Todd Peterson threw five effective innings in relief and delivered a two-run double in his first college at-bat as LSU defeated South Carolina 6-4 in 12 innings in a Southeastern Conference tournament elimination game Thursday evening at Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium.
HOW THEY SCORED
LSU second inning – With two out, Bryce Jordan walked and Hal Hughes singled. Brandt Broussard walked to load the bases. Bryce Jordan scored on an infield single by Zach Watson. Hughes scored on a balk by Adam Hill. LSU 2, SOUTH CAROLINA 0
South Carolina fourth inning – Jonah Bride was hit by a pitch. Justin Row doubled and LT Tolbert was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Bride scored on a sacrifice fly to the leftfielder by Hunter Taylor, LSU 2, SOUTH CAROLINA 1
South Carolina sixth inning – With one out, Row hit a solo home run over the leftfield fence. LSU 2, SOUTH CAROLINA 2
LSU eighth inning – Antoine Duplantis singled. Duplantis advanced to second and then third on two wild pitches by Graham Lawson. Austin Bain walked. After Daniel Cabrera struck out, Duplantis scored on a sacrifice fly to the rightfielder by Hunter Feduccia. LSU 3, SOUTH CAROLINA 2
South Carolina ninth inning – Tolbert tripled. After Taylor grounded out to the shortstop, Tolbert scored on a single by Jacob Olsen. LSU 3, SOUTH CAROLINA 3
LSU 12th inning – With two out, Duplantis reached on an error by the shortstop Tolbert. After Bain walked, Duplantis scored on a single by Cabrera. Bain and Cabrera scored on a double by Peterson. LSU 6, SOUTH CAROLINA 3
South Carolina 12th inning – Matt Williams singled. Pinch-runner Kyle Jacobsen went to second on defensive indifference and advanced to third on a ground out to the second baseman by Danny Blair. After Carlos Cortes grounded out to the pitcher, Jacobsen scored on a single by Madison Stokes. LSU 6, SOUTH CAROLINA 4
GAME-DECIDING STRETCH
The Tigers broke a 3-3 tie with three unearned, two-out runs in the top of the 12th inning. Duplantis got on base on a throwing error by the shortstop Tolbert. After Bain drew a walk, Cabrera grounded a single up the middle to put LSU ahead 4-3. But, the scoring was not done. With no designated hitter, coach Paul Mainieri had to let Peterson bat. In his first collegiate plate appearance, Peterson delivered a two-run double off the leftfield fence. The Tigers needed those extra runs as South Carolina scored once in the bottom half of the inning.
LSU PLAYER OF THE GAME
Undoubtedly, Peterson was the star of the game. Peterson matched his season-high with five innings. He allowed two runs and four hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Peterson probably would have nailed down a save except for the fact that Watson misjudged Tolbert’s line drive to start the bottom of the ninth. Tolbert reached third and scored, one out later, on a single by Olsen. Peterson retired the next two batters in the ninth. Only one batter reached base in the next two innings – on an error by shortstop Hal Hughes. Then, in the top of the 12th, Peterson came through with a two-run double. Those two runs turned out to be the difference in the game. Peterson struck out Bride, who represented the tying run, to end the game. . .The victory was the first of the season for Peterson, who was supposed to start the Tigers’ SEC tournament opener last season. However, he was suspended from the team for a violation of team rules.
Peterson’s comments: “This was so exciting, what a ball game. We competed and they competed. Coach (Paul Mainieri) asked me if I had hit in high school. I told him, ‘yeah. I hit bombs in high school.’ I had nothing to lose going up there. That was fun.” (Note: Peterson later said that he lied to Mainieri about his hitting in high school.)
KEY TEAM STATISTICS
Hits: LSU 11, South Carolina 8
Errors: LSU 1, South Carolina 2
Left on base: LSU 9, South Carolina 9
Walks issued: LSU 2, South Carolina 8
Strikeouts recorded: South Carolina 6, LSU 3
Stolen bases: LSU 0, South Carolina 0
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
LSU
Daniel Cabrera: 2-for-6, 1 RBI, 1 run scored
Antoine Duplantis: 2-for-6, 2 runs scored
Zach Watson: 2-for-6, 1 RBI
Todd Peterson: 1-for-1, 2 RBIs, 1 2B
Caleb Gilbert: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB
Austin Bain: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER
Todd Peterson: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 K
SOUTH CAROLINA
Justin Row: 2-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 run scored, 1 HR, 1 2B
Adam Hill: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 2 K
John Gilreath: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
NOTES
LSU started Cabrera in leftfield, Watson in centerfield and Duplantis in rightfield. The infield consisted of Jake Slaughter at third base, Hughes at shortstop, Broussard at second base and Bryce Jordan at first base. Feduccia was the catcher and Gilbert was the pitcher. Bain was the designated hitter. . .Cabrera and Watson extended hitting streaks with singles early in the game. Cabrera has an 11-game hitting streak, while Watson has hit safely in seven straight games. . .Hill survived the five walks in his six innings because of the South Carolina defense. Slaughter grounded into a double play in the second. Feduccia struck out and Cabrera was thrown out stealing in the third. Hughes grounded into a double play to end the fourth. Watson was thrown out trying to go from first to third by first baseman Matt Williams on Hill’s bad pickoff throw in the fifth. . .The Tigers only put three runners in scoring position after the second inning until the 12th inning. Watson struck out with runners on first and third and two out in seventh. Duplantis scored on Feduccia’s sacrifice fly in the eighth. Watson flied out to rightfield with a runner on third to end the ninth. The righfielder Olsen made a diving catch on that ball hit by Watson. . .The Gamecocks used five relievers who allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings. Gilreath was charged with the three runs – all unearned – in the 12th. Gilreath gave up Cabrera’s RBI single and T.J. Shook allowed Peterson’s double. . .Feduccia and Bryce Jordan were the only Tigers starters who went hitless. Feduccia did walk once and had a sacrifice fly, while Bryce Jordan drew three walks. . .Caleb Gilbert blanked the Gamecocks on one hit in the first three innings. South Carolina stranded a runner at second in both the first and the third. Row grounded out to end the first and Stokes grounded out for the final out in the third. . .Bain pitched out of a jam in the fourth by getting Olsen and Williams to fly out to Watson in centerfield with runners on first and second. . .Bain gave up Row’s home run which tied the score at 2-2 in the sixth. . .Devin Fontenot threw a 1-2-3 seventh before being relieved by Peterson. . .The Gamecocks only put six runners in scoring position in the 12 innings. Three of those runners scored. . .LSU has now won five of six extra inning games under Mainieri in the SEC tournament. . .The Tigers are 35-24, while South Carolina is 33-24. . .The paid attendance for the afternoon session was 7,197.
FROM THE LOCKERROOM:
Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “The legend of Todd Peterson was born today in Hoover (Ala.). We were all in tonight and we did that the other night against Mississippi State as well. When we had to play on Tuesday, it becomes a long week, especially when we got thrown into the losers’ bracket. We just told the kids, ‘let’s win today.’”
UP NEXT
LSU will meet the loser of the Arkansas-Florida game in an elimination contest at the SEC tournament Friday at Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Central. The game between the Razorbacks (38-17) and the Gators (42-15) was moved back from Thursday night to Friday morning. The LSU-Arkansas/Florida game will be available on the SEC Network.
