Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Gators round out field with shutout
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — JJ Schwarz hit a towering, tworun home run and Tyler Dyson followed with five scoreless innings of relief as Florida beat Wake Forest 3-0 on Monday night to earn the final spot in the College World Series.
Right-handed ace Alex Faedo, selected by Detroit with the 18th overall pick in the MLB draft earlier in the game, pitched the final two innings for his first career save. Faedo had made 43 starts since his previous relief appearance in April 2015.
But with four weather delays totaling nearly 10 hours during the best-of-three series,
Faedo was in the bullpen for the decisive game. And he delivered, helping the Gators (47-18) return to Omaha, Neb., for the third consecutive season and sixth time in
the past eight years.
Wake Forest (43-20), which hit five home runs in a Game 2 victory, was held to four hits and shut out for the fourth time this season.
Two of the Demon Deacons’ home runs in Monday’s first game was from Ben Breazeale, including a walkoff shot in the 11th inning, as Wake Forest won 8-6 to force the decisive game.
SUNDAY’S LATE GAME LSU 14, MISSISSIPPI STATE 4
BATON ROUGE — LSU shortstop Kramer Robert- son, right fielder Greg Deichmann and second baseman Cole Freeman trotted toward their positions to start the bottom of the ninth inning, exchanged hugs with teammates, and walked armin-arm back to the dugout, soaking in a standing ovation.
The three seniors all could have left school when they were selected in the MLB draft after their junior year. To think of what they would have missed if they hadn’t returned — and it’s not over yet.
Omaha, Neb., awaits. Robertson’s three-hit game and Caleb Gilbert’s five-plus innings of scoreless middle relief helped LSU clinch its 18th College World Series
berth with a victory over Mississippi State on Sunday night in the Baton Rouge super regional.
“I think we were all tearing up,” Deichmann said of the moment when he, Robertson and Freeman came out of a game at home for the final time. “We all said to each other, ‘We did it.’ Our goal coming back from last year was tonight. We accomplished that goal. Now we move on to our next one, and it’s the national championship.”
LSU has six national titles in program history. The 2017 Tigers (48-17) will ride a 16-game winning streak into Omaha. They’ve also won 21 of 23.
“The train is rolling. I anticipate those guys are going to go to Omaha and win a national championship,” said Mississippi State Coach Andy Cannizaro, a former LSU assistant. “They have the most dynamic lineup in the country. Everyone is playing at a high level right now.”
LSU trailed MSU (40-27) 4-3 entering the fifth, but seized control of the game with a six-run rally. Michael Papierski’s bases-loaded double scored the first two runs. Robertson added an RBI double, stole third and scored on Hunter Stovall’s two-out throwing error to make it 9-4.