Alex Faedo-led Florida handles TCU, readies for LSU in CWS finals
OMAHA, Neb. -- Alex Faedo dominated TCU for a second straight time, and now he and his Florida Gators teammates will face a familiar opponent in the College World Series finals.
The Detroit Tigers' first-round draft pick pitched three-hit ball for 7 1/3 shutout innings to lead the Gators to a 3-0 win Saturday night, setting up an all-Southeastern Conference finals.
EDITOR'S PICKS
LSU beats No. 1 Oregon St. to reach CWS finals
Michael Papierski became the first player since TCU's Bryan Holaday in 2010 to homer twice in a CWS game. He went deep from the left side off Bryce Fehmel in the second and the right off Brandon Eisert in the fourth in LSU's 6-1 win over Oregon State.
Omaha is 'Baton Rouge North' again with LSU in the CWS finals
Yes, the "L-S-U!" chants from one of the College World Series' favorite fan bases are back, because the Tigers are in the finals for the first time since the tournament moved to TD Ameritrade Park. It a good thing, too. Omaha has missed them.
No. 3 national seed Florida (50-19) is in the finals for the first time since 2011 and looking for its first championship in baseball. Fourth-seeded LSU, which shared the SEC regular-season title with the Gators, advanced with a 6-1 win over No. 1 Oregon State on Saturday.
TCU (50-18) had beaten the Gators 9-2 on Friday to force the winner-take-all bracket final and the teams' third meeting in a week.
"It helps that we've had to bounce back all year,'' Florida infielder Christian Hicks said. "The game before has no bearing on today's game. You just flush that and come back out and try to do your best today.''
Faedo (9-2) struck out 11, just as he did last Sunday in a 3-0 win over the Horned Frogs. Michael Byrne finished for his 18th save.
"I thought our at-bats were significantly better today than they were the last time we faced him,'' TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "But the chances that we did get, he made pitches. We hit some balls hard. The balls we did hit hard seemed to be at somebody. But that doesn't take away from how outstanding he was.''
Faedo was the loser in the Gators' last game in Omaha in 2016, giving up a two-run homer in a 3-2 loss to Texas Tech in an elimination game.
"Just throughout the day, I just tried to think back to my start last year when I was kind of in the same situation,'' he said. "It all came down to one pitch. And that's what I tried to bring to the game this year -- I just can't make that pitch again that lost the game last year. We've been in this situation before, and I tried to bear down with every pitch I threw.''
Alex Faedo fanned 11 and allowed only three hits in Florida's elimination win over TCU at the College World Series. Nati Harnik/AP Photo
The Gators had struggled on offense since they arrived in Omaha, but with Faedo holding down the Frogs, they were able to muster enough against Jared Janczak (9-2).
Austin Langworthy doubled and scored on a groundout in the second inning, Christian Hicks doubled in a run in the fifth, and he scored in the seventh when he tripled and came home on Deacon Liput's grounder that deflected off first base.
Faedo reached for his right calf in apparent pain after delivering a pitch to Josh Watson in the seventh, and he grabbed the calf again when he struck Watson out to end the inning. The Detroit Tigers' first-round draft pick came out for the eighth and got a groundout, but he left after Austen Wade singled.
Zach Humphreys greeted Byrne with a base hit, but the star closer struck out Evan Skoug and got Cam Warner to fly out to end the threat.
"All I was trying to do was get a groundball (against Skoug), and it just happened to be a strikeout, so that was big,'' Byrne said. "I had to get Cam out. He got me last game on a double in the gap. I threw good pitches to him and got out of it.''
Janczak and Faedo were matched up for the second time. Janczak, who struggled against the Gators last Sunday, struck out seven, walked none and scattered seven hits in seven innings.
"We didn't get out-efforted. We tried hard,'' Schlossnagle said. ``I felt good about our attitude and our effort. But Florida played better. And they deserve to be in the championship, and best of luck to them.''
GUTHRIE INJURED
Florida shortstop Dalton Guthrie, son of former big league pitcher Mark Guthrie, left the game with back pain after striking out in the top of the third. Liput moved from second base to shortstop, and Blake Reese took over at second.
QUIRKY BOUNCE
TCU caught a bad break with two outs in the seventh when Liput's high bouncer heading right at first baseman Connor Wanhanen deflected off the bag toward surprised second baseman Cam Warner, who couldn't make the play at first. If the Frogs had gotten Liput, the inning would have been over. As it was, Hicks was able to score from third for a 3-0 lead.
THE MATCHUP
Florida won two of three regular-season meetings with LSU in Gainesville in March. The Tigers will be the home team in Game 1 of the finals and the Gators in Game 2. LSU would be the home team if a Game 3 is necessary.
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