HOOVER, Ala. — Junior left-hander Clay Dirks limited top-seeded Alabama to two runs in seven-plus masterful innings Wednesday, and third baseman Buzzy Haydel launched his first career homer that proved to be the game-winning run as eighth-seeded LSU held on for a dramatic 4-3 win over the Crimson Tide in its opening game of the SEC Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
The Tigers (35-22) snapped a five-game SEC Tournament losing streak, recording their first win at the Hoover Met since defeating Mississippi State, 17-5, via the 10-run rule on May 24, 2003. LSU had gone two-and-out in its two previous tournaments.
The Crimson Tide (39-18), SEC regular season co-champions, fell to 1-3 on the season against the Tigers and have lost 18 of the last 25 meetings to their Western Division rival since 2000.
LSU advances to meet No. 5-seeded Ole Miss, a 9-4 winner of Game 4 over Arkansas. Game time is set for 8 p.m. CT on Thursday, with the LSU Sports Radio Network broadcast beginning 15 minutes prior.
Check the “Upcoming Events” on the right side of the LSUsports.net homepage for the exact game time on Thursday, as the Tigers’ game will not begin until 30 minutes after the 5 p.m. game.
Alabama will face Arkansas in an elimination game at 1 p.m.
On Day 1 of the SEC Tournament, all four higher seeds fell, with second-seeded Kentucky losing to No. 7 seed South Carolina (4-2); No. 3 seed Georgia losing to No. 6 seed Vanderbilt (9-4); No. 8 seed LSU defeating No. 1 seed Alabama (4-3); and No. 5 seed Ole Miss beating No. 4 seed Arkansas (9-4).
See the full SEC Tournament schedule below.
Dirks (5-4) tossed his most impressive outing against an SEC opponent all year, and it could not have come at a better time. The Hernando, Miss., native allowed only four hits and two runs — on a homer in the eighth — while walking one and striking out seven in 7.1 innings.
“Clay threw a nice game and kept us in it,” said LSU head coach Smoke Laval. “Once I saw he was in control, we wanted to tack the runs on one at a time.”
“After Florida last week, we said this is a new season,” said Dirks. “We came in with goals in mind and that this is a business trip. We’re here to play. We’re here to win.”
Senior right-hander Will Harris tossed the final 1.1 innings to register his fourth save but not before surviving a wild ninth inning in which the tying run was stranded at second base.
Haydel, who replaced Harris at third, connected for a stunning solo homer in the top of the ninth in only his 15th at-bat of the year.
“What’s exciting about coming to the SEC Tournament is letting freshmen play,” said Laval. “(Buzzy Haydel) worked just as hard as everyone else.”
Harris also provided a critical RBI double in the seventh, and right fielder Quinn Stewart and centerfielder Jarred Bogany had two hits apiece.
For the second consecutive inning, Tide starter Bernard Robert allowed a hit-batsman as designated hitter Steven Waguespack reached to leadoff the second. Stewart then broke a 0-for-15 slump with a double down the left field line, putting a pair of runners in scoring position with no outs.
First baseman Jordan Mayer gave LSU an early 1-0 lead with an RBI groundout, but the Tigers failed to capitalize further on the opportunity when Stewart was picked off at second.
Alabama immediately created its first threat of the game in the third as Dirks surrendered back-to-back singles to first baseman Spencer Pennington and left fielder Brandon Belcher.
However, the veteran southpaw refused to give in, recording consecutive strikeouts against shortstop Greg Paiml and centerfielder Emeel Salem. Harris followed with a diving stab on a sharp groundball from third baseman Matt Downs to retire the side.
LSU pushed across another run in the fifth with the benefit of another leadoff hitter reaching. Mayer ripped a single through the middle, and three batters later, left fielder Bruce Sprowl drove him in with a sacrifice fly.
Salem nearly connected on Alabama’s first hit since the third with a hard liner that looked to be over Sprowl’s head in the sixth, but the senior leaped up and made a spectacular grab over his shoulder.
