OMAHA, Neb. - Ricky Romero scattered nine hits in a complete game and Felipe Garcia went 4-for-4 to lead Cal State Fullerton to a 6-3 victory over Miami in the College World Series on Monday.
Romero (13-4) struck out seven and walked two.
The Titans play Wednesday against the winner of today's elimination game between the Hurricanes and South Carolina.
Fullerton (44-21) has won seven straight. Miami (50-12) saw its 13-game win streak end.
The Canes' J.D. Cockroft (9-5) lasted 32/3 innings, his shortest outing in 12 starts, and gave up nine hits and five runs. He fell victim to four errors.
The Titans converted two hits and three errors into three runs in the second and scored in the third and fourth on hits by Bobby Andrews and Garcia.
Miami pulled within 5-3 in the seventh when Gaby Sanchez scored on Richard Giannotti's triple. Roger Tomas followed with a run-scoring single. But Romero got Ryan Braun to fly out and Jim Burt to ground out.
S. CAROLINA 15, LSU 4: Kevin Melillo had four hits and was ejected and reinstated after a collision at home plate as the Gamecocks eliminated the Tigers. South Carolina trailed 3-1 before it got six runs, four unearned, with two outs in the sixth. The Gamecocks had the bases loaded with two outs when Nick Gardiner singled to right off Lane Mestepey. Landon Powell scored easily, but Melillo collided with LSU catcher Matt Liuzza after the ball bounced under Liuzza's glove. Umpire Bob Homolka called Melillo safe but ejected him for not trying to avoid the collision. South Carolina coach Ray Tanner protested, and after the umpiring crew consulted, Homolka's decision was reversed.
RECOMMENDED REFORM: All athletes transferring to Baylor should undergo criminal background checks and allow access to disciplinary records at previous colleges, a university task force recommended. Several recruiting policy recommendations were made by the task force, formed to address NCAA violations and other problems discovered last summer after basketball player Patrick Dennehy was killed. His former teammate, Carlton Dotson, was charged with murder and is jailed in Waco, Texas, awaiting an August trial. Both transferred to Baylor in the summer of 2002.
BASKETBALL: Missouri hired former Texas A&M coach Melvin Watkins as an assistant.
FOOTBALL: Miami recruit Willie Williams pleaded no contest to two charges stemming from a January recruiting visit to Florida. Williams was sentenced to a total of one year of probation and was ordered to pay restitution for a misdemeanor charge of hugging a female student against her will and a felony charge of setting off fire extinguishers in a Gainesville hotel. The plea means Williams violated his probation, and he will meet with a judge about it June 30.
AWARDS: Stanford swimmer Tara Kirk won the Broderick Cup, given to the nation's female athlete of the year. She set the world record in the 100-meter breaststroke and won four straight NCAA titles. ... Arkansas track coach John McDonnell was named national outdoor coach of the year for the 27th time.
