Tigers hope for deja' voo-doo and not deja' vu in CWS rematch vs. Florida
When it comes to LSU vs. Florida in most sports, familiarity usually breeds contempt.
The Gators indisputably have the SEC’s best overall athletic program. Their men’s and women’s teams in 10 different sports have won 31 national championships since 2001 including at least one national title for 14 straight years (except for the COVID-shortened 2020 spring season).
But since the Gators have been on LSU’s football schedule for the last 52 seasons including the 31 as the Tigers’ permanent Eastern Division opponent since the SEC split into divisions in 1992 (which will end after this season), the dislike between the schools' football fan bases and teams is real.
Yet in baseball, the Tigers and the Gators, who’ll meet in the College World Series championship finals series in Omaha starting Saturday at 6 p.m. for the second time in the last seven seasons, have a healthy respect for each other.
“One thing I admire about them is the confidence they play with,” LSU grad student designated hitter Cade Beloso said of Florida. “Kind of similar to us. And they're a gritty bunch and they all play with a chip on their shoulder.”
“They play with a lot of passion, a lot of fire,” Florida senior catcher BT Riopelle said of LSU. “We've had a whole year to scout them practically because it's a team we like to watch. They play great baseball and we're excited to play them.”
The Tigers (52-16) and the Gators (53-15), this year’s SEC regular season champion, have played just seven games against each other since Florida beat LSU in two straight games 4-3 and 6-1 for the 2017 national title.
LSU is 4-3 in those contests, winning two of three games in Gainesville last season and in Baton Rouge in 2019 and losing to Florida in the 2018 SEC tourney.
The Tigers scored in double figures in all four wins, including 16-4 and 11-2 last season after losing the opener.
LSU has six current position starters who started vs. Florida last season, but no starting pitchers and just three relievers. The Gators also have six current position starters who started vs. the Tigers last year as well as a starting pitcher and seven relievers who faced LSU.
Just from a fatigue factor, Florida currently has the edge as the fresher team since it won three straight one-run games in the last eight days to advance to the CWS finals.
LSU, because it lost its second CWS game to top-seeded Wake Forest, had to fight its way out of the loser's bracket. The Tigers, playing five games in six days, had to win three straight elimination games including beating No. 1 seed Wake Forest in back-to-back days 5-2 on Wednesday and 2-0 on Thursday.
According to LSU junior center fielder Dylan Crews, one of three Golden Spikes Award finalists (LSU pitcher Paul Skenes and Florida designated hitter/pitcher Jac Caglianone are the others) in this season, the Tigers don’t mind the workload.
”We do well with games being played back to back to back,” said Crews, college baseball fourth leading hitter at .423 who’s batting .300 batting in this CWS with almost as many strikeouts (five) as hits (six). "It keeps the momentum going for sure, just keeps the gas and the pedal to the metal, the old saying.”
Having played all five of its CWS games against pitching staffs ranked No. 1 (Wake Forest) and No. 2 (Tennessee), plus battling brisk winds in expansive Charles Schwab Stadium, LSU is batting just .213 in the CWS.
Florida, with half of its 24 hits for extra bases, isn’t much better at .235.
Head coaches Jay Johnson of LSU and Kevin O’ Sullivan agree playing in Omaha considering the brisk winds and larger stadium is an adjustment.
“There's a different nature to it, especially in the games that we've played with the wind blowing straight in, the size of the field, the quality of the pitching,” said Johnson, who’s making his third CWS trip after guiding Arizona twice to Omaha in six seasons. “When we talk about building an offense very early on in the fall we want to be able to win any type of game -- pitchers' duel like last night, one-run game, slugfest, wind blowing out, small park, big field, doesn't matter.”
Sullivan, who has coached the Gators to eight CWS appearances in 16 seasons, seconded Johnson’s assessment.
“When you put your team together to win the SEC, it's built on power hitting and power pitching,” O’Sullivan said. “Now you get out here and it's a totally different game. In the back of your mind, when we've come out here and we haven't been as successful as we had hoped, you have to have the ability to manufacture runs in different ways. That's the really intriguing thing about playing out here.”
While it seems as if Florida has a pitching advantage from the standpoint of having two of its top three starters with four or more days rest, LSU’s pitching staff has exceeded all expectations so far with a stunning CWS ERA of 1.57 in 46 innings including a 1.00 ERA in 18 innings by five Tigers’ relievers.
Junior Riley Cooper has two CWS saves, pitching 5.2 scoreless innings in three appearances. Sophomore UCLA transfer Thatcher Hurd has allowed one run in 6 innings spread. Freshman Griffin Herring’s 4.2 scoreless innings in Wednesday’s win over WFU settled LSU after a shaky start.
“I have faith in a lot of the guys,” Johnson said of his 12 pitchers on LSU’s CWS roster. “They've all pitched in games that we've won this year and games that we've had success. And I think there's a pathway for them if they execute to be successful. And it really doesn't matter what I think or feel about it; we are where we are. We earned our way here the way they (Florida) did.”
