You had to wonder.

You had to wonder if in Game 1 of the College World Series finals, LSU’s mojo was about to come to a screeching halt against a Florida team that up until Saturday night did nothing but find ways to win thrillers in Omaha.

You had to wonder if LSU was about to squander a historic 17-strikeout (!) performance from Ty Floyd because of the 17 men left on base.

You had to wonder if LSU’s bullpen was finally going to come back down to earth after entering the NCAA Tournament with a 5.38 ERA.

It would’ve been weird not to wonder about the Tigers finally making too great a misstep at some point during yet another 11-inning classic at Charles Schwab Field. After all, the margin for error was as slim as it gets. If Josh Pearson makes 1 wrong step on a ball that was absolutely smoked to deep left field by Florida All-American Wyatt Langford, Florida walks off a winner in the bottom of the 10th.

Instead, what happened? Another standout defensive play to save the game late … and another 11th inning bomb to lift the Tigers.

Instead of Tommy White, who homered earlier in the game yet again, it was Cade Beloso who went deep for the game-winning blast.

Game 1 went to the Tigers, and given the week that’s been, it would’ve been surprising if it didn’t.

Let’s back up for a second. Yes, it was Florida that entered the CWS finals at 3-0 in Omaha, and everyone knows that the Gators have the historical upper hand based on the 2017 CWS. Even though it felt like Florida hadn’t played in a week, there was absolutely a case to be made for “team of destiny” vibes.

But that title belonged to LSU by night’s end. At least for now.

How else can you explain that on the heels of a peak-Paul Skenes performance for the ages, Floyd did his best Kerry Wood imitation? Don’t let the 3 earned runs fool you. He was as dialed in as it gets. On pitch No. 107, he hurled a 97 MPH heater for his max velocity of the night. An inning later, he went upstairs and blew it by national home run leader Jac Caglianone for his 17th and final strikeout of the night. The guy threw as many strikeouts as any Division I pitcher all season.

In Game 1 of the CWS finals? Stop it.

“That’s gonna be talked about for years to come,” Beloso said in the ESPN postgame interview.

By the time Floyd finally handed the ball to Riley Cooper, it felt like it would’ve been a monumental missed opportunity if LSU didn’t find a way to come out with a win.

No biggie. LSU didn’t turn to possible No. 1 overall pick Dylan Crews, nor did the aforementioned Tommy Tanks do the heavy lifting.

Nope. It was Beloso, AKA the guy who might be playing his last competitive baseball in Omaha this weekend. Beloso’s the same guy who had to decide if he wanted to end his LSU career when he tore his ACL right before the first game of the 2022 season.

And what about Gavin Dugas? He, too, might be playing in his last weekend of competitive baseball, but that could’ve happened before the 2023 season even started. He had offseason eye surgery before 2023 began after struggling so badly with his vision that he was nearly blind in his left eye by the time he underwent the procedure.

Fast forward to Saturday when he worked an 11-pitch walk that ultimately helped plate an LSU run in the 1st inning, which was followed by a no-doubter home run over the left field wall.

Needless to say, LSU wouldn’t be here without either those 2. By “here,” that’s 1 win away from a title.

At this point, it’s hard not to like LSU’s chances, and not just because the Jello-shot downing Tiger faithful sounds like it completely overtook Omaha. It’s not just that the non-Skenes pitchers have stepped up in ways that nobody outside of Jay Johnson could’ve imagined. It’s that in 4 consecutive games, they found new ways to beat top-5 teams.

Flawed, LSU is. There’s no doubt about that. Ideally, it wouldn’t leave 17 runners on base, nor would it need a 17-strikeout performance to win a game when it held a multi-run lead.

Then again, pitching and defense allowed the Tigers to overcome those issues against a red-hot Florida team.

(We shouldn’t forget the recovery play Jordan Thompson made earlier in the night on the rare boot by Tre Morgan, which ultimately saved a second run from scoring.)

It’s strange to say a team that spent so much of the year as the No. 1 team has found its identity in Omaha, but it certainly feels that way. There’s no guarantee that continues on Sunday afternoon, but ask yourself this — at this point, what’s stopping LSU?

One can’t help but wonder if that opportunity came and went on Saturday night.