Volunteers baffled by Irish freshman

Oklahoma's Brett Squires (12) beats the tag at first base from Virginia Tech's Nick Biddison (24) in the second inning of an NCAA college super regional baseball game Sunday, June 12, 2022, in Blacksburg, Va. (AP Photo/Scott P. Yates)
Oklahoma's Brett Squires (12) beats the tag at first base from Virginia Tech's Nick Biddison (24) in the second inning of an NCAA college super regional baseball game Sunday, June 12, 2022, in Blacksburg, Va. (AP Photo/Scott P. Yates)


KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Freshman Jack Findlay threw five shutout innings in relief and back-to-back home runs by catcher David LaManna and Jack Brannigan in the seventh sparked Notre Dame to a stunning 7-3 victory over No. 1 overall seed Tennessee in the championship game of the Knoxville Super Regional on Sunday.

Notre Dame (40-15) will be making just its third College World Series appearance. The Fighting Irish's other trips came in 1957 and 2002.

Findlay (6-2) worked out of a jam after entering the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with nobody out, a run in and a runner on second, trailing 3-1. Findlay held the Volunteers in check from there, allowing a single and two walks, while striking out four. He ended the game with a double play.

Findlay's efforts on the mound gave Notre Dame the opportunity to rally.

Carter Putz doubled off Volunteers starter Chase Burns (8-2) with one out in the top of the seventh and scored on LaManna's two-out shot to right field to tie the game at 3-3. Brannigan followed with a go-ahead shot to left-center on a 1-2 pitch.

Findlay retired the side in order and Notre Dame added three big insurance runs in the eighth.

Camden Sewell hit Brooks Coetzee with a pitch to open the inning. Spencer Myers' sacrifice bunt moved Coetzee to second. Ryan Cole reached first and Coetzee held on a throwing error by Vols third baseman Trey Lipscomb. Kirby Connell replaced Sewell and the runners advanced on a sac bunt by Jared Miller. Putz hit the first pitch he saw for a two-run double and Jack Zyska singled in Putz to cap the scoring. All three runs were unearned.

Luc Lipcius homered in the first to give the Vols a 1-0 lead. LeManna tied it with a RBI ground out in the second. Seth Stephenson's RBI single in the bottom of the inning and a run-scoring double in the fifth put Tennessee up 3-1.

Tennessee (57-9) was trying for its second consecutive berth in the CWS and sixth overall. Notre Dame beat the Volunteers 8-6 on Friday.

HATTIESBURG REGIONAL

MISSISSIPPI 5,

SOUTHERN MISS 0

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Hunter Elliott struck out 10 in 7 1/3 shutout innings, Jacob Gonzalez drove in the first run with an infield hit and Mississippi defeated No. 11 overall seed Southern Mississippi to advance to the College World Series.

Ole Miss (37-22) didn't allow a run in sweeping Southern Miss (47-19), beating the Golden Eagles 10-0 on Saturday. The Rebels return to the CWS for the first time since 2014.

Elliott (4-2) allowed just three hits -- all singles.

The Rebels scored all the runs they would need in the bottom of the fifth. Harris singled off Southern Miss starter Tanner Hall (9-3) to open the inning. Justin Bench's one-out double put runners on second and third. Gonzalez beat out a grounder to first to drive in Harris. Bench scored and Gonzalez took second on a wild pitch for the second run. Kendall Graham singled home Gonzalez to make it 3-0.

Hall allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings, striking out six.

BLACKSBURG REGIONAL

OKLAHOMA 11,

VIRGINIA TECH 2

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Tanner Tredaway hit two home runs and two doubles, Cade Horton pitched six strong innings and Oklahoma rolled to a victory over No. 4 overall seed Virginia Techto advance to the College World Series.

Peyton Graham homered with one out in the top of the first and Tredaway cleared the fence with two outs to give the Sooners a 2-0 lead. Virginia Tech freshman Carson DeMartini hit a two-run shot to knot the score at 2-2 in the third.

Tredaway hit a go-ahead home run leading off against Hokies starter Jordan Geber (1-2) in a three-run fourth, Brett Squires had a RBI single and Kendall Pettis drove in the final run with a sacrifice fly for a 5-2 lead.

Horton (4-2) pitched six inning, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8.

Oklahoma (41-22) will open against No. 5 overall seed Texas A&M in the double-elimination portion of the CWS.

STANFORD REGIONAL

STANFORD 8, UCONN 2

STANFORD, Calif. -- Braden Montgomery and Drew Bowser each hit a home run in Stanford's six-run second inning and the Cardinal beat UConn to avoid elimination and force a decisive Game 3.

Stanford (46-16) and the Huskies play again today with the winner advancing to the College World Series.

Stanford starter Ty Uber gave up a single, a double and walked two with a wild pitch and allowed a run before being pulled with two outs -- both strikeouts -- in the bottom of the first. Brandt Pancer struck out Korey Morton swinging to end the inning before Montgomery hit a three-run home run and Bowser added a home run to cap a six-run top of the second that made it 8-1.

Pancer (3-0) gave up one hit with two walks and struck out three over 3 1/3 innings for the win. Ryan Bruno threw two scoreless innings and Quinn Mathews walked three and had four strikeouts over three no-hit innings for his eighth save of the season.

UConn (50-15) finished with just four hits after racking up 17 -- including 10 for extra bases -- in Game 1 of the best-of-three series. The Huskies jumped to a 9-0 lead in the top of the second inning of that game but have since been outscored 20-6.

  photo  Virginia Tech's Jordan Geber (30) reaches for a ball hit by Oklahoma in the second inning of an NCAA college baseball super regional game, Sunday, June 12, 2022, in Blacksburg, Va. (AP Photo/Scott P. Yates)
 
 
  photo  Virginia Tech's Carson Jones (29) hits against Oklahoma pitcher Cade Horton (9) in the third inning of an NCAA college baseball super regional game, Sunday, June 12, 2022, in Blacksburg, Va. (AP Photo/Scott P. Yates)
 
 
  photo  Virginia Tech's Carson DeMartini (4) makes a catch against Oklahoma in the first inning of an NCAA college baseball super regional game, Sunday, June 12, 2022, in Blacksburg, Va. (AP Photo/Scott P. Yates)
 
 
  photo  Virginia Tech's Jordan Geber (30) throws against Oklahoma in the second inning of an NCAA college baseball super regional game, Sunday, June 12, 2022, in Blacksburg, Va. (AP Photo/Scott P. Yates)
 
 
  photo  Virginia Tech's Gavin Cross cannot reach a home run by Oklahoma's Peyton Graham in the first inning of an NCAA college super regional baseball game Sunday, June 12, 2022, in Blacksburg, Va. (AP Photo/Scott P. Yates)
 
 
  photo  Oklahoma's Peyton Graham hits a solo home run against Virginia Tech in the first inning of an NCAA college super regional baseball game Sunday, June 12, 2022, in Blacksburg, Va. (AP Photo/Scott P. Yates)
 
 


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