This evening, the College World Series finals begin as two Southeastern Conference teams remain standing. Florida and LSU will step in between the chalk to face one another at 6 p.m. on ESPN to begin their quest for a College World Series title.
The Tigers and the Gators shared the 2017 SEC regular season championship crown with both having a 21-9 conference record.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri told reporters at the CWS Finals press conference that “I think that is just that it is just an awesome thing that these two SEC schools get to play for a National Championship.”
LSU advanced to the best-of-3 series by defeating the overall No. 1 seed Oregon State Beavers. The Beavers came into the CWS as the overall favorites to win the national championship having lost only four games in the regular season.
The Tigers had to come through the losers bracket and force a winner-take-all game against Oregon State. In the winner’s bracket game, Oregon State defeated LSU 13-1 last Monday. On Friday, the Tigers held the Beavers only to one run with a score of 3-1. On Saturday, LSU jumped out to an early 3-0 led and never looked back.
Florida made it to the finals by defeating the TCU Horned Frogs. TCU had to force a game three with the Gators after a 9-2 victory. On Saturday, Florida closed the door on the Horned Frogs by way of a 3-0 shutout victory.
Florida and LSU have faced each other three times this season with the Gators taking the series from the Tigers 2-1. LSU was able to salvage game three from Florida down in Gainesville.
In a press conference on Sunday, LSU’s senior shortstop Kramer Robertson talked to the media about the upcoming series with the Gators.
“It will be like an SEC weekend with just a little more at stake, both teams have great players, great pitchers and play really really good defenses,” Robertson said. “Both teams are here for a reason and it’s going to be whoever gets the job done.”
This is the first All-SEC CWS Finals since 2011 when the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Florida Gators for the national title.
The best-of-three series will begin tonight at 6 p.m., on ESPN with game two slated for tomorrow night at 6 p.m. If a game three is needed it will take place Wednesday night.
Adam Brown is the sports editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.
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