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NCAA World Series Baseball Championships that begin Saturday in Omaha

For the first time, Washington makes it to the World Series, and joins Oregon State and North Carolina and Mississippi State, with four more after Monday night

By Arnie Leshin 

It was Sunday night high drama at the ballparks of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championships.

Four Super Regional games played, and only Duke’s 11-2 romp over Texas Tech in Lubbock, did not do anything special except scoring early and outplaying the host school. It avenged the game one 6-4 defeat and becomes another game on busy Monday.

The other three contests were wild with two going extra innings, all three having lead changes, all three showing dazzling defense, and all three bringing capacity crowds and viewers could count on ESPN to televise all four games.

And plenty of coaches disagreeing with plenty of the umpire calls.

The last Sunday night game matched up Mississippi State at Vanderbilt in Nashville, and was delayed because of thunder and lightening. Past midnight in the East, they were still playing when the Bulldogs scored four runs in the top of the 11th and held the host Commodores scoreless in the bottom half to win 10-6 and celebrate.

The two played a pair of one-run games, with Mississippi State winning game one, 10-9 in the last of the ninth. In game two, the Commodores did the same by coming from behind in the bottom of the ninth to win 4-3. And game three was just one more tight contest until the Bulldogs scored those four deciding runs.

Washington at Cal-State Fullerton also began late because of weather conditions, but after three hours on the field, it was Washington scoring in the bottom of the 11th to claim its first trip to the World Series.

Cal-State was seeking its 19th appearance in Omaha and also lost game one, 8-5, before bouncing back to win 5-1. But the Huskies played well enough to earn their time on the big stage, the Elite Eight.

For Oregon State and North Carolina, the next stop is Omaha, Neb. They were the first two in as the Beavers won twice over Minnesota and the Tar Heels did the same against 11th ranked Stetson.

But Duke (44-17) added another game on busy Monday by avenging the game one loss to hostTexas Tech (43-17) by a 9-2 victory in Lubbock on Sunday, and the last one standing can pack its gear for Omaha.

And by Monday night, the 64-school field will become the final eight, and the last team in will be either defending national champion Florida (46-19) or Auburn (43-22) in Gainesville.

Auburn brought the deciding game by winning game two, 3-2, after dropping the Friday contest 8-2, and now take the field at a scheduled 6:30 to decide the winner.

The latest cast for the annual World Series to beplayed at TD Ameritrade Park next week might display some surprises, especially if Tennessee State, which has the most wins (53) in the country, gets past Texas Monday morning.

The Golden Eagles have never reached this stage, and are in the national tournament for the first time, while Texas has played in more World Series than anyone else.

In game one in Austin, Tennessee Tech put together a 5-4 victory with its usual defense, hitting, and pitcher.

But Sunday was the Long Horn’s chance, and they came away with a 4-2 triumph behind quality pitching and stellar outfield defense. Texas is now 41-21 and the Golden Eagles have lost only 11 times.

Later in the day, it’s South Carolina (37-25) versus Arkansas (43-19) in Fayetteville. The Hogs won game one, 9-3, and back came the Gamecocks in game two to even things with an 8-2 victory.

Another Monday game has Auburn (43-22) against top ranked Florida (46-19) in Gainesville. The Gators handily won game 8-2, but the Tigers evened things by winning, 3-2, in the last of the ninth

That’s it for the final stretch run. Ranked schools that were eliminated are Florida State, Georgia, Mississippi, and Stanford.

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