BATON ROUGE — Behind a complete game by Jeff Little, Vanderbilt defeated LSU ace pitcher Lane Mestepey, tagging the left-hander for five runs and nine hits as the Commodores (12-4, 1-1) evened their Southeastern Conference series with a 9-2 rout of the Fighting Tigers (14-7, 1-1) Saturday at Alex Box Stadium.
The teams will play the rubber game of the series at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, with LSU men’s basketball coach John Brady throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. The game will be televised on a tape delay basis in Baton Rouge only starting at 7 p.m. on Cox Cable Channel 4.
Mestepey, who gave up seven runs on 10 hits in last year’s 7-5 setback to Vanderbilt, struggled with the Commodores again, taking his second loss in the last six days and his first as a starter since last May 4 at Arkansas.
Mestepey retired the side in order in the first, but he gave up a leadoff single to Sean Luellwitz to start the second. Luellwitz went to second on a passed ball, then scored on a two-out single by Worth Scott for the Commodores’ first run of the series.
Matt Heath tied the game for LSU in the bottom of the third with a solo home run, but Vanderbilt would then put the game away by scoring two runs in the fourth and fifth off of Mestepey.
Tony Mansolino led off the fourth with an infield hit, and John Kaye immediately gave the Commodores the lead for good with a two-run homer to the opposite field in left. Vanderbilt could have scored more in the innings, as Luellwitz and Cesar Nicolas had singles after the home run, but Mestepey got Scott to pop up and fanned Jonathan Douillard to end the inning.
The reprieve was brief, as Scott Vanderhoff and Karl Nonemaker started the fifth with back-to-back bunt singles, then moved up on Mansolino’s sacrifice. Kaye’s sacrifice fly and Luellwitz’ sacrifice fly would score the runners to increase the Commodore lead to 5-1.
LSU tried to get back in the game in the sixth, as Wally Pontiff singled home J.C. Holt, and the Tigers had two runners on with two out, only to have the threat end when Sean Barker flied out.
Outside of the home run and the sixth inning, LSU got only one runner to third base in the other seven innings, and that was on Heath’s seventh-inning double.
Commodore pitcher Jeff Little went the distance to improve to 4-1, allowing just six hits and one earned run.
Lukas Guidroz relieved Mestepey in the seventh and could not get a batter out, walking Vanderhoff and Nonemaker before giving up another bunt single to Mansolino to load the bases. LSU reliever Weylin Guidry uncorked a wild pitch to score Vanderhoff before another sacrifice fly by Luellwitz put Vanderbilt ahead 7-2.