FINAL: BYU 9, LSU 4

Cougars hand LSU first loss of 2013

By HUNT PALMER
BBI Senior Writer

Early in this 2013 season LSU has produced some late-inning magic to earn wins.

Saturday night the hole became too great and the magic never showed as BYU evaded a winless weekend and handed LSU its first loss of the season, 9-4 at Alex Box Stadium.

Soft-tossing left hander Mark Anderson tied the Tiger bats in knots for six and a third innings, and his offense finally broke through with a huge five-run fifth inning to break a one-one tie.

“We were’nt taking great swings,” said Tiger senior Mason Katz. “He was balancing his fastball and curveball early and late. He was coming in to right handers and throwing his changeup 0-0. He was doing a really good job of keeping us off balance.”

Brent Bonvillain matched Anderson early in the game, cruising through four innings while allowing just one hit. In the fifth, though, he ran into some trouble as Brock Whitney singled in front a Kelton Caldwell’s double that zipped by a diving Katz at first.

A Dakota Hernandez sacrifice fly knotted the score at one, but a walk loaded the bags for leadoff man Jacob Hannemann who scorched a one-hopper right at Katz who fired home for the force out.

LSU coach Paul Mainieri yanked Bonvillain and went to junior righty Nate Fury who induced an inning ending ground ball to first from Hayden Nielson to extinguish  the threat.

Fury wasn’t so fortunate in the sixth.

BYU would send eight men to the plate, three of whom collected base hits to lead off the inning, but it wasn’t until nine-hole hitter Brennon Anderson dug in and drove one out to left that BYU really took a strangle hold on the game.

“(Fury) wasn’t getting his curveball over, and when he doesn’t get his curveball over he’s going to struggle because he doesn’t throw real hard,” Maineiri said.

By the time freshman southpaw Hunter Devall entered to get Hannemann looking, BYU had struck for five and really turned the heat up on LSU.

LSU would respond, though, as freshman Alex Bregman greeted new Cougar hurler Derek Spiegner by clubbing a two-run double to draw LSU nearer and wake up a subdued Alex Box crowd.

Raph Rhymes and JaCoby Jones would walk around a Katz pop up which loaded the bases and brought the tying run to the dish in the form of pinch hitter Tyler Moore. BYU went to James Lengal to face Moore, and the Cougar twirler popped Moore up to choke off the rally.

BYU would add two more in the eighth to send much of the home crowd home, and those remaining watched LSU show a little life in the ninth as Bregman and Rhymes singled in front of Katz who launched what appeared to be a home run off the bat but found its way into the glove of Hannemann on the left field track.

Jones and Moore went quietly thereafter as Lengal earned his first save of the season.

“For the 31^st consecutive year of my coaching career we won’t go undefeated,” Mainieri said. “That’s really all this game means. We go outplayed. They just took it to us tonight.”

LSU gets a chance to finsih the weekend on a high note as the Tigers and Southeastern Lions resume Friday’s rain delayed action in the bottom of the first at 1 pm Sunday. When play resumes, Katz will stand in with runners on the corners and two out in a scoreless game.

Junior Ryan Eades will retake the ball for LSU. He fired an inning that included a strikeout and a hit on Friday.

“Luckily for me I get to come in in the top of the second,” Eades said. “I’ll be aggressive. I felt really good (Friday). It’s unfortuanate that the rain hit, but I have to come back ready to play.”

Below is Hunt’s game blog.

It’s an awesome night for baseball at the Box. Temps are in the low 60s and the what’s left of the sun is shining. Tigers in the Sunday golds on this Saturday night. BYU in the road grays.

The Cougars are trying to fight off an 0-4 weekend after losing to Southeastern again this afternoon while the insanity ensued at the PMAC.

Brent Bonvillain gets the ball tonight for LSU. Only three lefties in the lineup for BYU, but they’re big ones. Hannemann, the lead off man, is the first, and Jaycob Brugman is the second. He drove in four runs Thursday night including a long 3-run homer off Aaron Nola. You would think the entire bullpen would be ready to go for LSU after having a night off.

BYU, on the other hand, should be low on arms having played four games in three days. That benefits LSU big time.

The arm they will use is lefty Mark Anderson. I’ll be interested to see how the top two in LSU’s lineup handle him.

