Alabama
LSU
Tide Takes Extra Inning Win, 6-5
4/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 5, 2008
BATON ROUGE, La. -
In a back-and-forth game that had almost as many walks as hits, Alabama out-lasted LSU, 6-5, in 11 innings to earn a split of a Southeastern Conference double header Saturday night at Alex Box Stadium.
The two teams combined for 19 hits and 14 walks before the Crimson Tide pulled out the win in extra innings.
Junior outfielder Tyler Odle's safety squeeze bunt scored junior center fielder Alex Kubal with the winning run in the top of the 11th inning off losing pitcher Daniel Bradshaw, who allowed one run and three hits in four innings of relief.
Kubal stroked a one-out single to center and moved to third on freshman shortstop Josh Rutledge's hit-and-run single through the right side of the infield then dropped the sacrifice bunt to score Kubal with the winning run.
LSU (19-11, 4-7 SEC) got a leadoff double from Derek Helenini and a one-out walk from Rene Escobar, but senior right hander Josh Copeland got Leon Landry to pop up to first baseman Matt Bentley to end the nearly four-hour marathon.
Copeland (2-1) pitched the final 4 1/3 innings for the win and wriggled out of trouble all night long as LSU left the tying or winning run in scoring position in each of the last five innings. The Tigers stranded 14 base runners in the loss, while Alabama left 11 men on base.
"Copeland did a great job," Alabama head coach Jim Wells said. "He is just a warrior and a tough guy. He always gets the job done for us and tonight he gave it his all."
Alabama (17-14, 5-6 SEC) pitchers walked 11 LSU hitters in the game and oddly enough not one of the walks scored.
LSU tied the game at 5-5 with a run in the seventh inning when DJ LeMahieu drew a bases loaded walk against Will Stroup to force home Ryan Schimpf with the tying run. Copeland came in got Escobar to ground out to second baseman Ross Wilson to end the inning as the Tigers left the bases loaded.
Both teams missed chances to win the game in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings, before the Tide broke through with the winning run off losing pitcher Daniel Bradshaw (1-3) in the 11th inning.
"We executed a hit-and-run and the end and then we executed the squeeze bunt," Wells added. "We just outlasted them. We are not playing very well, but that was a big win and hopefully it will carry over to tomorrow."
LSU took advantage of two-out walk in the bottom of the first inning to grab a 1-0 lead. Helenihi singled up the middle with one out and moved into scoring position when Matt Clark drew a two-out walk. LaMaheiu followed with an RBI single to left field to give the Tigers an early lead.
Alabama scored three runs in the top of the second inning, with two crossing the plate on an error by Helenihi at third base on a potential inning-ending ground out. Bentley and Wilson opened the inning with back-to-back singles and moved into scoring position on sophomore third baseman Jake Smith's sacrifice bunt. Junior catcher Mike Sharp was then hit by pitch to load the bases. Junior center fielder Alex Kubal reached on a fielder's choice to score Bentley with the tying run and freshman shortstop Josh Rutledge reached on Helenihi's error that allowed Sharp and Kubal to score and give the Tide a 3-1 lead.
LSU tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the second inning as the Crimson Tide struggled with the simple game of pitch-and-catch, scoring two runs on two wild pitches and one passed ball. Landry led off the inning with a double down the right field and moved to third on a passed ball by Sharp on the first pitch Micah Gibbs. One pitch later, Gibbs blooped a single to left to score Landry and cut the UA lead to 3-2. After Johnny Dishon's sacrifice bunt, Gibbs scored from second base on consecutive wild pitches by UA starting pitcher Austin Graham to tie the game.
The Tigers regained the lead at 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning on when Johnny Dishon tripled off the wall in right field and scored on Ryan Schimpf's sacrifice fly to left. Graham left the game after a two-out walk to Helenihi. The UA junior allowed four runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings with one strikeout and three walks.
The back-and-forth game continued as Alabama scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 5-4 lead. Sophomore left fielder Brandon May drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on Bentley's double into the right field corner. Wilson struck out for the first out, Smith's ground ball to short plated May with the tying run and Sharp's two-out single to center scored Bentley to give the Tide a one-run lead before LSU later tied the game and forced extra innings.
Alabama and LSU close out this three-game series with a 1 p.m. (CDT) game on Sunday, April 6, at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge. The Crimson Tide will send junior right-hander Robert Phares (1-2, 0.00 ERA) to the mound in the series finale, while LSU's starter has not yet been determined.
GAME NOTES: *Alabama and LSU played a day-night double header at Alex Box Stadium on Saturday. The first game of the series scheduled for Friday, April 4 was suspended in the third inning due to heavy rain and lightning. The game was resumed on Saturday at 1 p.m. and the regularly scheduled game was moved to 7:30 p.m. to accommodate the LSU spring football game, which was played at 5 p.m. in Tiger Stadium.
*The day-night double header was the first of its kind by Alabama in the regular season since playing Towson State and Georgia Southern at Sewell-Thomas Field on March 21, 1989. Alabama beat Towson State, 5-0, and lost to Georgia Southern, 4-2.
*The Crimson Tide used its 16th different starting lineup in game two of the LSU series and its fourth different lineup in the last four games. Junior right fielder Tyler Odle batted second for the first time this season, while freshman second baseman Ross Wilson hit sixth for the first time. Junior outfielder Kent Matthes did not start the second game on Saturday, marking the first SEC game he had not started this season.
*There were 32 double headers played on Saturday in college baseball as a result of weather Friday night. Six of those 32 double headers involved Top 30 teams. Only one SEC game was played Friday night (Auburn 5, Arkansas 2) and the other five series, including Alabama at LSU, Vanderbilt at Ole Miss, Mississippi State at Kentucky, Florida at Tennessee and South Carolina at Georgia, were all rained out on Friday.
*Senior right-hander Josh Copeland stranded three inherited runners in the seventh inning and has stranded eight of 10 inherited runners in six SEC games this season.
*Freshman Josh Rutledge's 11th single extended his hitting streak to seven games. The rookie has hit safely in 10 of 11 SEC games this season with a nine-game hitting streak.
-UA-
