Defensive, pitching struggles lead to series-opening loss at LSU
Pitching and defensive issues compounded to allow LSU to score nine runs between the third and fourth innings as the Tigers held on for a 10-6 win at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La., on Thursday night.
LSU’s Mac Bingham and Josh Pearson each hit home runs for the Tigers (21-10, 3-7 Southeastern Conference), both coming off Vanderbilt starter Greyson Carter, who allowed nine runs (seven earned) in 3 2/3 innings.
The Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak and won for just the second time in eight contests.
Vanderbilt’s Jonathan Vastine blasted a three-run home run in the fifth, the biggest blow of a Commodore comeback that fell short.
The Commodores (23-7, 6-4) fell to 0-4 on the road.
The good news for Vanderbilt: a mid-inning offensive surge helped the Commodores face starter Luke Holman from the game in the sixth for Griffin Herring—the Tigers’ best reliever—who threw 56 pitches in relief. The Commodore bullpen of Sam Hliboki, David Horn and Levi Heusman was also stellar, combining for 4 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run.
The bad news: Carter pitched poorly after a bad start, plus, the Commodores had two huge defensive gaffes--one, a botched potential double play in the middle of LSUs biggest inning and another error in the outfield that led to an eighth-inning insurance run. Meanwhile, Holman and Herring combined to strike out 16 Commodores and walk just one.
Neither team had a runner until LSU’s Pearson led off the third with a home run off Carter, who’d used just 15 pitches to get through the first two innings.
That was the beginning of disaster.
Carter walked Paxton Kling on a 3-2 pitch, Steven Milan dropped a bunt single down third and then Bingham hit a potential double-play grounder to Jayden Davis at second.
But Davis threw it over the head of Vastine at short, allowing an unearned run to score. Tommy White singled up the middle for another run and then Brady Neal slammed a two-run single to left for a 5-0 advantage.
Michael Braswell III grounded out for another RBI, completing a six-run inning.
Bingham slammed a two-out home run to left with two outs in the fourth, at which point things fell apart for Carter again. The next four hitters reached base, two runs scored and Carter was removed for Sam Hliboki to finish the fourth.
Vanderbilt didn’t get a runner on until Davis Diaz singled to right with two outs in the fifth. Davis drove him in with a single and then Vastine's three-run home run got the Commodores closer.
Jack Bulger, pinch-hitting for Troy LaNeve, hit the fourth of successive sliders from reliever Herring for a single to right-center to get the Commodores within four.
Davis followed with a double to left to cut the deficit by another run. But the Commodores left the bases loaded in the sixth as Herring found a groove and finished the evening for a save after Vanderbilt stranded two more in the ninth.
The Tigers got an insurance run in the eighth when a ball rolled under Calvin Hewett’s glove in center, allowing Bingham to score from first on a Jared Jones single.
The teams play Game 2 on Friday night at 7 Central.
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