LSU trailed the University of California Irvine, 7-2, with only six outs remaining, knowing a second straight loss would end its season and the Tigers’ stay in Alex Box Stadium.
However, to LSU coach Paul Mainieri and his players, the five-run deficit entering the eighth inning meant they were down, but certainly not out.
The Tigers went on to score the final seven runs of the game en route to a 9-7 victory. The win forced a third and decisive game against UC Irvine at 6 p.m. Monday for a spot in the 2008 College Baseball World Series.
LSU has never lost a super regional in Baton Rouge, going 3-0 since the NCAA added the super regional in 1999.
“That was one for the ages,” Mainieri said. “I’ll always remember that one no matter what happens in the future. I know it seems like I keep saying the same things over and over again at these press conferences, but these kids don’t know how to quit.”
LSU junior left fielder Jared Mitchell led off the eighth inning and the Tigers’ comeback.
Mitchell drilled a pitch over the left field wall to cut the Anteaters’ lead to 7-3 and re-energize a crowd that watched UC Irvine score the game’s previous six runs.
“I just wanted to get on-base some kind of way,” Mitchell said. “We couldn’t get it all back at once.”
LSU sophomore designated hitter Blake Dean help the Tigers continue to chip away by drawing a walk in the next at-bat – only the second time he reached base in two games. Junior first baseman Matt Clark drove Dean home two batters later, cutting the UC Irvine lead to 7-4.
LSU junior pitcher Louis Coleman shut the Anteaters out in the bottom of the inning, putting the Tigers into position to continue their rally in the top of the ninth.
“I just wanted to give us a chance to get the bats going,” Coleman said. “I just stayed down in the zone, got some groundballs. They made some great plays behind me, and I had the two-seam. The sinker ball sort of pitch was working real well [Sunday]. That helped out a lot.”
LSU freshman center fielder Leon Landry drew a walk to open the inning, followed by an 0-2 double by sophomore second baseman Ryan Schimpf down the right field line.
Senior third baseman Michael Hollander loaded the bases with an infield single, and Mitchell drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the UC Irvine lead to 7-5. Mitchell was the fourth consecutive Tiger to reach base to open the inning.
Junior right fielder Nicholas Pontiff then pinch hit and grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Schimpf and leaving runners on first and second base.
Dean then tied the game at 7 and drove Hollander home on a single through the right side of the infield. Sophomore catcher Sean Ochinko put the Tigers ahead by chopping an RBI single over the head of UC Irvine junior third baseman Eric Deragisch.
Dean scored two batters later on a lineout to center field by LSU freshman shortstop DJ LeMahieu, stretching the LSU lead to 9-7.
Coleman relieved senior Jared Bradford and earned the win in three innings of work. He allowed one hit and struckout one.
“Louis Coleman – there’s not enough superlatives that I could even give on him,” Mainieri said. “What he’s done for our team over the last half or two-thirds of the season is absolutely remarkable.”
LSU found itself behind in the closing innings despite striking first with a run in the top of the second inning.
After UC Irvine and LSU traded runs in the bottom of the third and top of the fourth, the Anteaters scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 7-2 lead.
UC Irvine got seven hits off Bradford in the inning, including a string of six in a row.
Mitchell led the Tigers’ offense, going 3-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs.
Dean, Clark, LeMahieu and Schimpf each went 2-for-4, and Dean scored three times.
In addition to leading the LSU offensive attack, Mitchell made a diving catch on the warning track in left field to begin the bottom of the ninth inning.
Landry also made a circus catch for the second consecutive game – this time losing his hat on a diving catch in left-center field in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“My attitude is they ought to be making those catches,” Mainieri said. “They’re probably the two best athletes playing the outfield in college baseball.”
The Tigers and Anteaters will battle Monday night for a shot at the College World Series behind starting pitchers Blake Martin and Bryce Stowell, respectively. The winner of the game will face North Carolina in the College World Series.
—-Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]