BATON ROUGE — Vanderbilt rallied for three runs on two LSU errors in the ninth inning as the Commodores claimed an 8-7 victory in the rubber game of a three-game Southeastern Conference series Sunday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers (14-8, 1-2) begin a five-game road trip on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Louisiana-Lafayette in a game that will be televised live statewide on the Jumbo Sports Network. The Ragin Cajuns defeated the Tigers 2-1 in Baton Rouge last Tuesday. LSU resumes SEC play next weekend with a three-game series at Ole Miss.
Vanderbilt (13-4, 2-1) won its first series from LSU since 1988, and its first all-time in Baton Rouge, dropping LSU to 1-2 for the third consecutive year in SEC play.
Worth Scott led off the top of the ninth with a single to center, then was safe when LSU shortstop Aaron Hill booted a ground ball by Jonathan Douillard that looked like a sure double-play ball.
Chris Broadus sacrificed the runners to second and third, and reliever Brian Wilson gave up a single to Karl Nonemaker to make it 7-6. Wilson would get Tony Mansolino to pop up to Hill for the second out, but John Kaye lined the first pitch from Wilson into the right field corner to put the Commodores on top.
It marked the second time this year Wilson has blown an LSU lead in the ninth inning, as he gave up a three-run lead in a 12-11 Tiger loss on February 24 at Houston.
The Tigers had one last chance in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases with one out. But Commodore reliever Jeff Sues got Jason Vargas to ground into a double play to end the game.
Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Hill was hit by a pitch to start the inning, then he scored on J.C. Holt’s triple off the left-center field fence.
Vanderbilt reliever Dean Bennett came in for Chris Mautlsby and walked Wally Pontiff, and Bennett uncorked a wild pitch to put Pontiff on second. Sean Barker followed Pontiff by lifting a sacrifice fly to left field to score Holt with the tying run.
Matt Heath, who homered earlier in the game, then put LSU ahead for the first time in the game with a triple to right-center field gap. Blake Gill would double over the head of Nonemaker to make it 7-5.
For the second straight Sunday, LSU had to survive an anxious ninth inning with reliever Brian Wilson on the hill.
LSU could muster only one hit in the first five innings off of Vanderbilt starter Steven Faulkner, but finally began to put a rally together in the sixth, as singles by Hill and Holt drove Faulkner from the game.
Maultsby gave up a single to Pontiff that scored Hill to make it 4-2, and then advanced the runners 90 feet by uncorking a wild pitch.
Maultsby struck out Sean Barker, but then fired another wild pitch to bring home Holt and cut the lead to one. But Vanderbilt kept the lead when Maultsby induced Blake Gill to ground into an inning-ending double play with two runners on.
Nonemaker led off the game with a single off of Jake Tompkins, then Nonemaker went to third when Tompkins’ pickoff attempt went into the LSU bullpen.
Tompkins walked Mansolino and struck out Kaye before yielding Sean Luellwitz’ first home run of the game, a three-run shot off the scoreboard in right field.
Luellwitz would homer again to lead off the fourth inning and give the Commodores a 4-1 lead.