BATON ROUGE — Lipscomb rallied from a two-run deficit Friday night with two runs in the seventh and a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth to hand LSU a 7-6 loss at Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers (7-5) took a 6-4 lead into the top of the seventh, but second baseman Chris Jackson committed a throwing error, which allowed a run to score, and junior right-hander Michael Bonura uncorked a run-scoring wild pitch.
With the game tied at 6-6 in the eighth, Lipscomb (10-4) produced a leadoff double by left fielder Allen Bolden off of reliever Nolan Cain. Right fielder Shane Simpkins brought in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to deep center off of right-hander Jared Bradford.
LSU scored in each of the first four innings, and was led offensively by Jackson, who finished 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI.
The Tigers, however, were stymied offensively in the final four frames by right-hander Brandon McClurg. McClurg (2-0) held LSU scoreless in the final 3.2 innings, allowing two hits and striking out six.
“I tip my hat to their relief pitcher,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “He came in and did a great job and really kept us off balance. We didn’t do what we had to do to win.”
The Tigers went hitless in the final two frames and finished 1-for-12 on the night with runners in scoring position. Left fielder Blake Dean produced the hit with an RBI double scoring Jackson in the sixth.
“When you don’t put up quality at-bats, it’s hard to get base runners and it’s hard to get them around,” said Mainieri. “I am sure the kids are trying. For whatever reason, the pitcher is beating them. They are not getting on base, and we don’t have opportunities to get them around to score.”
Meanwhile, LSU starter Charlie Furbush suffered a tough outing, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits in 5.2 innings of work. Furbush walked four and struck out five.
“When you score runs, you want your best pitcher to shut them down,” said Mainieri. “He’d get an 0-2 count on the leadoff hitter and fight back and walk them. You’d like to think that your Friday night starter can shut another team down after you get some runs. You don’t blame one person. When you lose it’s a total team effort.”
Cain (0-1) took the loss, surrendering a run on one hit in one inning of relief.
Game 2 of the LSU-Lipscomb series is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday. Live audio and streaming video are available to members of the Geaux Zone on www.LSUsports.net.
Lipscomb 7, LSU 6 (Mar 02, 2007 at Baton Rouge, La.)
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Lipscomb………… 012 010 210 – 7 13 4 (10-4)
LSU……………….. 121 101 000 – 6 7 2 (7-5)
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Pitchers: Lipscomb – KING, John; SPICER, Josh(3); MCCLURG, Brandon(6). LSU – Charlie Furbush;
Paul Bertuccini(6); Michael Bonura(7); Nolan Cain(7); Jared Bradford(8).
Win-MCCLURG, Brandon(2-0) Loss-Nolan Cain(0-1) T-3:17 A-7140
Actual Attendance: 2,848