Tigers win double-header over Irish
LSU received key hits from Jake Fraley and Bryce Jordan and excellent pitching all day as the Tigers swept a doubleheader from Notre Dame 1-0 in 11 innings and 3-2 at Frank Eck Stadium in South Bend on Wednesday.
GAME ONE
HOW THEY SCORED
LSU eleventh inning – Fraley hit a leadoff home run over the rightfield fence. LSU 1, NOTRE DAME 0
LSU MISSED SCORING OPPORTUNITIES
Fourth inning – With two out, Jordan Romero doubled. Chris Reid fouled out to the first baseman.
Sixth inning – Cole Freeman walked and advanced to second on a ground out to the shortstop by Antoine Duplantis. Freeman moved to third on a ground out to the second baseman by Fraley. Kramer Robertson grounded out to the second baseman.
Ninth inning – Duplantis walked and Fraley was hit by a pitch. Both Duplantis and Fraley moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by Robertson. Romero struck out. After Reid was intentionally walked, pinch-hitter Brennan Breaux struck out.
Tenth inning – With two out, Freeman walked and stole second base. Duplantis grounded out to the second baseman.
GAME 2
HOW THEY SCORED
LSU seventh inning – Romero was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Peter Solomon. Beau Jordan was hit by a pitch. Reid walked to load the bases. Romero and Beau Jordan scored on a single by Bryce Jordan. Reid and Bryce Jordan moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by Michael Papierski. After Freeman grounded out to the pitcher, Duplantis walked to load the bases. Reid scored on a wild pitch by Jack Connolly. LSU 3, NOTRE DAME 0
Notre Dame seventh inning – With one out, Cole Daily walked and Ryan Lidge singled. After Kyle Richardson flied out to the leftfielder, Cavan Biggio walked to load the bases. Daily scored when Nick Podkul walked. Lidge scored on a wild pitch by Jesse Stallings. LSU 3, NOTRE DAME 2
MISSED SCORING OPPORTUNITIES
Sixth inning – Freeman singled and went to second on a ground out to the pitcher by Duplantis. Fraley singled and Freeman was thrown out at the plate by the centerfielder Richardson. Fraley moved to second on the play at the plate. Robertson grounded out to the second baseman.
PLAYER OF THE DAY
There were not many hits in the doubleheader, but Fraley got the one which gave LSU a victory in the first game. Fraley hit a home run off Evy Rubial to lead off the 11th inning. The home run was just the second of the season for Fraley. In the second game, Fraley delivered a single with a runner at second and one out in the sixth. However, Freeman was thrown out at the plate and the game remained scoreless. Fraley went 2-for-7 in the doubleheader and extended his hitting streak to ten games. Fraley is 14-for-42 during the hitting streak.
ABOUT THE HITTERS
It was not a good day for hitters on either team. LSU had just eight hits in the twinbill – four in each game. Three Tigers players had two hits – Fraley (2-for-7), Romero (2-for-7) and Robertson (2-for-8). The only other hits were Bryce Jordan’s two-run single in the seventh inning of the second game and Freeman’s single in the sixth inning of the nightcap. . .Three players started both games and went hitless – Duplantis (0-for-7), Reid (0-for-6) and Beau Jordan (0-for-5). . .In the first game, LSU stranded eight runners – six in scoring position. The Tigers were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Romero, Reid and Breaux all failed to deliver a hit with runners in scoring position on two occasions. . .In the second game, LSU stranded six runners – three in scoring position. The Tigers were 2-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
ABOUT THE PITCHERS
John Valek did not allow a run before being lifted with one out in the fifth inning of the opener. A double by Biggio resulted in Parker Bugg replacing Valek, who gave up just three hits. Valek walked two and struck out five. In three innings, Notre Dame put a runner in scoring position against Valek. Twice, Valek ended innings by getting Lidge out. Lidge grounded out with a runner at second in the second and popped out with runners at first and second in the fourth. Valek struck out Ricky Sanchez with a runner at second and two out in the third. . .Five LSU relievers held the Irish scoreless over the last 6.2 innings of the first game. The only relief pitcher to go as long as two innings was Austin Bain, who threw the ninth and tenth innings. Bain got Sanchez to ground out to shortstop with the bases loaded and two out in the tenth. Jared Poche started the seventh, he didn’t finish the inning. He gave up a leadoff walk and a two-out single. Russell Reynolds replaced Poche and got Sanchez to ground out. Hunter Newman picked up the save. He allowed a two-out single by Richardson in the 11th. Romero threw out Richardson trying to steal second to end the game. . .The most impressive pitching performance of the day was delivered by second-game starter Riley Smith. Making his first start of the year, Smith shut out Notre Dame on three hits in six innings. Smith struck out Matt Vieling with two runners on base to end the first. One inning later, Smith struck out Biggio with two runners on base and two out. Smith retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced. He walked none and struck out four. . .Doug Norman was charged with the two seventh-inning runs. Norman walked two and allowed a hit before being replaced with the bases loaded and two out. Jesse Stallings walked in one run and wild pitched home another run before striking out Sanchez to end the game. . .In the doubleheader, LSU pitchers walked eight and struck out 12. The Fighting Irish had 11 hits in the two games.
NOTES
In the first game, Beau Jordan was the leftfielder and Bryce Jordan was the designated hitter. In the nightcap, Bryce Jordan played first base with Greg Deichmann going to the bench. Romero was the designated hitter in the second game. Papierski was the starting catcher. . .Both Reid and Beau Jordan had four-game hitting streaks end in the first game. Duplantis, who went 0-for-7 in the doubleheader, now has just three hits in his last 30 official at-bats. . .Notre Dame used five pitchers in the first game. Starter Conner Hock worked the first three innings and gave up one hit with one walk and one strikeout. Charlie Vorsheck gave up the only other hit before Fraley hit his home run in the 11th. Fraley’s game-winning homer came against Ruibal. . .The Irish used six pitchers in the second game. Starter Sean Guenther gave up one hit before being replaced with one out in the third inning. Solomon was charged with the three seventh-inning runs. . .Five Notre Dame players had two hits in the doubleheader – Biggio (2-for-6), Lidge (2-for-7), Podkul (2-for-7), Richardson (2-for-7) and Lane Richards (2-for-8). . .LSU committed two errors in the doubleheader – Robertson in the first game and Reid in the second game. . .The Tigers have won five games in a row – four by one run. LSU is 33-16. Notre Dame is 26-22. . .The paid attendance for the doubleheader was 1,001.
LSU will play Tennessee in the opener of their Southeastern Conference series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville on Friday. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. Central. The Volunteers (26-23, 7-17) beat Belmont 5-3 on Tuesday night in Knoxville. Alex Lange (6-3) will be the starting pitcher for the Tigers. The LSU-Tennessee game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.