By Patrick Clay, Sports Showtime director
After three straight game-tying miracle home runs by LSU in the 9th-11th innings, a 154 minute rain delay, and the game getting suspended until 10:05 a.m. today, it seemed this game may never end.
On Saturday, it only took one inning.
After leaving the score tied at 4 after eleven innings yesterday, LSU kept their clutch hits coming as Mason Katz hit the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the 12th to bring home JaCoby Jones and clinch the 5-4 victory over Stony Brook.
LSU now has the unique opportunity to clinch their trip to Omaha in just one day.
“It certainly is a strange situation for these two teams to be in,” LSU head coach Paul Mainieri said last night following the suspension of Game 1. “It’s certainly a first for me.”
Kevin Gausman, the expected starter of Game 2, “started” the remainder of Game 1 for LSU. It only took twelve pitches for Gausman to get out of the inning, and that was all he needed to save the game.
The late-game magic began for LSU when Jones hit a home run over LF with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th to tie the score at 2 and send the game into the 10th.
“I just wanted to get on base for the team,” Jones said about his score. “I asked Coach (Mainieri) if he wanted me to take the first pitch or swing away, and he said to hit it out.”
As the game stretched to extra innings, a home run by Tyler Moore in the 10th and Katz in the 11th kept LSU alive, using every ounce of ‘Alex Box Magic’ available.
“We have a good group of guys that, in any situation, no one gives up,” said Katz. “We always think we’re coming back no matter what.”
Game 2 versus Stony Brook begins at 11:05 a.m. CST, with coverage continuing on ESPN2.
