The LSU Tigers baseball team defeated the Wofford Terriers 13-6 on Sunday in the Chapel Hill Regional in an elimination game. The Tigers will have to win again tonight against North Carolina to force a game seven in this regional tomorrow.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Wofford was the designated home team in this elimination game, and they went with Camden Wicker on the mound to start. He had a solid first inning, striking out two and retiring the Tigers in order.
LSU countered with lefty Nate Ackenhausen. He did not have nearly the first inning that Wicker had. Three straight singles got the first run of the game home for Wofford. Then, a safety squeeze got home another. A walk loaded the bases with two outs, and Jay Johnson had seen enough. He went to his best reliever, Griffin Herring. However, Jack Renwick delivered a two-run double that made it 5-0 before Herring got out of the inning.
The Tigers would respond in the second. After a leadoff double and a wild pitch, Michael Braswell III delivered a sacrifice fly to put LSU on the board. Following a single and a balk, Jake Brown brought home a run with a clutch single, making it 5-2.
LSU continued to chip away in the fourth. This time, Ashton Larson came through with an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-3. That run was answered by the Terriers in the bottom half, as Dixon Black brought in a run with a sacrifice fly.
After four, Wofford relieved Wicker with Kenny Michaels. However, with two outs, the Tigers got to the new Terrier pitcher. Josh Pearson launched a no doubter to bring home two runs. Then, Brady Neal delivered an RBI single to tie things at six. Just like that, Wofford’s big lead had evaporated.
In the top of the seventh, LSU finally took their first lead. Larson had a sacrifice fly for an RBI. That was followed up by an RBI single for Alex Milazzo, making it 8-6 in favor of the Tigers.
Herring saved the LSU pitching staff with a long outing. He went six and a third, allowing just one run on five hits. That saved plenty of arms for the rest of the tournament.
The Tigers offense continued to add on in the late innings. They got three more in the eighth and two more in the ninth. That made the lead a comfortable 13-6, while Kade Anderson and Will Helmers worked the final two innings in the victory.
BIG NUMBER: 21
LSU’s offense came to life in this game, and they mashed out 21 hits. That allowed them to score 13 runs and erase an early 5-0 deficit to stay alive in the tournament.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Griffin Herring
Herring did a masterful job out of the bullpen in this game. In addition to settling down a rocky start, he gave the Tigers some real length in a tournament where they will need plenty of arms to work out of the loser’s bracket.
UP NEXT: LSU will face North Carolina in a must-win game tonight at 5:00 PM. If UNC wins, they win the regional. If LSU wins, the two meet in a winner-take-all game tomorrow.