Mississippi State 5, Auburn 4

Marshall Gilbert turned a mostly forgettable night at the plate into a memorable one.

The No. 9 batter hit a bases-loaded single up the middle that capped a four-run ninth inning and gave Mississippi State a walk-off victory over Auburn in the College World Series on Sunday.

Gilbert had been 0 for 4 before he came to bat, following six teammates who had kept the line moving.

"First of all, I was in awe by everybody that was able to get the job done before me," Gilbert said. "It was incredible, the fact we could get to that point to where I was coming up to the plate, and all the at-bats prior to that I had kind of been a little off, missed some pitches. I kept getting encouragement from my teammates saying, 'Keep going, keep going, don't quit.'

Gilbert ripped a shot past pitcher Tanner Burns and just out of reach of second baseman Ryan Bliss. Dustin Skelton came home from third and the Mississippi State dugout emptied, with players running into right field to mob Gilbert after the Bulldogs' third walk-off win of the season.

"The bond we have is something that is hard to break," Gilbert said. "So believing in one another, going out there leaving it out there on your team, it pays off in the end. And we work every pitch to the last. You're never out of a ballgame and we all know that, so when we all believe in each other, good things happen."

The No. 6 national seed Bulldogs (52-13) threatened time and again before finally breaking through for their sixth straight win in the NCAA Tournament.

Auburn (38-27), making its first CWS appearance since 1997, was within an out of wrapping up the win. But third baseman Edouard Julien's wild throw to first on Dustin Skelton's grounder allowed Elijah MacNamee to score the tying run.

"For eight and two-thirds I just thought everybody associated did a nice job," Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. "Then we had a chance to win the baseball game — I don't think there's any doubt about that — and just one play away tonight."

Burns (4-4) intentionally walked Rowdey Jordan and Josh Hatcher beat Julien's throw to first on a soft grounder to load the bases for Gilbert.

"We fought to the last out and just kept competing," first-year MSU coach Chris Lemonis said. "We had a couple opportunities to drive in runs and didn't, but at the very end the grit of our ballclub played out and we were able to put some balls in play."

Cole Gordon (5-0) pitched one inning for the win.

Before the ninth, it had otherwise been a mostly frustrating night for the Bulldogs, who stranded 11 runners and had bases loaded in the fifth and sixth innings but came away with only one run.

Julien, who put his hands to his face and looked skyward after his off-target throw let in the tying run, had stood to be the Tigers' hero. He homered and drove in three runs against SEC pitcher of the year Ethan Small.

Small opened with five straight strikeouts before Rankin Woley singled and Julien drove a fastball 418 feet into the top row of the bleachers in right-center for a 2-0 lead. After Small issued three walks in the fourth, Julien singled in another run to make it 3-0.

Small, the Milwaukee Brewers' first-round draft pick two weeks ago, left after facing two batters in the sixth. He struck out eight to run his nation-leading season total to 176 in 107 innings, and the three earned runs he allowed matched his season high.

Auburn left-handed starter Jack Owen worked five shutout innings and left with no outs and two runners on base in the sixth. The Bulldogs finally broke through when Gunner Halter singled off reliever Elliott Anderson to cut it to 3-1.

Auburn turned to closer Cody Greenhill, who struck out Marshall Gilbert to end the sixth but was pulled after the Bulldogs' first two batters reached in the seventh.

Richard Fitts came on and induced a double-play ball and got Dustin Skelton to ground to second baseman Ryan Bliss, who was playing right behind the bag on a shift and threw him out at first.

Bliss made another big play during Fitts' 1-2-3 eighth inning, but Jake Mangum doubled leading off the bottom of the ninth, and Thompson brought in Burns to relieve for the first time in 33 career appearances.

"I remember being on defense with Cole pitching, and I had the weirdest feeling about this inning," MacNamee said. "When Jake hit that double, I said, 'Here we go.' When we had that first dude on, even though we were down there was a little confidence from having our leadoff man on base. He's the best leadoff man in the country."

Mississippi State plays a Bracket 2 winners' game Tuesday night against Vanderbilt, which beat Louisville 3-1.

Auburn meets Louisville in an elimination game Tuesday afternoon.

Vanderbilt 3, Louisville 1

Austin Martin homered on Reid Detmers' first pitch of the game and he went deep again in the seventh to break a tie in Vanderbilt's victory over Louisville.

