Friday's
Capsules
By The Associated Press
Houston 2, Texas 0
AUSTIN, TX Keith Whatley scored on a fifth-inning
throwing error and drove in an insurance run in the ninth to lead Houston to
a 2-0 victory over super-regional host Texas.
Brad Sullivan (13-1) and all-purpose hitting/pitching
wizard Jesse Crain combined on the eight-hitter and struck out nine for
Houston (48-15), which was last in the College World Series in 1967.
Texas (51-15), which has been to the CWS an
NCAA-record 28 times, left 10 runners on base.
Houston, which lost to East Carolina in the
Conference USA Tournament championship game after winning the league's
regular season title, continued the successful road run it started in last
weekend's Mesa, AZ, regional. The Cougars won all three of their games in
that mini-tournament, including a title game victory over the home team,
Arizona State.
South Carolina 10, Miami 7
COLUMBIA, SC Brian Buscher hit a grand slam and
drove in five runs to lead South Carolina to a 10-7 victory over Miami and
leave the defending national champions a loss from elimination.
Buscher was 1-for-23 over his last five games, but
just about put the Hurricanes (33-28) away by himself.
His run-scoring single in the first put South
Carolina (52-15) ahead 1-0. An inning later, Buscher hit his 14th homer of
the season and second grand slam as the Gamecocks went ahead 8-0.
Buscher, a third baseman, finished with a season-high four hits.
Miami fell behind 10-0 and four home runs including
Danny Matienzo's 18th and 19th over the last six innings weren't enough.
South Carolina's Blake Taylor, who leads the nation in saves, got the last
two outs for his 21st of the year.
Arkansas 9, Clemson 6
CLEMSON, SC Ryan Fox's RBI double in the fifth gave
Arkansas a 7-0 lead and the Razorbacks held on for a 9-6 victory over
Clemson.
Michael Conner started the Razorbacks (35-26) with a
two-run triple and they led 4-0 after one against Steve Reba (13-3), who
allowed seven hits and left after 1 2/3 innings his shortest start in two
seasons.
Khalil Greene stretched his hitting streak to 31
games with an RBI-single in the eighth that pulled the Tigers (50-14) within
7-4. Jeff Baker added a two-run homer, his school-record 25th of the season,
to get Clemson within one, but Arkansas added two insurance runs in the
ninth.
Notre Dame 10, Florida State 4
TALLAHASSEE, FL Kris Billmaier had four hits and
drove in five runs as Notre Dame beat Florida State 10-4, ending the
Seminoles' 25-game winning streak.
Billmaier broke a 4-4 tie with a two-run single in
the seventh and Notre Dame (48-15), which hasn't been to the College World
Series since 1957, added four more runs in the eighth, two on a single by
Billmaier.
Notre Dame's J.P. Gagne allowed two hits and struck
out four over the final three innings to earn his fifth save of the season.
Tony Richie had a solo homer run for Florida State
(59-13).
Nebraska 2, Richmond 0
LINCOLN, NE Shane Komine threw his fourth career
shutout as Nebraska beat Richmond 2-0 Friday in the opening game of the NCAA
super regionals.
The best-of-three super regionals began Friday and
the eight champions advance to next week's College World Series at Omaha.
Game 2 is Saturday, with Game 3, if necessary, on Sunday.
Komine (9-0) allowed four hits and struck out six for
the Cornhuskers (46-18). His last shutout against Rice in the opening game
of last year's super regionals.
Matt Hopper and Jed Morris had sacrifice flies off
Richmond starter Tim Stauffer (15-3). The Spiders (52-12) committed four
errors.
Georgia Tech 14, Florida
Atlantic 3
ATLANTA Kyle Bakker took a no-hitter into the sixth
inning for the second straight start and Georgia Tech went on to a 14-3
victory over Florida Atlantic.
Bakker (12-2) didn't allow a hit until Gabe
Somarriba's soft liner fell over the head of second baseman Eric Patterson.
The Owls (46-20) added three more singles in the sixth and scored two runs
to end Bakker's scoreless streak at 14 innings. The 6-foot-9 left-hander
threw a three-hit shutout against Coastal Carolina in the regional opener.
Tyler Parker and Clifton Remole homered in a six-run
fourth for the Yellow Jackets (50-14), and Jeremy Slayden tied his
career-high with four RBIs. It is Georgia Tech's fourth 50-victory season,
the third under coach Danny Hall.
The Yellow Jackets won their fourth straight NCAA
tournament game, the first time that's happened since 1994 when they reached
the College World Series for the only time.
Rice 6, LSU 0
HOUSTON Steven Herce threw a three-hitter and
matched his career-high with 10 strikeouts as Rice beat Louisiana State 6-0,
only the fourth time in 206 games the Tigers were shut out.
The Owls (51-12) scored all their runs in the third
inning which began after a 19-minute rain delay. LSU (44-21) contributed an
error and wild pitch in the big inning in which Rice had three doubles and a
triple.
Herce (13-2) didn't walk a batter and didn't allow a
runner past first base in his fifth complete game of the season.
Stanford 4, Southern Cal 2
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) _ Jeremy Guthrie took a shutout into the eighth inning
and Carlos Quentin hit a two-run homer as Stanford beat Southern California
4-2.
Chris Carter also homered as the Cardinal (44-16) won their season-high
eighth straight game.
Michael Moon hit a two-run homer for the Trojans (37-23), who had their
six-game winning streak stopped.
Guthrie (12-1), who pitched a 13-inning complete game in his last start,
walked two and struck out four over eight innings. Dan Rich pitched the
ninth for his fourth save.
Quentin's 11th home run of the season, a two-run shot off Anthony Reyes
(4-2) in the fourth, gave Stanford, which has been to the last three College
World Series, the lead for good. Carter made it 3-0 in the fifth with hit
his seventh homer.
Copyright 2002
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bonesville.net
contributed to this report.
