Hoskins’ story is one our area should be proud of
June 11, 2013SL’s Rhodes signs scholarship
June 11, 2013
The LSU baseball team is going back to Omaha.
They earned their spot in the College World Series in dominant fashion – a two-game thrashing of Oklahoma in the NCAA Super Regionals.
Playing before a record crowd at Alex Box Stadium, the Tigers scored a 2-0 pitcher’s duel victory in Game 1 of the Best of 3 series with the Sooners on Friday night. They followed up that performance with an 11-1 pounding of Oklahoma to punch their 16th-ever ticket to the College World Series – their first since 2009.
“Omaha is such an amazing place,” LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri said. “We are going there to win, and I believe we can. We have a group of guys that are very talented and are on a mission. We’ve got what it takes and we will show up Saturday against whomever we play.”
To earn their ticket to the College World Series, the Tigers had to conquer one of the best college pitchers in America on Friday night – Sooners ace Jonathan Gray.
It didn’t come easy.
Gray was masterful for the first seven innings of the game, keeping LSU off the scoreboard.
His counterpart, LSU ace Aaron Nola was just as good – pushing the game into the eighth inning in a scoreless tie.
Despite having more than 110 pitches under his belt, Oklahoma manager Sunny Golloway sent Gray back out in the eighth inning, and LSU made him pay.
The Tigers plated two runs in the inning, which was started by a triple by junior second baseman JaCoby Jones and was capped by an RBI shot from Mark Laird.
With the lead, Nola closed the door in the eighth and ninth innings.
He won the pitcher’s duel by allowing just two hits in the game, while striking out six.
“Coming into the game, I knew it was going to be a pitcher’s duel,” Nola said. “All Gray has done this year has been outstanding. Our whole team knew it was going to be a pitching duel. … We just needed that clutch hit, and JaCoby provided that for us.”
With Gray’s arm burned for the rest of the weekend, Oklahoma’s chances at victory fell by the wayside.
In game two, LSU’s bats feasted on Sooner pitching, scoring single runs in the second, third, fourth, sixth and eighth innings to take a 5-1 lead into the ninth inning.
For the second-straight game, Jones was the catalyst in the attack, going 4-for-4 with 2 RBIs and three runs scored.
Catcher Ty Ross was 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs.
“I was just trying to do whatever I could to get on base for the team,” Jones said following his big weekend. “I was just trying to do whatever I could to hit the ball hard and get on base. … It feels good.”
With the Tigers smelling Omaha, LSU exploded for six runs in the top of the 9th inning to put the game out of reach.
Closer Chris Cotton recorded the final outs, as the Tigers dog-piled on the pitcher’s mound to celebrate their feat.
For LSU’s seniors, this marks their first trip to Omaha.
Senior Mason Katz said publicly that he returned to school for his senior year to try and get to Omaha.
“You don’t have to convince guys about what the goal is around here,” Katz said. “Everybody kept preaching how we were the only senior class, if we didn’t go, that wouldn’t have gone in a four-year span. The freshmen and the new guys just took that and ran with it. They did everything and anything all year long to get us to this point – in a position to go and win another national championship.”
LSU opens its chase Saturday against UCLA – a team that earned its place after sweeping Cal State Fullerton this weekend.
No time has been given for the game, but it will be televised nationally on the ESPN family of networks.
The LSU baseball team dogpiles following their series-clinching win against Oklahoma. With the win, the Tigers punched a ticket to Omaha and the College World Series. They will take the field again this weekend against UCLA in the opening game of the CWS.
