KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Jake Rucker hit two home runs in Game 2 of the Knoxville Super Regional, and Tennessee advanced to the College World Series with a 15-6 win over LSU, concluding the career of Tigers Coach Paul Mainieri on Sunday.
The Volunteers (50-16) will make their fifth CWS appearance and first since 2005. They set program records for runs in a super regional game and home runs (six) in an NCAA Tournament game.
"People that have to do this for a living, you would never say we're going to go to Omaha or let's just get to Omaha," Tennessee Coach Tony Vitello said. "It's a grind to get there, so you focus on the grind.
"I hope people can make the trip. It's a fun, fun deal. And they do it up right up there."
Mainieri had been the nation's winningest active coach and finished seventh all-time with 1,505 wins. He won a national championship and made six CWS appearances in a combined 39 seasons at St. Thomas, Air Force, Notre Dame and LSU.
Mainieri announced his retirement before the Eugene Regional and the Tigers (38-25) were on the verge of a season-ending loss for most of the weekend after losing the opener 4-0 to Gonzaga on June 4. They rallied with four consecutive elimination game wins to take the region.
"I think I'm the luckiest guy in the world," Mainieri said in his final postgame news conference. "Thirty-nine years I got to live out a childhood dream and got to do what I wanted to do with my life. Who could ask for more? These are not tears of being upset. These are tears of happiness and gratefulness."
Mainieri, 63, has battled nagging neck pain and said it was time for him to step away. His last team won four of its last five SEC series to position itself for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid and then staved off elimination four times in regionals to knock out Oregon on its home field.
"A lot of people didn't expect us to get here," Mainieri said. "We had a tough ballgame last night, one bad inning. And then today we just didn't do what we needed to do. So we're going to put the bats away and call it a year -- in my case, call it a career."
Blade Tidwell (10-3) struck out seven in seven innings for Tennessee. Jordan Beck, Connor Pavolony, Evan Russell and Drew Gilbert each hit a home run.
Dylan Crews hit a pair of home runs for the Tigers. Starter Landon Marceaux (7-7) went three innings and got the loss.
VIRGINIA 4,
DALLAS BAPTIST 0
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Griff McGarry struck out a season-high 10 in seven innings and Virginia beat Dallas Baptist in Game 2 of the Columbia Super Regional.
The Cavaliers (34-25) improved to 5-0 this year in NCAA Tournament elimination games and forced a decisive Game 3 with the Patriots (41-17) today for a trip to the CWS.
Zack Gelof gave Virginia a 1-0 lead with a line drive home run off Dallas Baptist starter Rhett Kouba (6-2) to lead off the eighth inning. Alex Tappen followed with a two-out, three-run home run off reliever Kragen Kechely.
The Patriots' Andrew Benefield broke up McGarry's no-hit bid with a leadoff double in the seventh. Virginia catcher Logan Michaels picked off Benefield at second after Ryan Wrobleski showed bunt. Wrobleski hit a single, advanced to second on a fielding error and stole third on a pitch in the dirt, but McGarry closed out the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
McGarry walked George Specht to lead off the eighth and left the game after taking a moment in the dugout to see if he could do something about bleeding on the ring finger of his pitching hand. Brandon Neeck (2-0) finished the inning to pick up the win, and Kyle Whitten pitched the ninth for his second save of the season.
NOTRE DAME 9,
MISSISSIPPI STATE 1
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- No. 9 hitter David LaManna hit a three-run home run to cap a four-run fourth inning, catapulting Notre Dame to a victory over Mississippi State in the Starkville Super Regional, setting up a one-game showdown for a berth in the CWS.
The Bulldogs (44-16) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first when Rowdey Jordan tripled on the first pitch from Notre Dame starter Aidan Tyrell (5-1) and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tanner Allen on Tyrell's second pitch, but that was it for Mississippi State. Tyrell went 7 1/3 innings, yielding 5 hits while striking out 6. Alex Rao closed out the win by retiring all five batters he faced after coming into the game with two on and one out.
Zack Prajzner had three singles for the Fighting Irish (34-12), driving in two and scoring once. Jack Brannigan made it 8-1 with a home run in the sixth after Prajzner led off with a hit.
