LSU stays alive, beating Wofford 13-6 on Sunday afternoon in an elimination game in the Chapel Hill regional. After trailing 5-0 at the end of the first inning, the Tigers chipped away and finally regained control in the seventh inning and never looked back.
Starting pitcher Nate Ackenhausen lasted only two outs before Griffin Herring was brought in as relief and delivered a superb outing to shut down the potent Terrier offense. Herring ended the game with five hits, seven strikeouts, zero walks, and one earned run in 6 and a third innings, stabilizing LSU’s mindset and giving the offense the confidence to get the ball rolling.
Kade Anderson and Will Hellmers came in to close the game out cleanly in the eighth and ninth.
At the plate, it was an excellent all-around effort, with eight players tallying multiple hits and Drew Pearson leading the way with three hits, coming in the form of two doubles, and a home run to go with a walk. Of LSU’s 21 hits, only three were doubles and one was a home run. The Tigers’ batts came alive at the right time to extend the season on Sunday. LSU left 11 runners on base in the win.
Wofford had two costly errors as well, keeping the Tigers’ momentum rolling in key spots. Meanwhile, it was a mostly clean game from LSU once it settled in after the hectic first inning.
LSU will now face North Carolina on Sunday at 5 p.m. in a must-win game for the Tigers to force a deciding game against the Tar Heels on Monday.
The task is to regroup and take on the No. 4 seed in the country on their home field and beat them twice. LSU’s pitching is surely shorthanded with Gage Jump, Luke Holman, and now Griffin Herring expended, but perhaps the bats gained enough confidence from this game to carry over into the second game of the day. Regardless, LSU knows it has the talent and the mental toughness to get the job done, but it’s going to take two more strong showings to survive and advance.
“This is a little more than what we did in Hoover, but it’s the format,” Jay Johnson said on Saturday night. “We knew that going in. That’s why we threw Gage yesterday and Luke today, so that we didn’t have to do that. It’s my first time in four years I haven’t been sitting on 2-0, but the best wins I’ve had in my career, including Omaha last year, came in elimination games. I have full confidence in our team we will execute. Our goal isn’t just to get out of here now. Our goal is to have the best day we’ve had as a team tomorrow.”
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