No gold jerseys? No problem for LSU.
Donning its white home jerseys because of NCAA regulations, LSU won the Baton Rouge Regional on Sunday with an 11-4 victory against Southern Miss at Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers have now won 23 straight games, breaking South Carolina’s old SEC record set in 2000.
South Carolina had separate 22- and 21-game win streaks in 2000, when LSU won its most recent national championship.
With the win, LSU will host the University of California-Irvine in an NCAA Super Regional next weekend.
Game one is scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m. Game two will be Sunday at 3 p.m., and if necessary, game three of the best-of-three series will be Monday at 6 p.m.
“This game had significance in a lot of ways,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said of the win against Southern Miss. “I told the kids before we went to Auburn that every weekend now we’re gonna be playing for championships.”
Senior third baseman Michael Hollander and sophomore designated hitter Blake Dean sparked the Tigers, combining for seven RBIs.
Hollander finished the night 4-for-5 with key two-out RBI singles in the sixth and seventh innings.
Dean had only one hit, but it turned out to be one of the biggest of the night.
After Southern Miss pitcher Tyler Conn hit sophomore left fielder Jared Mitchell to load the bases in the sixth inning, Dean came to the plate to a deafening roar from the crowd of 7,161.
“I got chills,” said Hollander, who was on second base when Dean walked up. “There was no doubt in my mind Blake was going to get the big hit.”
Dean delivered with a bases-clearing triple, breaking the game open and pushing the score to 9-2.
“[Conn] had fooled me pretty drastically with [his change-up],” said Dean, the regional’s Most Outstanding Player. “I thought he’d throw it again, but he just threw a fastball right there. I’ve been ready for those all weekend.”
LSU relief pitcher Paul Bertuccini saved the Tigers in the fifth and sixth innings with four straight strikeouts.
Bertuccini followed starter Blake Martin, who left in the fifth with runners at first and third base.
“I just wanted to keep the lead for us,” Bertuccini said. “That way we could get to our closer, Jared [Bradford].”
Bertuccini picked up the win in 1 1/3 innings of work. Martin finished with 4 2/3 innings pitched, giving up two earned runs on seven hits.
LSU capitalized on Southern Miss’ mistakes all night. The Golden Eagles’ starting pitchers surrendered eight walks and two hit-by-pitches.
Four of those mistakes came in the pivotal sixth inning, and two of those four loaded the bases.
“You have to tip your cap to LSU,” said Southern Miss catcher Keith Winstead. “Every mistake we made, they hit hard.”
Freshman catcher Micah Gibbs started the scoring in the top of the first inning by driving in Dean with a double.
Sophomore center fielder Leon Landry hit a two-run home run to left field in the bottom of the second inning to make the score 3-0.
The homer was Landry’s fifth on the season.
—-Contact Robert Stewart at [email protected]