The No. 8 ranked LSU baseball team beat the Oklahoma Sooners 5-4 in 11 innings at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas on Friday.
The Tigers’ bats struggled to get going early in the game and finally put runners on base in the bottom of the seventh inning. Cade Doughty doubled, sending a fair ball down the left-field line and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Jordan Thompson walked, adding a LSU baserunner. Gavin Dugas singled and Doughty scored LSU’s first run of the game. However, Oklahoma led 3 to 1 heading into the 8th inning.
Tre Morgan started off the Tigers’ offense in the 8th inning with a double off of the left-field wall. Doughty tied up the game with a two run shot to right field.
In the top of the 9th inning with runners on the corners, first baseman Tre Morgan snagged the liner at him and made a double play to end the inning for the Purple and Gold.
The Sooners quickly reclaimed the lead in the top of the 10th when centerfielder Tanner Tredaway singled and scored on catcher Jimmy Crooks’ double.
Morgan and Doughty combined again to tie the contest in the bottom of the 10th against reliever Jaret Godman. Morgan lifted a one-out double to left field, and after centerfielder Dylan Crews fouled out, Doughty smacked a double down the left-field line to drive in the tying run.
“Stud, all I got to say about that,” LSU Head Coach Jay Johnson said on Doughty’s game tying RBI in the 10th inning.
Trent Vietmeier and Bryce Collins combined to pitch a scoreless 11th inning. Leading off the bottom of the 11th against Oklahoma reliever Griffin Miller, Jordan Thompson blasted the fourth pitcher of the inning into the left-field box seats to give the Tigers the victory. The dinger was Thompson’s first of the season and the second walk-off homer of his career. His previous walk-off was a 13th inning home run last season to defeat UT San Antonio, 10-9.
“I can’t say enough about the toughness of our at-bats and the way our players competed,” said Johnson. “There is plenty of talent in our lineup, but tonight I think it was our character makeup and competitive at-bats that did it for us.”
Both starting pitchers performed effectively. LSU’s right-hander Blake Money threw for 6.2 innings, allowed just one earned run on eight hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Oklahoma’s starter Jake Bennett also pitched 6.2 innings and limited the Tigers to one run on three hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
“Blake was outstanding, he gave us a great performance,” Johnson said. “His conditioning was great, his stuff was great; that’s a good Oklahoma lineup he got through, and we can’t win this game in extra innings if he doesn’t pitch as long as he did.”
Bryce Collins, the seventh LSU pitcher of the game, was credited with the win Friday after he retired the final OU hitter in the top of the 11th with the go-ahead run on second base.
“We have good players, but they’re tough too. You can’t win games like that unless you have a competitive character and makeup,” Johnson said. “These types of wins are really valuable because they demonstrate who our players really are as people as much as it does their baseball talent.”
LSU improved to 9-1 with its sixth straight win, while Oklahoma dropped to 5-3. On Saturday, LSU will face top-ranked Texas at 7 p.m. central time in Minute Maid Park in the second game of the 2022 Shriners Children’s College Classic.
