Cade Arrambide Hits LSU Record 4 HRs As Tigers Gorilla Ball Tennessee In Wild,16-6 Win In 12 Innings

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU catcher Cade Arrambide’s shin couldn’t feel any better.

The sophomore from Tomball, Texas, near Houston did not play last weekend because of a banged, bruised and sore shin, but it’s not like he needed to run at full speed through most of the Tigers’ 16-6 win at Tennessee on Sunday.

This is because Arrambide was the designated hitter – make that designated Home Run hitter. And he hit a school record four home runs, capped off by a grand slam for an 11-6 lead in the top of the 12th inning at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville to finish 5-for-6 with seven RBIs.

Cade Arrambide Is That Dude 🪄@ArrambideCade | #ThePowerhouse pic.twitter.com/zZCIIDUuxm

— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) April 5, 2026

And LSU (22-11, 6-6 Southeastern Conference) took the series two games to one with the win, following a 4-1 loss on Saturday with just five hits and a 7-5 win Friday.

The Tigers went all “Gorilla Ball” in this one, totaling a mammoth 19 hits and seven home runs in all on a plentiful Easter Sunday. The primal offensive explosion in the end erased four errors that had LSU in trouble again early and down 5-0 after three innings. The Tigers won for the fourth time through five games since last Sunday in which they trailed by three runs or more in the early-to-middle innings.

“That win is definitely up there in my coaching career,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said, even though he missed much of it as he was tossed in the ninth inning for arguing a delayed, called third strike on Arrambide of all people.

“I mean, what a comeback by our team,” he said. “I’m just so proud of our players. There were so many layers to what happened, and so many players making huge contributions to the win. What a special performance by Cade Arrambide, and there were so many guys who made clutch plays. This is important to them. We’ve fought a lot here lately, and this is a great weekend for our program.”

Steven Milam added a two-run home run after Arrambide in the 12th to cap off a 10-run inning on six hits off four pitchers as the Tigers sent 13 to the plate. The 10 runs are the most in LSU history in an extra-inning frame.

Ten runs are the most in an extra-inning frame in @LSUbaseball history.

Previous high was 7, which LSU had done twice:
5/6/94 at Auburn (10th inning)
5/25/97 v Long Beach (11th, LSU designated visiting team in NCAA Regional at The Box) https://t.co/nBJodz6X72

— Todd Politz (@tpolitz) April 5, 2026

LSU hit seven home runs in all, coming up one short of the game record of eight set in LSU’s 12-10 win over USC in a College World Series opener in 1998 – which was the peak era of home run “Gorilla Ball,” so much so that the NCAA significantly weakend the bats going into the 1999 season with the “LSU Rule.”

Also homering for LSU were John Pearson and Seth Dardar. LSU last hit seven home runs in a game in 2009. Milam finished 3-for-7 with three RBIs. Derek Curiel and Seth Dardar were each 3-for-6 with an RBI. Edward Yamin IV was 2-for-5 with an RBI after replacing an injured Omar Serna at catcher.

Arrambide’s third home run of the day was a solo shot in the top of the 11th inning that put the Tigers up 6-5. But Tennesee tied it 6-6 in the bottom of the 11th. Blaine Brown singled, reached second on a sacrifice bunt by Trent Grindlinger, touched third on a wild pitch by reliever Gavin Guidry and scored on Levi Clark’s deep fly to center field that looked for a moment like it was about to end the game.

The Tigers then took a 7-6 lead in the top of the 12th inning before Arrambide stepped up. Tennessee reliever Brayden Krenzel ignited the behemoth rally by hitting Yamin. Curiel then greeted left-handed reliever Chandler Day with a single, and Milam drove in the run with an infield single.

After John Pearson flew out to shortstop for the first out, Arrambide stepped up and hit his eighth home run of the season for the grand slam. After LSU trailed 5-0 after three innings, Arrambide cut that to 5-1 with his first home run of the day.

The Tigers drew within 5-4 in the seventh with some more home run history as Pearson, Arrambide and Dardar homered back-to-back-to-back – the first time LSU hit three consecutive homers since 2023.

While trailing 5-4 in the top of the ninth, Johnson was ejected for arguing the third strike call on Arrambide, whom Johnson likely thought was seeing the strike zone well on this day. But the Tigers still scored later in the inning on a two-out, RBI infield single to second base by Jake Brown to tie it 5-5.

Mason Braun led off the ninth with a pinch-hit single off left-handed reliever Brandon Arvidson, who proceeded to get a pop up from Pearson and struck out Arrambide on three pitches. With Johnson gone, Dardar kept LSU alive with a single to put runners on the corners. Arvidson hit Chris Stanfield to load the bases. Stanfield then beat a force-out throw to second base off Brown’s hit to tie it.

Grant Fontenot starts ahead of Gavin Guidry after all, but he and Zac Cowan give up 5-0 lead at Tennessee. https://t.co/FDpKfToNTl

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) April 5, 2026

Guidry, who was scheduled to start the game but was scratched for Grant Fontenot, retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to bring on extra innings. Guidry entered as LSU’s fourth pitcher with two on and two out in the seventh and got a deep fly out to left field from Henry Ford that just ran out of fuel to keep the Tigers within 5-4.

Guidry (4-3) pitched like a starter in relief as he limited Tennessee to two hits and one run with a walk and a strikeout over five and a third innings for the victory. Krenzel (0-1), one of the four Volunteer pitchers in the 12th and one of eight for the game, took the loss. Tennessee (20-12, 4-8 SEC) lost its fifth SEC game out of its last six.

LSU had a chance to take the lead in the top of the 10th when Curiel reached on a bunt single. Milam then singled to right field, and right fielder Reese Chapman let the ball get away from him. He recovered, though, and threw to second baseman Tyler Myatt, who fired home to get Curiel, who missed the plate. Curiel also missed or ignored the stop sign at third base.

Tennessee took its 5-0 lead in the third with five unearned runs after an error by first baseman Zach Yorke. Zac Cowan relieved LSU starter Grant Fontenot after one run scored and gave up a grand slam to Blaine Brown.

LSU hosts Bethune-Cookman (22-10, 10-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday before playing a three-game SEC series Friday through Sunday at Ole Miss (22-11, 5-7 SEC), which took two over the weekend at No. 21 Florida.