No. 5 SEED LSU (52-16) vs. No. 2 SEED FLORIDA (53-15)
WHERE
Charles Schwab Field, Omaha, Neb.
WHEN
Game 1: Saturday 6 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 2: Sunday 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 3 (if needed): Monday 6 p.m. (ESPN)
BALLPARK DIMENSIONS
335 feet left and right field lines (five feet longer than LSU’s Alex Box Stadium’s and Florida’s Condron Family Ballkpark’s left and right field lines), 375 feet left-center and right-center field (10 feet longer than Alex Box in left-center and right-center, 5 feet shorter than Condron Family Ballpark in left-center and right-center) and 408 feet center field (3 feet longer than Alex Box, 8 feet shorter than Condron Ballpark).
GAMETIME WEATHER
90 degrees, 1 percent chance of rain, winds 15 mph.
LIKELY STARTING PITCHERS
LSU: Ty Floyd, 7-0, 4.45 ERA, 83 innings pitched, 103 strikeouts/36 walks.
FLORIDA: Hurston Waldrep, 10-3, 3.99 ERA in 99.1 innings, 154 strikeouts/31 walks.
LSU VS. FLORIDA SERIES
LSU leads the all-time series with Florida 66-52-1. Since LSU lost to the Gators 4-3 and 6-1 in the CWS championship finals series in 2017, the Tigers won a pair of series two games to one in Gainesville in 2022 and Baton Rouge in 2021. LSU is 4-2 vs. Florida in three CWS appearances (1991, 1996, 2017)
LSU IN THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
LSU is participating in its 19th College World Series, and its first since 2017 when the Tigers finished as the national runners-up to Florida. LSU is 44-28 (.611) all-time in CWS games, including a 7-3 mark in CWS championship games. LSU is 8-3 in the CWS against five SEC teams who were league members at the time the Tigers played them. The Tigers have six national championships (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009), the second-most in NCAA history.
FLORIDA IN THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
Florida is 24-24 all-time in the College World Series, having made a nation-leading eight trips out of a possible 15 since 2008: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2023. The Gators won the national title in 2017, beating LSU two straight games.
STATS
LSU: No. 1 in the nation in shutouts pitched (12) and runs scored (608), No. 2 home runs (138) and hit-by-pitch (135), No. 3 home runs per game (2.03), walks received (389) and strikeouts pitched per nine innings (11.6), No. 4 in on-base percentage (.430), No. 5 in slugging percentage (.556), hits (702) and hits allowed per nine innings (7.53), No. 7 WHIP (1.28), No. 8 scoring average (8.9 runs per game) and No. 9 strikeouts to walks ratio (2.89)
FLORIDA: No. 4 in the nation in shutouts pitched (8), No. 3 in home runs (136), No. 5 home runs per game (2.00) and No. 7 in strikeouts pitched per nine innings (10.7).
STARS
LSU
CF DYLAN CREWS: Winner of the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award as college baseball's best hitter, National College Baseball Writers Association first-team All-American, SEC Player of the Year, All-SEC first team, All-SEC Defensive team, Golden Spikes Award finalist, No. 1 in nationally in runs scored (94), No. 2 in on-base percentage (.563), No. 4 walks (68) and No. 5 in batting average (.423), Has 18 home runs, 16 doubles and 69 RBIs, and has increased his reached base streak to 72 straight games (all 68 games this season and the final four games of last season).
3B TOMMY WHITE: National College Baseball Writers Association first-team All-American, All-SEC first team, No. 2 in the nation in RBIs (100) and No. 4 in RBIs per game (1.59). White's two-run homer to defeat Wake Forest Thursday night is the fifth walk-off hit in LSU's College World Series history. The others were Todd Walker's single in a 1993 semi-final win over Long Beach State, Warren Morris' homer in the 1996 national championship game vs. Miami, Brad Cresse's single in the 2000 national championship game vs. Stanford and Blake Dean's double in a 2008 elimination game vs. Rice.
FLORIDA
DH/P JAC CAGLIANONE: One of three finalists for the Golden Spikes Award in addition to being a finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy. No. 2 nationally in home runs (31, a new Florida record) and the first SEC player to eclipse 30 homers since 2003. Caglianone is also chasing UF's single-season RBI record with 84 (sixth in NCAA), one from tying Preston Tucker's record of 85 set in 2009. On the mound, Caglianone is 7-3 with a 3.38 EEA and sports a team-low .186 opposing team batting average.
OF WYATT LANGFORD: Two-time All-American Langford leads UF in every slash category (.363/.493/.758) and has drawn more walks (54) than strikeouts (43). Despite missing seven games to injury, he has totaled 19 homers, 25 doubles (three from tying Mike Zunino's team record of 28), a team-high 78 runs, 49 RBIs and nine steals.