LSU returned to the pinnacle of college baseball on Monday, defeating SEC rival Florida, 18-4, to win its seventh national championship and the 2023 College World Series.
Led by second-year head coach Jay Johnson – who became the first coach to win a title prior to his third season at an institution – LSU (54-17) overcame a 2-0 first-inning deficit by scoring six in the second and four in the fourth inning to take a commanding 10-2 lead.
LSU start Thatcher Hurd (8-3) earned his second win in the series, throwing six innings and allowing only two runs on two hits – the first two batters he faced – while striking out seven.
Offensively, the Tigers amassed 24 hits, the program’s most hits in a CWS game. Eleven Tigers recorded at least one hit in the contest.
The Tigers captured five national titles (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000) under legendary head coach Skip Bertman, and added a sixth when third-year head coach Paul Mainieri won the championship series in 2009 over Texas.
“I really believe this will go down in one of the best teams in college baseball history,” Johnson said. “So consistent in the regular season. I think the SEC Tournament is the only week of the year we had a losing record, if you think about that.
“Eleven wins in the (NCAA) postseason, six of them against SEC teams. And I really believe we played and beat every team, the best team that we could have played along the way throughout the entire tournament. So I love these guys. I’m so proud of them. And they are a very worthy champion.”
Centerfielder Dylan Crews, third baseman Tommy White and rightfielder Brayden Jobert each collected four hits.
White, Jobert and shortstop Jordan Thompson each delivered three RBI, and Jobert and leftfielder Josh Pearson each launched two-run homers in the offensive barrage.
Florida starting pitcher Jac Caglianone (7-4) was charged wtih the loss, as he allowed six runs on two hits in 1.1 innings with three walks and two strikeouts.
After a 3-2 loss to No. 1 seed Wake Forest last Monday, Johnson’s Tigers came through the loser’s bracket by eliminating Tennessee before earning consecutive win over the Demon Deacons to setup a best-of-three championship series against No. 2-seeded Florida. LSU won game 1 of the series, 4-3 in 11 innings, before Florida drew even with a 24-4 victory Sunday.
LSU, which avenged a 2017 CWS championship series sweep by the Gators, was led throughout the 2023 season by Golden Spikes Award winning centerfielder Dylan Crews and Dick Howser Award-winning and CWS Most Outstanding Player righthand pitcher Paul Skenes. This duo which many project to be the top 2 selections in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft put forth spectacular performances in the College World Series, as expected.
What many prognosticators didn’t see coming were performances from Skenes and Crews supporting cast, including lefthanded pitcher Riley Cooper, who earned a win in relief and three saves for the Tigers.
Saturday’s LSU starting pitcher Ty Floyd, who set a program postseason record with 17 strikeouts in eight innings of series game 1 extra-inning win over Florida, also stepped up on the game’s brightest stage.
In Monday’s finale, Hurd put his slow start to his first season in Baton Rouge in the rearview mirror with a stellar performance worthy of LSU Baseball championship lore, allowing only two walks and a hit batter to the final 21 batters he faced.
Five different LSU pitchers earned victories in the 2023 CWS, including Skenes, Cooper, Hurd (two wins), first-time starter Nate Ackenhausen and freshman Griffin Herring.
The Tigers won 11 of 13 games in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, sweeping Regional and Super Regional opponents at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
A championship celebration will be held Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. CT at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. Details will be announced shortly.
