College baseball: Boxwell's bat leads Gophers past UCLA in NCAA regional final

Gophers baseball
Minnesota's Alex Boxwell (2) rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run against UCLA in the third inning of an NCAA regional game Sunday, June 3, 2018, in Minneapolis.
Carlos Gonzalez | Star Tribune via AP

Alex Boxwell homered and doubled and drove in four runs, Jackson Rose pitched four innings of strong relief, and Minnesota won its first regional in 19 NCAA Tournament appearances under coach John Anderson with a 13-8 win over UCLA on Sunday night.

Boxwell's two-run homer gave the Gophers a 7-5 lead in the third inning, and he drove in two more runs with a double in a six-run fourth that broke open the game.

Toby Hanson also had a three-run homer for Big Ten champion and No. 14 national seed Minnesota (44-13), which earned its first berth in a super regional since that tournament format was introduced.

Minnesota won College World Series titles in 1956, 1960 and 1964.

Rose (5-1) relieved struggling starter Jake Stevenson, who gave up five runs in two innings. Rose limited the Bruins to one run and five hits over four innings.

Garrett Mitchell went 2 for 4 with three RBIs for the Bruins (38-21). Nick Scheidler (1-1), the second of six UCLA pitchers, took the loss.

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