Arizona tops LBSU, ends 18-year drought

Catcher Nick Hundley’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning gave Arizona a 4-3 victory Sunday over Long Beach State in Long Beach, Calif., and sent the Wildcats to the College World Series for the first time in 18 years.

Arizona coach Andy Lopez will take his third team to Omaha, Neb. He previously coached Florida and Pepperdine to series appearances, winning the 1992 championship while with the Waves. He is one of only eight Division I coaches to take two different schools to Omaha.

Long Beach (40-21) rallied to tie the score 3-3 on right fielder Sean Boatrights run-scoring single off Wildcats starter John Meloan with one out in the ninth.

Meloan pitched 8 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and throwing 144 pitches.

Arizona (35-25-1) last appearance at Omaha was in 1986, when it won the last of its three titles.

Fullerton 10, Tulane 7: At Fullerton, Calif., the Titans (42-21) punched out 17 hits to beat the Green Wave (41-21) and advance to the CWS for the second year in a row.

Cal State Fullerton has recorded 96 hits and scored 68 runs in seven post season games.

P.J. Pilittere and Felipe Garcia had three hits, and Kurt Suzuki blasted a home run to lead the Titans to their 13th CWS appearance in the school’s history.

South Carolina 5, East Carolina 3: At Columbia, S.C., Steven Tolleson hit a two-run, go-ahead double in the eighth to lead South Carolina to its third straight trip to the CWS with a 5-3 win over East Carolina in an NCAA super regional.

The Gamecocks (50-15) have won 10 straight games. It’s their sixth tourney appearance in eight years.

The Pirates (51-13) fell to 0-4 in super regionals.

Miami 3, Florida 1: At Coral Gables, Fla., Cesar Carrillo pitched a four-hitter to give Miami its 21st trip to the College World Series.

The victory gave Miami a super regional sweep over the Gators, who have been eliminated by the Hurricanes three straight seasons.

It will be the third trip to Omaha, in the last four years for Miami (50-11).

LSU 4, Texas A&M 0: At Baton Rouge, La., Will Harris hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth to lead LSU past the Aggies (42-22), sending the Tigers (46-17) to a second straight CWS.

LSU will make its 13th CWS appearance. Texas A&M is now 0-6 against LSU in postseason play.