Alabama outfielders Ben Moore and Georgie Salem each clubbed two-run home runs and southpaw Justin Kamplain pitched a complete game four-hitter to propel the Crimson Tide to a 5-1 win against LSU.
The game, scheduled to start at 7 p.m. as part of a day-night doubleheader, didn’t begin until 10:00 due to lightning and inclement weather, leaving both teams in their dugouts unsure if baseball would even be played.
When the final pitch was thrown at 12:24 a.m., LSU coach Paul Mainieri refused to use the delay as an excuse.
“Both teams dealt with it,” Mainieri said. “There was no reason for that to affect us. I thought we were ready to play.”
Salem sent a full count single through the right side in the first to bring up Moore, who obliterated LSU starter Alden Cartwright’s 2-2 curveball into the right field seats, giving the Crimson Tide an early 2-0 lead.
First baseman Austen Smith added an RBI single three batters later to push the Tide lead to 3-0 before LSU had the chance to grab a bat.
Mainieri said Cartwright warmed up to pitch for an original 9:20 p.m. start, but was thrown off when another lightning delay pushed the start time back to 10:00.
“That was a little disconcerting,” Mainieri said. “He had already gotten ready. I don’t know if that affected him or not. I actually thought he was throwing the ball well, but he fell behind on hitters.”
Mainieri yanked Cartwright in the second in favor of sophomore Hunter Devall, who skirted around danger in 1 2/3 shutout innings. After Devall, Mainieri turned to freshman Parker Bugg.
Bugg allowed a leadoff single to Mikey White in the fourth before Salem clobbered the second pitch he saw for a 2-run home run to right, putting the Alabama lead at 5-0.
“They got a couple of good swings,” Mainieri said. “All the other relief pitchers did a decent job by keeping them at bay a little bit.”
Kamplain kept the Tigers at bay all evening, inducing 20 fly ball outs as LSU couldn’t conform to his “pitch to contact” approach.
“We didn’t adjust through the course of the game,” said LSU sophomore catcher Chris Chinea. “Some of those were hit hard, but they were outs.”
Chinea provided the only spark of the Tigers’ four-hit evening, launching a mammoth solo home run to right field to lead off the fifth, cutting the Alabama lead to 5-1.
But from there, Kamplain allowed only two other baserunners the rest of the way, setting the stage for a rubber match Sunday at 1 p.m.