OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Will Bednar and Landon Sims combined on a one-hitter, Mississippi State scored early and built on its lead, and the Bulldogs won their first national championship with a 9-0 victory over Vanderbilt in the deciding third game of the College World Series finals Wednesday night.

McAllen Memorial alum Jake Gautreau, who is in his fourth year as a hitting coach and recruiting coordinator with Mississippi State, will be receiving a national championship ring.

Gautreau helped lead the Bulldogs to 14 hits in a 13-2 win in Game 2 of the CWS Finals on Tuesday, and 12 hits in a 9-0 win in Game 3 to win Mississippi State’s first national championship.

Bednar, working on three days’ rest, walked three of the first five batters he faced before retiring 15 in a row. He turned the game over to the Bulldogs’ star closer to start the seventh, and Vandy broke up the no-hitter when Carter Young singled into center field with one out in the eighth.

It was the first one-hitter at the CWS since 2014, and it seemed like the whole city of Starkville, Mississippi, was at TD Ameritrade Park to witness it.

When third baseman Kamren James threw to first for the final out, the Bulldogs’ dugout emptied and about 100 fans jumped out of the stands to celebrate as Josh Hatcher waved a national championship flag around the infield. The players then walked the warning track reaching up to high-five the fans that love them so much.

Bednar (9-1), whose 15 strikeouts in his Omaha debut against Texas on June 20 were the most here in 25 years, fanned four against Vandy (49-18) and was named the CWS Most Outstanding Player.

Tanner and Clark homered in the four-run seventh inning to put the game out of reach against a Vanderbilt offense that managed just seven hits and three runs over the last 25 innings of the finals.

Mississippi State (50-18) knocked out Kumar Rocker (14-4) in the fifth. Four of the first five batters in the inning singled, and Rocker left with his team down 5-0. It was the second time in three CWS starts that the projected top-10 draft pick wasn’t at his best, in part because of more shaky defense behind him.

The Commodores committed six errors in the second and third games of the finals and 13 in seven CWS games. The Bulldogs were error-free in their seven games.

The national championship is the first in a team sport for the school and it came in the Bulldogs’ 12th CWS appearance. Only Florida State (23) and Clemson (12) have been to Omaha at least as many times without winning a title.

 

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tanner Leggett’s single in the bottom of the ninth inning scored the tie-breaking run, and Mississippi State advanced to the College World Series finals with a 4-3 victory over Texas on Saturday night.

The No. 7 national seed Bulldogs (48-17) reached the finals for the first time since 2013, when they were runners-up to UCLA. Mississippi State will play No. 4 Vanderbilt in a best-of-three series starting Monday night.

McAllen Memorial alum and current fourth year Mississippi State assistant coach Jake Gautreau will be representing the Rio Grande Valley and the city of McAllen in the CWS Finals.

Vanderbilt (48-16) got its spot in the finals when the NCAA removed North Carolina State from the tournament because of COVID-19 protocols. Vandy and NC State were supposed to play a bracket final on Saturday, but that game was declared a no-contest.

Leggett, who had entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning, came to bat in the ninth after Cole Quintanilla hit Kellum Clark with a pitch.

Brayland Skinner pinch ran for Clark and stole second before Leggett drove a 1-1 pitch into left-center. Clark came around to score easily, and Leggett rounded first base and tossed his helmet into the grass as teammates rushed to mob him.

Mississippi State started Will Bednar, who had 15 of the Bulldogs’ CWS-record 21 strikeouts in a 2-1 win over the No. 2 Longhorns (50-17) last Sunday.

Bednar was solid again, but not untouchable, striking out seven in 6 1/3 innings. Cam Williams homered to right field to give Texas a 2-0 lead in the second, and Douglas Hodo III doubled leading off the fifth and scored on Mike Antico’s two-base hit for a 3-1 advantage.

The Bulldogs tied it in the sixth on Logan Tanner’s RBI double, and threatened to go ahead after loading the bases with none out.

Quintanilla (5-1) relieved Texas starter Tristan Stevens and got a force at the plate and two strikeouts to work out of trouble. Quinanilla allowed only one hit before Leggett’s winner.

