5 takes as LSU forces rubber match with Wake Forest

Wow. This LSU team just refuses to die.

The Tigers beat Wake Forest 5-2 on Wednesday, staying alive and forcing a winner-take-all game between the teams on Thursday.

Here’s our 5 takes from the thrilling win.

1. CADE BELOSO … AGAIN – Cade Beloso didn’t even know if he wanted to play baseball anymore after last season. Where would LSU be without him? That guy has come through time after time again for this team, including a HUGE 3-run home run that put LSU up for good. I love guys like that. This is a kid who has had to deal with so much stuff in his career but has just continued to push. I love stories like that. What a Tiger.
2. HOW BOUT THOSE ARMS? – LSU locked down the Wake Forest offense with their B-List pitchers on Wednesday. Javen Coleman, Blake Money and Griffin Herring are mid-week guys. Those are the guys who LSU would use when playing like McNeese on a Tuesday night in like April. To do this in Omaha is big-time stuff – stuff they will be talking about for a long, long time.
3. RILEY COOPER … AGAIN – Riley Cooper was not very good for the first couple months of the season. But Jay Johnson kept saying throughout the season that he trusted Cooper because he had pitched in big games and was not afraid of the moment. Boy, he wasn’t lying. Cooper came through huge again for LSU on Wednesday. With a jello arm, he just kept humming, getting out of a pickle in the 8th and then closing the door in the 9th. Onions.
4. SMALL BALL EXPERIMENT NEEDS TO DIE – LSU doesn’t need to be bunting nearly as much as they’re trying to in this College World Series. That’s not what got you here and the guys are not comfortable doing it. Just look at their technique. LSU flushed a rally bunting Tre’ Morgan to hand the bat to Dugas. That didn’t work out at all. Let the guys swing.
5. IT IS NOT A CERTAINTY LSU WINS TOMORROW – Yes, Paul Skenes is throwing tomorrow. No, that does not mean it is a lock that LSU will win tomorrow. He will be on shorter rest that we are used to seeing and facing an elite Wake Forest offense. They, too, will be throwing an elite arm. Do not exhale yet. There still is one more game to win and it is very much a coin toss.
6. PAGING MR. THOMPSON … MR. THOMPSON – Jordan Thompson is in a rut. He is now 1-of-17 in the College World Series at the plate and again struggled defensively, giving an awful feed to the second baseman to prevent the team from getting a double play. They keep saying on the broadcasts that Thompson is this sure-fire draft pick. How? He hits .260 with aluminum and has only improved from below average to average with the glove. I don’t see it.
7. JAY JOHNSON IS A BAD ASS BASEBALL COACH – How about Jay Johnson, folks? So much for a guy who can’t win in Omaha. So much for a guy who can’t coach pitchers? Boy, those arguments got quiet. That guy can coach some baseball. In Year 2, he is 3 wins away from a Natty. In year, 2, he took a 40-win team and won 11 more games.