LSU defeated Florida 4-3 after 11 innings in game one of the Men’s College World Series Finals on Saturday night. Florida lost its first game since June 3 vs. Texas Tech, ending an eight-game postseason winning streak. The Gators must win Sunday’s 3:00 PM EST game to force a game three for all the marbles.
RHP Brandon Sproat got off to a shaky start in his second outing of the CWS but did a good job of limiting damage in his four innings pitched. LSU’s offense ran up Sproat’s pitch count, knocking him out of the game after a four pitch walk to start the 5th. The right-hander allowed two runs, six hits, five walks, and one HBP, while striking out seven.
“We got off to a tough start on the mound,” Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan said postgame. “We ran into a lot of offensive counts. But Brandon was able to pitch his way out of it. Obviously his pitch count got up there.”
“I think he had to get out of a lot of jams, like Sully said, because we got in a lot of deeper counts, and they’re a bunch of really good hitters that don’t like to strike out and like to get themselves in advantage counts and do damage. And that’s exactly what they did,” catcher BT Riopelle said on Sproat’s outing.
“It didn’t play in our favor that we weren’t getting ahead of guys,” Riopelle said. “But whenever Sproat got in jams like that, he kind of pulled himself together and made some pitches when it mattered the most, but ran up his pitch count really fast and he was out after four innings.”
Trailing 2-0, the Gators found the scoreboard on a Jac Caglianone RBI ground out to first base, scoring Cade Kurland from third in the bottom of the third inning.
Two innings later, Florida tied the game up using a little small ball. After a Ty Evans double down the left field line, Colby Halter laid down a sac-bunt, advancing Evans to third base. Next at bat, Cade Kurland grounded out to second base, scoring Evans from third.
Senior catcher BT Riopelle gave the Gators their only lead of the night on his 18th home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning. Five of Riopelle’s six hits in the NCAA Tournament have been home runs while eight of his 12 hits in the postseason (SEC Tournament included) have cleared the fence.
Freshman LHP Cade Fisher took over for Sproat in the 5th inning and was an immediate difference maker. The Dalton, Georgia native cruised until the 8th inning when LSU’s Tommy White blasted a home run to left field on an 0-2 pitch, tying the game up at three. Fisher’s hanging breaking ball costed him his only run across 3.1 inning pitched. The left hander allowed four hits and zero walks while striking out five in 50 pitches.
“I thought Cade came in and did an outstanding job,” O’Sullivan said. “Obviously he made that one mistake on the 0-2 count, but other than that he pitched great.”
RHP Brandon Neely took over after Fisher allowed back-to-back hits to Tommy White and Tre’ Morgan. Florida’s closer was dominant until Tigers’ DH Cade Beloso ran into an 0-1 heater, blasting a go-ahead home run deep into the right field stands in the top of the 11th inning.
Neely was credited with the loss after allowing just one hit and one run across 3.2 innings pitched. The right-hander struck out five.
“I thought Brandon pitched great. It came down to one pitch,” O’Sullivan said.
LSU’s starter Ty Floyd was nothing short of spectacular as the right-hander struck out a CWS Final-record 17 Gators over eight innings. Florida struggled to pick up Floyd’s rising fastball which came in anywhere between 94-97 MPH.
“I think he’s just a great pitcher in general,” Catcher BT Riopelle said. “He has a fastball that kind of plays like it rides a little bit with an induced vertical break. It’s a lower slot. The shadow isn’t the easiest thing at the beginning of the game; it got shown for both teams in the early innings.”
“He’s a great pitcher who threw it really well tonight,” Riopelle added. “What could you ask for a guy in the World Series, giving you a bunch of innings and limited their bullpen use tonight. They played a great game.”
“Offensively, we struck out 20 times tonight,” O’Sullivan said postgame. “They only walked two. I just think our swings are a little bit big tonight.”
“And we’ve handled the moment really well. Tonight, offensively I think we kind of got caught up in it a little bit and that kind of resulted in the strikeouts,” O’Sullivan said.
Florida will look to force a game three behind the red-hot RHP Hurston Waldrep on Sunday at 3:00 PM EST.
“We got Hurston going tomorrow, and we’ll do everything we can win tomorrow and force a Game 3,” O’Sullivan finished his opening statement with. “That simple.”
“You’ve just got to pick up and win tomorrow’s game and put ourself in position to play Monday. It comes down to a pitch here, a pitch there. Our boys will be ready to go tomorrow. This is an unbelievable environment for our guys to play in.” — Gators assistant coach Chuck Jeroloman on postgame radio show.
Will we see an update soon? Florida just won game 2 by 20 runs. Totally shifted the momentum.