LSU wins wild one to advance to MCWS finals, set to face Coastal Carolina for title
There are great baseball games. Then there are legendary baseball games.
LSU and Arkansas had a game for an ages Wednesday that saw the Tigers advance to the College World Series finals on a walk-off RBI single from Jared Jones in the ninth inning to secure the 6-5 win.
After the Tigers and Razorbacks were held scoreless through the first three innings, the game proceeded to go back and forth until the game-winning hit from Jones in the ninth. Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick got the scoring started with a home run in the fourth inning, giving the Razorbacks a 1-0 lead they'd hold until the sixth inning.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth inning, LSU's Jake Brown delivered a pinch-hit two-run single to put the Tigers ahead 2-1. That came after the previous batter, Josh Pearson, was intentionally walked to load the bases for the Tigers.
Fast forward to the eighth inning, when the game took a heavyweight fight feel as the Tigers and Razorbacks continued to fight back. Arkansas took the lead again in the top of the eighth inning on a ground ball with the bases loaded and one out. LSU third baseman Michael Braswell III got the out at second base, but the throw from the second baseman got away from Jones at first base to allow the game-tying and go-ahead runs to score.
LSU wasn't held back long, though, as Jones answered with a game-tying solo homer in the bottom of the inning. It was a memorable night for Jones, who etched himself in Tigers' baseball lore with his late-game heroics to help send LSU to the finals.
The ninth inning proved to be the craziest of the bunch, as Justin Thomas Jr. delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the top of the inning to put Arkansas up 5-3. At this point, the Razorbacks needed just three outs in the bottom of the inning with a two-run lead to stay alive and force an elimination game on Thursday.
The Tigers -- and apparently the baseball gods -- had other plans. With two outs and two runners on, a line drive was hit to Arkansas left-fielder Charles Davalan, who never got a good read on the ball and slipped as the ball hit his glove and ricocheted down the left-field line. The untimely mistake allowed the game-tying runs to score and set up the eventual game-winning hit from Jones that ended the Razorbacks season.
Coastal Carolina 11, Louisville 3
The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, at 56-11, have the most wins in Division I baseball this season. They are riding an incredible 26-game winning streak.
Now they are two wins away from their second national championship.
The 13th-seeded Chanticleers dispatched the Louisville Cardinals on Wednesday, 11-3, to advance to their second College World Series finals. Their first visit in 2016 resulted in the program's first championship.
Coastal Carolina effectively put this one to bed early with a six-run first inning in which five runs scored before the Cardinals recorded an out. Sophomore first baseman Colby Thorndyke delivered the biggest hit of the frame -- a three-run double into the right-center gap. Thorndyke collected three hits and five RBIs on the day.
Coastal Carolina starting pitcher Riley Eikhoff silenced Louisville's bats into the sixth inning. That's when the Cardinals began the makings of a comeback, plating three runs on RBI hits from Tague Davis, Garret Pike and Kamau Neighbors.
But Coastal Carolina struck for two runs in the bottom of the sixth, quickly halting any possible momentum for Louisville. Thorndyke was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to put the Chanticleers into double digits. They have scored 64 runs over eight games in the NCAA Tournament.
Coastal Carolina will take on LSU in the best-of-three College World Series finals, which begin Saturday at 7 p.m. ET in Omaha.