BATON ROUGE — Second baseman Clay Harris’ leadoff walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth lifted 12th-ranked LSU over No. 22 Ole Miss, 7-6, in a tense game at Alex Box Stadium on Saturday.
The Tigers (25-12, 6-8) snapped a five-game Southeastern Conference losing streak and won their 12th come-from-behind game of the season. The Rebels (24-11, 7-7) suffered the defeat after pounding out 14 runs on 18 hits on Friday.
The rubber game will match junior left-hander Greg Smith (4-2, 3.29) against junior southpaw Eric Fowler (2-1, 3.76). First pitch on Sunday is scheduled for 1:07 p.m. and will be broadcast statewide on Cox Sports Television.
“We got a timely hit, but still not that timely hitting,” said head coach Smoke Laval. “We get 17 hits with seven runs, and you would think you would have more with that. We have had back-to-back days with nice offense and that is something we haven’t seen in awhile.”
Harris, who connected for a grand slam on Friday, finished the day a perfect 4-for-4 with a homer, two runs and one RBI. The walk-off clout in the ninth came off of a 2-2 high fastball offered by reliever Tommy Baumgarder.
“He gave me some pretty good pitches where I was just happy to get the bat on (and foul off) during the at-bat,” said the senior. ” I was just happy to get the bat on it and drive it out of here. I was able to see a lot of pitches that he had, so the more pitches I saw the more comfortable I got up there (at the plate).”
Baumgardner (1-1) suffered his first loss of the season one day after earning a victory in 1.2 scoreless inning of relief on Friday night.
Chris Jackson, Blake Gill and Nick Stavinoha collected three hits apiece in the 17-hit LSU attack — the most by the Tigers in an SEC contest this season.
Jackson, who serves as the football team’s place kicker and punter, arrived to the field 45 minutes before first pitch following the conclusion of the spring scrimmage in Tiger Stadium.
The River Ridge, La. native extended his hitting streak to a team-high seven games and displayed excellent defense at third base with four assists.
Jason Determann (2-0) earned the win in relief of starter Clay Dirks. Dirks allowed four runs on five hits in 4.1 innings.
For the second consecutive game, LSU took an early 2-0 lead in the first when Gill scored on a wild pitch, and Matt Liuzza delivered a two-out RBI single to left off of starter Matt Maloney.
Gill set up the frame, singling sharply off of Maloney’s ankle and into centerfield. The Tigers could have added another run, but shortstop Zack Cozart made a spectacular over-the-shoulder grab on Quinn Stewart’s flair to shallow left field.
Maloney surrendered a leadoff double to Will Harris and an RBI single to Jackson in the second inning.
LSU led 3-0 heading into the top of the fourth when Dirks faced his first jam. Two singles in the frame, including an RBI hit to left by Jon-Jon Hancock put the Rebels on the board.
Dirks’ day abruptly ended four batters into the fourth. Alex Pressley pounded a leadoff double into the gap, and Cooper Osteen smashed a single to left to cut the lead in half at 4-2. After allowing a fielder’s choice to Chris Coughlan, Dirks yielded to Determann.
With two outs Determann intentionally walked Brian Pettway — the SEC’s leading hitter. Wright then reversed the momentum of the game, belting a bases-clearing three-run double into the gap to give Ole Miss its first lead at 5-4.
The Tigers had Maloney on the ropes in the fifth but once again could not find a timely hit. The first two batters of the frame reached base, followed by Liuzza’s sacrifice bunt. Stewart and Will Harris were retired in order, and Maloney escaped trouble again.
Back-to-back hits off of Determann to start the seventh increased the Rebels advantage to 6-4.
But in the bottom half of the seventh, LSU finally broke through and knotted the game at six apiece. Stavinoha drilled a solo homer to start the frame and ended Maloney’s day after allowing five runs on a season-high 13 hits.
Anthony Cupps entered the game and immediately surrendered a double down the left field line to Clay Harris. Three batters later, Will Harris stepped to the plate in front of a raucous crowd after Laval was ejected for arguing balls and strikes.
Harris delivered the clutch hit, sending a line drive into left field to score his brother.
With a runner at third and only one out, pinch hitter Derek Hebert flied out to right field, in what surely looked to be a sacrifice fly to score Bruce Sprowl. Pettway came up firing in right field, and Sprowl was tagged out after missing home plate in an effort to avoid the tag.
The game remained tied at 6-6 entering the ninth after Determann pitched the final two innings flawlessly.
“It seemed as if Determann turned it up a notch late in the game,” said Laval. “I heard his curveball had late life and break on it and his offspeed (pitches) were better.