Rewind: LSU 11, South Carolina 0
Greg Deichmann hit two home runs and Jared Poche threw six scoreless innings as LSU reached the championship game of the Southeastern Conference tournament with an 11-0 victory against South Carolina at Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
HOW THEY SCORED
LSU first inning – Kramer Robertson hit a home run over the leftfield fence. Cole Freeman walked. After Antoine Duplantis flied out to the centerfielder, Deichmann hit a two-run homer over the rightfield fence. LSU 3, SOUTH CAROLINA 0
LSU second inning – With one out, Robertson singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Colby Lee. Robertson scored on Freeman’s single. Freeman moved to third on a single by Duplantis and scored on a wild pitch by John Parke. LSU 5, SOUTH CAROLINA 0
LSU third inning – Josh Smith walked and Beau Jordan singled. Smith scored on a single by Michael Papierski. Jordan and Papierski scored on Zach Watson’s triple. Watson scored on a triple by Robertson. After Freeman popped out to the second baseman, Robertson scored on a sacrifice fly to the rightfielder by Duplantis. Deichmann hit a home run over the centerfield fence. LSU 11, SOUTH CAROLINA 0
KEY STRETCH OF GAME
Once again, the hit-hitting Tigers jumped on a starting pitcher in the early innings. This time, LSU had three runs after four batters came to the plate. Robertson opened the game with a home run. Three hitters later, Deichmann hit a two-run homer and the rout was on.
KEY TEAM STATISTICS
LSU outhit South Carolina 14-3. The Tigers had five extra-base hits – two triples and three home runs. All three Gamecocks hits were singles. . .LSU stranded seven runners on base, including four in scoring position. The Tigers were 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position. . .South Carolina stranded seven runners, including three in scoring position. The Gamecocks were 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. . .There were four errors in the game – all committed by LSU.
INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS
LSU
Greg Deichmann: 3-for-4, 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored, 2 home runs
Kramer Robertson: 3-for-5, 3 runs scored, 2 RBIs, 1 triple, 1 home run
Antoine Duplantis: 2-for-3, 1 RBI
Beau Jordan: 2-for-3, 1 run scored
Zach Watson: 1-for-4, 2 RBIs, 1 run scored, 1 triple
Cole Freeman: 1-for-4, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI
Jared Poche: 6 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 1 strikeout
SOUTH CAROLINA
Colby Lee: 1.1 innings, 4 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned runs, 1 walk
LSU’S PLAYER OF THE GAME
Deichmann hit home runs in both the first and the third innings. Deichmann hit a two-run homer in the first to put LSU ahead 3-0. Deichmann hit a solo homer in the third to complete the day’s scoring for the Tigers. Deichmann now has 19 home runs – the most for a LSU player since Matt Gaudet hit the same number in 2010. The last Tigers player with more than 19 home runs in a year was Ryan Schimpf, who had 22 in 2009.Deichmann’s comments: “The biggest thing for us has been putting an emphasis on scoring first in a game. We try to do that every game and that’s motivated our offense.” NOTES
LSU used its regular lineup. . .Every Tigers starter except for Nick Coomes had a hit. Coomes was lifted for pinch-hitter Jake Slaughter after two plate appearances. . .Coomes, Smith and Jordan were the only three starters without a RBI. . .Duplantis and Coomes were the only two starters who did not score a run. . .The top four hitters in the batting order were a combined 9-for-16 – Robertson (3-for-5), Freeman (1-for-4), Duplantis (2-for-3) and Deichmann (3-for-4). . .Robertson’s home run was his eighth of the season. Robertson had hit a total of three home runs in his previous three years. . .The Tigers have scored in double figures in five straight games against SEC opponents. The last time that happened was in 2000 when LSU also had a stretch of five games against SEC teams with at least ten runs. . .Infielders were responsible for all four Tigers errors – two by Freeman at second base, one by Coomes at first base and one by Smith at third base. . .South Carolina put runners in scoring position in three innings against Poche. Those threats were all the results of LSU errors. . .The victory was the tenth of the season for Poche, who now has 37 career wins. Only Scott Schultz has won more games for the Tigers. Schultz has 38 victories. Poche was tied with Lane Mestepey before picking up the victory against the Gamecocks. . .Todd Peterson allowed one hit in the seventh inning. . .LSU will be playing in the championship game of the SEC tournament for the sixth time with Paul Mainieri as coach. The Tigers won all five previous title games. . .LSU, which has won ten games in a row, is 42-17. South Carolina is 35-25. . .Eric Walker will be the starting pitcher against Arkansas in the championship game Sunday.
FROM THE LOCKERROOM
Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “Big win for the Tigers today. It gets us to the championship game, which we’re excited about. The game went as well as we had hoped for. South Carolina was playing their fifth game in five days. But, I still credit our hitters. They went out there and did the job.”
UP NEXT
LSU will play Arkansas in the championship game of the SEC tournament on Sunday at Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. Central. The Razorbacks defeated Florida 16-0 in the other semifinal game Saturday afternoon. The LSU-Arkansas game will be available on ESPN2.