BATON ROUGE — Third baseman Buzzy Haydel lined an RBI single to right field in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday to lift the Gold to a 9-8 victory over the Purple in Game 2 of the LSU Baseball Purple-Gold World Series in Alex Box Stadium.
The Gold leads the three-game series, 2-0; however, the Purple can still claim the series if it wins Game 3 by five runs or more. Game 3, which concludes LSU’s fall practice session, starts at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Alex Box Stadium.
“I thought both teams played very hard today, and the game featured timely hitting and clutch pitching,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “It was an exciting game, though I think the chilly conditions caused the play to be a little sloppy at times. I was very pleased with the enthusiasm and the competitiveness both teams displayed throughout the game.”
Tuesday’s scheduled seven-inning contest moved into extra innings tied at 7-7 before the Purple pushed across a run in the top of the eighth. Gold pitcher Nolan Cain walked leftfielder Ryan Schimpf to start the inning, and Schimpf stole second when Cain struck out catcher Micah Gibbs.
Schimpf advanced to third on a wild pitch, and after Cain fanned centerfielder Nicholas Pontiff, third baseman Chris McGhee chopped an infield single to the left side, scoring Schimpf to give the Purple an 8-7 advantage.
Left-hander Blake Martin, who relieved Cain after McGhee’s base hit, committed a throwing error and issued a walk to shortstop Michael Hollander; however, he struck out second baseman Rene Escobar to end the Purple rally.
The Gold responded in the bottom of the eighth with two runs against right-hander Louis Coleman. First baseman Taylor Davis opened the inning with a single before designated hitter Matt Gaudet tied the game at 8-8 with a double to right-center field.
Gold second baseman Derek Helenihi sacrificed pinch runner Leon Landry to third base before Haydel punched a Coleman pitch into right field for the game-winning RBI.
The eighth-inning single culminated a productive afternoon for Haydel, who also contributed an RBI double in the sixth that capped a three-run rally and tied the game at 7-7. Haydel’s double was preceded by Gaudet’s sacrifice fly and Helenihi’s run-scoring double.
The Gold also received strong outings from starting pitcher Ryan Verdugo, who worked four scoreless innings, and from shortstop DJ LeMahieu, who delivered a two-run triple in the third inning.
McGhee enjoyed an excellent afternoon for the Purple, contributing a two-run double and a sacrifice fly to go along with his go-ahead single in the top of the eighth.