Wake Forest skipper Tom Walter on early errors against LSU: We've gotta clean up the free 90s

Heading to the bottom of the fourth inning, the number one overall seed in this year’s Men’s College World Series, Wake Forest, finds themselves in a hole early. The Demon Deacons trail the LSU Tigers 2-0 in a defensive and pitching-dominant game.

Thanks to back-to-back outfield fielding errors and a few hits in the top of the third, LSU finds themselves on top in this defensive battle. Moving into the bottom of the fourth inning, Wake Forest skipper, Tom Walter, discussed the struggles of his starting pitcher, Josh Hartle, and what his team needs to do to get back into the game.

“Yeah, he’s been struggling with his command. Obviously, four walks with a couple of outfield errors, you know, ball in the dirt gets away from us,” said Walter. “So we’ve gotta clean up the free 90s.”

The other part Wake Forest needs to work on get getting hits on LSU’s starting pitcher, Ty Floyd. To which Walter had this to say about the Tigers pitcher’s performance so far.

“We need to get on top of his fastball. He’s throwing the ball really well, and he’s throwing a good change-up to our left-handed hitters. So, we need to be a little more selective and get on top of his fastball.

Despite some of Hartle’s early struggles, Wake Forest was able to keep the game knotted at 0-0. but the two fielding errors, with left fielder Adam Cecere earning an actual error after losing the ball in the sun on what appeared to be a routine flyout. But Walter’s team bounced back strong, limiting the damage to just two runs. And while things don’t look too good for the Demon Deacons right now, the Wake Forest skipper says don’t count his team out just yet.

“That’s what good teams do; you’ve gotta respond to adversity. We faced some adversity here early, but we’ll be there,” said Walter.