By WRAL Staff

Chapel Hill, N.C. —

LSU 4, Wofford 3

Steven Milam hit two solo home runs, including a game-deciding shot to right-center in the bottom of the ninth, and the defending champion LSU Tigers overcame a two-run deficit to beat Wofford 4-3 in their NCAA Division I baseball tournament opening game on Friday.

No. 4 UNC is the top seed in the Chapel Hill regional. LSU will play the winner and Wofford the loser of the regional’s later game between North Carolina and Long Island.

LSU’s Michael Braswell and Jared Jones also hit solo home runs, both coming in the eighth inning to tie the game, and reliever Griffin Herring picked up the win by striking out the side in the top of the ninth.

Both of Milam’s home runs were lead-off hits, with his first coming in the seventh to cut Wofford’s lead to 2-1. His game-deciding hit came on a 3-2 count in his second clutch home run in less than a week.

In the SEC semifinal last weekend, the Tigers overcame an 8-0 deficit to beat South Carolina 12-11 on Milam’s two-run homer in the 10th.

The Tigers (41-21), making their 12th straight tournament appearance, are seeded second in the Chapel Hill Regional, and entered the tournament after losing the SEC championship game to Tennessee on Sunday.

Jack Renwick hit a solo home run in the eighth for Wofford (41-19), which is making just its second tournament appearance after qualifying in 2007. The Terriers jumped to a 2-0 lead in the second inning with Tyler Hare driving in a run on a sacrifice and Andrew Manelly’s RBI single to right, both coming with two outs.

Alec Bouchard took the loss, allowing three runs after entering the game to start the eighth inning.

— Associated Press

UNC 2024 regional schedule

Friday, May 31

Game 1: No. 2 LSU 4, No. 3 Wofford 3

Game 2: No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 4 LIU 6 p.m.

Saturday, June 1

Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser 12 p.m.

Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner 5 p.m.

Sunday, June 2

Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser 12 p.m.

Game 6 Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner 6 p.m.

Monday, June 3

Game 7 (if necessary)

UNC is hosting a regional for the 13th time in program history and is hoping to return to the CWS for the first time since 2018.

The winner of each regional advances to the super regional. The super regional, which includes a total of 16 teams, is a best-of-three series format.

The College World Series will begin June 14 in Omaha.

Source: wralsportsfan.com