Tuesday in Omaha carried 2.5 games and a long day for the UCLA Bruins. Forgive UCLA if it doesn’t put in an application to swap its way into the SEC. A half-blasting from LSU, a blasting from Arkansas, and the Bruin Omaha experience came to a hasty end. But with apologies to the hastily dispatched Bruins, the rematch is here!
Arkansas/LSU is the most predictable, but almost certainly best, battle in Omaha. LSU rolled its way in and Arkansas pitched its way in and here we go with one final epic SEC battle on tap.
How did LSU get here?
First, LSU. After all, the Tigers only have to win once over Arkansas to punch their ticket into the College World Series Finals. This is such a different LSU team than Paul Skenes and the big boppers of 2023. Tommy Tanks isn’t strolling up to pulverize baseballs into outer space.
In a pair of impressive wins over Arkansas and UCLA, the Tigers did nice offensive work, putting up 13 runs. But they hit singles. One double, 1 homer and plenty of singles.
This LSU team is one that can hit-and-run, go first-to-third on a single, take advantage of — and even create — small defensive mistakes that keep innings alive. The Tigers aren’t exactly against home runs. They’ve just found a way to win without them.
Kade Anderson was an absolute ace in the first battle with Arkansas. Anthony Eyanson was so-so against UCLA. The Tigers made sure it didn’t really matter. But then, against Arkansas, LSU might have to find yet another way to relish every 0 on the scoreboard.
How did Arkansas get here?
Arkansas, the unlikely sole top 5-seed to make Omaha, took that tough 4-1 loss to LSU to open the CWS. But the Hogs bounced back. Gage Wood certainly made enough noise in a 19-strikeout no-hitter over Murray State. Put Wood in the CWS record books with the first no-hitter in over 60 years.
But also put him into the legion of brilliant pitching performances at any level. If he didn’t conjure up Nolan Ryan or Sandy Koufax or Kerry Wood or Roger Clemens, then you’re too young to know those names and will have to wait for another performance to remember Wood. Let’s hope we all are blessed enough to see another domination like that one. They don’t grow on trees (and neither do 119-pitch games, for that matter).
Arkansas’s pitching obviously learned a lesson from that initial 4-1 CWS loss. If you don’t give up runs, it’s hard to lose. Following the Murray State game, Arkansas dropped another 8 scoreless innings on UCLA. Just when it started to seem like the Razorbacks wouldn’t ever allow another run, they dozed home with a 7-0 lead that became a 7-3 win via the 9th inning.
So here we are, 2 teams left from a mammoth season in the biggest conference that college baseball has ever known. What’s the final SEC-on-SEC chapter?
Does Arkansas finally have the courage to batter through the Razorback Omaha jinx? Will LSU’s well of singles and baserunning keep from running dry? Can Wehiwa Aloy put up enough runs to win two games? Is it crazy to not want it all to end?
Somebody’s going to win and go on to probably play Coastal Carolina and look to put up runs on another strong pitching staff. Frankly, if this series goes until Thursday, the winner might be at a massive disadvantage if the Chanticleers take care of Louisville.
But those are weekend questions. We’re looking at Wednesday questions now. Hogs and Tigers one more time (maybe 2 more times). Feels like Christmas morning for somebody’s championship dreams.
Wednesday night’s game starts at 7 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN. Sign up for FuboTV today and get a 30-day free trial so you don’t miss a pitch from Omaha.
Joe Cox is a columnist for Saturday Down South. He has also written or assisted in writing five books, and his most recent, Almost Perfect (a study of baseball pitchers’ near-miss attempts at perfect games), is available on Amazon or at many local bookstores.
