On a night when it felt like LSU's offense would have to carry them in a rematch against Tennessee, they instead got a gem from an unlikely source: Nate Ackenhausen.
The lefty earned the surprise start and went six scoreless innings, striking out 7 and scattering four hits, as LSU notched a 3-0 win to keep their season alive out of the loser's bracket.
"Great game, great night for our program," head coach Jay Johnson said. "It starts and ends on the mound, winning baseball and two big left-handers [Ackenhausen and Riley Cooper] executed at a really, really high level."
LSU's offense got things started quickly on a night when it felt impossible for a ball to leave the yard due to the stiff Omaha wind blowing straight in from centerfield. Dylan Crews led off the game with a walk from Tennessee starter Drew Beam, and advanced to second on a past ball. Tre' Morgan stayed hot with a single that moved Crews to third, and after a Gavin Dugas lineout, Cade Beloso singled to right field for an early 1-0 lead.
That was it for either team for quite a while, though Crews and Tommy White each hit Rockets to the warning track that would've likely been in the stands of any other park, and possibly Charles Schwab on a night when the wind wasn't such a factor. The wind and the difficulty for anyone to get a ball out of the park was what helped Ackenhausen, who knew at points he could just put the ball in the zone and trust that it'd stay in the yard.
“I just pitched with confidence," he said. "I had confidence in my defense behind me.”
LSU struck again in the 6th when Morgan hit a stinging double to left, and scored when a sacrifice bunt by Gavin Dugas was thrown away at first by Tennessee's Zane Denton. Beam's night ended after 5.2, allowing 6 hits and 2 runs to go with 9 strikeouts.
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Ackenhausen's night lasted far longer than anyone -- even Jay Johnson -- anticipated, with the reliever pitching into the 7th inning before hitting Blake Burke and being replaced by fellow left-hander Riley Cooper. It was Ackenhausen's first start of the year. His longest outing prior to Tuesday came at 3.2 innings on May 24 against South Carolina in the SEC Tournament. He had only pitched one time previously in the NCAA Tournament, logging 1.2 innings and allowing 2 runs during a 13-7 win over Oregon State.
Johnson said his initial target for Ackenhausen was 12 batters and 60 pitches, a figure that he worked well beyond. At one point in the 5th inning Johnson went out to chat with his pitcher and ultimately left him in the game to work out of a jam. It was the right decision.
You can see he doesn’t get too wound up or rattled over anything," Johnson said. "I just felt like he could make a pitch … and he did, he got him off the barrel for a fly ball to right field. Just trust level and I felt like he had enough in the tank. I mean, he’d obviously been throwing well and then another big thing is he went out and got another full inning after that, and that really shortened the game, which, when you’re in this side of the bracket you need that. And if you’re going to have a chance to do something you need a performance like Nate gave us tonight. I’m really proud of him.”
The Vols had only one real threat with Ackenhausen on the mound, with Maui Ahuna driving a double to the opposite field in the 5th inning that had a chance to bring in Vols catcher Cal Stark, but he was stopped at third. Hunter Ensley flew out to right field to end the inning.
“[Ackenhausen's performance was] really big and in this tournament, you always find one or two of those," Johnson said. "I just don’t see it as like a Cinderella thing because he’s one of the most important parts of our pitching staff.”
Cooper lived dangerously in the 7th inning, getting the first two outs before allowing a walk. Ahuna then looked to have grounded out to end the threat, but Jordan Thompson dropped the exchange to load the bases. Ensley then worked the count full, but could only muster a slow grounder down the first base line that was handled easily by Morgan. Cooper allowed two hits in the 8th, but benefited from a double play for another scoreless inning and closed the game out in a perfect 9th.
Cooper mirrored what Ackenhausen had been doing, and that was by design.
“I didn’t feel like they were seeing Nate well, and I think Riley is about as comparable and close to Nate as possible, and I wanted to stay with that look because they were in-between," Johnson said. "And when you’re pressing a little bit, when you’re in an elimination game and you’re trying to chase runs late, he’s the type of pitcher that if you give him an inch, he can take a mile and he did what he did tonight.”
The Tigers have managed to finish out back-to-back games with just two pitchers, throwing Ty Floyd and Thatcher Hurd in the loss to Wake Forest on Monday.
LSU made their own threat count in the top of the 8th, taking advantage of three hit batters and a wild pitch to plate a run without a ball leaving the infield. Tennessee had a chance to get out of the inning on a ball up the middle by Thompson after a rare mid-count pitching change, but the ball was fumbled on the turn by Christian Moore. Morgan, Dugas and Brayden Jobert were each hit by pitches, with Morgan coming in to score.
Crews had his superstar moment in the top of the 9th for some helpful insurance, blasting a two-run home run to right field that brought Josh Pearson into score.
The result means LSU will turn to face Wake Forest on Wednesday, with the Demon Deacons needing just one win to advance to the championship series. The Tigers will need to defeat Wake twice to advance. On the other half of the bracket it's Florida vs TCU, with the Horned Frogs defeating Oral Roberts to come out of the loser's bracket.
LSU fell to Wake 3-2 on Monday.
"Wouldn’t want to be playing anybody else," Johnson said. "I feel like the four best teams in the country are the four best teams still playing in Omaha right now.”
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