There were no easy games for the LSU baseball team in its recent weekend series against unranked Tennessee.
The Volunteers (26-16, 8-13 Southeastern Conference) strolled into Alex Box Stadium against No. 9 LSU looking to put a dent in the Tigers’ conference record, but junior Conner Hale and the LSU (33-11-1, 12-8-1 SEC) offense provided late-inning heroics in a 9-4 Sunday victory.
Sunday’s finale played out similarly to the two previous matchups — both squads wrestled with the lead until one team broke the contest open in the later frames.
After five innings, LSU sported a 4-2 lead after chipping away at Tennessee senior starter Nick Williams.
The Tigers scored three runs in the fourth and fifth innings combined on freshman left fielder Jake Fraley’s RBI ground out and an RBI single by Hale. Sophomore right fielder Mark Laird also scored on a wild pitch.
With the two-run lead still intact heading to the top of the eighth, LSU coach Paul Mainieri turned to senior right-hander Kurt McCune.
McCune already had a sour taste in his mouth from the night before when he surrendered two hits and two earned runs in 1/3 of an inning in Saturday night’s loss.
The Norco, La., native wasn’t able to turn things around on Sunday. McCune tossed an inning, surrendering two runs (one earned) and giving up the Tigers’ lead.
“Kurt had a couple of tough days, but he does the best he can, Mainieri said. “He doesn’t have overpowering stuff, and once he gets into a jam, it’s hard for him to pitch his way out of it…some of it has been a little bit of bad breaks for him. He’ll be all right. Kurt’s an important part of this team, and he’ll be back out there again as soon as possible.”
LSU promptly responded in the bottom of the frame.
After Fraley walked to lead off the Tigers’ turn in the eighth, Hale stepped to the plate looking to drive a pitch into the outfield gap with the speedy freshman on first base.
“In my at-bat, I was just trying to take until I got a strike,” Hale said. “He threw me a first-pitch curveball for a ball, and I had a feeling he was going to come back with a fastball. I was ready to hit it.”
Hale drilled the inside fastball into the left field corner, scoring Fraley from first base and giving LSU the 5-4 lead.
“I felt like I was floating around the bases,” Fraley said. “I got around second, and I looked up and the dude hadn’t even gotten the ball yet. As soon as he hit it, I knew I was going to score.”
LSU never looked back.
With runners on first and third with one out, Mainieri gave senior third baseman Christian Ibarra the sign to lay down the safety squeeze bunt. He did so to perfection, increasing LSU’s lead to two runs.
Laird added another RBI on a ground ball to second base, then Ibarra scored on a wild pitch. Sophomore shortstop Alex Bregman hit an RBI single to give LSU a 9-4 lead heading to the top of the ninth.
That was more than enough run support for junior closer Joe Broussard.
“Us hitters knew we were going to be in for a challenge this weekend, and we were going to have to match them offensively,” Bregman said. “We knew they were a good offensive team, and we would have to come to play on every pitch. It kind of lit a fire for us.”
Mainieri said the win was critical for LSU’s chances of hosting a Regional game, and Tennessee’s offense gave his squad the challenge it needed.
“Tennessee battled us tooth-and-nail every step of the way,” Mainieri said. “[LSU pitching coach] Alan Dunn and I both think Tennessee is the best hitting team we’ve faced all year. They were really tough outs, and they’ve got some guys who were some real threats. They challenged us the whole weekend.”