text: No. 1 Vols, other top seeds win NCAA regional openers easily - Seattle Sports
  Jun 3, 2022, 4:46 AM | Updated: Jun 4, 2022, 9:12 am
  Texas A&M's Jordan Thompson celebrates his two-run home run with teammates against Oral Roberts in an NCAA college baseball game at the College Station Regional in College Station, Texas, Friday, June 3, 2022. (Michael Miller/College Station Eagle via AP)
  (Michael Miller/College Station Eagle via AP)
  No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Stanford, No. 4 Virginia Tech, No. 7 Oklahoma State and No. 8 East Carolina each scored in double digits, and no margin of victory among the top eight seeds was less than five runs.
  Vanderbilt, which reached the last two College World Series finals, continued its late-season swoon and will have to fight its way out of the loser's bracket to advance.
  No. 3 Oregon State played New Mexico State late Friday, and No. 6 Miami's game against Canisius was postponed because of a tropical storm.
  Vanderbilt lost for the first time in five regional openers since 2016 and has now dropped six of seven games for its worst stretch since 2018. The Commodores have batted .233 while being outscored 66-23 over the seven games. Pitching has been the program's identity under Tim Corbin, but the staff has an 8.70 ERA with 37 walks and 59 strikeouts the last 61 innings.
  VOLS' LEADER OUT
  Conference USA pitcher of the year Tanner Hall pitched four-hit ball over eight shutout innings in Southern Mississippi's 2-0 win over Army. He retired the first 11 batters he faced and finished with nine strikeouts, the ninth time in 15 starts he's fanned at least that many.
  Texas A&M's Joseph Menefee struck out seven in three innings of relief against Oral Roberts. Among Division I pitchers with at least 100 career innings, Menefee is the leader in strikeouts per nine innings at 13.99.
  FIRST TIME'S THE HARDEST
  Bryson Worrell homered twice in an eight-run third inning for the Pirates, and Coppin State's Jordan Hamberg walked seven while giving up nine runs in 2 1/3 innings.
  Mac Horvath hit two of North Carolina's five homers in a 15-4 win over Hofstra. The Tar Heels have won eight straight and 16 of 18.
  Northeast Conference pitcher of the year Joshua Loeschorn, who entered the day tied for the national lead with 11 victories, turned in the worst start of his career in Long Island's 23-2 loss to Maryland. He lasted 1 2/3 innings and gave up nine runs, eight of them unearned after he committed back-to-back errors in the second. He allowed five hits, walked three and hit a batter.
  Louisville beat Southeast Missouri State 7-2 for its 11th straight win in a regional opener, the longest streak of its kind. … Stanford's 20 runs were its most ever in a postseason game. … Seven of Cayden Wallace's 13 homers for Arkansas have come since May 14. He hit two in a 7-1 win over Grand Canyon. … Oklahoma's Peyton Graham hit his second grand slam in 10 days, this time connecting in an eight-run fifth inning that broke open the Sooners' 16-3 win over Liberty. … Michigan's Jimmy Obertop homered twice in an 8-6 win over Oregon and has a team-best 22 RBIs in the last 12 games.
  Regionals in Statesboro, Georgia, and Coral Gables, Florida, had their schedules altered because of rain. UNC Greensboro-Georgia Southern will play Saturday. Canisius-Miami and Arizona-Mississippi also were pushed back.