SHREVEPORT, La. — David Raymer’s two-run double in the top of the ninth inning helped LSU overcome its second deficit of the game as the Fighting Tigers edged Centenary, 7-6, on Wednesday night at Fairgrounds Field.
LSU (7-1) won its 20th consecutive game over the Gents (4-7), the Tigers’ longest streak against any opponent. Centenary hasn’t beaten Louisiana’s flagship university on the diamond since 1956.
LSU (No. 3 ESPN/Baseball Weekly and Collegiate Baseball, No. 5 Baseball America) will open a three-game series on Friday at 7 p.m. against the Houston Cougars. The Tigers swept the Cougars in a three-game series in Baton Rouge last year by scores of 9-4, 4-1 and 14-6, but Houston still holds a 17-10 edge in the all-time series.
Matt Heath led off the LSU ninth with a single through the right side of the Centenary infield, and after Dustin Hahn was called out on strikes, J.C. Holt drew a full-count walk.
Pinch hitter Jason Vargas flied out to right field for the second out, and Raymer also went to a full count before going the opposite way to left-center to score Heath and Holt.
Centenary’s Patrick Beale reached on Rocky Scelfo’s second error of the game to start the bottom of the ninth, but Brian Wilson retired the next three batters to improve his record to 2-0 and LSU’s record in one-run games this year to 3-1.
The Tigers were cruising along with a 3-0 lead before things began going sour in the sixth. Ryan Green led off with a single, and with one out, LSU reliever Brad David balked Green to second and walked Ande Collup and Larry Branson to load the bases.
David threw home to retire Green on Dan Davenport’s ground ball, and he appeared to be out of the inning when Tony Cardone grounded to Scelfo at short. But Scelfo bobbled the ball, bringing home Collup with the Gents’ first run.
The error proved to be deadly to LSU, as J.W. Pate followed Cardone by lacing a bases-clearing double into the left-center field gap to put Centenary ahead 4-3.
LSU regained the lead in the top of the seventh as Clay Harris reached on a leadoff single, then two batters later, Hahn launched a two-run pinch hit home run off of Gents’ reliever Nick Waak to give the Tigers a 5-4 edge.
Hahn’s home run, the first of his career, marked the third time in as many games LSU has had a pinch-hit home run.
The lead wouldn’t hold up, as with two out, Collup doubled to the opposite field in left-center to score Green with the tying run, then Branson knocked in Collup with a single to give the Gents a 6-5 lead.
The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the third. Jason Columbus led off with a single, and after Chris Phillips’ double put runners on second and third, back-to-back ground outs by Raymer and Scelfo brought the runs home.
Eric Wiethorn extended LSU’s lead to 3-0 in the fifth with a towering leadoff home run over the 20-foot high wall in left field, the first of Wiethorn’s career.
Jason Determann was a last-minute starter for LSU in place of Chad Vaught, who came up with an injury while warming up. The true freshman southpaw from Baton Rouge struck out three and allowed two hits in three scoreless innings.