The UCLA Bruins and LSU Tigers had to wait a day to see which of them would remain in the winner's bracket at the College World Series.
The wait was worth it for the sixth-seeded Tigers, who defeated the 15th-seeded Bruins on Tuesday, 9-5. The Tigers are now 2-0 in the College World Series for the eighth time in program history. They went on to win the championship in six of the previous seven times.
UCLA and LSU completed three innings Monday before their game was suspended by rain until the next morning. Once play resumed at 10:03 a.m. in Omaha, the Tigers quickly added to their 5-3 lead thanks to two-out RBI singles by sophomores Steven Milan and Jake Brown in the bottom of the fourth.
After LSU's Anthony Eyanson (MLB Pipeline's No. 66 Draft prospect) covered the first three innings Monday, right-handed freshman Casan Evans took over on the mound Tuesday and held the Bruins scoreless into the eighth. He ended up allowing two earned runs over 4 1/3 innings and struck out five, and he admitted after the game that he did it on just three hours of sleep.
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UCLA, trailing 8-5, eventually brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the top of the eighth. That's when the Tigers turned to 6-foot-8 Chase Shores, who induced a first-pitch groundout from UCLA's Phoenix Call to quell the Bruins' last threat.
Tigers first baseman and No. 99 Draft prospect Jared Jones, who clubbed a three-run homer back in the first inning, added a run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth.
Louisville 7, Oregon State 6
Alex Alicea's mistake in the top of the ninth inning nearly cost Louisville its season. In the bottom of the ninth, he scored the run that kept the Cardinals' season alive at the College World Series.
Louisville entered the ninth with a 6-3 advantage, but that lead evaporated quickly as the first six Beavers reached base. The final batter in that string, designated hitter Tyce Peterson, hit what looked like a possible double-play grounder to Alicea at shortstop with the bases loaded. But the ball ticked off Alicea's glove and rolled into left field. The sophomore could only watch as two runs scored on his error to tie the game.
However, Louisville right-hander Tucker Biven struck out the next two batters and got a popout from Canon Reeder to keep the score knotted at 6-6. Oregon State stranded 12 runners on the day.
Given an opportunity to atone for his error, Alicea led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk. The next two Cardinals reached base thanks to catcher's interference and a fielding error by pitcher Kellan Oakes. Alicea, 90 feet from victory, then raced home on Eddie King Jr.'s game-winning sacrifice fly to eliminate the Beavers.
As Alicea dived head-first across the plate, he repeatedly pounded the dirt behind the dish.
King drove in three runs in the game and extended his 11-game hitting streak with a couple of knocks. Jake Munroe and Zion Rose each hit their 13th homer of the year for the Cardinals.
Louisville will face elimination again on Wednesday when it meets 13th-seeded Coastal Carolina, which has yet to lose in the College World Series. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
Arkansas 7, UCLA 3
One day after Gage Wood kept Arkansas alive at the College World Series with a historic no-hitter, the Razorbacks received more lights-out pitching to extend their season by another day.
Third-seeded Arkansas eliminated 15th-seeded UCLA with a 7-3 victory on Tuesday night, advancing to play sixth-seeded LSU on Wednesday. Before allowing three runs in the ninth inning, the Razorbacks had pitched 18 consecutive scoreless innings, dating back to their first CWS game on Saturday.
On Tuesday, a pair of pivotal plays in the first inning swung the momentum permanently in their favor.
Arkansas starting pitcher Zach Root -- MLB Pipeline’s No. 43 Draft prospect -- allowed three of the first four Bruins to reach, loading the bases with just one out. But Root hunkered down, wiggling out of the jam by a matter of inches: Dean West was caught at the plate attempting a straight steal of home to end the frame.
Then, in the bottom of the first inning, SEC Player of the Year Wehiwa Aloy jumpstarted a potent Arkansas lineup. Aloy launched a two-run home run -- his 21st of the season -- over the fence in right field, staking the Razorbacks to a 2-0 lead.
That proved to be all that the Arkansas pitching staff needed. Root completed five scoreless frames, at one point retiring ten consecutive Bruins. Aiden Jimenez entered in relief and tossed three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, keeping UCLA at bay.
In the meantime, Aloy helped pad the lead. MLB Pipeline’s No. 22 Draft prospect, he laced an RBI triple off the wall in right-center field in the fifth, making it a 3-0 ballgame. Two innings later, Logan Maxwell pushed the lead to 5-0 with a two-run double that split the gap in left-center field.
Now, a rematch with LSU looms at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, as the SEC foes meet again in Omaha, with the Tigers needing just one win to advance to the finals.