OXFORD — The No. 12 and top-seeded Ole Miss baseball team beat second-seeded Washington 2-1 on Sunday to advance to a NCAA Regional Championship game for the seventh time in the past 10 seasons.
Ole Miss (43-18) will face Washington (40-16-1) at 2 p.m. today in the title game of the NCAA tournament Oxford Regional at Swayze Field. Washington will have to beat Ole Miss twice to reach the super regionals.
The Rebels received a quality start from Christian Trent and a clutch performance out of the bullpen by Aaron Greenwood. Trent (9-0) allowed one run on five hits and a walk in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out six. Greenwood picked up his fourth save, allowing one hit and a walk and striking out four in 2 2/3 innings.
Auston Bousfield provided what proved to be the game-winning run with a solo shot in the fifth inning, his sixth home run of the season.
“It was a great college baseball game,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “It was certainly well pitched. Both starters were tremendous. We were able to scratch a couple of runs across. One of those games that you’ve been seeing across the country; it was a low-scoring game, where every pitch and every play seems to matter. We made enough pitches and got enough hits. I’m proud of the way Christian (Trent) pitched and then the way Aaron (Greenwood) closed it out for us.”
Ole Miss got on the board in the fourth with an RBI double to left field from J.B. Woodman. After leadoff singles from Austin Anderson and Will Allen, Woodman fought through 10 pitches before delivering the double to left that scored Anderson to make it 1-0.
Bousfield added to the lead in the fifth, sending a line drive over the wall in left-center field with two outs to make it 2-0.
Washington rallied with two outs in the seventh to cut the deficit in half. With men at first and second and two outs, Robert Pehl sent a ball back up the middle to score Trevor Mitsui from second. An errant throw to the plate from center put two men in scoring position, but Greenwood struck out pinch hitter Ryan Wiggins and retired Erik Forgioneon a line drive.
The Huskies rallied with two outs in the eighth, but Greenwood struck out Mitsui with runners at the corners. Greenwood retired the side in order in the ninth.
n Washington 4, Georgia Tech 2: Andrew Ely’s two-run home run helped lift the Huskies past the Yellow Jackets in an elimination game.
Washington starter Jared Fisher struggled with his command, walking in two runs in the first inning. But Ely’s homer in the third tied the game at 2 and the Huskies tacked on two more runs in the sixth.
Reliever Brandon Choate (4-1) earned the win. Trevor Dunlap worked four scoreless innings to earn his sixth save. Braden Bishop had two hits.
Matthew Grimes (5-3) took the loss, giving up all four runs for Georgia Tech (37-26).
n Georgia Tech 4, Jacksonville State 2: Matt Gonzalez hit a two-run double in the top of the ninth to lead the Yellow Jackets past the Gamecocks in an elimination game.
Gonzalez’s double off Travis Stout broke a 1-1 tie, and Thomas Smith had a run-scoring single during the next at-bat. Gonzalez was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Smith finished with a team-high three hits.
Dusty Isaacs (8-5) earned the win.
Jacksonville State (36-27) rallied for one run in the bottom of the ninth, but left two men on base when Eddie Mora-Loera flied out to center field. Griff Gordon, Paschal Petrongolo, Andre Bishop, and Tyler Gamble all had two hits.
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