MSU closer Landon Sims (5-0) took over for Bednar with a runner on base and one out in the seventh, and ended the inning with two strikeouts. Sims retired five of the last six batters he faced.

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Ivan Melendez hit a tie-breaking three-run homer in the ninth inning, and Texas forced a second bracket final against Mississippi State with an 8-5 College World Series victory in a game that ended early Saturday after a lengthy rain delay.

McAllen High alum Aaron Nixon earned the win after entering the game with the bases loaded during the eighth inning and pitched 1.2 innings with one strikeout.

The No. 2 national seed Longhorns (50-16) won their third straight elimination game and will go to the best-of-three finals next week if they can beat the Bulldogs (47-17) again Saturday night.

“I believe that our team is playing at a very high level, not only with confidence but with their skill set right now and I don’t think we’re going to give in at all,” Texas coach David Pierce said. “The game gets back to even now and we’re going to go out and compete like we do and see what happens.”

Already in the finals is Vanderbilt. The reigning national champion Commodores automatically advanced when the NCAA announced early Saturday that North Carolina State was out of the tournament because of COVID-19 protocols.

Mississippi State had scored three runs in the eighth to tie it 5-5 before Mike Antico drew a leadoff walk against Brandon Smith starting the ninth. Parker Stinnett came on and walked Zach Zubia before Melendez sent a 3-2 pitch deep into the left-center bleachers.

“Off the bat it felt pretty good,” Melendez said. “I knew it was a homer for sure.”

Following another walk, light rain turned heavy and the grounds crew rolled out the tarp to begin a delay lasting 2 hours, 27 minutes.

“Long night at the ballpark,” MSU coach Chris Lemonis said. “We don’t throw enough strikes. I think we walked 11 guys tonight. It’s hard to beat anybody when you walk 11 guys.”

Melendez’s homer was his second game-winning hit in less than 24 hours. He had the tie-breaking base hit in the eighth inning in a 6-2 victory over Virginia in a game that ended early Friday.

Melendez had entered the Virginia game 3 for his last 19 at-bats with no RBIs. The All-Big 12 designated hitter is 4 for 10 with a double, homer and five RBIs since.

Texas reliever Tanner Witt, who pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout relief against Tennessee on Tuesday, encountered control problems after a smooth seventh against the Bulldogs.

He walked three straight to bring in one run, and after Nixon entered with the bases loaded, Brad Cumbest’s hard liner off second baseman Mitchell Daly’s glove drove in two more.

Ty Madden was sharp for a second straight start for Texas. He struck out 10 in seven innings in a 2-1 loss to MSU on Sunday. In that game, Bulldogs ace Will Bednar struck out 15 and Texas fanned a CWS-record 21 times.

This time Madden held the Bulldogs to one hit and no runs over his last five innings after MSU took a quick 2-0 lead.

The Longhorns took their first lead in the fifth on Mike Antico’s single, and they added two more runs in the seventh after MSU center fielder Rowdey Jordan lost track of Trey Faltine’s high fly to start the inning. Faldine ended up on second with a double and scored on Antico’s single, and Melendez’s base hit made it a three-run game.

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Ivan Melendez singled in the go-ahead run, Zach Zubia broke the game open with a three-run double in the ninth inning, and Texas knocked Virginia out of the College World Series with a 6-2 victory in a weather-delayed game that ended early Friday.

Cole Quintanilla (5-0) pitched 1 2/3 innings and got the win, while McAllen High alum Aaron Nixon went 1 2/3 innings for his ninth save. Matt Wyatt (4-2) took the loss after relieving Mike Vasil.

The No. 2 national seed Longhorns (49-16) won their second elimination game to reach the Bracket 2 final. Texas’ victory sets up a 6 p.m. Friday matchup against Mississippi State and McAllen Memorial alum Jake Gautreau, who’s in his fourth year as an assistant coach with the Bulldogs.

Mike Antico singled and stole second before Melendez ripped a grounder up the middle to break a 2-2 tie in the top of the eighth, and the Longhorns got an inning-ending double play in the bottom half to turn back a Virginia threat.

