Tag: 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament

How to watch as No. 5 LSU baseball takes on No. 1 Wake Forest for spot in CWS semifinals

It’s almost time for a matchup we’ve been anticipating all season long.

It’s almost time for the matchup we’ve been anticipating all season long.

A battle between the unanimous preseason No. 1 team in LSU (which held that spot for most of the season) and the team that ultimately wrested that spot away from it in Wake Forest.

The Demon Deacons (53-10) have been the most consistent team in college baseball all season long. They’re loaded with talent, and like LSU, they enter this game unbeaten in NCAA tournament play.

Coach Jay Johnson’s team will look to change that on Monday night when the Tigers face off against Wake Forest. The winner will secure a spot in the College World Series semifinals on Wednesday, while the loser will have to face either Stanford or Tennessee in an elimination game on Tuesday.

Here’s what you need to know to watch Monday night’s winners’ bracket showdown.

LSU fans closing in on record at CWS Jell-O Shot Challenge

The Tigers continue to put the rest of the field to shame.

That’s right, folks.

It’s time for your daily Jell-O shot counter update.

The Tigers faithful in Omaha have been running away from the rest of the field this week in the competition, which is held annually at Rocco’s Pizza. The record was set last season by Ole Miss fans, downing just shy of 19,000 Jell-O shots.

However, as of 12:30 p.m. CT on Monday, just the fourth day of the College World Series, LSU sits at 12,836 Jell-O shots (which cost $5 apiece). The Tigers are ahead of the next closest contender — Wake Forest, which the team plays on Monday night — by more than 7,000 Jell-O shots.

If the Tigers are able to stick around in Omaha for a deep run, breaking the record seems to be clearly in sight for the LSU fans, who traveled well to Omaha this year, as always.

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College World Series Preview: What LSU fans should know about Wake Forest

Here’s what LSU baseball is up against when it faces Wake Forest on Monday night.

LSU won its first game of the College World Series behind a dominant performance from pitcher [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag].

Skenes struck out 12, with nine of those Ks coming in the first five innings.

The offense did its job too, led by a standout performance from [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag].

LSU will face a completely different animal in Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons are the top overall seed and have been No. 1 in the country since taking it from LSU midseason.

Wake’s loaded at the plate and on the mound and one look at the stats sheet makes it obvious why they were so good.

Here’s what you need to know before LSU faces Wake Forest on Monday night.

Recapping Day 3 of the College World Series

Welcome to Day 3 of the College World Series. One team was sent home and one team is now only one win away from playing for a national championship.

Welcome to Day 3 of the College World Series. One team was sent home and one team is now only one win away from playing for a national championship. Who are those teams? Let’s find out.

TCU took on Virginia in a heated elimination game that was a back-and-forth contest with each team giving it everything they had. In the end, the Horned Frogs lived to fight another day. They will have to make a quick turnaround as they will play again on Tuesday against the loser of the Florida/Oral Roberts game.

Speaking of that game, there was no shortage of drama as the Gators were forced to pull their All-American closer from the mound after taking too many mound visits in the eighth inning. The Golden Eagles loaded the bases in the eighth and the ninth inning only trailing 5-3 but they were unable to score more than one run. Florida moves on at 2-0.

Here’s a recap of all the action from the day, including yet another Jell-O shot update (spoiler alert: It’s all Tigers).

Paul Skenes breaks down dominant outing against Tennessee in CWS debut

Skenes pitched 7.2 innings, striking out 12 batters and allowing just two runs.

In the first College World Series appearance of his career, potential No. 1 overall MLB draft pick [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] didn’t flinch.

Skenes has been practically unbeatable all season, and he was dominant once again while leading the Tigers to a 6-3 win over the Tennessee Volunteers to advance to the winners’ bracket, where it will face No. 1 overall seed Wake Forest.

“It was awesome,” Skenes said regarding the atmosphere in Omaha, per On3. “Everything I could have asked for. Alex Box is pretty cool, but this is pretty cool, too. Awesome experience.”

In 7.2 innings, Skenes tossed 12 strikeouts Saturday night. He didn’t allow a run until the final pitch of his night, an RBI double, and he would be credited with a second earned run allowed after he was pulled.

Still, it was a nearly flawless outing for Skenes, who now has 200 strikeouts on the year and is just two away from tying the single-season program record set by [autotag]Ben McDonald[/autotag] in 1989.

