Florida ends TCU’s season; LSU ousts No. 1 Oregon State
OMAHA, Neb. — Alex Faedo pitched three-hit ball for 71⁄3 shutout innings in a second straight strong performance against TCU, and Florida moved into the College World Series finals with a 3-0 win Saturday.
No. 3 national seed Florida (50-19) will play Southeastern Conference rival LSU in the best-of-three finals beginning Monday night.
Faedo (9-2) struck out 11, just as he did last Sunday in a 3-0 win over the Horned Frogs (50-18). Michael Byrne finished for his 18th save.
The Gators had struggled on offense since they arrived in Omaha, but with Faedo holding down the Frogs they were able to muster enough against Jared Janczak (9-2).
Austin Langworthy doubled and scored on a groundout in the second inning, Christian Hicks doubled in a run in the fifth, and he scored in the seventh when he tripled and came home on Deacon Liput’s grounder that deflected off first base.
Faedo reached for his right calf in apparent pain after delivering a pitch to Josh Watson in the seventh, and he grabbed the calf again when he struck Watson out to end the inning. The Detroit Tigers’ first-round draft pick came out for the eighth and got a groundout, but he left after Austen Wade singled.
Zach Humphreys greeted Byrne with a base hit, but the star closer struck out Evan Skoug and got Cam Warner to fly out to end the threat. LSU 6, OREGON ST. 1
Caleb Gilbert held the No. 1 national seed Beavers to two hits in 71⁄3 innings and Michael Papierski homered from both sides of the plate to lift the Tigers over the Beavers.
“To lose four games the entire season, and we beat them two days in a row, it’s hard to predict those things to happen, but that’s why you have to play the games,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “Our kids embraced the challenge.”
The Tigers (52-18) won their third straight elimination game. Oregon State (56-6) had a pair of 23-game winning streaks and finished the season with a .903 winning percentage — the best since Texas’ mark of .908 in 1982.
“It’s a tough day when you’ve had such a great year,” Beavers coach Pat Casey said. “Now is not the time to really think about that or talk about it, but I know there will be a time when they get to sit back and reflect and realize what they accomplished.”
Gilbert allowed an infield single before Michael Gretler homered in the seventh. He struck out a career-high seven.
Papierski became the first player to homer twice in a CWS game since TCU’s Bryan Holaday in 2010. He went deep from the left side off Bryce Fehmel in the second and the right side off Brandon Eisert in the fourth.