The No. 14 Tigers swept their weekend series with Dartmouth, winning in just about every possible way.
There was Friday night, when the Tigers (10-2) rallied from a 4-3 deficit to win comfortably, 8-4. There was Saturday’s 16-3 blowout, in which 20 players participated. Then there was Sunday’s 5-4 nail-biter with a bizarre ending.
Dartmouth (0-3) proved to be a resilient team, refusing to go down after LSU opened an early 3-0 lead on Sunday.
The Big Green stormed back, and with the game tied at four the Tigers needed to score in the bottom of the ninth to prevent extra innings.
After two quick outs, senior shortstop Austin Nola singled, setting the stage for senior third
baseman Tyler Hanover to be the hero.
His eyes lit up when he saw a good pitch to drive, and he took a hack at it and popped it up to mid-center field.
“I was a little frustrated,” Hanover said. “I felt like I put a good swing on it, but I kind of got under it.”
But with nothing in the sky but a ball and a bright, blazing sun, Dartmouth centerfielder Jake Carlson, who entered the game in the eighth inning as a pinch hitter, lost the ball and let it bounce out of his glove.
Nola raced around to score from first base, giving LSU its first walk-off win of the season. The fact that Nola was running hard on an easy fly ball to center with two outs wasn’t lost on LSU coach Paul Mainieri.
“[Nola] has been around the game long enough to know that you never take anything for granted,” Mainieri said. “There was no question in my mind that he’d be running hard.”
Nola, junior first baseman Mason Katz and junior outfielder Raph Rhymes led the way for LSU, and to say they have been hot lately is a bit of a misnomer.
They’ve been sizzling.
The three mashed their way through Dartmouth’s pitching staff this weekend, paving the way to a sweep of the Ivy League school that was playing for the first time this season.
Katz stole the show most of the weekend by falling just one shy of tying the NCAA record for consecutive plate appearances reached safely with 17.
The Harahan native’s batting average jumped to .548, as he went 10-for-10 with seven walks during his torrid stretch. Five of the 10 hits went for extra bases, including two home runs.
Of Katz’s 20 hits this season, 11 have been for extra bases.
Katz struck out in his first
at-bat of the second game, ending his streak. Katz’s average dipped to a still-astronomical .500 clip.
But while Katz was a nearly impossible out, clean-up hitter Rhymes was quietly spectacular.
In the three-game series with Dartmouth, Rhymes went 8-for-13 with five RBIs, giving him 13 RBIs in his last five games.
“I’m just trying to go up there with a good approach,” Rhymes said. “I’m trying to lead this team any way I can.”
Nola enjoyed a career-high four-hit game on Sunday, coming on the heels of his eighth career three-hit game Saturday.
Sophomore starters Kevin Gausman (3-0) and Ryan Eades
(2-1) each earned the victory in their starts, while junior Chris Cotton (1-0) earned the win in relief on Sunday.
The Tigers hit the road for Tuesday’s game against Tulane in Turchin Stadium. Freshman Aaron Nola will get his second start for the Tigers.
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Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]
Baseball: Nola, Katz, Rhymes lead Tigers in sweep of Dartmouth
March 5, 2012