After a tense Friday night, LSU showed its resilience. The Tigers harnessed the power in their bats with another impressive middle-half rally, securing a series win and igniting hope for a potential series sweep on Saturday night.
Alabama struck first, giving them a single run to start. After giving up three hits through the first inning, it looked like another repeat of Game 2 against Texas, where Eyanson couldn’t find the rhythm of the hitters.
A quick mound visit from Jay Johnson in the first inning had Eyanson locked in on the mound, but not without some questionable calls from the home plate umpire, leaving the fans of Alex Box and Johnson in an uproar.
However, the Tigers’ determination shone through in the third and fourth innings. It all started with Daniel Dickinson’s single to third base, sending Chris Stanfield sprinting home to put LSU on the scoreboard.
Stanfield also hit his 12th SEC double of the season. Since Jay Johnson took over at LSU, the most anyone has hit is 12, Tommy White circa 2023. Stanfield did it in just 16 games since transferring from Auburn. Although he hasn’t hit any homers, the doubles continue to work for him.
After that, there was just a fire in the bats to keep the innings stretched out. The Tigers’ hitters’ sudden burst of energy and determination was a key factor in their success. During the fourth inning, Alabama switched pitchers with the hopes of shutting down the inning, but even after the switch, the Tigers still found ways to keep going around the bases for two more runs.
Back on the mound, Eyanson found the groove to keep going. With 60 pitches through the first two innings, there was a chance his start was going to get cut very short, very quickly due to a lack of strikes.
Something clicked late for Eyanson on the mound for a career-high 115 pitches and 12 strikeouts, which is quite the turnaround from such a shaky beginning. To start the sixth inning, relief pitcher Zac Cowan continued LSU’s streak.
Alabama could be contained by the LSU defense for five scoreless innings, leaving them in a 4-1 score until Cowan gave up a run in the top of the seventh. Still, Cowan came back in the eighth inning with three up and three down to finish off another scoreless inning for the Crimson Tide.
After a much-needed win 4-3 in Game 2, the Tigers look to continue the fire in the bats and the pitching right on the sweet spot Saturday at 5 pm. The Tigers will successfully walk away with a series sweep to regain much-needed confidence in the last game.
