LSU finishes off Oregon State to advance to NCAA super regionals

Published 9:10 pm Monday, June 5, 2023

BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU rode through the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament on Crews control.

Dylan Crews went 3-for-4, scored three runs and hit one of LSU’s four home runs as the Tigers blasted Oregon State 13-7 on Monday to win the NCAA Tournament’s Baton Rouge Regional.

Crews was named the regional’s Most Outstanding Player. He batted .615 (8-for-13) in the Tigers’ three consecutive victories, with two home runs, one double, four RBIs and five runs scored.

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LSU (46-15), the No. 5 national seed, advanced to play Southeastern Conference rival Kentucky in a best-of-three super regional series. That series will be at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, although the dates and start times won’t be announced until after the rest of the regionals conclude late Monday night.

LSU won its 26th regional title in program history — all since 1986 — and advanced to the super regional round for the eighth time in 11 seasons.

“I’m really proud of the team, and I think this was a great week,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “The preparation by the players and the staff was elite. And then the execution on the field by the players on all sides of the ball was outstanding.

LSU took the lead with four runs in the fourth inning and never looked back. Brayden Jobert was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in the game’s first run, and Jordan Thompson followed with a sacrifice fly. Josh Pearson then hit a two-run triple for a 4-0 lead.

The Tigers kept adding to it from then on. Hayden Travinski and Cade Beloso hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning and Crews went deep in the sixth to make it 7-2. Another solo home run by Gavin Dugas started a five-run rally in the seventh inning that blew the game open.

“Offensively, we had really, really, strong performances throughout the weekend,” Johnson said. “I think it shows the capability of this team, and I’m really proud of them. We’re going to get reset, put together another great week, and get prepared for the coming weekend.”

Travinski finished 3-for-6 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Beloso and Dugas each had two hits and scored twice.

Brady Kasper hit one home run for Oregon State (41-20), and Gavin Turley hit two. Turley’s second was a two-run inside-the-park homer in the ninth inning that made it 13-7 and was the Beavers’ last highlight of the season.

Oregon State won two games in the regional, but lost both meetings with LSU.

“It was unbelievable,” Crews said of the atmosphere throughout the weekend at Alex Box Stadium. “I think this was just the best — the atmosphere was the best I’ve seen since I’ve been here so far. It was awesome. I think the players lived up to it, too. They enjoyed every bit of it. It was great to see everybody out there. It was awesome.”