In brief: Teams notch tickets to College World Series
Matt Langwell allowed one earned run and struck out seven to help Rice beat Texas A&M 5-2 in Houston and advance to the College World Series for the second straight year.
A day after his home run lifted Mississippi State to one victory, Mitch Moreland’s save sent the Bulldogs to the CWS for the first time since 1998 with an 8-5 victory over Clemson at Starkville, Miss.
Keanon Simon’s RBI single in the top of the 12th inning gave Oklahoma State a win 3-2 win over Louisville at Louisville, Ky., in the super regional to force a third game in the best-of-3 series.
UC Irvine right-hander Scott Gorgen shut out Wichita State in the opening game of the NCAA super regional at Wichita, Kan., as the Anteaters won 1-0 to move within a victory of a trip to the CWS.
In other super regional action, Arizona State defeated Mississippi 4-3 in the series opener and Cal State Fullerton beat UCLA 12-2 in their opening game.
The first game of the Corvallis, Ore., super regional between defending national champion Oregon State and Michigan was postponed because of steady rain and the North Carolina vs. South Carolina super regional game was suspended until today because of rain and lightning with South Carolina leading 8-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning at Chapel Hill, N.C.
Football
UM QB kicked off team
Former Montana quarterback Jason Washington said he’s been kicked off the team by coach Bobby Hauck for disciplinary reasons.
Hauck said the decision was made at the end of the spring semester, but offered little comment beyond that.
“I’m just not even going to get into it,” he said. “That’s team stuff, and I don’t handle it publicly.”
Washington started four games for the Griz in 2005 and said he was removed from the team after allegedly missing a training room treatment and two weekend conditioning workouts.
“Montana State lost another football coaching candidate when University of North Dakota officials said coach Dale Lennon will remain a Fighting Sioux.
Lennon’s decision comes two days after Carroll coach Mike Van Diest withdrew his name.
Basketball
Nuggets guard in wreck
Denver Nuggets player J.R. Smith and another man were seriously injured when the sport utility vehicle Smith was driving collided with a car in Millstone Township, N.J.
Smith and the unidentified passenger were ejected from the SUV in the crash, which occurred around 5:30 p.m.
The passenger – who had serious head wounds – was airlifted to Jersey Shore University Hospital in Neptune, while Smith was taken there via ambulance.
Further details on their injuries were not immediately available Saturday night.
Miscellany
Cotto KOs Judah
Miguel Cotto gave the sellout crowd what it came for: a knockout of one of its own.
The popular Puerto Rican welterweight thrilled his fans, who made up a majority of the filled-to-the-rafters Madison Square Garden in New York, by stopping Brooklyn’s Zab Judah in the 11th round to keep his WBA welterweight title.
With chants of “Cotto! Cotto!” and “Puerto Rico! Puerto Rico!” rocking the building, Cotto knocked down Judah earlier in the round before finishing off his 30th straight win at 49 seconds.
“Poland’s Tomasz Adamek stopped Luis Pineda of Panama in the seventh round to capture the vacant IBO cruiserweight title in Katowice, Poland.
“Undefeated Chad Dawson successfully defended his light-heavyweight title, stopping Mexico’s Jesus “Chuy” Ruiz in the sixth round at Hartford, Conn. On the same card, Antonio Tarver regained the IBO light-heavyweight title, winning a 12-round decision over a game Elvir Muriqi.
“Yale narrowly won the 142nd Harvard-Yale Regatta, snapping the Crimson’s seven-year winning streak with the closest finish in 93 years at New London, Conn. The Bulldogs finished the 4-mile race in 19:57.5.