OMAHA, Neb. – It all came down to the eighth inning.
LSU baseball had runners on first and third base with one out in the top of the eighth – in prime position to take back the lead with the score scored at two. It was the biggest moment of the game, and the Tigers had Wake Forest on the ropes and Cade Beloso at the plate.
Peluso did his job: put the ball into play. He hit a slow rolling ground ball to third base that Wake Forest’s third baseman, Brock Wilken, fielded with a fist double and threw it at home plate.
The play at the plate was close, but Trey Morgan was called out. Some might question his decision to go home at all, but the damage was already done as the score remained tied at 2-2.
An RBI single from catcher Bennett Lee gave the Deacons the lead in the bottom of the eighth and Camden Minacci shutout the Tigers in the ninth, as Wake Forest escaped with a 3-2 win in the 2023 College World Series.
With the loss, LSU (49-16) will play Tennessee at 6 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN. Wake Forest (54-10) will play the winner of that game on Wednesday — just a win away from reaching the College World Series final.
LSU Baseball: Ty Floyd Night
Through five innings, Ty Floyd has thrown the ball as he has done all season.
He only managed first-team hits in the nation with two runs and no runs, while racking up career-highs in strikeouts with 10. But that all changed in the sixth.
Floyd walked the first three batters of the inning to load the bases with no one out. He was replaced by Thatcher Heard, who surrendered an LSU second-inning lead but fumbled and kept the game tied after prodding into a double play and getting a strikeout to escape a jam.
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Wake Forest fielder Adam Cesser left.
With two outs, Tommy White at second base and LSU leading 1-0, Tre Morgan slapped a ball to Cecere in left. But Cecier completely lost the ball in the sun, allowing White to score and Morgan to reach third.
Césirre wasn’t wearing his sunglasses when he lost the ball, which seemed counterproductive to him. But, as Pearson noted on Sunday, the stretchy shades from the first bleachers make wearing sunglasses difficult.
“The shadows make it more difficult. So (if) I wear my sunglasses, I can’t see the ball,” Pearson said on Sunday. “So I have to cover it over my hand.”
Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley
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