Florida vs. LSU 2017, College World Series score: Gators take Game 1, 4-3

Florida and LSU earned tickets to the College World Series final round, a best-of-three set that will crown this year’s NCAA baseball tournament champions. Florida dismantled LSU, 4-3, to score the first strike, and the Gators stand just one win away from their first-ever CWS title.

Without the services of Alex Lange or Jared Poché, LSU threw Russell Reynolds to start Game 1 of the best-of-three final series, and he immediately put a man on first on the second batter he faced. That threat, such as it was, didn’t last long, though, as Dalton Guthrie tried to advance to second on a semi-wild pitch but was gunned down on his slide into the base.

With Brady Singer dealing well, LSU couldn’t get anything going in the top of the second, and Florida managed only a pair of pop flies in the top of the third. The Gators finally broke through in the top of the fourth, plating three runs in part thanks to a ground rule double by Jonathan India, who has otherwise fallen totally asleep in Omaha. LSU built up a threat in the bottom of the frame, but Singer locked in to strike out the next three Tiger batters to end the inning 3-0, advantage Gators.

The bottom of the sixth spelled doom for Singer, though, who gave up a solo homer to Antoine Duplantis to start things off, then allowed another run to bring the score to 3-2. Still. Singer forced a popup to end the inning, and off to the seventh they went.

Florida crossed another runner in the seventh to gain a 4-2 advantage, and Singer struck out his 12th batter to earn a CWS finals record for strikeouts in a single game. Michael Byrne came in to spell Singer in the eighth, and he locked down on LSU’s bats to seal the deal for the Gators in Game 1.

All times Eastern

Best-of-three series

Game 1: Florida def. LSU, 4-3
Game 2: Tuesday, June 27, LSU vs. Florida, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 3*: Wednesday, June 28, LSU vs. Florida, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
*if necessary