On Thursday, LSU coach Paul Mainieri said junior right-hander Hunter Newman would receive “strong consideration” as the Tigers’ closer for the foreseeable future.
But Mainieri knew there could be situation against Missouri or in another game where Newman may need to come into the game before the ninth inning.
Clinging to 6-5 lead in the seventh inning after sophomore lefty Jared Poche’ allowed leadoff home run, Mainieri rolled the dice on Friday, inserting the veteran reliever he trusted.
“I didn’t know if he would be able to hold a one-run lead for three innings,” Mainieri said via telephone. “But I was willing to go all in and say, ‘I’m going to try this,’”
It paid off.
Newman retired nine of the 10 batters he faced, and the LSU offense grabbed a critical insurance run in the eighth to secure a 7-5 win in Game 1 at Taylor Stadium in Columbia, Missouri.
Newman’s dazzling nine-out save protected an opportunistic performance by the LSU bats. LSU only had three scoring innings, but a five-run fifth inning – all with two outs – sparked the road Tigers against Missouri starting pitcher Reggie McClain.
“I thought our guys just did a tremendous job against one of the very best pitchers in the league,” Mainieri said. “We just battled him hard and got some big hits.”
Missouri tagged two runs off Poche’ in the top of the first on first baseman Zach Lavy’s two-run triple into right field. Poche’, though, left Lavy at third base, ending the frame with a strikeout and a ground out.
LSU then manufactured a run in the top of the second, led off by consecutive singles from junior shortstop Kramer Robertson and sophomore designated hitter Bryce Jordan. With runners on the corners, junior catcher Michael Papierski chopped an RBI fielder’s choice to plate LSU’s first run.
Like Poche’, McClain stranded runners at first and second when freshman right fielder Antoine Duplantis went down swinging, keeping the score at 2-1.
Poche’ kept the Missouri offense mostly quiet through his next four innings. In the six innings he completed, the third-year southpaw pitched with at least one runner on in every inning but the fifth and ended four of his six innings with a man in scoring position.
However, Poche’ entered the sixth with 6-2 lead after his offense put up five runs off five hits in fifth.
After leaving a man at third base in the fourth, which was partially due to errant baserunning, LSU tacked on all of its runs in the fifth with two outs. Junior second baseman Cole Freeman led off with an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error.
Two batters later, Jake Fraley moved Freeman over to third base on a ground ball, setting up sophomore first baseman Greg Deichmann’s game-tying double into the left-center field gap.
Back-to-back singles from sophomore left fielder Beau Jordan and Robertson, whose bat hit drove in Deichmann, brought up Bryce with men on second and third base. Bryce hammered a 2-2 offering to straight-away center field, giving LSU a four-run cushion on a three-run home run.
McClain entered the game having not allowed a home run in 57.1 innings this season.
“Deichmman came through with a big hit and, of course, Bryce Jordan’s home run,” Mainieri said. “I think we had four consecutive two outs hits in that one inning, which was really awesome to see.”
Poche’ then provided a shutdown inning in the bottom half of the inning but ran into trouble in the sixth, entering on 73 pitches.
Missouri catcher Brett Bond drove in Lavy, who led off the frame with a double, with a one-out single. After Poche’ punched out third baseman Shane Benes, designated hitter Marquise Doeherty scored Bond from first base on a blooping double into shallow center field.
Poche’ then returned for the seventh but faced just one batter, as Missouri leadoff hitter and right fielder Kirby McGuire belted a solo home run. His night would end on 98 pitches, conceding five runs on nine hits while striking out five.
That’s when Mainieri called on Newman, and the righty kept the home Tigers at bay, allowing just a two-out single in the frame.
“At that point, I think we had scored six runs, and I felt like we’re not going to waste a tremendous offensive performance against one of the best pitchers in the league,” Mainieri said. I didn’t want to give up the lead there in the seventh inning after the kid hit the home run off Poche’, even though the lead was down to one run.
“I just didn’t want to go with somebody that was a lesser talent than Hunter Newman.”
Newman then retired Missouri in order in the eighth, ending the inning by striking out Deoherty on three pitches. Including a spinning fielding play by Robertson to record the second out, Newman picked up his second save of the year with a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth.
LSU and Missouri will begin Game 2 tomorrow at 2 p.m at Taylor Field. LSU sophomore right-hander and Missouri native Alex Lange will square off against Missouri righty Tanner Houck, who is fourth in the SEC in opponent’s batting average and seventh in earned run average.
“It’s going to be a great matchup,” Mainieri said. “You got Lange against Houck. I mean, anybody would want to pay to see that. It kinda reminds of last week a little bit. We had the big win [against] Vanderbilt in Game 1. Then, we had Lange against Kyle Wright the next night, and it turned out in our favor. Hopefully, we can see history repeat itself tomorrow.”