Maryland 4 Old Dominion 3
COLUMBIA, S.C. – In its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 43 years, Maryland waited until its final at-bat to win its first tournament game since 1970. The Terps completed a come-from-behind victory with three runs in the ninth to walk-off against Old Dominion by the score of 4-3 in the opening game of the Columbia Regional Friday afternoon at Carolina Stadium.
Trailing by two runs in the ninth, Maryland (37-21) cut the deficit to one on a run-scoring single by Charlie White and proceeded to load the bases on a LaMonte Wade walk. Old Dominion’s Brad Gero hit Brandon Lowe and Jose Cuas on consecutive pitches to force in the tying and winning runs.
With the win, Maryland advances to the winner’s bracket of the Columbia Regional and will face either South Carolina or Campbell Saturday at 7 p.m. It is the Terps’ first NCAA Tournament victory since knocking off Mississippi State, 3-2, on May 28, 1970.
South Carolina 5 Campbell 2
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Behind another stellar postseason performance from starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery, top-seeded South Carolina won its 28th straight home NCAA Tournament game, defeating fourth-seeded Campbell, 5-2, on Friday in the Columbia Regional in front of a Carolina Stadium crowd of 7,382.
With the win, the Gamecocks (43-16) advance to Saturday’s winner’s bracket game against No. 2 seed Maryland. South Carolina improves its postseason record at Carolina Stadium to 17-0.
Montgomery (8-5) gave up two runs on five hits and matched his season high with nine strikeouts in eight innings of work. He is now 5-0 in NCAA Tournament games and has a postseason ERA of 0.93. The victory was the 20th of Montgomery’s career, making him the 22nd Gamecock to reach the mark.
