The LSU Tigers demolished the Florida Gators, 18-4, in Game 3 of the College World Series on Monday night in Omaha to win the school’s seventh national baseball title.
LSU (54-17) wins the best-of-three series in three games, just a day after allowing a College World Series record for runs and failing to clinch the championship in a humbling 24-4 loss to the Gators.
“Man, it’s such a great feeling,” outfielder Dylan Crews, a projected top-three pick in next month’s MLB Draft, told the media after the win. “I feel like almost every box was checked off except that national championship box. And we all knew this was going to be our last game here. And to finally say that I’m a national champion, it’s the greatest feeling in the world. And I feel all boxes are checked off now.”
Florida (54-17) jumped on LSU early as outfielder Wyatt Langford, another top MLB prospect, gave the Gators an early 2-0 lead, but this time, LSU’s offense found a response.
The Tigers scored six runs in the top of the second inning, chasing Florida star Jac Caglianone after an inning and a third.
“Honestly, I think after his first, I thought he was going to be dialed in,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan told the media postgame. “[I] Don’t really have an answer other than we lost control of the strike zone. …When you start using the same pitchers in multiple games in the same weekend, so to speak, a three-game series, you kind of get exposed a little bit. And I think we probably flirted with a little bit of fire with that.”
LSU continued its onslaught in the fourth, breaking the game open with four more runs behind a Josh Pearson two-run homer.
“When the offense is producing like that, my job is to get them back in the dugout as quick as possible,” LSU starting pitcher Thatcher Hurd explained to the media after the win. “And that feels suffocating for the other team. I just kind of tell myself, ‘Don’t give them an inch.’ That’s what I told myself through the whole outing, get us back, let [them] do their thing.”
Ty Evans and Cade Kurland added home runs for Florida, but LSU kept piling it on as Brayden Jobert delivered the final blow with a deep blast over the right field wall in the top of the ninth.
Freshman Gavin Guidry struck out Colby Halter to end the game, and the celebration began.
LSU pitcher and projected top-three MLB prospect Paul Skenes was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
The Tigers finished the season with their first national baseball championship since 2009, and head coach Jay Johnson became the first college baseball coach to win a national title in less than three years with a school.
“I wanted to win a national championship, and I wanted these guys to win a national championship,” Johnson told the media after Monday’s win. “… I really wanted it for these guys because they’ve done everything that I’ve asked them to do and set the standard better than you could possibly do. And that’s why this is important. Not just because we’re national champions, but because we’ve been national champions every day of this thing.”
The baseball team’s championship is the latest example of success for an athletic department that has begun to thrive since Joe Burrow led the football team to the national title during the 2019-20 season. Since then, the LSU women’s basketball team (2023) and men’s outdoor track team (2021), as well as several individual athletes, have also won national championships.
The school will hold a celebratory event for its latest champion at 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday.
