By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
No. 1 LSU trailed Indiana, 5-4, going into the eighth inning at the JAX College Baseball Classic in Jacksonville, Florida, on Friday afternoon.
Then LSU jacked up its offense to jumbo size and scored nine runs in the eighth and won 14-7.
Senior transfer first baseman Zach Yorke launched a three-run home run to give the Tigers a 7-5 lead in the eighth, and LSU kept scoring. After Steven Milam and Cade Arrambide walked, Seth Dardar delivered an RBI double before Tanner Reaves’ bunt single scored two runs for a 10-5 advantage. Jake Brown added an RBI ground out, and freshman Mason Braun made it 13-5 with a two-run single.
“Yeah, it was a special inning,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “You know, it’s one you could put on videotape and go like, ‘This is how how you do it.’ It was a great performance up and down the lineup.”
The Tigers (6-0) collected 18 hits in all.
And reliever Gavin Guidry (2-0) picked up his second win in three appearances along with a save by getting LSU out of a jam in the seventh inning. He allowed no runs, one hit, no walks and struck out one in an inning.
Yorke finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs, as did Steven Milam. Braun went 3-for-3 with two RBIs.
Derek Curiel walked and Braun singled around a fly out to ignite the nine-run eighth. Then Yorke stepped up and hit a bomb to right-center field. It was the former Grand Canyon slugger’s third home run of the season.
“It was a fastball over the heart of the plate,” Yorke said.
LSU made it 14-7 in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Curiel.
Deep Dive Interview with new LSU Athletic Director Verge Ausberry on Lane Kiffin hire, Matt McMahon status and deficits:https://t.co/8dRUPywjHy
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The Tigers squandered several scoring opportunities before the eighth and left 15 runners on base.
“We hit a lot of balls hard today, executed with runners in scoring position,” Johnson said. “And even when we didn’t, we just kept taking so many quality at-bats, it almost didn’t matter.”
Indiana scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to take a 5-4 lead after Guidry replaced Cooper Williams with runners on the corners and nobody out. Guidry immediately struck out Caleb Koskie, but Will Moore’s ground out to second base tied the score, 4-4. Then Hogan Denny hit an RBi single for the lead. But Guidry put out the fire.
LSU scored two runs in the top of the fifth to take a 4-3 lead. After one out, John Pearson singled, reached second on a walk to Yorke and scored on a Milam RBI single to tie it 3-3. After a walk to Arrambide, Dardar walked with the bases loaded for the 4-3 lead.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a Milam RBI single. Yorke’s sacrifice fly in the third extended that to 2-0.
Indiana roughed up LSU starter Casan Evans in the bottom of the third with three runs on three hits and two walks. But Evans struck out the last two to get out of the inning.
The tournament continues Saturday with LSU playing Notre Dame at 11 a.m. and on Sunday with the Tigers playing Central Florida at 2 p.m.
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