Vandy hands TCU first loss; LSU eliminates Fullerton
OMAHA, Neb. -- Texas Christian left-hander Alex Young was dominant, filthy and unhittable Tuesday night in the College World Series. And then Vanderbilt first baseman Zander Wiel stepped to the plate.
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Wiel hit a home run in the seventh inning off Young to end the lefty's no-hit bid and lead Vanderbilt to a 1-0 win over No. 7 TCU at TD Ameritrade Park.
"He was just really able to keep us off balance, and in that at-bat he threw me a changeup and it had been higher than the rest of the ones he had thrown," said Wiel, the Twins' 12th-round pick in the 2015 MLB Draft, of Young. "It still wasn't a terrible pitch. But it was hittable. And I just put a good swing on it."
Young (second round, D-backs) finished with a career-high 12 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and walking one. Vanderbilt lefty Philip Pfeifer (third round, Dodgers) earned the win by turning in an outstanding performance of his own, scattering four hits and striking out seven over seven innings.
"It was outstanding because he really had to match Young in a lot of different ways," Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said. "We all felt very good about him and how he was approaching the plate and how he was approaching the hitters. He had to pitch that way in order for us to have a chance tonight."
TCU falls to the loser's bracket, where it will play No. 2 Louisiana State at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday in an elimination game. TCU beat LSU, 10-3, on Sunday.
LSU advanced Tuesday afternoon by posting a 5-3 comeback win after Cal State Fullerton put up a three-spot in the opening inning against freshman right-hander Alex Lange.
Lange rebounded to retire 24 of the final 27 batters he faced in a complete-game effort, while shortstop Alex Bregman went 4-for-5 to lead the Tigers' offense.
The Tigers gave Lange all the backing he'd need in the third inning, when Bregman (No. 2 overall, Astros) began a four-run rally with a leadoff single against Titans right-hander Connor Seabold. Seabold was removed after surrendering singles to three of the first four batters he faced, but LSU knocked out two more singles in the four-run frame.
Lange settled in after the opening inning and allowed only a walk and two singles while striking out 10 the rest of the way.
"These guys picked me up big time, giving me four runs in the third, and that kind of settled me down and I didn't really have to focus up again," Lange said. "When you're out there, you want to finish it, and that was my mindset: I'm going to finish this game."
COLLEGE WORLD SERIES SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Saturday
Virginia 5, Arkansas 3
No. 4 Florida 15, No. 5 Miami 3
Sunday
No. 7 Texas Christian 10, No. 2 Louisiana State 3
Vanderbilt 4, Cal State Fullerton 3*
*Finished Monday night
Monday
No. 5 Miami 4, Arkansas 3
Virginia 1, No. 4 Florida 0
Tuesday
No. 2 LSU 5, Cal State Fullerton 3
Vanderbilt 1, No. 7 TCU 0
Wednesday
No. 4 Florida vs. No. 5 Miami, 8 p.m. ET
Thursday
No. 7 TCU vs. No. 2 LSU, 8 p.m. ET