LSU baseball has a script, apparently, and they played it to perfection in another 11-inning victory, this time 4-3 over Florida in a win that leaves the Tigers one win away from a 7th national championship.
For the second consecutive game the Tigers launched a home run in extras -- this time it was Cade Beloso -- after clutch pitching performance after clutch pitching performance. This time the pitching accolades belonged to Ty Floyd and Riley Cooper, who locked down yet another CWS game.
Floyd's night was among the the most impressive in the history of the College World Series, with a career-high 17 strikeouts over his eight innings of work. That figure also tied the CWS record for strikeouts in a 9-inning game. Floyd flummoxed Gators hitters constantly with well placed fastballs, but did allow 3 runs on 5 hits.
"He’s had a terrific season, and nothing better than that tonight. But we’re not sitting here in this position without Ty Floyd," head coach Jay Johnson said. "I think he’s one of the most underrated, underappreciated players in college baseball this year.”
The difference came in the 11th inning for the second consecutive game, this time with LSU playing as the road team and batting at the top of the inning. Beloso said he knew what to expect, because he'd faced Florida closer Brandon Neely in an earlier at-bat and was made to look silly on three fastballs for a strikeout. He had a fastball blown by him again for strike one, but he found it for the biggest swing of his life on the next pitch, depositing the ball over the right field wall for a 4-3 lead that would hold up as the final result.
"I knew he was coming back with it and they weren’t going to switch anything up" Beloso said, "and I finally got one that I was supposed to swing at and put a good swing on it.”
The Tigers had an abundance of chances as they harassed Florida starter Brandon Sproat, sending six batters to the plate in each of the first four innings. The issue is they were only able to scrape two runs across the plate in this opportunities. Sproat's night ended after 4 innings with 6 hits and 5 walks allowed to go with 7 strikeouts. Through 6 innings, LSU had left 13 runners on base.
Florida's first run came in the bottom of the third when Florida 2B Cade Kurland drew a walk, then ended up on third after superstar centerfielder Wyatt Langford sent a double to the right field wall. Gators 1B Jac Caglianone drove him in with a ball that booted off Tre' Morgan's glove, but was cleaned up by Jordan Thompson who fielded the ball and got it to Floyd covering the bag. Florida also scored its second run on an infield ground ball, with Kurland grounding out to Dugas, who mishandled the ball and didn't have a chance to make a play at home as Ty Evans scored.
Related
The Gators' third run was much louder, with catcher BT Riopelle sending a ball well over the right field wall.
Tommy White got off to a rough start, striking out in his first at-bat, then lining out with the bases loaded and one out in the second inning. But the extra-inning hero did what he does best in the 8th, sending an 0-2 pitch from Cade Fisher over the wall not far from where his walkoff blast landed on Thursday. The big swing tied the first game of the series 3-3 to set up yet another thrilling finish at a CWS that's featured so many of them.
"We just don’t get discouraged. … We’ve got good hitters and part of what good hitters do is they hit mistakes," Johnson said.
White's home run was the one real blemish on the freshman Fisher's performance, going 3.1 big innings in relief, allowing 4 hits and striking out 5. The Gators turned to Neely out of the bullpen, who got the final two outs without issue. Neely went 3.2 impressive innings in relief, but was tagged for Beloso's home run and the loss in the latest instant classic.
LSU got its scoring started early, with Dylan Crews getting hit by a pitch, then coming around to score on a Cade Beloso single through the left side after Gavin Dugas drew an 11-pitch walk. The Tigers expanded their lead in the third when Dugas belted a home run over the left field wall, his 17th of the season.
As Johnson explained, those two 5th-year seniors represent one of the two key pieces that any CWS team needs -- along with future pro talent -- and they made a massive contribution on the biggest stage.
"Those two guys [Beloso and Dugas] have made this situation, program, culture," Johnson said. "They are as important as anybody."
Rock-steady reliever Riley Cooper took the ball for the 9th inning and ran into trouble with a walk off Luke Heyman, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. But the big lefty settled in and struck out pinch hitter Richie Schiekofer to force extra innings for the second consecutive game.
Related
The 10th inning was a different story, with Cooper hitting Colby Halter on the hand, then an infield single to set up a walkoff opportunity for Langford. He nearly cashed in with a ball lined to left field, but Josh Pearson made an athletic grab over his head, and just missed a double-play as Halter scurried back to 2nd. Cooper then got Caglianone to pop out in the infield for yet another clutch hold and send a second consecutive game to the 11th. There was no shakiness over the final three outs, with Cooper forcing a flyout, then back-to-back strikeouts of Riopelle and Deric Fabian to seal the result.
The result means LSU sits just one win away from a 7th national title. The two teams will meet again Sunday at 2 p.m. Should the Gators win, there will be a winner-take-all game 3 on Monday.