LSU wins pivotal CWS opener over FSU, 5-4

Greg Deichmann singled home Antoine Duplantis with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth and Zack Hess struck out Dylan Busby with the tying run on base to end the game as LSU edged Florida State 5-4 in the first round of the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha on Saturday night.

AP Photo/Nati Harnik

HOW THEY SCORED

Florida State first inning – Taylor Walls walked and Busby hit a two-run homer over the centerfield fence. FLORIDA STATE 2, LSU 0

LSU first inning – With two out, Duplantis walked. Duplantis stole second as Deichmann struck out. Deichmann reached first when catcher Cal Raleigh didn’t catch the ball. Duplantis advanced to third on the wild pitch by Taylor Horton and scored when no one covered home plate. FLORIDA STATE 2, LSU 1

Florida State third inning – Walls doubled and scored on a single by Busby. FLORIDA STATE 3, LSU 1

LSU third inning – Beau Jordan singled. After Kramer Robertson flied out to the rightfielder, Jordan was forced at second base on Cole Freeman’s ground ball to the second baseman. Freeman stole second and scored on a single by Duplantis. FLORIDA STATE 3, LSU 2

Florida State fifth inning – Walls walked. After Busby flied out to the rightfielder, Walls advanced to third on a single by Jackson Lueck. Walls scored on an infield single by Quincy Nieporte. FLORIDA STATE 4, LSU 2

LSU fifth inning – Michael Papierski hit a leadoff home run over the leftfield fence. FLORIDA STATE 4, LSU 3

LSU eighth inning – With one out, Freeman singled. Freeman went to second on a single by Duplantis. Freeman advanced to third and Duplantis moved to second when rightfield Steven Wells misplayed the ball. Freeman scored when Wells made a bad throw to second base. Duplantis went to third when the catcher Raleigh did not catch the throw to the plate in attempt to retire Freeman. Duplantis scored on a single by Deichmann. LSU 5, FLORIDA STATE 4

KEY STRETCH OF GAME

After LSU took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the eighth, Florida State threatened to tie the score in the top of the ninth. Jared Poche allowed a leadoff single by Matt Henderson. Poche then struck out pinch-hitters Nick Derr and Kyle Cavanaugh. Poche wild pitched Henderson to second base in befor the two strikeouts. Hess relieved Poche and walked Walls. Hess ended the game by striking out Busby, who had three of the Seminoles’ four RBIs.

KEY TEAM STATISTICS

Both teams had nine hits. All but three of the 18 hits in the game were singles. . .Florida State stranded seven runners – three in scoring position. The Seminoles were 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. . .Florida State committed the only three errors in the game – all on one play in the eighth. . .There were five doubles plays in the game – three by LSU and two by the Seminoles. . .Tigers pitchers struck out 11 batters.

INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS

LSU

Antoine Duplantis: 2-for-3, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI

Michael Papierski: 2-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 run scored, 1 home run

Cole Freeman: 1-for-4, 2 runs scored

Alex Lange: 6 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned runs, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts

FLORIDA STATE

Matt Henderson: 2-for-3

Dylan Busby: 2-for-5, 3 RBIs, 1 run scored, 1 home run

Taylor Walls: 1-for-2, 3 runs scored, 1 double

Taylor Horton: 7.1 innings, 8 hits, 5 runs, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts

LSU’S PLAYER OF THE GAME

The Tigers scored runs in four innings against Florida State. Duplantis had a hand in three of those innings. In the first, Duplantis drew a two-out walk. He stole second base as Deichmann struck out on a pitch which got way from the Seminoles catcher. Duplantis continued to third base on the wild pitch and scored when no one covered home plate. In the third, Duplantis drove home Freeman with a two-out single. In the eighth, Duplantis followed Freeman’s infield hit with a single. Following three Florida State errors on the play, Freeman scored and Duplantis ended up at third base. Duplantis then scored the winning run on Deichmann’s single.

Duplantis’ comments: “When I singled in the eighth, I thought we would have runners at first and third. But, Cole stopped at second. Luckily (Wells) bobbled the ball. It was a weird play. I looked up and things kept happening. So, I kept running. In the first inning, I was running on the pitch and I went to third when I saw that the catcher bobbled the ball. Then, the pitcher was not covering the plate and I kept running. We can run a little bit, so we keep putting pressure on the defense.”

NOTES

Nick Coomes was back in the lineup at first base. He went 2-for-2 and drew a walk. Coomes also was the middle man in a 5-3-5 double play. Coomes was lifted for a pinch-runner in the seventh inning. . .LSU only had three runners past first base at the start of a play – Freeman in the third, pinch-runner Jake Slaughter in the seventh and Duplantis in the eighth. Freeman and Duplantis scored on singles. Two Tigers scored from first base on a strikeout and wild pitch and a base hit combined with two errors. . .Duplantis is 6-for-13 in the Tigers’ last three games. . .Coomes had his first multiple-hit game since May 16 against Northwestern State. Coomes was 6-for-28 since that game against the Demons. . .Papierski’s home run was his ninth of the year. . .Three LSU starters went hitless – Kramer Robertson (0-for-4), Zach Watson (0-for-4) and Josh Smith (0-for-3). . .Poche made his first relief appearance of the season after Lange hit J.C. Flowers with a pitch to start the seventh. Poche worked 2.2 innings and allowed two singles with two strikeouts. . .Poche got credit for his 11th victory of the season and the 38th of his career. Poche is tied with Scott Schultz for the most career victories by a Tigers pitcher. . .Hess registered his second save of the season. . .LSU extended its winning streak to 17 games. The Tigers are 49-17. . .LSU had lost its last two first-round games at the CWS. The Tigers’ last opening-round victory in Omaha took place in 2009 – a 9-5 victory against Virginia. . .The last time LSU won a College World Series game in the last at-bat was in its 11-inning 7-6 victory against Texas in 2009. . .Florida State is 45-22 overall. The Seminoles will play Fullerton State in an elimination game Monday afternoon. . .The paid attendance was 25,305. . .Eric Walker will be the starting pitcher for LSU against Oregon State on Monday.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM

Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “It was a little bit of a bizarre game. I’m not sure I’ve seen a runner score from first base on a strikeout. The key to the game for us was Jared Poche coming in and taking control of the ball game. Jared is just a winner. Sometimes he doesn’t pitch great. But, he never has a lack of competitive zeal or a lack of effort. It was frustrating because we would get it to one run and they would come right back with a run. Then, we got some big hits. Pap’s home run got us back in the game. We had a couple of big hits in the eighth from Antoine and Greg. Our hustle and speed put a lot pressure on their defense.”

UP NEXT

LSU will play Oregon State in a winners’ bracket game of the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Central. The Beavers (55-4) rallied for a 6-5 victory against Fullerton State on Saturday afternoon. The LSU-Oregon State game will be available on ESPN.