Gavin Lux's solo homer (4)
LSU TAKES ALL: A recap of the Tigers' journey to winning the 2025 MCWS national championship
The LSU Tigers beat the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Sunday in Game 2 of the College World Series Finals to become the 2025 National Champions. Sports Director Brian Holland and Sports Reporter Chessa Bouche provide a recap of the big game.
2:41
Now Playing
Paused
Ad Playing
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tigers 4, Cubs 0: Can't win ‘em all
DETROIT — We were all told before this series began that the Tigers were a very, very good team. The Cubs, I believe, are also a very, very good team, but on this beautiful Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park, they were shut down by Jack Flaherty and three Detroit relievers. That, plus two bad pitches by Cade Horton, a questionable send in the fourth inning and ejections of Nico Hoerner and Craig Counsell, are most of the story of the Cubs' 4-0 loss to the Tigers. Advertisement The Tigers struck in the first inning as Horton was off his game to begin. He allowed a leadoff single to Parker Meadows and then walked Gleyber Torres. Horton retired the next two hitters, but Spencer Torkelson then hit a ball off the wall in right that was just out of Kyle Tucker's reach and both runners scored. Flaherty set the Cubs down in order the first time through the batting order, then walked Ian Happ leading off the fourth. Tucker also walked, but Seiya Suzuki struck out. Then this happened [VIDEO]. Admittedly, it took a perfect throw from Kerry Carpenter to throw out Happ. Carpenter played stellar defense in this series. The Cubs challenged, but the call stood. Advertisement Me? I think I would have held up Happ at third. Then the Cubs would have had the bases loaded with one out. Carson Kelly followed with a walk, and of course sequencing would have been different, but a bases-loaded, one-out situation might have given the Cubs a better chance to score, especially since Flaherty had been dealing. In the top of the fifth, Dansby Swanson led off with a double. Nico Hoerner was then called out on strikes. Here's the pitch (pitch 5) on which strike three was called. Well... pitches like this have been strikes before, but that's not really a strike. Here's what happened after that [VIDEO]. Advertisement Jim Deshaies is correct, Nico never argues like that. Both Hoerner and Counsell were tossed quickly — an umpire with a short fuse is never good, and as JD noted, this is an inexperienced umpire (Derek Thomas, in just his third MLB season, and second full season). Maybe trying to make a statement? In any case, let me say this right now: The ball-and-strike calls throughout this series were pretty bad, for both sides. The challenge system cannot come soon enough. More on the ejections from BCB's JohnW53: Craig Counsell's ejection was his first this season and fourth in his 227 games managing the Cubs. He was ejected 28 times in 1,332 games as manager of the Brewers. Nico Hoerner had been ejected from only one of his previous 608 big league games, his 452nd, at home against the White Sox on June 5 of last year. Like today's ejection, it came after arguing a called third strike, with one out and nobody on in the third inning. The Cubs trailed, 5-1, but rallied to win, 7-6, on Mike Tauchman's leadoff homer in the ninth. The challenge system should eliminate most of these ejections, and get calls right. Can't wait. Advertisement Horton then allowed two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. After the first out in that inning, Torres singled and Carpenter doubled him to third. A single by Riley Greene scored both runners to make it 4-0. I didn't think Horton threw badly, apart from those two RBI hits. He struck out six and threw 85 pitches (56 strikes). Here are his six K's [VIDEO]. And here's more on Horton's outing [VIDEO]. Flaherty completed six innings with nine strikeouts, and the rest of the game was shutdown relief from both sides. Tigers relievers Brenan Hanifee, Tommy Kahnle and Will Vest threw three innings, allowing two hits and no walks, with three strikeouts. Cubs relievers Ryan Brasier and Chris Flexen combined for three innings of shutout relief, with three hits allowed and two strikeouts. Advertisement Pitching note from BCB's JohnW53: Jack Flaherty became the fifth pitcher this season to go at least six innings vs. the Cubs and gave up two or fewer hits. Andrew Abbott of the Reds gave up one in seven innings on May 30. The three who gave up two: Tyler Mahle of the Rangers (seven innings, April 9), Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers (six innings, April 11) and Griffin Canning of the Mets (six innings, May 11). Abbott and Yamamoto gave up no runs, as Flaherty did today. Mahle and Canning gave up one run. As I said... two very good teams, and it didn't seem like either team would sweep, so someone had to win the series, and the Tigers did. Tip o' the cap to them and... hey, maybe we can do this again in October. About my visit to Comerica Park, it's a nice ballpark with good sightlines and the Tigers have good fans who have been waiting a long time for a team this good (2024 was their first winning record since 2016.) So you get that, I'm sure. I got parking right across the street from the right-field corner entrance and it was surprisingly easy to get out of any traffic, so kudos to Detroit police for good traffic control. The Brewers lost Sunday, so the Cubs continue to lead them by 5½ games. At the time of this recap the Cardinals were losing to the Dodgers late; if that score holds up the Cubs will remain four games ahead of them in the NL Central. Advertisement The Cubs head to Philadelphia to continue their nine-game road trip having split the first six games. Matthew Boyd will start the series opener for the Cubs and Zack Wheeler will go for the Phillies, who just got swept by the Pirates and have lost five in a row and nine of their last ten. Perhaps the Cubs are heading to Philly at a good time. Game time Monday is 5:45 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network. More from
New York Times
40 minutes ago
- New York Times
Ben Brown's rough outing brings more questions about his spot in the rotation
