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USA Today
18 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
LSU baseball's Steven Milam talks West Virginia win: 'I love the big moment'
LSU baseball's Steven Milam talks West Virginia win: 'I love the big moment' Steven Milam put LSU baseball on his back during the Baton Rouge Super Regional against West Virginia. Saturday and Sunday against the Mountaineers, the sophomore infielder made his plate appearances count. With a mix of power and patience at the plate, Milam finished the series with eight RBI and credits "getting back to the basics" for his success. "I love the big moment," Milam said. "I didn't play or help my team as much as I wanted to during the year and I had to step up to take pressure off the other guys. I feel like I've been able to do that." Milam put the Tigers up big with a grand slam in Saturday's fifth inning then stroked two doubles on Sunday. He finished with two walks in each game, bringing his on-base percentage to .395 for the year. "He went out there and competed his tail off and really did a good job," LSU first baseman Jared Jones said. "He was just himself this weekend and he did a great job for us and go the momentum in our dugout." The Tigers only hope Milam's success continues now that they claimed a berth in the College World Series and learned they will open against No. 3 seed Arkansas. "Our whole team is running great at bats one through nine," Milam said. "You can punch in 15 different guys, and we're going to beat you," Milam said. This wasn't Milam's first time appearing in a big moment. In the 2024 SEC Tournament, Milam delivered a big home run that was instrumental in LSU securing an NCAA Tournament appearance. "This is why you come to LSU."
Dominion Post
a day ago
- Sport
- Dominion Post
END OF THE ROAD: LSU sweeps WVU in super regional
BATAN ROUGE, La. — West Virginia baseball's quest to kick down the Omaha, Neb. door will have to wait another year. For the second straight season, the Mountaineers dropped both games of a road super regional and ended the season one round shy of their first College World Series in program history. This one was a relentless onslaught at the hands of arguably the best team in the country, a 12-5 loss to LSU following Saturday's 16-9 defeat. BOX SCORE 'We never focus on other teams and what they do,' West Virginia head coach Steve Sabins said. 'Couldn't be more proud of our guys.' West Virginia (44-16) hung in for as long as it could, even bringing the tying run to the plate as late as the sixth inning on Sunday night. But LSU (48-15) just had too much offense, too many power arms and made far fewer mistakes as it secured its 20th CWS appearance in the last 39 years. Just like in Game 1, a pair of big innings made the difference. LSU blew the game open early with five runs in the second inning, all after West Virginia starter Jack Kartsonas retired the first two batters on nine pitches. Three consecutive walks loaded the bases, and Steven Milam delivered a three-run double down the right field line. Milam came around to score on Jake Brown's RBI single and after Brown advanced on a wild pitch, a misplayed infield pop-up allowed him to trot home with the fifth run of the frame and sixth of the game. After West Virginia put up four runs in the middle innings and knocked LSU starter Anthony Eyanson out, the visitors had legitimate traction for the only time all weekend. Sam White hit a solo homer, Ben Lumsden popped up with the unlikeliest of homers — just his second all season — to make it 6-3 and White delivered an RBI single in his next at-bat. 'I have great hitters in front of me and great hitters behind me,' White said. 'My job is just to pass it to the next guy.' Just in time for another costly dropped pop-up. The second aerial miscue of the night was the first of three errors in a nightmare seventh inning, allowing LSU to score six times and put the game out of reach, finally delivering the knockout punch after a heroic Chase Meyer relief performance kept the Mountaineers in the game. Chris Stanfield's two-run insurance created initial separation, Milam added another RBI single and Jake Brown belted a two-run home run off the batter's eye to complete the inning. Tally it up for the series and you get galling numbers. West Virginia pitchers issued 17 walks, hit eight batters and committed four errors, far too much help for an LSU team with more than enough talent to win without the lifelines. 'When you give great teams and great offenses additional opportunities or free passes, they answer,' Sabins said. 'We had more walks than what a championship team can do. The walks and hit-by-pitches allowed for baserunners to get on. Our pitchers were consistently in stressful situations.' Stack it up in total for year one of the Sabins era, and the total body of work was unquestionably positive. It was arguably the greatest season in West Virginia baseball history, even building on from last year's success of winning a regional for the first time ever. 'We broke the all-time win record at WVU,' Sabins said. 'We won the first outright Big 12 title in football, basketball or baseball at our university, and this program has never been in back-to-back super regionals. Those were big milestones, and that was something that we're proud of.' But at this moment, the pain was still there. West Virginia just had no answers across two games. Not for the heat, the intimidating away environment and definitely not for an LSU team which showed why it spent a chunk of the season ranked No. 1 nationally. It is on to reflection, transfer portal work and the long countdown to February 2026, as the Mountaineers will begin the Omaha chase again. 'I don't get sad about baseball results,' Sabins said. 'I get sad about the group of people that you work with for a year straight to try to build something special — which this group did — won't ever get to be together again. There is some sort of finality with that final out, that you're not going to get to be with that same group of kids.' If West Virginia ever crosses over those pearly gates of Omaha into college baseball heaven, teams like this one will be responsible for laying the foundation. Not this year, though.
