UC Santa Barbara advances to College World Series with walk-off grand slam

Sam Cohen knew he hit the change-up pitch hard and deep to right field, and the only question was whether it was deep enough.

The ball cleared the foul pole and fence with plenty of room and ignited a huge celebration that neither he nor his UC Santa Barbara teammates expected — not on Sunday, at least.

Cohen put UC Santa Barbara into its first College World Series with a pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory over second-seeded Louisville in the second game of the Louisville, Ky., Super Regional.

“That was my first walk-off. I still can’t believe it,” Cohen, a freshman catcher, said of the 1-2 pitch from Cardinals closer Zack Burdi (1-3).

“When I hit it, I didn’t realize until I touched home plate that I hit one out.”

Cohen’s no-doubt blast stunned a red-clad crowd and fueled several celebrations by the Gauchos (42-18-1), who are 5-0 in the tournament and are headed to Omaha, Neb., for the CWS.

“It’s just an unreal feeling,” said second baseman J.J. Muno.

All it took was patience.

UC Santa Barbara players pile onto teammate Sam Cohen following his walk-off grand slam to beat Louisville on Sunday.

(Timothy D. Easley / Associated Press )

For most of seven-plus innings, UC Santa Barbara couldn’t touch Louisville left-hander Drew Harrington, who struck out a career-best 12 to help a three-run fourth inning stand. But the Cardinals (50-14) couldn’t get a big enough edge in the late innings, leaving an opening for the Gauchos to seize in their final at-bat.

“The guys said they keep letting us hang around,” Gauchos Coach Andrew Checketts said. “We got big zeros late in the game.”

Burdi got the Cardinals out of the eighth and started the ninth well in striking out Austin Bush, who fanned four times. Muno singled up the middle for his second hit of the game, Dempsey Grover walked on six pitches and pinch hitter Billy Fredrick followed with another free pass.

Up strolled Cohen, who entered the best-of-three series batting .346 with a homer in 19 games with five starts.

Cohen shrugged off the pressure-filled moment, taking a ball, fouling off a pitch and then taking a 96-mph strike before delivering the biggest blow of his young career.

After being mugged as he crossed home plate, dog piles of players followed on the hot synthetic turf.

Coastal Carolina 4, Louisiana State 3: Alex Cunningham limited LSU to two runs over 7 1/3 innings, Michael Paez drove home the deciding run with a walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth, and Coastal Carolina advanced to the College World Series for the first time with a 4-3 victory over NCAA super regional host LSU on Sunday night.

Reliever Bobby Holmes worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the eighth with the Chanticleers (49-16) clinging to a 3-2 lead. LSU tied it in the ninth because of two fielding errors, but Holmes prevented further damage after LSU again loaded the bases.

G.K. Young had two hits, a run batted in and run scored for the Chanticleers, who swept the best-of-three series. Anthony Marks walked and stole second in the ninth before scoring the winning run. LSU (45-21), the No. 8 national seed, outhit Coastal Carolina 10-6, but stranded 12 baserunners.

Florida 5, Florida State 0: Logan Shore pitched eight scoreless innings, Peter Alonso drove in two early runs and Florida beat rival Florida State 5-0 Sunday night to force a deciding game in their NCAA super regional. A night after FSU’s Drew Carlton tossed a two-hitter, Shore responded with another gem that evened the best-of-three series.

Texas Christian 4, Texas A&M 1: TCU’s Brian Howard and closer Durbin Feltman combined to allow just two hits, retiring 16 of the final 17 Texas A&M hitters. The Horned Frogs scored three runs on one hit in the seventh inning, taking advantage of an error and three walks to break a 1-1 tie and earn their second consecutive super regional series win over the Aggies.

Miami 9, Boston College 4: No. 9 hitter Edgar Michelangeli hit a grand slam and a three-run homer to lift the Hurricanes to the victory and a spot in the College World Series for the second consecutive year.

The Hurricanes, the No. 3 national seed, will play Arizona in their first game in Omaha, Neb.

Miami’s Edgar Michelangeli celebrates as he rounds third base after hitting a grand slam against Boston College in the seventh inning Sunday.

(Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press )

The Eagles, seeking their first trip to the College World Series in 49 years, had forced the decisive Game 3 of the Coral Gable, Fla., Super Regional with a win Saturday, just their second victory in 16 tries at Miami.

The seven RBIs were a career high for Michelangeli, a junior who touched off a near brawl when he celebrated his grand slam — which made the score 9-3 in the seventh inning — by running around the bases with his right hand up.

Just before he crossed the plate, Michelangeli exchanged angry words with Eagles catcher Nick Sciortino, who took exception to the perceived showboating. After Michelangeli scored, he ran to where his team had gathered outside the first-base dugout, and there was some brief pushing and shoving with BC players.

Both teams were warned, but there were no ejections. After the commotion had subsided, Miami closer Bryan Garcia picked up a four-out save. He has 42 career saves, a school record, including 18 this year.

Oklahoma State 3, South Carolina 1: The Cowboys are back in the College World Series after 17 years behind seven scoreless innings from Tyler Buffett helped clinch the Columbia, S.C., Super Regional.

The Cowboys (41-20) earned their 20th all-time trip to Omaha — and first since 1999. They used their powerful rotation to once again cool off a hot-hitting team in the NCAA Tournament.

At Clemson last week, Oklahoma State limited the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament champs to four runs in two games. This week, the Cowboys gave up two runs in two games to the Gamecocks (46-18) after they scored 51 in five games last week.

Corey Hassel and Donnie Walton had RBI singles in Oklahoma State’s three-run fifth, aided by two errors by South Carolina.

Texas Tech 11, East Carolina 0: Erikson Lanning struck out a career-high six, Eric Gutierrez drove in three runs and the Red Raiders advanced to the College World Series for the second time in three seasons by winning Game 3 of the Lubbock, Texas, Super Regional.

The Red Raiders won two straight games after losing the opener to the Pirates on Friday. Texas Tech posted three three-run innings Sunday after edging ECU in 13 innings Saturday.

Lanning held the Pirates to wo hits over seven innings in the ongest outing of his career. He retired 10 consecutive batters after putting runners on second and third with one out in the first inning.

Gutierrez picked up where he left off after his go-ahead, two-run single in the 13th inning of Game 2. He drove in two runs to make it 3-0 in the first and added another in the seventh to make it 7-0.