Rewind: LSU 5-4, Kentucky 12-3
Zack Hess threw three-plus shutout innings in relief and Antoine Duplantis singled home the winning run in the eighth inning as LSU defeated Kentucky 4-3 to gain a split of their Southeastern Conference doubleheader Friday at Cliff Hagan Stadium in Lexington. The Wildcats won the first game 12-5.
GAME 1
HOW THEY SCORED
Kentucky first inning – With one out, Evan White doubled. White advanced to third on a single by Zach Reks. White scored and Reks moved to second base on a ground out to the second baseman by Kole Cottam. Reks scored on a single by Riley Mahan. KENTUCKY 2, LSU 0
LSU second inning – Greg Deichmann doubled and went to third base on a ground out to the first baseman by Jordan Romero. Deichmann scored on Nick Coomes’ double. Coomes scored on a double by Josh Smith. LSU 2, KENTUCKY 2
Kentucky third inning – White singled. After Reks struck out, Cottam walked. White scored on a double by Mahan. After Troy Squires struck out, Cottam and Mahan scored on a single by Tyler Marshall. KENTUCKY 5, LSU 2
Kentucky fifth inning – Luke Becker hit a leadoff home run over the rightfield fence. KENTUCKY 6, LSU 2
Kentucky sixth inning – Tristan Pompey walked. Pompey was forced at second on a ground ball to the second baseman by White. Reks walked. After Becker flied out to the leftfielder, White scored on a single by Mahan. KENTUCKY 7, LSU 2
LSU seventh inning – Kramer Robertson walked and scored on a double by Cole Freeman. KENTUCKY 7, LSU 3
Kentucky seventh inning – Marcus Carson singled and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Connor Heady. Pompey walked. Carson stole third and Pompey stole second. After White struck out, Reks walked to load the bases. Becker hit a grand slam homer over the centerfield fence. KENTUCKY 11, LSU 3
LSU eighth inning – Coomes and Smith walked. Pinch-hitter Jake Slaughter was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Coomes scored on a sacrifice fly to the centerfielder by Duplantis. KENTUCKY 11, LSU 4
Kentucky eighth inning – Marshall was hit by a pitch and Carson singled. Carson advanced to second base when Marshall was thrown out trying to steal third base by catcher Michael Papierski. Carson moved to third base on a ground out to the second baseman by Heady and scored on a single by Pompey. KENTUCKY 12, LSU 4
LSU ninth inning – Deichmann hit a leadoff home run over the rightfield fence. KENTUCKY 12, LSU 5
KEY STRETCH OF GAME
Kentucky took the lead for good with a three-run third inning against Jared Poche. Mahan broke a 2-2 tie with a RBI double. Marshall had a two-out, two-run single which gave the Wildcats a 5-2 lead.
KEY TEAM STATISTICS
Kentucky outhit LSU 16-8. All but five of the Wildcats’ hits were singles. Kentucky had three doubles and the two homers by Becker. Six of the Tigers’ eight hits went for extra bases – four doubles, one triple and one home run. . .The Wildcats committed the only error in the game. . .Kentucky pitchers walked eight, one intentional, and hit four batters. Just two of the batters who reached by a walk or a hit by pitch scored a run. . .LSU pitchers also walked eight and hit two batters. . .The Tigers stranded seven runners in scoring position. LSU was 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS
LSU
Greg Deichmann: 2-for-2, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, 1 home run, 1 double
Cole Freeman: 2-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 double
Nick Coomes: 1-for-4, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, 1 double
Jared Poche: 3 innings, 8 hits, 5 runs, 5 earned runs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts
KENTUCKY
Riley Mahan: 5-for-5, 3 RBIs, 2 doubles, 1 run scored
Luke Becker: 2-for-3, 5 RBIs, 2 home runs
Marcus Carson: 2-for-3, 2 runs scored
Zach Reks: 2-for-3, 2 runs scored
Evan White: 2-for-6, 3 runs scored, 1 double
Tyler Marshall: 1-for-4, 2 RBIs
Sean Hjelle: 6 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts
LSU’S PLAYER OF THE GAME
Deichmann reached base in all five of his plate appearances. Deichmann extended his hitting streak to ten games with a leadoff double in the second. He scored on a one-out double by Coomes. Deichmann then walked in each of his next three at-bats – once intentionally. Deichmann led off the ninth inning with his 13th home run of the year.
