Arizona's Robby Medel (34) hits the ball during practice at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., Friday, June 17, 2016. Arizona will play Miami on Saturday in the NCAA men's baseball College World Series. (AP Photo/Mike Theiler)
Arizona's Robby Medel (34) hits the ball during practice at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., Friday, June 17, 2016. Arizona will play Miami on Saturday in the NCAA men's baseball College World Series. (AP Photo/Mike Theiler) Credit: Mike Theiler

Omaha, Neb. — UC Santa Barbara and Arizona were best in the West. Thing is, the perception throughout college baseball is that the level of play was down in that part of the country this year.

The Gauchos and Wildcats are in position to change some minds now.

Both play their College World Series Bracket 1 openers today, with Santa Barbara (42-18-1) facing Oklahoma State (41-20) in the afternoon and Arizona (44-21) meeting No. 3 national seed Miami (50-12) at night.

“Fly the flag for the West? Yeah, I would say there’s a bit of that feeling, considering two teams from the West made it to the World Series when there wasn’t a (regional) host in the West. That’s a very difficult and challenging thing to do,” Santa Barbara coach Andrew Checketts said Friday.

The Gauchos are 5-0 in the NCAA Tournament after freshman Sam Cohen hit a pinch walk-off grand slam to complete a super-regional sweep at No. 2 Louisville last Sunday and send them to Omaha for the first time. The Wildcats have won six of seven, with Cesar Salazar’s two-out, bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 11th inning giving them a walk-off win at Mississippi State last Saturday. The Wildcats are here for the first time since winning the 2012 national title.

Sunday’s Bracket 2 openers pit No. 5 Texas Tech (46-18) against TCU (47-16) and No. 1 Florida (52-14) against first-time CWS participant Coastal Carolina (49-16). The winners in double-elimination bracket play advance to the best-of-three finals beginning June 27.

As the Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference dominated this season, Arizona tied for third in the Pac-12 behind a Utah team that had an overall losing record and Santa Barbara finished third in a Big West ranked eighth in conference RPI.

Eleven teams from the West made the NCAA Tournament, but for the first time since 1994 no team west of Lubbock, Texas, hosted a regional. Also, no western team was higher than No. 21 in the RPI after the regular season.

Soccer Italy, Spain Advance at Euro

Paris — Italy and Spain secured their second straight victories in the European Championship on Friday to advance to the knockout stages.

The pair join host France, which on Thursday became the first team to make into the round of 16.

Alvaro Morata scored twice as two-time defending champion Spain cruised to a 3-0 victory over Turkey.

Spain became the first team in the competition to score three goals in a game. Its victory left it top of Group D with a maximum six points and through to the next round.

Turkey’s second-straight defeat hasn’t quite ended its chances of progressing but it will most likely need to win its last game against the Czech Republic to stand a chance.

The other teams in Group D played out perhaps the most dramatic match of the competition so far. The Czech Republic salvaged a 2-2 draw with Croatia in Saint-Etienne in a game temporarily suspended when flares were thrown onto the pitch and Croatia fans fought among themselves.

Against the run of play, the Czechs earned their first point of the competition with two late strikes — the first time at Euro 2016 that a team has come back from two goals down. Following the restart, substitute Tomas Necid scored the equalizer from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time, which had been extended because of the flares.

College Football Briles Withdraws Court Filing

Waco, Texas — Fired Baylor coach Art Briles has withdrawn a demand for new lawyers in a federal civil rights lawsuit against him and the university amid reports he has settled a contract dispute with the school.

Briles’ lawyers had told a federal court Thursday he wanted attorneys separate from Baylor and had no intention of settling the lawsuit filed by a woman who was raped by a Baylor football player. The filing suggested a bitter court fight was brewing between Baylor and the coach who claimed his May 26 firing was wrongful termination.

Briles withdrew the motion Friday as multiple media outlets cited anonymous sources in reporting Briles and Baylor had reached a settlement on his contract, which ran through 2023. According to USA Today’s coaches’ salary database, Briles made $4.2 million in 2015. Baylor, a private school, has not disclosed contract details.

Baylor fired Briles after an investigation found the school mishandled sex assault allegations for years, including some made against football players.

Golf Thompson Takes LPGA Lead

Belmont, Mich. — Defending champion Lexi Thompson fought through back pain Friday to take the second-round lead in the Meijer LPGA Classic.

The 21-year-old Thompson shot a 4-under 67, rebounding from bogeys on 15 and 16 with birdies on the final two holes to reach 10-under 132 at Blythefield.

Canada’s Alena Sharp bogeyed her final hole to drop into a tie for second with South Korean players In Gee Chun, So Yeon Ryu and Q Baek. They all shot 67.

Thompson won the Honda LPGA Thailand in February for her seventh LPGA Tour title. The long-hitting Florida player, ranked fourth in the world, also won a Japan LPGA event last month. The back pain could be a major concern heading into the busy summer schedule and golf’s return to the Olympics.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko and No. 2 Brooke Henderson, coming off a playoff victory over Ko in the KPMG Women’s PGA, were together at 7 under after matching rounds of 68.