LSU clinches SEC West against Vandy

There was some good news and bad news this weekend for the LSU baseball team.

Start with the bad – the Tigers couldn’t record many timely hits and lost two of three games to mediocre conference foe Vanderbilt.

But the good is more sweet than the bad is bitter.

Thanks to other scores around the SEC, the Tigers were still able to clinch the Western Division Championship, which will give LSU at least the No. 2-seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

“It’s not a lot to be proud of,” a frustrated LSU coach Paul Mainieri said following the series. “We didn’t swing the bat well all weekend.”

This weekend may have been one of the Tigers’ poorest SEC series of the season.

But Friday’s game was an absolute thriller.

Thanks to a complete game, 123-pitch gem from sophomore hurler Kevin Gausman, the Tigers scored a 2-1 win against the Commodores.

The 6-foot, 4-inch righty overwhelmed Vanderbilt throughout the game, allowing just five hits in his nine innings, while striking out 11 batters.

Gausman’s night appeared to be coming to a close in the ninth inning of his performance.

After allowing a one-out base runner, Mainieri walked slowly to the mound to talk with the pitcher.

Instead of opting for All-World closer Nick Goody, Mainieri stuck with his bell cow, who rewarded the coach two pitches late when he induced Vanderbilt hitter Conrad Gregor into a 3-6-3 double play, which ended the game.

“He knows how to get it done and he responds to challenges by getting stronger as the game goes on,” Mainieri said. “He demonstrated tonight, as he has all season, why he is one of the best pitchers in the country. … That’s what the top pick in the draft looks like.”

Despite having a rested bullpen for the series’ final two games, LSU was never able to build on their Friday night momentum, falling in the final two games of the series.

Saturday’s game was arguably one of the most poorly played games of the SEC slate for the Tigers.

Thanks to an inability to record hits with runners in scoring position, the Commodores paper cut LSU to death, scoring 10 singles and ultimately a 6-3 win.

True freshman Aaron Nola spun a gem for the Tigers on the mound, allowing just two earned runs in five and one-third innings.

But the Tigers couldn’t apply pressure to Vanderbilt behind the young pitcher. LSU recorded 10 hits in the game. But most of them were scattered, as the Tigers rolled into four double plays in the loss.

“It was just one of those games where nothing seemed to work for us, and Vanderbilt played just a little bit better than we did,” Mainieri said. “We kept ourselves within striking distance all the way to the end, but Vanderbilt threw some quality arms at us and we fell short.”

Quality arms and falling short was again the theme of Sunday’s game, as the Tigers recorded just six hits in a 5-4, 10-inning loss to the Commodores.

Sunday’s game looked like it was heading in LSU’s favor.

After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the second inning, the Tigers rallied to take a 4-3 lead into the top of the ninth inning.

The proverbial dagger in the Tigers’ rally was an eighth inning sacrifice fly from senior Austin Nola, which put the Tigers ahead by a run.

But the Commodores didn’t back away from a challenge and did something no one else this season has been able to do – hit Goody.

Vanderbilt recorded single runs in the ninth and 10th innings to take a 5-4 lead.

LSU went down in order in both frames to clinch the Commodores’ series victory.

“This was a tough one,” Mainieri said following the game. “It was a game that we could have, should have won and we just couldn’t pull it out.”

With the loss, LSU will now move to the final SEC weekend of the series – a road tilt against South Carolina.

With the right combination of wins and losses by Kentucky, the Tigers could still clinch the SEC’s regular season championship.

Regardless, analysts believe LSU will be among the top eight teams in the NCAA Tournament, barring a late-season collapse.