NCAA–LONG BEACH ST-N CAROLINA
Long Beach State beats North Carolina 6-1
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) β Eric Hutting and Carlton Vaughn had two-run hits in the fourth inning to lead Long Beach State to a 6-1 victory over North Carolina on Friday in the opening game of the NCAA baseball Gainesville Regional at Florida’s McKethan Stadium.
After being retired in order in their first three at-bats, the Dirtbags (33-24), batted around in the fourth against Tar Heels starter Trent Thornton (7-4), scoring all of their runs and on all of their five hits.
Hutting drove in two with a single to left and Vaughn followed with a two-run double in the left-center gap against relief pitcher Trevor Kelly.
Long Beach sophomore Andrew Rorhbach (7-2) didn’t allow a run until the ninth. He gave up seven hits and did not walk a batter in eight and one-third innings.
Long Beach plays the Florida-College of Charleston winner; North Carolina (34-26) plays the loser.
NASCAR-TRUCKS
Kyle Busch wins Truck Series race at Dover
DOVER, Del. (AP) β Kyle Busch made it 4 for 4 in the Truck Series, dominating again to win at Dover International Speedway.
Busch was again the class of the field Friday and now has a checkered flag at Dover to go along with ones from Daytona, Kansas and Charlotte. He has 39 series victories.
Busch won from the pole for the third time. He started seventh at the season-opener at Daytona.
Busch does not a run a full season. He has won every race he entered. He can make it a tripleheader sweep with a win in Saturday’s Nationwide race and Sunday’s Cup race.
Matt Crafton, the defending series champion, won the only other Truck race at Martinsville. He smacked the Dover wall with about 43 laps left, ending his race.
Ryan Blaney was second, and Johnny Sauter, Brandon Jones and Joey Coulter rounded out the top five. Only seven trucks finished on the lead lap.
NASCAR-GORDON’S BACK
Jeff Gordon could retire if back problems continue
DOVER, Del. (AP) β Jeff Gordon “won’t have a choice” but to retire if he experiences the same pain in his back he did before last weekend’s Coca-Cola 600.
The 42-year-old Gordon is in no hurry to slow down.
But the four-time NASCAR champion does hope he’s found some solutions to the back woes that nearly forced him out of Sunday night’s race. Gordon cut short his practice runs last week because of back spasms and Regan Smith was on standby.
Gordon was in his familiar seat behind the wheel of the No. 24 and finished seventh, his ninth top-10 finish in 12 races this season.
Gordon knows consistent, shooting pain like he suffered at Charlotte Motor Speedway could drive him toward an early retirement.
NCAA-OLD DOMINION-MARYLAND
Maryland rallies for 4-3 NCAA win
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) β Old Dominion closer Brad Gero hit batters with the bases loaded in the ninth to bring home the tying and winning runs in Maryland’s 4-3 victory at the NCAA tournament’s Columbia Regional on Friday.
The Terps (37-21) trailed 3-1 entering the final inning when Charlie White’s RBI single started the three-run rally. Gero then loaded the bases with a walk to LaMonte Wade and hit Brandon Lowe with a pitch to make it 3-all. With the very next pitch, Gero plunked Maryland third baseman Jose Cuas and touched off a celebration as the Terps won in their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1971.
Maryland will take on either South Carolina or Campbell in the winner’s bracket Saturday. Old Dominion plays an elimination game Saturday in its first NCAA tournament trip since 2000.
Old Dominion (36-25) built a 3-0 lead through seven innings before Maryland’s comeback.
NASCAR-BUSCH-DOUBLE RATINGS
Busch credits IndyCar for increased 500 TV ratings
DOVER, Del. (AP) β Kurt Busch credits promotion from the IndyCar Series for the ratings bump in the Indianapolis 500.
ABC’s telecast earned a 3.9 rating, up from 3.7 in 2013, and ratings were up in many traditional NASCAR markets.
That could be attributed to Busch’s running both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. He finished sixth in his Indy debut, but an engine failure prevented him from completing all 1,100 miles.
The NASCAR race on Fox earned a 4.1 rating, making it the most-watched sports program of last weekend. It was down from a 4.3 in 2013.
Busch on Friday praised IndyCar’s nationwide promotional tour of the Indy 500, but said his goal in doing The Double was to “create awareness for motorsports and the military.”