American Press
a day ago
- Sport
- American Press
LSU bound for Omaha after sweeping super regional
SUNDAY'S GAME — LSU 12, West Virginia 5 LSU advances to the College World Series. Next stop, Omaha. Back where LSU always feels it belongs. There was the obligatory three-hour rain delay, of course, most of it under sunny skies, but another late, late night in Alex Box Stadium ended with a 12-5 victory over West Virginia and the customary victory lap around Skip Bertman Field to high-five with fans. It's LSU's favored path to the College World Series. Jake Brown and Steven Milam each had four RBIs as the Tigers scored double-digit runs in consecutive super regional games for the first time in their 17 appearances after beating the Mountaineers 16-9 on Saturday. For a few antsy moments, it looked like they might need all of them Sunday. But the Tigers answered a mid-inning WVU uprising with a 6-run seventh inning, capped by Brown's 2-run homer, and coasted home to sweep the two games. The Tigers took advantage of three Mountaineer errors in the big inning and loaded the bases with no outs on an error, a walk and hit batter before Chris Stanfield's 2-run single got it going. Derek Curiel later scored when Ethan Frey reached on a throwing error and Milam followed with an RBI double. Brown followed with a 2-run, 471-foot blast to dead centerfield. It will be LSU's 20th trip to the CWS, where the Tigers will be looking to add to their seven national championships, most recently two years ago. The Tigers, the No. 6 national seed, will face Arkansas, which swept its super regional against Tennessee, in their Omaha opener. The Tigers took two of three from the third-seeded Razorbacks in Baton Rouge during the regular season. The Tigers jumped all over WVU starter Jack Karsonas early and LSU's Anthony Eyanson (11-2) was dominant the first time through the Mountaineers' order. LSU led 6-0 after three and was cruising. The Tigers got a run on Brown's RBI ground out in the first inning and Milam had a 3-run double in the second, followed by back-to-back run-scoring singles by Brown and Jared Jones. But while reliever Chase Meyer shut the door on LSU for the next four innings, West Virginia got to Eyanson for three runs on pair of home runs in the fourth and added a run in the fifth to cut the lead to 6-4. Eyanson was lifted after hitting a batter on a 1-2 pitch to open the sixth. Freshman Cooper Williams came on and got three straight outs to end that inning and retired the first eight batters he faced before giving up a two-out solo home run in the eighth, followed by a walk. Chase Shores got the game's final four outs without allowing a baserunner.
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Brown, Milam drive in 4 runs each, LSU beats West Virginia 12-5 to clinch 20th CWS berth
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Jake Brown hit a home run and had four RBIs, Steven Milam had two doubles and also drove in four runs and LSU beat West Virginia 12-5 on Sunday night to sweep the best-of-three Baton Rouge Super Regional. No. 6 seed LSU (48-15) clinched the program's 20th berth in the College World Series, where the Tigers will try to win their eighth national championship — all since 1991, the most recent in 2023. Derek Curiel led off the game with a double and scored to make it 1-0 when Brown reached on a fielder's choice in the first inning and the Tigers led the rest of the way. Anthony Eyanson (11-2) gave up four runs on five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in five innings. Chris Stanfield, Curiel and Ethan Frey each drew a two-out walk to load the bases before Milam cleared the bases with a double off starter Jack Kartsonas (6-4) to spark a five-run second that made it 6-0. After Jace Rinehart hit a two-out solo shot and pinch-hitter Chase Swain drew a walk, Chase Shores came on a struck out Brodie Kresser swinging to end the eighth and the pitched a 1-2-3 ninth. Sam White hit a leadoff homer and Ben Lumsden added a two-run shot in the fourth before White added an RBI single in the fifth to cut the deficit to 6-4. Stanfield hit a two-RBI single to spark a six-run seventh, capped when Brown's two-run home run gave LSU an eight-run lead. Milam and Josh Pearson each hit a grand slam as LSU beat the Mountaineers 16-9 in Game 1 on Saturday. West Virginia (44-16) set the program's single-season record for wins under first-year coach Steve Sabins. The Mountains advanced to their first-ever super regional last season. The game had originally been scheduled for 5:06 p.m. local time but was delayed approximately three hours due to inclement weather in the area. ___ AP college sports:
Fox Sports
a day ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Brown, Milam drive in 4 runs each, LSU beats West Virginia 12-5 to clinch 20th CWS berth
Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Jake Brown hit a home run and had four RBIs, Steven Milam had two doubles and also drove in four runs and LSU beat West Virginia 12-5 on Sunday night to sweep the best-of-three Baton Rouge Super Regional. No. 6 seed LSU (48-15) clinched the program's 20th berth in the College World Series, where the Tigers will try to win their eighth national championship — all since 1991, the most recent in 2023. Derek Curiel led off the game with a double and scored to make it 1-0 when Brown reached on a fielder's choice in the first inning and the Tigers led the rest of the way. Anthony Eyanson (11-2) gave up four runs on five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in five innings. Chris Stanfield, Curiel and Ethan Frey each drew a two-out walk to load the bases before Milam cleared the bases with a double off starter Jack Kartsonas (6-4) to spark a five-run second that made it 6-0. After Jace Rinehart hit a two-out solo shot and pinch-hitter Chase Swain drew a walk, Chase Shores came on a struck out Brodie Kresser swinging to end the eighth and the pitched a 1-2-3 ninth. Sam White hit a leadoff homer and Ben Lumsden added a two-run shot in the fourth before White added an RBI single in the fifth to cut the deficit to 6-4. Stanfield hit a two-RBI single to spark a six-run seventh, capped when Brown's two-run home run gave LSU an eight-run lead. Milam and Josh Pearson each hit a grand slam as LSU beat the Mountaineers 16-9 in Game 1 on Saturday. West Virginia (44-16) set the program's single-season record for wins under first-year coach Steve Sabins. The Mountains advanced to their first-ever super regional last season. The game had originally been scheduled for 5:06 p.m. local time but was delayed approximately three hours due to inclement weather in the area. ___ AP college sports: recommended
