UC Santa Barbara defeats Louisville in super regional opener

Austin Bush hit his fourth postseason home run, Shane Bieber gave up only one run in seven innings and UC Santa Barbara beat Louisville, 4-2, in the opener of the Louisville, Ky., Super Regional to end the Cardinals’ 22-game home winning streak.

Clay Fisher, J.J. Muno and Kyle Plantier knocked in runs for the Gauchos (41-18-1), who handed second-seeded Louisville (50-13) just its second home loss in 38 games.

UC Santa Barbara can clinch its first College World Series berth with a win on Sunday.

The Gauchos answered Blake Tiberi’s solo homer in the second inning with Fisher’s RBI double in the third. Bush’s homer led off the fourth and Muno’s RBI single in the fifth made it 4-1.

Bieber (12-3) gave up eight hits but struck out seven and walked only one.

Oklahoma State beats South Carolina, 5-1

Thomas Hatch held South Carolina to four hits over seven innings, Ryan Sluder and Collin Theroux homered and Oklahoma State moved a win away from its first College World Series trip since 1999 with a 5-1 victory in the NCAA Tournament’s super regional Saturday.

Sluder’s shot to left led off the third inning and was about all the support Hatch (8-2) needed to shut down the Gamecocks (46-17) at Founders Park. Theroux added a three-run homer in the ninth to ice things.

A win Sunday sends the Cowboys (40-20) back to Omaha.

Hatch had his second strong outing of the NCAA Tournament after beating Nebraska 6-0 last week to open the Clemson Regional.

Trey Cobb gave up a ninth-inning homer to Dom Thompson-Williams and had runners on first and second. But he struck out DC Arendas to end the game and earn his fourth save.

Boston College gets first ever Super Regional win

Junior right-hander Mike King was drafted by the Miami Marlins and earned Boston College’s first-ever Super Regional win all in the same day as the Eagles defeated the Miami Hurricanes 5-3 on Saturday.

It was the Eagles’ first win at Mark Light Field since 2010. The Eagles are 2-14 here all-time.

King, who allowed nine hits, four walks and three runs in six innings, was drafted in the 12th round at the same time he was helping the Eagles (35-21) avoid elimination against No. 3 national seed Miami (49-12).

The teams will play the deciding game of the best-of-three series on Sunday. The winner advances to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

BC will be trying to make its first CWS appearance in 49 years. Miami, which has won four national titles, most recently in 2001, will be trying to make its second straight CWS appearance.

Miami second baseman Johnny Ruiz, who had a career-high five RBI on Friday and added a run-scoring triple on Saturday, suffered a potentially serious leg injury in the eighth.

Right after that, the game was postponed nearly three hours (2:55) due to lightning.

After the rain delay, Bobby Skogsbergh came in and earned his fourth save, pitching a scoreless ninth that lasted just seven minutes.

Texas Tech beats East Carolina, 3-1, in 13 innings

Eric Gutierrez singled in two runs in the top of the 13th inning and Texas Tech beat East Carolina 3-1 on Saturday night to even the Lubbock Super Regional at a game apiece.

The winner in Game 3 on Sunday will advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

Gutierrez, the 2016 Big 12 Player of the Year, ended an 0-for-16 spell that dated to the second game of the Lubbock Regional last week. He was 0 for 9 against ECU before his single in extra innings.

Texas Tech relief pitcher Robert Dugger completed his longest outing of the season after coming on in the eighth inning with two runners on base and no outs. He retired 15 of the next 18 batters through five innings of work while striking out five.

Florida State takes down top-seeded Florida, 3-0, in opener

Drew Carlton pitched a two-hitter, Taylor Walls had an RBI double and Florida State beat rival Florida, 3-0, in the opening game of an NCAA super regional Saturday night.