Texas built a cushion when Zubia cleared the bases with a two-out double into the left-center gap. It looked as though Virginia might escape the inning when shortstop Nic Kent saved a run picking up a deflected ball and making an off-balance throw to get Douglas Hodo III at the plate on a close play upheld on video review.

The loss ended an impressive postseason run for the Cavaliers (36-27), who made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 regional seed and were playing their seventh elimination game.

They had tied it in the fifth on Chris Newell’s second homer in two games and fifth of the season. It was the 400th home run of the national tournament, the most since it expanded to 64 teams in 1999.

The Cavs might have been able to take the lead in the sixth had it not been for Texas left-handed starter Pete Hansen knocking down Kent’s line shot up the middle with one out. Kyle Teel was running from second on the play and was thrown out at third when the ball deflected off Hansen’s glove to shortstop Trey Faltine.

Hansen left after that play, having gone 5 2/3 innings in his shortest start since March 30. The redshirt freshman was mostly effective, allowing two runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out six.

Vasil pitched seven innings to match his career high. He allowed two runs — one earned — and four hits with a walk. He struck out eight.

It was the third straight strong start for the Cavs at the CWS. Andrew Abbott pitched six innings in a 6-0 win over Tennessee on Sunday, and Griff McGarry took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in what turned out to be a 6-5 loss to Mississippi State on Tuesday.

The game started 3 hours, 39 minutes late because of rain and lightning. The 9:45 p.m. CDT first pitch was the latest at the CWS since an LSU-Alabama game on June 7, 1997, started at 11:40 p.m.

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Will Bednar struck out a career-high 15 over six innings, the most at the College World Series in 25 years, and Mississippi State held off Texas 2-1 on Sunday night.

Bednar and Landon Sims set a CWS team record, combining for 21 strikeouts, and the Bulldogs (46-16) ran their season total to 765.

Bednar’s total was the highest by an individual since Clemson’s Kris Benson struck out 15 against Miami in 1996.

Mississippi State and McAllen Memorial alum Jake Gautreau move on to face Virginia in the winner’s bracket at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Meanwhile, Texas and McAllen High alum Aaron Nixon are set for an elimination game against Tennessee at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

No. 2 national seed Texas (47-16) put only four balls in play against Bednar: three flyouts and Mitchell Daly’s base hit up the middle in the fourth.

The Longhorns’ offense came to life in the bottom of the ninth. Mike Antico led off with a homer, and Ivan Melendez and Cam Williams hit consecutive two-out singles to put runners on the corners before Douglas Hodo III grounded out to end the game.

The Longhorns have lost their CWS opener in each of their four appearances since 2009.

Bednar (8-1), brother of Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher David Bednar, had pinpoint command with his low 90s fastball, mixed with a slider down and out of the strike zone.

He fanned seven in a row from the first to third innings and broke the school’s single-game CWS record in the fourth with his 11th strikeout.

He walked Zach Zubia to start the seventh inning and threw one more pitch, his 108th, before MSU coach Chris Lemonis called on Sims.

The hard-throwing reliever picked up where Bednar left off, striking out the first five batters he faced. He finished with six strikeouts.

MSU, the No. 7 national seed making its third straight CWS appearance, picked up both its runs in the fourth off Ty Madden (7-5). The first came home on a sacrifice fly and the other when Brad Cumbest sent a fly down the right-field line that landed just in fair territory. Hodo couldn’t make a play, and Luke Hancock scored from first on Cumbest’s triple.

Madden struck out 10 in seven innings, and the teams’ 33 combined strikeouts set a CWS record.

MSU has struck out at least 10 batters in six of its seven NCAA Tournament games and in 49 of 62 games this season.

The CWS individual strikeout record in a nine-inning game is 17 by Arizona State’s Ed Bane against Oklahoma in 1972. The overall CWS record is 20 by Ohio State’s Steve Arlin, who pitched all 15 innings against Washington State in 1965.

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday that he won’t throw the ceremonial first pitch as planned at the Texas Rangers’ home opener — the latest jab in a fight that’s pushing corporate America into the political battle over voting rights.

The Republican governor informed the Rangers via a letter, citing Major League Baseball’s decision to move the MLB All-Star Game from Atlanta in response to Georgia’s sweeping new voting laws, which include new restrictions on voting by mail and greater legislative control over how elections are run.

