Senior shortstop Austin Nola’s go-ahead two-run home run might be in orbit somewhere over Alex Box Stadium’s left field fence right now.
The home crowd erupted in a deafening cheer just milliseconds after Nola’s monstrous blast left his bat, giving LSU a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning that it wouldn’t relinquish.
“When you hit one good like that, you just know it’s gone,” Nola said. “It felt good, it’s a great feeling to hit one – bit it’s picking up your teammates. Seeing them with the smiles in the dugout, it’s the best part.”
No. 4 LSU improved to 34-9 on the season, and after junior closer Nick Goody slammed the door on a Georgia rally, improved to 9-3 in one-run games in Southeastern Conference games.
Junior outfielder Raph Rhymes turned in another ho-hum day at the plate, going 3-for-4 to raise his batting average to .503 this season.
 And it was LSU’s Mr. Automatic that sparked the eighth inning rally.
Rhymes beat out an infield single to start the inning. Having already hit into two double plays on the evening, LSU coach Paul Mainieri gave Nola the signal to bunt.
But after Nola worked it to a 2-0 count, Mainieri switched his tactics and called a hit-and-run. While running to second, Rhymes checked in on Nola to make sure he wasn’t running into a double play.
“I was watching the whole time, when he hit it I knew it was gone,” Rhymes said. “He crushed it.”
The Tigers needed the big fly to put away what turned out to be a pesky Georgia offense.
Sophomore pitcher Kevin Gausman had a strange evening. He showed flashes of his dominant ability, striking out nine batters in six innings of work, but at times, all he could do was helplessly watch as dribblers and bloopers found the outfield grass.
The Bulldogs strung together two rallies against the hard-throwing right hander in the second and third innings where Gausman looked helpless to the never-ending stream of seeing-eye singles.
Georgia gathered three straight singles in the second inning to score a run, then opened up the third inning with four consecutive singles that tallied another two runs.
The third inning was particularly tough on Gausman, who needed 38 pitches to get through it.
“In the third inning, I don’t think I’ve seen a pitcher have as much bad luck for a pitcher as Gausman was having. It was unbelievable,” Mainieri said. “They weren’t even getting balls out of the infield, and we were fortunate they only scored two runs. Gausman really had to show what he’s made of.”
The Tigers were down 5-4 after their ace needed 120 pitches to get through six innings. To start the seventh, Mainieri reached deep into his bag of tricks and really confused the Bulldog hitters.
He called on junior left-hander Chris Cotton to keep the Tigers in the ballgame, even though Georgia has a predominantly right-handed lineup.
“I come in after Kevin – a 6-foot-4 righty throwing mid-upper 90s – and then you see a little left [hander] come in with a different arm slot and a different angle,” Cotton said. “It was totally different.”
The soft-throwing Cotton (5-0, 1.85) fired two innings of scoreless relief to earn the win, allowing one hit and striking out two.
The Tigers will send sophomore Ryan Eades (5-2, 3.26) to the mound tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. Georgia will counter with senior right hander Michael Palazzone (2-5, 5.46).