LSU withstands Tennessee rally in CWS opener, will face No. 1 Wake Forest on Monday in winners’ bracket

LSU advances in the winners’ bracket to play Wake Forest on Monday! 

LSU’s first game of the College World Series was an SEC matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers as the Tigers looked to advance to the winners’ bracket to face Wake Forest.

A late rally from the Vols made things interesting, but LSU managed to hold on for a 6-3 win to set up a matchup against the Demon Deacons on Monday.

[autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag] put the Tigers on the board in the bottom of the second inning with a solo homer to give LSU a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third inning, LSU extended their lead to 2-0 after [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] hit an RBI groundout to the pitcher. In the bottom of the sixth inning, LSU tacked on two more runs thanks to a [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] RBI triple and an RBI single by [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag] to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead.

 

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Morgan hit a sacrifice fly to score [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] to extend the lead to 5-0 Tigers. In the top of the eighth, the Vols struck back.

Tennessee scored three runs as an RBI single chased [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] from the game and [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] was greeted with a 2-run homer to cut the lead to 5-3 heading into the ninth inning.

Skenes’ day was finished after he pitched 7.2 innings and allowed two runs on five hits, 12 strikeouts, and a walk. [autotag]Riley Cooper[/autotag] replaced Guidry to get the final out of the inning.

In the top of the ninth inning, Jobert got his third hit of the day as he tacked on another run via a solo homer to right field to make it 6-3.

Cooper stayed in to pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning. He sat down three of the four hitters he faced and the Tigers won 6-3.

LSU advances in the winners’ bracket to play Wake Forest on Monday night at 6 p.m. CT.

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