LSU’s Tommy White on walk-off CWS homer: ‘Was looking for fastball. Didn’t get a fastball’

Tommy White was look for a fastball.

White, better known as Tommy Tanks, didn’t get one.

It didn’t matter as White hit a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning Thursday to break a scoreless tie in Omaha and send the LSU Tigers to the College World Series championship series with a 2-0 win over Wake Forest.

“Was looking for a fastball,” White said right after the game. “Didn’t get a fast ball, but I was so amped up, I just threw my hands at it.”

White hit Camden Minacci’s first pitch into the left-field seat to down No. 1 national seed Wake Forest.

The win sends the Tigers (52-16) to the best-of-three CWS championship series against Florida beginning Saturday night in a rematch of the 2017 All-SEC final that the Gators won for their first national title.

LSU became the first team to hand Wake Forest (54-12) consecutive losses this season. The Tigers had won 5-2 on Wednesday to set up a second bracket final.

Dylan Crews singled to left leading off the bottom of the 11th against Michael Massey (3-1), prompting Deacons coach Tom Walter to call on his star closer. Minacci’s first pitch to LSU’s home run leader was a 90 mph slider, and White sent it out for his 23rd homer of the year.

The pitching matchup between LSU’s Paul Skenes and Rhett Lowder set this one apart from the first two. The two are projected top-10 overall picks in next month’s amateur draft, and they matched zeroes deep into the game. Wake Forest came in 18-0 in games Lowder had started.

Skenes allowed two hits and walked one before turning the game over to Thatcher Hurd (7-3) to start the ninth, and his nine strikeouts made him the Southeastern Conference’s single-season record holder. Skenes has 209 strikeouts in 122 2/3 innings; previous record holder Ben McDonald had 202 in 152 1/3 for LSU in 1989.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.