BATON ROUGE, La.— Second baseman Kramer Robertson launched a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning Thursday night to lift the Purple to a 5-3 win over the Gold in Game 2 of the LSU Baseball Purple-Gold World Series at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
The Purple, which won the first game of the series, 7-3, on Wednesday leads the three-game series, 2-0. The Gold can still win the series if it wins Game 3 by seven runs or more.
Game 3, originally scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, has been moved to 6:30 p.m. Monday due to the forecast of heavy rain in the Baton Rouge area.
With the scored tied at 3-3 in the fourth inning of the six-inning contest, Robertson unloaded a two-run dinger against Gold reliever Hunter Devall to provide the winning margin.
Purple reliever Collin Strall was credited with the win after pitching a scoreless top of the fourth inning. Parker Bugg earned the save, recording two strikeouts with two runners on in the top of the sixth.
“The most important thing for us to do right now is to teach our young guys how to win, and we’re making progress in getting that accomplished,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “There’s a lot of competition for positions right now, and if guys want to play, they have to play better than the other guys on the team.
“It’s not February 19 yet for our season opener against Cincinnati; we still have a lot of teaching to do.”
The Purple grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against Gold starting pitcher Riley Smith. First baseman Brody Wofford lined a one-out double, and he scored on a double by centerfielder Jake Fraley.
The Gold struck for three runs in the top of the third against Purple starter Jake Godfrey as designated hitter Trent Forshag and centerfielder Antoine Duplantis singled before second baseman Greg Deichmann launched a three-run homer.
The Purple tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the third when leftfielder Beau Jordan ripped an RBI double and scored on a single by catcher Michael Papierski.
Godfrey worked three innings and allowed three runs on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Smith also pitched three innings and was charged with three runs on six hits with no walks and one strikeout.
“I thought both starting pitchers threw well, and there were some very good at-bats against them,” Mainieri said. “Everybody has their moments in intrasquad games, but the bottom line is that guys have to learn what it takes to win at this level.”