The Arizona Wildcats improved to 3-0 in the 2012 College World Series Thursday night with a 10-3 victory over the Florida State Seminoles. It was a dominant performance from the Wildcats, who opened with a six run first inning and never looked back.
Arizona wasted no time in getting to Seminoles starting pitcher Brandon Leibrandt, who gifted four of the six runs the Wildcats scored. After giving up a leadoff single to Joey Rickard, a throwing error by Leibrandt set up runners at the corners with no outs. Alex Mejia then singled, driving in the first run. Leibrandt walked the next man up, loading the bases. A sacrifice fly by Seth Mejias-Brean made it 2-0 Wildcats, and after a double steal another walk loaded the bases again. Joeseph Maggi then scored two with a single and advanced to second on a throwing error by left fielder Jose Brizuela. That was it for Leibrandt, who exited the game having collected only one out. Luke Weaver took the mound and gave up a two RBI single to Trent Gilbert before ending the inning.
Florida State got on the board in the fourth inning, but the damage was limited to an RBI double by Justin Gonzalez. Arizona responded immediately, adding four more in the bottom of the inning. Robert Refsnyder started things with a solo home run, Bobby Brown a two RBI home run, and an RBI single by Joey Rickard made it 10-1 Arizona.
Florida State picked up 11 hits and added two more runs, but the outcome of the game was never in question. Arizona starting pitcher Kurt Heyer gave up managed to hold the Seminoles to two runs over 7.1 innings, and Tyler Crawford gave up one run on two hits in 1.2 innings of relief. The loss eliminates Florida State and sends Arizona to the Championship Finals, where they will face the winner of Arkansas vs. South Carolina. The reaction to the game from SB Nation's Wildcats blog, Arizona Desert Swarm, can be found here. A complete tournament bracket can be found at the official NCAA website.
Stick with this storystream for bracket updates, recaps and more from the 2012 College World Series. For all things Arizona Wildcats, head over to Arizona Desert Swarm.