Mikie Mahtook, Austin Nola and Blake Dean hit home runs Monday night to keep the Tigers unbeaten at the College World Series with a 9-1 victory over Arkansas.
“You saw what we’re capable of doing,” coach Paul Mainieri said. “When we’re clicking, it can be a pretty good offense 1 through 9.”
The No. 3-seeded Tigers (53-16) have been clicking against their Southeastern Conference rivals, winning their 12th straight game to take control of Bracket 2. They get three days off before playing the Razorbacks or Virginia on Friday. Another win sends LSU to next week’s best-of-three finals.
Arkansas (40-23) and Virginia meet Wednesday in an elimination game.
LSU has hit five home runs in two CWS games and has 99 for the season, one short of last year’s total but far behind the NCAA-record 188 by the so-called “Gorilla Ball” team of 1997.
The Tigers turned on the power early against Arkansas starter Brett Eibner. Mahtook hit a three-run homer in the first, and Eibner (5-5) got pulled after Ryan Schimpf’s double put LSU up 4-1 with two outs in the second.
TJ Forrest kept the Tigers quiet until the sixth, when they erupted for five more runs, with four of them coming with two out. The normally light-hitting Nola turned on a fastball for his third homer of the season and Dean hammered his 16th deep into the right-field seats.
“It happened real quick,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “We had a chance to get out of it, and then bang. They’ve got some pop.”
The offensive showing made for a stress-free night for SEC Pitcher of the Year Louis Coleman (14-2).
“Mikie hit the three-run homer, and it’s off to the races for us,” Mainieri said. “When you give Coleman a big lead, you feel pretty good about your chances.”
Coleman pitched a two-hit shutout against Arkansas on May 2, and he was pretty good again Monday. He allowed one run on six hits before leaving after the sixth inning. He struck out seven.
“Our team has so much confidence in him, really,” Mainieri said. “Every time you give him the ball, you expect him to keep you in the game.”
Relievers Daniel Bradshaw and Nolan Cain finished LSU’s third win in four meetings against its conference rival.
Virginia 7,
Cal State Fullerton 5
OMAHA, Neb. - Virginia eliminated second-seeded Cal State Fullerton from the College World Series, beating another ace by chasing Daniel Renken.
The Cavaliers (49-14-1) won the elimination game and next play Arkansas. Fullerton (47-16) has lost five straight in the CWS.
Renken (11-3) gave up a season-high six runs and left in the sixth inning. The Cavaliers tagged another one of college baseball’s top pitchers, having defeated San Diego State ace and No. 1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg in the regionals.
Virginia, in the CWS for the first time, took the lead for good in the second inning by scoring four times. Keith Werman, the Cavaliers’ No. 9 hitter, singled home the tying run and Danny Hultzen hit a two-run single past diving right fielder Gary Brown.
Werman continued his key hitting in the College World Series, going 2-for-4 and driving in two runs. The 140-pound freshman is 6-for-9 with two doubles and three RBI in two CWS games.
