LSU’s hot start wasn’t enough to withstand a late surge by Yale, and the Tigers (9-2) failed to complete the weekend sweep against the Bulldogs (1-2), falling 8-7 Sunday in Alex Box Stadium.
LSU built a 6-0 lead through the first four innings of action, but the Tigers would only score one run the rest of the afternoon. Meanwhile, Yale erupted midway through the game, scoring four runs on five hits in the fifth inning against junior left-hander Cody Glenn, who got the starting nod for LSU.
The Bulldogs got four more runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings against a less-than-stellar Tigers bullpen.
Glenn, who allowed four earned runs on eight hits in his third start of the season, blamed himself more than the bullpen for letting the game slip out of his team’s grasp.
“I think they fed off my negative energy,” Glenn said.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri went to his bullpen after Glenn yielded a single to Yale right fielder Brent Lawson in the top of the sixth inning, but the bullpen couldn’t find a rhythm, yielding five hits and three runs in four innings of work.
Freshman right-hander Parker Bugg (0-1) picked up his first loss of the season for the Tigers after he took over in the seventh inning for sophomore left-hander Hunter Devall, who allowed two runs on two hits and one walk before the inning’s first out.
Bugg was able to get LSU out of the inning without further damage, but he had an errant throw in the eighth after Yale second baseman Nate Adams hit a slow chopper in his direction. Bugg scooped up the ball but couldn’t complete the throw to first, and it opened the door for Bulldog center fielder Green Campbell to safely reach home and secure the 8-7 lead for his ball club.
However, the Tigers nearly came back in the ninth inning. After two quick outs from junior second baseman Conner Hale and junior pinch hitter Chris Sciambra, senior third baseman Christian Ibarra roped a double to center field that just missed going into the stands for what would have been a game-tying home run.
Sophomore centerfielder Andrew Stevenson, who went two for four on the afternoon, then hit a single to put runners on the corners for LSU. But the Tigers couldn’t capitalize on the two late hits as junior first baseman Tyler Moore popped out to right field to end LSU’s hopes for a comeback. Moore, who entered the game batting .333, finished one for five with one RBI.
After the game, sophomore shortstop Alex Bregman, who went two for five on the evening, said it was now time for the Tigers to get ready for their next opponent, Northwestern State, instead of pondering on the team’s late collapse.
“We’re focused on Northwestern State,” Bregman said. “We got to move on. We got to get back to work and know that we have to get better as a team. We really got to focus in because it’s going to be a big game [Tuesday].”
LSU will travel to Natchitoches, La., to take on the Demons Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Brown-Stroud Field.