BC, NU stay alive; Holy Cross, Yale eliminated from NCAA Division 1 baseball tournament

The second-seeded Boston College baseball team avoided elimination with an 8-4 victory over fourth-seeded Long Island University Saturday in the the Athens Regional of the NCAA Division 1 baseball tournament in Georgia.

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Tyler Mudd helped the Eagles (37-22) tie the program record for most wins in a single-season with a strong pitching performance against the Sharks (30-21-0). He scattered seven hits and allowed four runs and four walks over 7⅓ innings while ringing up 10 strikeouts.

“I know we got the offense in there early, but I thought the story of the game was Tyler going as far as he did and as efficient as he was,” BC head coach Todd Interdonato told reporters, “Then it was nice for us to get to our style of play on the field before [Kyle] Kipp did an amazing job finishing it off.”

Mudd, a former Deerfield Academy standout from Shrewsbury, Mass., threw 104 pitches (71 strikes) and submitted the longest outing by a BC pitcher in the program’s last four NCAA appearances. He also became the first Eagles pitcher this season to record double-digit strikeouts.

Carter Hendrickson went 2 for 4 with belted a two-run home run in the second inning that gave BC a 4-0 lead. Jack Toomey also hit a home run for the second consecutive game, while Julio Solier had a pair of doubles for the Eagles.

After suffering a 4-3 loss to Liberty in the first round Friday at Foley Field in Athens, Ga., the Eagles will face a rematch against the Flames, a 6-2 loser to Georgia, in an elimination game on Sunday at noon.

Robbie O’Connor delivered a much-needed strong start on the mound, and Carmelo Musacchia launched a two-run homer to highlight a three-run sixth inning as the Northeastern defeated Missouri State, 5-1, in an elimination game at the NCAA Lawrence Regional at Hoglund Ballpark.

O’Connor (10-2) was dominant, working seven innings of one-run ball on 91 pitches and inducing 11 groundball outs while scattering six hits and striking out three without issuing a walk. The Huskies (39-12) collected 10 hits on the afternoon, including five doubles and a home run, and held Missouri State (34-21) to 1 for 4 with runners in scoring position.

Andrew Rogovic struck out two in a scoreless eighth and Andrew Wertz worked around a single to close it out in the ninth to secure NU’s second NCAA tournament victory in as many years after defeating Bethune-Cookman in the Tallahassee Regional last year.

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The Huskies, who overcame a 6-3 loss to host Kansas in the first round, will No. 13 Arkansas, a 5-3 loser to the Jayhawks, in an elimination game at noon on Sunday.

The Holy Cross and Yale baseball teams were eliminated Saturday from the NCAA Division 1 tournament.

The Crusaders (29-25-0), who suffered a 19-1 loss to the host Texas Longhorns on Friday, were knocked out of the tourney by a 15-1 loss to UC Santa Barbara in the Austin Regional.

The Bulldogs, who absorbed a 14-2 loss in the first round against host Oregon Friday, were eliminated after a 9-2 loss to Oregon State in the Eugene Regional.

In a rain-delayed game late Friday night in Eastlake, Ohio, sixth-seeded Endicott rode a strong pitching performance from Brady Stuart to a 5-1 victory over third-seeded Salisbury in the Gulls’s opener of the NCAA Division 3 tournament.

Stuart, a senior righthander from Hudson, Mass., threw six strong innings, scattering four hits and allowing one run and four walks while striking out 11 batters to propel the Gulls (40-11) to a second-round matchup Saturday night against seventh-seeded Adrian, a 10-1 winner over second-seeded Rowan in the first round.

Third baseman Kyle Grabowski and left fielder John Fusco each had a pair of hits, including a double, for the Gulls.

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