LSU Defeats Oregon St., 6-1, Advances To CWS Finals
The LSU Tigers are on their way to the 2017 College World Series championship series.
LSU kept their hopes for a 7th national championship alive, after defeating the top-seeded Oregon St. Beavers, 6-1, at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday afternoon.
Catcher Michael Papierski hit two home runs in the game, while sophomore right -hander Caleb Gilbert sat down the first 11 hitters that he faced, and tossed one-hit shutout baseball over the first seven innings, to help guide LSU to the win.
The Tigers moved to 4-1 in the CWS. They beat Florida St. in their first game, 5-4, before losing to Oregon St., 13-1, prior to eliminating Florida St. on Wednesday, 7-4.
LSU then had to defeat the Beavers twice, a feat they accomplished, after downing them 3-1 on Friday, before the big 6-1 win on Saturday.
The Tigers advance to the College World Series finals, where they will face either Florida or TCU in a best-of-three series, beginning on Monday night.
For Oregon St. it was the first time all season that they have lost back-to-back games.
LSU got on the scoreboard first, and in a big way, in the bottom half of the second inning, when Papierski belted a two-out three-run home run, his 10th of the season, to give them a quick 3-0 lead.
The Tigers added to their lead in the bottom half of the third inning, when Antoine Duplantis singled home Kramer Robertson, to widen their advantage to 4-0.
LSU made it 5-0 in the bottom half of the fourth inning, when the switch-hitting Papierski, who homered from the left side of the plate in the second inning, crushed a solo home run, his second of the afternoon, and his 11th of the season, this one from the right side, as the Tigers basically put the game out of reach.
Papierski became the first college player to hit two home runs in the same game at TD Ameritrade Park.
The Tigers put up yet another run in the bottom half of the 6th inning, when Beau Jordan hit a solo homer, his 4th of the season, to extend the lead to 6-0.
Oregon St. got on the scoreboard for the first, and only time, in the top half of the 8th inning, when Michael Grettler hit a solo homer, to trim the deficit to 6-1.
It was far too little, too late, however, as LSU went on to the 6-1 triumph, and a spot in the finals.
LSU, who outhit Oregon St., 8-3, was led at the plate by Papierski, who hit two homers and drove in four runs, while Robertson went 3-for-3, and Jordan contributed two hits, including his solo long ball.
Gilbert (7-1) recorded the win for the Tigers, allowing only one run on two hits, to go along with one walk and seven strikeouts. over 7.1 superb innings,
Zack Hess recorded the final five outs out of the bullpen, allowing only one hit and a walk.
Sophomore right-hander Bryce Fehmel (6-3) suffered to loss for the Beavers, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits, over 2.1 innings pitched.
With the victory, LSU improved to 52-18, while Oregon St. ended their respective season with an overall record of 56-6.