When junior left fielder Raph Rhymes comes to bat with runners in scoring position, there’s almost a 50/50 chance he will drive home a run.
No. 4 LSU (31-7) saw the good side of that coin flip Wednesday as Rhymes drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Tigers a 5-4 victory against Lamar (13-22) at Alex Box Stadium. Rhymes, who leads the nation with a .484 batting average, drove in three of LSU’s five runs Wednesday after playing in the field for the first time since sustaining a concussion April 7 against Florida.
“It was weird at first,” Rhymes said. “But I’ve been taking fly balls for a couple days, so I felt pretty good.”
Senior designated hitter Grant Dozar and sophomore second baseman JaCoby Jones opened the seventh inning with walks. Junior outfielders Arby Fields and Mason Katz followed with pop outs to set up the game-winning opportunity for Rhymes.
“I knew we needed to scratch a run somehow,” Rhymes said. “Anytime I get up there with runners in scoring position, I just try to put a good swing on the ball. Luckily, I found some holes.”
A rough night on the mound for the LSU pitching staff allowed Lamar, who has three wins this season against teams currently ranked in the top 10, to linger around longer than most expected.
Lamar third baseman Darian Johnson opened the scoring in the first inning with a two-run homer to right field. The Cardinals added runs in the third and fifth innings, both on infield ground outs.
“Pitching in the early part of the game was not so sharp,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “Even toward the end of the game it was not as sharp as you’d like it to be, but it got the job done,” Mainieri said.
LSU managed to match Lamar’s run production each time the Cardinals scored but didn’t take the lead until Rhymes’ hit in the seventh.
The Tigers tied the game at 2-2 in the first inning after Rhymes drove in two runs with a double down the left field line. The Tigers tied the game again in the fourth when senior third baseman Tyler Hanover drove home Rhymes with a single to center field. Sophomore catcher Ty Ross added one more run with a sacrifice fly to right field in the sixth.
“I give it to them,” Rhymes said of the Tigers’ opponent. “They came to play. They were a good team. Every time we seemed to score a run, they would match us with one. It was a good game.”
LSU’s pitching staff settled down in the fifth inning when sophomore Nick Rumbelow entered the game with two outs. He struck out three of the four batters he faced before giving way to junior Chris Cotton, who combined with sophomore Kurt McCune and junior Nick Goody to shut out the Cardinals in the final three innings.
Still, Mainieri wasn’t pleased with the pitching performance, and he chalked up the win to one specific player.
“Thank goodness we have Raph Rhymes on our team,” he said. “Let’s just put it that way.”
 
 
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Contact Hunter Paniagua at [email protected].