LSU baseball doesn't have the lauded bullpen of Wake Forest, but they don't much care. That's the group that carried the Tigers again in a 5-2 victory over Wake Forest to set up a winner-take-all rematch.
LSU got a gem from Griffin Herring after a short outing from starter Javen Coleman, and made an early lead on a bomb from Cade Beloso hold up in yet another elimination game.
"[Beloso is] one of those guys that feels like he was born to hit a line drive somewhere," Johnson said. "I mean, it’s just, he has that kind of feel to him. And that’s why he’s sitting right where he is in that order, is that you trust him to come up with guys on base and give you a quality at-bat, and that was a great one today.”
Unlike their previous three games, the Tigers had to dig out of a hole early after a short start by Javen Coleman. The lefty walked two players in each of the first two innings and only got through 1.1 before leaving in a bases loaded jam with one out. Blake Money took over and allowed a hit to Tommy Hawke to plate two runs. Money got the next out, then gave way to freshman Griffin Herring to close out the inning and minimize the damage.
From there Herring took over for another outing that lasted a lot longer than anyone would've anticipated. He took things into the 6th inning with one out, and left the game in a jam of his own with runners on first and third with one out and the NCAA leader in home runs Brock Wilken up at the plate. Jay Johnson turned the ball over to another freshman in Gavin Guidry, who responded with back-to-back strikeouts to close out the inning and what felt like Wake's best threat to get back into the game. Herring went in the books with 4.2 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits and striking out 6.
It was his longest outing of the season, having gone 3 innings four separate times throughout the year.
“Pure adrenaline. This place is awesome," Herring said. "I think I kinda was able to feed off the adrenaline, instead of letting it get to me, kind of like a steroid shot. Pretty cool.”
The LSU offense also took advantage of its chances early, with Cade Beloso walking in the bottom of the second and advancing to second on a ball that cleared catcher Bennett Lee. Brayden Jobert followed with a double that was laced just inside the right field line.
The Tigers got to Wake Forest starter Seth Keener for the big numbers in the third inning. He issued a walk to Dylan Crews then allowed a single to Tre' Morgan, sandwiching a Tommy White strikeout. Keener then issued another walk to Gavin Dugas to load the bases before another ball got behind Lee to play the tying run. Next up it was Beloso playing hero again, sending a three-run blast out to left field that marked the 5-2 score that was maintained the rest of the way. Keener went 4.1, allowing 4 hits and 5 earned runs while walking 4 and striking out 4.
The performance came on the heels of Nate Ackenhausen's 6-inning gem a day earlier in a win over Tennessee, showing LSU's maligned pitching staff might have been a bit underrated, after all.
Each team had its chances to score, but each was squandered. The Tigers had a threat brewing after back-to-back singles from Crews and White to lead off the 7th, but a failed bunt attempt by Morgan was caught harmlessly by the third baseman, then Dugas grounded into a quick double play. Demon Deacons reliever Sean Sullivan gave his squad a chance, going 3.2 innings and allowing just 2 hits while striking out three.
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Wake Forest spoiled its own opportunity in the next half-inning, with back-to-back two-out hits chasing Guidry from the game. He was replaced by the ever-reliable Riley Cooper, who allowed hard contact to Hawke but a ball that was laced right at White standing at third base. Cooper came back for the 9th and did his thing, notching three straight outs, including a pair of Ks, to close out the game without issue.
The result means the two squads get to do it all again on Thursday in a winner-take-all final game. Both squads are expected to throw their aces, with Paul Skenes and Rhett Louder coming off short rest. The winner will move on to face Florida in the championship series, with the Gators punching their ticket in a win over TCU earlier in the day.
“It’s just another game," Beloso said. "We’re not going to make it anything bigger than it is. It’s the same game we’ve been playing since February. We’re going to go out there, we’re going to have fun and we’re going to compete to the best of our abilities and let the rest take care of itself. But, yea, we’re not going to make it some massive thing. Today, everybody knows the scenario, but you don’t have to put any more pressure on yourself, just go out there and have fun.”
Should the Tigers pull off the difficult march out of the loser's bracket, it'd mirror their road in 2017 when they lost their second game to top-seeded Oregon State, then came back to defeat that same team twice to get to the title series, when they also faced off with Florida.
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