The Greatest Show on Dirt fires up Friday in Omaha. LSU won’t be there.
However, the Tigers have made their mark on Charles Schwab Field over the last three seasons. National titles No. 7 and 8 are displayed proudly on The Intimidator back home in Baton Rouge.
When folks recall Jay Johnson’s two championships in Baton Rouge, Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews come to mind. So does Tommy White’s walk off. The 2025 run was highlighted by Kade Anderson’s stellar efforts and the manic ninth inning that propelled LSU to the finals and sent Arkansas home.
Tre Morgan’s defense and Chase Shores’s velocity were hallmarks of those efforts, too.
My goal in this piece is to shed some light on some of the lesser remembered moments. Many LSU fans will have rewatched the highlights over the years and may have a better recollection of some of these performances and moments than others.
They were all essential to hoisting the hardware in Omaha.
2023
Game 1 – Tennessee
LSU controlled this game early on as the Tigers did with most of Skenes’s starts. It was 5-0 Tigers when Maui Ahuna singled to score Tennessee’s first run in the eighth inning. That chased Skenes, and Gavin Guidry allowed a two-run homer to Hunter Ensley to cut the lead to 5-3. The Vols had momentum and Skenes out of the game. Riley Cooper got the final out of the eighth with the tying run at the plate.
The moment here is Brayden Jobert’s solo shot in the bottom half of the eighth to give LSU some more breathing room at 6-3. That stemmed Tennessee’s momentum and helped LSU get the win in the opener.
BRAYDEN JOBERT CATAPULTED THIS HOME RUN OVER THE RIGHT FIELD FENCE FOR AN LSU INSURANCE RUN#CollegeBaseball #MCWS #ThePowerhouse
— The College Experience (@TCEonSGPN) June 18, 2023
Game 4 – Wake Forest
After Wake beat Ty Floyd and Nate Ackenhausen carved up Tennessee, LSU had to stare Wake down twice. Skenes wouldn’t pitch until Game 5. Without either of its best starting options, LSU pitching was thin facing the nation’s most feared offense. Javen Coleman got the start, but the moment is Griffin Herring’s coming out party. The freshman southpaw fired 4.2 shutout frames allowing just three hits and a walk with six strikeouts. His long outing on the season prior to that was three innings. He was herculean in a 5-2 Tiger win to force the decisive game.
Game 5 – Wake Forest
You know the classic moments from this game. One of those is Morgan’s squeeze bunt defense to erase the go-ahead run in the eighth. What many might forget is that the inning continued with runners at first and second and two out. Digging in was Demon Deacon leadoff many Tommy Hawke who hit .351 that year and might have been the last guy LSU wanted to see in that spot. He was left-handed and just slapped at the ball. Against Skenes, that was the best approach. Hawke hit a screaming line shot that stayed up for Josh Pearson in left. You could have hung laundry on it. If that falls, Wake leads. Huge.
The second underrated moment was the outing from Thatcher Hurd. With LSU’s season on the line, Hurd and his nearly 6.00 ERA fired three shutout innings, the 9th, 10th and 11th. The final out he recorded was with two on and two out in the 11th against Brock Wilken, the all-time ACC home runs leader and Wake Forest record holder for single season homers, runs and walks. Hurd induced a harmless fly ball to center. Tommy Tanks stole the show in the bottom half, but Hurd’s efforts allowed that to happen.
Wake Forest puts runners on first and second, but Thatcher Hurd gets Brock Wilken swinging on a really good breaking ball to end the threat. All tied at 2 as we head to the 8th! pic.twitter.com/I6HzAZd8st
— Peter Flaherty III (@PeterGFlaherty) June 20, 2023
2025
Game 1 – Arkansas
This one was the weekend headliner. Zach Root vs. Kade Anderson in a matchup of two of the best left-handers in the country. But not for long. In the Tigers’ second, LSU put runners at first and second with one out. Daniel Dickinson, playing with a broken hand no one knew about, dropped down a perfect bunt for a single. That helped lead to a three-spot that chased Root and forced Dave Van Horn into his bullpen two innings into the tournament. Chris Stanfield’s RBI single and Pearson’s RBI fielder’s choice dented the scoreboard, but Dickinson’s effort there playing hurt was a big, big deal as LSU dispatched Arkansas behind Anderson.
Game 3 – Arkansas
The Hogs led 1-0 thanks to a career outing from Landon Beidelshies. LSU struck in the bottom of the sixth in a massive moment that preceded the unbelievable in the ninth. Ethan Frey doubled as the tying run. Steven Milam was hit. That’s when Van Horn went to ace reliever Gabe Gaeckle who had carved LSU up on three nights prior. Luis Hernandez bunted the runners to second and third with one out, and Jared Jones struck out on a slider. This brought decision time, and Johnson absolutely schooled Van Horn. With Pearson, a lefty, due up and Stanfield, a righty, to follow, Van Horn intentionally walked Pearson to allow the right-handed Gaeckle to face Stanfield. Johnson countered with Jake Brown off the bench. Brown delivered the two-run single to left-center to give LSU the lead.
After being called upon to pinch hit (against Gabe Gaeckle, no less), Jake Brown stays inside this CH and delivers a 2-run single into LCF. I’m a big Jake Brown fan – think he’s one of, if not the most underrated piece within LSU’s offense. pic.twitter.com/chyZACQbFg
— Peter Flaherty III (@PeterGFlaherty) June 19, 2025
In the eighth, Arkansas went back in front on the infield ground ball that LSU tried to turn two on when the ball skipped away from Jones at first. 3-2 Arkansas. Jones, with two out and no one on in the bottom half, launched a solo shot he absolutely needed. Of course, his swing in the ninth will be played back forever. It ended the game. But the eighth inning blast was huge, too.
Half an inning after handing the lead over to Arkansas because of an error at first base, Jared Jones redeems himself with this moonshot to tie the game in the 8th
Gearing up for an exciting finish 👀 pic.twitter.com/h3Q4xuGnPC
— Billy Mock (@BMock98) June 19, 2025
Game 5 – Coastal Carolina
Not much to say about Game 4. Anderson went the whole way. A couple of Game 5 hat tips, though. Stanfield started LSU’s scoring in the CWS opener against Root. He did it again against Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year Jacob Morrison with a line drive single to left to plated two. He was awesome.
STANNYYYY. TIGERS LEAD.@_chrisstanfield | ABC pic.twitter.com/6Jg7HjC7Uj
— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) June 22, 2025
And when people think about Chase Shores in Omaha, they’ll think about the radar gun and the final out. Shores was asked to pitch four times in five games for LSU. He worked seven innings. He did not walk a single hitter. A guy throwing 101 at that level while suffocating the strike zone is a nightmare for the vast majority of college hitters. He sure was in Omaha after struggling all season with command (31 BB in 56.2IP pre-CWS).
LSU won’t make any memories in Omaha this summer. But Tiger fans have plenty in the recent rearview to hold them over for a couple of weeks. Barrett’s will be a little bit quieter this year, and there will be a few less RVs across the street.
Maybe next year we’ll be back home in Omaha.
