LSU coach Paul Mainieri looked up to the sky Wednesday night and asked the reporters circled around him whether there was a full moon.
 
That was the only thing he could come up with to explain what happened in the Tigers’ (33-9) 4-3 victory against Southeastern (28-14) at Alex Box Stadium.
 
The madness started with Southeastern’s run production, with two runs coming via wild pitches and the potential game-tying run getting called out on another wild pitch. It continued with the Lions attempting a suicide double squeeze with a full count that ultimately resulted in a double play to end the inning.
 
“We knew coming into the game that they were going to be really aggressive,” said senior third baseman Tyler Hanover. “The squeeze I can’t explain. That’s something on the coach thinking he was getting a fastball right there. I guess he has confidence in him to get it down.”
But perhaps the strangest occurrence came in what Mainieri called one of “the more bizarre plays” he’d ever seen.
 
With one out and senior shortstop Austin Nola on first base in the bottom of the eighth, freshman first baseman Tyler Moore laced a line drive to right field that everyone but first base umpire Myron Miller thought was caught. Miller ruled “no catch” as Moore peeled off the first base line and Nola hurriedly retreated to the bag.
 
The right fielder threw to first to retire Moore, and it was later determined he was ruled out. Then, Southeastern first baseman Jonathan Pace threw to second to get Nola, who darted back to second after seeing the umpire’s call.
 
While Southeastern players started running to the dugout, thinking the inning was over, Mainieri, not realizing Moore had been called out, yelled for Moore to advance to second. But the Lions caught wind of Moore’s sneakiness and tagged out the freshman, even though the final out of the inning had already been made.
 
“Regardless of what you think happened, you have to abide by what the umpire called,” Mainieri said. “Fortunately in the end we won the game, so let’s just put it behind us.”
 
Aside from that singular sequence, the rest of LSU’s offensive game went by the book.
Trailing 1-0 with one out in the third inning, junior left fielder Raph Rhymes went to the plate with the bases loaded. After seeing his nation-leading batting average drop below .500, Rhymes lifted a sacrifice fly to left field that drove in the tying run.
 
Nola followed that with an RBI double, and Moore added a two-run single to give LSU a 4-1 lead.
 
“I was just staying loose, staying confident, having the right approach,” Moore said. “I was pretty excited to have a base hit and score two right there.”
 
The LSU pitching staff performed another one of its standard midweek group efforts, with seven pitchers combining to strike out 13 batters and hold the Lions to four hits.
Sophomore Joe Broussard started the game, striking out six, and allowed just one run on a wild pitch in the first inning.
 
Junior Joey Bourgeois surrendered another run on a wild pitch in the sixth, and Southeastern cut the deficit to one with an RBI triple by Brock Hebert in the eighth inning. Junior Nick Goody entered in the ninth and retired all three batters he faced to earn his seventh save of the season.
 
“Nick’s a legitimate closer,” Mainieri said. “He closed it out, everybody goes home happy and we can start thinking about Georgia.”
 
The Tigers will host the Bulldogs in their sixth Southeastern Conference series of the season, beginning Friday.
 
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Contact Hunter Paniagua at [email protected]