The way No. 5 national seed LSU played its most complete game of the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional on Monday afternoon in Alex Box Stadium, the only real suspense was whether the Tigers would finish off Oregon State before another dreaded weather delay.
As it turned out, the only rain that dropped from the sky was a hailstorm of LSU home runs for the second straight day.
The Beavers, playing their third game in less than 24 hours, didn’t have enough fresh pitching arms. The Tigers pounded 19 hits, including four homers, in a 13-7 victory for LSU’s 23rd home regional championship advancing Jay Johnson’s squad to this weekend’s home Super Regional.
LSU (46-15) will host fellow SEC member Kentucky (40-19), which beat Indiana 4-2 in the Lexington Regional championship game Monday. The Tigers won the season series over UK on April 13-15 in Baton Rouge, scoring a 16-6 run-rule win in eight innings in the opener, losing the second game 13-10 and winning the third game 7-6.
LSU is awaiting word from the NCAA what day and what time the Super Regional will start.
Every phase of LSU’s game -- hitting, pitching and fielding -- in its second win over OSU (41-20) in as many days was spot on.
"Sometimes we've done two of the three well," Johnson said, "and usually when we've done two of the three well we win because we have really good players that have a good plan. But I feel good about how we executed and played complementary baseball. It was very complete baseball. The preparation (by LSU's players) for this weekend was elite."
Johnson also confirmed after the game he told his team that pitching coach Wes Johnson has been named Georgia's new head coach. He will stay with the Tigers until the conclusion of their season.
Every hitter in LSU’s starting batting order had at least one hit in the runaway win with eight batters having multiple hits. Every Tiger in the batting order had at least one RBI.
LSU center fielder Dylan Crews, who batted .615 (8 of 13) with two homers, four RBI and five runs scored in wins over Tulane and Oregon State (twice), was voted the Regional’s Most Outstanding Player.
In 14 career NCAA tourney games in the last three seasons, Crews is batting .485 (33 of 68) with 17 RBIs, 20 runs scored, seven homers,five doubles and a triple.
"I guess it's a deeper will to win, a deeper will to compete with my teammates," Crews said of taking his postseason performances to new levels. "I just go out there and try to have as much fun as I possibly can with these guys. The more fun I have, I guess the better I play. So, that's what I try and do."
And for the third straight game, the Tigers received solid pitching from their starter and relievers.
Junior reliever Riley Cooper, who has more appearances than anybody on LSU’s pitching staff the last two seasons since transferring from Arizona when Tigers’ hired AJohnson as head coach, held OSU to two runs and two hits in 3.2 innings.
"He really wanted to pitch today," Johnson said. "He got to us after the game (Sunday's 6-5 win over OSU) was over. And I had already had it in my mind what we were going to do. But it was like, `Hey man, let's go.' Like give me the ball and we're going to win kind of attitude. I thought that's how he pitched in Hoover (at the SEC tournament) also.
Lefty relievers Nate Ackenhausen, Griffin Herring and Gavin Guidry finished the final 5.1 innings, allowing a combined six hits and five runs while striking out five and walking two. Three of the runs came in OSU's final bat in the ninth.
The Tigers led from start to finish. In the the bottom of fourth and sixth innings when OSU scored two runs each, LSU answered with two runs in the top of the fifth with consecutive homers for the second straight day from catcher Hayden Travinski and designated hitter Cade Beloso, and then scored five runs in the seventh.
"Their guys are very competitive," OSU coach Mitch Canham said. "(Batters) 1 through 9, you've got to be on point. They have a solid offense. And some pitching depth as well, couple of strong starters and guys out of the pen."
LSU's starters in the Regional -- Paul Skenes vs. Tulane on Friday, Ty Floyd vs. OSU on Saturday and Cooper vs. OSU on Sunday -- gave up a combined five runs and 14 hits in 15.2 innings, striking out 21 and walking four.
The five relievers the Tigers used in the trio of games- Thatcher Hurd, Gavin Guidry (twice), Nate Ackenhausen -- allowed 11 earned runs and 14 hits in 11.1 innings with 20 strikeouts and seven walks.
