OMAHA, Neb. — LSU rallied from a 6-0 first inning deficit against Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina to take the lead, but couldn’t hold the lead as the Gamecocks scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take an 11-10 victory on Sunday at Rosenblatt Stadium, leaving the Tigers as the first team eliminated from the 2003 College World Series.
LSU (45-22-1) lost its first game in seven tries against an SEC foe in the CWS, and went 0-2 in Omaha for just the second time. The Tigers were 0-2 in 1994 with losses to Florida St. and Cal St. Fullerton.
South Carolina (45-21), the 2002 CWS runner-up to Texas, stays alive with a 1 p.m. game on Tuesday against the loser of Sunday’s late game between Cal St. Fullerton and Stanford.
LSU reliever Jason Determann came into the game with two outs in the first inning for Bo Pettit and turned in an outstanding performance, going 6 2/3 innings as LSU grabbed a 10-7 lead.
But Determann gave up a solo home run Kevin Melillo to start the seventh inning, and in the eighth, Determann gave up a leadoff single to ninth-place hitter Steven Tolleson and then walked leadoff man Jon Coutlangus before a sacrifice bunt by Justin Harris moved the runners into scoring position.
Billy Sadler came in to face Brian Buscher, the Gamecocks’ leading hitter, and gave up a ground ball single that scored Tolleson, and then Coutlangus scored the tying run when LSU right fielder Jon Zeringue kicked the ball.
Landon Powell then doubled into the left-center field gap to score Buscher with the run that would eventually end the Tigers’ season.
Carolina reliever Michael Campbell retired the side in order in the ninth to improve to 6-4 with the victory. He retired 13 of the final 14 batters on ground ball outs. Campbell gave up only one unearned run in 5 1/3 innings and two hits.
Sadler fell to 1-2 with the loss.
LSU took the lead for the first time in the game with a four-run fourth inning, as Ryan Patterson laced an RBI double to score J.C. Holt, who led off with a single. After Aaron Hill’s sacrifice bunt moved Patterson to third, Clay Harris tied the game with a ground ball single past a diving Buscher.
Following another base hit, this one by Blake Gill, Jon Zeringue’s infield hit scored Harris to give LSU the lead, and then a sacrifice fly Quinn Stewart scored Gill to make it 9-7.
LSU coach Smoke Laval opted to start fifth-year senior Pettit, giving the right-hander a chance to pitch on college baseball’s biggest stage. However, the Gamecocks entered the game 4-0 lifetime against Pettit and wasted little time in jumping out in front.
Pettit walked leadoff hitter Coutlagnus, and after a sacrifice bunt by Harris moved Coutlangus to second, Pettit retied Bushcer on a ground ball that put the runner on third.
But Pettit would not retire another batter. He gave up an RBI single to Powell for the game’s first run, and then walked Melillo before giving up consecutive RBI singles to Bryan Triplett and Trey McDaniel to increase the lead to 3-0.
The misery continued as Michael Campbell blooped a double past the reach of Zeringue to score Triplett, and then Pettit was driven to cover when Tolleson laced a double into the left field corner.
Pettit closed his career with the shortest start in an LSU uniform, giving up six earned runs on six hits in 2/3 of an inning. The start ties the shortest for an LSU pitcher this year, as Nate Bumstead was shelled for seven runs in 2/3 of an inning against Auburn on May 11.
The Tigers started their comeback from a 6-0 deficit in the second inning when Harris led off with a solo home run. Two batters later, Zeringue lined a single into left field, which was followed by a two-run home run deep into the left-center field bleachers by Stewart to pull LSU to within 6-3.
Carolina got one run back in the bottom of the second on a leadoff home run by Harris, but a sacrifice fly by Gill and a bases-loaded walk to Stewart allowed LSU to shave another run off the Gamecock lead and make it 7-5 after three.
Gamecock starter Steven Bondurant was knocked out in the third inning after giving five runs on five hits in 2 1/3 innings.
LSU (45-22-1) 032 410 000– 10 12 1
South Carolina (45-21) 610 000 13x– 11 12 1
Bo Pettit, Jason Determann (1), Billy Sadler (8) and Matt Liuzza; Steven Bondurant, Aaron Rawl (3), Matt Campbell (4) and Landon Powell.
WP–Matt Campbell, 6-4.
LP–Sadler, 0-3.
2B–LSU: Ryan Patterson (20), Matt Liuzza (8); USC: Michael Campbell (10), Steven Tolleson (10), Landon Powell (23).
HR–LSU: Clay Harris (16), Quinn Stewart (7); USC: Justin Harris (4), Kevin Melillo (12).
T–3:00.
A–TBA.