In a game that LSU seemed willing to hand over to Rice thanks to three early errors, it was the bat of Ryan Schimpf that pushed LSU’s offense to full throttle in a six-run fifth inning that propelled the Tigers to a 12-9 victory.
The junior left fielder blasted his 19th home run of the season with LSU down, 4-2 — a three-run shot over the right-centerfield fence to put a charge into the Tigers’ offense and give LSU a 5-4 lead that it would not relinquish.
Schimpf added another run on an RBI double in the sixth inning and finished the night 2-for-4 with 4 RBI and three runs scored.
With the victory, LSU (50-16) got their first 50 win season since 2000, when they last won a national championship. It was also the first time LSU defeated Rice in regional or super regional play.
“I wasn’t looking for a homer,” Schimpf said. “I was looking to drive something up the middle, but I got a good swing on it.”
The early going was rough for LSU, as the Tigers went down early, 3-0, on three unearned runs on three errors behind starting right-hander Anthony Ranaudo
LSU entered the game ranked No. 18 in the nation with a .974 fielding percentage. The last time LSU committed four errors in the postseason was in the 2001 regional against Virginia Commonwealth. The Tigers won that game, 13-9.
“We’re happy we got the victory,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “But I don’t think we’ll archive the video and put it out as an instructional tape.”
Ranaudo got off to a hot start with a three-up, three-down first inning before the errors started in the second when Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon doubled into the right-centerfield gap and scored on an error on an overthrow to third base by LSU freshman shortstop Austin Nola during a rundown on a routine ground ball to Ranaudo hit by Rice right fielder Chad Mozingo.
Mozingo moved to third on the overthrow, which went out of play, and later scored on a sacrifice fly to put Rice up, 2-0, on the unearned runs.
Rice got another unearned run in the fourth when Rendon, the Collegiate Baseball Freshman of the Year, reached first on a fielding error by freshman third baseman Tyler Hanover with one out and moved to second on a throwing error by Ranaudo on a pickoff attempt.
Ranaudo then got Mozingo to go down swinging before allowing left fielder Michael Fuda to single up the middle to score Rendon.
The Jackson, N.J., native would give up a home run in the fifth to Rice center fielder Steven Sultzbaugh, but controlled the Owl bats for the rest of the game, finishing with 7 2/3 innings of work, giving up one earned run on five hits while striking out nine.
The nine strikeouts moved him to 147 on the season, which is No. 7 all-time in LSU history for a single season.
“We did a decent job of hitting him,” said Rice coach Wayne Graham. “But he throws the ball very well.”
After the home run to Sultzbaugh, the Tigers’ bats came alive.
Hanover led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double down the left field line. Nola was hit by pitch to put two on with none out. LeMahieu singled to score Hanover from second.
The runners moved to second and third on a wild pitch before Rice starting pitcher Mike Ojala — who gave up four earned runs on four hits and four strikeouts in four-plus innings after entering the game with a 1.73 ERA – was replaced by freshman southpaw Taylor Wall.
Schimpf then blasted the home run to put the Tigers on top, 5-4, on the second pitch he saw from Wall.
Junior designated hitter Blake Dean singled and moved over to second on a sacrifice by sophomore catcher Micah Gibbs. Freshman centerfielder Mikie Mahtook singled through the left side of the infield to put runners on the corners with one out.
Rice right-hander Matthew Reckling came on in relief of Wall, who lasted 1/3 of an inning giving up three runs on three hits.
Ochinko ripped a double down the third base line to score two runs, moving the score to 7-4 in favor of the Tigers.
The Tigers got two more runs in the sixth.
LeMahieu walked to lead off the inning and was driven in on a double by Schimpf, who moved to third on a throwing error by the Rice centerfielder.
Dean hit a sacrifice fly to score Schimpf to give LSU a five run lead, 9-4.
Rice got a pair of runs in the top of the eighth on a two-run homer by Rendon, his 20th of the season, to cut the Tigers’ lead to 9-6.
LSU got three runs in the eighth to take a 12-6 lead.”They did a great job of hitting, so you’ve gotta give ’em credit,” Graham said. “Too many bad pitches. Too many mistakes on the mound.”Rice would add three more runs, but they would not be enough.
Senior Louis Coleman will get the start on the mound for the Tigers tomorrow against Rice right-hander Ryan Berry.
To watch a video of Coaches Mainieri and Graham’s post game press conference, click here.
To watch Ranaudo, Ochinko and Schimpf discuss game one, click here.
—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]