Oregon St. routs LSU; FSU stays alive
OMAHA, Nebr. — 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 the Tigers 13-1 for its 23rd straight win.
The Beavers (56-4), who matched the school-record win streak they set earlier this season, need one more win to advance to next week’s best-of-three finals.
“We just talked before the game about this is our time, this is our opportunity,” Oregon State coach Pat Casey said. “This is what we came here for. Let’s not miss that moment. So the guys played great.”
LSU (49-18) had its 17-game win streak end with its most lopsided loss in Omaha since a 20-6 rout by Cal State Fullerton in 1994.
“It wasn’t what we expected or hoped for, obviously,” Tigers coach Paul Mainieri said. “Heck of a way for a 17-game winning streak to end.”
Harrison hammered Hunter Newman’s first pitch to him in the sixth over the left-center fence for the first CWS grand slam since 2010, the last year the event was played at Rosenblatt Stadium. Harrison has four home runs and 14 RBIs in seven NCAA Tournament games.
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.
“I guess the main thing was to keep them off-balance as best I could,” Fehmel said. “I mixed all three pitches for strikes, and I did that for eight innings to the best of my ability, and it worked out.”
FLORIDA STATE 6 CAL STATE FULLERTON 4
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 one-run 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 win that knocked the Titans out of the College World Series.
“Any time a guy gets on base, the first hitter, we think we’ll score a crooked number, not just one,” FSU’s Drew Mendoza said.