UCLA up next for LSU in Omaha (with notebook and stat comparison)

American Press

5 hours ago

Derek Curiel was the offensive star for LSU in its CWS opening win against Arkansas.
TONIGHT'S GAME: LSU vs. UCLA / 6 p.m. (ESPN)
OMAHA, Neb. — LSU showed in its College World Series opening 4-1 win over Arkansas that the Tigers can step out of their Gorilla shoes and finesse some small ball for a victory.
That was probably overrated, anyway. The Tigers, particularly over the second half of the season, have had a penchant for versatility in bringing home victories by hook or cook — even with an occasional bunt.
That's not the issue.
But now the Tigers will have to show they can defend some classic small ball Monday night in the key game of their bracket when they face UCLA . The Bruins (48-16) are a West Coast team with all that implies— a relentlessly annoying offense that nicks and picks at you from first pitch to final out.
LSU coach Jay Johnson thinks they're up for the challenge.
'We've been a great defensive team throughout the season,' he said and it showed with an error-free game against the Razorbacks where the Tigers turned two double plays.
Still, the Tigers were taking extra infield practice Sunday to preparation for the pesky Bruins, led by shortstop Roch Cholowsky, the Big 10 player of the year (.362, 74 RBIs, 23 home runs).
He is certainly no stranger to the hijinks UCLA will try to practice, mainly keeping constant pressure on defenses.
He came to LSU from Arizona, of course, where his Wildcats didn't necessarily practice the tactics, but often had to deal with the nuances while playing the many small-ball disciples in that part of the country.
Some of it has moved east as well.
'The schedule we play, we've actually seen some teams like them along the way,' Johnson said of this season.
'It's good. UCLA is a really good team, good brand of baseball, winning baseball.
'They play a really good brand of baseball … have a very strong identity on offense, a style of play that they're committed to. It should be an awesome night, just like last night.'
The winner will be in control of its half of the CWS bracket, with a day off before resuming while needing just one more victory to reach the championship best 2-of-3 finals.
The loser will fall into the loser's bracket, where'd it would face an elimination game on Tuesday, then have to come back and win two straight against tonight's winner.
The big stage certainly agreed with LSU in the opener.
'I sensed it throughout the week,' Johnson said. 'I want them to enjoy being here … and then flip the switch to preparation.
'The vibe of the team was really good Saturday and today (Sunday during practice) — they just have sense of who they need to be and when to be it.'
LSU couldn't be in much better shape, particularly the way its pitching sets up after Kade Anderson gave them seven dominant innings against Arkansas.
'It means everybody except him (Anderson) is available Monday,' Anderson said. 'Put us in a position where you're really not crossing anybody off the list.'
Johnson stuck to his postseson guns, not officially naming a starter for Monday.
But is surely will be righthander Anthony Eyanson (11-2, 2.74 ERA) against UCLA righthander Landon Stump (6-1, 4.54).
Eyanson, who grew up in Lakewood, Calif., about 45 miles from the UCLA campus, is best known for wiggling out of jams, sometimes of his own making.
'He looks at those things as, instead of 'Oh, I'm trouble,' it's like now I get to find out how good I am.'
The Tigers might do the same tonight.
NOTEBOOK
PUSHING THE RIGHT BUTTONS: For the second time this postseason Saturday, Johnson moved usual leadoff man Derek Curiel down to No. 7 in the order.
It paid off again.
The freshman worked an 0-2 count for a one-out walk that jump-started the Tigers 3-run second inning. Then in the eighth he faced another 0-2 count and drove an RBI single into left field for an insurance run.
In the Tigers' opening super regional win over West Virginia, Curiel also found himself in the seven spot — and promptly cracked a 3-run homer that gave LSU the lead for good.