Robert exited in the seventh after once again allowing the leadoff hitter to reach when Stewart was issued a walk. Reliever Jake McCarter recorded consecutive outs and could have been out of the frame, but Pennington dropped a foul ball off the bat of Harris with two outs.
Harris capitalized on the opportunity with an opposite field RBI double that gave LSU a 3-0 lead.
Dirks was at the top of his game, retiring 15 straight batters since the third until issuing a single to right fielder Ryan Rhoden to lead off the eighth. He then made quick work of Pennington and Belcher and was an out away from taking a shutout into the ninth.
Then, pinch hitter Kent Matthes stepped in and drilled his first homer of the year — a two-run shot — that cut the deficit to 3-2.
Haydel answered with his first career dinger on the first pitch he saw from McCarter in the ninth, giving Harris a two-run cushion to work with in the ninth.
Harris retired catcher Kody Valverde, then walked second baseman Evan Bush but forced a fielder’s choice grounder from Rhoden.
Pennington appeared to be the final out of the game when he rolled a grounder to second baseman Nick Pontiff. The sophomore misplayed the ball off his glove, moving runners to the corners and bringing the winning run to the plate.
Alabama edged closer when catcher Matt Liuzza was charged with a passed ball, bringing in Rhoden from third. With first base open, Laval elected to issue an intentional walk to Belcher, which forced Tide coach Jim Wells to call upon pinch hitter Matt Bentley.
Bentley popped up near the third base dugout and Haydel made a stellar catch up against the camera well. However, Haydel was ruled out of play when he crossed the white line in front of the camera.
Harris finally got Bentley to end the game with a slow grounder to first as the senior recorded his fourth save.
Robert (7-6) took the loss — his second to LSU on the year — allowing five hits and three runs in six innings of work.
“This game shows just how tough the SEC is top to bottom,” said Laval. “Not only that, it’s hard to get 27 outs as we saw at the end of the game.”
LSU 4, Alabama 3 (May 24, 2006 at Hoover, Ala.)
———————————————————————-
LSU……………….. 010 010 101 – 4 9 1 (35-22)
Alabama…………. 000 000 021 – 3 4 0 (39-18)
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Pitchers: LSU – Dirks; Harris, W.(8). Alabama – Robert; McCarter(7); Robertson(9).
Win-Dirks(5-4) Save-Harris, W.(4) Loss-Robert(7-6) T-2:40 A-TBA
HR LSU – Haydel (1).
HR ALABAMA – Matthes (1).
Robert faced 1 batter in the 7th.
McCarter faced 2 batters in the 9th.
2006 SEC Tournament
May 24-28, 2006
Hoover, Ala.
Wednesday, May 24
Game 1: (7) South Carolina def. (2) Kentucky, 4-2
Game 2: (6) Vanderbilt def. (3) Georgia, 9-4
Game 3: (8) LSU def. (1) Alabama, 4-3
Game 4: (5) Ole Miss def. (4) Arkansas, 9-4
Thursday, May 25
Game 5: (3) Georgia def. (2) Kentucky, 16-10
(2) Kentucky eliminated
Game 6: (1) Alabama vs. (4) Arkansas, 1 p.m.
Game 7: (7) South Carolina vs. (6) Vanderbilt, 5 p.m.
Game 8: (8) LSU vs. (5) Ole Miss, 8 p.m.
Friday, May 26
Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Loser, 3 p.m.
Game 10: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 27
Game 11: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, 10 a.m.
Game 12: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner, 1:30 p.m.
Game 13*: Game 11 Winner vs. Game 11 Loser, 5 p.m.
Game 14*: Game 12 Winner vs. Game 12 Loser, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 28
Game 15: Game 11/13 Winner vs. Game 12/14 Winner, 3 p.m.
Game 13 will be necessary if the winner of Game 9 also wins game 11.
Game 14 will be necessary if the winner of Game 10 also wins Game 12. If Game 13 is not necessary, Game 14 would start at 5 p.m.
If both bracket winners are undefeated, there will be no 5 or 8:30 p.m. games on Saturday and the championship game will be the 13th game, which will be played on Sunday.