OMAHA, Neb. - LSU took Florida's best pitching punch on Monday night and now the Tigers will be able to answer with two strong punches of their own if everything goes their way.
Russell Reynolds started and went 3.1 innings against Florida in a 4-3 Game 1 loss and the Tigers only needed to use Nick Bush (3.1 innings) and Hunter Newman (2.1 innings) in relief, which gives Paul Mainieri plenty of options for the possible next two games.
Zack Hess, who has four appearances in the College World Series with 10 strikeouts and just one hit allowed, started warming up in the eighth inning and would have come into the game if LSU tied the game, according to Mainieri.