OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Brian Klein hit the tiebreaking home run for Texas Tech, and the Red Raiders beat Florida State 4-1 at the College World Series on Wednesday night to close the 40-year coaching career of NCAA all-time wins leader Mike Martin.
Klein’s homer, his second of the CWS and third of the season, came in the sixth inning and stood up because of the Seminoles’ inability to find a spark on offense.
Tech (46-19) won a second game at the CWS for the first time in its four appearances.
FSU (42-23) had no trouble scoring while sweeping through a regional in Athens, Georgia, and a super regional at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to earn Martin his 17th trip to the CWS. The Seminoles beat Arkansas 1-0 here Saturday, but lost 2-0 to Michigan before the Red Raiders eliminated them.
Martin heads into retirement with 2,029 career wins — most by any coach in any college sport — but no national championships. Each of his 40 teams won at least 40 games and played in the NCAA Tournament.
When Taylor Floyd struck out Reese Albert to end the game, Martin came out of the dugout, took off his glasses and strode across the field to shake hands with Tech coach Tim Tadlock.
Louisville 5, Auburn 3
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two Louisville relievers survived anxious moments to hold Auburn to two runs over five innings and the Cardinals eliminated the Tigers from the College World Series with a 5-3 win Wednesday, completing a game suspended by rain one day earlier.
The No. 7 national seed Cardinals (50-17) improved to 32-1 all-time when scoring five or more runs in an NCAA Tournament game. Auburn (38-28) went 0-2 in its first CWS appearance since 1997.
Vanderbilt 6, Mississippi St 3
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Kumar Rocker followed up his no-hitter in the super regionals with another strong start in his College World Series debut, and Stephen Scott homered twice and drove in four runs in Vanderbilt’s 6-3 victory over Mississippi State on Wednesday.
No. 2 national seed Commodores (56-11) gained the inside track to the best-of-three finals next week. They need a victory Friday or Saturday to advance.
Rocker, the 6-foot-4, 255-pound freshman star who struck out 19 in his no-hitter against Duke on June 8, held the No. 6 Bulldogs (52-14) scoreless until Rowdey Jordan’s two-out RBI single in the sixth inning.
