In a game that had all the heavy hitters a College World Series game could hope for, the pitching gave Wake Forest the edge over LSU. The Demon Deacons came away late with a 3-2 win over the Tigers and will move on to the Bracket Two final on Wednesday.
LSU has hope to continue its season, however, as the team will take on Tennessee tomorrow at 6 p.m. C.T. in an elimination game. The winner of that game will face off with Wake Forest on Wednesday at 6 p.m. C.T., with hopes of advancing to the College World Series final.
If Wake Forest were to lose that game, it would play again because that would be Wake’s first loss.
“Our main focus is winning,” Floyd said. “I know that tomorrow we’re going to come harder than ever.”
The matchup between the Tigers and the Demon Deacons came in with all the hype a college baseball fan could hope for. As expected, the game started as a chess match on the mound.
Below I will be providing updates on all the games in the College World Series whether LSU is playing or not, or until LSU is eliminated.
But Wake Forest came through at the plate when it mattered most.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Danny Corona got Wake Forest going with a double to right field. Corona finished one for three on the game. Bennett Lee then singled to left, allowing Corona to score from second and Wake Forest to take their first lead of the game. Lee finished two for three with two singles and an RBI.
Wake’s pitching was able to hold LSU scoreless yet again in the top of the ninth to secure the win.
There were a lot of expectations on Ty Floyd coming into Monday’s matchup, and to say he delivered would be an understatement. Floyd finished with 10 strikeouts in five innings pitched. He gave up two runs on two hits, and walked four.
He held Wake Forest scoreless up to the sixth inning, and that was everything LSU could have hoped for out of him. At that point, LSU looked to be the ones in control.
Thatcher Hurd came first in relief, and he was able to get the Tigers out of several jams, including a bases-loaded jam just after he came in in the sixth inning. But for a team as good as Wake Forest, it was a matter of time until they’d be able to cash in a run after knocking on the door several times.
Hurd finished with 3.0 innings pitched, struck out five and gave up a run on three hits.
“We were trying to win tonight with the best two guys we had available,” Johnson said. “They both pitched fantastic.”
Wake Forest provided the same level of difficulty for LSU on the mound that Floyd did, if not more difficult. Josh Hartle got the start and delivered for the Demon Deacons. In 6.0 innings pitched, he struck out nine and gave up two runs on four hits.
“Hartle has four pitches for strikes, Roland has a great breaking ball, Massey has a great arm,” Johnson said. “There’s a reason they’ve only lost 10 games all year with the pitching they have and the bullpen they have.”
Those two runs came in the third inning, when Tommy White single to center field, and advanced to second on a fielding error in center field. Tre’ Morgan then hit him in with a triple to left field. Both White and Morgan finished two for four on the game.
Morgan gave LSU their best shot to take the lead in the eighth inning, as he doubled to start the inning. However, Cade Beloso hit a ground ball to Brock Wilken at third, and Wilken threw Morgan out at home.
“As soon as the ball was hit I took off,” Morgan said. “I knew he was going to have an awkward throw, so I tried to get in the way a little bit. But he made a great play.”
But it was the bullpen pitching from Wake Forest that allowed it to keep its ground.
The Demon Deacons flexed their pitching depth by bringing in three straight relief pitchers after Hartle with below a 3.00 ERA. That statistic made itself known, holding LSU scoreless after Wake Forest tied the game at two.
Ironically, there were a combined 12 walks in the game from hits as opposed to a combined 10 hits from both teams on the game. These walks deemed were significant in the sixth inning for Wake Forest to tie the game. Tommy Hawke started the inning with a walk and scored off a single to center field by Brock Wilken. Wilken finished one for four. Pierce Bennett walked right after Hawke, and he scored on a fielder’s choice groundout to shortstop from Justin Johnson.
“We’ve been working, we’ve all been doing our work and we believe,” Camden Minacci said. “Just do the same thing every day, and we believe, and that’s why we win.”
The first game is complete, and it ended with a Tigers win. LSU took down Tennessee in the opening round of the College World Series 6-3 in Omaha.
LSU will now have another date with Tennessee on Tuesday night. The game will be aired live on ESPN from Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. Tennessee escaped Stanford 6-4 with an excellent performance from Chase Burns out of the bullpen.
If LSU wins, it will meet with Wake Forest again on Wednesday. If they lose Tuesday, its season is over.
“Nothing changes for us,” Morgan said. “Mentally, we always go out there and take one pitch at a time. We always play like it’s our last.”
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