Game 1: Tigers, Chanticleers battle for a national title

By Hunt Palmer

OMAHA, Neb,–It’s hot. It’s windy. And it’s time for LSU to play for No. 8.

Meanwhile, Coastal Carolina is looking to join South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Oregon State, Texas and LSU as multi-time College World Series winners in the first quarter of this century.

LSU has been as consistent as any team in college baseball this season, winning 14 of 17 weekends excluding the single-elimination SEC Tournament. Coastal is the sport’s hottest team, ripping off 26 straight wins.

The matchup features a blue blood and the nouveau riche. It’s Jay Johnson’s redemption for 2016’s heartbreak. And LSU’s for the super regional three weeks earlier. It’s Coastal Carolina’s chance to become a national power.

It’s going to be a spectacle.

CAM AND KADE

Power arms will take the mound for the series opener.

Coastal Carolina is turning to Cameron Flukey (7-1, 3.29ERA) who has been the team’s No. 2 starter this season.

Flukey has faced Auburn and Arizona in his last two starts and totaled 9IP, 8H, 5R, 5ER, 4BB, 7K.

He’s a 6-foot-6 power arm with a fastball that routinely sits in the mid 90s and can get to 98 mph. He features a loopy curveball around 75 mph (20 mph difference) as well as a slider and a changeup that both sit in the mid-80s.

He’s a huge talent who has overwhelmed some of the lesser teams on Coastal’s schedule. Flukey, in my opinion, would be a quality weekend starter in the SEC. I think his numbers are a little inflated with the Sun Belt schedule.

Kade Anderson dismissed any possible quibbles with his super regional start against West Virginia by shoving Arkansas in a locker on Saturday night in the opener. He worked seven innings and was only dinged for a solo homer. Every strikeout he records Saturday will add to his national lead.

Anderson has the perfect temperament for this spot and the stuff to match it. The Tigers are 16-2 in his 18 starts this year.

LOUSY VERSUS LEFTIES

On paper, there’s a lot to like about Coastal Carolina. If there is one issue, it might be facing left-handed pitching.

Entering the College World Series, the Chanticleers are 94^th in the country in OPS against lefties, and the strikeouts have been a big problem. Coastal ranks 267^th in strikeout rate (24%) against lefties. Put differently, 266 teams strike out less often than Coastal against lefties. Forty strike out more often. Here comes Anderson who happens to be left-handed AND lead the nation in strikeouts.

Only three of Coastal’s nine projected starters for Saturday hit left-handed. Still, the Chanticleers have not seen anything like Anderson.

Lastly, Coastal has been hit by pitches more often than anyone in college baseball history this year. Anderson has hit three batters this year.

BRASWELL’S BAT

Michael Braswell is likely mired in the worst slump of his baseball life. I don’t have the stats from his high school years or machine pitch numbers from Georgia, but I’d imagine 1-for-35 is the worst it’s ever been.

He also hasn’t made an error since April 5 in Norman.

Coastal has the second best ERA in college baseball, and LSU has the best 1-2 starter punch. With the wind howling in from right field, as projected, runs figure to be at a premium. Errors can be back breakers, and bunts likely have to be handled.

Braswell will do that for LSU.

Secondly, Tanner Reaves is hitting .262 after 65 at bats. It’s not as if Braswell is keeping a thumper on the bench. I expect Braswell to play on Sunday, though I won’t completely stunned to see Reaves. I also expect Tiger fans to give a bit of the “Jordan Thompson treatment” to Braswell when he comes to the plate. Thompson delivered a huge hit against Florida in game three of that series as the purple and gold clad fans cheered him boisterously amid his slump.

Brad Cresse famously busted out of his struggles with the winning hit in 2000. Braswell ain’t Cresse, and he likely wouldn’t even take the at bat with the championship on the line. But a big bunt or swing would be an incredible story for the senior third baseman.

WIND WHIPPING

The forecast for Saturday night suggests the wind could gust in from right field at over 20 mph. Coastal probably doesn’t care. The Chanticleers haven’t hit a home run in Omaha yet. LSU did a great job Monday and Tuesday to hit the ball hard and low against the UCLA staff.

The game will be won by hard ground balls that find holes and line drives. Someone may sneak a ball out of the ballpark right down either line, but manufacturing runs will be more important.

Expect some bunting and creative baseball from both teams considering the ballpark and the conditions.

BULLPEN BULLETS

Coastal wants to get the ball to Ryan Lynch and Dominick Carbone. Lynch has allowed two earned runs on the entire season, none since March 22. He’s the right-handed closer with nine saves.

Carbone is left-handed and has 50 strikeouts in 40 innings. Those two will be called on if Coastal has a lead.

I think LSU is looking for the same recipe we saw last weekend when Anderson worked seven and Casan Evans and Chase Shores slammed the door.

Evans has been brilliant his last two times out, and Shores got hit by a great lineup on Wednesday, but he threw strikes. He hasn’t issued a single walk in his last four appearances which have spanned 4.2 innings. He did hit a batter against Arkansas which is significant since Coastal has set the national record for hit batsmen, but Shores has thrown the ball really well for two weeks after a poor showing against Little Rock.

The winning team probably gets their guys in the game. The trailing team may have to pitch down a little bit.