Ellender standout inks with Tabor College in Kansas
June 10, 2015
Military museum tanks up
June 10, 2015
Load up the caravan, LSU diamond diehards. The Tigers are going to Omaha.
The LSU baseball team took care of its on-field business this weekend, sweeping underdog Cinderella story UL-Lafayette in consecutive games to advance to the College World Series.
The battles weren’t easy. The Tigers needed a full nine innings on Saturday, winning 4-3 on a walk-off home run from Chris Sciambra to break a 3-all tie. Sunday’s finale was a little less stressful with LSU jumping ahead big and holding on late for a 6-3 victory.
With the sweep, the Tigers are now going to the College World Series for the 17th time – a cause of excitement for both players and coach Paul Mainieri alike.
LSU had a goal to make it to this point throughout the entire season. Now, the mission is clear – go out there and make a push to win the darned thing.
“We’re going to be very confident in Omaha,” LSU shortstop Alex Bregman said. “We deserve to be there. We’ve worked at it, worked at it since we lost last year, and we’re going to be there on a mission. This offense will be ready – I can promise you that.”
“I’m so proud of our team of young men,” Mainieri added. “They have such high expectations of themselves here at LSU. … This team deserves to go to Omaha. They’ve played at a high level all year. … That’s where we belong, and we’re looking forward to going up there and competing.”
For LSU, the last stepping stone to the College World Series was a pesky Ragin’ Cajuns group that didn’t match the Tigers in talent, but was every bit LSU’s equal in heart.
The Baton Rouge Super Regional was arguably one of the most entertaining of the entire weekend with fans of both teams packing into Alex Box Stadium for two-straight sellouts.
In Saturday’s opener, LSU roared out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning, thanks to a first-inning RBI double from Jake Fraley and later a third-inning two-run home run.
Fraley said the Ragin’ Cajuns pitched him differently than anyone else had this season. For the LSU slugger, it was apparently a change for the better.
“For most of the year, I’ve been pitched out – not a lot of balls inside,” Fraley said. “But early today with my first two at-bats, they came in on me and I was able to get the barrel around on it, and I was fortunate enough to get those runs in.”
With the three-run advantage, many assumed the Tigers were about to turn Game 1 into a blowout. But the Ragin’ Cajuns had other plans.
UL-Lafayette used pesky hitting and timely offense to scratch home runs in the sixth and eighth to bring the score to 3-2 heading into the top of the ninth.
Once there, the game took a drastic turn when pinch hitter Brenn Conrad blasted a solo home run to tie the score at three.
That pitch was the final one of the night for LSU ace Alex Lange, who allowed 10 hits and three runs in his eight innings of work, while striking out 11.
But instead of folding and allowing the Cajuns to steal one, the Tigers showed a champion’s resiliency when Sciambra lifted Will Bacon’s one-out pitch 430-feet and over the right field fence for a walk-off, game-clinching home run to end the game with the Tigers on top 4-3.
For the LSU senior, the blast was a thrill. Sciambra said he went to the College World Series as a kid to root on the Tigers. He said he remembers crying when LSU fell in that year. From that point forward, Sciambra said he vowed to get his shot. He did, and he took full advantage.
“I just put a good swing on it and just – it’s just an unbelievable feeling for me,” Sciambra said.
Game 2 was the exact opposite as Game 1. ULL was close to LSU early, but the Tigers held a comfortable lead late.
Neither LSU nor ULL scored for the first six innings of Sunday’s game, carrying the action to the seventh inning in a scoreless pitcher’s dual between LSU starter Jared Poche’ and ULL hurler Gunner Leger.
The Tigers’ offense got hot, scoring one in the seventh, four in the eighth and one in the ninth to bury the Cajuns in a deep hole.
UL-Lafayette fought tough and scored a run in the eighth and two in the ninth, but they never seriously threatened victory. Parker Bugg recorded the final out for the Tigers – which punches LSU’s ticket to Omaha once more.
The Tigers will open the College World Series on Sunday against the winner of TCU and Texas A&M’s Super Regional. That series was tied at one game apiece with no score available for Game 3 at press time on Monday night.
For LSU, the opponent matters not, according to the players. If the Tigers play their best ball, they believe they can beat anyone.
It’s worth noting that LSU didn’t do its customary celebratory dogpile after its victory. Symbolism? Perhaps. Bregman said the Tigers are saving that celebration for last.
“Maybe we’ll be saving that one,” Bregman said about the dogpile.
Either way, the Tigers are going back to Omaha.
The LSU baseball team celebrates with signs and other props after clinching a spot in the College World Series. The Tigers punched their ticket to the eight-team field after sweeping the University of Louisiana-Lafayette this past weekend. The Tigers will face the winner out of Texas A&M and TCU on Sunday.
