17 strikeouts match the record for hometown hurler

Ty Floyd brought the heat and kept it up against the Florida Gators batting order on Saturday night as he tied a record for the number of strikeouts thrown in a Men’s College World Series finals opener.

Floyd put in 8 innings of work and though he gave up some runs in Louisiana State’s 4-3 victory over Florida in Omaha. He gave up 3 runs, 5 hits, was charged with 3 errors and a single walk. Riley Cooper came in to finish out the ninth and extra innings.

The performance put Floyd in the record books, joining only one other pitcher in the CWS history that dates back to 1972’s performance by Ed Bane of Arizona State.

He got some offensive backup thanks to runs scored in the first and third, but then Floyd despite his dramatic performance on the mound (over eight innings, struck out four swinging) and Florida was up 3-2 after a sixth inning homer by BT Riopelle gave the Gators the lead. That was until an 8th inning score that tied it as the Tigers showed they weren’t quite ready to throw in the towel.

Cade Beloso’s dramatic homerun in the 11th inning broke the tie and with help from Cooper sealed the victory for LSU.

The Game 1 victory was the second time Floyd has taken the mound in Omaha for the Tigers in the tournament. He put up a 10 K performance in five innings in the first game against Wake Forest as the starter, but the Demon Deacons fought back in later to win the first of three against LSU last week. The Tigers overcame must win situations against Tennessee and Wake twice more before they got to the finals against Florida.

Floyd surpassed 100 strikeouts on the season during his last appearance, now he sits at 120 even on the year through the regular season, playoffs and CWS.

LSU has at least one more game against Florida to win the title for the 2023 season. First pitch is this afternoon in Omaha.

Here locally, Rockmart fans are watching and waiting to see what happens with LSU now that Floyd has finished his work out for the squad for series.

On Saturday, Pizza Farm celebrated Floyd a second time in recent days with purple shirts and his name and jersey number on the back to show support for the local pitcher. Among those working during the evening shift were former teammate Sam Sanders.