NCAA baseball tournament 2017 scores and bracket: North Carolina upset on tournament’s opening day

The first day of the 2017 NCAA baseball tournament is in the books, and a few heavy hitters received some scares but prevailed in the end. Hosts LSU and Southern Miss both had to battle back from multiple-run deficits, but both did at last advance to their respective regionals’ winners brackets.

One big upset of the day occurred in the Tallahassee regional, where No. 4 seed Tennessee Tech — which slapped the most home runs in the NCAA this year — upended the hosting Seminoles, 3-1. The Golden Eagles required just two pitchers on the day, with Michael Wood and Travis Moths splitting the work of six and three innings, respectively. Now, FSU will have to fight its way out of the losers bracket.

But the biggest upset of the day went down in Chapel Hill, where Davidson topped No. 2 overall national seed North Carolina, 8-4. The Tar Heels were never in it, and the Wildcats needed just two arms to get the job done. A full five Davidson players notched RBI, and UNC’s bats fell dead asleep until a three-run seventh inning.

Kentucky opened the day in its Lexington regional against Ohio, and despite the looming presence of Nigel the Rally Penguin on the Bobcats bench, the Wildcats prevailed, 6-4. Ace pitcher Sean Hjelle — who stands a towering 6’11 — hurled seven innings of stellar work, surrendering three runs on eight hits. Second baseman Riley Mahan socked three hits for two RBI, and now the Wildcats are off to the winners bracket in Lexington.

Aided by a seven-run seventh inning — all the scoring the Sooners would need on Friday — Oklahoma overcame a 2-0 deficit against Xavier to advance to the winners bracket in the Louisville regional. Three Musketeers errors certainly didn’t help matters, but Sooners leadoff man, Cade Harris, bashed in three RBI on two hits. Oklahoma pitcher Devon Perez survived through seven full innings, giving up just the two earned runs astride 106 pitches.

In the Hattiesburg regional, host Southern Miss found itself in trouble early against Illinois-Chicago, who’s playing in its first college baseball tournament in nine years. The Flames led 6-0 after the top of the fifth, but the Golden Eagles chipped away over the course of the next two innings, plating three then four runners in the sixth and seventh. Southern Miss might have reason for worry moving forward, however, as skipper, Scott Berry, burned through five arms on his pitching staff just to stop the bleeding. Starter Kirk McCarty lasted only 4 1/3, and the next four patched together a solid performance in the win.

The most dramatic moment of the day’s action took place in the Fayetteville regional’s opener between Missouri State and Oklahoma State. The Cowboys carried a tenuous 5-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth with shutdown closer Trey Cobb on the hill. Missouri State’s slugging shortstop, Jeremy Eierman, then stepped to the plate with a man on first and two outs and ripped a bomb over the right field wall.

And with that walk-off homer, the Bears are off to Saturday’s winners bracket game.

Below are all the scores from Friday’s action, along with a schedule of Saturday’s games.

All times Eastern

Game 1: No. 1 LSU (4) def. No. 4 Texas Southern, 15-7
Game 2: No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana def. No. 3 Rice, 12-6

Game 3: No. 4 Texas Southern vs. No 3 Rice, Saturday 3 p.m., WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 1 LSU (4) vs. No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana, Saturday 8 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 1: No. 2 FGCU def. No. 3 Michigan, 10-6
Game 2: No. 4 Davidson def. No. 1 UNC (2), 8-4

Game 3: No. 1 UNC (2) vs. No. 3 Michigan Saturday 1 p.m., WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 2 FGCU vs. No. 4 Davidson, Saturday 6 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 1: No. 2 Vanderbilt def. No. 3 St. John’s, 13-4
Game 2: No. 1 Clemson def. No. 4 UNC Greensboro, 5-4

Game 3: No. 3 St. John’s vs. UNC Greensboro, Saturday noon, WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 1 Clemson vs. No. 2 Vanderbilt, Saturday 7 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 1: No. 3 Yale def. No. 2 Nebraska, 5-1
Game 2: No. 1 Oregon State def. No. 4 Holy Cross, 8-2