Drake Fellows came off a poor outing in the super regionals to pitch seven strong innings and help No. 2 national seed Vanderbilt (55-11) improve to 4-0 in its CWS openers.

Martin homered twice for the second straight game, having hit two against Duke on June 9. He became the first player since Florida's Harrison Bader in 2015 to lead off a CWS game with a homer when he drove Detmers' initial offering out to left.

Martin's two-run homer off Bryan Hoeing (3-4) in the seventh barely cleared the wall in left center, but it was long enough to break a 1-all tie after Julian Infante doubled.

Fellows (13-1), a sixth-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres this month and the national wins leader, had worked the first four innings of an 18-5 loss to Duke in the super regional opener June 7.

No. 7 Louisville (49-17) had base runners in six of Fellows' seven innings but found a semblance of rhythm only in the fifth. No. 8 batter Justin Lavey started things with a double and scored on Henry Davis' base hit to tie it. Lucas Dunn and Logan Wyatt followed with singles to load the bases with one out, but Fellows got a flyout and groundout to snuff the threat.

Fellows allowed six singles and a double, walked one and struck out six before the bullpen took over. All-SEC closer Tyler Brown worked the ninth for his 15th save.

Detmers labored through the first three innings and he left with two outs in the sixth. Vanderbilt managed only one hit off the sophomore left-hander after Martin's homer and JJ Bleday's single in the first, but the ACC pitcher of the year walked a career-high six during his 102-pitch afternoon.

Vanderbilt caught a break in the sixth when Louisville's Lavey popped up in the grass behind first base. Running with two outs, Danny Oriente came around from second. Infante, the Commodores' first baseman, couldn't make the catch, but the ball had floated just foul, and the call was upheld on a video review.

Lavey ended up striking out, and the Cardinals had only three other batters reach base the rest of the way. They were just 3 for 16 with runners on base.

Late Saturday

Florids State 1, Arkansas 0

Drew Parrish limited Arkansas to five hits in eight innings and J.C. Flowers scored on a sacrifice fly in the ninth to give Florida State a win over Arkansas.

Parrish and Arkansas starter Isaiah Campbell engaged in a classic pitcher's duel sprinkled with outstanding defensive plays, neither team budging until the Seminoles broke through against reliever Casey Scroggins in the last inning.

The win was the sixth straight in the NCAA Tournament for Florida State (42-21), which is trying to bring retiring 40th-year coach Mike Martin his first national championship in 17 trips to the CWS.

Arkansas (46-18), which scored 30 runs in its three super regional games against Mississippi, including 14 Monday, was shut out for only the second time this season.

Parrish (8-5), the Seminoles' left-handed ace, hadn't made it past the fifth inning in his previous four starts. He was masterful against the Razorbacks, striking out nine and walking two and getting out of trouble every time he encountered any.

He was never better than in the eighth, when Christian Franklin doubled into the right-field corner leading off and was on third after a groundout. Still throwing 93 mph after crossing the 100-pitch threshold, Parrish struck out Casey Martin and Mike Goodheart with a pair of wicked changeups.

In the top of the ninth, Scroggins (3-1) hit Flowers with a pitch, and there were two men on base when shortstop Casey Martin scooped up Carter Smith's chopper up the middle and tried to tag Flowers as he slid into second. The ball popped loose and Martin's glove fell off, with Martin shaking his left hand in pain after the play.

Matt Cronin came on, and Matheu Nelson moved the runners over with a sacrifice. Flowers scored when right fielder Heston Kjerstad's throw home on Nander De Sedas' shallow sacrifice fly was up the third-base line. The play stood after Arkansas asked for a video review to see if Flowers left third base early.

Flowers, the Seminoles' center fielder and closer, came on in the bottom of the ninth to earn his 13th save, but not without a little drama. Fletcher grounded to shortstop Mike Salvatore, who made a clean pickup but bobbled the ball in his right hand before firing to first, where he got Fletcher in a close play upheld on video review. A lineout and strikeout ended the game.

Campbell effectively mixed his fastball, curve, slider and changeup over his 101 pitches in seven innings and struck out 10, his fifth time in double digits this season. He's given up two or fewer runs in seven straight starts.

It was the first 1-0 game at the CWS since Mississippi State beat Washington on the opening weekend last year.