An eventful two innings to open Sunday’s game was not enough for the LSU baseball team to sweep the weekend series against the University of Central Florida at Alex Box Stadium. Four runs to open the game were all the Tigers (7-3) could muster against the dominant Golden Knights’ (4-7) pitching staff as LSU lost 5-4. “It’s frustrating to me that we come out so well – we’ve done this a few times this year where we come out and score runs early in the game and have some good at- bats – and then I don’t know if we lose our focus or they just bring in such great relief pitching but they shut us down,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “But when we scored four runs in the first two innings, I’m thinking, ‘OK the offense – after yesterday – we are really starting to swing the bats well,’ and then we let them off the hook.” After LSU junior starting pitcher Kyle Beerbohm gave up two runs to open the game up 2-0, sophomore second baseman Buzzy Haydel led off the bottom of the first with a single to center field. Freshman center fielder Jared Mitchell’s single down the right field line advanced Haydel into scoring position. Mitchell’s single followed a foul ball line drive that cleared the right field wall and landed on Nicholson Drive, something Mitchell said surprised him. “It was a breaking ball down and in, and I got my hands out there and hooked it [foul],” Mitchell said. “I didn’t think I hit it that hard, and what I was surprised about was I was able to come back and actually finish the at-bat, get on and get a hit afterwards.” Mitchell advanced to second and Haydel advanced to third after Golden Knights sophomore catcher Steve Stropp mishandled the Good. LSU sophomore third baseman J.T. Wise’s sacrifice fly out scored both Haydel and Mitchell after a throwing error by Central Florida sophomore right fielder Chadd Hartman allowed Mitchell to show off his speed by scoring all the way from second base with an acrobatic slide into home, tying the score at 2-2. Tigers sophomore shortstop Michael Hollander reached first on a fielding error by Central Florida sophomore shortstop Eric Kallstrom to begin LSU’s second inning rally. A grounder by Haydel that slipped past the infield into right field allowed Hollander to advance to third. Freshman left fielder Blake Dean drove in Hollander to break the tie, put the Tigers up 3-2 and allowed Haydel to advance to third after he singled to right field. Wise drove in Haydel to increase the lead to 4-2 after hitting a single up the middle into center field. The Golden Knights closed the lead to 4-3 after junior center fielder Tyson Auer doubled to start the top of the third inning. Auer scored after Hartman singled to right field. After being shut down since the fourth inning, Kallstrom opened the top of the seventh with a line drive that snuck past Wise into left field. After Central Florida junior second baseman Dwayne Bailey walked to put men on first and second base, Auer advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt. The Golden Knights tied it up 4-4 after senior designated hitter Matt Horwath flied out to left field, allowing Kallstrom to cross the plate. Central Florida coach Jay Bergman said he had no particular strategy going into the seventh inning but said it was the turning point of the game. “We just wanted to get somebody on so we could steal a base and get a guy into scoring position,” Bergman said. “I thought the biggest part of the ball game was when we had one out and we brought in our sixth place hitter, we pinch ran and got the tying run into scoring position.” The Golden Knights put the final nail in the coffin and put them on top 5-4 in the top of the eighth after junior outfielder Ryan Richardson scored on freshman third baseman Shane Brown’s double down the left field line. The Tigers could not capitalize on Mitchell’s two-out double in the bottom of the ninth after Dean grounded out to finish the game. Hollander said not closing out games is a major part of why the Tigers lost Sunday’s game. “You need to win the seventh [inning], eighth [inning] and ninth [inning], and we didn’t do that today,” he said. After being defeated by the Tigers 13-6 on Saturday and 4-1 on Friday, Stropp said Sunday’s victory is important for the team’s confidence. “It’s nice not to get sweeped,” Stropp said. “You would like to go in and sweep or win the series yourself, but if you get beat two games, you’ve got to salvage at least one.”
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