When it comes to walking off, LSU (32-10-1, 11-7-1 Southeastern Conference) counts on one sophomore to consistently complete the task at hand.
Back on April 12 against Arkansas, Laird came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth in a 4-4 contest. He drew a 3-2 count before lacing an RBI single into left field.
The story was eerily similar on Friday night.
In the bottom of the ninth of a 7-7 game against Tennessee (25-15, 7-12 SEC), Laird stepped to the dish after the Volunteers chose to intentionally walk sophomore leadoff hitter Andrew Stevenson.
Laird said he got mentally honed in when they pitched around LSU’s centerfielder.
“It’s just part of me,” Laird said. “It makes me want to get a hit even more. When I saw him pitch around [Stevenson], I was just getting in the zone.”
After bringing the count to 3-0, Tennessee sophomore reliever Andrew Lee put Laird in a 3-2 count. Laird saw a fastball down the heart of the plate and drilled it into center field – his second walk-off hit of the season in an 8-7 Tigers’ victory.
“It felt pretty much about the same,” Laird said.
The opening contest against the Volunteers went against the usual Friday night trend for LSU.
Junior right-hander Aaron Nola took the mound with a 7-1 record and 0.88 ERA through 10 starts. The Volunteers didn’t appear to care when they entered the batter’s box in the top of the first inning.
In uncharacteristic fashion, Nola surrendered three hits to the first four Tennessee batters, including an RBI single by sophomore left fielder Christin Stewart and an RBI double off the bat of freshman designated hitter Nick Senzel to give the Volunteers an early 2-0 lead.
“I thought I was having trouble with all my pitches,” Nola said. “My two-strike pitch wasn’t there. They scattered hits around the field and put a good bit of pressure on me, and I was pitching out of the stretch a good bit every inning.”
After three frames of scoreless baseball from the LSU offense, the Tigers exploded in the bottom of the fourth to provide their ace with a little run support.
After a leadoff double by freshman left fielder Jake Fraley, junior catcher Tyler Moore laced an RBI double down the right field line to cut the Tennessee lead to one run.
Senior third baseman Christian Ibarra followed with a single to put runners on first and third base with one out, then freshman second baseman Kramer Robertson roped an RBI double into left field to tie the game at 2-2.
Sophomore center fielder Andrew Stevenson proceeded to drill an RBI double to center to give LSU a two-run lead. Before the inning came to a close, sophomore shortstop Alex Bregman added an RBI single of his own to give LSU a 5-2 lead.
Two innings later, Tennessee responded.
After Nola allowed an RBI single, junior southpaw Zac Person relieved the LSU right-hander. Person then allowed an infield single to load the bases, followed by a bases-clearing double by sophomore pinch-hitter Derek Lance to give Tennessee a 6-5 lead.
Tennessee added another run in the top of the seventh. In the bottom half of the frame, Robertson picked up an RBI on a fielder’s choice to make it 7-6, Tennessee.
When the bottom of the eighth came around, Fraley came to the plate with a runner on second base and two outs. Fraley, who already had two hits in the contest, roped an RBI double to left-center field to tie the game at 7-7.
“He gave me a fastball and left it up… and I was able to get the barrel on it and shoot it into left-center,” Fraley said. “It’s just a matter of staying mentally strong and making sure you know we’re rolling and slowing the game down.”
LSU coach Paul Mainieri then turned to junior closer Joe Broussard in the top of the ninth – Broussard struck out the side, hitting 95 mph and 96 mph on the radar gun on his final two strikeouts.
“Anytime I go out there, it’s just my job to get some outs and give the offense a chance,” Broussard said. “I went out there and just tried to get three outs before they scored any runs, and it transitioned into a win for the team.”
Friday night’s performance was the most earned runs Nola had surrendered since March 15, 2013, against Mississippi State.
“I think Aaron Nola showed he was human tonight,” Mainieri said. “He never really got into a good rhythm…and he really wasn’t on top of his game. Yet, after giving up two runs, he hangs in there and keeps his team in the game, and we’re able to come back and get the lead.”
LSU junior pitcher Aaron Nola (10) warms up between innings Friday, April 25, 2014 during the Tigers' 8-7 victory against Tennessee at Alex Box Stadium.
