Northwestern St. stays alive, blanks San Diego St. 9-0

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Tyler Smith hit a three-run homerun in the third inning and fourth-seeded Northwestern State went on to beat San Diego State 9-0 in an elimination game at the NCAA Corvallis Regional Saturday.

The Demons (38-23) will play the loser of the late game between Oregon State and LSU in another elimination game on Sunday.

Northwestern State starter Jerry Maddox (8-3) pitched a three-hit shutout over six innings and struck out four to pick up the win.

Smith finished 3 for 5 with four RBI to pace the Demon's 13-hit offensive attack. Kwan Adkins hit a two-run homerun in the 8th inning to close out the scoring for the Demons, who returned to the postseason for the first time since 2005.

San Diego State starter Garrett Hill (7-3) lasted just three innings giving up four runs on six hits in the loss for the third-seeded Aztecs (39-21).

Northwestern State fell 9-3 to Oregon State, the No. 3 national seed, in Friday's regional opener, while San Diego State fell 6-4 to LSU.