Dylan Crews home run finishes off 5-0 LSU win over Tennessee

LSU extended its season by another day with a 5-0 win over Tennessee in an elimination game at the College World Series, aided by a late Dylan Crews home run.

The LSU star gave his pitching staff a nice extra cushion in the top of the ninth inning when he blasted a two run homer just over the left field well, making it 5-0 in the final inning.

“It was awesome. Wind was blowing in early in the game so pushed some of these balls back into play,” Crews said. “But it was good to get one and extend the lead for us.”

The Dylan Crews home run provided some much needed insurance on a night that Tennessee tested LSU’s pitching but could not convert. With plenty of pitching already burned and more to come, LSU reached deep into its bullpen for a candidate to start Tuesday night’s game against Tennessee.

Junior left-hander Nate Ackenhausen got the call.

And, boy, was he ever up to the task. He set LSU up extremely well, working around a couple jams early on and then settling in for a brilliant extended start.

“It was huge. That was huge for us,” Crews said. “Nate hasn’t started like that in a while, so for him to come out like that and go to the seventh inning, that was unbelievable, so hat’s off to him.”

Ackenhausen finished with six complete innings, giving up just four hits while striking out seven. He didn’t walk a batter, though he hit three with pitches.

His start meant LSU used only two pitchers in the contest, with Riley Cooper taking over in the seventh and going the distance.

Cooper earned his second save, giving up just two hits in three full innings of work. The Dylan Crews home run made for a less pressure-packed finish.

The crowd at Charles Schwab Field was electric, with a large LSU contingent on hand to take in the game. They were thrilled to see LSU set up a rematch with Wake Forest, which knocked off the Tigers on Monday night in a pivotal winner’s bracket game.

Crews said the crowd blew him away.

“I mean it doesn’t even match the expectations that I was expecting it to be,” he said. “It was unbelievable, but we’ve still got a job to do and we’ve got good competition coming up ahead of us.”

LSU and Wake Forest will meet at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The Tigers will have to beat the Demon Deacons twice to advance, while a loss will eliminate them.