Jacob McNairy pitched 7 2/3 innings of three-hit ball to lead Alabama to an 8-0 shutout of Boston College in the NCAA baseball tournament late Sunday.
Boston College (37-19) was eliminated. Alabama advances to a super regional series vs. Wake Forest.
Earlier Sunday, Boston College defeated Troy, 4-1, to set up the matchup with Alabama, the regional host and No. 16 seed. Boston College, which managed only four hits against McNairy and two relievers, needed to beat Alabama (41-19) twice to advance to the super regional.
Against Troy, Sterling’s Barry Walsh set the tone with a leadoff home run and Shrewsbury’s John West and Eric Schroeder came one out away from posting a shutout for BC, which lost to Troy, 11-10, in Friday’s opening round.
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BC had just five hits vs. Troy on Sunday, but backed Walsh’s home run with three runs in the eighth on a pair of leadoff walks, a Troy throwing error, and ground outs by both BC High alumnus Patrick Roche and Newton’s Nick Wang.
West started for the Eagles and worked 4⅓ innings without giving up a run, scattering four hits, walking two and fanning five. Schroeder (6-4) came on in the fifth inning and earned the win, but the shutout was snapped when Clay Stearns hit a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the ninth.
Florida 8, UConn 2 — In Gainesville, Fla., Jac Caglianone hit two home runs, driving in five runs, and the national No. 2 Gators (46-15) eliminated the Huskies (44-17-1) to set up a championship round against Texas Tech, which beat Florida on Saturday.
Caglianone’s three-run home run in the fourth inning gave the Gators a 5-1 lead. Starting pitcher Hurston Waldrep continued to dominate the Huskies and left with a 6-1 lead through seven innings. Caglianone added a two-run home run in the eighth.
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Waldrep (8-3) allowed one run on five hits with 12 strikeouts. Nick Ficarrotta came on in the eighth and allowed one run in two innings. He struck out five.
Ben Huber went 3-for-4 for UConn, which lost its opener to the Red Raiders, 3-2.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.