UCLA, Arizona both victorious in CWS opener

Omaha, NE – Johnny Field's RBI double in the top of the 12th inning lifted the Arizona Wildcats over the Florida State Seminoles, 4-3, to cap the opening day of the 2012 College World Series.

After Joey Rickard hit a one-out double to left-center, Field sent a ball into the right-center field gap that skipped off the base of the wall to bring home the deciding run.

Seth Miller was hit by a pitch and later moved to third with two outs to place the tying run 90 feet away in the bottom of the 12th, but Mathew Troupe fanned Devon Travis on the eighth pitch of his at-bat to end the game.

It was the first meeting between the schools in Omaha since the 1986 championship game, which Arizona won 10-2.

Kurt Heyer started the game for the Wildcats and allowed three runs -- one earned -- on six hits and three walks with eight strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings, while Brandon Leibrandt gave up three runs -- two earned -- on six hits over 4 1/3 innings for Florida State.

Arizona opened the scoring in the third when Riley Moore singled to lead off the frame and later came home on a base hit by Rickard. Rickard then moved to second on shortstop Justin Gonzalez's fielding error and came home on Robert Refsnyder's single to center field, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

Sherman Johnson started the bottom of the third with a blast to right field to bring Florida State within one, but Arizona answered with Refsnyder's RBI single in the fifth inning to regain its two-run advantage.

The Seminoles, though, were able to knot the game at 3-3 in the sixth inning when Jayce Boyd reached on a throwing error by Arizona third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean and Josh Delph worked a two-out walk before both crossed the plate on John Holland's double into the left-center field gap.

Earlier on Friday, Jeff Gelalich, Kevin Williams and Pat Valaika each knocked in a pair of runs as the UCLA Bruins defeated the Stony Brook Seawolves, 9-1.

Sophomore right-hander Adam Plutko fired seven strong innings for the Bruins, yielding just one run on seven hits and two walks, while striking out seven to earn the victory.

It's UCLA's fourth appearance in the College World Series and second in the last three years, while Stony Brook made the trip to Omaha for the first time in school history.

The fourth-seeded Seawolves, who are just the second team in CWS history to make the tourney as a No. 4 seed, got a forgettable outing from starter Tyler Johnson. The senior right-hander was touched for seven runs on five hits and four walks in just 2 1/3 innings.

Pat Cantwell provided the only offense for Stony Brook with a home run in the top of the third inning.

Fresno State was the only other No. 4 seed to reach the College World Series before going on the win the national title in 2008. The Seawolves must now win out if they wish to repeat Fresno State's feat.

UCLA struck for five runs in the first inning and never looked back. Gelalich sparked the rally with a two-run single before Kevin Kramer capped the push with an RBI base hit that bounced off the third-base bag.

Cantwell's homer in the third made it a 5-1 contest, but the Bruins responded in the bottom half on Williams' two-run double to center before RBI singles in the fifth and eighth, respectively, made it a 9-1 contest.

All four teams will be back in action on Sunday, with UCLA and Arizona facing off against each other, while Stony Brook will square off with Florida State in this double-elimination tournament.