Seminoles shut down Fullerton
Oregon State tops LSU to win 23rd straight
OMAHA, Neb. — Florida State’s dugout was a bit deflated after the Seminoles gave up three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to have a two-run lead against Cal State Fullerton turn into a onerun deficit.
Things perked up when shortstop Timmy Richards couldn’t make a play on Taylor Walls’ grounder leading off the top of the seventh. That started a three-run inning that helped send the Seminoles to a 6-4 win that knocked the Titans out of the College World Series.
“Anytime a guy gets on base, the first hitter, we think we’ll score a crooked number, not just one,” FSU’s Drew Mendoza said. “The first hitter sets the tone, and with guys getting on base, we were feeling really good about the inning. It gives the guy behind him confidence to pass the bat to the next guy.”
Fullerton (39-24) has gone two games and out in four straight CWS appearances and has lost nine games in a row in Omaha. The last four of those losses are on coach Rick Vanderhook’s tab.
“I know I’m 0-4. I knew how difficult it was to get here. But it’s even more difficult to get here and win,” he said.
Chase Haney (3-2) worked twothirds of an inning for the win, and Drew Carlton earned his seventh save after Fullerton put two runners on base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Pinch hitter Hank LoForte struck out looking to end the game.
It was another heart-wrenching loss for the Titans. They blew a 5-1 lead in the sixth inning against No. 1 national seed Oregon State on Saturday, and they failed to hold a 4-3 sixth-inning lead against the Seminoles after Dillon Persinger’s double and Timmy Richards’ two-run homer.
OREGON STATE 13, LSU 1: Bryce Fehmel limited LSU to two hits in eight innings, KJ Harrison hit the first College World Series grand slam at TD Ameritrade Park, and Oregon State beat LSU for its 23rd straight win.
The top-seeded Beavers (56-4), who matched the school-record win streak they set earlier this season, took control of Bracket 1. They don’t play again until Friday, and need one more win to advance to next week’s best-of-three finals.
LSU (49-18) had its 17-game win streak end with its most lopsided CWS loss since a 20-6 throttling by Cal State Fullerton in 1994. The Tigers face elimination when they play Florida State on Wednesday.
Starter Eric Walker (8-2) left the game in the third inning because of forearm tightness. Caleb Gilbert held the Beavers for a couple of innings, but they capitalized on a couple of LSU misplays to go up 3-0 in the fifth.
Fehmel (6-2) wiggled out of a mini jam in the fifth before Zach Watson’s homer in the seventh allowed LSU to avoid getting shut out for the first time in its 62 CWS games.
FAN HIT: A 61-year-old man sitting behind the Louisville dugout at the College World Series sustained a minor cut to his head when he was struck by a bat that flew out of a player’s hands Sunday.
Burke Perry of Sioux Falls, S.D., was in the second row when Louisville’s Josh Stowers lost grip of his bat as he swung at a pitch against Texas A&M to end the third inning. Perry said he saw the bat coming but couldn’t get out of the way.
OKLAHOMA: Oklahoma has promoted Skip Johnson from pitching coach to head baseball coach.
Johnson spent one season at Oklahoma after spending the previous 10 years as an assistant at Texas. Oklahoma pitchers surrendered the fewest home runs in the Big 12 and combined for 531 strikeouts to rank fourth in school history. Last week, pitchers JB Olson, Devon Perez and Vincenzo Aiello were selected in the Major League Baseball draft.
Johnson replaces Pete Hughes, who had a record of 128-107-1 in four seasons at Oklahoma.