Rain forces suspension of LSU-UCLA game at MWCS

OMAHA, Neb. -- No. 6 LSU held a 5-3 lead over No. 15 UCLA on Monday night when the Men's College World Series game was suspended following a lengthy rain delay.

The teams will resume play at the start of the fourth inning on Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET.

Both teams won their opening Bracket 2 games Saturday. The loser of the suspended game will return to action Tuesday night in an elimination game against No. 3 Arkansas. The victor of the latter contest would then have to beat the winner of the suspended game twice in order to reach the MCWS final series.

UCLA got to LSU starter Anthony Eyanson early, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. The damage began with an RBI double by third baseman Roman Martin with one out.

The Bruins tacked on two more runs without a ball leaving the infield. AJ Salgado drove in one with a hard-hit infield single, and Payton Brennan plated another with a swinging bunt fielded by Eyanson.

The Tigers struck right back, with Jake Brown driving in LSU's first run of the game with an RBI single off UCLA starter Landon Stump. Jared Jones then deposited his 21st homer of the season into the right-center bleachers, a three-run shot to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead.

Eyanson then settled into a groove, retiring six of the seven batters he faced in the second and third innings. LSU extended the lead to 5-3 on Luis Hernandez's RBI single in the third before play was suspended ahead of the fourth inning with dangerous weather in the area.

Coastal Carolina is 2-0 in Bracket 1 and awaits the winner of the Tuesday elimination game between Louisville and Oregon State.

--Derek Harper, Field Level Media