inning, Christopher Sargent scored on a throwing error for a 6-4 lead. The Golden Eagles (39-20) added an insurance run in the top of the ninth when Sargent singled to left to drive in Trimble.
The Seminoles took a 4-1 lead in the third inning when Logan Lacey hit a home run and Robby Martin and Davis Hare each came up with RBI singles.
Will McGillis batted 3 for 4 for with a home run for Southern Miss and B. Johnson and Trimble each collected two hits.
On in relief, Ryan Och struck out 11 and gave up just one hit to run his record to 8-0 for the Golden Eagles.
Martin and Matheu Nelson came up with two hits apiece for the Seminoles (43-20).
COLUMBIA REGIONAL
VIRGINIA 3,
SOUTH CAROLINA 2
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Matt Wyatt dominated on the mound, Alex Tappen homered and Virginia beat regional host South Carolina in an elimination game.
Wyatt (3-1) struck out eight and allowed two hits in five scoreless innings to get the win for Virginia (31-24). It was his second start and longest appearance of the season. Stephen Schoch had five strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings for his eighth save of the season.
Virginia scored all its runs against South Carolina starter Brannon Jordan (5-6), who struck out five in 2 2/3 innings.
Brennan Milone hit a lead-off home run in the seventh inning for the Gamecocks (34-23).
LUBBOCK REGIONAL
UCLA 12,
NORTH CAROLINA 2
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Zach Pettway threw 116 pitches in the first complete game of his career and UCLA (37-19) eliminated North Carolina.
Pettway (3-5) struck out 9 and allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk. He got stronger as the game went on, facing only 16 batters in the final five innings after a two-run fourth.
Will Stewart and Tomas Frick each had an RBI for the Tar Heels (28-27).
GAINESVILLE REGIONAL
SOUTH ALABAMA 7,
MIAMI 2
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Michael Sandle hit two home runs and South Alabama (35-21) advanced by eliminating Miami.
JoJo Booker (8-0) allowed four hits and two runs in 5 1/3 innings to get the win and Tyler Samaniego struck out three in two hitless innings for his seventh save of the season.
Richard Sorrenti and Kaleb DeLaTorre each had home runs for South Alabama, which built a 4-0 lead in the third inning and added three runs in the eighth.
Starter Jake Garland (6-4) got the loss for the Hurricanes (33-21). Alex Toral and Yohandy Morales hit home runs.
AUSTIN REGIONAL
FAIRFIELD 9,
ARIZONA STATE 7
AUSTIN, Texas -- Justin Guerrera capped the scoring with a three-run home run in the sixth and Fairfield advanced to an NCAA regional final for the first time in program history with a victory over Arizona State.
The Stags (39-4) rallied from a 5-0 third-inning deficit, scoring two runs each in the third, fourth and fifth innings before Guerrera gave them the lead in the sixth.
Michael Sansone (9-2) picked up the win with three innings of scoreless relief and John Signore faced one batter to record his second save of the season, striking out Hunter Jump with the tying run on second.
Nate Baez homered and Jump went 4-for-6 for the Sun Devils (33-22). Brady Corrigan (2-2) got the loss.
GREENVILLE REGIONAL
MARYLAND 2,
CHARLOTTE 1
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Justin Vought came up with a bases-loaded single to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning and Maryland beat Charlotte in an elimination game.
Randy Bednar, Maxwell Costes and Bobby Zmarzlak all singled to load the bases before Vought drove in Bednar to end it.
The Terrapins (30-17) knotted it at 1-all in the bottom of the eighth when Tony Schreffler scored on a fielder's choice following his single up the middle to start the inning. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and then reached third on a throwing error by pitcher Matt Brooks on Tucker Flint's sacrifice bunt.
Charlotte (40-21) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth with a lead-off home run from Austin Knight.
Ryan Ramsey pitched eight innings holding Charlotte to just three hits. Elliot Zoellner (1-1) got the win in an inning of work and gave up two hits.