As No. 8 LSU’s series finale against Georgia headed for extra innings at Alex Box Stadium on Sunday afternoon, the Tigers’ bid for a sweep would be determined by a staring contest between two bullpens.
Through 13 innings, neither blinked.
Before the game began, it was announced no new innings could begin after 3:45 p.m. because Georgia had a plane to catch. So when LSU freshman Jake Fraley flied out to center field at 4:02 p.m. to leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the 13th inning, the game ended in a 2-2 tie.
One batter before Fraley, Sean McMullen flied to left field with the bases loaded. LSU coach Paul Mainieri said rarely-used freshman Dakota Dean was supposed to try to tag from third and score the winning run, but due to a miscommunication between Dean and third-base coach Will Davis, he stayed put.
Between leaving men on base — the Tigers stranded a total of 17 base runners — and base running blunders, the 13th served as a microcosm of everything that bothered Mainieri about the game.
“Davis told him ‘Go’ and [Dean] thought he said ‘No’ so he didn’t go,” Mainieri explained. “It’s not supposed to be a verbal communication. It’s supposed to be a visual communication, but Dakota Dean hasn’t played very much so I’m sure the situation was just a little bit big for him.”
Kurt McCune made the spot start for LSU in place of the injured Kyle Bouman, but the senior right-hander didn’t last long. After Georgia (14-10-1, 1-4-1 SEC) touched him up for two runs within the game’s first four batters, Mainieri lifted McCune after just 1 2/3 innings of work.
From that point on, Georgia wouldn’t score. Five LSU relievers combined to throw 11 1/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing just two hits along the way and striking out eight.
“Obviously, when you’re without a starting pitcher and hold a team to two runs in 13 innings, you expect you’re going to win the ballgame,” Mainieri said.
LSU managed just two hits with runners in scoring position all day. Catcher Kade Scivicque drove in Mark Laird with a two-out double in the fifth and shortstop Alex Bregman, who batted second for the first time in his LSU career, tied the game in the seventh with a run-scoring single to right-center field.
Bregman’s single chased Laird to third base with no outs. The next batter, designated hitter Sean McMullen, grounded to the first baseman Jared Walsh who started a double play.
Mainieri said Laird was supposed to break from third once Walsh threw the ball to second base but inexplicably froze.
“We just couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities. We had several chances to win the game but shot ourselves in the foot several times with base running mistakes and had some bad luck,” Mainieri said.