GAME 2
HOW THEY SCORED
Kentucky second inning – Cottom hit a one-out home run over the centerfield fence. Marshall singled and Carson walked. Heady singled to load the bases. After Pompey struck out, Marshall scored on a walk to White. KENTUCKY 2, LSU 0
Kentucky fourth inning – Pompey walked. White reached on an infield single and Pompey advanced to third on a throwing error by the shortstop Robertson. Pompey scored on a double by Reks. KENTUCKY 3, LSU 0
LSU fifth inning – With one out, Papierski singled and Duplantis walked. Robertson singled to load the bases. Papierski scored when Freeman was hit by a pitch. After Deichmann struck out, Duplantis and Robertson scored on a single by Coomes. LSU 3, KENTUCKY 3
LSU eighth inning – With one out, Smith and Papierski singled. Smith scored on a single by Duplantis. LSU 4, KENTUCKY 3
KEY STRETCH OF GAME
Alex Lange was unable to last six innings, but he pitched out of a major jam in the fourth inning to keep LSU in the game. A run-scoring double by Reks put Kentucky ahead 3-0. The Wildcats had runners at second and third with no one out. However, Lange did not permit another run to score. The runners held at second and third when Becker grounded out to Freeman at second base. After intentionally walking Mahan, Lange struck out both Cottam and Marshall. In the top half of the next inning, the Tigers scored three runs to tie the score.
KEY TEAM STATS
LSU outhit Kentucky 12-8. The Tigers had 11 singles and a double by Robertson. Four of the Wildcats’ eight hits went for extra bases – three doubles and a home run. . .Both teams committed an error. The error by Robertson ended a streak of six straight errorless games for LSU. . .Tigers pitchers walked ten – eight by Lange and two by Hess. . .LSU stranded six runners in scoring position. The Tigers were 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Two of those hits drove in runs – Coomes’ double and Duplantis’ single. . .Kentucky left the bases loaded in the second, third and fourth innings.
INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS
LSU
Cole Freeman: 2-for-4, 1 RBI
Michael Papierski: 2-for-4, 1 run scored
Nick Coomes: 2-for-5, 2 RBIs
Kramer Robertson: 2-for-5, 1 run scored
Alex Lange: 5.2 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned runs, 8 walks, 7 strikeouts
KENTUCKY
Evan White: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 double
Zach Logue: 4.1 innings, 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts
LSU’S PLAYER OF THE GAME
Hess turned in a dominant three-plus innings in relief of Lange as the Tigers rallied from a 3-0 deficit to get a split of the doubleheader. Hess took over for Lange with the go-ahead run at second base and two out in the sixth inning. He got Cottam to hit into an inning-ending force out at third base. After the Tigers went ahead 4-3 in the top of the eighth, Hess allowed a leadoff double by Pompey. Hess protected the one-run lead by retiring the next three batters. He was helped by a spectacular play at first base by Coomes on Reks’ one-out ground ball. Hess gave up one hit, walked two and struck out one in picking up the victory.
NOTES
Romero was the designated hitter in the first game and Beau Jordan was the designated hitter in the second game. Romero went 0-for-5, including 0-for-4 with a runner in scoring position. Jordan also went 0-for-5, including 0-for-1 with a runner in scoring position. . .In the second game, Coomes batted fourth in the lineup with Deichmann hitting third. Coomes went 2-for-5 in the second game. . .Watson, Deichmann and Coomes all had hits in both games of the doubleheader to keep their hitting streaks alive. Watson has a 14-game hitting streak, Deichmann has an 11-game hitting streak and Coomes has a nine-game hitting streak. . .Freeman was the only LSU player with two hits in both games. . .The Tigers scored the winning run in the second game off Kentucky closer Logan Salow, who threw 4.2 innings. . .Poche and Lange gave up a combined eight runs and 15 hits in 8.2 innings. The two pitchers combined for 11 walks – eight by Lange. . .In the first game, the LSU bullpen gave up seven runs and nine hits in five innings. Todd Peterson allowed two runs in 2.1 innings, Russell Reynolds yielded four runs in 1.2 innings and Will Reese gave up one run in one inning. . .LSU is 27-13 overall, 10-7 in the SEC. The Tigers are in fourth place in the Western Division. Kentucky is 27-13 overall, 11-6 in the SEC. The Wildcats are in first place in the Eastern Division – two games ahead of Florida and South Carolina. . .The paid attendance for the doubleheader was 3,847. . .Eric Walker will be the starting pitcher against Kentucky on Sunday.
FROM THE LOCKERROOM
Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “We had a rough outing in the first game and not much went in our favor. But, I’m very proud of the way our kids stuck together and earned a tremendous victory in game two. It wasn’t always pretty, but we had some clutch at-bats, outstanding pitching and gritty efforts on the mound by both Alex Lange and Zack Hess. Kentucky is extremely hard to beat in this ball park. They had only lost two games here prior to tonight. But, we found a way to win and it gives us a chance to play for a series win on Sunday.”
UP NEXT
LSU will play Kentucky at Cliff Hagan Stadium in Lexington in the series finale Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for noon Central. The LSU-Kentucky game will be available on the SEC Digital Network.
-30-