With LSU playing in its fifth game of the Southeastern Conference tournament and second game of the day, the Tigers needed a pitcher to step up with a big performance to carry the team to the final game.
LSU senior pitcher Nolan Cain did just that, as he was outstanding for the Tigers, going five 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on three hits while striking out five.
The No. 1 Tigers advance to the SEC tournament final against No. 8 Vanderbilt at noon Sunday with the victory. LSU lost to Vanderbilt, 4-1, in the first round of the tournament.
Cain entered the game with a 4-0 record and a 4.94 ERA in 23 2/3 innings pitched.
The senior ran into trouble in the first inning, loaded the bases with one out before giving up a run on a sacrifice fly to give Georgia the early 1-0 advantage. However, he settled down in the next four innings, getting four straight three-up, three-down innings, including retiring 14 in a row at one point.
The Tigers tied up the score in the bottom of the third when junior designated hitter Blake Dean blasted a double to score junior first baseman Ryan Schimpf to tie the score at 1-1. Dean was tagged out trying to take third base.
LSU got two more runs in the fifth when sophomore catcher Micah Gibbs delivered his fourth and fifth RBI of the tournament on a one out single to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead. With the single, Gibbs extended his hitting streak to 14, which tied sophomore second baseman DJ LeMahieu for the longest of the season.
The Tigers had a chance to bring in more runs, but LeMahieu grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning with the bases loaded.
After a long time between the fifth and sixth innings because of two UGA pitching changes, Cain struggled in the sixth inning. He gave up a single to score a run and cut the score to 3-2 before being pulled in favor of sophomore Chad Jones.
LSU had another chance to score when sophomore left fielder Leon Landry delivered a single up the middle with freshman Tyler Hanover on second base, but Hanover was gunned out at the plate by UGA center fielder Matt Cerione to keep the score at 3-2.
 
GAME ONE
All it took was a seven-run first inning that lasted four hours and 45 minutes thanks to a four and a half hour rain delay for LSU to propel itself to a 16-0 victory in seven innings and force an elimination game against Georgia.
“This is the longest rain delay in the middle of a game that I can ever remember being in,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said in a post game radio interview.
The Tigers’ runs in the first all came with two outs – as they batted through the lineup, getting seven hits off Georgia southpaw Alex McRee, who went 2/3 of an inning, giving up seven runs on seven hits.
LSU also got four runs in the fifth with two outs – six total runs in the inning – to blow the game open.
LSU sophomore right-hander Daniel Bradshaw got the start on the mound for the Tigers.
Bradshaw entered the game with a 3-0 record and a 3.62 ERA in 21 appearances with 28 strikeouts.
The sophomore went seven innings giving up three hits and no runs.
“He has pitched very well his last few times out,” Mainieri said. “Him giving us a complete game was absolutely huge.”
LSU first baseman Sean Ochinko got an infield single with the bases loaded and two outs on a hit that went off home plate and allowed junior left fielder Ryan Schimpf to score to open the first inning. Freshman Tyler Hanover was hit by a pitch to score another run, putting LSU up, 2-0.
Junior right fielder Jared Mitchell then delivered a two-RBI single through the right side of the infield.
Freshman shortstop Austin Nola got two-RBI on his first triple of the season and later scored on a single by fellow freshman second baseman DJ LeMahieu to give LSU its seventh run of the inning.
Rain then delayed the game for more than four hours with LeMahieu on first and two outs.
Bradshaw started the game nearly five hours after his initial bullpen session before the start of the game.
The sophomore came on in the first inning and retired three of the four batters he faced, striking out one. The only batter to reach came on an infield single by UGA leadoff hitter Johnathan Taylor.
He then got three three up, three down innings.
The Tigers got six runs on six hits in the top half of the fifth inning. Four of those runs came with two outs.
Ochinko led off the inning with a double in the left centerfield gap before Hanover singled to move Ochinko to third. Mitchell then hit into a 4-6 fielder’s choice to score Ochinko and put LSU up, 8-0.
Nola moved Mitchell to third on a hit and run single, his third hit of the game.
Later in the inning, Schimpf hit his 17th home run of the season, a two-run blast to put LSU up, 11-0.
Dean followed with a double and scored on a double by Gibbs, putting LSU up, 12-0. Mahtook followed with a two-out single to score Gibbs and put LSU up, 13-0.
In all, LSU batted around three times in the game.—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]