NCAA baseball capsules: Colton Eastman leads CS Fullerton back to the College World Series in 2-1 win
Colton Eastman had a dominant outing to lead Cal State Fullerton back to the College World Series.
Eastman allowed one hit and one run in seven innings in a 2-1 win over Long Beach State in the best-of-three NCAA super regional series Sunday at Blair Field in Long Beach, California. He struck out eight and worked his way around four walks.
The Titans (39-22) last went to the College World Series in 2015.
Hank LoForte had the first hit of the game, a single to score Fullerton’s two runs, in the fourth inning. Brett Conine earned the two-inning save, his 15th of the season.
Eastman, who was out with an elbow injury for almost three months and returned mid-May, has been big for the Titans in the postseason. He led the Titans to the clinching victory over Stanford as they swept the regional, and then there was Sunday’s gem.
Eastman didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning, when leadoff batter Jarren Duran, the 19th batter he faced, hit a sharp single to right field. He stole second base after originally being called out before shortstop Timmy Richards dropped the ball. He was moved to third on a sacrifice by Daniel Jackson and scored on a passed ball to get the Dirtbags (42-20-1) within 2-1.
Florida State 19, Sam Houston State 0: Taylor Walls had two home runs and three Florida State pitchers teamed up for a four-hitter as the Seminoles (45-21) are back in the College World Series for the first time since 2012 after their super-regional win over the Bearkats (44-23) in Tallahhassee, Florida.
Walls, a junior shortstop, reached base in all seven of his plate appearances. He was 3 for 3, drove in four runs and had five runs scored. His home run to left on the third pitch of the game off Bearkats starter Heath Donica was part of a four-run first. Wells also led off the third with a solo shot to left.
The Seminoles, who had 13 hits among 10 players, had four home runs. Quincy Nieporte, who also drove in four runs, had a three-run homer to left in the second and pinch-hitter Kyle Cavanaugh homered to lead off the eighth. It is Florida State’s first four-homer game this season.
Donica (9-3) allowed a career-high eight runs in two innings, surpassing the previous high of seven. The senior right-hander, who was the first of seven Bearkats pitchers, allowed five hits along with having three walks, three strikeouts and three hit batters.
Jaxxon Grisham was Sam Houston State’s only player to reach third base. He had a one-out double in the seventh, advanced to third on a Taylor Beene ground out and then was stranded.
Drew Parrish (6-3) started for Florida State and had nine strikeouts in five innings.
It was the first time Sam Houston State had ever reached the super regional.
TCU 8, Missouri State 1: Evan Skoug homered for the second straight day, Brian Howard extended an impressive postseason pitching streak and the Horned Frogs (47-16) advanced to its fourth consecutive College World Series with an super regional victory over the Bears (43-20) in Fort Worth, Texas.
Skoug’s two-run homer gave TCU a 4-1 lead in the third inning after his two-run shot in the eighth of the opener erased a one-run deficit and sent TCU on the way to its first super regional sweep.
Howard (11-3) won his fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament start going back to last season, striking out 11 in 7 1/3 innings to help TCU become the first school since North Carolina (2006-09) with four straight trips to Omaha.
It’s the fifth CWS bid for the Horned Frogs, all since 2010. TCU, the No. 6 national seed, is looking for its first championship.
Hunter Steinmetz hit a leadoff homer for Missouri State, which was trying for the second College World Series berth after knocking off host Arkansas in the Little Rock Regional. The other CWS trip was in 2003.
Missouri State starter Doug Still (8-3) gave up eight hits and four runs in five innings.
Florida vs. Wake Forest, ppd: The Florida-Wake Forest game in Gainesville, Florida, has been postponed until Monday because of rain.
The second game of the best-of-three super regional was called at 7:50 p.m. Sunday, with the Demon Deacons leading 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Gators won the series opener in extra innings Saturday night, after a nearly four-hour rain delay.
The game will resume at 1:04 p.m. Monday, and if necessary, a deciding game would be played 55 minutes after the conclusion of Game 2. The series winner will advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Gators are trying to advance to Omaha for the third consecutive year and the sixth time in eight seasons.