BATON ROUGE — Freshman right-hander Daniel Bradshaw allowed just two runs in four innings Wednesday, and Buzzy Haydel and Matt Gaudet delivered run-scoring doubles to lead the Gold to an 8-4 victory over the Purple in Alex Box Stadium.
The win completed a three-game sweep for the Gold in the Purple-Gold World Series, which culminated LSU’s five-week fall practice period. The Gold captured Game 1 on Sunday, 6-3, and it posted a 9-8 victory in Game 2 on Tuesday.
“I thought the Gold team executed very well,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “They really played hard and showed a lot of energy and deserved to win the series. I was impressed with the way Daniel Bradshaw pitched ? he’s a young man who shows a lot of poise and he can help us this season. I also thought (freshman right-hander) Ben Alsup and (junior left-hander) Blake Martin threw really well today for the Gold.”
Bradshaw, a native of West Monroe, La. who pitched at Ouachita Christian High School, limited the Purple to two runs through the first four innings of the seven-inning game while recording four strikeouts.
The Gold’s 10-hit attack was paced by Haydel, who contributed an RBI double in the third inning, and by Gaudet, whose two-run double in the fifth helped extend the Gold’s lead to 7-2.
Mainieri said the Tigers will now move into the conditioning and strength training phase of their preseason preparation. Full-squad practice for the 2008 season resumes on Feb. 1, and the Tigers open on Feb. 22 versus Indiana in Alex Box Stadium.
Mainieri expressed great optimism for the upcoming season, his second at the helm of the LSU program.
“This was the best fall practice I’ve ever been involved with,” said Mainieri, who is entering his 26th season as a collegiate coach. “The potential is there for us to have a super year, but we still have a lot of work to do. We have to continue to focus on getting better every day, and that means working hard in the weight room and in our conditioning drills.
“We have a long way to go before February 22, but I am very encouraged by our team’s talent, chemistry and work ethic.”