HATTIESBURG, Miss. — The LSU Tigers score 10 runs in the 8th inning to defeat Kennesaw State, 14-11 in their Hattiesburg Regional opener Friday night.
Here’s how it played out:
Trailing 11-4, the Tigers 8th inning hit parade began with a Jacob Berry RBI single that cut the lead to 6.
Josh Pearson’s RBI single cut the lead to 5.
Jordan Thompson’s RBI double cut the lead to 4.
Tre Morgan cut the lead to 2 with a 2 RBI double.
Brayden Jobert added an RBI off a fielder’s choice that cut the Owls lead to 1.
Dylan Crews gave LSU the 12-11 lead with a bases loaded 2 RBI double.
Josh Pearson added some insurance runs with a 2 RBI single that made it a 14-11 ball game.
“Wow. Big fan of that eighth inning. A lot of people talk about character and culture and
competitiveness and that was all of that on display… We’d love to sit around and celebrate it because it’s a win that should be celebrated, but we’ve got to get ready to go tomorrow,” says LSU head baseball coach Jay Johnson.
Here is Jacob Berry after the win:
Dylan Crews, Josh Pearson, and Brayden Jobert led the Tigers with 3 RBIs.
Maybe the unsung hero of the cardiac cat’s comeback is pitcher Devin Fontenot, who held the Kennesaw State offense in check down the stretch of Friday night’s win.
Fontenot gave LSU 3.1 innings in relief where he faced 13 batters, struck out 6, and gave up just 2 hits.
With the win, LSU advances to the Hattiesburg regional winner’s bracket where they will face Southern Miss tomorrow night at 6 p.m.
The Golden Eagles defeated Army, 2-0 earlier in the day.
