NATCHITOCHES, La. — Northwestern State took advantage of nine walks and a pair of LSU errors, then had to hold off a ninth-inning rally to hold on to a 10-8 victory on Wednesday night in Natchitoches, La.
Second-ranked LSU (28-11-1) returns to Southeastern Conference play on Friday at 7 p.m. when they welcome Vanderbilt to Alex Box Stadium for the first game of a three-game series. The Tigers are 12-6 in the SEC, one game ahead of Mississippi State and Tennessee and two games ahead of Georgia, Florida and Alabama.
Southland Conference leader Northwestern (30-12) takes on league foe Southeastern Louisiana in a Saturday doubleheader.
Ricky Solis led off the fourth by drawing a walk, and although he was retired on Jeramie Hale’s fielder’s choice, the Demons soon had runners on second and third after a single by Steven Adams and a passed ball by LSU catcher Matt Heath. Jordan Robison then came through with a two-run double just under the glove of LSU first baseman Bryan Moore to break the tie.
The Demons added an unearned run in the fifth thanks to a pair of LSU errors, as both Mike Fontenot and Ryan Theriot booted ground balls, eventually scoring Mike Hathaway.
The Tigers pulled to within 8-6 in the seventh when Robison dropped Zeph Zinsman’s fly ball, but true to LSU’s form recently, Wally Pontiff’s error on a routine ground ball that would have ended the eighth inning instead allowed the Demons to add two insurance runs.
In their last seven games, the Tigers have committed 24 errors — exactly one-third of their season total of 72 — that have resulted in 25 unearned runs against Tiger pitching. For the year, LSU pitchers have given up 52 unearned runs.
But the Tigers made one last stand in the ninth. Pontiff led off with a double, and soon he was doubled home by Moore to make it 10-7. A single by Todd Linden and a sacrifice fly by Zinsman pulled LSU to within 10-8, then Heath walked to put the winning run at the plate. Johnnie Thibodeaux fouled out to right and David Raymer flied to center to end the contest.
LSU got out to a quick 3-0 lead before Northwestern could get to bat. Theriot and Fontenot led off with back-to-back singles, and both runners moved into scoring position on Pontiff’s sacrifice.
A ground ball to second by Moore plated Theriot with the game’s first run, then Linden hit his 11th home run of the season to left center. Walks to Zinsman and Heath kept the inning alive for LSU, but any hopes for more runs ended when Ray Wright fanned to end the inning.
The Demons responded with a five-run second inning in which they sent 10 batters to the plate. Tyler Durham was hit by a pitch to open the frame, and two batters later, a single by Kelsey Tomyn put runners on the corners.
A fielder’s choice grounder by Mike Hathaway scored Durham, and Solis followed with an RBI double to bring home Hathaway to make it 3-2.
LSU starter Roy Corcoran then lost his control, walking Hale, Adams and Jordan in succession, with the pass to Robison scoring Solis with the tying run. Justin Hill replaced Corcoran but had no better luck, walking Brad hanson to bring home Hale with the go-ahead run, then uncorking a wild pitch to bring home Adams.
The Tigers pulled within 5-4 in the third on Zinsman’s home run, then tied the game in the fifth when Raymer, who reached on an error by Demon second baseman Ed Linck, scored on an error by Tomyn on Theriot’s ground ball to first.
Northwestern reliever Zach Sanches, who relieved starter Aaron Darcey with two out in the first inning, went 8 1/3 innings in relief to earn the win.