The tigers national championship chances took a massive hit Sunday night as they fell to the bruins 2-1.  Despite a very good performance by starter Aaron Nola the LSU (57-10) defense commited 2 errors at critical moments to allow UCLA 2 runs.  Bruin starter Adam Plutko kept the LSU bats silent all night with the exception of Mason Katz’s solo homer in the 4th inning.  The tigers had 5 hits for the night.

LSU now faces North Carolina (57-11) in an elimination game.   Carolina lost to North Carolina State 8-1.  The tigers will be the home team at 2:00 Tuesday and will go with Cody Glenn on the mound.  The game will be televised by ESPN.

The UCLA Bruins (44-17) will face LSU (57-9) Sunday in the opening game for each team.  The Bruins have been ranked among the top 15 teams in the country all season.  UCLA defeated #8 national seed Oregon in Eugene in a 3 game series in April.  They hosted the Los Angeles regional and went 3-0.  They then swept the super regional against the host Cal State Fullerton defeating the titans 5-3 and 3-0 to advance.  The bruins average 4.8 runs per game and 3.1 runs allowed.  Pitching is the very foundation of this UCLA team and they have a team ERA of 2.69.  The ace of the bruin staff is Adam Plutko (8-3, 2.35) who is likely to face tigers Aaron Nola (12-0, 1.68) in the first round Sunday.  Other key starters are Nick Vander Tuig (12-4, 2.37), Grant Watson (8-3, 3.22), and Codie Poteet (4-6, 4.84).  They have one of the nations top closers in side-armer David Berg (0.88) who is 2nd in the nation with 22 saves.

LSU (57-9) is going back to Omaha for its first time since the 2009 National Championship.  Jacoby Jones delivered a monstrous 4-hit night which helped in the 11-1 victory sending the tigers to their home away from home and another chance at a national title.

The #4 seeded tigers will open up Friday in Omaha against UCLA.  The Bruins beat home standing favorite Cal State Fullerton to advance.  The time of the game is not yet known.