Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
The purple and gold convoy is rolling northward toward one of America’s best cities. Omaha, Nebraska is home to the College World Series beginning today. LSU will play the final game of the four opening round games on Saturday night at 6PM Central against SEC foe, Tennessee.
For nearly forty years, the city of Omaha has come to love the LSU baseball team just as much as LSU fans love to make the 1,000 mile trek from the bayous to corn country in early June.
Omaha is home to nearly 500,000 residents and sits in the middle of America’s farming heartland. It is also one of the best cities in America to get a great steak, too!
LSU fans have made fast friends in Omaha over the years by bringing their entertaining tailgating talents and seafood gumbo to Mid-America. Tiger fans love to party and eagerly welcomed the Omaha locals to become temporary LSU supporters. Visitors to the Tigers’ tailgates love to sample a little unique Cajun cuisine and share a brew with the friendly bunch from Baton Rouge.
Omaha has grown to love the large contingent of Bayou Bengal fans beginning with LSU teams making frequent appearances at the CWS beginning in the 1980’s. Under legendary baseball coach Skip Bertman, LSU won five national championships in Omaha during a ten year span from 1991 through 2000.
The Tigers always turn turned Omaha into a more festive place in years when LSU makes the eight-team field. When I visited Omaha in February (brr!) about twenty years ago, I was surprised how many people asked this Louisiana native about LSU sports. Many of the Omaha locals have been converted into LSU Tiger fans!
This Saturday night at 6PM, expect the majority of Omaha residents in attendance to be pulling for the Tigers. LSU fans have nurtured this relationship with Big Red Nebraska fans over the years. If Nebraska isn’t in the field, many locals will adopt the purple and gold of LSU.
For the longest time, the College World Series was played in venerable Rosenblatt Stadium located just outside of downtown Omaha. The old ball park was loved by fans and players alike. Spectators sat close to the action and added to the noise and excitement factor of the games. After being expanded several times, the NCAA finally let Omaha know that larger stadium venues in other cities were quite willing to host this annual baseball event.
Omaha responded with the construction of a 24,000 seat downtown baseball stadium about a decade ago. The new stadium just had a name change, too. The former TD Ameritrade Park is now called Charles Schwab Field. TD Ameritrade was purchased by Schwab. Locals are now calling the stadium “The Chuck”!
This circular stadium allows fans to walk around the perimeter of the field. It definitely features more services than Rosenblatt Stadium, but it lacks the character of the old field. The outfield fences are further away from home plate, and there is more room for defensive plays to be made along the fringes of this larger stadium.
Translated – the new baseball stadium is a pitcher-friendly ball park. Traditionally, LSU is known for hitting a lot of home runs and scoring runs in bunches. LSU’s “Gorilla Ball” helped the Tigers dominate the College World Series at the former ball park back in the 1990’s. LSU’s most recent national championship came in 2009 – two years before this new ball park opened.
This weekend, LSU fans are coming back to what they call “Alex Box – North” as the Tigers pursue their seventh national title and first in this new ball park. You can count on natives of Omaha to be tailgating with Tiger fans once again, too.
Though advance ticket prices in Omaha for the CWS are fairly reasonably priced, word is that $100 won’t be able to fetch a decent bleacher seat ticket for a few of this weekend’s opening round of games.
All of the College World Series games will be televised by ESPN. Here is a brief rundown of the eight teams involved and the Friday/Saturday slate of opening games:
Game 1 – Friday at 1PM CDT – Oral Roberts (51-12) vs. TCU (42-22)
If you like rooting for underdogs, the Golden Eagles from Tulsa are your team! ORU is appearing in its first College World Series since 1978. Oral Roberts is also just the third team with a #4 seed (out of four) to advance to a College World Series. The other two teams were Fresno State (2008) and Stony Brook (2012). Keep an eye on ORU centerfielder Jonah Cox. He enters the game with a 47-game hitting streak and bats a nifty .420! Winners of 21 of their last 22 games, the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts are excited to be in Omaha this weekend.
TCU was the beneficiary of some good fortune during the Super Regionals. Indiana State was the higher seeded team, but the school in Terre Haute had committed its sports facilities to a Special Olympics event for that weekend. The series was moved to Fort Worth, and the Horned Frogs fans helped propel their team to victory. This will be TCU’s sixth appearance in the CWS.
Game 2 – Friday at 6PM CDT – Virginia (50-13) vs. Florida (50-15)
The coach of the Virginia Cavaliers was raised just across the Missouri River from downtown Omaha in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Brian O’Connor loved attending games at the CWS as a youth. “I just have so many fond memories of that old stadium, but listen, Charles Schwab Field is a crown jewel. This is the Mecca of college baseball. This is what coaches and players dream about, and I’m excited for our players that they have this opportunity to play in this great stadium.”
Much like LSU, the Florida Gators have been a frequent visitor to Omaha in June. The Gators are making their 8th CWS appearance in the past 16 seasons under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan. Florida took out another SEC team last weekend with a Super Regional sweep over rival South Carolina. Looking ahead, Florida and LSU did not play a game against each other during the regular season or the season-ending SEC tournament.
Game 3 – Saturday at 1PM CDT – Stanford (44-18) vs. Wake Forest (52-10)
Stanford comes into Omaha riding a lucky streak. The Cardinal won their Super Regional Game 3 against Texas 9-8 as a ninth inning fly ball into the outfield was lost in the lights by a Longhorn player. Stanford is no stranger to Omaha, though. The team is making its 19th CWS visit. The Cardinal won back-to-back championships in 1987 and 1988.
The top national seed in this year’s tournament, Wake Forest of the ACC has played up to their seeding. The Demon Deacons are making their first visit to Omaha since 1955! Wake Forest has plenty of long-ball power on offense. Third baseman Brock Wilkin hit 30 round-trippers this season and is the ACC’s all-time home run king with 70 and counting. Wake Forest coach Tom Walter is now in his 14th season. He was previously the head coach of the University of New Orleans from 2005-2009 and took the Privateers to the CWS twice during his time in the Crescent City.
Game 4 – Saturday at 6PM CDT – Tennessee (42-20) vs. LSU (48-15)
The Tennessee “OmaVols” have been to the CWS twice in the past three seasons. Led by fiery coach Tony Vitelo, Tennessee earned its way to Nebraska by winning on the road in the Clemson regional and then last weekend at the Southern Miss Super Regional. After a mediocre 16-14 SEC regular season record, the Vols have caught fire at just the right time coming into Omaha. Last year’s #1 seed, this year’s Tennessee squad is playing with less pressure on the team entering the College World Series.
The LSU Tigers beat Tennessee two out of three SEC games earlier this season in Baton Rouge.
This year’s Tiger baseball team has eight players with ten or more home runs as it clubbed 133 dingers over the season. LSU’s two time SEC Player of the Year centerfielder Dylan Crews is hitting .434 (#3 in the nation) and is second in runs scored (89). Pitcher Paul Skenes led the SEC in wins (12), strikeouts (188) and earned run average (1.77 per game). Both juniors will be selected early (possibly #1 and #2 overall) in the upcoming Major League Baseball player draft in early July. Don’t forget about sophomore third baseman Tommy White! He is hitting .377 and led the Tigers with 26 HR and 97 RBI.
Second year LSU coach Jay Johnson said, “They’ve earned the right to go play for a national championship, and that’s what we intend on doing and going for it. And I will not promise we’ll win it, but everything will be invested by everybody to go do that.”
Eight of the best college baseball teams in the country are ready to play ball in Omaha.
Batter-up at The Chuck!