LSU won the Baton Rouge Regional on Saturday with a 13-7 win over Oregon State. With this win, the Tigers will advance to the Super Regionals, which will also be held at Skip Bertman Field at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers will face the winner of the Lexington Regional, which will be decided at 5 p.m. C.T. between Kentucky and Indiana. Kentucky and Indiana faced off on Saturday in the winner’s bracket of the regional where Indiana won 5-3.
The super regional will begin on Friday, June 9 or Saturday, June 10 at a time to be determined.
Just as the home runs were flying Sunday night, they were alive on Monday as well. It took a few innings for the bats to get warmed up. The Tigers ended up finishing with 19 total hits on the game.
“The energy, the atmosphere was unbelievable,” Crews said. “All the guys really had some tunnel vision for this week, and it worked out. Everybody was gelling pretty well this weekend, and we just passed it to the next guy really.”
A four-run fourth inning capped off by a triple by Josh Pearson put LSU up 4-0. Pearson finished two for five on the day with a triple and a single.
Gavin Turley answered in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run home run. He also hit an inside the park home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Turley finished two for five on the day.
Hayden Travinski and Cade Beloso hit back-to-back home runs on Sunday night, so they figured, “Why not do it again?” In the fifth inning, Travinski homered to left field, and Beloso homered to right field for the second time in the regional. Travinski went three for six with a home run, a single and two RBIs, and Beloso finished two for six with a home run, a single, and an RBI.
In the sixth, Dylan Crews hit a solo home run. Crews finished three for four with a home run, two singles, and an RBI.
“There’s a deeper will to win, there’s a deeper will to compete with my teammates,” Crews said. “The more fun I have, the better I play.”
But once again, Oregon State answered. Brady Kasper hit a two-run home run to make it a three-run game. Kasper finished one for four.
However, LSU came back with a five-run seventh inning. Gavin Dugas homered to start the inning. He finished two for four. Tommy White hit a two-RBI single with the bases loaded, Dylan Crews scored on a pass ball, and Travinski knocked White in to make the score 12-4. White went one for five.
But players shined for the Tigers without putting the ball over the fence. Tre’ Morgan went two for six with a single and a double, and Brayden Jobert and Jordan Thompson each went two for four for with two singles and an RBI.
Mason Guerra led Oregon State in hits, going two for three with a single, a double and an RBI.
Riley Cooper started the game on the mound for the Tigers for only his third start of the season. He went 3.2 innings, struck out four and gave up two runs on two hits.
“There’s never been a question about whether he could do it or not,” Johnson said. “Sometimes it’s not about the velocity of the fastball, it’s not about the metrics, it’s about who’s a winner, and Riley Cooper is a winner.”
Jay Johnson kept the left-handed pitcher trend going, as he brought Nate Ackenhausen in first in relief. Ackenhausen went 1.2 innings and gave up two runs on two hits as well. Griffin Herring, another left-handed pitcher, came in in the sixth inning. He received the win and went 3.0 innings, struck out four, and gave up two runs on three hits.
Gavin Guidry came in for the last two outs of the game and closed it out once again.
Oregon State used eight pitchers on the day. After LSU defeated Oregon State 6-5 on Sunday, the Beavers had to play another game after against Sam Houston State to advance to the regional final. So the Beavers’ pitching staff was running thin.
“No doubt we were down a few arms, we only had one of our weekend guys going,” Oregon State head coach, Mitch Canham, said. “What a great opportunity for our young guys to take the ball.”
Rhett Larson started on the mound for Oregon State; he went 3.2 innings, struck out four, and gave up four runs on four hits. Larson received the loss for Oregon State.
The regional presented challenges for LSU, at times not even involving an opponent. It learned a lot about itself, saw what its offense can look like at its best and the pitching gained a lot of confidence.
After two rain delays in three days of baseball, the Tigers can rest for a few days before taking the field once again. They will know who their opponent will be in the Super Regionals by the time they go to bed. Once Tuesday hits, it will be time to focus on who that team is.
“I don’t need any more motivation,” Johnson said. “This is my entire life.”