Pearson, Crews lead LSU to College World Series semifinals

There might not have been a better example of the impact that alumni of the New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series are making on the College World Series than Tuesday night’s game between LSU and Tennessee.

Up three on the Vols in an elimination game, Tigers nine-hole hitter Josh Pearson — who is tied for the all-time record with six hits at International Week (now the Main Event) and ten times having reached base — drew a walk to set the stage for leadoff man Dylan Crews.

Crews, who was teammates with Pearson at the 2019 International Week event at Fenway and also made waves in that year’s National Tournaments, smashed a two-run homer to put the game out of reach, sending LSU into a showdown with Wake Forest to see who will advance to the Final, with the first of two potential games set for Wednesday night at 7 PM.

The LSU team is loaded with FSS alums, including Gavin Guidry, Ethan Frey and Nic Bronzini.

On the other side of the bracket, it’ll be TCU moving on after a big win over Oral Roberts; the Horned Frogs (one loss) will face Florida (no losses) at 2 PM on Wednesday in the double-elimination format. Kurtis Byrne, who delivered the game-winning hit for the National Team in one of the 2018 International Week contests, had a huge showing for TCU to get to the semis, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI on a sac fly.

Byrne isn’t the only FSS alum on TCU either, of course, as 2020 International Week standout Caedmon Parker remains on their roster. Deric Fabian and Brandon Neely, teammates at the 2019 National Tournaments on the same club that Crews was on, are both sophomores on the Gators roster. Neely has already made two CWS appearances; he struck out one batter each in outings against Virginia on June 16, and Oral Roberts on June 18.

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Mike Ashmore

Mike Ashmore is a veteran baseball writer. Since 2003 he has covered multiple World Series and has worked high-profile events ranging from the MLB All-Star Game to the World Baseball Classic. In addition to his role working for Future Stars Series, the New Jersey native currently serves as the beat writer of the Double-A New York Yankees affiliate, the Somerset Patriots, as well as national hockey writer and New York Jets game day beat reporter for The Trentonian. Ashmore has worked six Super Bowls, ten Stanley Cup Finals, the NBA Playoffs, College Football Playoff National Championship Game, Frozen Four, Daytona 500, major UFC events and much more as he approaches 3,000 games covered in his career.

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