TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — On the strength of a three-run home run by Ivan Naccarata and a three-run triple by Blake Gill, LSU rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to even its Southeastern Conference series with Alabama by taking a 10-6 victory on Saturday evening at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
For the second consecutive day, Alabama set a new home attendance record, although the rainy and chilly weather kept many of the paid crowd of 6,621 looking for warmer and drier conditions.
The Fighting Tigers (17-9-1, 6-1-1) broke a two-game losing steak and won their 11th game in their last 13 meetings with the Tide (20-6, 5-3). LSU remains one-half game behind Auburn and Mississippi St. in the overall SEC standings.
LSU and Alabama will play the rubber game of the three-game set on Sunday at 2 p.m. The game will be televised live across Louisiana on the Jumbo Sports Network and will be joined in progress by Comcast Sports Southeast
Jon Zeringue got LSU on the board when he led off the third with a home run, his third consecutive games with a home run and his fifth of the year, tying Ryan Patterson for the team lead.
Matt Liuzza followed with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch by Alabama starter Brent Carter. Aaron Hill drew a two-out walk and then Naccarata gave the Tigers a 4-2 lead with a three-run home run to right-center field.
As was the case in the Crimson Tide’s 4-2 victory on Friday, Alabama got off to a fast start in the bottom of the first by scoring a pair of runs off of LSU starter Bo Pettit, although the damage could have been far worse.
Pettit threw four consecutive balls to the Tide’s leadoff hitter, Travis Garner, then gave up an RBI triple to Allen Rice to put Alabama up 1-0. Pettit struck out Adam Pavkovich for the first out of the game, but then gave up back-to-back singles to Beau Hearod and Zac Welch, with the first hit scoring Rice and the second putting runners on first and second.
Former LSU player and Baton Rouge native Nathan Meiners drew a walk to load the bases, but Pettit escaped with the Tigers still behind only 2-0 when he got Al Hecklinski to pop to Gill behind second base and struck out Charlie Lyons to end the inning.
It wouldn’t be the last time Alabama would blow golden opportunities to score more runs off of Pettit, who walked a career high nine batters in 5 1/3 innings. The Tide left the bases loaded in the fourth when Hearod grounded into a fielder’s choice to Naccarata at third base, and then in the fifth, the Tide had runners on first and second with no out, only to have Pettit retire the next three batters.
Pettit got one out in the sixth before a two-run single by Zac Welch knocked him out of the game. Pettit threw 121 pitches in 5 1/3 innings but got enough support from his offense to win his fourth consecutive start. Jake Tompkins worked 3 2/3 innings of relief to earn his second save of the year.
Gill gave LSU a key insurance run in the seventh with his two-out double to score Naccarata, who had reached one batter earlier when Spencer Pennington misplayed his fly ball into a three-base error. Clay Harris capped scoring for the Tigers with a two-run single in the ninth, giving him 10 RBI in SEC games and 17 overall for the year.
LSU (17-9-1, 6-1-1) 004 030 102– 10 11 1
Alabama (20-6, 5-3) 200 002 011– 6 11 1
Bo Pettit, Jake Tompkins (6) and Matt Liuzza; Brent Carter, Seth Johnson (5) and Charlie Lyons.
WP–Pettit, 5-0.
LP–Carter, 4-3.
S–Tompkins (2).
2B–LSU: Bruce Sprowl (5), Blake Gil (3).
3B–LSU: Gill (3); Alabama: Allen Rice (2), Adam Pavkovich (15).
HR–LSU: Jon Zeringue (5); Alabama: Gabe Scott (1).
T–3:13.
A–6,621.