The No. 16 LSU baseball team could have folded after surrendering four combined runs in the sixth and seventh innings to fall behind, 4-3.
But the Tigers weren’t going to surrender against No. 6 Cal State Fullerton (8-4) in front of a rowdy Friday night home crowd.
LSU (13-1) answered with four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and junior Matty Ott closed the game to become the all-time LSU saves leader with 30 as the Tigers battled back to win, 7-6.
“It’s definitely something cool to get it in such an exciting game like this,” Ott said. “It’s something I’ll never forget.”
Sophomore designated hitter Raph Rhymes started the eighth inning with a single to left field, marking the first hit for the Tigers since the third inning.
Junior center fielder Mikie Mahtook was intentionally walked after junior third baseman Tyler Hanover bunted for a base hit. Junior shortstop Austin Nola then hit an RBI single past first base to tie the game, 4-4, and sophomore right fielder Mason Katz drew a catcher’s interference to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead.
Junior first baseman Grant Dozar pinch hit for sophomore Alex Edward and looped a Texas Leaguer to left field for his first hit of the season, which brought in two more to give the Tigers a 7-4 advantage.
“I just tried to get the bat on it, and with the infield playing in, I knew it wasn’t going to take much,” Dozar said. “Thankfully, it just went right over the shortstop’s head.”
Ott gave up a two-run, two-out double in the ninth inning to cut the lead to 7-6 but retired the next batter to earn the historic save.
“That’s a tremendous honor for him, and I’m glad he’s in my class,” Hanover said. “I’m glad I got to experience that with him.”
Fullerton junior pitcher Noe Ramirez surrendered three runs in the first three innings and stymied the Tigers for the next four innings before getting pulled in the eighth inning with the bases loaded.
Ramirez surrendered six runs in seven innings, striking out nine, while LSU freshman Kurt McCune gave up three hits, no walks and one unearned run in six innings of work, tossing 106 pitches.
“McCune was absolutely fantastic,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “The whole key was he was getting his first pitches over for strikes.”
The Tigers struck in the first inning after McCune retired the side.
Hanover executed a perfect hit-and-run with a single up the middle to score Watkins, and a sacrifice fly later in the inning by Katz put the Tigers ahead, 2-0.
LSU extended the lead, 3-0, in the bottom of the third inning on an RBI base hit bunt by Katz down the first base line.
The Titans retaliated with one run in the top of the sixth inning following consecutive fielding errors by Hanover and freshman second baseman JaCoby Jones.
Fullerton made it 3-2 in the seventh inning using a perfect hit and run. Jones had to cover second base and a grounder went through the infield at his original spot. A bunt base hit tied the game and an RBI single to right field gave the Titans a 4-3 lead following a double steal.
Jones was involved in a collision in the ninth inning but played the rest of the inning and made the final putout of the game.