Dylan Crews breaks down his approach in pivotal late at-bat in Game 2 vs. Kentucky

LSU secured their 19th trip to the College Baseball World Series Saturday night with their second straight win of the Super Regional round defeating Kentucky 8-3 to advance to Omaha. Tigers’ centerfielder Dylan Crews came up big for his team Saturday, smashing a two-run double in the final inning of the game to solidify an LSU win. And after the game, he revealed his thought process during that pivotal, clutch at bat.

“I was just trying to really control myself during that AB, there’s a lot of emotions and a lot of things going on in that type of situation,” Crews said. “So through all my training with our mental coaches here and Coach Jay’s really helping me out with this too, and just really controlling myself, controlling my breath really.”

Crews reverting to his training paid off, as the Tigers’ lead-off hitter was still looking for his first hit of the ballgame after an early RBI grounder and four base on balls heading into the final frame.

“I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit, going up there I walked I think four times previously. So really just trying to get something good to hit, not trying to expand, and I was able to do that and score two runs for the team,” Crews said. “So it was awesome, just really passing it on to the next guy, it was good.”

It was an electric moment at home for the Tigers, as their loaded home crowd erupted in Alex Box Stadium following the hit as their College World Series hopes became more and more realistic. But before the iconic moment, Crews did admit that there was a level of nervousness in the batter’s box.

“I have before I’m not gonna lie, I’m nervous for every at-bat really,” Crews smiled and said. “But through all my training really like I said, I was really just able to control myself and control my breathing and it didn’t make it any better when my walk-up song was playing. But it was fun, it was awesome, and it was good.”

The Consensus First-Team All-American and 2022 SEC Co-Player of the Year has delivered all postseason for the Tigers, accumulating 13 hits and eight RBIs in regional and Super Regional play. His .433 batting average ranked third in the nation this season, as he and his teammates will look to bring the Tigers their seventh College World Series title in program history.

“I think a spark hit us late this year which is great timing and we just gotta keep moving forward with this momentum we have,” Crews concluded.