NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Alan Espinal drove in three runs, Vanderbilt hit two home runs and the Commodores routed Eastern Illinois 12-2 in the Nashville Regional hosted by the Commodores. The Commodores scored twice in the first and added six in a third inning in which Espinal delivered a bases-loaded double and Davis Diaz hit a two-run home run. That was plenty of run support for Devin Futrell, who allowed single runs in the first and fifth innings. He went five innings, allowing two runs, one earned on seven hits with seven strikeouts. Jonathan Vastine added a two-run home in the seventh and Thomas Schultz pitched four scoreless innings for his second save.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — Sam Hojnar gave Iowa the lead for good with a two-run single in the first inning, but it took a pair of strikeouts by reliever Luke Llewellyn to nail down the Hawkeyes’ 5-4 victory over North Carolina on Friday night in the nightcap of the Terre Haute Regional. The second-seeded Hawkeyes (43-14) never trailed, taking a 5-1 lead into the ninth. Marcus Morgan (5-2) allowed just one run in a five-inning start and Jack Whitlock followed Morgan with three shutout innings. Iowa advances to play top-seeded Indiana State (42-15) on Saturday. No. 3 seed North Carolina (35-23) will play Wright State (39-21) in an elimination game to begin the day.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Phillip Glasser scored twice and drove in two runs and Indiana took advantage of West Virginia miscues, defeating the Mountaineers 12-6 in the Lexington Regional. The Hoosiers led 3-1 after batting in the third, but West Virginia took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the inning and another in the fourth. Indiana went back ahead with a 3-run sixth in which Peter Serruto scored on an error by the pitcher, Glasser came home on a sacrifice fly and Bobby Whalen scored on a wild pitch. In total, the three runs scored on two hits, an error and a wild pitch.
UNDATED (AP) — No. 1 Wake Forest and 10 other national seeds won their openers in the NCAA regionals before Penn began a late-night flurry of upsets. The Quakers beat No. 13 Auburn 6-3 in 11 innings for the Ivy League’s first national tournament win over an SEC opponent. Oral Roberts took down No. 11 Oklahoma State 6-4 for its third win over the Cowboys this season and its nation-best 19th straight victory. Rider finished an 11-10 win over No. 10 Coastal Carolina when Richie Sica made a diving catch of Caden Bodine’s flare to center with the bases loaded.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Nick Lorusso became the first Division I player since 2003 to reach 100 RBIs in a season and No. 19 Maryland beat Northeastern 7-2 in the opener of the Winston-Salem Regional. The Big Ten champion Terps (42-19) equaled their second-most victories in a season, tying the 2015 squad. Maryland will play in the winner’s bracket on Saturday. Northeastern (44-15) faces elimination. Lorusso went 3 for 4 with a homer, triple, and single with two runs scored and two RBIs. His first-inning homer was his 24th of the season to tie Maryland’s home-run record. Lorusso also set the Maryland single-season record for total bases with 191. Lorusso scored the go-ahead run after his triple, coming home on a sacrifice fly by Ian Petrutz in the fourth after Northeastern tied it.