Game 3: No. 2 Nebraska vs. Game 2 winner, Saturday 4 p.m., WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 3 Yale vs. Game 2 winner, Saturday 10 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 1: No. 2 Missouri State def. No. 3 Oklahoma State, 6-5
Game 2: No. 1 Arkansas def. No. 4 Oral Roberts, 3-0

Game 3: No. 3 Oklahoma State vs. Game 2 loser, Saturday 3 p.m., WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 2 Missouri State vs. Game 2 winner, Saturday 8 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 3: No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 3 Dallas Baptist, Saturday 3 p.m., WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 1 TCU (6) vs. No. 4 Central Connecticut State, Saturday 8 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 1: No. 2 South Florida def. No. 3 Bethune-Cookman, 9-1
Game 2: No. 1 Florida (3) def. No. 4 Marist, 10-6

Game 3: No. 3 Bethune-Cookman vs. Game 2 loser, Saturday noon, WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 1 Florida (3) vs. No. 2 South Florida, Saturday 7 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 1: No. 1 Southern Miss def. No. 4 Illinois-Chicago, 8-7
Game 2: No. 3 South Alabama def. No. 2 Mississippi State, 6-3

Game 3: No. 4 Illinois-Chicago vs. Game 2 loser, Saturday 2 p.m., WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 1 Southern Miss vs. Game 2 winner, Saturday 7 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 1: No. 3 Texas A&M def. No. 2 Baylor, 8-5
Game 2: No. 4 Iowa def. No. 1 Houston, 6-3

Game 3: No. 2 Baylor vs. Game 2 loser, Saturday 3 p.m., WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 3 Texas A&M vs. Game 2 winner, Saturday 8 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 1: No. 1 Kentucky def. No. 4 Ohio, 6-4
Game 2: No. 3 N.C. State def. No. 2 Indiana, 7-6

Game 3: No. 4 Ohio vs. Game 2 loser, Saturday noon, WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 1 Kentucky vs. Game 2 winner, Saturday 7 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 1: No. 2 Texas def. No. 3 UCLA, 3-2
Game 2: No. 1 Long Beach State def. No. 4 San Diego State, 6-0

Game 3: No. 3 UCLA vs. Game 2 loser, Saturday TBA, WatchESPN
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. No. 2 Texas, Saturday TBA, WatchESPN

Game 1: No. 2 Oklahoma def. No. 3 Xavier, 7-2
Game 2: No. 1 Louisville (7) def. No. 4 Radford, 11-6

Game 3: No. 3 Xavier vs. No. 4 Radford, Saturday noon, WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 1 Louisville (7) vs. No. 2 Oklahoma, Saturday 7 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 1: No. 1 Texas Tech (5) def. No. 4 Delaware, 5-2
Game 2: No. 3 Sam Houston State def. No. 2 Arizona, 5-4

Game 3: No. 4 Delaware vs. Game 2 loser, Saturday 3 p.m., WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 1 Texas Tech (5) vs. Game 2 winner, Saturday 7 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 2: No. 3 BYU elimin. No. 4 Sacramento State, 6-1
Game 3: No. 2 Cal State Fullerton def. No. 1 Stanford (8), vs. 4-1

Game 4: No. 3 BYU vs. Game 2 winner, Saturday 4 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 1: No. 3 Auburn def. No. 2 UCF, 7-4
Game 2: No. 4 Tennessee Tech def. No. 1 FSU

Game 3: No. 1 FSU vs. No. 2 UCF, Saturday noon, WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 3 Auburn vs. No. 4 Tennessee Tech, Saturday 7 p.m., WatchESPN

Game 1: No. 2 West Virginia def. No. 3 Maryland, 9-1
Game 2: No. 1 Wake Forest def. No. 4 UMBC, 11-3

Game 3: No. 3 Maryland vs. Game 2 loser, Saturday noon, WatchESPN
Game 4: No. 1 Wake Forest vs. No. 2 West Virginia, Saturday 7 p.m., WatchESPN