College World Series: LSU vs. Wake Forest Start Time, Game Information
There have been only two teams ranked No. 1 in the country during the 2023 season. Both are set to share the diamond Monday night in Omaha with the stakes higher than ever.
The LSU Tigers will take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the College World Series with the chance to advance to the semifinals with a victory over the No. 1 national seed.
Jay Johnson’s group was ranked No. 1 for the first 12 weeks of the season, but ever since, it’s been Wake Forest holding the top spot.
The two have had championship or bust expectations all season long with Monday night providing the two programs an opportunity to prove which reigns supreme.
Here’s the game information for the star-studded showdown in Omaha:
DATE/TIME
- Monday, June 19 at 6 p.m. CT (ESPN)
STADIUM
- Charles Schwab Field
RANKINGS
- LSU – No. 5 NCAA National Seed
- WF – No. 1 NCAA National Seed
RADIO
· LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates, including 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge
· Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live
TV/ONLINE
- Monday’s game will be televised on ESPN and streamed on ESPN +
LSU SERIES RECORD VS. WAKE FOREST
• LSU leads the all-time series with Wake Forest, 3-0, as the teams met in a 2011 season-opening series in Baton Rouge, and the Tigers won all three games by scores of 15-4, 4-3 and 9-1.
LSU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• LSU is in the NCAA Tournament for the 11th straight season and for the 35th time overall .... LSU has six national championships (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009), the second-most in NCAA history ... the Tigers were an NCAA Tournament Top 8 National Seed for an NCAA-record six straight seasons (2012-17) ... LSU is a Top 8 National Seed this season (No. 5) for the first time since the 2017 Tigers were the No. 4 National Seed ... LSU has the second-highest all-time NCAA Tournament winning percentage (.707, 169-70).
• LSU is participating in its 19th College World Series, and its first since 2017, when the Tigers finished as the national runners-up to Florida ... LSU is 41-27 (.603) all-time in CWS games, including a 7-3 mark in CWS championship games/series.
• LSU opened its 2023 CWS appearance with a 6-3 win over Tennessee Friday night … right-hander Paul Skenes limited the Volunteers to two runs on five hits on five hits in 7.2 innings with one walk and 12 strikeouts … Skenes fired the second-highest total of strikeouts by an LSU pitcher in an CWS game, second only to Brett Laxton’s 16 strikeouts versus Wichita State in the 1993 CWS National Championship Game.
QUOTING LSU COACH JAY JOHNSON
“Wake Forest is a great team; their talent is exceptional and their style of play is really good. They have a lot of options on the mound and a really good identity at the plate. We’re really looking forward to this game.
“They have dominated from the pitcher’s mound, and they’ve hit with a lot of power. They know what they’re doing; they can execute the small game if they need to. They play extremely hard, and they definitely mirror our team in that regard.”
ABOUT THE TIGERS
· LSU enters Monday’s game with a 49-15 record, its best mark through 64 games since the 2015 Tigers were 53-11... the Tigers this season are seeking their 14th 50-win season and their first since the 2017 club finished 52-20.
· The Tigers won the NCAA Baton Rouge Super Regional with 14-0 and 8-3 victories over Kentucky ... LSU won the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional with consecutive victories over Tulane and Oregon State (twice) ... the Tigers were 1-2 in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. ... LSU was the No. 3 SEC Tournament seed, its highest since the 2017 Tigers were the No. 1 seed in the event.
· The Tigers completed the 2023 regular season 42-13 overall and 19-10 in conference play ... LSU recorded its most SEC regular-season wins since the 2017 club won 21 SEC games, and the Tigers posted their most overall regular-season wins since the 2015 squad ended the regular season with 46 victories.
· The Tigers, the SEC’s No. 4 seed last season, have finished in the Top 4 in the overall SEC standings in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2014 and 2015 ... LSU’s second-place finish in the SEC Western Division this season is its best since the Tigers won the Western Division in 2017.
· LSU has reached the 40-win mark in back-to-back years for the first time since the 2016 and 2017 seasons … LSU finished 40-22 in last season and participated in the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional.
· LSU entered the College World Series at or near the top of several NCAA statistical categories … the Tigers are No. 1 in the nation in shutouts pitched (10); No. 1 in runs scored (594); No. 2 in on-base percentage (.437); No. 2 in slugging percentage (.570); No. 2 in home runs (135); No. 3 in strikeouts pitched per nine innings (11.7); No. 4 in hit-by-pitch (131); No. 5 in scoring average (9.3 runs per game); No. 6 in hits allowed per nine innings (7.69); and No. 6 in walks received (370).
· The LSU pitching staff has established the school single-season record for strikeouts with 709; the previous school mark was 682 set in 1997 ... LSU has 135 home runs this season, the third-highest total in school history ... LSU hit an NCAA-record 188 homers in 1997 and 157 homers in 1998.
· LSU’s six homers in Game 1 of the Super Regional vs. Kentucky was its most in an NCAA Tournament game since the Tigers hit seven HRs in Game 3 of the 2008 NCAA Super Regional vs. UC Irvine in Alex Box Stadium.
· LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews is No. 2 in the nation in on-base percentage (.573); No. 2 in runs scored (90); No. 3 in batting average
· (.433) and No. 4 in walks (65) … third baseman Tommy White is No. 2 in the nation in RBI (97), and he is No. 4 in the nation in RBI per game (1.64)
· LSU right-hander Paul Skenes is No. 1 in the nation in strikeouts (200), strikeouts per nine innings (15.70) and WHIP (0.78), and he is No. 2 in the nation in ERA (1.81) ... he is No.3 in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.53), and No. 5 in hits allowed per nine innings (5.49) ... LSU second baseman Gavin Dugas is No. 3 in the nation in hit-by-pitch (30).
· LSU is No. 1 in the Southeastern Conference in 10 offensive categories – batting average (.314), slugging percentage (.570), on-base percentage (.437), runs (594), hits (678), RBI (545), total bases (1,230), home runs (135), sacrifice flies (39) and plate appearances (2,716) ... LSU is No. 2 in the SEC in HBP (131) and in triples (16).
ABOUT THE DEACONS
· Wake Forest is the NCAA No. 1 National Seed and completed the regular season as the No. 1 team in all of the college baseball polls … the Deacons are hitting .308 as a team with 130 home runs and 43 steals in 45 attempts.
· The Wake Forest pitching staff has a 2.82 cumulative ERA with 748 strikeouts in 554.2 innings … the staff is allowing a .204 cumulative opponent batting average.
· The Deacons are led at the plate by infielder/catcher Brock Wilken, who is hitting .358 with 15 doubles, one triple, 31 homers and 81 RBI … infielder Justin Johnson has hit 16 homers and collected 76 RBI, and OF/INF Nick Kurtz has recorded 24 homers and 69 RBI.