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LSU wins opener over Cincinnati, 6-5 in 12 innings

Jordan Romero singled home O’Neal Lochridge with two out in the bottom of the 12th inning to give LSU a 6-5 victory against Cincinnati in the season-opener at The Box on Friday night.

HOW THEY SCORED

Cincinnati second inning – Connor McVey reached on a dropped throw by first baseman Greg Deichmann. McVey advanced to third on a single to rightfield by Ryan Noda. McVey scored on a squeeze bunt by Woody Wallace. CINCINNATI 1, LSU 0

LSU fourth inning – Beau Jordan reached on an error by the third baseman Devin Wenzel. Jordan moved to second on Deichmann’s ground out to the first baseman. After Michael Papierski lined out to the second baseman, Jordan scored on a single by Antoine Duplantis. CINCINNATI 1, LSU 1

Cincinnati seventh inning – Wenzel doubled and McVey walked. Noda singled and Wenzel was thrown out at the plate by the rightfielder Duplantis. After Wallace was intentionally walked, McVey and Noda scored on a double by Treg Haberkorn. CINCINNATI 3, LSU 1

LSU eighth inning – Kramer Robertson doubled and moved to third on Bryce Jordan’s fly out to the rightfielder. Robertson scored on Jake Fraley’s ground out to the first baseman. CINCINNATI 3, LSU 2

LSU ninth inning – With one out, Papierski walked. After Duplantis flied out to the centerfielder, Cole Freeman walked. Pinch-runner Brennan Breaux scored on a pinch-hit single by Romero. CINCINNATI 3, LSU 3

Cincinnati tenth inning – Wallace singled. Haberkorn and Cole Murphy walked to load the bases. Wallace scored on an infield single by Manny Rodriguez. After R.J. Thompson struck out, Haberkorn scored on a walk to Kyle Mottice. CINCINNATI 5, LSU 3

LSU tenth inning – Bryce Jordan was hit by a pitch. Bryce Jordan advanced to second on Fraley’s ground out to the first baseman and moved to third on Beau Jordan’s ground out to the pitcher. Bryce Jordan scored on a single by Brody Wofford. O’Neal Lochridge was hit by a pitch and Duplantis walked to load the bases. Wofford scored when Freeman was hit by a pitch. CINCINNATI 5, LSU 5

LSU 12th inning – Lochridge singled and moved to second on a balk by David Orndorff. Lochridge advanced to third on Duplantis’ ground out to the first baseman. After Freeman struck out, Lochridge scored on Romero’s single. LSU 6, CINCINNATI 5

LSU MISSED SCORING OPPORTUNITIES

First inning – With two out, Fraley singled and stole second. Beau Jordan flied out to the leftfielder.

Second inning – Deichmann reached second on a throwing error by Wenzel. Deichmann was thrown out trying to steal third by Wallace. After Papierski lined out to the first baseman, Duplantis walked. Freeman fouled out to the catcher on a bunt attempt.

11th inning – With one out, Bryce Jordan reached second on a throwing error by Wenzel. After Fraley was intentionally walked, Beau Jordan lined out to the leftfielder and Wofford flied out to the centerfielder.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

In his first game in a LSU uniform, Romero delivered two key hits. His two-out pinch-hit single in the bottom of the ninth drove home Breaux to tie the score at 3-3 and send the game into extra innings. In the tenth, Romero had a chance to win the game. However, he popped out to the second baseman with the bases loaded and two outs. Romero’s game-winning hit was a pop fly to shallow rightfield. Romero caught the last three innings after Papierski was replaced for a pinch-runner in the bottom of the ninth.

ABOUT THE HITTERS

Romero was the lone Tigers player with two hits. Robertson, Bryce Jordan, Fraley, Wofford, Lochridge and Duplantis each had one hit. . .Robertson’s double in the eighth inning was LSU’s only extra-base hit. . .Three freshmen – Wofford, Lochridge and Duplantis – collected their first career hits. . .Tigers batters struck out just three times in 12 innings. . .LSU stranded 13 runners, six in scoring position. The Tigers were 4-for-16 with runners in scoring position. . .LSU had four two-out RBI hits – Duplantis in the fourth, Romero in the ninth and the 12th and Wofford in the tenth.

ABOUT THE PITCHERS

Jared Poche pitched quite effectively for six innings. He allowed one hit and one unearned run in that time. Poche retired 15 consecutive batters from the second through the sixth innings. Poche did not retire a batter in the seventh when Cincinnati scored two runs to snap a 1-1 tie. He gave up three hits and walked two batters, one intentionally. . .It was a night of mixed reviews for the LSU bullpen. Hunter Newman retired seven straight batters, but then allowed the first three hitters to reach in the tenth on a single and two walks. . .Parker Bugg permitted two inherited runners to score in the tenth, but avoided a big inning by getting a strikeout and a ground out with the bases loaded. . .Winning pitcher Alden Cartwright retired six straight batters after walking the first hitter he faced. . .Tigers pitchers walked seven and struck out 11.

NOTES

The starting lineup for the Tigers was as expected. Robertson was the leadoff batter. The middle of the lineup consisted of Fraley, Beau Jordan and Deichmann. . .Every position player got into the game except for Chris Reid and Trent Forshag. . .Noda was the only Cincinnati player with two hits. The Bearcats stranded six runners, four in scoring position. . .Duplantis threw out a runner at the plate in the seventh. Dawson, the starting shortstop, also threw a runner out at the plate on a relay in the same inning. . .LSU has now won 15 straight season openers. Its last defeat in the first game of the year came against Kansas State in 2001. . .The last time the Tigers played an extra-inning game to open the season occurred in 2004 when they beat Central Florida 4-3 in ten innings at Orlando. . .The paid attendance was 11,906.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM

Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “I was pleased with the way we played. We made a few mistakes early. But, the longer we played, the better we played. We overcame a lot of things. The kids showed a lot of poise and hung in there. We came from behind a couple of times. How you do in close games defines your season. This game did a lot for our kids’ confidence.”

UP NEXT

LSU will play host to Cincinnati at The Box in the second game of the series on Saturday. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. Central. Alex Lange will be the starting pitcher for the Tigers. The LSU-Cincinnati game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.


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