Florida nabs first game, defeats LSU in college baseball World Series

Florida gets behind starting pitcher Brady Singer to claim game one, 4-3, Monday night over SEC rival LSU in the best-of-three 71^st annual NCAA College Baseball World Series in Omaha, Neb.

But on the mound for Tuesday’s game two will be a Tiger advantage at TD Ameritrade Park, with Jared Poche’ throwing for them against Gators’ untested Tyler Dyson   

By Arnie Leshin, Santa Fe Today

Game one, advantage Florida. Game two, advantage Louisiana State in the match-up of SEC rivals who tied for the conference championship.

Except that the Gators’ advantage held true when sophomore right-hander Brady Singer pitched them to Monday’s 4-3 squeaker in game one of the 71^st annual NCAA College Division I College Baseball World Series.

With its ace, Alex Faedo, having hurled in Saturday’s win over Texas Christian to gain the finals at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., Florida (51-19) went with the reliable Singer and he responded with a record 12 strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings to move within a victory of its first baseball championship.

But the Bayou Tigers (52-19) have won six times and are unbeaten in the World Series finals. But with starter Eric Walker injured, had to go with fifth-year senior right-hander Russell Reynolds, who hadn’t started a game since 2015 after battling back from shoulder surgery as a freshman.

For three and 2/3 innings, he did well in a scoreless game, but in the fourth, he lost his control, walking 3-straight hitters, with the contest still 0-0 but leaving with the bases loaded.

In came freshman left-hander Nick Bush to surrender a 2-run double to Jonathan India that skipped over the centerfield wall. Now LSU was down 2-0.

The Tigers had chances later, but the script held true, though.

“It was a tough matchup for us,” said LSU head coach Paul Mainieri, “and we knew it.”

Singer did not come out for this year’s college draft, but is expected to be a first round selection in next year’s June draft. His strikeout total was highest by a single pitcher in a CWS final. He held the Tigers to three singles and left following a sixth-inning home run by Antoine Duplantis followed by Greg Deichmann’s lead-off double in the eight, his 103rd pitch.

“He’s got MLB stuff right now,” said LSU second baseman Cole Freeman of Singer.

In relief of Singer came reliable sophomore righty Michael Byrne. He had the upper hand taking over with a 2-1 advantage, the Gators added two insurance runs in the eighth, the Tigers answered with two of their own, and that’s the way Byrne finished up, leaving one runner aboard with the winning run at the plate.

It was Florida’s 19^th one-run victory of the campaign. That’s their specialty, and it’s no coincidence. Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan built this team to win in a spot like Monday’s after it lost five straight decided by one run in Omaha, dating back to 2012.

Now LSU has the upper hand in Tuesday’s game two. It can call on its second-best hurler, senior Jared Poche’, who is the program’s all-time leader in victories with 39 since 2014, although he struggled in his one outing against the Gators, losing 8-1 in the 3-game series in Gainesville back in March.

He allowed four runs on six hits and six walks in four frames in that contest where Singer was the winning pitcher.

Still, Poche’ versus Tyson Dyson is advantage LSU. Dyson, a relief specialist, has made only one start all season, but O’Sullivan, like his counterpart Monday, has no choice.

And if there’s a deciding game Wednesday, Mainieri has his ace, junior right-hander Alex Lange, a first-round draft pick of the world champion Chicago Cubs and who last pitched Friday when LSU won its first of back-to-back wins that eliminated top-ranked Oregon State.

But first comes Poche’.

“They’re obviously a good team,” Poche’ said Monday night in the Tigers’ locker room. They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t. But we’ve has a great run so far. We’re not done yet.”

If it gets to game three, O’Sullivan has sophomore standout Jackson Kowar. He and Singer rack behind Faedo, and would not be a risk in the order of Tuesday’s starter Dyson. Lange, though, would take the mound on four days rest.

In 14 years of this format, seven of the schools to win game one of the finals have swept the finals, while four others have lost in three games. The competitive nature of this rivalry calls for LSU to extend this series while Florida has other plans.

It’s the Gators’ 11^th visit to Omaha, falling short at Rosenblatt Stadium and TD Ameritrade Park, which was built in 2012. The Tigers last won in 2009 for Mainieri’s first national title.

There’s no doubt that the purple and gold fans have the numbers. They usually do. Their “L-S-U, L-S-U” chants were heard from the first pitch to the last in yet another game that filled to capacity.