One of the most crucial innings in baseball is the fifth inning. If you can get the momentum going in that inning, odds are high that you will win the ballgame.
LSU (31-16, 14-9 SEC) was able to do just that in the bottom of the fifth when Cole Freeman got two runs across to give them a 2-1 lead over South Carolina (27-18, 11-12 SEC).
Later in the inning, Antoine Duplantis gave the Tigers a little insurance with a sac fly to send Freeman home safely.
Zach Watson put up two more runs for LSU in the sixth with a single to right field. South Carolina cut away at the lead in the eighth with an RBI single from TJ Hopkins, but it wasn’t enough as LSU held on to even up the series with a 6-5 win.
Jared Poche improved to 8-3 on the year allowing one run off of three hits in seven innings of work. The senior walked six batters and struck out three on the evening.
Hunter Newman got his seventh save of the season allowing one hit in his one inning of work.
LSU will try and win the rubber match on Sunday with first pitch set for 2 pm.
-Clint Domingue