LSU beats Oregon State and TCU tops Florida in the College World Series.
OMAHA, Neb. — Evan Skoug hit a bases-clearing double, four TCU pitchers combined on a five-hitter, and the Horned Frogs beat Florida 9-2 on Friday night to force a second Bracket 2 final at the College World Series.
The teams will meet again Saturday night, with the winner advancing to the best-of-three finals starting Monday.
Skoug was 2-for-13 in the CWS when he came up in the sixth inning with two outs and the bases loaded. He lined reliever Frank Rubio’s 2-2 pitch into the right-center gap for an 8-2 lead.
Charles King (1-3) pitched 31⁄3 innings of one-hit shutout relief after taking over for starter Mitchell Traver with two outs in the fourth. King, a freshman who was pitching for the first time since May 27, struck out Nick Horvath with the bases loaded to end the inning and retired nine of the next 11 batters.
Florida (49-19) got an 11-strikeout performance from ace Alex Faedo in a 3-0 win over TCU in its CWS opener Sunday, and it looked as though Jackson Kowar (12-1) would show the same dominance against the Horned Frogs (50-17).
Kowar struck out seven of the first eight he faced on his way to a careerhigh 11 Ks, but the Horned Frogs were able to get to him, and he lost for the first time this season.
LSU 3, OREGON ST. 1
Alex Lange limited the top-seeded Beavers to two hits over 71⁄3 innings, and the Tigers ended Oregon State’s 23-game winning streak to set up a winner-take-all Bracket 1 final at the College World Series.
The teams will meet again Saturday, with the winner going to the bestof-three finals.
The Tigers (51-18), who avenged a 13-1 loss to the Beavers (56-5) on Monday, became the first team to knock off the Beavers since Southern California on April 29.
The Tigers did all of their scoring against national wins leader Jake Thompson (14-1).