HOOVER, Ala. — It’s Hoover magic.
LSU was on the brink of elimination, down 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth of against Auburn in Southeastern Conference Tournament.
But then the Hoover magic happened.
Freshman pinch hitter Giovanni DiGiacomo lead off the ninth with a single and sophomore catcher Saul Garza followed with a single of his own and advancing to second on the throw, forcing Auburn to switch pitchers.
A wild pitch scored DiGiacomo and an errant throw scored pinch runner Drew Bianco to end the game.
“It was pretty crazy when I scored and I see everyone jumped up,” Digiacomo said. “And then I see everyone kind of start coming out and I turned to my right to look where Drew is and the throw was wild and I saw Drew coming and I waved him down, telling him to slide. He was in there.”
The Tigers from Baton Rouge led for most of the game, which turned out to be a pitching battle for the first six innings.
Junior shortstop Josh Smith once against lead off the game with a stand up double to right field and advanced to third on Antoine Duplantis’ groundout. Smith scored on a grounder from Zach Watson to give LSU an early 1-0 lead.
Neither team could get anything going offensively again until the top of the seventh inning. Freshman right-hander Landon Marceaux pitched a gem for the Tigers after getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning. Through six shutout innings, he allowed seven hits and no earned runs.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri said the Tigers wouldn’t have been able to do what they did if Marceaux didn’t pitch as well as his did to eat up 6.2 innings.
“I felt like I really needed to carry this team today,” Marceaux said. “Get on my back and lets go.”
Despite Marceaux’s work on the mound, the LSU defense allowed the lead off run on base with a throwing error. An RBI single and double later gave Auburn a 2-1 lead.
LSU tied the game in the bottom half of the inning when senior second baseman Brandt Broussard drew a lead off walk and stole second. Smith’s RBI single to center field made it 2-2.
Auburn responded immediately with a double from Scheffler and an RBI single from Edouard Julien to give the opposing Tigers the 3-2 lead going into the ninth inning.
“I felt like since I’ve been a kid, I’ve been watching games like that from LSU a number of times,” Smith said. “We’ve been down before and we’ve had some people step up for us.
“In a big game like this in the SEC Tournament, to do it, it’s a special moment. Nobody thought we were going to lose this game. We got two runners on an Brandt [Broussard] lined out somebody might have just said, ‘Oh bad luck.’ But we kept batting. Huge base running by those guys. I feel like it happens every time LSU is here.”
The Tigers will return to the Hoover Met tomorrow for the late game. Coach Paul Mainieri will working with a depleted pitching staff for the rest of the tournament following a 17 inning loss to Mississippi State.
“Obviously we’re happy to stay another day in Hoover,” Mainieri said. “I told the players after the game that there’s saying in baseball that everyday you show up to the field, you’re liable to see something you’ve never seen before.
“I can’t recall in 37 years that I’ve ever seen a walk-off win with two runs scores on a short wild pitch. After last night, we’ll take whatever we can get.”
Junior infielder Josh Smith awaits the pitch during LSU's 4-3 win over Bryant on Feb. 24 in Alex Box Stadium.
