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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Just when it looked like North Carolina State got off its best shot against UCLA pitching, Trea Turner's deep fly died a few feet short of the left-field fence. Nick Vander Tuig and David Berg combined to limit NC State to five hits, and the Wolfpack lost 2-1 on Tuesday night to move within a game of elimination in their first College World Series appearance since 1968. UCLA (46-17) moved within one victory of next week's best-of-three finals. The Wolfpack (50-15) will play North Carolina on Thursday. The winner of that game would have to beat UCLA twice, first on Friday and again on Saturday, to make it to the finals. NC State beat the Tar Heels 8-1 here Sunday, and the next meeting will be their f

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Never has a team swinging metal bats produced so few runs through two College World Series games yet found itself in such an enviable position. These UCLA Bruins are proving that in this day and age of college baseball, pitching and defense, more than ever, can be a winning formula. It showed again Tuesday night in the Bruins' 2-1 victory over North Carolina State. That, by the way, was the same score of UCLA's Sunday night win over LSU. "It's Bruin baseball," coach John Savage said. "Sometimes it's grueling, and it's tough to watch, I'm sure. Our kids hung in there. We were opportunistic. It's like walking a tight rope, that's for sure.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nick Vander Tuig allowed four hits over seven-plus innings and UCLA produced just enough offense to defeat North Carolina State 2-1 in the College World Series on Tuesday night. UCLA (46-17) moved within one victory of next week's best-of-three finals. The Wolfpack (50-15) will play an elimination game against North Carolina on Thursday. UCLA used two walks, two singles and a wild pitch to scratch out a couple of runs and go up 2-1 in the fifth. Two innings before, Vander Tuig tagged out a runner at the plate to keep the Wolfpack from adding to a 1-0 lead. Vander Tuig (13-4) retired 13 of 14 batters heading into the eighth inning. David Berg came on after Vander Tuig gave up a leadoff single to Brya

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Mason Katz loved playing college baseball so much that he told major-league teams last year to not waste a draft pick on him. He was returning to LSU for his senior season. "I have zero regrets," Katz said minutes after the Tigers were eliminated from the College World Series with a 4-2 loss to North Carolina on Tuesday. "It was the best baseball season of my life, regardless of winning it. I never would want to play with another group of guys." Katz accounted for the Tigers' only two RBIs in the CWS, homering in a 2-1 loss to UCLA on Sunday, and singling twice and walking three times against the Tar Heels. "For me, this one stings more than any of them because I'm done now," he said. "This is

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An LSU team that came to the College World Series as one of the top offensive clubs in the nation left town wondering how it could have scored only three runs in two losses. Cody Glenn gave up a first-inning home run to Brian Holberton and the Tigers left 13 runners on base in a 4-2 loss to No. 1 national seed North Carolina on Tuesday. "We expected to come out here and play better than we did," LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. "Even though we didn't play great, we lost a one-run game and a two-run game. We were in position to win the games. It wasn't like we came out here and got blown out. We were right there and just couldn't come through with the play here or hit here or a pitch there, and it stings a lo

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Auburn and Alabama women's basketball teams are now led by energetic recruiters with winning track records hoping to lead a return to the halcyon days when both were NCAA tournament regulars. The Crimson Tide hired Kristy Curry from Texas Tech in May to revive a program that hasn't cracked the NCAA field since 1999. She embraces the rebuilding challenge. "We've got to get better in every aspect of the program," Curry said. "I always say you either accept it or you correct it. We're here to correct it and not accept where we're at, but to get better. We're looking forward to that challenge. "We're going to correct it and do all that we can and move forward.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota junior captain Rachel Banham has undergone successful surgery for patellar tendonitis in both knees. Coach Pam Borton made the announcement Tuesday. Banham had the surgery earlier this week. Borton says the surgery was performed in the summer to make sure Banham "will be at 100 percent for her junior year." Banham, who's from Lakeville, averaged 20.7 points per game average and posted five games with 30 or more points and 16 games with 20 or more points last season.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota junior captain Rachel Banham has undergone successful surgery for patellar tendonitis in both knees. Coach Pam Borton made the announcement Tuesday. Banham had the surgery earlier this week. Borton says the surgery was performed in the summer to make sure Banham "will be at 100 percent for her junior year." Banham, who's from Lakeville, was named WBCA All-America honorable mention, WBCA All-Region 6 and First Team All-Big Ten last season as a sophomore. The guard had a 20.7 points per game average and posted five games with 30 or more points and 16 games with 20 or more points on the year.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville's satisfaction with their season overall is helping ease some of the players' disappointment over their brief stay at the College World Series. What's important for many Cardinals is learning from the opportunity of playing for a national championship and applying those lessons toward returning to Omaha, Neb., next year — which they believe is possible. Much of Louisville's roster will return, though seven juniors were selected in Major League Baseball's first-year player draft. Even if many of them move on to the pros, the Cardinals (51-14) say the combination of returning and incoming talent positions them for another deep postseason run.

