LSU baseball defeated UL Lafayette in an 18-inning exhibition 14-3. The exhibition started with a 10-inning game followed by an eight inning game.
The first two innings showed little action, led by pitcher Gage Jump with three strikeouts for the Tigers. Hayden Travinski registered a double in the bottom of the second inning, followed by three straight strikeouts.
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The third and fourth innings remained scoreless with Thatcher Hurd at the mound, tallying two strikeouts and finished with a spectacular backhand play by Ben Nippolt at third base. LSU failed to score on offense leaving two on base in the third and going hitless in the fourth.
In the fifth and sixth innings the Tigers continued their Ragin Cajun shutout alongside three strikeouts from Luke Holman on the mound. LSU continued to struggle at the plate, capped off by a running backhanded grab and a spinning throw from ULL’s shortstop.
Cam Johnson showcased a dominant pitching performance for the Tigers during the seventh and eighth innings, tallying six straight strikeouts, topping his fastball off at 97 mph. On offense, LSU earned their first run with a Jake Brown single, stolen base, and then a single from Travinski for Brown to score.
Action kicked off in the ninth inning, with the Ragin Cajuns tying the game following an error at third base from Nippolt and an error in left field from Mac Bingham allowing the runner on first to score.
The Tigers managed to find their stride in the bottom of the ninth, scoring three runs from a sacrifice fly deep into right by Travinski and a double from Josh Pearson.
In the 10th, with Justin Loer at the mound, the Tigers turned three quick outs. They continued their hot streak at the plate in the bottom of the 10th. Michael Braswell III tallied a single and followed it with a stolen base to get on second.
Mac Bingham followed with a single of his own, allowing Braswell III to score. Bingham stole second as well and advanced to third on an overthrow by the catcher. Nippolt hit a line drive single to left, allowing Bingham to score.
A soft grounder to shortstop by Milazzo caused an error by the Ragin Cajuns. Both Nippolt and Milazzo advanced bases following a wild pitch, and Paxton Kling walked, loading the bases for the Tigers.
All three of them were left on base following a Jake Brown pop out, ending the first 10 innings with the Tigers leading 6-1.
Game 2
Returning from break, Nate Ackenhausen took the mound, tallying three quick outs in the first inning and allowing one run in the second inning from a series of errors by the pitcher. In the bottom of the first, the Tigers added three runs.
Kling started being hit by pitch, and Brown followed with a single. Both runners advanced on an attempt to throw Kling out at third, and Kling scored following an overthrow on third base. Ethan Frey hit a double down the third base line, allowing Brown to score.
Austin Roellig entered the game as a pinch runner for Frey, stealing third base and scoring on a wild pitch over the catcher’s head, rounding out the first inning. In the bottom of the second inning, the Tigers were dealt with quickly following two strikeouts and a groundout.
Aiden Moffett took the mound for the Tigers in the third inning, making quick work off the Ragin Cajuns. Brown scored for the Tigers in the bottom of the third after registering a walk, a stolen base and a single from Ethan Frey.
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The Ragin Cajuns struck back, tallying a triple on Moffett at the beginning of the fourth inning. He scored following a wild pitch, but Moffett finished the rest of the batters quickly with two strikeouts and a groundout, but not before hitting a batter as well.
In the fifth inning, Christian Little took the mound, striking out two batters and causing a pop out to center. Mic Paul started the bottom of the fifth with a soft hit over the pitcher’s head, but after a Derrick Mitchell pop out, Paul was thrown out while stealing second base. The inning ended with an Austen Roellig strikeout.
Christian Little finished the sixth inning for the Tigers, and they failed to tally any runs. In the seventh and eighth innings, Micah Bucknam took the mound, allowing zero runs and finishing out the game.
The Tigers added a run in the bottom of the eighth inning with an RBI single from Steven Milam to finish out the exhibition.
The Tigers continue play next weekend at Alex Box Stadium in the Purple/Gold Exhibition World Series.
