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UCSB slams its way to College World Series

By The Sports Xchange

Freshman Sam Cohen slugged a pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give UC Santa Barbara a dramatic 4-3 victory over Louisville and earn the school's first College World Series berth.

The left-handed-hitting Cohen lined a pitch from Cardinals right-hander Zack Burdi over the right-field wall with one out in the ninth to stun the crowd at Louisville's Patterson Stadium. It propelled the Gauchos (42-18-1) to their second straight win over the Cardinals in the best-of-three super regional series.

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Louisville (50-14), the No. 2 national seed, took a 3-0 lead into the ninth, and Burdi retired the first batter before the Gauchos rallied. J.J. Muno singled, and the next two batters walked before Cohen was called on as a pinch hitter.

Cohen had batted just 26 times all season -- with one homer -- before sending a 1-2 pitch inside the right field foul pole and setting off a raucous celebration at home plate.

The Cardinals had stymied UC Santa Barbara until the ninth. Drew Harrington struck out a career-high 12 in seven scoreless innings, and Louisville scored three runs in the fourth on Brendan McKay's two-out homer, Blake Tiberi's run-scoring double and Danny Rosenbaum's RBI single.

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Miami 9, Boston College 4

Edgar Michelangeli went 3-for-3 with two homers and drove in a career-best seven runs to lead the Hurricanes past the Eagles at Coral Gables, Fla. to claim a spot in the College World Series.

Michelangeli hit a three-run homer in the second inning and a grand slam in the seventh for the Hurricanes (50-12). His celebration of the grand slam nearly sparked a benches-clearing brawl between the two Atlantic Coast Conference programs before the umpires restored order.

The Eagles (35-22), who won Saturday's contest of the best-of-three super regional, were trying to reach the College World Series for the first time in 49 years.

Oklahoma State 3, South Carolina 1

Tyler Buffett allowed one run in seven innings as the Cowboys knocked off the Gamecocks in Columbia, S.C., to reach the College World Series for the first time since 1999.

Corey Hassel and Donnie Walton had run-scoring singles during a three-run, fifth-inning uprising for Oklahoma State (41-20). South Carolina committed two errors in the inning en route to being swept in the best-of-three super regional.

The Gamecocks (46-18) scored their lone run in the eighth on a wild pitch.

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Texas Tech 11, East Carolina 0

Hunter Hargrove drove in four runs and Eric Gutierrez knocked in three as the Red Raiders rolled to the victory over the Pirates at Lubbock, Texas, to reach the College World Series for the second time in three seasons.

Erikson Lanning allowed just two hits over seven shutout innings as Texas Tech (47-18) won the last two games of the best-of-three super regional. Gutierrez's two-run single in the first started the Red Raiders' offensive assault.

East Carolina (38-23-1) was aiming to reach the College World Series for the first time.

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