Griffin Herring says his fastball was his strongest pitch against Wake Forest

In a game LSU had to win to stay alive at the College World Series, and with not much choice but to cobble together pitching out of the bullpen, Griffin Herring came up clutch. The freshman entered in the second inning and delivered 4.2 shutout innings against Wake Forest.

After the fact, Herring reflected on what was working so well for him. Simply, his fastball was getting the job done on Wednesday.

“I would say the fastball was probably my main pitch tonight. Had good run to it. I think maybe it sank a little bit sometimes. Sometimes it rode. So probably the fastball. Slider got working towards the end,” Herring said.

Herring’s final line was 4.2 innings of work, three hits surrendered, one walk, six strikeouts and no runs allowed.

He took LSU from the top of the second inning, when the Tigers trailed 2-0, to the seventh inning before he was finally pulled after 80 pitches. And he helped the Tigers win a must-win game to force a decider on their side of the bracket.

LSU and Wake Forest face off at 7 p.m. EST on Thursday, and the winner will face Florida in a three-game series for the national championship.

Herring and LSU got pushed over the hump via a Cade Beloso home run

LSU needed its roster to step up in order to extend their season versus Wake Forest in the College World Series. In the end, the Tigers got what they needed with the help of a three-run home run from first baseman Cade Beloso.

Following LSU’s 5-2 win over the Demon Deacons, Beloso went through his thought process at the plate. He said he adjusted his plan for the at bat with how it went and used what he learned from his head coach to give his team the boost that they needed.

“I was just trying to hit a fly ball to center field, stay out of the double play,” Beloso said. “Once that passed ball happened, kind of changed my mindset a little bit.”

“When you have a coach as good as Coach Jay? Especially with hitting (indiscernible) the ball at your thigh? You better listen,” said Beloso. “I got a changeup at my thigh and put a good swing on it and it went over the fence.”

LSU stepped up to the plate down by a score of 2-1 in the third inning. Still, they did enough work with Dylan Crews, Tre’ Morgan, and Gavin Dugas to tie things up by the time that it was Beloso’s turn.

At that point, Beloso got a hold of his homer and drove Morgan, Dugas, and himself in. That gave the Tigers a lead of 5-2 which, after six more innings of play, ended up being the final margin.