BATON ROUGE — Stetson stunned eighth-ranked LSU with four runs in the top of the ninth to avoid a sweep as the Tigers fell by a score of 9-8 Sunday at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU heads to Kentucky to open SEC play with a 16-3 record. Game 1 is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CST Friday, followed by Game 2 at noon CST Saturday. The series finale has been moved up to an 11 a.m. CST start on Sunday.
Contests on Saturday and Sunday will be televised by affiliates of the Jumbo Sports Network.
On Sunday, the Tigers failed to convert a save situation for the first time since the 2003 College World Series as junior right-hander Chase Dardar (2-1) allowed three runs (two earned) on two hits and did not record an out in the ninth.
LSU was previously 133-0 when leading after eight innings in its four previous seasons under head coach Smoke Laval. The Tigers were three outs away from completing a sweep with an 8-5 advantage heading into the ninth.
“We came from behind, but it just shows that the other team can come from behind too,” said Laval. “You have got to play 27 outs. Everything worked right with Dardar getting three groundballs. We misplayed one and the other two found holes.”
Junior starter Daniel Forrer turned in a season-high 7.1 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits, while striking out eight and walking none.
LSU’s 1-2-3 hitters — Bruce Sprowl, Michael Hollander and J.T. Wise — combined to go 7-for-14 with two runs and two RBI. One day after tying a school record with three homers, right fielder Quinn Stewart capped the most impressive weekend of his career, going 2-for-4 with his seventh dinger of the season.
The Tigers fell behind for the third consecutive game as a leadoff double by Brian Bocock to start the second proved to be costly. Two groundouts later, including third baseman Braedyn Pruitt’s RBI roller to first gave Stetson a 1-0 lead.
Pruitt increased the advantage to 2-0 with a run-scoring single to center in the fourth.
LSU, as it did all weekend, responded from the deficit with a three-run uprising in the fourth off starter Robbie Elsemiller.
Third baseman Will Harris broke out of a slump with a double to the left field wall, moving catcher Matt Liuzza to third after a one-out walk. Second baseman Nick Pontiff continued his sizzling weekend with a two-run double to center, tying the game at 2-2.
Sprowl then connected on his league-leading fourth triple of the season, bringing in Pontiff and giving LSU its first lead at 3-2.
However, Forrer couldn’t maintain the lead when he took the mound in the fifth. Following a one-out single by Shane Jordan, second baseman Brandon Paritz doubled to right. Stewart mishandled the ball, allowing Jordan to race home to tie the game.
Two batters later, first baseman Chris Johnson greeted Forrer with an RBI single through the right side, putting the Hatters back on top at 4-3.
Stewart then belted his fourth homer of the series in the Tigers half of the fifth — a two-run shot inside the left field fair pole — to continue the see-saw battle.
Forrer settled down and retired the next six hitters he faced between the sixth and seventh. The southpaw exited with one out in the eighth after serving up consecutive singles to Johnson and Bocock.
Right-hander Michael Bonura inherited the jam and immediately allowed the tying runs to move into scoring position on a wild pitch. The Hatters moved to within a run on a slow groundout by Braedyn Pruitt, but Bonura induced a pop out to right fielder Adam Tindle.
LSU led 6-5 and pushed across two insurance runs in its half of the eighth off reliever Jake Hitchcock, Stetson’s fourth pitcher of the game. Shortstop Michael Hollander drove in Sprowl with an RBI single, and Liuzza worked a bases loaded walk to give the Tigers a comfortable 8-5 lead.
Laval wasted little time in pulling Bonura after he surrendered a hit-batsman on his first pitch of the ninth. Things unraveled quickly when Dardar issued a walk to the first batter he faced. Paritz followed with a single to load the bases with no outs.
Dardar then forced the groundball he was looking for from Brian Pruitt, but the ball skipped right under Hollander’s glove at short, bringing in two runs on the error. Johnson immediately chased Dardar from the game with a tying single to left.
Right-hander Edgar Ramirez didn’t fare much better when he entered, giving up the game-winning single on a 0-1 pitch to Bocock.
Reliever Brett Murphy registered the save, pitching around a leadoff walk and getting Sprowl, Hollander and Jarred Bogany in order.
Stetson 9, LSU 8 (Mar 12, 2006 at Baton Rouge, La.)
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Stetson…………. 010 120 014 – 9 11 1 (8-10)
LSU……………… 000 320 120 – 8 13 3 (16-3)
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Pitchers: Stetson – ELSEMILLER; MARSOCCI(4); ROMANOWICZ(6); HITCHCOCK(8); MURPHY(9). LSU –
Forrer; Bonura(8); Dardar(9); Ramirez(9).
Win-HITCHCOCK(1-0) Save-MURPHY(1) Loss-Dardar(2-1) T-3:09 A-2979
HR LSU – Stewart (7).
Bonura faced 1 batter in the 9th.
Dardar faced 4 batters in the 9th.
HITCHCOCK faced 1 batter in the 9th.