“Just try to stay as relaxed as possible,” Skenes said regarding his pregame mindset, according to the ESPN broadcast. “If I get too amped up, then honestly that’s where I get into trouble. Honestly just trying to have fun with it.”

Skenes’ first 20 fastballs all surpassed 100 miles per hour, and he threw 46 total pitches on Saturday night in triple digits.

“Changeup for sure. Slider, curveball. Fastball was off and on, to be honest,” Skenes said of what worked most for him Saturday. “It was nice to be able to make pitches when I had to and had some good defense back there, too.”

LSU got the win with Skenes and will now look to upset the Demon Deacons in the winners’ bracket. The Tigers will almost certainly only see Skenes again if they can reach the national championship series, in which he would likely start the first game.

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LSU still way out ahead at CWS Jell-O Shot Challenge entering Day 3

To the surprise of no one, LSU is absolutely dominating in the Rocco’s Jell-O Shot Challenge.

The Tigers started the College World Series looking good on the field Saturday night, beating Tennessee, 6-3, in the only opening-round matchup in Omaha decided by more than one run.

That’s not the only place in Omaha LSU is excelling.

Three days into the Rocco’s Jell-O Shot Challenge, the Tiger faithful are putting the rest of the field to shame. LSU was pushing 4,000 shots in our update on Saturday, and that number has more than doubled as the second round of play is set to begin on Sunday.

LSU sits at 8,739 shots, nearly halfway to breaking the record Ole Miss fans set last season when they put down nearly 19,000 for the whole tournament.

On the field, LSU will return to action on Monday night when it faces top overall seed Wake Forest in a battle between the two remaining teams that haven’t lost a game during the NCAA tournament.

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Recapping Day 2 of the College World Series

Day 2 was not as crazy as Day 1, but it did feature some weather wackiness and a big-time Paul Skenes performance.

Day 2 of the 2023 College World Series was not as crazy as Day 1, but there was a lightning delay during Game 1. Wake Forest took on Stanford and LSU took on Tennessee in Bracket 2.

Stanford seemed to be in the driver’s seat during the first game of the day against Wake Forest, but a lightning delay changed everything. If you are a Demon Deacons fan, I guess you could call it divine intervention. After the delay, Wake Forest came out with more pep in its step. A two-run eighth inning carried it to a win over the Cardinal.

In Game 2, it was all [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] and LSU. Tennessee tried to come back in the eighth inning as it cut the lead to 5-3, but that’s as close as it would get as the Tigers won 6-3.

Here’s a recap of all Day 2 action (including a look at the current Jell-O Shot Challenge counter).

PHOTOS: LSU beats Tennessee 6-3 to kick off College World Series run

The Tigers will move on to face top-seeded Wake Forest in a battle of tournament unbeaten teams.

With the nation’s top pitcher in [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] in the mound, LSU cruised to the easiest win any team had in the opening round at the College World Series in Omaha.

Skenes was phenomenal once again, pitching 7.2 innings while allowing just two earned runs and striking out 12 batters. Behind his strong performance, LSU managed to withstand a three-run rally in the eighth inning as it held on for a 6-3 win.

Now, the Tigers move on to face No. 1 Wake Forest in the winners’ bracket. The Demon Deacons are also undefeated so far in the entire tournament, and they’re looking to become the first top seed to win a title since 1999.

Here were the best photos from LSU’s win on Saturday night.

Twitter reacts as LSU takes down Tennessee in Game 1 at College World Series in Omaha

The Tigers are 1-0 to begin their run in Omaha.

The first three games in the opening round of the 2023 College World Series were all decided by one run, but it looked like LSU was going to cruise to a win in its first game in Omaha against Tennessee.

The Tigers held a 5-0 lead in the eighth inning, but a Volunteers rally made things interesting. Still, a [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] bomb gave LSU some insurance as it pulled away to a 6-3 win in another dominant start from potential No. 1 pick [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag].

Now, the Tigers are moving on to the winners’ bracket on Monday night where they will meet No. 1 overall seed Wake Forest, which won 3-2 over No. 8 Stanford on Saturday. Neither LSU nor the Demon Deacons have lost in the tournament to this point.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to LSU’s win to kick off its run in Omaha.

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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