Jay Johnson explains when things unraveled in Game 2 of CWS Finals against Florida

LSU took an exciting Game 1 at the College World Series finals, but a grand slam by Ty Evans helped kick off an absolute Tiger-thrashing in Game 2 by the Florida Gators. Holy mackerel did they come to hit the skin off the ball with their backs up against the wall.

Evans knocked a solo home run to get the Gators on the board in the second inning, then returned with even more gusto his second time up in the third inning to smack a grand slam that made the score 7-3.

From there, the base path was busier than a gutter during a monsoon as Florida had a layup line of guys crossing home plate for most of Sunday afternoon en route to a record-setting 24-4 victory over the Tigers. At least it only counts as one game, right?

After that titanic struggle, LSU coach Jay Johnson admitted his team did sort of give up at some point on Sunday, but did think they were in it even after the grand slam but just couldn’t get guys out or bat runs in themselves. He was asked in the postgame when the team really let their hand off the wheel and answered:

“Probably the sixth. Felt like at 8-3 — it was 7-3 I believe in the fourth and we had the bases loaded and hit into a double play. Felt like we were fine there.”

LSU had opportunities to tighten the lead and really make a contest out of Game 2 but just missed on some crucial at bats with runners on base.

“Credit their relievers,” Johnson continued. “They executed some pitches that made it hard on some guys for us that have been swinging the bat really well. That was a killer, the double play when we had the bases loaded when it was 7-3.”

“We still felt okay about it, which is why we sent Gavin (Dugas) back out to the mound. Looking at it, at 8-3, we went to Bryce (Collins) because he pitched well against them last year, and he was good in his first inning. Wasn’t good in his second. And it kind of snowballed from there.”

Johnson’s not giving up, though. In his final comment, he noted the similarities between the teams and how the groups are so familiar with each other after years of playing against the same faces in the same conference.

“And it was largely the same lineup. It’s almost identical. A lot like ours. That’s why we’re both here — two really good teams that have old players that generally play the game the right way.”

Those two really good teams will face once more, this time for ALL of the marbles, quite literally.