College World Series notebook: Heatwave engulfs Omaha
OMAHA, Neb. — OmaHot?
It could be shades of 2009 when the College World Series championship round between LSU and Coastal Carolina begins tonight.
Which means it might be best to stay in the shade.
A heat wave started rolling into Omaha Friday, with temperatures possibly touching 100 degrees over the weekend.
That's reminiscent of LSU's 2009 national championship series against Texas, when the unseasonable weather here was hotter those days than in Louisiana.
'I didn't hear you say anything about lightning, huh?' LSU head coach Jay Johnson asked at his Friday news conference, referring to LSU's Monday game with UCLA which interrupted by storms and had to be finished Tuesday. 'I'm good with everything else.'
They should be good at least until Monday's if-neces- sary game. And LSU is used to the heat.
'Super regional against West Virginia (was) no question the hottest baseball game I've ever been part of,' said Johnson, who coached at Arizona before going to LSU.
Of more concern for the Tigers may be the winds, which weren't really gusting Friday so much as howling, up to 40 mph.
Suffice it to say, if a game had been played Friday, there would have been no home runs.
That could hurt the Tigers, who rely far more on the long ball than Coastal Carolina and its small-ball style.
'It's just something you kind of expect this time of year,' Johnson said. 'Here in 2023 (when LSU won it all) we had wind blowing inn for the majority of the tournament.'
D PAYBACK? Forget about LSU being better known in college baseball's circles.
The Tigers might have the revenge factor against the Chanticleers.
Coastal is 2-0 all-time against LSU, both games coming in the 2016 super regional in Baton Rouge that propelled the Chants to Omaha and the national title. Right fielder Jake Brown of Sulphur was 9 years old then, but already a big fan and remembers it well.
'A little bit of heartbreak,' he remembered. 'That was a great (LSU) team I think could have made a good run in the championship. Things didn't go our way.
'Look forward to turning it around and making something good happen this time.'
Brown doesn't lack for confidence. He knew LSU would get this chance.
'This isn't something that caught us by surprise,' he said. 'We knew were meant to be here.'
DO IT AGAIN: Johnson is trying to win his second national championship in four years at LSU. No other coach in NCAA history has multiple titles in less than eight years at a school.
STAND THEIR GROUND: Coastal Carolina set an NCAA record by getting hit by pitches 176 times. The Chan- ticleers have been hit pitches six times in Omaha.
'They don't eat if they get out of the way,' Coastal head coach Kevin Schnall said. 'No, it's just something our guys have bought into. Our guys are obsessed with getting on base.'
LSU gets hit more than most teams, but has 91.
FIRST ON THE FIELD: LSU will be the home team in the first game.
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