College baseball: Gonzaga makes preliminary list as 2021 NCAA baseball tournament host

The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee announced Gonzaga as one of 20 predetermined preliminary-round sites for this year’s NCAA baseball tournament.

Of the 20 sites, the committee will choose 16 to host regional round games; eight of those 16 regional sites will host super regionals. The 16 final predetermined sites will be revealed at 5:30 p.m. on May 30.

The designation of predetermined sites will have no bearing on teams selected to participate or for seeding in the 2021 Division I Baseball Championship. The championship field will consist of 30 conference automatic qualifiers and 34 at-large qualifies.

The official bracket and pairings for the 2021 Division I Baseball Championship will be released at 9 a.m. PT Monday, May 31, on ESPN2.

• Bulldogs rout Pilots: Brett Harris hit two home runs and Ryan Sullivan had four RBIs as visiting Gonzaga thumped Portland 12-4 on Friday.

It was the first game in two weeks for GU due to COVID-19 protocols.

Former North Central standout Alek Jacob struck out nine in six innings to earn his fifth win of the season for the Zags (28-13, 15-4 West Coast Conference).

USC 8, Washington State 8: The Trojans (21-21, 9-13 Pac-12) scored six runs in a fourth-inning outburst and held off the Cougars’ (23-21, 10-15) late charge to secure the victory in Los Angeles.

Tristan Peterson hit a two-run home run in the ninth for WSU, and Kyle Manzardo had two hits and two RBIs.

Pacific Lutheran 6, Whitworth 4: Alex Boyd drove in two runs on three hits as the Lutes (27-16) eliminated the Pirates (16-25) from the Northwest Conference Tournament in Forest Grove, Oregon.

Jaxsen Sweum hit a solo home run and Dawson Warner had two hits and two RBIs for Whitworth.