LSU vs. TCU: CWS Pregame Warm-up
Who: LSU (54-11) and TCU (50-14)
What: Elimination game; winner advances to play Vanderbilt on Friday
When/Where: 7:00 p.m. at TD Ameritrade Park | Omaha, Nebraska
Television: ESPN
Radio: WDGL-FM 98.1 (Baton Rouge)
Series History/Last Meeting: LSU holds a 6-2 series lead against TCU with the Horned Frogs defeating the Tigers, 10-3, in each team’s opening game of the College World Series. Prior to that, the last meeting between the two schools came in a weekend series in 1994, where LSU completed a three-game sweep.
LSU’s last game: The Tigers finally got the proverbial monkey off their back and avoided elimination from the College World Series, winning their first ever game at TD Ameritrade Park, 5-3, against Cal State-Fullerton on Tuesday afternoon. Freshman stud Alex Lange labored through the first inning, allowing three runs on four hits, but struck out 10 TCU hitters and gave up just two hits in the final eight innings on his way to a complete game. Meanwhile, the Tiger offense for four runs in the third inning and grab an insurance run in the top of the seventh, turning in 13 hits total.
TCU’s last game: Offense was hard to come by as Vanderbilt starter Philip Pfeifer and Horned Frog starter Alex Young shut down both opposing offenses through seven and 7 ⅔ innings of work, respectively. In fact, Young, who had 12 strikeouts, was throwing a no hitter heading into the top seventh inning. But the Commodores received the only run they need on a solo blast from junior first baseman Zander Wiel to leadoff the inning, putting Vandy in the driver’s seat with a 1-0 victory on Tuesday night.
LSU starting lineup:
SS Alex Bregman (.324 avg., 49 RBI, 9 HR)
LF Jake Fraley (.306 avg., 34 RBI, 2 HR)
C Kade Scivicque (.352 avg., 47 RBI, 6 HR)
3B Conner Hale (.332 avg., 56 RBI, 4 HR)
DH Chris Sciambra (.308 avg., 28 RBI, 3 HR)
CF Andrew Stevenson (.350 avg., 23 RBI, 1 HR)
1B Chris Chinea (.348 avg., 58 RBI, 11 HR)
RF Mark Laird (.324 avg., 24 RBI, 1 HR)
2B Jared Foster (.284 avg., 35 RBI, 10 HR)
TCU starting lineup:
CF Cody Jones (.362 avg., 34 RBI, 5 HR)
1B Jeremie Fagnan (.259 avg., 26 RBI, 4 HR)
DH Connor Wanhanen (.329 avg., 40 RBI, 1 HR)
C Evan Skoug (.286 avg., 44 RBI, 7 HR)
LF Dane Steinhagen (.281 avg., 25 RBI, 0 HR)
3B Derek Odell (.300 avg., 41 RBI, 3 HR)
SS Keaton Jones (.253 avg., 39 RBI, 2 HR)
RF Nolan Brown (.307 avg., 30 RBI, 1 HR)
2B Garrett Crain (.264 avg., 28 RBI, 1 HR)
Pitching matchup:
LSU – LHP Zac Person (2-0, 3.34 ERA, 34 SO, 10 BB, .178 b/avg.)
TCU – RHP Mitchell Traver (9-2, 1.60 ERA, 73 SO, 24 BB, .179 b/avg.)
LSU player to watch: senior starting pitcher Zac Person:
Who else but the guy leading the Jack Wholestaff train? The setup man is making just his third start of LSU career, but today’s outing could be similar to his start on April 12 against Auburn, where he tossed three scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Ideally, Person can set the tone for the Tiger arms and limit extra chances TCU was able to capitalize on in the first game. If Person is rolling, he may go four innings, but the first three frames is most likely the target amount.
TCU player to watch: freshman designated hitter Connor Wanhanen
Like the rest of the TCU lineup, Wanhanen didn’t have much success against Pfeifer and the Commodores on Tuesday night, but he was one of two players to reach base twice with a walk and a base hit. Wanhanen, though, was a key pieces in the Horned Frogs 10-3 win against the Tigers on Sunday afternoon, recording three hits and three RBIs. As the three-hole hitter who is third on the team in RBIs, the freshman will be a tough out for the Tiger hurlers.