Austin Nola has done it again.
For the second straight day, the freshman shortstop came up with a huge single to help lead the Tigers to victory. This time, it was a one-out RBI single up the middle with the bases loaded to give LSU a 3-2 lead in the 10th inning.
The No. 1 Tigers (48-16) defeated No. 3 Baylor (30-25) by that same score in their first extra inning game this season.
“Coach told me to be aggressive, and I swung at the first pitch and completely missed it,” Nola said. “I knew that all I had to do was hit it out of the reach of someone, and it all ended up working out well.”
To get into the position to win the game, though, it took an All-American performance from sophomore right-hander Anthony Ranaudo, who went nine innings, throwing 130 pitches while giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits.
The Jackson, N.J., native also hurled 14 strikeouts to bring his season total to 138, the most of any Tiger since Kurt Ainsworth in 1999. His 138 strikeouts is also No. 10 all-time for a single season, as Ranaudo surpassed Randy Keisler’s 135 in 1998.
“If there’s a difference between a horse and a stallion, I would call him a stallion,” said Baylor coach Steve Smith.
Said Mainieri: “That was one of the greatest pitching performances I’ve ever witnessed with these settings and the stakes that were on the line. He basically put the team on his shoulders… It would have been a shame if we hadn’t pulled that one out.”
Ranaudo struck out at least one batter in each of the first five innings. Although he failed to strike out a Baylor batter in the sixth, he struck out the side in the seventh.
But the Tigers didn’t give the sophomore much run support, as they left 14 runners on base and had numerous missed opportunities. The top three in LSU’s lineup went a combined 0-for-13 with seven strikeouts.
“They didn’t swing the bats the way we would have liked them to,” Mainieri said “Those are your RBI guys… But I promise that all three will not have a tough night tomorrow night.”
Baylor right-hander Shawn Tolleson – who went four innings, giving up two runs on four hits while striking out two – kept the Tigers’ bats at bay early, retiring the first five he faced. But junior right fielder Jared Mitchell pegged a 3-2 pitch just over the right field wall for his ninth home run of the season to give LSU an early 1-0 lead.
“He threw strikes and stayed in the zone a lot,” Mitchell said. “I got a pitch that I got my hands to and was able to get a good hit, and it carried out of the park.”
The Tigers led off the fourth inning with back-to-back singles by sophomore catcher Micah Gibbs and freshman centerfielder Mikie Mahtook. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch before Mitchell drew a walk.
LeMahieu then grounded into a 6-5 fielder’s choice to score Gibbs and give LSU a 2-0 lead.
The Baylor southpaw relief pitching duo of Aaron Miller and Kendal Volz came in and shut down the LSU bats until the 10th. Miller, a possible future first-round draft pick, baffled Tiger hitters in his 3 1/3 innings of relief and finished his outing with no earned runs on three hits while striking out six.
“The only thing I would have liked to have gotten out of him was more innings,” Smith said. “He was pretty good out there tonight.”
Baylor got on the board in the bottom of the sixth on a solo home run by catcher Gregg Glime, his third of the season, to cut the lead to 2-1 in favor of the Tigers.
The Bears scored a run in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at 2-2 on an error by Hanover.
The Tigers had a chance to answer in the top of the ninth with two on and two out, but Gibbs grounded out to end the scoring chance.
Ranaudo struck out the side in the ninth, as he became the second LSU pitcher this season to go nine innings.
Mitchell drew a one-out walk in the top of the tenth and later stole second, movinghim to No. 4 in single season LSU history with his 32nd steal of the season. LeMahieu walked to put runners on first and second with one out.
Sophomore Sean Ochinko moved everyone up a base on a pinch-hit infield single.
Nola came up with a single up the middle to score a run and give the Tigers a 3-2 lead. Landry fouled out to the Baylor catcher for the second out of the inning, and Schimpf struck out for the third time of the night to end the inning with the bases loaded.
Freshman Matty Ott came on to get the save in the 10th inning, his 15th of the season, which breaks Rick Greene’s 1991 record of 14 saves.
The Tigers will face the winner of the 1 p.m. elimination game between No. 2 Minnesota and No. 3 Baylor tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m.
Senior right-hander Louis Coleman will get the start on the mound for the Tigers.To see a slideshow from the game, click here.
—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]