LSU Books Championship Final After a Walk Off Hit in Bottom of the Ninth

Omaha, NE. -- The energy is the “Chuck” looming, as the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers booked a ticket to the championship series final in Omaha, and the LSU Tigers are fighting to make it back to the finals against the Arkansas Razorbacks and in the bottom of the ninth dreams came true for the Tigers.

A complete lackluster performance from the LSU Tigers and Arkansas Razorbacks, with almost no hits and such little runs completely turned around in the sixth inning for the Tigers.

The game was just within reach, but was now getting further away. Having to play a high-stakes game on Thursday was coming closer into reach after Coastal Carolina had secured a spot in the championship final earlier in the day.

It all came down to the bottom of the ninth, the chance to put the game over the edge or send it to extra innings.

Just in LSU fashion with two outs, Luis Hernandez takes to the box and puts a double right into play to tie the game up. The once-quiet LSU fans came alive like never before, the sounds echoing a Saturday night in Death Valley, showing why exactly this place is called Alex Box Stadium.

“I have a lot of emotions, coming out of Puerto Rico and being on this stage is a such a blessing,” says Hernandez. “ I mean putting one good swing on the slider right up the middle and just ran.”

Jones, who had bounced back from his platinum strikeout on Saturday night, stepped into the box, the stadium shaking from the chance of winning this game with one good hit of the bat.

Just like that with a 2-1 count, he knocks the ball to center field and Hernandez takes off for home with flames on his feet making it home, and the scene that unfolded was something similar to the LSU 2023 run.

With bases loaded and two outs, Jay Johnson was playing a game of chess, putting in Jake Brown for a pinch hit.

With one swing of the bat 1-1 count, a single that landed in left center after LSU trailing by one run through the sixth finally gave the first lead of the night.

After a pair came back to the dugout all with two outs, that put Brown 4-6 through the series.

This elimination possibility for Arkansas was drawing closer and closer, all coming down to the back half of this Wednesday primetime rematch, all coming down to the pitchers' duel between Zac Cowan, Chase Shores, Landon Beideschies and Gabe Gaeckle.

The Tigers giving Cowan his second start of the season following standout performances from his teammates in earlier games, he delivered the exact performance asked of him. Coming in for 5.1 innings, season high of 84 pitches and only one run.

This game was flying by quickly, with three up and three down, and runners constantly left on base. The lack of hits was going to show how much the defence needed to come alive to get across the board.

In the top of the fourth, in his first pitch swinging the bat hard, Ryder Helfrick knocked it out of the park to give the Razorbacks a 1-0 lead, silencing the Tigers but igniting the Razorback fans. Not an ideal situation for the Tigers, having to trail, and after holding on to a lead for one inning, Arkansas struck back.

With bases loaded and only one out, this was a tricky situation for the Tigers. It had one of two endings, and it ended in Arkansas plating two more to get the same one-run lead as earlier in the game. When you thought it was close, Jared Jones hits his 22nd home run of the year, tying the game up.

However, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, as the Tigers' pitching staff was unable to keep up with the Arkansas bats, which woke up late in the game. A single from Justin Thomas Jr. plated two more for the Tigers and put the score at 5-3 in the top of the ninth.

With a final score of 6-5, the Tigers rush the field, finding Jones' tears in his eyes, making this the fifth time a team has recovered from a multirun deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning and bringing the Tigers to the championship final on Saturday evening against the Chanticleers.