UPDATE, Monday, June 5
Oregon State defeated Sam Houston 3-1 late on Sunday. LSU and Oregon State will face off against at 1 p.m. Monday. Should LSU win they will advance to the super regionals. Should Oregon win, the teams will face off in a winner-take-all game (date/time TBD).
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ORIGINAL STORY
LSU used small-ball to kick off its regional with a win over Tulane. Two days later they used the long ball to keep pace in a long-awaited showdown with Oregon State.
Right fielder Brayden Jobert's home run over the centerfield wall was the difference in a 6-5 LSU victory, with freshman Gavid Guidry slamming the door in the 9th.
“Emotions were running really high," Jobert said on the field after the game.
"I was just trying to get a good pitch in my zone and get a good swing on it, and I did.”
The winner's bracket game took on added importance considering the road ahead out of the loser's bracket. LSU will now face the winner between Oregon State and Sam Houston, which finished off Tulane earlier in the day.
This one was anything but routine, originally scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, but pushed back to Sunday afternoon due to persistent lightning that paused Tulane-Sam Houston in the 7th inning. LSU had to sit through another 3-hour delay on Sunday, at the time trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning.
Ty Floyd started the game for the Tigers, striking out five and allowing five hits over five innings. But it was Thatcher Hurd who took the mound following the delay. He got off to a difficult start with Oregon State's Brady Kasper taking one out of the yard, and another run coming home on an errant throw from Jordan Thompson. He allowed four runs over five innings, but he stood tall when needed most, dotting his impressive curveball en route to a season high 12 strikeouts. His final three came in a massively important 8th inning, which began with a walk before he struck out the side to set up Jobert's heroics.
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All six of LSU's runs came via the longball. Dylan Crews got the action started with a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth inning, bringing in Josh Pearson who nearly hit a home run but settled for a triple. The next inning looked much of the same, with catcher Hayden Travinski hitting a rocket to left field for a solo home run, only for DH Cade Beloso to follow directly after with a home run hooked down the right field line that gave the Tigers their first lead of the game. Pearson had the distance in the 6th inning to give LSU a 5-3 lead, which disappeared quickly on Gavin Turley's two-run home run.
The result allows LSU to avoid the what-if discussion after loading the bases in each of the first two innings against Beavers starter AJ Lattery, but failing to score a run either time. The Tigers also stranded the bases loaded in the 8th following Jobert's blast, squandering a golden opportunity for some insurance.
LSU won despite being outhit 13-10. Guidry, who should've been feeling pressure, struck out the first batter he faced on three pitches. After a near double-play ball to end it, he settled in and notched another strikeout to slam the door.
"If you're going to pitch at the front of the weekend as a starter, you obviously have to have great stuff. You have to have that X factor piece," head coach Jay Johnson said. "To be a closer, to finish games of that magnitude, you have to have it, and [Guidry's] got it."
The Tigers are now 2-0 in their first home regional since 2019, the opening win coming behind a dominant complete game performance from ace Paul Skenes. LSU won 7-2, but did not hit a home run. It's a welcome turnaround after a frustrating final month of the season that saw the once-top-ranked Tigers go 7-7 over their final 14 games.
“We fought through a lot of adversity this year," Jobert said. "As long as we keep our heads high and play our baseball, we’re going to come out on top.”
The Tigers now get something of a rest as they await to see the team that will challenge them for the crown. There's no rest for the weary, either, with Oregon State turning around to play another game Sunday evening. LSU will have two chances to punch their ticket to the Super Regionals, a similar situation to what they were in last year at the Hattiesburg regional, only to drop back to back games to host Southern Miss.
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