LSU baseball had one last rally in its just-short-of-magical run at the Hattiesburg Regional, but it was the Golden Eagles that ultimately proved their resilience in their home ballpark with an 8-7 victory in a thrilling, winner-take-all rematch Monday afternoon.
With the game tied 7-7 entering the 9th inning, Southern Miss slugger Chris Sargent led off with a single against reliever Eric Reyzelman, and he scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly two batters later. The Tigers went down in order against reliever Tyler Stuart, and the Golden Eagles dogpiled when Jordan Thompson's strikeout ended the game. LSU had two chances to advance to the Super Regionals as an unlikely host, but couldn't finish the job.
Southern Miss had to fight out of the loser's bracket after blowing a 4-run lead in the 9th inning of a loss to LSU over the weekend. They defeated Kennesaw State in 10 innings for the rematch, winning 8-4 Sunday evening before finishing off the Tigers in the daylight.
“That’s all we did in this tournament is show fight," LSU head coach Jay Johnson said. "I’m proud of our team for that. It’s a simple game, honestly. They’re infinitely better on the mound than we are.”
Unlike the Tigers' pair of regional wins, they found themselves playing from in front early on after plating 3 runs in the first inning from the bat of Tre' Morgan (2 RBI) and Thompson. Cade Doughty did more damage in the third inning with a moonshot home run off Southern Miss ace and Conference USA Pitcher of the Year Tanner Hall. After a gem in the Golden Eagles' opener on Friday, Hall lasted just 2 innings, allowing 3 runs.
The reliable Ma'Khail Hilliard drew the start, but for the second time at the Hattiesburg Regional he had a difficult time missing the barrel of the bat. He did battle, though, after a leadoff home run by Carson Paetow and worked his way through three innings, allowing 5 hits and 2 earned runs.
After multiple LSU escapes, things started to come off the rails in the 7th inning with the Tigers clinging to a 4-3 lead. Jacob Hasty entered initially and allowed a walk, then went 2-0 on the ensuing batter before he was replaced by veteran Devin Fontenot. Southern Miss attempted a sacrifice bunt in back-to-back at-bats, but both batters reached base, the first on an HBP and the second as Fontenot misplayed the bunt to load the bases with nobody out. Fontenot remained in the game to face Sargent, who hit a sinking line drive to center that Dylan Crews snagged with a full dive. It was a highlight play that saved at least one more run, but the tying run scored on the effort and left runners at the corners with 1 out.
Bryce Collins took over and Southern Miss wasted no time jumping back out in front as DH Slade Wilks singled to the opposite field to drive in the runner from third and pin the Golden Eagles to a 5-4 lead.
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Collins recorded one out and allowed a walk before Trent Vietmeier took over, the 4th pitcher in the the inning. But his luck was no better. Southern Miss centerfielder Gabe Montenegro's seeing-eye single plated two more runs and left the Tigers, for the 4th time in as many games, looking up on the scoreboard and needing a serious late-inning rally. The Golden Eagles also spent all day on the basepaths. Tigers pitchers allowed 5 walks and 12 hits, and the Golden Eagles had the leadoff batter on base in 7 of the game's 9 innings.
“It sucks," said star slugger Dylan Crews. "It just wasn’t our time, I guess.”
The Tigers faced deficits of 3 runs or more in the 7th inning of all four of their games at the Hattiesburg Regional and successfully rallied back each time. After Josh Pearson and Crews were retired to start the 8th inning, Jacob Berry walked, Doughty singled and Morgan followed with an RBI single. Thompson drove in Doughty from third, and the Tigers were back in business.
Veteran Gavin Dugas completed the comeback with a solo home run off Golden Eagles closer Landon Harper, which tied the score 7-7 heading into the 9th inning. It was the third home run allowed by Harper in the regional after allowing just four all season.
"It’s hard to put into words right now," said a tearful Dugas after the game. "I’m proud of how we competed. You can’t prepare for anything like this. This is the worst time of the year, watching your season come to an end. I’m proud of what we did with this team, and what we've had. I know that I’m gonna have all these guys’ back for the rest of their lives, and I wish we could’ve went further. I truly believe we could have. But baseball, that’s the way it is sometimes.”
Showing the urgency of the game, Johnson went to 6-10 closer Paul Gervase as the first man out of the bullpen, and results were mixed. After a single allowed by Hilliard, Gervase allowed a walk and a single that kicked off his glove to load the bases. One run scored on a passed ball, and another on an infield groundout, but that's where things stood until the 7th inning.
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Less than 24 hours after being shut down by Justin Storm, it was another unique name who held the Tigers at bay for multiple innings of relief in Chandler Best, who went 2.2 innings allowing just one run. Dalton Rogers took over and mowed through Tigers bats before running into trouble in that 7th inning. Each of Southern Miss's first four pitchers used allowed one or more runs, until Stuart slammed the door to complete the Golden Eagles' regional victory.
WHAT'S NEXT?
LSU's season ends with bitter disappointment after being in the catbird seat following two thrilling comebacks. With Miami ousted from the Coral Gables regional, the Tigers were in position to host the Super Regional had they won, but Johnson's tenure in Baton Rouge won't start the way it did in Arizona with an unlikely run to Omaha.
"I wanted to take this team to Omaha so bad, like I can’t even express it into words. … So that hurts right now," Johnson said. "We’ll get there. I have no doubt in my mind that we’ll do that. … It just hurts because I wanted to do that with this team. I think on the inside I knew how special that would’ve been for some things that we overcame, how bad these guys wanted it and how open they were to a new way.”
Southern Miss will now host Ole Miss, which trucked Arizona to finish out its regional Monday afternoon as well.