
Photo credit: Michael Bacigalupi
Believe it LSU fans, your Tigers are once again College World Series champions!
Behind stellar pitching from Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson, LSU swept Coastal Carolina to win the eighth national championship in baseball program history.
It started Saturday night, when LSU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Steven Milam drove in Derek Curiel with an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning.
That’s all the offense LSU could muster against Coastal’s pitching duo of Cameron Flukey and Dominick Carbone.
But with Anderson on the mound, that’s all they needed.
The likely top three pick in the upcoming MLB Draft struck out 10 in his final appearance for the purple and gold, going the distance in the shutout win.
“Special performance,” Head Coach Jay Johnson said of Anderson following Game One Saturday night. “That’s what we’ve seen all year. He’s the best pitcher in the country. And did it again tonight.”
LSU’s win snapped Coastal’s 26-game winning streak that dated back to April.
Anderson’s performance set up LSU to claim its second national championship in three years the following afternoon, and they took full advantage of that opportunity.
With legendary coach Skip Bertman watching in the stands and Eyanson on the hill, backed up by a well-rested bullpen, LSU beat Coastal 5-3 in Game Two to win the title.
There was some fireworks early on, but not by either team’s bats.
In the bottom of the first inning, Coastal Head Coach Kevin Schnall and Assistant Coach Matt Schilling were ejected for arguing balls and strikes.
“As an umpire, I feel like it’s your job to manage the game — the national championship game — with some poise, some calmness and a little bit of tolerance,” Schnall said of home plate umpire Angel Campos, who tossed him.
Coastal took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a Dean Milhos solo home run off Eyanson, but LSU got that run right back when Ethan Frey drove in Daniel Dickinson with an RBI double.
LSU effectively put the game away in the top of the fourth with a four-run rally, punctuated by a two-tun double by Curiel that provided what proved to be the winning margin.
Wells Sykes hit a two-run home run off Eyanson in the bottom of the seventh, but the Chanticleers would get no closer.
Eyanson gave way to closer Chase Shores, who shut Coastal down the rest of the way.
Coastal had the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but Shores got Sykes to ground into a game-ending double play, touching off a celebration that stretched from Omaha to Baton Rouge.
With that win, Johnson has now won two national championships in four seasons at LSU, becoming the fastest to win two championships at a school, besting the previous record by four years.
“I’m so proud right now,” Johnson said after the clinching game. “It’s not to be taken for granted. Being here two years ago, that was special. Greatest night in my life. This is equal and maybe even tops in some ways.”
LSU finishes the season with a record of 53-15.
“Our motto for the year was ‘tough and together,’ and I’ve never seen a team more mentally tough and consistent,” says Johnson. “I mean, we went through probably the hardest schedule in college baseball, and we had one hiccup, one. But other than that, they dominated the season.”
Comments