Vandebilt’s Philp chooses Belmont Abbey
May 9, 2012
Aldon Joseph Daigle
May 9, 2012
The LSU baseball team’s lock on the SEC Western Division got a little bit tighter this weekend.
With two wins in three games against Ole Miss, the Tigers gave themselves a four-game lead with just six conference games to play.
To make things even better, LSU’s weekend also gave the Tigers series wins against the Rebels, Arkansas and Mississippi State – the three teams still contending for the division crown.
“This was a tremendous team victory,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “I thought our players showed great poise in a very difficult place to play.”
LSU’s weekend started with a lot of drama.
The Tigers won Friday’s game 4-3 in 13 innings.
In what was a back and forth, see-saw battle, LSU led 2-0 after five innings of play. But the Rebels bounced back and scored one run in the sixth inning and two runs in the seventh inning to take a 3-2 lead.
The blemishes were the only runs Ole Miss plated on LSU ace Kevin Gausman, who allowed three runs in seven and two-thirds innings.
After falling behind by a run, the Tigers scratched even in the eighth inning on a solo home run by Morgan City native and LSU senior Grant Dozar.
After the Rebels wasted several scoring opportunities throughout extra the remainder of the game, Dozar struck again and ripped an RBI single, which plated junior Raph Rhymes.
From there, Tigers’ dominant closer Nick Goody closed the door and sealed the win.
“I’m so happy for Grant Dozar, a senior who means so much to our team,” Mainieri said. “He delivered twice in clutch situations and our pitching kept us in the game until Grant finally got the big hit.”
In Saturday’s game, the Tigers were unable to get that big hit and were beaten 7-4.
Things looked promising for the Tigers early in the series’ second game, as a four-run fourth inning gave LSU a 4-1 lead.
But the Rebels answered back with three runs of their own in the inning to chase LSU starter Ryan Eades and also tie the game.
The Rebels added a single run in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh to push the game to its final margin.
LSU had chances, but stranded multiple runners on base, which thwarted ever Tigers’ rally attempt.
“It’s frustrating because we had a four-run inning that gave us the lead and we couldn’t score again,” Mainieri said. “We couldn’t generate a consistent effort at the plate and we had a difficult time staying away from the double play. It’s a tough loss.”
The Tigers’ didn’t take long to rebound from Saturday’s disappointment.
After being tied at two through three innings, LSU scored five runs in the fourth inning of Sunday’s game to take a 7-2 lead.
Once ahead, LSU never looked back, plating five more in the sixth inning to blow the game open, pushing the team to its 12-3 win.
Freshman starter Aaron Nola was instrumental to LSU’s success in the win, tossing seven innings, while allowing three runs.
At the plate, sophomore JaCoby Jones proved to be the Rebels’ nemesis, going 3-of-5 with 5 RBI.
The series win closed LSU’s magic number to just two.
The Tigers close their conference season with a home series with Vandebilt this weekend. They close the conference slate with East leading South Carolina – a series that will likely determine the conference’s regular season champion.
LSU pitcher Kevin Gausman fires a pitch during a game this season. Gausman powered the Tigers to a Friday night win this weekend against rival Ole Miss.
