LSU Athletics
By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY
OMAHA, Neb.–Last week Jay Johnson petitioned to go through the winners’ side of the College world Series Bracket for once.
His team has.
The Tigers dispatched of UCLA, 9-5, over the course of two days to advance to the bracket finals against the winner of the UCLA-Arkansas game later on Tuesday night.
Freshman Casan Evans took the ball in Tuesday’s resumption of play and carved up the pesky UCLA lineup for 4.1 innings. UCLA did not have a runner reach scoring position against Evans until the eighth inning.
Meanwhile, the Tiger offense wasted no time getting rolling in the morning restart. LSU immediately posted a two spot thanks to a pair of two-out RBI singles from a sizzling Steven Milam and Jake Brown. That made it 7-3 after four.
Daniel Dickinson’s bloop single to right field plated an insurance run in the seventh, and Jared Jones’ line drive single to right-center plated another in the eighth to make it 9-5.
The Tigers drove in five runs with two outs, all coming Tuesday morning
Jones delivered the big blow in the game, a towering three-run homer just over the right-centerfield wall in the bottom of the first on Monday night. That flipped a 3-1 UCLA lead to a 4-3 Tiger advantage they would not relinquish.
UCLA greeted Anthony Eyanson to the CWS rather rudely with a three spot in the first inning on Monday night. The ball only left the infield twice.
The Bruins used a pair of infield singles and a fielder’s choice RBI to plate a trip of runs against Eyanson. The junior right hander did record the next six outs on Monday night without any issue to steady things. Then the weather cut his outing short.
LSU appeared in total control up 8-3 with one out in the eighth, but it got dicey from there.
Evans hit Roman Martin on his final pitch of the game. Cooper Williams was summoned out of the bullpen to work through a quartet of left-handed bats. He promptly walked AJ Salgado. Payton Brennan reached on a fielder’s that plated a run, and Blake Balsz knocked in another with an infield single that Dickinson had no chance to record an out on.
After Williams walked Cashel Dugger to load the bases in an 8-5 game, Chase Shores came on to try to put out the fire.
He got nine-hole hitter Phoenix Call to ground to shortstop on the first pitch to extinguish the threat.
Shores retired the top of the Bruin lineup in order in the ninth to preserve the win and earn the save.
LSU was dealt a bad break by Mother Nature on Monday. Limiting Eyanson to nine outs really throws the pitching plans off.
Jay Johnson decided to go with his best arm in a game to make the path forward as doable as possible. The Tigers likely have to navigate Wednesday’s game without Kade Anderson, Eyanson and Evans.
On the flip side, they only have to win one more game where Arkansas and UCLA now have to win three straight.
THE SCORECARD
Casan Evans’s line: 4.1IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 5K, 68 pitches, 46 strikes
Steven Milam: 2-for-4, BB, RBI, R
Jared Jones: 2-for-4, HR, 4RBI, 2R
Jake Brown: 3-for-5, 2RBI, R
Derek Curiel: 1-for-4, R
LSU was 12-for-36 (.333) in the game
LSU was 9-for-21 (.429) with runners on base
LSU was 7-for-16 (.438) with runners in scoring position.
LSU was 7-for-15 (.467) with two out and drove in five two-out runs
UCLA only got the leadoff man aboard once in nine innings. It was the three-run first.
Roch Cholowsky: 0-for-5, K
The Bruins only had one extra base hit.
Neither team made an error.
WHAT’S NEXT
LSU now awaits the Arkansas-UCLA winner on Wednesday night. That game between the Razorbacks and Bruins is scheduled for 6:00 on Tuesday. The weather forecast is threatening, though.
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