Miracle win Part Deux, LSU now one victory away from Super Regionals
Down to its last strike of the game three times in its last-at bat against host Southern Miss, LSU's game-tying four-run ninth inning rally sent Saturday's NCAA Hattiesburg Regional winner bracket showdown into extra innings.
From there, the Tigers loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th with right fielder Josh Pearson's one-out fielders choice RBI grounder scoring Josh Stevenson with the game-winning run in a 7-6 victory.
USM had a 6-2 lead entering LSU's last at-bat in the ninth when centerfielder Dylan Crews launched a one-out solo home run, followed three batters later by second baseman Cade Doughty's two-run homer. After Tigers' first baseman Tre Morgan was hit by a pitch, he was replaced by pinch-runner Drew Bianco who stole second base on a low pitch by USM reliever Garrett Ramsey and scored the game-tying run on shortstop Jordan Thompson's two-out RBI single.
"It's just about competing and wanting it as much as everyone else on the field.," Thompson said of his clutch hit. "You just really want to come through for your boys. When I look down the dugout and I see everyone cheering me on, it makes me want to come through and take a good at bat. It was crazy."
LSU (40-20) advanced to Sunday’s 6 p.m. matchup against the winner of Sunday’s 1 p.m. losers bracket elimination game between USM (45-17) and Kennesaw State (36-27), a 9-8 winner over Army earlier in a losers bracket elimination battle.
The Tigers can win the regional with a win Sunday night. But a victory by USM or Kennesaw State over LSU would force a final game on Monday at 3 p.m. LSU scored 10 eighth-inning runs in Friday's 14-11 first-round comeback win over KSU after trailing 11-4.
""We have really good players throughout the lineup, so it can sometimes win on talent," LSU first-year head coach Jay Johnson said. "When you get to the NCAA tournament you can't win on talent, it's about the play and what's inside of you. It was about the seventh inning when we came up and said this was about wanting to continue playing and competing. They did that and it was beautiful."
Southern Mississippi starting pitcher Hurston Waldrep cooled LSU bats for almost seven innings and the Golden Eagles seemingly made the most of their seven hits off the first three of four Tigers’ pitchers. Right fielder Carson Paetow and first baseman Christopher Sargent slammed solo homers in the fifth and eighth innings respectively after a two-run shot by second baseman Will Gillis in the second inning.
Until its late-inning push, LSU led just once, 1-0, in the first inning on Morgan’s two-out RBI single. Waldrep threw 31 pitches in the Tigers’ first but escaped a bases-loaded jam when designated hitter Brayden Jobert struck out.
USM took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second on McGillis two-run homer before LSU pulled into a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the second on catcher Tyler McManus leadoff solo homer.
LSU starting pitcher Ty Floyd, who lasted six innings, didn’t pitch terribly. But he was touched for two hits in the fourth including third baseman Danny Lynch’s RBI single and gave up that fifth-inning solo homer to Paetow.
The Golden Eagles extended their lead to 5-2 in the top of the seventh off LSU lefty reliever Jacob Hasty. He walked two batters and eventually gave up a fielders choice RBI to catcher Rodrigo Montenegro.
Meanwhile, Waldrep was sending LSU batter after batter to the dugout.
After Tigers’ third baseman Jacob Berry smacked a two-out single in the second, Waldrep retired 15 of the next 17 batters including 13 straight (seven on strikeouts) until he was pulled with two outs in the bottom of the seventh after he gave up a double by LSU's Crews.
Sargent homered off LSU reliever Trent Vietmeier in the top of the eighth for a 6-2 USM lead. Yet the Tigers weren’t quite dead.
They loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth against Golden Eagles’ reliever Dalton Rogers. Rogers was replaced by USM closer Lance Harper, who immediately induced LSU’s McManus into a rally-killing ground ball force out at second base.
But in the bottom of the ninth, LSU wouldn't be denied. Four Tigers runs on four hits, plus LSU reliever Paul Gervais retiring three of four batters in the USM's top of the 10th, got the Tigers positioned for victory.
Immediately in the bottom of the 10th, LSU loaded the bases with no outs and took care of business.
"We’re very disappointed in the outcome of it," USM head coach Scott Berry said. "We just couldn’t put them away there in the ninth inning. They (LSU) were able to foul pitches off to extend at bats. Credit to LSU for that."