LSU baseball looked dead in the water, but it turned out there was a rope in there to hold after all.
After entering the bottom of the 8th inning trailing Kennesaw State 11-4, the Tigers broke out an all-time great rally, driving in 10 runs and flipping the script in a 14-11 Tigers victory.
“Wow. Big fan of that 8th inning," first-year coach Jay Johnson said after the game, vastly underplaying just how fan-friendly it was.
“A lot of people talk about character and culture and competitiveness and that was all of that on display," he continued. "I’m really proud of these guys for sticking with it."
Scroll below for more quotes from Jay Johnson, Dylan Crews and others after the massive win.
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MORE FROM JAY JOHNSON
"We don’t win the game if Devan [Fontenot] doesn’t come in and settle the game. It’s the best performance out of him this year when we really really really needed that. With Dylan [Crews], I’ve never been so confident that a player was going to get a big hit in my entire life than when he walked up to the plate. 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.”
LSU is scheduled to face regional host Southern Miss at 6 p.m. in the winner's bracket.
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DYLAN CREWS ON GO-AHEAD DOUBLE
“Honestly I’m just still in shock of what just happened. When you’re down by that much and all of a sudden you’re just able to string hits together and then look at the score board and you're two and one runs away from tying the game. It changed for me when Trey got that single up the middle. I feel like it really gave us a chance to go out and finish it.”
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KENNESAW STATE HEAD COACH MATT COE
“Honestly, it’s never over until it’s over. We’ve had some situations in the past here where we’ve had trouble finishing games. We try to pile on as much on as when we can and that’s why we stayed aggressively offensively throughout the game. We try to score as much as we can to widen the gap and give us a cushion for the end of the game.”
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OWLS RELIEVER JACK MYERS
Myers was the hero of the game for Kennesaw State until the wheels fell off. He ate up 5.1 innings and had thrown more than 100 pitches when he left the game amid LSU's 10-run 8th inning, striking out 7.
“The whole plan going in was to attack, but I gave them free passes and free bases and that got us into some trouble there at the end.”
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DEVIN FONTENOT ON SHUTDOWN APPEARANCE
When Devin Fontenot's outing started, it could've been called mop-up duty. The Tigers were down 11-4, and an extended outing was necessary to extend the bullpen. But Fontenot's 3.1 shutdown innings are what ultimately allowed the Tigers to rally for the victory.
“I think I was mechanically and mentally right tonight. I just wanted to give our team a chance. Coming into a ballgame like that, if I don’t do well, we don’t win. I knew I had it in me and I just wanted to perform the best for my team.”