Everything was going to plan through five innings for LSU baseball, but the "Road Dog" lost its bite in a fateful 6th inning at the Super Regional in Knoxville.
The Tigers led 2-1 when starter Ma'Khail Hilliard left the mound after a pulse-pounding strikeout -- his 6th of the game. But that would mark the end of his night after 5 innings and 76 pitches. He was replaced by freshman Javen Coleman, a hero of the Sunday-night win over Oregon a week ago.
This time around the young left-hander immediately ran into a struggle, issuing six walks and a double while ultimately surrendering 3 runs that would decide the game. That inning also included a misplayed ball at third base that would have otherwise resulted in a second out with the score tied 2-2.
But Mainieri didn't plan to second-guess his pitching decision after the loss, lauding Coleman’s work when he returned for the 7th and 8th innings. The freshman struck out three of Tennessee’s final six batters and allowed just one hit the rest of the way.
“Last weekend we went to Javen pretty early and he pretty much dominated the game," Mainieri said.
The Tigers had a prime opportunity in the top of the 9th inning, with Doughty missing a potential game-tying home run by a matter of feet and Jordan Thompson striking out on a full-count with the game-tying run at second base.
"I was really happy to get five good innings out of Ma’Khail. He was really outstanding," Mainieri continued. "He threw 76 pitches. We were getting ready to go top of the order. They’d already seen Ma’Khail twice. I thought Ma’Khail did a tremendous job. I thought [with a pair of left-handers due up] ... having a left-handed pitcher there I had a lot of confidence in, I thought it was the move to make. He struck out [Liam] Spence to walk the inning, he got two quick strikes on [Max] Ferguson. Really, kind of the undoing was coming back and walking Ferguson. It was 3-2 pitch that just barely missed, slightly low maybe. And then he got Gilbert on a weak ground ball, craziness happened, might’ve tied the game. But Cade tried to tag the runner. We thought he might’ve gone out of the baseline, but then of course he was delayed in throwing the ball to first base which allowed the runner to get to first base.
"But, yea, Ma’Khail goes five great innings and Javen Coleman was the right guy for that situation. Craziness happened in that inning. He settled in and pitched great after that inning. I thought he was tremendous.”
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ABOUT THAT 'ATMOSPHERE' IN KNOXVILLE
Much has been made about the Tigers' experience dealing with the fans in Knoxville after Mainieri's comments following a sweep earlier in the season, and the questions will continue.
Mainieri apologized to the fans earlier this week if his comments were viewed as an insult, and has since reiterated that the raucous energy at Lindsey Nelson Stadium is no worse than any other SEC ballpark, including Alex Box Stadium. But the question will continue to be asked -- meaning this answer will continue to be told.
“I just think our guys were focusing on trying to beat the players on the field. .. It was obviously an enthusiastic crowd, the place was packed. They’re playing for a lot and we’re playing for a lot," Mainieri said. "It’s a typical SEC environment. We’ve seen it before — we’ve seen it lots of times. Our players are used to it and I don’t think we were tight or anything. I think we were just trying to beat a really good ball club with really good players. And we were out there competing, I thought our guys really played hard tonight, competed hard, and they came out on top.
"The margin, the difference in the game was very slim again. You know, we’ve played these guys four times, and in the slimmest of margins they’ve come out on top in all four games. We need to try to reverse that tomorrow.”
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DREW BIANCO: We've been here before.
If there's any solace in LSU dropping the opening game against Tennessee in the Super Regional, it's that history would indicate that's right where the Tigers want to be.
The result puts the Tigers one loss away from elimination, but that was also the case out in Eugene after a shutout loss to Gonzaga. From there they took four consecutive victories in elimination games, beginning with Central Connecticut. They took down Gonzaga in a rematch the ensuing Sunday afternoon, beat Oregon in the nightcap later that day, then took down the Ducks again on Monday.
Whether that run can be continue in Knoxville remains to be seen, but the Tigers seem to peak under exactly those circumstances, Drew Bianco said after Saturday’s loss.
“We’ve been here before, like you said in the Regional, and I think that’s where we started playing our best baseball all year," Bianco said. "So hopefully we can do that tomorrow and Monday. But we’re just going to take it one game at a time and get ready to win a game tomorrow, because that’s the most important game of the year. So hopefully we can come out swinging against a good arm. And, you know, [Landon] Marceaux’s going to do his thing, so hopefully we can just play good, get a win and take it one game at a time.”
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