Vandy claims regional

Philip Pfeifer won more games than any high school pitcher in the state of Tennessee.

Now he can add a pivotal win in college to his resume.

The left-hander scattered four hits in five scoreless innings to lead No. 2 overall seed Vanderbilt to a 7-1 win over Georgia Tech in an NCAA regional championship game Monday night in Nashville, Tenn.

The Commodores (54-10) tied the program record for single-season wins, claiming their fourth regional championship and third in four years. They advance to host Louisville in a super regional.

Pfeifer (4-0), who won 46 games in high school and four state championships, struck out just two but wiggled out of numerous jams.

The sophomore handed the ball over to closer Brian Miller, who allowed just one run on no hits in the final four innings.

Buck Farmer (9-5) was tagged with the loss despite allowing just two runs on five hits in four innings. The right-hander was pitching on one day’s rest after throwing just 58 pitches in six scoreless innings on Saturday against East Tennessee State.

Rice 11, Oregon 4: Hunter Kopycinski had four hits and four RBIs, and Rice scored seven runs in the first three innings in the Owls’ victory against Oregon to win the NCAA tournament’s Eugene regional.

Rice (44-18) advances to its first super regional since 2009 with the upset of the eighth-seeded Ducks (48-16) and will play at North Carolina State this weekend.

North Carolina 12, Florida Atlantic 11 (13): Cody Stubbs singled with the bases loaded in the 13th inning to help the No. 1 overall seed Tar Heels avoid a huge upset by edging the Owls in a wild regional championship game at Chapel Hill, N.C.

UNC (55-9) took a 6-2 lead into the ninth inning, but gave up six runs – including a grand slam by Tyler Rocklein – to trail 8-6. The Tar Heels tied it, but fell behind again by three in the 12th after the second-seeded Owls (42-22) got a three-run homer by Levi Meyer in the top of the inning.