No. 1 Tigers battle hard for a 5-2 win over Vols in SEC series opener
Both times 9th ranked Tennessee dented LSU pitching Thursday night in Alex Box Stadium for a single run, the Tigers immediately returned the favor in multiples.
A two-run Gavin Dugas homer wiped out a 2-1 Vols’ lead in the fifth and Jordan Thompson’s three-RBI double in the eighth broke a 2-2 tie that gave No. 1 ranked LSU a 5-2 victory to open a highly anticipated SEC series.
With Vols’ runners on first and third base in the top of the ninth, LSU reliever Garrett Edwards struck out UT pinch-hitter Kavares Tears and then held his breath as Tigers’ centerfielder Dylan Crews hauled in a deep drive by Tennessee’s Christian Scott on the warning track to secure the win.
Game two between the Tigers (23-3 overall, 5-2 SEC West) and the Vols (20-7, 3-4 SEC East) is set for 6 p.m. Friday night.
A crowd of 13,068 – the largest paid home attendance in Alex Box Stadium history – were in dazzled by another major league level pitching performance by LSU starter Paul Skenes.
Skenes allowed one earned run and five hits and struck out 12 in seven innings including two each in five innings.
"I've never seen anything like this type of performance," LSU head coach Jay Johnson said. "So it's almost like when somebody gets a hit, or he walks it guys, it's just odd because he just executes pitches. And when you can execute pitches effortlessly and deceive the hitter and throw everything for strikes, it's like `What do you do?'"
Skenes threw 107 pitches, the fourth time in seven starts with 100 or more pitches. He's averaging 98.7 pitches in his starts, including 106 in his three SEC starts. In his final two innings vs. the Vols, he was still throwing fastballs that topped 100 miles per hour.
"That's something I've always been able to do pretty well," Skenes said of his pitch load. "Even going back to my senior year in high school, that's something I've been able to do and something I've been able to pride myself on. Since I've been a starting pitcher, it's manifesting itself probably a little bit greater."
Lost in Skenes' marvelous outing was fine performance by Tennessee starter Chase Dollander, a projected top 10 major league draft pick like Skenes. Dollander allowed two earned runs and four hits in 4.2 innings while striking out three and walking three.
"Two big leaguers throwing, outstanding relievers, there is no room for error on either side," Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said. "Ultimately you could say they put a swing on one better than they did or maybe we put them in position to be able to do that. Any good game in the league the margin for error is small so you have to compete and do what you can."
Tennessee took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth when 9-hole batter right fielder Christian Scott, slapped an RBI single past Skenes. But the Vols' lead didn't last long.
In the bottom of the fifth, LSU's Thompson ripped a leadoff double down the left field and second baseman Gavin Dugas jacked a one-out, two-run homer into the left field stands for a 2-1 Tigers' lead.
UT evened the score at 2-2 in its half of the eighth when Edwards, LSU's second reliever who eventually got credit for the win, gave up a first-pitch game-tying RBI single at 2-2 to Vols' second baseman Christian Moore.
LSU loaded the bases in its half of the eighth, mounting a two-out rally stoked by a pair of Vols’ fielding blunders.
Beloso reached first on a fielding error by UT reliever Seth Halvorsen. LSU right fielder Paxton Kling chopped a grounder to Moore, who tried to tag Beloso as he ran past him to second base. Moore missed the tag and then was too late to nip the speedy Kling at first base.
Halvosen then hit left fielder Josh Pearson with a pitch to load the bases. It set the stage for Thompson to clear the bases with a three-RBI double that stood as the game-winner.
"Knowing that even with two outs, we're not out of an inning," Thompson said. "We're trying to just always prepare for moments like that, It's just the type of way that we go about our business.
"That first pitch in my last at-bat was a slider and I checked swung. I remembered from previous at-bat type of pitches that he was going to try to go to a fastball at the top of the zone. And he did, so I was just prepared for it."