TCU ends Oral Roberts’ surprising run
TCU 6
ORU 1
OMAHA, Neb. — TCU used a four-run fifth inning to take control of the game and went on to beat Oral Roberts 6-1 in a College World Series elimination game Tuesday, ending the Golden Eagles’ surprising postseason run.
The Horned Frogs (44-23) will play Florida next and would need to defeat the No. 2 national seed Wednesday and again Thursday to reach the best-of-three finals.
TCU avenged Friday’s 6-5 loss to the Golden Eagles and has won two straight to put itself in position to play for its bracket title.
Frogs coach Kirk Saarloos said his team’s midseason struggles prepared it for pressure games. The Frogs had a run of losses in six of seven games in April, putting their NCAA Tournament hopes in peril.
They ended up with the Big 12’s automatic bid by winning the conference tournament, but they didn’t feel good about their at-large chances until they won their final regular-season series at Kansas State.
It was a rough ending for ORU (52-14), the first No. 4 regional seed in 11 years to reach the CWS. The Eagles of the Summit League scored their fewest runs since March 12 and lost consecutive games for the first time since that same date.
The rematch with the Horned Frogs was the most lopsided game of the CWS, and the Eagles’ 1-2 finish here was the same as that of the 1978 team that made ORU’s only other appearance.
The Eagles were 2 of 16 with runners on base against TCU, and the game ended with the bases loaded when Matt Hogan struck out for the fifth time.
TCU’s first two runs came without a swing of the bat. Brooks Fowler (9-2) walked in a run in the second inning, and Joshua Caravalho’s balk brought in another in the fourth.
The Frogs added four more in the fifth, with Anthony Silva’s two-run single making it 6-0.
ORU couldn’t capitalize on early scoring opportunities against Brown and Luke Savage (6-4). The leadoff batter reached base four of the first five innings, but only one scored.
The Eagles went 24-3 to end the season, and their 52 wins are a school record. The only other No. 4 regional seeds to advance as far were national champion Fresno State in 2008 and Stony Brook in 2012.
LSU 5, TENNESSEE 0
In Omaha, Neb., Nate Ackenhausen pitched six innings in his first start for LSU and combined with Riley Cooper for the Tigers’ nation-leading 11th shutout of the season in a victory over Tennessee.
LSU (50-16) beat its Southeastern Conference rival for the fourth time in five meetings and will play No. 1 national seed Wake Forest on Wednesday night. The Tigers would have to beat the Demon Deacons in that game and again Thursday to reach the CWS finals.
Tennessee (44-22) was eliminated after it failed to score for the first time in 133 games since a 6-0 loss to Virginia in the 2021 CWS.
Ackenhausen came into the game having logged just 22 1/3 innings over 15 relief appearances. He had not gone more than 3 2/3 innings since he was a starter for Eastern Oklahoma State last year.
LSU’s third starter has been fluid most of the season, and coach Jay Johnson told ESPN before the game that he played a hunch and went with Ackenhausen over Riley Cooper because the Tigers were 13-2 in games in which he appeared.
The 6-foot-2, 240-pound left-hander ended up outdueling Drew Beam, a projected high pick in the 2024 draft who was coming off strong starts in regionals and super regionals.
More important, Ackenhausen’s extended outing allowed Johnson to keep his bullpen fresh for Wake Forest.
The Tigers scored single runs in the first and sixth innings and another in the eighth when Tennessee relievers hit three batters and Tre’ Morgan came home on a wild pitch. Dylan Crews’ two-run homer in the ninth put the game away.