By Phil Stanton
CBI Co-Founder/Editor
OMAHA, Neb. – Two left-handers shut down the Tennessee offense.
Nate Ackenhausen had his longest outing of the season with six scoreless innings in his first start and Riley Cooper worked the final three frames as No. 5 LSU blanked Tennessee 5-0 to stay alive in the 2023 College World Series.
“Great game,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said. “Great night for our program. It starts and ends on the mound. And the two big left-handers executed at a really, really high level.”
The Tigers (50-16) will face No. 1 Wake Forest on Wednesday, June 21 at 6 p.m. LSU will have to beat the Demon Deacons twice to advance to the CWS Championship Series.
The Volunteers finished their season with a 44-22 record.
Ackenhausen (3-0) allowed four hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out seven to earn the victory. His previous long outing was 3.2 innings against South Carolina on May 24 in the SEC Tournament.
“Proud of Nate,” Johnson said. “Maybe a surprise from a starter but not a surprise performance. He did a great job of executing.”
“The changeup was really working for me,” Ackenhausen said. “I just pitched with confidence. I had confidence in my defense.”
Cooper gave up two hits out of the bullpen with one walk and two punchouts to record his second save, both coming in the CWS.
“Riley at this point is probably one of the most experienced pitchers in pitching in this ballpark and having success,” Johnson said. “Did his deal.”
“The big park played in my confidence just to be able to fill up the zone,” Cooper said, “trust my pitches with weak contact. Even if they got into it it’s really hard to hit it out of the park. I was throwing all four pitches and just trusted my defense.”
LSU got the offense going in the top of the first. Dylan Crews (2 for 4) drew a leadoff walk, went to second on a passed ball, got to third on a one-out single by Tre’ Morgan (2 for 4) and scored on a two-out hit to right center by Cade Beloso (3 for 4) as the Tigers took a 1-0 edge.
The Vols tried to get on the board in the third with a two-out rally. Cal Stark was hit by a pitch and Maui Ahuna (2 for 4) doubled to left to put two in scoring position. Hunter Ensley flied out to right to strand a pair.
The Tigers added a run in the sixth. Morgan had a leadoff double to start the rally. Gavin Dugas laid down a bunt to third that he beat out for a single. The errant throw past first allowed Morgan to score to make it 2-0.
In the bottom of the seventh, Blake Burke was hit by a pitch to end the night for Ackenhausen. Cooper entered and got Zane Denton to ground one up the middle. Jordan Thompson made a diving stop at short and flipped to Dugas at second for a force out. Following a strikeout, pinch-hitter Dylan Dreiling drew a walk. Ahuna reached on an error to load the bases. Ensley grounded out to first to end the threat.
In the eighth, Morgan started the inning by getting hit by a pitch and later scored on a wild pitch as the margin grew to 3-0.
Josh Pearson walked to begin the ninth and Crews belted his 18th homer to make it 5-0.
“Felt good,” Crews said. “It was good to get one out at the right moment and put us up a couple more runs in the ninth, just extend the lead.”
LSU left 10 on base and UT stranded nine.
“We didn’t play very well tonight.” UT head coach Tony Vitello said. “LSU did. Both teams made mistakes but they capitalized.”