The No. 1 LSU baseball team escaped its showdown with in-state foe Southern, 4-2, in 10 innings Tuesday night.
After routing Ole Miss on Sunday, the Tigers (19-2) were shut down by Jaguar starting pitcher Tyler Robinson, but  they dug deep to escape
Lee-Hines Field with a victory.
The Tigers struggled hitting in the clutch in the early going. In the first two innings, LSU stranded three runners in scoring position, including starting the second inning with runners on second and third with no outs.
LSU went 3-for-18 with runners on base, including 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position in the game. The Tigers had a runner on base in each of the first six innings and couldn’t plate any of them home.
But in the eighth, things began to click. LSU sophomore left fielder Jake Fraley began the inning with a walk, advancing to third on a hit-and-run single by junior right fielder Mark Laird the next at bat.
LSU junior shortstop Alex Bregman delivered with runners on the corners,
reaching on a fielder’s choice to help the Tigers tie the game at one after trailing for four innings.
Southern (3-11) bounced right back in the bottom half of the eighth, plating the go-ahead run on a two-out, bases loaded walk issued by LSU sophomore pitcher Parker Bugg, giving the Jaguars a 2-1 lead. Bugg came into the game in relief for sophomore pitcher Alden Cartwright, who loaded the bases on a single and two straight walks.
The Tigers wouldn’t let up, tying the game at two in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by senior outfielder Chris Sciambra, extending the game to extra innings where the Tigers scored two more runs on two hits to take the 4-2 lead. 
Robinson pitched near shutdown baseball Tuesday night, going seven innings allowing three hits and one run with five strikeouts. He walked Fraley, who eventually scored on Southern pitcher Santos Saldivar, to exit the game after a gritty effort.
The Tigers’ inability to swing the bat efficiently comes as a surprise after tallying 19 hits in their blowout win Sunday and leading the SEC in batting with a .323 batting average. The absence of LSU senior infielder Conner Hale, who’s hitting .378 and has reached base in 19 of the 20 games he has played this season, may have played a vital role in the Tigers’ lack of
offensive success.
LSU sophomore starter Russell Reynolds began on fire, retiring the first six batters he faced. But with two errors by newly named infielder Foster in the third inning, the Jaguars began to jump on Reynolds.
Southern had a runner on second with a man down when Jaguars outfielder Lance Jones sent a ball Foster’s way. He was unable to handle the play and allowed the Southern runner from second to score, giving the Jaguars a
1-0 lead.
Foster, who just recently moved to second base in an effort to strengthen the Tigers’ lineup, committed two errors in the game, both coming in the third inning. Since Foster’s debut at second against McNeese State on March 11th, he kept a clean slate at the bag until Tuesday.
The Tigers have a quick turnaround as they now set their sights on a three-game series against SEC West foe Arkansas in Fayetteville beginning Thursday night.
You can reach Jack Chascin on Twitter @Chascin_TDR.