LSU sophomore catcher Micah Gibbs showed up at Alex Box Stadium on Tuesday to learn that junior Sean Ochinko would be the team’s catcher against Northwestern State.So with a night off at his disposal, Gibbs took to the batting cages to work out some of the troubles at the plate that have plagued the Pflugerville, Texas native.Gibbs showed off some of the things he worked on earlier in the day with the score tied at one in the bottom of the ninth and ripped a 2-2 pitch into center field, allowing senior Derek Helenihi to score from third base to secure a 2-1 LSU win.”Micah Gibbs cares so much that sometimes he just holds on too tight,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “I had every confidence that he was going to come through there for us, and maybe that will be a big lift for him that will vault him into the rest of the season.”Gibbs said he studied how the Demons’ pitchers were challenging the Tiger batters in the first eight innings, and that helped him collect the game-winning hit.”On the bench, you can really watch the pitchers and how they handle the batters,” he said. “I really paid attention to how the righty pitchers faced the lefty batters and vice versa because I am a switch hitter, but little things like that help keep you into the game.”Gibbs was not the only struggling Tiger to come through in the ninth inning for the Tigers.Junior outfielder Blake Dean led off the inning with a single.”I’ve been around Blake Dean for two, almost three years,” Mainieri said. “That kid’s one of the best kids I’ve ever coached, and I will never give up on Blake Dean.”Things looked promising for the LSU offense early on as the Tigers struck for a first-inning run off Demons junior pitcher Ryan Zimmerman to take an early 1-0 lead.LSU junior outfielder Jared Mitchell led off the game with a single. Mitchell stole second and third base in the inning before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Dean.The Demons added a run of their own in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher Miles Parsons.That run was the only one allowed by LSU freshman pitcher Chris Matulis, who pitched five innings and allowed six hits and struck out seven hitters.Matulis’s effort earned him a no decision and snapped the Boynton Beach, Fla. native’s three-start win streak to open the season.But Zimmerman was just as dominant as Matulis and allowed just four hits in his five innings of work.Neither team recorded a hit from the sixth through eighth innings as the team’s bullpens were just as dominant as their starters.Sophomores Daniel Bradshaw and Jordan Nicholson combined with freshman Matty Ott to pitch four perfect innings of relief for LSU.Ott was on the hill for the first time since surrendering a ninth-inning home run last week to break a tie game against Louisiana-Lafayette.Ott said with his second chance in a tie game, he wanted to show he had not lost his confidence.”After that guy hit the home run last week, I finished the inning well,” Ott said. “But [tonight] gave me a good feeling again.”The Tigers return to action tonight at 6:30 p.m. to take on McNeese State at Alex Box Stadium.The Cowboys come into play with a 9-7 record, but McNeese State has lost four-straight games, including being swept last weekend in a three-game series by Southeastern Louisiana.- – – -Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]