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College  | Story | 6/26/2017

CWS Finals: Gators bite first

Nick Herfordt
Photo: Courtney Culbreath

CWS Video Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | 2017 College World Series Preview

OMAHA, Neb. – Pitching and defense. That’s how Florida has been doing it all season and that’s how they were going to do it tonight as they took down SEC foe LSU 4-3 in the first game of the 2017 College World Series Finals.

Heading into Monday’s game, the Gators had only been able to have their leadoff hitter reach base in just seven of 36 innings while in Omaha during the series. Furthermore only one everyday Florida player had a batting average over .300 coming into the night (an average which would dip below the mark by night’s end leaving them with none). However you don’t need to score early and often when you have a pitching staff with the ilk of Florida’s arms. It’s almost an embarrassment of riches.

Nevertheless, the Gators go-to pitcher Monday was an easy decision for Florida Coach Kevin O’Sullivan. Bryan Singer was up in rotation and had put up top-shelf numbers all season. He’d accumulated 119 innings headed into Monday and had thrown brilliantly against Louisville earlier in the series. He was slated to be the man to put Florida in the driver’s seat for the first CWS title.

Meanwhile Russell Reynolds was named the starting pitcher for LSU, and to label his anointment a surprise in a game of such magnitude would be a tremendous understatement. The start would be his first since one of three spots starts made back during the 2015 season. Furthermore, Reynolds’ year-to-date statistics weren’t the figures typically attributed to hurlers taking to the mound to lead a championship series run. He had only a single win attributed to him this season along with an inflated 8.59 ERA over 14 2/3 innings over 14 appearances. Those numbers marked the worst ERA and least amount of innings of any starting pitcher in a CWS Finals game in 15 years.

Nevertheless, the shock move made by LSU skipper Paul Mainieri looked like it had Nostradamus-like abilities.

Reynolds mission was simple, survive as long as possible and keep the Tigers in the game. Staying on the mound for three innings would be incredible and anything beyond that would be an absolute coup. Reynolds had great location early and his battery-mate made his assignment simpler, tossing out basestealers to end the first two innings. Reynolds was fired up and imposing, walking off mound while shouting to himself Al Hrabosky-esque and pumping his fist. He certainly looked like a pitcher of choice rather than chance.

However at the start of the fourth things broke down. A fortunate grab by Jake Slaughter at first started the inning on a positive note for the Tigers, but a series of haunting walks followed. The next batter advanced to first after four straight balls. Then there were two on after another quartet of lost pitches. The bases were loaded after Reynolds failed to find the strike zone once again to a third straight Gator batter. Nick Bush was called to come in from the bullpen to stop the UF threat.

With three on Austin Langworthy popped up in deep foul territory along the left field line. The ball was courageously snared by racing shortstop Kramer Robertson, but his momentum twisted him into an unnatural position that wouldn’t allow him to effectively make the throw to stop the runner tagging from third. Robertson fruitlessly tried nonetheless, a move which allowed the other runners to advance to second and third. A serendipitous outcome as a Jonathan India ground-rule double brought them both in to score.

Bush struck out the next batter, but the damage had been done. Three runs on just one hit.

The scores would be the difference in the game as Singer was outstanding. He fanned two in the first, one more in second and another pair in third. After Florida took the lead in the fourth inning, LSU responded with back-to-back singles by Antoine Duplantis and Greg Deichmann, but Singer, armed with a heavy 94 mph sinker, was able to strike out the next three batters and leave the Tigers scoreless.

Singer continued to coast until the sixth when Antoine Duplantis, who only had a single home run in 277 at-bats going into the game, turned on a pitch and drove it into the right field bullpen to put LSU on the board. A hit by pitch soon after, followed by a walk, presented a huge opportunity for the Tigers to take advantage and gain momentum. A hot shot to left by Beau Jordan on a sinking fastball plated a run and cut the lead to one and a precarious fly almost tied the game, but Singer and company were able to end the threat.

Florida’s Langworthy started the seventh by slapping a standup double to right to put the pressure back on LSU. A sacrifice bunt by India put a potential insurance run 90 feet away from the plate and a single ripped up the middle by Mike Rivera brought him home. Rivera’s hit came so close to the mitt of the pitcher Bush he had to double check his mitt to check if there was a hole in the leather which allowed the ball to jet past him.

Headed into the eighth Singer had set the record for strikeouts in a championship game as well as Ks in a College World Series game played at TD Ameritrade Park, but he wasn’t out of the woods yet. He promptly gave up a double which once again put the tying run at the plate for LSU.

Übercloser Michael Byrne got the call for the long save, but it was Nick Horvath, who had came into to pinch run in the top of the inning, that possibly saved the game.

The Tigers’ Josh Smith smoked what appeared to be a sure double to left center. The hit scored the run from second, but the rally ignitor was mercilessly extinguished when Horvath brilliantly played the ball. Horvath – who in addition to playing the outfield is also a lefthanded relief specialist – was able to smoothly glove the ball and issue a strike on the run to second and edge Smith at the base.

Florida Coach O’Sullivan commented after the game on the significance of the out. 

“That changed the whole complexion of the ballgame, to be honest with you,” O’Sullivan said. “Now they've got a runner at second. They're down a run with one out, and all the momentum is in their favor. And a play like that can just change the whole complexion of a ballgame. I think that was really big.”

In the ninth it would be three up, three down for LSU as Byrne extended his nation-leading mark of 19 saves.

After the game Coach O’Sullivan talked about his teams’ chances of winning the school’s first title with another win on Tuesday.

“This thing is not nearly over,” O’Sullivan said. “We've got six hits tonight. Brady had to pitch his tail off. We have a freshman going tomorrow against the winningest pitcher in LSU's history. We're going to have to play better. So is it exciting to have Game 1 under our belt, but tomorrow we're going to have to play better… But, you know, we're close but we haven't finished. We haven't crossed the line yet.”
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