BYU is not a bad team. I’d be surprised if they went down without a fight tonight.

How you’ve decompressed from hoops. Time for some Saturday night baseball.

Starting Lineups:

BYU 2-5

1. Jacob Hannemann LF .167
2. Hayden Nielson SS .167
3. Adam Law 3B .360
4. Jaycob Brugman CF .333
5. Brock Whitney 1B .227
6. Kelton Caldwell RF .261
7. Bret Lopez DH .222
8. Dakota Hernandez C .176
9. Brennon Anderson 2B .222

SP- Mark Anderson LHP

LSU 5-0

1. Chris Sciambra CF .500
2. Mark Laird RF .300
3. Alex Bregman SS .350
4. Raph Rhymes LF .333
5. Mason Katz 1B .211
6. JaCoby Jones 2B .417
7. Alex Edward DH .143
8. Ty Ross C .231
9. Christian Ibarra 3B .294

SP- Brent Bonvillain LHP

Top 1
Jacob Hannemann grounds to third. 1 out… Sharp breaking ball gets Hayden Nielson swinging. 2 out… Adam Law goes down looking. Great stuff from Bonvillain. Tigers coming up… LSU 0, BYU 0

Bottom 1
Sciambra takes six straight and walks… Laird pops up a bunt. Trying to drag again instead of get the ball on the deck. 1 out… Bregman taps to the mound. 2 out. Sciambra to second… Rhymes walks on four straight… Katz bloops a single just inside the right field line. Sciambra scores. Rhymes to 3rd. Corners. 1-0 LSU… Jones grounds in the hole to short. Strong throw just clips him. Tigers strike first… LSU 1, BYU 0

Top 2
First pitch swinging, Brugman lines sharply to left and Rhymes makes the charging catch near the knee. 1 out… Brock Whitney flies to center. 2 out… Kelton Caldwell singles up the middle… Bret Lopez bounces to second. Side retired… LSU 1, BYU 0

Bottom 2
Alex Edward chops to third. 1 out… Ross lines out to right. 2 out… Ibarra flies to center… We’ve played two… LSU 1, BYU 0

Top 3
Fastball nipped the inside corner. Dakota Hernandez is down on strikes. 1 out… Brennen Anderson lines to center. That was hit hard but right at Scimabra. 2 out… Hannemann takes a breaker down the chute. Bonvillain cruising. I love the way Bonvillain is filling up the strike zone. He’s got command of the heater and breaker. Really good sign from the senior… LSU 1, BYU 0

Bottom 3
Sciambra walks for the second time. Before fouling off 2 3-2 pitches, he’d taken 11 straight through two ABs. Kid gets it… Laird finally gets a bunt down. He’s out 1-4 and Sciambra moves to second. 1 gone… Bregman grounds to third. 2 out… Rhymes flies to right. Tigers waste the leadoff walk… 3 in the books… LSU 1, BYU 0

Top 4
Hayden Nielson flies to right. 1 out… Adam Law pops straight up. Ibarra makes the catch near the mound. 2 out… Brugman grounds to first. Kats tosses to Bonvillain for the out… LSU 1, BYU 0

Bottom 4
Katz pops to right. 1 out… Jones grounds to third. High throw, but the tag was applied. 2 out… Alex Edward cracks a double down into the left field corner… Ross hit it hard, but the liner held up for the RF. Moving right along…LSU 1, BYU 0

Top 5
Nice piece of hitting for Brock Whitney as hit slaps a single through the right side… Kelton Caldwell jumps on a 3-2 fastball and finds the gap in rightcenter. It’s a double. 2nd and 3rd with no one out… Bonvillain hit Bret Lopez, and now they’re loaded with no one out… Dakota Hernandez flies shallow, down the right field line. Really poor job by Laird of getting behind the ball. Probably didn’t have a chance at home anyway. Hit the cutoff man. Whitney scores. Caldwell to third. Lopez holds at first. Keeps the DP in order. 1 out. 1-1… Bonvillain walks nine-hole Brennon Anderson on a full count pitch. That reloads the bases… Hannemann hit it hard right at Katz who went home. Great dig by Ross for the force. 2 out. Bases still loaded… Nate Fury enters the game I relief of Bonvillain… Hayden Nielson fists a grounder to first. Damage limited. Especially with 3 and 4 coming up who can really hit… LSU 1, BYU 1

