The LSU baseball team used some “Alex Box magic” and scored runs in the ninth and 10th innings to complete a 6-5 comeback against the Oregon State Beavers Sunday.
The victory propelled the Tigers to a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional at Alex Box Stadium next weekend. This will be the third time Alex Box Stadium has hosted an NCAA Super Regional in the past five years.
“It’s very exciting (advancing to a Super Regional), but we know we have to take it one step at a time here,” shortstop and the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player Austin Nola said. “We have very solid ball clubs all around us in the postseason, and we have to play our best every game. We had to play a very tough ball club in Oregon State, and we have a lot of respect for those guys how they played.”
Down 5-4 in the top of the ninth, LSU started its comeback bid when catcher Ty Ross belted a double to left-center field. Outfielder Alex Edward crushed an RBI double to the same area of the field, tying the score.
In the bottom half of the inning, reliever Chris Cotton pitched around a one-out double to send the game into extra innings.
Nola walked to start the top of the tenth and advanced to third after a double by second baseman JaCoby Jones. Nola then scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Oregon State reliever Dylan Davis.
Nick Goody preserved the win for LSU (46-16) by striking out the side in the bottom of the tenth. It was Goody’s 11th save of the year.
“Obviously, it was a tremendous victory for our team,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “It was truly a tremendous victory. This was a total team victory. It was tough. It was a grind out there, it really was.”
LSU will play the winner of Monday’s matchup between Central Florida and Stony Brook in Coral Gables, Fla.
CoverItLive Replay – http://www.tigertv.tv/2012/06/03/cover-it-live-%E2%80%93-lsu-baseball-regional-vs-oregon-state-championship-game/
Previous Games -
http://www.tigertv.tv/2012/06/03/lsu-defeats-oregon-state-in-baton-rouge-regional-game-4/
http://www.tigertv.tv/2012/06/02/lsu-defeats-ulm-4-1-in-baton-rouge-regional-game-
Contact:
Andrew Valenti, [email protected]
Patrick Clay, [email protected]
