LSU’s Game 2 loss to Kentucky on Friday had been a tough pill to swallow.
That fact was displayed on the faces of its coaches and players and through the voices of its disgruntled crowd.
It was made even more disappointing by the fact that it almost managed another improbable comeback late in the game.
After falling behind by six in the seventh inning, the Tigers put up four runs in the next two innings to cut the deficit to two. But with Tommy White on third and Josh Stevenson on second, Jordan Thompson was struck out swinging to conclude the inning, depleting their momentum just enough for the Wildcats to squeak by and even the series.
While I wouldn’t call that overcoming adversity, it came incredibly close to doing so. A double from Thompson likely would’ve tied the game and considering the way momentum works, there’s a good chance the Tigers would’ve won.
Throughout the season, they’ve displayed an incredible tendency to conquer improbable odds and bounce back from rough losses.
After suffering its first loss of the season against Iowa in miserable fashion, LSU won thirteen straight games, including one against No. 19 Texas and two against Texas A&M. Against No. 5 Arkansas, it gave up eight runs in extra innings to drop game one, then won the next two by 19 combined runs.
It narrowed a ten-run deficit against Tennessee to four before stumbling down the stretch. Then in its next series against No. 6 South Carolina, it came back from a four-run deficit to even the series after narrowly avoiding getting run-ruled in game one.
“We’re never out of a game. Until the last out, we’re always thinking we’re gonna win,” White said after the loss. “We’re going to keep that mentality. We know we can do it with bats, we’ve just got to do it with gloves.”
That had been the key to the aforementioned loss, with its defensive woes overshadowing a 10-run performance from its batters. With the remaining LSU bullpen being inconsistent as of late, failing to secure a game two victory seemed all-the-more damning.
Apart from achieving a 0.00 ERA in two innings pitched against Grambling, starting pitcher Christian Little had struggled in his more recent outings. But even after a rough outing against Tulane, where he put up 40 pitches in one inning, Johnson trusted him to start.
If he struggled here, the most likely relievers to take his place were Thatcher Hurd, Gavin Guidry, Bryce Collins and Javen Coleman. Coleman hadn’t pitched competitively since February of 2022, Guidry and Collins displayed potential but had limited experience against the SEC and Hurd had struggled in recent weeks.
Considering the Tigers gave up 13 with slightly more assured pitchers in Ty Floyd and Griffin Herring, this wasn’t an ideal situation for them to say the least.
This time there would be no cancellation to bail them out. For the second time this season, LSU entered game three of a series with a legitimate chance at losing its No. 1 spot.
But then things started much better than expected.
Little retired the side of the order in three straight innings while the Tigers managed two runs within that span. He would stumble through the fourth, eventually needing to be relieved, but his performance through the first three innings helped LSU do exactly what White said it needed to do.
Still, this wouldn’t be an article about overcoming adversity if Kentucky made this one easy. Rough outings from Guidry and Hurd put them down 6-4 in the seventh, with the Wildcats scoring three in the top half to earn them their first lead of the contest.
With two outs and a 2-2 count, Thompson made contact with the ball and sent it down the left field line to decrease their deficit to one. Then, on a 0-2 count, Cade Beloso sent a single to right field and Thompson slid into home base to tie the game at six.
From there, LSU faced a similar situation to the previous week’s against South Carolina, one in which it needed two things to go right.
One, it needed to score at least one more run. Beloso had accomplished that the last time with a one-run homer in the top of the ninth.
In this case, it would accomplish that after a bizarre sequence of events, where Dylan Crews was intentionally walked to load the bases, then White got hit by a pitch to send Brayden Jobert home.
Two, it needed a pitcher to effectively close out the game. Last time it was Guidry who got the job done. This time, it was Collins.
Through 2.1 innings, Collins would play to near perfection, achieving a 0.00 ERA and allowing just two Wildcats to get on base with a hit and a walk. He’d throw four strikeouts as well, including one against one of Kentucky’s top batters in Émilien Pitre in the ninth.
LSU not only came back from a 6-4 deficit in the seventh inning, it also bounced back after a demoralizing loss in Game 2. It once again overcame adversity, which should allow it to remain the No. 1 team in the country barring something unforeseen occurs.
