Arkansas’ 11-1 win knocks Auburn out of College World Series

OMAHA, Neb. — Will McEntire limited Auburn to three hits and a run in seven innings, Peyton Stovall became the first player in 13 years with five hits in a College World Series game, and Arkansas eliminated the Tigers with an 11-1 victory Tuesday night.

The Razorbacks (45-20) moved to the Bracket 2 final against Mississippi. They would have to beat the Rebels on Wednesday night and again Thursday to go to the best-of-three CWS finals this weekend.

Auburn (43-22) finished with 18 more wins than a year ago and made it to Omaha after being picked last in the Southeastern Conference West.

McEntire gave the Hogs the quality start they needed after they used seven pitchers in a 13-5 loss to Ole Miss on Monday.

McEntire (2-2) retired the first 11 batters he faced before Sonny DiChiara singled to center with two outs in the fourth. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-hander struck out a career-high nine, walked one and didn’t give up a run until Bobby Peirce homered leading off the seventh.

“I’d say that’s No. 1,” McEntire said when asked where the performance ranked in his career.

Auburn starter Mason Barnett (3-3) allowed four runs and five hits in 2 2/3 innings.

Last season, McEntire sat out as a redshirt and already had joined his summer team in Minnesota when the Hogs played in super regionals. He watched those games from his motel room in Duluth.

This season, McEntire continued biding his time and didn’t make the travel roster until April. He made some midweek starts and worked out of the bullpen before earning a more significant role the last month. McEntire started the super regional-clinching win at North Carolina, throwing 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He was even better on a bigger stage Tuesday.

“He didn’t get many opportunities early, and when he got the opportunity he shined,” catcher Michael Turner said. “He’s taken advantage of every opportunity he gets.”

Relying on a four-pitch mix of a low-90s fastball, cutter, curve and changeup, McEntire struck out six in a row at one point.

“Wherever Turner put his glove, that’s where the ball was going,” Auburn’s Brody Moore said. “I thought he had really good command, and didn’t make as many mistakes as a starting pitcher usually does.”

McEntire’s confidence grew as his team got out to an early lead.

“I think the two losses we had, we scored one run in each game,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “That was going to be a challenge. Down the stretch, we had to tip our hat to too many starting pitchers. Conversely, I think it’s 10-plus runs that we gave up with two outs.”

Dettmer’s 7 shutout innings send Texas A&M past Irish

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nathan Dettmer pitched three-hit ball over seven shutout innings, and Texas A&M capitalized on Notre Dame’s mistakes to beat the Fighting Irish 5-1 in a College World Series elimination game Tuesday.

The No. 5 national seed Aggies (44-19) will play Oklahoma in the Bracket 1 final. They need to beat the Sooners on Wednesday and again Thursday to reach the CWS finals this weekend.

“This time last year we didn’t even have a coaching staff,” first-year coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “A third of this team wasn’t even a Texas A&M Aggie yet. We were still recruiting out of the transfer portal. You look up a year later and you’re playing in the final four of college baseball.”

The Irish (41-17) ended the season with their most wins since 2006 and first Omaha appearance since 2002.

“Well, if there’s a place you want to end it, it’s obviously here,” Notre Dame coach Link Jarrett said. “How we ended it was tough. That hurts. That wasn’t indicative of how our team plays.”

Dettmer (6-3) was working on three days’ rest after giving up seven runs and getting pulled in the second inning of Texas A&M’s 13-8 loss to Oklahoma on Friday.

“I’m not going to lie to you. After Friday, I felt just terrible, like I let my team down,” Dettmer said. “But to come back and have Coach give me the ball just two games later, all that confidence just flowed through me and to know they trust me … all I had to do was believe in myself. That’s what happened and had some success today.”

He bounced back with his best performance of the season. He got Notre Dame batters to swing over the top of his sinker and induced 10 groundouts.

“They obviously didn’t have fun with it,” Aggies third baseman Trevor Werner said. “It’s fun to play behind that because you know you’re going to get a lot of rollovers. We know when he’s on, we’re going to get a lot of plays. The whole team’s feeling good when Dettmer’s going.”