The LSU Tigers bounced back from a 24-4 game two loss on Sunday and would erase an early 2-0 deficit on Monday night, rolling to their seventh Division I College Baseball National Title with an 18-4 win over the Florida Gators in the decisive third game of the Men’s College World Series Championship Series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
#2 Florida (54-17) would jump on top for the only time in the bottom of the first inning. Cade Kurland led off and slapped a single to left center. Wyatt Langford would follow and took a 3-2 pitch deep into the seats in left field for a two-run homerun to make it 2-0 Gators. Langford made it 6 for his last 6 and eight RBI at the plate with the homer, but unfortunately it was one of the few highlights on the night for his team. LSU turned it on the second inning and took a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Gavin Dugas would start the rally with a walk. Brayden Jobert and Jordan Thompson followed with singles, with the single by Thompson driving in Dugas. After a fielders choice for the first out, Alex Milazzo walked to load the bases. Cade Beloso then got hit with a pitch by Florida starter Jac Caglianone to tie it, and the night would end for the Gators left handed pitcher when he walked Dylan Crews to force in another run that made it 3-2 Tigers. Tommy White would then single in a run, Tre’ Morgan lifted an RBI sacrifice fly, and Dugas batting for the second time in the frame would single in another to cap off a six run inning. They would tack on four more in the fourth on another Thompson RBI, Josh Pearson hit a two-run homer, and Beloso had an RBI single as they put it in cruise control with a 10-2 lead. They would later add three in the eighth and four in the ninth, pounding out 24 hits in winning their first national championship since 2009. The Tigers (54-17) had won the first game of the series in exciting fashion 4-3 on Saturday on a Beloso solo homerun in the top of the 11th inning, after advancing to the championship round on a two-run walkoff homer by White over #1 Wake Forest 2-0 on Thursday.
Jobert, Crews, and Tommy White had four hits a piece for #5 LSU. Morgan added three hits, and Beloso along with Thompson had two each. Jobert, Thompson, and White also had three RBI a piece. Crews reached base at least once in all 71 Tigers games on the season, and White was third in the country finishing with 105 RBI. Thatcher Hurd (8-3) went 6.0 innings to get the win on the mound allowing two runs on two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Kurland had two of the five hits in the loss for Florida, and Caglianone (7-4) was tagged with the defeat on the hill giving up six runs on two hits in just 1.1 innings. The Gators, who went 3-0 in the World Series before reaching the title round, were seeking their first championship since 2017 and second overall.
Story by Chris Lessner/Highlight video courtesy of ESPN
