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LSU wins, to meet Texas in final
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Sean Ochinko of LSU is safe at second base with a seventh-inning double as he eludes an attempted tag by Bo Bigham of Arkansas.
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Published: June 20, 2009
Updated: 06/20/2009 12:25 am
OMAHA, Neb. - Coach Paul Mainieri said he can't think of a thing he would change about the way his LSU Tigers are playing at the College World Series.
That's surely a scary thought for Texas, which advanced to the best-of-three championship series with a 4-3 win against Arizona State last night.
LSU used an impressive show of power and pitching to win Bracket 1 with a 14-5 victory against Arkansas yesterday. The Tigers hit four home runs, raising their CWS total to nine in three games, and Anthony Ranaudo bounced back from a subpar outing to pitch six shutout innings.
"It's a dream come true that we got to this point," said Mainieri. "When I say a dream, it's not that I didn't think we couldn't. We thought we could when we started the year. Now there's an opportunity for us, and now we'll see if we can seize it."
The Tigers, playing for their sixth national title and first since 2000, await either Texas or Arizona State in the finals beginning on Monday.
The Tigers (54-16) hadn't played since Monday's 9-1 win over Arkansas, and they had to wait even longer because of a thunderstorm that pushed back the start of yesterday's game 21/2 hours.
"They were chomping at the bit to get back out there on the ballfield," Mainieri said.
Once out there, the Tigers showed no signs of rust against an Arkansas team they dominated all year. Arkansas (41-24) was outscored 23-6 by LSU in two CWS games, and the Razorbacks lost four of five overall against the Tigers this season. LSU scored in six of the nine innings and shut out Arkansas for 14 straight innings during their two meetings in Omaha. The Tigers also beat Virginia 9-5 and have won 13 in a row.
"Up to this point, we've been rolling pretty well," said designated hitter Blake Dean, who hit LSU's first homer in the fifth. "We haven't reached a stress point in any game. Our toughest game so far was Virginia. Up to this point, we've been playing good hard baseball, and we're more confident than we ever have been."
The Tigers went deep three straight innings to give Ranaudo (11-3) a big cushion.
Ranaudo, who lasted 31/3 innings in last Saturday's start against Virginia, allowed four hits and had five strikeouts against no walks. Austin Ross took over to start the seventh with the Tigers leading 11-0.
"I just flushed the last start," Ranaudo said. "I tried to pound the zone early. With what the offense did by scoring runs early, it gave me time to relax and throw strikes."
Mainieri, with the big lead, was able to go to his bullpen after Ranaudo threw 77 pitches. He's the probable starter for the second game of the finals Tuesday, and he'll go in with plenty of confidence.
"You saw the real Anthony Ranaudo today," Mainieri said. "He looked like a major-league pitcher, like a champion."
So did the rest of the Tigers.
Dean hit his second homer in three games, and 17th of the season, off Mike Bolsinger in the fifth.
Jared Mitchell, the Chicago White Sox's first-round draft pick, hit an opposite-field homer to left off TJ Forrest, a former LSU pitcher, the next inning.
Ryan Schimpf followed with his team-leading 21st, sending Forrest's fastball near the top of the right-field stands and starting a five-run seventh.
Tyler Hanover added a pinch-hit two-run homer in the ninth off Zack Cox, the seventh of a CWS record-tying eight pitchers used by the Razorbacks. The teams combined to use 13 pitchers, tying a CWS mark.
Brett Eibner's two-run homer off Ross ended the Razorbacks' scoreless-inning streak in the seventh, and Chase Leavitt hit a three-run homer for Arkansas in the ninth.
College World Series
(At Omaha, Neb.)
Thursday
Arizona State 12, North Carolina 5
— North Carolina eliminated
Friday
LSU 14, Arkansas 5
— Arkansas eliminated
Texas 4, Arizona State 3
— Arizona State eliminated
Championship
(best of 3, June 22-24)
LSU (54-16) vs. Texas (49-14-1) June 22-24, all games 7 p.m.
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