Cade Beloso opens up on how his past impacts his current success

It’s been an arduous path for LSU’s Cade Beloso to get to this point, batting in the designated hitter spot for the Tigers at the College World Series. A season ago, he barely played, appearing in just three games.

After smacking a three-run go-ahead home run that gave LSU the lead for good over Wake Forest in a must-win game for the Tigers on Wednesday, Beloso reflected on his journey back to this point. If anything, the lessons he’s learned have been freeing.

“It just kind of puts things into perspective. It’s just like the whole concept like behind ‘have to’ versus ‘get to.’ You don’t have to come through in those moments,” Beloso said. “Like, you get to be in those moments.”

The moment on Wednesday couldn’t have been better. LSU had already knotted the game, 2-2, when Beloso stepped into the batters box in the bottom of the third inning. With two runners on base, he got a fastball belt high over the plate and redirected out into the Wake Forest bullpen in right field.

And delivering timely hits has been what Beloso’s been best at in 2023. Primarily serving as the designated hitter for LSU, Beloso is having a career year in the batter’s box.

The graduate student is batting .324 with 15 home runs, both career highs. He’s also got 45 RBI and has struck out just 28 times in 170 at bats.

This, a year after he played in three games for the Tigers. So when Beloso is stepping into the batter’s box in a leveraged moment, he’s not stressed, but savoring it.

“That’s the thing that puts me at peace, especially like when the game is at its highest and stuff like that. And just in the on-deck circle, try to get yourself as calm as possible, especially when you kind of see the moments coming. But just trying to stay as calm as possible,” Beloso said.

Beloso discussed the emotions of being one game from national championship series

The Tigers had to beat the Demon Deacons twice to advance out of the loser’s bracket. Well, they’ve got one down after a convincing 5-2 victory on Wednesday night.

But LSU players aren’t treating Thursday’s contest as anything other than the next game.

“It’s just another game,” designated hitter Cade Beloso said. “We’re not going to make it anything bigger than it is. It’s the same game we’ve been playing since February.”