MCWS 2023 - Previewing Wake Forest-LSU, winner advances to championship - ESPN

OMAHA, Neb. — In the end, deep down, we should have known there was going to be another game between LSU and Wake Forest. Because in this most competitive of Men's College World Series, where one-run games and late-innings rallies have become commonplace, there was no way the baseball gods would let a Thursday night «if necessary» contest be anything other than necessary. Especially when it would mean one more faceoff between the only two teams to hold down the No. 1 spot in the national rankings all season long.

And so it shall be. A Thursday night prime-time, winner-takes-all, toughest-side-of-the-bracket title match to determine who will face the Florida Gators this weekend with a national championship on the line.

Had Wake Forest defeated LSU on Wednesday evening in Omaha, that matchup would already be set. But the Demon Deacons, seeking to win their first MCWS title since 1955 and the first for the national No. 1 seed since 1999, made an uncharacteristic pitching miscalculation early and never got their notoriously late-starting bats cranked up, losing 5-2 to set up the rematch.

That out-of-character pitching faux pas happened in the bottom of the third, when starter Seth Keener, who entered the game 8-1, was scuffling. Nursing a 2-1 lead, the junior righty surrendered two four-pitch walks, the first one semi-intentional to LSU All-American Dylan Crews, as well as a single and a wild pitch that surrendered the tying run. That brought designated hitter Cade Beloso and his .613 slugging percentage to the plate with two runners still on base. Even with a reliever up in the bullpen, Wake Forest's much and rightfully hyped pitching analytics kept Keener on the mound. Beloso proceeded to mash the third pitch — and first