Bottom 5
Ibarra walks on four pitches. You get the feeling Anderson won’t make it through the lineup again… Sciambra sacs Ibarra over. He’s out 1-4. 1 out… Laird bounces to second. 2 out. Ibarra to third… Bregman walks on four pitches. Corners with 2 out… Rhymes grounds to 1st. Tigers strand a pair. This is a discouraging outing for the LSU bats. Anderson doesn’t throw hard, and I’m not picking up on any exceptional offspeed stuff. LSU just hasn’t had many good swings… We got to the 6th… LSU 1, BYU 1

Top 6
Law grounds to short. Bregman circles it nicely and throws to first for the out. 1 gone… Brugman is a really good hitter. He singles to center… Brock Whitney follows with a sharp single to left. 1st and 2nd… Kelton Caldwell spanks a double past a diving Katz and into the right field corner. That gives BYU the lead, and the Cougs have runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.2-1 BYU… Bret Lopez flies just deep enough to left to get another run home. 3-1 BYU… Fury walks Dakota Hernandez. 1st and 2nd with 2 out… Just like that….Anderson goes deep to left and BYU has broken it open on the walk on hurler. 6-1 BYU… Hunter Devall coming on… Devall gets Hannemann looking. Work to do for the LSU bats… BYU 6, LSU 1

Bottom 6
Katz goes to the track in left. All arms, though. He was out in front. 1 out… Jones pops foul. The pitcher went over there and made the play. 2 out… Edward grounds to short but it’s kicked. E6… Ross grounds to first… Really poor effort from the Tiger offense through six… BYU 6, LSU 1

Top 7
LaMarche takes over for Devall and walks Nielson… Law flies to left and it hits Raph’s glove. Somehow it’s scored a hit. Maybe the worst ruling of all time. It’s a double. 2nd and 3rd with no one out… Brugman flies to center that scores another. Law holds at second. 1 out. 7-1 BYU… Whitney pops to short. 2 out… LaMarche gets Caldwell looking. Nice inning for him. Stretch time… BYU 7, LSU 1

Bottom 7
Ibarra flies to left. 1 out… Sciambra is hit. He’s aboard again… Laird singles up the gut and that’s it for Anderson. Great work by the lefty tonight. He more than did his part… Sidewinder Derek Spiegner is on… Wild pitch moves the runners up 90… Bregman’s wallbanging double to left plates a pair. 7-3 BYU… Rhymes walks and the crowd is in it… Katz pops to first. 2 out… Jones walks and they’re loaded… Tyler Moore will hit for Edward. BYU goes to the pen for an over-the-top right hander… Moore flies to left. Left ‘em loaded… BYU 7, LSU 3

Top 8
Hunter Newman is the new LSU arm. He walks Bret Lopez… Dakota Hernandez drops down a bunt and Newman fires it into the LSU bullpen. Second and third with no one out. Just a poor showing by LSU tonight… Missile to left field plates two more for BYU. 9-3 BYU… Hannemann flies to left. 1 out… 6-4-3 double play gets Newman out of the inning… BYU 9, LSU 3

Bottom 8
Ross grounds to short. 1 out… Ibarra does the same. 2 out… Sciambra grounds to second. Kicked. E4… Laird grounds into the 6-4 fielder’s choice. Sciambra is out at second… BYU 9, LSU 3

Top 9
Russell Reynolds on. Let’s see what he’s got… Hot shot back at Reynolds, and it winds up in his glove. Law is out. 1 out… Brugman grounds to second. 2 out… Reynolds fans Brock Whitney. Not a bad inning for the freshman… BYU 9, LSU 3

Bottom 9
Bregman singles up the middle. He’s 2 for 4 with a walk… With Bregman on the move Rhymes lasers a single to center. Corners… Katz just missed again. Flies to the track in left. Rhymes back to 1st. Bregman scores. 1 out. 9-4 BYU… Jones bounces into a fielder’s choice. Rhymes is out 6-4. 2 gone… Moore flies to left. That’s it. LSU fall for the first time this year. BYU leaves BR with a win… Gametime: 2:57

FINAL: BYU 9, LSU 4