Somebody has to lose. That’s right there on the first page of the rulebook.

But for the longest time Thursday night, Wake Forest and LSU seemed capable of somehow re-writing it. Led by their otherworldly starting pitchers, neither team gave an inch.

Finally, in the bottom of the 11th inning, Wake Forest cracked.

It was Wake’s only crack, but it was enough to end the Demon Deacons’ most magical season in 7 decades — a two-run bomb off the bat of LSU’s Tommy “Tanks” White that provided the only scoring in the game.

Of all the ballparks in all the towns in all the world, White had to walk into Charles Schwab Field.

The Deacs likely thought they were rid of the guy when NIL money convinced him to transfer to LSU after a record-setting freshman season at NC State. What were the odds they’d cross paths again?

His transfer became a nightmare deferred.

Wake traded avoiding White with the Wolfpack for a far more agonizing fate. Even in the deadball era-confines of Schwab, Tommy Tanks lived up to his moniker by pulverizing the first pitch he saw from Wake closer Camden Minacci.

When a game goes as long as this one did, the only guarantees remaining are euphoria and pain. One team will experience each at an acute level.

But when you go about the impossible task of removing the emotion from the equation, there is an absolute reality that must also be recognized.

One of college baseball’s great teams lost one of the greatest games in College World Series history.

This was the first College World Series game to head to extra innings without a run scored since 1985. And just the 5th game in LSU’s storied baseball history that finished scoreless through 9 innings. Not the 5th postseason game — the 5th game, period, since 1933.

A pitching duel for the ages

Many of us felt Wake’s goose was cooked the night before this classic unfolded.

The Demon Deacons failed to get the job done against Johnny Wholestaff — a Voltron combination of 5 LSU relievers who experienced varying success in the regular season. An eminently beatable bunch. Especially for 1 of college baseball’s top offenses.

By losing to LSU’s bullpen, the Deacons opened the door to the biggest, baddest dude in college baseball: Tigers ace Paul Skenes.

The situation felt even more bleak with Wake first baseman Nick Kurtz a late scratch due to a reaggravated rib injury. It’s hard enough to hit Skenes with a full deck. Now the Deacs had to do it with a hand tied behind its back.

Skenes is universally acclaimed as 1 of the top 3 college pitchers of the entire 21st century. And as he demonstrated yet again on Thursday night, that’s not just empty hype.

Skenes was back at it against Wake, limiting the Deacs to 2 hits and a walk while striking out 9 in 8 innings.

Keeping the Demon Deacons alive against Skenes would require a Herculean effort. Rhett Lowder provided it.

The Wake Forest ace was every bit Skenes’ match, frequently baffling the Tigers in his 7 innings. LSU managed 3 hits and struck out 6 times.

Truth is, Skenes came much closer to cracking than Lowder.

The Demon Deacons were poised to push across the game’s first run in the top of the eighth with a well-executed squeeze bunt. But LSU first baseman Tre Morgan made the defensive play of the entire CWS to cut Justin Johnson down at home.

That’s how narrow the margin was between these two teams.

The shame of it for Wake Forest is that it wasn’t just Lowder stepping up.

Michael Massey arguably had even better stuff out of the bullpen, striking out 5 of the 10 LSU batters he faced.

It feels unfair that Massey was saddled with the loss thanks to allowing a leadoff single to likely No. 1 overall draft pick Dylan Crews in the 11th. But baseball has a penchant for cruelty like no other sport. And once you reach extra innings, that cruelty is guaranteed.

A season to remember

Wake Forest’s season may be over, but it should never be forgotten. This was history in every sense.

A College World Series appearance may be old hat for a program like LSU, but Wake Forest hadn’t been here since winning it all in 1955. Or even won an ACC regular-season title since 1963. That’s a heck of a long wait for an encore performance on both counts.

Like every other No. 1 national seed since 2000, Wake won’t finish as national champions. But the program proved it belongs on this stage. The moment wasn’t too big for the Demon Deacons in Omaha.

They lost an all-time classic game, because someone had to.