College World Series : LSU Eliminates No. 1 Miami, 6-3

The University of Miami entered the College World Series in peak form and ranked No. 1 in the country.

But Tuesday night, Miami exited the eight-team tournament tied for fifth-place as Louisiana State defeated the Hurricanes, 6-3, and Wichita State beat Arkansas, 8-4, before a crowd of 14,000 at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Two-time national champion Miami (49-18) and Arkansas (51-16) were eliminated, joining North Carolina and Cal State Long Beach, which were ousted earlier in the week.

Top-seeded and unbeaten Florida State (54-16) plays Wichita State (65-16) tonight in an East Division game. Unbeaten Texas (53-17) meets LSU (55-16) Thursday in a West Division game.

The division winners meet Saturday for the national championship.

“We flat-out didn’t hit tonight,” said Miami Coach Ron Fraser, whose team had its biggest loss of the season Monday against Texas, 12-2. “In a series like this you have to get your good pitching, but you also have to get your hitting.”

LSU pitcher Russell Springer improved to 9-3 with a stellar performance. Springer, a junior right-hander, allowed six hits and struck out nine in 8 1/3 innings before giving way to Ben McDonald, who struck out John Viera and Jose Trujillo to end the game and earn his fourth save.

Miami led twice--2-1 in the fifth and 3-2 in the sixth--but LSU rallied in its half of the inning each time. LSU catcher Mike Bianco provided the big hit, a two-run homer in the sixth off Miami starter Will Vespe (4-3) that led a three-run rally.

Home runs also were instrumental in Wichita State’s victory over Arkansas as Eric Wedge and Mike McDonald hit their 23rd and 20th homers, respectively.

Wedge hit a three-run home run over the left-field fence in the first inning off Arkansas starter Doug Bennett (7-3).

Wichita State was leading, 4-1, in the seventh when McDonald homered off Razorback reliever Phil Stidham.

Wichita State pitcher Greg Brummett (16-2), who recorded a complete-game victory against Arkansas last Friday, gave up four runs and 12 hits in 7 1/3 innings to record his 12th consecutive victory.

College Series Notes

Louisiana State’s victory over Miami was the Tigers’ 55th of the season, which ties a school record. LSU’s win against the Hurricanes was the first time in the tournament that a team defeated a higher-seeded opponent. . . . LSU second baseman Tookie Johnson had a run-scoring single against Miami to extend his hitting streak to 25 games. . . . Wichita State pitcher Greg Brummett was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 11th round of the free agent draft. Shocker releiver Jim Newlin was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the seventh round.