Philadelphia, PA – Aaron Nola tossed a two-hit shutout as LSU downed Oklahoma, 2-0 and UCLA scored twice in the 10th inning to defeat Cal State Fullerton, 5-3, as both teams earned Game 1 victories Friday in the best-of-three NCAA men's baseball Super Regionals.
Heavy rains in Chapel Hill, N.C., forced the postponement of Friday's originally scheduled Super Regionals between top-seeded North Carolina and South Carolina as well as the matchup in nearby Raleigh between Rice and North Carolina State.
Both series will begin on Saturday at noon, and 4 p.m., respectively with Game 2s scheduled for Sunday and "if necessary" Game 3s planned for Monday.
LSU, the No. 4 overall seed, plated two runs in the eighth to take Game 1 of the Baton Rouge Super Regional.
Nola (12-0) dominated to earn the crucial victory, allowing just two hits and three total base runners and six strikeouts to help the Tigers get within one game of reaching the College World Series.
JaCoby Jones smacked a one-out triple, his first of the season, and pinch- hitter Tyler Moore followed with an RBI double to make it 1-0. Mark Laird drove in the other lone run of the frame to help the Tigers secure the win.
Oklahoma starter Jonathan Gray (10-3), the third overall pick by Colorado in Thursday's MLB draft, pitched well, yielding five hits over 7 1/3 innings, but gave up both runs. He also struck out nine in defeat.
Fifth-seeded Cal State Fullerton, meanwhile, rallied for two runs in the eighth to tie the game at 3-3, but the Titans couldn't match the Bruins in extras.
Fullerton's J.D. Davis (1-2) took the loss after giving up back-to- back run scoring hits in the top of the 10th from Eric Filia, an RBI single, and Pat Valaika, a sacrifice fly, to make it 5-3. Filia went 4-for-5, while Valaika finished with two RBI.
David Berg (7-0) pitched three solid innings in relief, allowing one run on three hits with six strikeouts for UCLA.
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