Florida takes CWS title series lead over LSU, 4-3

Brady Singer struck out a career-high 12 batters and Michael Byrne registered his 19th save of the season as Florida defeated LSU 4-3 in the first game of the CWS championship series Monday night at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha.

AP Photo/Nati Harnik

HOW THEY SCORED

Florida fourth inning – With one out, Dalton Guthrie and JJ Schwarz walked. Nelson Maldonado walked to load the bases. Guthrie scored, Schwarz advanced to third and Maldonado moved to second on a sacrifice fly to the shortstop by Austin Langworthy. Schwarz and Maldonado scored on a double by Jonathan India. FLORIDA 3, LSU 0

LSU sixth inning – With one out, Antoine Duplantis hit a solo home run over the rightfield fence. After Greg Deichmann struck out, Zach Watson was hit by a pitch and Josh Smith walked. Watson scored on a single by Beau Jordan. FLORIDA 3, LSU 2

Florida seventh inning – Langworthy doubled and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by India. Langworthy scored on a single by Michael Rivera. FLORIDA 4, LSU 2

LSU eighth inning – Deichmann doubled. After Watson flied out to the rightfielder, Deichmann scored on a single by Smith. FLORIDA 4, LSU 3

KEY STRETCH OF GAME

LSU had one big opportunity to take the lead in the sixth inning. The Tigers, who started the inning trailing 3-0, pulled within one run on a solo homer by Duplantis and a two-out RBI single by Smith. Michael Papierski came to the plate with the tying and go-ahead runs on base. However, Singer protected the one-run lead by getting Papierski to fly out to the leftfielder. The Tigers did not put the tying run in scoring position during the last three innings.

KEY TEAM STATISTICS

LSU outhit Florida 9-6. There were just three extra-base hits in the game – two doubles by the Gators and a home run by the Tigers. . .Florida stranded five runners – three in scoring position. The Gators were 2-for-5 with runners in scoring position. . .LSU stranded seven runners – two in scoring position. The Tigers were 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position. . .LSU pitchers walked five and struck out five. . .There were no errors in the game.

INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS

LSU

Antoine Duplantis: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 run scored, 1 home run

Greg Deichmann: 2-for-4, 1 run scored, 1 double

Russell Reynolds: 3.1 innings, 2 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts

FLORIDA

Austin Langworthy: 2-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 run scored, 1 double

Jonathan India: 1-for-3, 2 RBIs

Brady Singer: 7 innings, 8 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts

LSU’S PLAYER OF THE GAME

Duplantis got the Tigers on the scoreboard with a solo home run in the sixth inning. The homer was just the second of the season for Duplantis, who also had a leadoff single in the fourth. In six College World Series games, Duplantis has had two hits in three of them.Duplantis’ comments: “I was seeing Singer pretty good tonight. I was trying to lay off the breaking ball. I hit a fast ball out on the home run. I got ahead in the count and I didn’t miss my pitch. It seemed like it was a tough night for the righthanded hitters against Singer. Our pitchers did a great job keeping us in the game. We were within three runs the whole game. We had a chance to win, but we just couldn’t push it over the edge.”

NOTES

LSU used the same lineup. . .Just three of the Tigers’ eight hits off Singer came from righthanded batters. . .LSU had two runners thrown out on the bases. Robertson was thrown out at second base with one out in the seventh when he tried to advance on a pitch in the dirt. Smith had a RBI single in the eighth, but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double by backup centerfielder Nick Horvath. . .Watson and Jake Slaughter were the only two Tigers starters without a hit. Chris Reid pinch-hit for Slaughter in the ninth and flied out to the centerfielder. . .LSU wasted a huge scoring chance in the fourth. Duplantis and Deichmann opened the inning with singles. Singer then struck out Watson, Smith and Jordan. . .Reynolds gave the Tigers three excellent innings. He allowed a single by Guthrie in the first and by Ryan Larson in the third. Both Guthrie and Larson were thrown out trying to steal second by Papierski. After getting one out in the fourth, Reynolds walked the bases loaded and was replaced by Nick Bush. . .Florida scored all three runs after Bush entered the game. Bush threw two shutout innings before allowing a seventh-inning run. Bush gave up one run and three hits in 3.1 innings. . .Hunter Newman issued a seventh-inning walk before striking out Deacon Liput with two runners on base. Newman threw scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth. . .Byrne relieved Singer after Deichmann led off the eighth with a double. He allowed a one-out single by Smith, who was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. Byrne then retired the final four hitters. . .LSU is 52-19. The Tigers had won their four previous meetings against Florida in the CWS. . .The Gators are 51-19. Florida had lost its previous four games in the CWS championship series. The Gators are 19-7 in one-run games this year. . .LSU lost the first game of five three-game series this season. The Tigers came back to win two of those series – Arkansas and South Carolina. . .The paid attendance was 25,679. . .Jared Poche will be the starting pitcher for LSU against Florida on Tuesday.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM

Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “It was a great game, a close game. We went against whom I believe may be the best pitcher (Singer) I’ve seen since I’ve been in the SEC. He reminds me so much of Aaron Nola. But our guys battled him. We had to piece it together with our bullpen guys. It was amazing we were right there with a chance to win. We came up just a little bit short. I probably got a little greedy and tried to get an extra inning out of Russell Reynolds. It is comforting to know that we have Jared Poche fully rested for (Tuesday) night.”

UP NEXT

LSU will play Florida in the second game of the CWS championship series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. Central. The second game of the championship series will be available on ESPN.-30-