Rain seemed like LSU’s most formidable adversary Sunday afternoon against No. 12 South Carolina at Alex Box Stadium.
Play was halted twice because of inclement weather, but the Tigers (28-16-1, 9-11-1) outlasted the storm to cruise to a 6-3 victory against the Gamecocks (31-14, 11-10), sweeping their Southeastern Conference foe.
It was the first SEC sweep at home since the Tigers took three from Tennessee in 2003.
LSU is now 2 1/2 games out of first place in the SEC West behind Ole Miss.
“We won [the games] in different ways,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “I thought Friday night was as well as we could play in every phase. Saturday obviously was a tremendous comeback. I don’t know how many times we had to come back in the game and then finally win it. [Sunday] was kind of a methodical, where you’ve got a lead and held on at the end.”
LSU won, 11-2, in dominating fashion Friday night. The Gamecocks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but LSU battled back behind the pitching of junior pitcher Blake Martin.
Martin pitched 9 1/3 innings in the win and struck out seven batters while walking five. Senior third baseman Michael Hollander, junior first baseman Matt Clark, and sophomore outfielder Jared Mitchell all homered for the Tigers.
“It took me a while to get settled in,” Martin said. “Then I started to trust my stuff and letting them put the ball in play. I was trying to do too much. The defense played great.”
LSU won Saturday after falling seven runs behind through the first six innings.
Junior outfielder Nicholas Pontiff blasted a pinch-hit two-run home run – his first of the season – to tie the game at 9-9 in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The game was won on a fielding error by junior infielder Reese Havens that allowed junior infielder Chris McGhee to score from third base and give the Tigers an 11-10 victory.
“It was exciting,” Mainieri said. “But I also feel bad for [South Carolina coach] Ray [Tanner]. It was a tough loss, and I’ve been on the other end of so many of those.”
Sunday’s contest did not provide the excitement Saturday’s matchup did, but several hundred fans stayed throughout the rain to watch the final pitch.
South Carolina went ahead, 1-0, early in the game when junior third baseman James Darnell hit an RBI single to left-center field that allowed freshman centerfielder Whit Merrifield to score.
Junior rightfielder Derek Helenihi tied the game at 1 in the bottom half of the inning when he hit a solo home run – his second homer of the season – into the bleachers behind the left field wall.
LSU freshman shortstop DJ LeMahieu hit a two-run shot over the wall in left-center field in the fourth inning to put the home team ahead, 3-1.
Hollander stretched the Tigers’ lead in the fifth inning when he hit an RBI single, which scored sophomore second baseman Ryan Schimpf.
Hollander later crossed home when Helenihi hit a single to shallow right field to put LSU up, 5-1.
South Carolina answered in the sixth inning when senior left fielder Phil Disher hit a home run off the bottom of the scoreboard in right field to close the gap to 5-2.
The Gamecocks added another run later in the inning when senior rightfielder Harley Lail scored from third to make the score 5-3.
Play was suspended for more than 45 minutes in the middle of the sixth inning because of rain.
Play was suspended again – this time for more than an hour – in the eighth inning because lightning and heavy rains were detected in the area.
The time off did not seem to affect Mitchell. When play resumed, Mitchell hit a solo home run to right-center field to extend LSU’s lead to 6-3. Mitchell hit two home runs in the weekend series.
“Coach does a good job of making us stay loose, throwing and making us run to stay warm and stuff like that,” Mitchell said. “It makes it a lot easier on us to go out there an play.”
Junior pitcher Paul Bertuccini struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning to preserve the win for the Tigers and get his second save on the season.
Junior Ryan Verdugo (7-2) started for LSU and pitched six innings, giving up three runs and striking out four to earn his seventh win of the season.
“I kept getting ahead of guys and made them put the ball in play, and my defense helped me out,” Verdugo said.
The Tigers will next take the field Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. when they face UL-Lafayette.
—-Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]