NCAA baseball tournament roundup: Caden Kendle lifts UC Irvine to wild walk-off win

CORVALLIS, Ore. —  Caden Kendle‘s two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth lifted second-seeded UC Irvine to a wild, 13-12 victory after Nicholls wiped out a 9-1 deficit and led 12-11 in the top of the inning at the Corvallis Regional in the NCAA tournament on Friday.

The Colonels got their dramatic, three-run blast from first baseman Edgar Alvarez with one out in the ninth. But Nicholls reliever Devin Desandro could not hold down the Anteaters.

He gave up a single to pinch hitter Jacob Stinson and a walk to Wade Hadeen. Myles Smith, who homered twice and drove in five runs to build the big lead, then reached on an error by third baseman Gerardo Villareal to load the bases.

That’s when Kendle sliced the ball into right field for the winning hit that touched off a crazy celebration for the Anteaters, a Big West Conference team who reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021.

It was total disappointment for the Colonels (38-21), who looked like they would get their first tournament win after entering play 0-8 all time.

UC Irvine (44-12) will take on either host and top-seeded Oregon State or Tulane on Saturday for control of the regional.

Nicholls plays the Oregon State-Tulane loser in an elimination game.

UC Irvine’s Smith, a junior, hit a two-run homer to right center in the first and added a three-run shot to right in the fourth, his ninth and 10th home runs of the season.

Kendle drove in three runs and, like Smith, finished with three hits.

David Utagawa (3-0), UC Irvine’s fourth pitcher, got the final two outs for the win. Desandro (6-5) took the loss.

UC Santa Barbara wins opener

SANTA BARBARA — Jessada Brown hit two home runs and drove in four runs and Aaron Parker went five for five, leading regional host UC Santa Barbara to a 9-6 victory over Fresno State.

Brown hit a solo home run in the first inning and added a three-run blast in the Gauchos’ four-run fourth. Parker hit a solo home run in the sixth for his only RBI and only run scored.

Justin Trimble added three RBIs for the Gauchos (43-12), who will play Oregon in the winners’ bracket Saturday. Fresno State (33-28) will play San Diego in an elimination game.

Trailing 9-3 entering the eighth inning, Fresno State rallied with three runs that scored on an error, a wild pitch and a single by Grady Morgan.

The Bulldogs threatened again in the ninth and had runners on the corners with one out. Matt Ager came on to pitch for the Gauchos and retired the side on two fly balls for his 11th save.

UCSB starter Ryan Gallagher (10-1) got the win. He pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs of which only one was earned.

— Associated Press

Pomona-Pitzer falls to Misericordia

Fourth-seeded Pomona-Pitzer surrendered a late lead and now faces elimination following a 6-3 loss to Misericordia in the Division III College World Series in Cleveland.

The Sagehens dropped to the elimination bracket and will face No. 1 Endicott on Saturday at 7 a.m. PDT.

Jake Hilton pitched 5 1/3 innings for Pomona-Pitzer, surrendering two runs in the first four.

The Sagehens briefly took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. All-American first baseman Isaac Kim doubled down the left-field line, tying the game at 2-2. Freshman shortstop Greg Pierantoni then singled up the middle, bringing Kim home and giving the Sagehens a 3-2 lead.

Misericordia regained the lead, scoring two earned runs off of Hilton at the top of the sixth inning. The Cougars widened the gap with two runs in the ninth.

— Anthony De Leon