'You have the flexibility in your lineup when you have good players throughout the lineup,' Johnson said Sunday of his reasoning on the move. 'We can put pressure on the opponent that knows we can score in any inning. That's the primary reason for shuffling the deck.
'The great thing about Derek is he's so competitive, so focused on his job, which is to get on base and move runners along — and he did both.'
FAMILIAR FOES: Johnson and long-time UCLA coach John Savage will need no introduction when they exchange lineup cards.
They faced off often when Johnson was at Arizona and both the Wildcats and UCLA were still in the Pac 12.
Savage is in his 20th season with the Bruins.
'I respect him a lot,' Johnson said. When you're a young assistant coach coming from a small school into Division I and nobody knows who you are, and the head coach at UCLA treats you like you're somebody, that's something. Always admired him.'
Johnson likes to remember his first year at Arizona, 2016, when the Wildcats trailed UCLA by four in the ninth and rallied for five for the walk-off.
'We swept them in Tucson in 2018 and they gave it right back to us and swept us in Westwood in 2019.'
FALSE ALARM: Johnson raised some eyebrows when he had tonight's presumed starter, Anthony Eyanson, warming up in the bullpen while Chase Shores and Casan Evans pitched the eighth and ninth innings to finish the game.
Asked Sunday how close Eyanson was to coming into the game, Johnson said:
'Not really close. I felt good (about Shores and Evans). I just didn't want to get caught behind the eight ball if we needed him.'
EXTRA WORK: Star first baseman Jared Jones was the worst offender in LSU's whiff parade Saturday when the Tigers had a season-high 16 strike outs.
Jones was 0-for-5 with five Ks.
So he stayed behind after the rest of team finished practice Sunday at Omaha University for an extended BP session with Johnson.
The coach didn't say if they worked on anything in particular.
SPEEDING: It seems almost common these days, but in his one inning of work in Saturday win, LSU reliever Chase Shores was the first pitcher in the CWS to crack the 100-mph mark.
RETURN TRIP: UCLA made it to Omaha long before clinching a berth in the CWS. The Bruins played in the BIG 10 tournament final, which was played at Charles Schwab Field.
BRUIN HISTORY: LSU and UCLA have met fives times with the Tigers leading the series 3-2, all but one of the games in the postseason.
They last played when UCLA beat the Tigers 2-1 in the opening round of the 2013 CWS (where the Bruins eventually won the national championship).
UCLA also beat the Tigers 6-2 in a second round NCAA regional game the Bruins hosted in 2010.
The Tigers swept two games from the Bruins in the Baton Rouge super regional en route to LSU's fifth national championship.
The only non-postseason meeting was back in 1988 in the old Superdome Classic, a 7-1 LSU victory. TEAM COMPARISONS Team Avg. R H RBI HR SO SB LSU .297 515 633 479 101 479 51-69 Opponents .219 259 443 232 47 720 36-49 Team Avg. R H RBI HR SO SB UCLA .298 516 641 483 78 420 62-80 Opponents .244 300 510 277 66 502 44-60 PROBABLE LINEUPS Catcher Team Player Avg. R H RBI HR SB LSU Luis Hernandez .272 29 43 30 9 5-5 UCLA Cashel Duggar .275 35 46 25 3 0-1 First Base Team Player Avg. R H RBI HR SB LSU Jared Jones .328 62 84 70 20 5-9 UCLA Mulivai Levu .319 76 76 85 12 4-6 Second Base Team Player Avg. R H RBI HR SB LSU Daniel Dickinson .312 65 69 48 12 9-12 UCLA Phoenix Call .264 41 51 31 3 2-6 Shortstop Team Player Avg. R H RBI HR SB LSU Steven Milam .290 46 64 55 11 2-4 UCLA Roch Cholowsky .362 79 88 74 23 7-8 Third Base Team Player Avg. R H RBI HR SB LSU Michael Braswell .201 20 27 17 2 0-0 UCLA Roman Martin .320 59 58 74 9 6-7 Left Field Team Player Avg. R H RBI HR SB LSU Derek Curiel .347 64 83 52 7 3-6 UCLA Dean West .318 76 76 41 4 13-16 Center Field Team Player Avg. R H RBI HR SB LSU Chris Stanfield .309 52 59 28 1 5-6 UCLA Payton Brennan .305 40 57 39 6 11-14 Right Feld Team Player Avg. R H RBI HR SB LSU Jake Brown .315 43 52 44 8 11-16 UCLA AJ Salgado .313 57 71 54 12 14-15 DH Team Player Avg. R H RBI HR SB LSU Ethan Frey .340 37 55 49 13 4-4 UCLA Blake Balsz .238 25 31 24 1 1-1 PROBABLE PITCHERS Opp. W-L ERA IP SO BB BA LSU RH Anthony Eyanson 10-1 3.58 98.2 163 28 .223 UCLA RH Landon Stump 6-1 4.54 73.1 62 37 .250