The National Championship Series is an All-Southeastern Conference affair pitting #3 National Seed Florida against #4 National Seed LSU for the title.
This much is known for sure…
- An SEC team will reclaim the National Title for college baseball’s power conference
- Whatever happens the SEC will have claimed 5 of the past 9 CWS Championships
- It’s the SEC East Champions vs SEC West Champions. A score these two teams did not get to settle in the SEC Tournament (Arkansas intervened, eliminating the Gators) will be decided on a much larger stage. Conference pride and program supremacy is on the line in Omaha.
Here’s the key info…
The Teams:
- #3 National Seed Florida Gators (50-19)
- #4 National Seed LSU Tigers (52-18)
- The Schedule:
- Game One – Monday June 26th – 7PM ET – ESPN
- Game Two – Tuesday June 27th – 8PM ET – ESPN
- Game Three – Wednesday June 28th – 8PM ET (if necessary)
- The Coaches:
- Paul Mainari –
- 11th Season at LSU (35th Overall)
- 3 Time National Coach of the Year
- 2009 National Champion
- Kevin O’Sullivan
- 10th Season at Florida
- 2011 National Coach of the Year
- Played for National Title in 2011
- Paul Mainari –
- The Previous Meeting:
- The teams last met in late March for an SEC weekend series in Gainesville, FL
- March 24 – Florida 1 LSU 0
- March 25 – Florida 8 LSU 1
- March 26 – LSU 10 Florida 6
- Florida claimed the series at home 2 games to 1
- The clubs did not cross paths in the 2017 SEC Tournament
- The teams last met in late March for an SEC weekend series in Gainesville, FL
- The Similarities:
- Both programs made their first CWS appearance in the late 1980’s
- Both teams have made it a habit of getting to Omaha in recent years
- Both teams won their respective SEC Divisions during the regular season
- Both teams are National Seeds-both won home regionals and super regionals
- Both teams have now eclipsed the 50 win mark on the season
- Both clubs have lost a game during College World Series play, both punched their ticket to the Championship Series on a busy Saturday of action
- Both clubs will deal with pitching challenges based upon their CWS path
- Both clubs have played for the title previously under the current “National Championship Series” format, which was adopted in 2003.
- LSU defeated Texas 2 games to 1 in 2009
- Florida lost to Texas 2 games to none in 2005,
- Florida lost to South Carolina 2 games to none in 2011.
- The Differences:
- LSU has six National Titles, Florida is seeking its first crown
- The Tigers own championships from: 1991 / 1993 / 1996 / 1997 / 2000 / 2009
- The Tigers have never lost a title matchup. LSU is looking to stand alone in second place all-time related to number of titles by going for a perfect 7-for-7 in the Championship round. Florida on the other hand, has never won a Championship series contest. The Gators played Texas for the title in 2005 and appeared again in 2011, losing to SEC East rival South Carolina.
- Florida has played for the championship since the CWS moved to its new downtown location, facing South Carolina in the inaugural TD Ameritrade Park title tilt. LSU’s last title came at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in 2009.
- The Format:
- By virtue of a coin flip, LSU will be the designated home team in Game One on Monday, while Florida will be the away club. They will reverse roles on Tuesday,
- Another coin flip would be required to determine the designated home team for Game Three (if necessary).
- The Pitching Matchups:
- Monday: FLA- Brady Singer vs LSU-Russell Reynolds
- Tuesday: LSU- Jared Poche vs FLA-TBD
- Wednesday: (If Necessary) LSU- Alex Lange vs FLA- TBD
- The CWS Path:
- Florida – Wins over TCU (twice) & Louisville (Only Loss: TCU)
- LSU – Wins over Oregon State (twice) & FSU (twice) (Only Loss: Oregon State)
- Profiling the teams as they entered CWS action…
