That was rough.
Wake Forest got past LSU at the College World Series on Monday night, using a late-inning rally to score the win.
I have some thoughts – as do most fans.
So let’s go.
Here’s our 5 takes.
- REMOVE CASEY MOSER FROM THE SPORT – The home-plate umpire in tonight’s LSU and Wake Forest game was atrocious. Look, that is not LSU bias. That is not my way of saying that officiating cost LSU the game. None of that. He was equally bad for both teams. But he was atrocious tonight. Absolutely atrocious. He gave some guys a few inches off the black, but others didn’t. He got petty when guys tried to show him up. He called some pitches a strike that were in the dirt. He called others balls that were right down the middle. This is the College World Series. Both teams deserve better than that. If we had an umpire auditor and the K-Zone box tonight, I’d say he got about 65% of the ball/strike calls right. That’s laughably and embarrassingly bad.
- JAY STUCK WITH FLOYD TOO LONG – Ty Floyd was excellent tonight, but Jay Johnson stuck with him too long tonight. He was done after the failed pickoff attempt at first and they gave him 2 extra batters after that – both walks. That can’t happen. Thatcher Hurd was excellent in relief, but that 6th inning rally should have never been allowed to get as far along as it did.
- NOW WHAT? – LSU used Floyd AND Hurd tonight and didn’t win. That doesn’t paint a rosy pitching picture for tomorrow against Tennessee. Granted, the Volunteers used both their No. 2 and No. 3 starters today, too, so they are in the same boat. But they have better depth than LSU does. Tomorrow is going to be a chore. And I’m not sure LSU can overcome it. A rainout tomorrow would be nice, but it’s not in the forecast.
- HAVE TO SCORE IN THE 7TH – You had runners at 1st and 3rd in the top of the 7th inning. You scored zip. Why? Because of a baserunning mistake and/or just flat-out bad luck. No matter how it’s sliced, you’re the LSU offense. You have 1st and 3rd with no outs and you have to scratch one across there. When they didn’t, the momentum changed in a big way and it was a wrap.
- TOO MANY STRIKEOUTS – LSU struck out 13 times on Monday. Five guys in the lineup struckout multiple times. One guy struck out 4 times. If half of your outs result in the ball never even being put in play, it’s going to be hard to score against good teams. And as a result, guess what? It was hard for LSU to score.
- LIVE BY THE HOME RUN … – If you live by the home run, sometimes you die by it when the wind is blowing in at 20 mph. But that victimized LSU and Wake both equally tonight. Both offenses were out of rhythm and Mother Nature had a lot to do with that.