After having to have a couple of come from behind wins to even break even on opening day, the Pac-10 bounced back with a perfect day Saturday, sending three teams to regional finals, and keeping the other three alive.
In addition to Oregon St.'s solid 5-1 win over Creighton (watch for Connor's recap) that put the Beavers into tomorrow night's game against the winner of the Creighton-Georgia game at 1 PM, Arizona St. and Stanford both took command of the Tempe and Fullerton regions.
The Sun Devils pounded UNC_Charlotte 16-1, and the Cardinal knocked off Fullerton St. 1-0 on the Titans own field.
Cal stayed alive in the Houston regional, with a 10-6 win to eliminate Alcorn St. Things got interesting in Houston in the evening, when the Baylor Bears upset host Rice 3-2. It pits the Golden Bears against the Owls, with a rematch with those other Bears tomorrow night for the winner.
Speaking of bears, the UCLA Bruins eliminated Fresno St. 3-1. I was really surprised that the Bulldogs were the first team knocked out of this regional, but it is possibly the toughest one top to bottom, and somebody had to leave early.
As a result, UCLA gets another shot at San Francisco, and they have Trevor Bauer to thank. All Bauer did was throw his ninth consecutive complete game, and set a new Pac-10 record for strikeouts in a season, with 203. Enjoy it now Bruin fans, because Bauer is bound for a monster contract as soon as he is done with the season in Westwood.
San Francisco fell into tomorrow's elimination game after suffering a 4-3 loss to UC_Irvine, when their 9th. inning rally fell a run short, after the Dons had scored twice. But it is the Anteaters who are the ones waiting for tomorrow night, and the first of two chances to move on to a super regional.
Arizona also bounced back, downing Wright St. in a 13-0 romp. The win earned the Wildcats a chance for revenge against Seton Hall, who upset the 'Cats figuratively and literally Friday with a 4-0 win.
Looking around the scoreboard, Nashville looks like the destination for the winner of the Corvallis regional, as Vanderbilt demolished Troy 10-2, while Belmont, who lost to Vandy 10-0 Friday, eliminated Oklahoma St. 3-2. The Troy-Belmont winner will have to turn around and take two from the Commodores. Holding them to single digit run production might be tough enough.
Other eye-catching results includes the upset of the day, as Dallas Baptist upset TCU, with Matt Perkey pitching, no less. This followed Oklahoma joining their cross-state rivals in making a 2 and out exit, as the Sooners left sooner than expected, due to Oral Roberts' surprising 7-0 win.
Some good wins for the northeast include the Maine Black Bears bouncing Florida International 4-1, and Connecticut clobbering Sacred Heart 13-3.
The game of the day resulted in Florida's 5-4 win over cross-state rival Miami. Look for the Hurricanes to get another shot at the Gators though, and expect another great one when they meet.
The upset of the day has to go to the Golden Flashes, though, as Kent St. relegated Texas to an elimination game with Texas St. with a 7-5 win over the Longhorns.
Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina all continued to fatten up on the baked goods the NCAA served them, all putting up double digit runs in their wins.
Tomorrow is when the the eliminations will be coming fast and furious, as pitching staffs will get stretched, some past the breaking point.
It's why Sam Gaviglio's complete game win was such good news for the Beavers, who won't have to play two tomorrow, and in that one game, everyone on the Oregon St. staff but Sam and James Nygren will be ready to go.
Go Beavs!
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com