Abbott’s decision came hours before the team was set to take the field against the Toronto Blue Jays in the Dallas suburb of Arlington.

In the letter, Abbott said he will no longer participate in and that Texas won’t seek to host any future MLB events.

“It is shameful that America’s pastime is not only being influenced by partisan political politics, but also perpetuating false political narratives,” Abbott said.

Major League Baseball and the Texas Rangers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Liberal activists are putting pressure on companies to denounce nationwide GOP efforts to tighten state voting laws. A joint statement from executives at nearly 200 companies, including HP, Microsoft, PayPal, Target, Twitter, Uber and Under Armour, took aim at state legislation “threatening to make voting more difficult” and said “elections are not improved” when lawmakers impose new barriers to voting.

Up to 40,000 fans will be allowed in at full capacity at Globe Life Field following Abbott’s scaling back of COVID-19 protocols.

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HOUSTON (AP) — A 14th woman has filed a lawsuit accusing Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual assault and harassment.

The claims in the latest suit, which was filed late Monday night in a Harris County state district court, are similar to those in the earlier cases in which the women accuse Watson of exposing himself, touching them with his penis or kissing them against their will while he got a massage. The most recent lawsuit was filed by a woman who alleges Watson assaulted her in July 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. Six others lawsuits were filed earlier Monday while the others were filed last week.

Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, has called the allegations “meritless,” while the NFL player has broadly denied he acted inappropriately.

The 14 women, who have sued separately, have not been identified in the lawsuits. They are represented by Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee, who’s said he planned to submit evidence from several of the women to investigators.

Authorities have declined to comment on the allegations.

The NFL has said it’s investigating the allegations against Watson.

Watson is one of the league’s top quarterbacks but has asked to be traded from the Texans, who had a 4-12 record last season.

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DALLAS (AP) — Three masseuses have sued Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson for alleged sexual assault, accusing the star player of a “disturbing pattern” of behavior toward women.

In lawsuits filed this week, two of the woman claim that Watson touched them with his penis during massages last year, and the third alleges he forced her to perform oral sex.

Watson, 25, has broadly denied that he acted inappropriately and said he looks forward to clearing his name.

“I have never treated any woman with anything other than the utmost respect,” the quarterback said in a statement posted to Twitter Tuesday. His attorney and agent did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Houston police spokeswoman Jodi Silva declined to comment on whether any of the alleged sexual assaults were reported to police, saying the department does not identify people who have not been charged with a crime.

The women, who are not named in the lawsuits, are represented by Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee. He did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday, but wrote in one of the lawsuits that “Watson’s behavior is part of a disturbing pattern of preying on vulnerable woman.”

According to the suits, the women live in Texas, Oregon and Georgia and work giving massages. Two claimed that during massages in March and August of last year Watson was sexually suggestive, exposed his genitals and moved toward them in ways that caused his penis to touch their hands. The lawsuit from the third woman describes similar behavior and alleges that during a massage in December, Watson “coerced” her into giving him oral sex. The woman did not consent and then “blacked out for a few minutes from fear,” the lawsuit states.

The alleged assaults took place at one of the women’s homes, a Houston hotel and an office building in the city, according to the suits. They state that Watson connected with the women over social media, where they advertised their businesses, and flew one of them from Atlanta to Houston for a massage.

Each woman is suing for compensatory and punitive damages, as well as court costs.
Texans spokesman Omar Majzoub said that the team first learned about the allegations against Watson through a social media post Tuesday.

“We take accusations of this nature that involve anyone with the Houston Texans organization seriously,” Majzoub said in a Wednesday statement. He declined to comment further Thursday.

Watson is one of the league’s top quarterbacks and led the NFL in yards passing last season. He signed a four-year, $156 million contract extension with the Texans last offseason, but he became unhappy with the direction of the team as Houston sunk to 4-12 and he requested a trade in January.

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By JAKE BLEIBERG | Associated Press

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By Jesse Newell The Kansas City Star

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas football’s home game Saturday against Texas has been postponed because of “KU’s inability to meet the minimum position requirements established by the Big 12 Conference,” KU announced Wednesday.