"It (pitching) was huge," said LSU catcher Hayden Travinski, who hit .428 (6 of 14) with 5 RBIs, 5 runs scored and two homers. "A lot of big starts especially from Skenes (a 9-inning complete game). Ty threw really well yesterday. And Coop did a great job coming out. Everyone on our team has the ability to go out execute. We have faith in each other."
Johnson had trust in starting Cooper, who has made more appearances (51) the last two seasons than any LSU pitcher. Also, he had the most tourney experience of the Tigers’ hurlers with five appearances (three at Arizona, two at LSU).
After an uneventful first and second innings, Cooper worked himself into and out of a jam in the OSU third.
After he walked leadoff batter catcher Tanner Smith and hit shortstop Kyle Dernedde with a pitch, OSU second baseman Travis Bazzana grounded out unassisted to LSU first baseman Tre’ Morgan as Smith advanced to third base and Dernedde to second.
Cooper got OSU first baseman Garret Forrester to hit a 3-2 pitch for a sharp grounder directly to LSU shortstop Jordan Thompson. He fired the ball to Tigers’ catcher Hayden Travinski at home plate and he easily tagged out Smith.
The Beavers’ rally officially died when center fielder Micah McDowell grounded out to Morgan.
Like Cooper, OSU starting pitcher Rhett Larson pitched himself into trouble in the LSU fourth when he loaded the bases by giving up singles to Travinski and Beloso and hitting second baseman Gavin Dugas with a pitch.
Larson then hit Tigers’ right fielder Brayden Jobert with a pitch, forcing home Travinski with the game’s first run. Thompson followed with a sacrifice fly RBI scoring Beloso for a 2-0 lead.
OSU pulled Larson and inserted reliever Ben Ferrer, who threw 54 pitches in Sunday's loss to LSU when he gave up five hits and four runs in 3.2 innings.
Tigers’ left fielder Josh Pearson greeted Ferrer with a two-run triple for a 4-0 lead but the rally ended after Crews and third baseman Tommy White struck out.
OSU scored its first two runs in quick fashion in the bottom of the fourth. After Cooper walked designated hitter Mason Guerra, OSU left fielder Gavin Turley hammered his third home run of the regional to reduce the Tigers’ margin to 4-2.
It looked like OSU might do more damage when Thompson bobbled a one-out ground ball followed by a Travinski passed ball that put runners on second and third.
But Cooper struck out Dernedde to end his 71-pitch performance and LSU lefty reliever Ackenhausen entered to retire Bazzana for the third out on a fly to left field.
OSU reliever Nelson Keljo, who pitched a scoreless second inning in Friday’s loss to LSU, opened the Tigers’ fifth.
After Morgan flied out to center field, Travinski and Beloso did the exact same thing they did in Sunday's fifth inning.
Travinski hit the first pitch he saw for a solo homer into the left field stands. Beloso immediately followed by lining an 0-1 pitch over the right field wall for a 6-2 lead.
OSU was far from finished. Just as in the Beavers’ two-run fourth, they opened the sixth with a walk and followed by a two-run homer.
Third baseman Mikey Kane drew a walk from Ackenhausen on a 3-2 pitch followed by right fielder Brady Kasper’s two-run dinger inside the right field foul pole.
Two batters later after OSU catcher Tanner Smith flied out and Dernedde was hit by a pitch, Ackenhausen’s 37-pitch day was over.
Tigers’ freshman reliever Herring, who last appeared in LSU 5-4 SEC tournament loss to Texas A&M on May 26 when he allowed a hit and three runs in 1.2 innings, replaced Ackenhausen.
He retired two of OSU’s toughest outs, leadoff hitter Bazzana and 2-hole hitter Forrester on a fly out and a strikeout respectively.
Then for the sixth time in the last two days vs. OSU, LSU led off an inning with a solo homer.
This time, it was Dugas, stepping up to the plate just 1 for 8 in the Regional and tattooing a 1-0 pitch for a solo homer that ignited LSU’s four-hit, three-run seventh inning that gave the Tigers a 12-4 lead.
LSU added a run on Morgan's RBI double in the ninth before OSU fired its salvo with three runs and three hits in its final at-bat.
Seven Tigers, led by unanimous MOP pick Crews, earned All-Regional team honors including pitchers Skenes and Hurd, Travinski, Thompson, Pearson and Beloso.