Height: 6-foot-2 Weight: 168 pounds Birth date: Sept. 15, 1993 Hometown: Braunschweig, Germany European team: New Yorker Phantoms (Braunschweig) 2012-13 stats: 25.1 mpg; 12.0 ppg; 3.2 apg; 2.5 rpg; .422 FG percentage; .832 FT percentage Strengths: Outstanding speed and quickness. Handles ball well in traffic. Superb on-ball defender. Excellent first step and changes speed well. Has a good hesitation dribble and is effective in the open court. Solid passer with good vision. Has a 6-foot-7 wingspan. Weaknesses: Often gets out of control and turnover-prone. Midrange shooting needs improvement. Improved his 3-point shooting overseas, but that's not at NBA depth. Has trouble finishing at the basket.

At 19 years old, many think the German point guard will go in the first round of the NBA Draft, maybe to Boston.

U.S. Open ratings on KFOR-4 up 22 percent over last year

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt center Stephanie Holzer has decided to quit playing basketball and forego her remaining eligibility because of repeated leg injuries. Coach Melanie Balcomb announced Holzer's decision Tuesday. Holzer missed two seasons, including last year, after she dislocated her left knee cap and tore several ligaments when undercut going for a rebound in an exhibition last November. That led to her ninth surgery on her legs, the first on her left. She broke her left foot in May during her recovery. The 6-foot-4 Holzer averaged 11 points and 6.8 rebounds in 61 games, and shot 54.8 percent in her career. Her last game was against Duke in the second round of the 2012 NCAA tournament.

Oklahoma State sophomore basketball player Marcus Smart has been one of 12 players selected to represent the United States at the 2013 U19 World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. “I'm excited for Marcus and proud of him for making the World Championship team,” OSU head coach Travis Ford said. “He will represent his family, our team and this University extremely well. But most importantly, he will be a terrific ambassador for our country with his sportsmanship and integrity. This is a terrific opportunity for him to compete against some of the best players from around the world, and to improve his game even further.” Smart led the USA U18 team to the FIBA Americas gold medal last summer, qualifying the U.S. for

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Max Gordon has given Oregon State all it could ask for in the field. At bat? Not so much. That changed in an 11-4 win over Louisville on Monday, when the 5-foot-8 senior center fielder reached base three times in five plate appearances. Gordon went 2 for 4 with two RBIs out of the No. 9 hole to break out of a 3-for-35 slump. He also scored twice as the Beavers stayed alive in the tournament. Gordon was hitless in the super regional against Kansas State and 0 for 3 in the Beavers' CWS opener against Mississippi State. "Max is always a spark for us. Really," coach Pat Casey said. "I told him after the Kansas State game that when we put (him) in the lineup permanently, we really got consist

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Indiana coach Tracy Smith says he won't waste any time lamenting how close Sam Travis' ninth-inning fly ball came to leaving the ballpark. Or how close Mississippi State closer Jonathan Holder came to throwing the ball away and allowing the tying run to score. Fact is, the Hoosiers lost 5-4 on Monday night, and now they're one loss away from seeing their first appearance to the College World Series end. "I would say a loss is a loss is a loss," Smith said. "It doesn't matter how you lose them, by 20 or one, it's still a loss. We're not going to focus too much on that. We're going to regroup. "We've got a confident group. They've been confident all year. Our thoughts now are moving on to Oregon Stat

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Trey Porter surely made the home folks proud back in Hurley, Miss., population 950. With Porter driving in the go-ahead runs in the eighth inning, Mississippi State took control of its bracket in the College World Series with a 5-4 victory over Indiana on Monday night. The senior came into the game with a total of seven at-bats in the last month. By the end of the night, Bulldogs fans in the crowd of 25,260 were chanting his name. "I guess being a kid from a small hometown," he said, "you set out to play in the College World Series one day, but you never see it happening because there are so many baseball players out there, so much talent.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — This wasn't the ending Louisville imagined for the best sports year in university history. The mistake-prone Cardinals surrendered seven runs in the fourth inning on their way to an 11-4 loss to No. 3 national seed Oregon State that eliminated them from the College World Series on Monday. The Cardinals (51-14) committed four errors against the Beavers and 13 in their last six games. The Beavers (51-12) play another elimination game Wednesday against Mississippi State or Indiana. Louisville was making its second appearance at the CWS, and first since 2007. "This is very tough at this moment, but I don't want this game to define them or define their season," Louisville coach Dan McDonnell said o

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — It's one down and three to go for Oregon State. The No. 3 national seed Beavers stayed alive at the College World Series on Monday, beating Louisville 11-4 after a seven-run fourth inning broke open the game. Oregon State won national championships the last two times it played in Omaha, in 2006 and '07, and coach Pat Casey's first title team did it the hard way. The Beavers (51-12) face the same challenge as that 2006 team, having to win four straight after losing their CWS opener to reach the best-of-three finals. Next up is Indiana or Mississippi State on Wednesday. Casey said he's careful not to compare this year's team to the 2006 squad, though the situation makes it seem unavoidable.