LSU Sets Up Rematch With Wake Forest With Men’s College World Series Finals Appearance On The Line
OMAHA—The heavyweight battle between LSU and Wake Forest will have a part III.
Wake on Monday won the first go-round in the winner’s bracket game, 3-2. LSU on Tuesday took down Tennessee, 5-0, to set up a rematch against Wake in the bracket final. The Tigers on Wednesday powered past the Demon Deacons, 5-2, to force a rematch Thursday. The winner of that game will advance to this weekend’s championship series to play Florida.
The Tigers fell behind early, as lefthander Javen Coleman, making his first start since May 20 at Georgia, struggled with his control and walked four of the nine batters he faced. The Deacs pushed two runs across on a single from Tommy Hawke. Wake was 40-4 coming into Wednesday when it scored first and given the quick start by one of the most dangerous offenses in college baseball against an uncertain pitching staff, it might have been off to the races for the Deacs.
But LSU’s pitching staff has dug deep in Omaha. Freshman lefthander Griffin Herring came into the game to get the final out of the second inning and he silenced the Wake lineup. He threw 4.2 scoreless innings and struck out six batters, holding the Deacs to three hits and a walk.
Herring had not thrown more than three innings this season. But, like lefthander Nate Ackenhausen on Tuesday against Tennessee, he rose to the occasion to help LSU stay alive in Omaha.
Herring said as well as he pitched Wednesday, he never felt like he settled into the game.
“I was just kind of out there throwing the ball and just looking at (Alex Milazzo),” he said. “That was pretty much it. I never really felt like, ‘yeah, I’m really in this, like, they can’t touch me.’ I was just throwing the ball.”
Freshman righthander Gavin Guidry followed with 1.1 scoreless innings before lefthander Riley Cooper, who has turned into LSU’s bullpen ace in Omaha, got the final four outs. It was his third save of the season—all of which have come in the CWS.
In all, LSU’s bullpen combined for 7.2 scoreless innings against a team averaging 9.3 runs per game. They struck out 10 batters and scattered six hits and two walks. In Omaha, the Tigers’ bullpen has combined to hold opponents to two runs on 13 hits and six walks in 15 innings, striking out 19.
While LSU’s pitching aside from All-American righthander Paul Skenes has been questioned throughout the season, it has proven itself up to the challenge in Omaha.
“We just want to win,” Cooper said. “So, we’re just doing our part because we always know the hitters got our back. We thought we should get even with them and win some games.”
On Wednesday, with the bullpen holding Wake at bay, LSU’s hitters went to work. The Tigers scored a run in the second inning on a double from Brayden Jobert. In the third, they broke through with a four-run inning highlighted by Cade Beloso’s three-run home run to right field.
LSU’s four-run third was the rare big inning given up by the Wake pitching staff this season. It was just the ninth time in 65 games this season that the Deacs have given up at least four runs in an inning and the first time it has happened since May 20 against Virginia Tech.
Coach Jay Johnson said the key to the inning was the Tigers’ ability to get back locked into their approach at the plate after a poor start to the game. Wake starter Seth Keener set LSU down in order in the first inning on 11 pitches.
“We actually talked about a scenario where if you lose your plan in the postseason, that this can get away from you and it’s over,” Johnson said. “Just like that.”
After that poor first inning, LSU was able to reset. The Tigers didn’t have their best offensive night but got two big extra-base hits and drew six walks. While the Deacs went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base, the Tigers were 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left just six runners on base.
LSU and Wake are set for a decisive third game to this heavyweight battle. The Tigers and Deacs are the only two teams to rank No. 1 in the Top 25 this season and now they will play a winner-take-all game with a spot in the championship series on the line.
If that alone wasn’t enough, the pitching matchup in Thursday’s game is likely to be between All-Americans Rhett Lowder and Paul Skenes. The two were named pitcher of the year in their respective conferences and are projected to be top-10 picks in next month’s draft—Skenes likely going in the top three picks and Lowder slightly behind him.
Neither Johnson nor Wake coach Tom Walter committed to Lowder and Skenes as starters and both will be pitching on shorter rest than normal after both started Saturday.
“We’ll talk to (Skenes) tonight,” Johnson said. “I think it’s a day-by-day deal. We have a pre-throw process that we go through with pitchers and their availability and testing and recovery and all of those types of things. So, we still need to go through that tomorrow before we make any decision.”
“I’m not 100% sure on Rhett,” Walter said. “We’ll have to talk to him and see how he feels tomorrow and make a decision on that. Knowing Rhett, he’ll probably be on the board tomorrow. But we’ve got (Camden) Minacci and (Cole) Roland and (Michael) Massey and (Will) Ray and (Derek) Crum and (Reed) Mascolo. We’ve certainly got plenty of pieces tomorrow.”
After the way the first two games between LSU and Wake have gone, Thursday has a lot to live up to. But the final installment of this showdown also has the promise to be the best yet as the stakes reach another level.
