LEADER-CALL

June 13, 2007

Bulldogs to meet Tar Heels
Miss. State to face North Carolina at 6 p.m. on Friday in Omaha at College World Series

From special, wire reports

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State learned Monday its official game schedule for the 2007 NCAA College World Series, which begins this Friday in Omaha, Neb.

The Diamond Dogs will open their play the national championship event Friday at 6 p.m. at Rosenblatt Stadium against the North Carolina Tar Heels, a contest which will be televised nationally by ESPN2.

State's second game in the CWS will be held Sunday against either Rice or Louisville, also on ESPN2. If MSU wins on Friday, Sunday's affair would be held at 6 p.m. If the Bulldogs are defeated Friday, they would then compete at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The Rice Owls will meet the Louisville Cardinals at 1 p.m. Friday.

The MSU/North Carolina loser faces the Rice/Louisville loser at 1 p.m. Sunday, while the two winners meet at 6 p.m.

On the other side of the bracket, the Arizona State Sun Devils will meet the Cal-Irvine Anteaters at 1 p.m. Saturday, followed by Oregon St. vs. Cal State-Fullerton at 6 p.m. Saturday. The losers and winners of those games will play on Monday.

Oregon State 8, Michigan 2

CORVALLIS, Ore. — The Beavers are headed back to Omaha.

Mike Stutes allowed two runs on three hits over eight innings and defending national champion Oregon State advanced to the College World Series with an 8-2 victory over Michigan on Monday night.

Darwin Barney went 3-for-5 with three RBIs for the Beavers (44-18), who’ll face Cal State Fullerton in their opening game Saturday. It’s Oregon State’s third straight trip to Omaha, where it won six elimination games before beating North Carolina for the title last year.

Stutes (10-4) struck out nine and walked one while allowing a pair of solo homers by Eric Rose.

Mike Wilson (7-1) lasted only 1 1-3 innings for the Wolverines (42-19). He gave up four runs in the second inning without giving up a hit. He hit a batter and walked three in the inning to force in Oregon State’s first run. Reliever Michael Powers walked in another run before allowing Barney’s two-run single to make it 4-0.

In Sunday’s opener, Michigan starter Zach Putnam had a no-hitter with two outs into the ninth, but Joey Wong singled to score the only run in Oregon State’s 1-0 victory.

The Beavers received an at-large bid despite finishing sixth in the Pac-10. They won the Charlottesville Regional as the No. 3 seed, beating Rutgers in the opener before losing to top-seeded Virginia in 13 innings. The Beavers eliminated Rutgers before beating Virginia twice to advance to the super regionals.