Sophomore Mason Katz is defying the odds.
Originally not expected to return from a hand injury for at least another week, the outfielder-turned-first baseman went 3-for-5 with a home run and two doubles Saturday to cap the LSU baseball team’s (28-17, 7-14) sweep of Kentucky (20-15, 4-17) with an 8-4 win.
“I worked real hard with my injury doing everything I could do to make sure when I came back my swing would be as good as possible, and it’s paying off,” Katz said. “We have a chance to do something great this season and make a run late. We’re on our way.”
The Tiger pitching staff combined for only three strikeouts but induced 17 combined flyouts and popouts.
“I don’t think they were ready for exactly what we were going to throw, especially at the beginning of the game, just mixing pitches and letting them put it in play,” said senior pitcher Ben Alsup. “Our defense has been playing great and the bats have come alive in the last week or so.”
Alsup (6-4) surrendered four runs in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed only two runs before Kentucky senior right fielder Neiko Johnson delivered on a two-out RBI in the sixth inning. Alsup was then pulled for freshman pitcher Kevin Berry, who allowed an RBI double to the first batter he saw, sophomore catcher Luke Maile.
Berry buckled down, allowing just the one hit in 2 1/3 innings of relief.
“I thought Berry threw well,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “His slider was sharp, his fastball had some life to it and that was the Kevin Berry we’ve seen for most of the year.”
LSU took advantage of five Kentucky errors in the game, including three by junior Wildcat third baseman Thomas McCarthy, who was pulled in the fifth inning.
The Tigers immediately jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never trailed. Junior left fielder Trey Watkins walked and scored on a Katz RBI double to right field.
Katz scored on sophomore designated hitter Raph Rhymes’ RBI single. Rhymes moved to second on an error and scored after stealing third on an RBI single by junior third baseman Tyler Hanover.
“Katz really inspired our team,” Mainieri said. “I bumped him up to the two-spot today, and I just thought the way he was swinging to have him sit in front of Mahtook and have Rhymes after Mahtook that that would give us a really good heart of the order in the first inning.”
LSU scored one run in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
Kentucky notched two runs in the fourth inning to cut LSU’s lead to 4-2 on Johnson’s first double of the night and an RBI single by Maire.
With the Tigers nursing a 6-4 lead in the eighth inning, junior center fielder Mikie Mahtook added two insurance runs for junior pitcher Matty Ott with a two-run blast to left field.
“We couldn’t let up today,” Mahtook said. “Even though we won the series in the first two games, we had to come out and play today, and this game was just as important as the first two.”
Ott retired the Wildcats in order in the ninth inning to cap the sweep.