BATON ROUGE — LSU’s Lane Mestepey and South Carolina’s Jason Fletcher battled in a pitcher’s duel on Friday night, but it was Fletcher who earned the upper hand, surrendering one run to deal the sixth-ranked Tigers a 3-1 series-opening loss at Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers (23-9, 5-5) dropped their second consecutive SEC game. The fourth-ranked Gamecocks (26-5, 6-4) ran their winning streak to seven games, dating back to March 29.
Sophomore southpaw Clay Dirks (7-0) will put his perfect record on the line when he takes to the mound in Game 2 at 2 p.m. Saturday. South Carolina will counter with senior right-hander Zac McCamie (6-1, 2.27).
Fletcher (4-1) had not tossed more than a 6.2 inning outing over his career. On Friday night, he limited LSU to one run on five hits and struck out three in 8.1 innings. He walked a season-high five.
“Seventeen fly-ball outs, and he struck out three, which means we hit seven balls on the ground,” said head coach Smoke Laval. “The ball doesn’t take a bad hop in the air, period. Mestepey certainly pitched well enough to win.”
Bruce Sprowl and Blake Gill combined for four of the six hits. The rest of the Tiger order was a combined 2-for-24. Sprowl, who was hitless in his previous 15 at-bats, went 2-for-4 with two singles.
Mestepey (5-4) was equally dominant after a shaky start. The senior remained poised and hurled a complete game, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits, while striking out five and walking one.
“It’s frustrating but I know I have to keep going out there and pitch my best,” said Mestepey. “The guys will hopefully come around.
The Gamecocks took a 1-0 lead in the third, plating an unearned run on a defensive miscue by second baseman Clay Harris. With one out in the frame, LSU elected to play the infield in with a runner at third, courtesy of Davy Gregg’s leadoff double.
Harris then misplayed Michael Campbell’s groundball, which scored Gregg.
But the Tigers countered with a run in their half of the frame on Will Harris’ opposite field homer–his second in as many games–to match the score at one apiece.
The doubles barrage continued to start the fourth as South Carolina regained the lead. Steve Pearce and Ryan Mahoney connected on back-to-back doubles, and two batters later Gregg delivered on his second two-bagger of the game.
The Gamecocks led 3-1 going into the bottom of the fifth, an inning where the Tigers were presented with their most serious scoring threat.
Despite loading the bases with two outs, the timely hit escaped LSU. Clay Harris was ahead on a 2-0 count but offered on the next pitch, flying out to second base to end the inning.
Mestepey kept the Tigers within striking distance, retiring USC in order between the sixth and eighth innings. He faced the minimum in the final four innings he pitched, aided by a double play in the fifth.
But he was outdueled by Fletcher, who seemed to get the critical out at the right time. After the fifth, LSU’s most prominent chance of creating a spark came in the seventh. Michael Hollander reached on a walk and Blake Gill singled, giving Ryan Patterson a chance to seize a rally with two outs.
Fletcher escaped by forcing Patterson to line out to center field.
Closer Brent Marsh relieved the right-hander in the ninth and preserved a 3-1 victory by retiring two of three batters he faced. For Marsh, it was his league-leading sixth save of the season.
South Carolina 3, LSU 1 (Apr 08, 2005 at Baton Rouge, La.)
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South Carolina…… 001 200 000 – 3 8 0 (26-5, 6-4 SEC)
LSU………………….. 001 000 000 – 1 6 1 (23-9, 5-5 SEC)
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Pitchers: South Carolina – Fletcher, J.; Marsh, B.(9). LSU – Mestepey.
Win-Fletcher, J.(4-1) Save-Marsh, B.(6) Loss-Mestepey(5-4) T-2:10 A-7691
HR LSU – Harris, W. (3).
Game notes:
Actual attendance: 4,541