LSU stays alive with win over Wake Forest in College World Series behind Cade Beloso's big home run

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LSU staved off elimination from the College World Series for a second time. And now the Tigers are right where they expected to be all along.

Cade Beloso hit a go-ahead three-run homer, freshman Griffin Herring pitched 4 2/3 innings of shutout relief in his longest outing and LSU forced a second bracket final with a 5-2 victory over No. 1 national seed Wake Forest on Wednesday night.

The winner of the rematch Thursday night will advance to play Florida in the best-of-three championship series that starts Saturday. The Gators clinched a spot with a 3-2 win over TCU.

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LSUs Cade Beloso, right, celebrates with Tre Morgan, left, and Gavin Dugas after hitting a three-run home run against Wake Forest during the third inning of a baseball game at the NCAA College World Series in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, June 21, 2023.  (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

"We expect to be playing important baseball in June," Tigers coach Jay Johnson said. "We play every game like we’re playing important baseball in June. Like, the Tuesday on March 22nd against McNeese is a playoff game to us. The thought process behind that is if you do that all year long, then you can just stay in character when you get to the postseason."

Wake Forest (54-11) will look to bounce back from its first loss in its eight NCAA Tournament games. The Demon Deacons, who have not lost consecutive games this season, are trying to reach the championship round in their first CWS appearance since the 1955 team won the national title.

"We'll come out ready to play tomorrow like we've done all year," Wake Forest coach Tom Walter said. "We’ve