The Seminoles (41-20), who had lost five in a row and 10 of 12 against the Gators, can clinch a spot in the College World Series with a victory Sunday or Monday. No one should count out Florida (50-14) in the best-of-three series, though. The Gators will have their ace on the mound for Game 2 and one of the top picks in the Major League Baseball draft — 6-foot-7 left-hander A.J. Puk — waiting to start a potential deciding game.

Still, Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan opting to go with sophomore right-hander Alex Faedo over No. 1 starter Logan Shore raised eyebrows. Faedo (13-2), who had won his last seven starts, walked three and allowed three hits and two earned runs in four innings — his shortest outing of the season.

Carlton (8-3), meanwhile, was dominant. He retired the final 19 batters.

Arizona advances to College World Series with win over Mississippi St.

Cesar Salazar hit a game-winning, two-out single in the 11th inning to cap an improbable comeback and Arizona rallied to beat Mississippi State, 6-5, on Saturday night and advance to the College World Series.

Arizona (44-21) makes it to Omaha for the first time since winning the national title in 2012. The Wildcats trailed 5-1 going into the eighth inning, but Ryan Aguilar’s 3-run homer jolted the team’s offense awake.

Arizona added another run in the ninth to force extra innings and then Salazar, a freshman catcher, smacked a bouncing ball through the right side of the infield for the deciding hit.

Mississippi State (44-18-1) got two solo homers from Brent Rooker and 5 1/3 solid innings from starter Austin Sexton.

But the Bulldogs’ bullpen failed to hold the lead. Ryan Rigby gave up the 3-run homer, Reid Humphreys the tying run and Blake Smith the game winner.

Texas A&M bounces back against Texas Christian, 7-1

Texas A&M rebounded from a six-run loss with a six-run victory of its own in a 7-1 defeat of Texas Christian in the second game of an NCAA Tournament super regional.

The old Southwest Conference foes and new postseason rivals will play a third and deciding game on Sunday night in Blue Bell Park, with a berth in the College World Series on the line.

“I’m proud of our defense for making plays and getting us off the field, and the offense did the rest,” A&M starting pitcher Kyle Simonds said.

Simonds allowed a lone run over 7 2/3 innings, offering up nearly as an impressive performance as his no-hitter on May 7 against Vanderbilt — or at least one more important to the Aggies’ fortunes.

“He had fastball command to both sides of the plate,” A&M catcher Mike Barash said of Simonds’ ability to control the Horned Frogs.

Neither of the first two contests were in doubt in the late innings — TCU (46-16) won the first game 8-2 on Friday night to shove A&M (49-15) into an uncomfortable corner on its home field.

The Aggies responded right out of the chute on Saturday night, as A&M leadoff hitter J.B. Moss blasted a home run over the left-field fence in the top of the first, and three of his teammates added solo homers later in the game: Jonathan Moroney, Barash and Hunter Melton.

The Aggies served as the visiting team in Saturday’s game and will be back as the home team on Sunday. A&M likely will start sophomore Turner Larkins in the deciding game, coach Rob Childress said. Larkins allowed a lone run over 5 2/3 innings against Minnesota in the Aggies’ regional-clinching victory a week ago. TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said Brian Howard will start for the Horned Frogs.

Coastal Carolina beats LSU, 11-8, in opener

Connor Owings hit a two-run home run and scored twice to help Coastal Carolina beat LSU, 11-8, in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament’s Baton Rouge Super Regional on Saturday night.

Coastal Carolina, which won its first super regional game in program history, can punch a ticket to the College World Series in Omaha with another win on Sunday against the Tigers.

LSU led 4-1 after four innings, but Coastal Carolina (48-16) busted things open with four runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh, including back-to-back homers from Owings and Zach Remillard, his 19th of the season.

G.K. Young also homered for Coastal Carolina, which leads the nation in home runs with 94. Bobby Holmes (5-2) picked up the win in relief and All-American reliever Mike Morrison went three innings for his 11th save. Greg Deichmann hit a three-run home run for LSU (45-20).