Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara win NCAA regional openers

Chris Mathewson gave up two hits in 6 2/3 innings, leadoff batter Jarren Duran doubled and tripled, and the Dirtbags (37-20) defeated Florida Atlantic, 5-1, in the first game of the Coral Gables (Fla.) Regional.

Mathewson (8-5) struck out four and walked two for the Dirtbags, who will play either Stetson or Miami on Saturday night in a winners’ bracket matchup in the double-elimination event. Daniel Jackson, Luke Rasmussen and Garrett Hampson also had two hits apiece for Long Beach State.

Esteban Puerta homered in the seventh inning for Florida Atlantic. David McKay (3-6) took the loss, giving up three runs (two earned) and six hits in five innings.

The Owls (38-18) will play the Stetson-Miami loser in an elimination game Saturday afternoon.

UC Santa Barbara 3, Washington 2

Austin Bush homered leading off the bottom of the 14th inning, giving the Gauchos (38-18) the victory.

The Gauchos had runners on second base in each of the previous three innings before Bush drove Alex Nesbitt’s 1-1 pitch over right field.

Washington took a 2-1 lead in the 12th on a bases-loaded walk, but Devon Gradford homered leading off the bottom half to tie it.

Washington struck out 17 times and went 0 for 17 with runners in scoring position.

Justin Kelly (2-0) struck out three in 11/3 innings of shutout relief.

Cal State Fullerton 0, Louisiana Tech 0

The Titans’ game at Starkville, Miss., was called in the middle of the seventh inning because of weather and will resume Saturday morning.

The Titans had only three hits and missed a scoring chance in the sixth inning.

The winner will face host Mississippi State, which defeated Southeast Missouri State, 9-5.

ACC goes 3-2 on Friday

Atlantic Coast Conference teams go 3-2 in the day games of NCAA baseball regionals. Defending national champion Virginia wins its opener easily and Duke gets hammered in its first national tournament appearance in 55 years.

Atlantic Coast Conference teams went 3-2 in NCAA baseball regional day games Friday, with defending national champion Virginia winning its opener easily and Duke getting hammered in its first national tournament appearance in 55 years. Five more ACC teams played at night.

Virginia had a school NCAA tournament-record 20 hits and scored at least one run in the second through eighth innings to beat William & Mary 17-4 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Cavaliers were 11 for 19 with runners in scoring position.

Wake Forest beat Minnesota 5-3, and Boston College topped Tulane 7-2 for the ACC’s other afternoon wins.

Duke, which hadn’t appeared in the NCAA Tournament since making the College World Series in 1961, lost 11-1 to UNC-Wilmington. Georgia Tech accounted for the ACC’s other loss, 7-6 to UConn.

The ACC set a league record with 10 teams in the field.

Other highlights:

— No. 5 national seed Texas Tech banged out 16 hits and Davis Martin and Erikson Lanning combined to hold Fairfield to six singles in a 12-1 win in Lubbock, Texas.

— No. 6 national seed Mississippi State got two home runs and four RBIs from Brent Rooker in a 9-5 victory over Southeast Missouri State in Starkville, Mississippi.

— Georgia Tech’s Matt Gonzalez went 3 for 4 with a home run and four RBIs in his team’s loss to UConn in Gainesville, Florida.

— Ryan Foster carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning while pitching his third complete game of the season and earning his nation-leading 13th win in UNC-Wilmington’s win over Duke in Columbia, South Carolina.

— Big 12 pitcher of the year Thomas Hatch struck out 10 and allowed six singles over seven innings in Oklahoma State’s 6-0 win over Nebraska in Clemson, South Carolina.

— Southern Mississippi’s Kirk McCarty retired the first 14 South Alabama batters and gave up three singles over six innings in a 14-2 win in Tallahassee, Florida, making the Eagles 16-1 when McCarty appears in a game in 2016.