Game one was a duel, game two was a grind and game three needed a little “Alex Box magic.”
A year after missing the postseason, LSU picked up right where it left off from 2009 National Championship and a 2010 SEC Tournament title run.
The Tigers (46-16) closed out the Baton Rouge regional with a thrilling 6-5 victory Sunday evening against a resilient Oregon State squad to advance into super regional play this weekend.
“This was a total team victory,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “It was tough. It was a grind out there.”
For the 8,978 fans in Alex Box Stadium who hoped to see a coronation Sunday night, the top of the first inning conjured memories of “gorilla ball,” as junior Raph Rhymes’ two-run home run sparked a three-run frame, chasing Beaver starter Taylor Starr after just four batters.
Then came Beaver reliever Scott Schultz.
Schultz quieted the LSU bats, scattering only three hits and striking out nine Tigers through 8 2/3 innings while his offense went to work.
Oregon State plated a run in the first, second and fourth innings, highlighted by two Ryan Barnes’ doubles to knot the score at three against Tiger starter Ryan Eades.
After striking out Barnes and getting Kavin Keyes to pop out to begin the sixth, Eades surrendered two singles, a walk and a hit batter to put the Beavers on top, 5-3, and end his night in favor of sophomore righty Nick Rumbelow.
LSU pushed an unearned run across in the seventh, cutting the Beaver lead to 5-4. With the momentum squarely in the Oregon State dugout, Rhymes didn’t flinch.
“There wasn’t a second that I doubted whether or not we would win,” Rhymes said.
Sophomore catcher Ty Ross led off the top of the ninth with a towering double to straight-away centerfield. After striking out senior infielder Grant Dozar, Schultz surrendered another double to junior outfielder Alex Edward, scoring pinch runner Jared Foster to tie the game and sending the Alex Box crowd into a frenzy.
“I had been struggling all weekend,” Edward said. “When you have the crowd behind you and all your teammates behind you and getting a good pitch to hit and being able to barrel it up – there’s no better feeling in the world.”
After junior reliever Chris Cotton worked around a Michael Conforto double to end the bottom of the ninth, the Tigers loaded the bases with no outs in the 10th, highlighted by sophomore JaCoby Jones’ line-drive double.
Senior infielder Austin Nola scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Dylan Davis, and junior closer Nick Goody struck out the side in the bottom of the frame to notch the Tigers’ first regional championship since 2009.
“We have very solid ball clubs all around us in the postseason, and we have to play our best every game,” Nola said. “We did it tonight.”
The Tigers kicked off the regional Friday night with an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel between freshman Aaron Nola and University of Louisiana at Monroe senior Randy Zeigler, a former LSU pitcher who transferred due to injury.
Nola out-dueled Zeigler, lasting eight innings and striking out a career high 10 Warhawks to preserve a 4-1 Tiger victory.
After Oregon State defeated Belmont, 2-1, in the first matchup of the regional, the Beavers met LSU on Saturday in a winner’s bracket game with sophomore Tiger ace Kevin Gausman taking the mound.
In a game that was sluggish from the start, Gausman overcame command problems and a high pitch count to hold the Beavers to only one run through eight innings, and the Tigers took advantage of sloppy Oregon State defense to pull out a 7-1 victory.
The Beavers would go on to pound ULM, 11-1, on Sunday to set up the thrilling nightcap.
LSU advances to face the Stony Brook Seawolves in a super regional at Alex Box Stadium beginning Friday, with the winner advancing to the College World Series in Omaha.
 
____ Contact Chandler Rome at [email protected]