ST. LOUIS — For three innings, it seemed like Ben Brown was about to put together a great outing. It wouldn't have been a surprise. The young starter has shown flashes of brilliance mixed in with severe rough patches. Both happened on Monday as Brown went from shutting down the St. Louis Cardinals to quickly finding himself on the wrong end of an 8-2 loss. Advertisement 'It just happened really fast. It's really frustrating,' Brown said. 'It's going to be tough to sleep tonight knowing I was that close to something really good tonight, and just as fast as it went away. It's hard.' Brown needed just 28 pitches to get through the first three frames. But over his next two-plus innings, he threw 53 pitches and gave up eight runs on a quartet of two-run homers. Monday marked Brown's 14th appearance this season and the sixth time he's given up five or more runs. Overall, Brown has struck out 25.3 percent of batters he's faced and walked 7.5 percent, strong peripherals that often lead to good results. But far too often — like on Monday — he's failed to execute, leaving pitches over the heart of the plate, culminating in an ERA of 6.13. Brown has given glimpses of his immense upside. He threw six scoreless frames against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds, and seven innings of two-run ball when facing the Detroit Tigers. But the bad moments have come far too frequently. A Cubs team with a clear focus on ending a playoff drought needs more consistency. 'This is part of being a young starting pitcher in the league and trying to make progress,' Counsell said. 'As you have to get 15, 18 outs in a game, it's difficult. It's hard to see now, but there is growth happening. It's hard to like the growth when there's struggles going on, but that's where the best stuff comes from. So we just gotta keep working on it and improve the quality of the execution. Keep going.' The question is whether Brown will keep going in the big leagues. Before the game, Counsell announced that Shota Imanaga, who has been on the injured list since May 5 with a left hamstring strain, would return to the rotation on Thursday. Matthew Boyd, who had a bad bruise on his left shoulder after catching a hard liner in his last start, is scheduled to pitch Wednesday. Advertisement Counsell also noted that Porter Hodge, who has been out since May 17 with an oblique strain, then a hip issue, is back with the team and could be activated soon. That may mean Brown, who has options remaining, could be ticketed for Triple A. Time to fine-tune his developing changeup, and doing a better job of not leaving so many pitches over the plate could be of value to Brown. 'There's some moments when you need to lock it in and bear down and execute some pitches,' catcher Carson Kelly said. 'They've been getting in some good counts and we need to get ahead.' Brown was upset after the loss and addressed the possibility of losing his spot in the rotation. 'Yeah, stuff like that is going to be in the back of your mind,' Brown said. 'Obviously, when guys show up in the locker room, they're going to need spots to pitch. It's hard. Ultimately, it doesn't matter. I just gotta do my job and I didn't do it tonight.' The young pitcher is often seen with a smile on his face and chatting with veterans after his outings. On this night, he sat on a couch, stone-faced by himself, scrolling his phone. Brown has to diagnose and address whatever is going wrong for him. But the Cubs can't dwell on losses like this. The focus has to be on fixing the issue. Imanaga's return is the first step. 'He's ready to go,' Counsell said. 'He did a full rehab. Everything that happened on rehab was according to schedule. The performance was very good, and all the important data we look at was good.' This is a team that's in desperate need of Imanaga's return. Brown and Colin Rea have done enough to ensure the Cubs don't sink in the standings. But their performances of late — Rea gave up four home runs and seven earned runs in Sunday's 14-6 loss to the Seattle Mariners — have left much to be desired. Imanaga's arrival comes at a time when the team is in search of a pick-me-up. But additions beyond Imanaga are needed. Advertisement The win for St. Louis ties them for second with the Milwaukee Brewers and puts them just 3 1/2 games back of the Cubs, who are looking vulnerable for the first time in a while. Starting pitching has been the glaring need for weeks now and has to be the focus for team president Jed Hoyer and his front office over the next month as they look to upgrade the roster. There's no doubt they will act. The only question is when that move will happen. (Top photo of Ben Brown watching Brendan Donovan as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run homer: Joe Puetz / Imagn Images)
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Have you seen them? LSU billboards go up across the state minutes after national championship victory
Have you seen them? LSU billboards go up across the state minutes after national championship victory BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — You may have already noticed it. A billboard congratulating the LSU baseball team on winning its eighth national College World Series title in program history is presently displayed on Siegen Lane near Airline Highway. A photo of a billboard congratulating the LSU Tigers on winning their 8th national title. But that's not the only location. Advertisement Moments after that huge victory, billboards congratulating the team went up across the state. According to Lamar Dixon Advertising, the company responsible for displaying the ads, LSU sent over the creative design about five minutes after the Tigers won the game. The advertising company had the ads running on available digital billboard space minutes later. On the billboard, from left to right, are LSU players Casan Evans, Derek Curiel, Anthony Eyanson, Kade Anderson, Stevan Milam, and Jared Jones. The eight trophies on the billboard represent each of LSU's eight national championships. LSU defeated Coastal Carolina 5-3 in Game 2 of the Men's College World Series Finals on Sunday. Advertisement The Empire State Building in New York changed its lights on the exterior of the building to purple and gold, and said in a post, 'Shining in purple and gold tonight in celebration of the LSU Baseball's College World Series Championship.' Latest News Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Louisiana First News.
