College World Series 2017 scores and bracket: Oregon State and LSU advance to the winners bracket

LSU and Florida State just gave us the game of the tournament.

Jun 18, 2017, 3:28 AM UTC

NCAA Baseball: College World Series-Florida State vs LSU

Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

The first day of the College World Series has come to a close, and both games delivered on their high expectations, the LSU-Florida State tilt in the evening session, in particular, was a raucous, rowdy affair with players flying all over the place, and these teams need to play more often.

Oregon State and Cal State Fullerton kicked things off in the early session, and the Beavers’ Jake Thompson got banged up in a hurry. His command was all out of whack as pitch after pitch floated up on him, and Fullerton’s Timmy Richards blasted a three-run shot straight into the teeth of the wind at TD Ameritrade Park to open the day’s scoring.

Both pitchers in fact struggled early, combining for 55 total pitches in the first frame. The Titans’ Connor Seabold loaded the bases in the bottom of the first, but managed an inning-ended strikeout to strand the Beavs’ runners. Seabold then put runners on the corners in the bottom of the second and Oregon State scored a run on a sac grounder to first.

Thompson calmed down briefly after taking damage in the first, but he gave up two more runs in the fourth on a Chris Hudgins single to left, and suddenly the winningest pitcher in college baseball this year was done after 78 pitches. That was his shortest outing of the season.

Three remarkable defensive plays occurred, including the Beavers’ catcher making a double play.

Oregon State was not going to take a four-run deficit lightly, however, and in the bottom of the sixth inning they broke out to tie the game at five all. That rally thoroughly shook Fullerton, who from then on never really fell back into rhythm. In the bottom of the eighth, then, the Beavs plated the deciding run and stonewalled Fullerton’s bats in the top of the next frame, and it was end of story: Oregon State, 6-5. Fullerton then drops to the losers bracket, and awaits the loser of LSU and Florida State’s evening session.

The evening session really turned into a barn-burner early, what with errors and home runs and wild plays at every bag on the diamond. LSU got down early, but they stormed back late in the game to leg out a 5-4 win and advance to the winners bracket.