GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU had a 12-5 lead at the time, and West Virginia had nobody on base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning at Alex Box Stadium Sunday night.
But for redshirt-sophomore pitcher Chase Shores, the Tigers’ 6-foot-8, 100 mph-plus throwing right-hander, it might as well have been the last out of the national championship game at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, in two weeks.
Shores struck out WVU top hitter Kyle West swinging on a 102 miles per hour fastball on his third pitch, and it was over. LSU (48-15) advanced to the College World Series with the Super Regional sweep of the Mountaineers and will play Arkansas (48-13) at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN at the CWS.
“Let’s go to Omaha,” Shores hollered as teammates stormed him from the dugout, spraying water and energy drinks from everywhere. The celebration had begun.
“I just screamed, ‘Let’s go to Omaha,’ probably 50 times in a row.”
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And he tossed his glove.
“In the moment, I guess, I just threw my glove,” Shores said. “I knew I was about to get a bunch of hugs from my teammates, so I didn’t want the glove on. Just threw it.”
He got it back and will keep it right next to that memory.
“Dream come true, honestly,” he said. “That was a great feeling, just to see my teammates run up and start hugging me. That was an amazing feeling. I’ll never forget that in my life.”
Shores, who signed with LSU before the 2023 season as the No. 5 right-hander in the country from Lee High in Midland, Texas, watched the College World Series for years as a kid. And he was in the dugout when LSU won it all in 2023 when he was a true freshman with a shoulder injury that kept him out of the entire 2024 season.
“It’s every kid’s dream to get to Omaha,” he said. “Just seeing that in person as opposed to watching it on TV the previous five years, it’s just a dream come true. I was in the dugout two years ago. That was a crazy experience.”
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He sees himself as an active tour guide on this trip. The Tigers were scheduled to arrive in Omaha on Wednesday.
“I’ll be helping everybody learn the atmosphere, because it’s going to be crazy,” he said. “But I mean, we play at Alex Box every single weekend, so it’s nothing we’re not prepared for.”
And this time, Shores is ready to and will likely pitch at some point in relief on possibly multiple occasions.
LSU 6-foot-8 pitcher Chase Shores meets his match – taller by a hair Glen West of https://t.co/Z8tMhs6K6f. pic.twitter.com/koZ7ANevvm
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) June 10, 2025
He has been a disappointment overall this season, based on expectations. He was 18-2 with 211 strikeouts in 142 innings in high school. He entered the season with very high expectations from coach Jay Johnson.
Shores opened the season as the No. 3 weekend starter, but did not do greatly. Recovery from reconstructive, “Tommy John” elbow surgery can take a lot of time. Through nine Southeastern Conference starts, he was 5-2 with a 5.12 ERA, a .291 batting average allowed with 41 strikeouts in 38 and two-thirds innings. Not bad, but not quite what Johnson and pitching coach Nate Yeskie thought coming in.
He was moved to the bullpen, and overall is 5-3 with a 5.24 ERA through 19 appearances and 56 and two-thirds innings with 62 strikeouts and 31 walks with a .266 average allowed. Before allowing four runs in an inning when he walked the bases loaded and allowed a three-run double in taking the 10-4 loss to Little Rock in the NCAA Regional, Shores was gaining momentum.
Over his previous three appearances, he allowed zero runs on two hits with five strikeouts and four walks. Against West Virginia Sunday, he allowed no hits, runs or walks with three strikeouts in an inning and a third.
“Electric. Holy Cow,” Johnson said. “Obviously, you’re in the moment. ‘We’re four outs away, three outs away, two outs away.’ That’s just human nature. But I was able to peel back from that for a second and had the vision of recruiting him here.”
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Johnson saw Shores entering the 2023 season the same way he saw Paul Skenes at the time before Shores’ injury.
“Like, that’s what it was – to see him do that,” Johnson said. “He had a really good week leading into the Super Regional. His demeanor going into the weekend was great, and I thought it was really cool that he was the one who got to finish that.”
Shores has incrementally adjusted to life as a reliever.
“It’s been good,” he said. “Coming out of the bullpen, you’ve got to be ready from the get-go. So, that’s kind of helped me. When I was starting, maybe I was trying to groove into things and kind of feel things out. But you’ve got to be ready first pitch. And that intent’s got a lot better.”
Now, if he could just keep his eye off the radar gun, like when he topped out 102 at the SEC Tournament last month.
“That was the fastest pitch I’ve ever thrown,” he said. “So, that was pretty cool. But I need to do a better job about not doing that.”
His father, Bryan Shores, an oil field chemical salesman, told him to stop looking at the radar gun. An advisor said to only look after a strikeout.
“I’m just curious sometimes,” Shores said. “So, that’s what I’m going to start doing.”
But the radar guns are big in Omaha.
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