Category: NCAA Baseball (NCAABBL)

Stanford got a fortunate walk-off win and Tennessee rolled to a shutout on Monday as the Cardinal and Volunteers claimed the final two berths in the Men’s College World Series.

Stanford emerged with a 7-6 win over visiting Texas to take their best-of-three Super Regional two games to one.

Tennessee downed Southern Mississippi 5-0 in Hattiesburg, Miss., to wrap up a 2-1 Super Regional triumph and book a trip to the MCWS, which starts Friday in Omaha, Neb.

The Longhorns (42-22) erased a 6-3 deficit with a three-run, eighth-inning rally.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Cardinal (44-18) put together a two-out rally. Alberto Rios doubled and Malcolm Moore walked. Drew Bowser then hit a routine pop fly to center, but the Texas players appeared to lose the ball in the lights, and Rios raced home with the winning run.

Bowser also hit a two-run homer in the second inning, and teammate Braden Montgomery went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

For Tennessee (43-20), Drew Beam threw six-plus scoreless innings, striking out seven. He gave up seven hits and one walk. Aaron Combs got one out in the seventh, and Chase Burns recorded the final eight outs to seal the win.

The Volunteers’ Zane Denton hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning, and Maui Ahuna added a solo shot in the seventh against the Golden Eagles (46-20).

Stanford will open MCWS play on Saturday against Wake Forest on Saturday, the same day Tennessee will face off with LSU. Both games are in Bracket 2.

The opening Bracket 1 matchups are scheduled for Friday, with TCU opposing Oral Roberts and Florida facing off with Virginia.

–Field Level Media

Alabama lured Rob Vaughn from Maryland to be the new head coach of the Crimson Tide baseball team Monday, and the Terrapins wasted no time replacing him with Matt Swope.

Vaughn is a two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year who went 183-115 in his six seasons leading Maryland.

Vaughn, 35, replaces Brad Bohannon, who was fired by Alabama on May 4 for his role in a betting scandal.

Jason Jackson went 13-6 as interim head coach of the Tide. Alabama was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by top-seeded Wake Forest in a super regional over the weekend.

The Terrapins won the Big Ten Conference tournament but did not advance out of the Winston-Salem Regional, which Wake Forest hosted.

Swope, 43, has been an assistant coach at Maryland for the past 11 seasons, the last two as associate head coach. He becomes the first alumnus hired to lead the Terrapins since Tom Bradley (1972). Swope was a four-year starter for the Terps from 1999-2002, finishing with a .331 average.

Vaughn reportedly chose Alabama over Missouri. He signed an extension with Maryland last year that ran through the 2027 season.

–Field Level Media

UCF is set to hire Rich Wallace as its new head baseball coach, multiple outlets reported Monday.

An official announcement is expected later Monday.

The move comes days after former MLB manager Joe Girardi turned down the opportunity to coach the Knights.

Wallace, an Orlando, Fla., native who played at UCF from 2000-03 and was later an assistant coach there, is currently an assistant and recruiting coordinator at Florida State. Wallace was a freshman All-American for UCF in 2000, hitting .380 for the season.

Wallace would replace Greg Lovelady, who was dismissed by the school late last month after seven seasons.

–Field Level Media