NCAA signage is seen on the field before the game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Ole Miss Rebels during the Division I Men’s Baseball Championship held at Charles Schwab Field Omaha on June 26, 2022 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
No. 1 Illinois 4, No. 5 Iowa 2 – Down 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth, Iowa received an RBI single from second baseman Gable Mitchell, and catcher Cade Moss laid down an RBI sacrifice bunt to tie the game at two.
Illinois retook the lead in the top of the 10th on a two-run single from third baseman Coltin Quagliano. Iowa’s luck ran out in the bottom of the tenth despite putting multiple runners on base. The Hawkeyes were eliminated from the tournament with the loss, ending their season.
Illinois will play Michigan at 8 p.m. EDT on Friday.
No. 3 Indiana 14, No. 7 Ohio State 7 – Indiana scored multiple runs in four different innings to dominate Thursday’s game over Ohio State.
All nine Indiana batters in the starting lineup recorded a hit, and outfielder Devin Taylor smacked a home run in the eighth. Ohio State’s offense drew 13 walks but also struck out 13 times.
Ohio State will play No. 2 Nebraska at 3 p.m. EDT on Thursday. Indiana will receive a day off on Friday and play the winner of Nebraska and Ohio State at 10 a.m. EDT on Saturday.
No. 8 Penn State 9, No. 4 Michigan 5 – Michigan’s Mitch Voit hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth, but a grand slam from Penn State’s Bryce Molinaro put Penn State back on top 7-5.
Penn State is the first eight-seed to start 2-0 in the tournament since Iowa in 2016.
Michigan will play Illinois at 8 p.m. EDT on Friday, and Penn State will play the winner of that game at 2 p.m. EDT on Saturday.
Southeastern Conference (SEC)
No. 3 Kentucky 9, No. 2 Arkansas 6 – The Arkansas Razorbacks were eliminated from the SEC tournament with their loss to Kentucky on Thursday.
The Wildcats led 6-0 after five innings, and outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt went deep twice in the game to lead Kentucky. Four Kentucky pitchers combined to strike out five, but the offense was the deciding factor.
Kentucky will play No. 10 South Carolina at 4 p.m. on Friday.
No. 1 Tennessee 7, No. 4 Texas A&M 4 – Texas A&M was eliminated from the SEC tournament with their loss to Tennessee on Thursday.
Kavares Tears was the star for Tennessee, hitting an RBI double in the fifth inning to extend the Vols’ lead to 3-1 and smacking a three-run home run in the seventh to make it 6-2. Texas A&M pulled to within three in the eighth but could not stage a comeback.
Tennessee will play Mississippi State approximately 30 minutes after the end of Kentucky and South Carolina on Friday.
No. 11 LSU 11, No. 10 South Carolina 10 – South Carolina catcher Cole Messina had six RBI, but it was not enough to defeat LSU on Thursday night.
The Gamecocks hurt themselves, committing four errors in the game. In a game that saw 21 runs cross home plate, LSU shortstop Michael Braswell III hit the most critical RBI single down the left field line in the top of the ninth inning to put LSU ahead 11-10.
LSU will play the winner of Friday’s matchup between Kentucky and South Carolina at noon on Saturday.
No. 8 Vanderbilt 4, No. 5 Mississippi State 3 – Vanderbilt led 3-0 in the top of the fifth, and Mississippi State scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double.
Leading 4-1 in the ninth, Mississippi State scored two runs to cut Vanderbilt’s lead to 4-3, but reliever Ryan Ginther induced a groundout to end the game.
Mississippi State will play Tennessee approximately 30 minutes after the end of Kentucky and South Carolina on Friday. Vanderbilt will play the winner of Mississippi State/Tennessee approximately 30 minutes after the end of LSU’s game at noon on Saturday against either Kentucky or South Carolina.
