In the postseason, you have to take advantage of the chances you receive when you have an opportunity to score, your star players to come through in big moments and the defense needs to make the plays in the field. None of that went in LSU’s favor on Saturday in a 6-2 loss to North Carolina on Saturday.
One of the Tar Heels best hitters in program history, Vance Honeycutt, hit two home runs that put up UNC's first four RBIs of the day.
The first for Honeycutt was a three-run homer in the fifth inning as LSU starting pitcher Luke Holman grooved a fastball in the sweet spot.
The Tigers scored two runs in the 7th inning to make it a one-run game, but Honeycutt blasted his second home run on a slider from Holman to make it 4-2.
LSU had chances to put up more than two runs, but two of the Tigers top hitters, Tommy White and Hayden Travinski, hit into double plays.
A couple of plays were also not made in the field that could've limited the damage. LSU first baseman Jared Jones misplayed line drive in the fifth inning with the ball deflecting off his glove prior to Honeycutt's first blast.
Right fielder Ashton Larson also couldn’t make a catch up against the wall in the eighth inning that could've prevented a pair of Tar Heels insurance runs from crossing the plate.
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The result means LSU will need to win three games over the next two days to win the Chapel Hill Regional.
It will be a tough task, but not impossible. The Tigers will first get a rematch with Wofford at 11 a.m. Sunday. With a win they would turn to another rematch against North Carolina at 5 p.m. with an eye on forcing a winner-take-all Game 7 on Monday. LSU has been in the position before and fought their way onto the Super Regionals, most recently in 2021 when they lost their opening game to Oregon, then won out to advance from the Eugene regional.
To do that again, the Tigers will need to get the bats going and they’ll need a lot of arms to give them quality innings.