Cole Tate went 2-for-4 with a solo home run for Georgia, but the Bulldogs lost to Virginia Commonwealth 8-1 on Friday night at the Chapel Hill, N.C., Regional of the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
Connor Hujsak hit a three-run home run in the top of the first inning and added a solo shot in the seventh to help the third-seeded Rams extend their win streak to 16 games.
VCU (41-18) plays North Carolina, the regional’s host and the No. 10 seed overall, in the semifinals after Georgia (35-22) and No. 4 seed Hofstra play in an elimination game Saturday.
Starter Tyler Davis (5-2) and relievers Chase Hungate and Jack Masloff combined to throw a seven-hitter for the Rams. Tyler allowed two hits with three walks and a strikeout over 3 ⅔ innings, and Masloff gave up two hits in two scoreless innings to end the game.
Ben Nippolt struck out to lead off the game, Tyler Locklear singled to right and Logan Amiss was hit by a pitch before Hujsak hit a 2-1 pitch off the scoreboard in left-center field. Locklear added an RBI double in the second, and Jacob Selden hit a solo shot in the third to make it 5-0.
Stanford (17) and East Carolina (19) are the only Division I teams with longer active win streaks than VCU.
Nippolt had an RBI double in the fifth, Will Carlone led off the sixth with a homer and Hujsak’s second home run capped the scoring.
LSU 14, Kennesaw State 11: The Owls led 11-4 in the eighth inning but gave up 10 runs in the inning and fell in Hattiesburg, Miss. Kennesaw State plays Army on Saturday at 1 p.m. in an elimination game.
Georgia Southern vs. North Carolina-Greensboro: The game in Statesboro was postponed until Saturday at 10 a.m. due to inclement weather Friday night.
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