The game has been moved to Dec. 12. The Jayhawks previously were scheduled to end their season on Dec. 5 at Texas Tech.

KU said the position group affected had “a combination of injuries and contact tracing.”

The athletic department reported, since Nov. 8, that its football program has performed 825 COVID-19 tests, with five coming back positive on various testing days during that period.

This is KU football’s first in-season postponement because of COVID. Coach Les Miles, during Monday’s Big 12 teleconference, had previously said he was optimistic that the Jayhawks would be able to play this weekend’s game.

“We feel pretty good,” Miles said about his team’s COVID status Monday. “We’re going to get some test results back (Monday) I think, but we’ll be able to tell you more in the next day or so.”

Chancellor Douglas Girod previously announced Tuesday that all KU Athletics home events in November would take place without fans in an effort to prevent further virus spread; that includes KU football’s scheduled home game next week against TCU.

Fifteen FBS football games were postponed or canceled because of coronavirus last week, which included Missouri’s home game against Georgia.

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By Clarence E. Hill Jr. Fort Worth Star-Telegram

It’s now official.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will play the 2020 season on the franchise tag, worth a guaranteed $31.4 million.

Not only did Prescott and the Cowboys fail to get a long-term deal done before Wednesday’s deadline, but they didn’t even talk in the days and hours leading up to it.

What it means immediately is that Prescott will report and play the season with the highest one-year salary in franchise history. The two sides can’t resume negotiations until after the season.

What it means as far as Prescott and the team’s long-stated goal of coming to terms on a long-term deal to keep him in Dallas for years to come is anybody’s guess at this point.

If they couldn’t get a deal done now, one might question what hope is there for them to get done before the 2021 season when Prescott’s asking price will most certainly go up, especially if he has the season he and the Cowboys expect him to have under first-year head coach Mike McCarthy.

The exclusive franchise tag for 2021 is $37.7 million, if the Cowboys select that option again.

That number will be the baseline of any future long-term deal, which blows away the last offer the team made to Prescott in March.

Prescott turned down a five-year deal worth more than $34 million annually that included $110 million in guaranteed money.

Prescott wants a four-year deal. The Cowboys prefer to do five-year deals to help spread the money over the salary cap.

According to Pro Football Talk, the guaranteed money on the five-year offer was too low for Prescott and his agent, Todd France, to accept.

And neither side budged. However, both sides appear to be comfortable with Prescott playing the season on the franchise tag.

For Prescott, it’s another season of betting on himself to maximize his earning potential.

He did that in 2019 when he played for $2.1 million in the last year of his rookie deal and had the best statistical season of his career, passing for 4,902 yards and 30 touchdown passes to 11 interceptions.

While Prescott didn’t net a long-term deal, he is guaranteed $31.4 million in 2020 and obviously has the prospect of making millions more in future years. In just looking at the franchise tags, after 2021’s $37.7 million it balloons to $54 million in 2022, if the Cowboys choose to go that route.

The latter is not likely, which means he could hit the free-agent market for even bigger money after making $69 million in 2020 and 2021 combined.

It’s all on the table now.

Eight NFL quarterbacks have been hit with the franchise tag since 1993. Only two were forced to play under the tag after not getting long-term deals from their respective teams _ Drew Brees, then of the San Diego Chargers and Kirk Cousins, then of Washington’s NFL franchise.

Both ended up signing free-agent deals with other teams. Brees, who eventually signed with the New Orleans Saints, moved on after the one season under the tag largely because the Chargers drafted Phillip Rivers.

Cousins was tagged twice by Washington before signing with the Minnesota Vikings for three years and $84 million fully guaranteed before the 2018 season. He has since signed a two-year $66 million extension giving him a deal worth $96 million over the next three years.

It must be noted that signing Prescott in 2021 is not a bad option if the Cowboys are looking to save some cash in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic when the team is expected to lose money due fewer or no fans in the stands at AT&T Stadium.

But they will have to be creative.

As of now, they don’t have money under the cap to afford a franchise tag of $37.7 million.

But that is an issue for next year.

Prescott is playing on the tag in 2020.

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