Dylan Crews, Tommy White and Brayden Jobert each collected four hits as No. 5 LSU crushed No. 2 Florida 18-4 on Monday to win the Men’s College World Series in the decisive third game of the championship series in Omaha, Neb.
Crews, the Golden Spikes winner as the national player of the year, had a triple, three runs and an RBI as LSU bounced back after losing 24-4 on Sunday, a result that sent the best-of-three final series to the ultimate contest.
White had three RBIs and two runs while Jobert homered, drove in three runs and scored three times for the Tigers (54-17), who collected a MCWS-record 24 hits. The previous mark of 23 was matched a day earlier by the Gators.
LSU’s Tre’ Morgan had three hits and Josh Pearson hit a two-run homer. Cade Beloso and Jordan Thompson each collected two hits.
“Right people, right place, right time,” Tigers coach Jay Johnson said, according to the (Baton Rouge, La.) Advocate.
“I can’t wait to put another flag back at the field (in Baton Rouge),” Crews said, per the Advocate.
LSU captured its seventh baseball national title, the second-highest total behind Southern California’s 12. The Tigers broke a tie with Texas, which has won the MCWS six times. LSU’s most recent championship had occurred in 2009.
Florida (54-17) earned its lone national crown in 2017, when it beat LSU in the championship series.
LSU right-hander Thatcher Hurd gave up a single and a homer to the first two batters he faced — then never allowed another hit or run in his six-inning outing. He walked two while striking out seven.
Florida jumped on top in the first inning when Cade Kurland hit a leadoff single, went to second on a wild pitch and came home on Wyatt Langford’s two-run shot. However, LSU bounced back to score six runs in the second, then added four in the fourth for a 10-2 lead.
After Hurd exited, the Gators’ Ty Evans homered in the seventh inning and Kurland went deep in the eighth.
Florida starter Jac Caglianone allowed six runs on two hits and three walks in 1 1/3 innings. He fanned two.
Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan said, “Offensively, we didn’t really have an answer for them on the mound today. I think these last three games, you know, we didn’t get as much as we probably needed to out of our starters.
“We put a little bit too much pressure on our bullpen early in games, and we were probably playing with fire the last couple of games. And obviously it got to us today.”
–Field Level Media
