The LSU Tigers face Coastal Carolina in Game 1 of the best-of-3 Men’s College World Series championship series Saturday at 6 p.m. in Omaha, Neb.
Both LSU (51-15) and Coastal Carolina (56-11) are undefeated in the World Series.
The Tigers defeated Arkansas 6-3 Saturday, UCLA 9-5 in a l game that started Tuesday night and ended Wednesday and Arkansas again 6-5 Wednesday.
The Chanticleers defeated Arizona 7-4 Friday, Oregon State 6-2 Tuesday and Louisville 11-3 Wednesday.
Coastal Carolina, the Sun Belt Conference regular-season and tournament champion, has won 26 straight games. The Chanticleers’ last defeated was to the College of Charleston 4-2 on April 22.
LSU is aiming for its eighth national championship and second in the last three years.
Coastal Carolina’s only championship came in 2016. The Chanticleers defeated LSU in a Super Regional en route to the title.
“Looking forward to playing a great opponent in Coastal Carolina and (Coastal Carolina) Head Coach (Kevin) Schnall — known him for a very long time and consider him a good friend and obviously have respect for a program that’s been one of the best in college baseball over the last couple of decades,” LSU Head Coach Jay Johnson said during Friday’s press conference.
LSU sophomore outfielder Jake Brown of Sulphur said being in a position to win a national championship is a dream come true.
“This is something I’ve dreamed about my entire life as I know a lot of the other Louisiana guys on our team have,” he said. “This is everything you’ve worked for coming up. In Louisiana your dream to play baseball for LSU.
“And what goes into baseball is to represent it at the highest level of college baseball which is something this program has been able to do year in and year out. And really just super thankful for the opportunity I’ve been gifted with and looking to make the most out of it.”
Brown said the Tigers will be ready for anything.
“It’s a team that’s seen it all and I think that speaks to the toughness of our team,” he said.
Coastal Carolina has a team batting average of .291. Four players — Caden Bodine, Dean Mihos, Sebastian Alexander and Colby Thorndyke are batting above .300.
Blake Barthol leads the team in home runs with 12 and is second in RBIs with 53. Alexander has hit 10 home runs and is the team-leader in RBIs with 54.
Jacob Morrison, a 6-foot-8 right-hander, leads the pitching staff with a 12-0 record and 2.08 ERA. He gave up five hits and one earned run with seven strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings against Oregon State.
Riley Elkhoff, a 5-10 right-hander, is 7-2 with a 3.10 ERA. He started against Arizona and Louisville and gave up a combined 13 hits in 9 1/3 innings.
Cameron Flukey, a 6-6 right-hander, is 8-1 with a 3.29 ERA. Luke Jones, a 5-10 right-hander, leads the team in saves with 10.
Derek Curiel leads LSU in batting with a .348 average. Jared Jones leads the team in home runs with 22 and RBI with 76. He is batting .330.
Ethan Frey is second in batting with a .331 average and home runs with 13. Steven Milam is second in RBIs with 56.
Anthony Eyanson, a 6-2 right-hander, and Kade Anderson, a 6-2 left-hander, lead the pitching staff. Eyanson is 11-2 with a 2.92 ERA. Anderson is 11-1 with a .344 ERA.
Casan Evans, Zac Cowan and Chase Shores have all pitched well in the World Series.