After beating the Kansas State Wildcats 8-5 in extra innings yesterday to begin the Frisco College Baseball Classic, the LSU Tigers returned to Riders Field on Saturday to play against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Tigers were down by five early, but Jay Johnson’s squad took over in the middle innings to earn their 10th win of the season with the 11-6 victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Derek Curiel led off with a single into left field for LSU and was picked off by Nebraska’s right-handed pitcher Ty Horn. The call was confirmed, and then Jared Jones and Daniel Dickinson flew out into right field to end the opening frame.
The Cornhuskers wasted no time jumping out to an early sizable lead. Tiger righty starter Anthony Eyanson gave up hits to the first three batters he faced. Joshua Overbeek doubled past the infield, and Devin Nunez put runners on the corners with a single out in center field. Cayden Brumbaugh brought in the game’s first run with a 0-2 count single out in left. Eyanson recorded a strikeout and forced a groundout before Cael Frost’s hit out in center scored Brumbaugh and Nunez to put Nebraska up by three after one inning of play.
Josh Pearson doubled to begin the second frame and advanced to third base after a pop fly by Jake Brown. Pearson was left stranded after Tanner Reaves hit into a fielder’s choice with two outs on the board.
Nebraska added to their lead at the bottom of the second when Riley Silva hit a sacrifice grounder to bring Gabe Swansen home. Swansen progressed around the bags as he was walked and advanced to second, then third off a wild pitch by Eyanson.
The Cornhuskers took a 5-0 lead after the Tigers left Jones on base in the third. Nunez singled up the middle and advanced twice on wild pitches. Case Sanderson added the run with an RBI single on a full count.
LSU cut into Nebraska’s lead at the top of the fourth. Pearson hit a second leadoff double and scored after Steven Milam doubled deep into right field. Milam got to third after Brown flew out and scored on a groundout by Cade Arrambide. With two outs, Reaves hit a double, and Chris Stanfield’s single through the left side brought home Reaves to cut it to a two-run deficit for the Bayou Bengals.
After striking out Jones and forcing a fly out by Dickinson, Horn allowed Pearson to get his third hit of the game. That was enough for skipper, Will Bolt, to pull his starter and go to left-handed pitcher Caleb Clark. Clark’s first matchup was against Milam, and the LSU sophomore won the battle with a single right back to Nebraska’s reserve pitcher. Pearson and Milam advanced on a passed ball and hit an RBI single to make it a one-run game, but Milam got a little too aggressive and was called out at home plate. LSU was now down 5-4, heading to the bottom of the fifth.
Ayenson locked in at the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, striking out five out of six batters in those frames.
Nebraska went to Carson Jasa at the top of the sixth, and the redshirt freshman struck out a couple of LSU batters and forced a flyout after facing five Tigers.
Jay Johnson’s team took its first lead in the seventh. Dickinson was hit by the first pitch of the frame, and Pearson got his fourth hit and third double to put two runners in scoring position. Milam’s single into right field tied the game, and Jasa was replaced by Grant Cleavinger.
LSU took the lead with a sacrifice fly by Brown and gave themselves the two-run advantage as Stanfield’s single in left helped Milam score after Ethan Frey, who pinch hit for Reaves, was walked. The Tigers put up another run with a Curiel single, and that was enough to take Cleavinger out for Pryce Bender. Jones immediately took advantage of the new Cornhusker pitcher with a center field single to push Stanfield and Curiel home to double Nebraska’s score.
Ayenson’s night ended to begin the bottom of the seventh, and he was replaced by Zac Cowan. The Cornhuskers took advantage with three consecutive singles, including an RBI hit by Brumbaugh to score Overbeek.
The Tigers added one more run in the ninth as Stanfield, Curiel, and Dickinson were walked before Pearson was hit by a pitch and drove in the run.
William Schmidt closed it out in the ninth and secured the 11-6 win for LSU as he forced a flyout and ground out before striking out Brumbaugh to complete the comeback.
BIG NUMBER: 5
Nebraska took the early 5-0 lead over the first three innings. It was all LSU after that after they put up 10 consecutive runs and put up a six-spot in the seventh inning to comeback and defeat the Cornhuskers by five runs.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Steven Milam
Milam finished the game with three hits on six at-bats. In those times at the plate, Milam scored twice and recorded a pair of RBIs as LSU took down Nebraska 11-6 to improve to a 10-1 record. Josh Pearson also had a great game with four hits and three runs to go along with three doubles.
UP NEXT: The LSU Tigers baseball team will wrap up the Frisco College Baseball Classic on Sunday, March 2nd. Their opponent will be the Sam Houston Bearkats. First pitch from Riders Field is set for 4:00, and the action can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.